Laptop/Ultrabook advice
Discussion
I've been out of the laptop game for quite some time and it seems a lot has changed so after a bit of advice.
My existing laptop is a Lenovo G510 i7 8GB RAM and 1TB of storage. Have owned for 6 years (which is pretty good going for a laptop) and it has been great, so I'm happy to stick with Lenovo.
Is everything SSD these days? I wanted something with 1TB or 2TB of storage and generally similar to the above spec but these seem to be the less popular choice and demand big pound notes... (strangely a lot more than what I paid 6 years ago?!) so are people just paying for cloud storage/purchasing external hard drives?
I have a Lenovo T470s for work which is ideal, light, slim and seems to be able to handle lots of applications running at the same time, so ideally I'd like something similar to this. Seen others recommend the X1 Carbon. My main uses will be browsing/streaming video, the occasional game through Steam, MS office applications.
Seems some real bargains can be had for the above mentioned laptops if refurbished versions are considered off eBay for example. Anyone had any experience with these?
My existing laptop is a Lenovo G510 i7 8GB RAM and 1TB of storage. Have owned for 6 years (which is pretty good going for a laptop) and it has been great, so I'm happy to stick with Lenovo.
Is everything SSD these days? I wanted something with 1TB or 2TB of storage and generally similar to the above spec but these seem to be the less popular choice and demand big pound notes... (strangely a lot more than what I paid 6 years ago?!) so are people just paying for cloud storage/purchasing external hard drives?
I have a Lenovo T470s for work which is ideal, light, slim and seems to be able to handle lots of applications running at the same time, so ideally I'd like something similar to this. Seen others recommend the X1 Carbon. My main uses will be browsing/streaming video, the occasional game through Steam, MS office applications.
Seems some real bargains can be had for the above mentioned laptops if refurbished versions are considered off eBay for example. Anyone had any experience with these?
Depends why you want to upgrade...and how long you want the machine to last.
Vendors withdraw support for older kit eventually which might (only might) leave you stuck when your OS/software updates. The connectivity and quality of components also improves over time.
I use my laptop every day. It's a tool of work. I want it to last at least 3yrs, and usually more like 5-7yrs. So I buy the latest spec I can and usually it suffices. Little on these machines is upgradable so what you buy now needs to last you.
Most laptops will come with SSDs now. They are usefully quicker than spindle drives and, arguably, more reliable. How much storage you need is your shout.
I'd focus more on RAM and processor than storage if cost was an issue - you can easily off-board data to external drives. You can't upgrade processors or RAM as easily.
Prices? Apple jumped their prices a proper chunk about 3yrs ago. Everyone else followed suit with their upper end gear. That's why you're seeing the prices you are. IMO there is a quality difference between lower and upper end machines. A decent spec X1 Carbon will be around the 1.5-2k mark. Worth it if the machine's a workhorse IMO.
If footprint/weight isn't a concern, you'll get a higher spec and/or a lower price with other models in their range.
Other comments/comparison are on the other recent thread, and plenty of others over the last 12-18mths
Vendors withdraw support for older kit eventually which might (only might) leave you stuck when your OS/software updates. The connectivity and quality of components also improves over time.
I use my laptop every day. It's a tool of work. I want it to last at least 3yrs, and usually more like 5-7yrs. So I buy the latest spec I can and usually it suffices. Little on these machines is upgradable so what you buy now needs to last you.
Most laptops will come with SSDs now. They are usefully quicker than spindle drives and, arguably, more reliable. How much storage you need is your shout.
I'd focus more on RAM and processor than storage if cost was an issue - you can easily off-board data to external drives. You can't upgrade processors or RAM as easily.
Prices? Apple jumped their prices a proper chunk about 3yrs ago. Everyone else followed suit with their upper end gear. That's why you're seeing the prices you are. IMO there is a quality difference between lower and upper end machines. A decent spec X1 Carbon will be around the 1.5-2k mark. Worth it if the machine's a workhorse IMO.
If footprint/weight isn't a concern, you'll get a higher spec and/or a lower price with other models in their range.
Other comments/comparison are on the other recent thread, and plenty of others over the last 12-18mths
I generally advise, best processor, best memory, and graphics (if you want) for the money. Storage these days is least important. Cloud is 'safer'.
I have a NAS drive for stuff I am comfortable losing, and Onedrive for everything important. Both these options mean anyone can access stuff anywhere in the world on any device. My son and daughter who don't live at home anymore share the onedrive with their laptops, pads and phones (android and apple) . When I am travelling with my work laptop I access the one drive, on my work and personal phones (android) I access onedrive, my wife on her laptop and apple phone uses it. Its just brilliant. If you subscribe to O365 you get 1TB of onedrive.
Things like documents I keep mirrored/synched locally and on the OneDrive, so they are accessible when no wifi..
The biggest eater of storage is photos and videos.so if neither of these are your bag you probably don't need huge storage.
SSD is a must these days for the OS, faster, more robust. I actually have a 2TB disk as well as SSD, but only use 200gb, of which most of that is the mirrored OneDrive.
I have a NAS drive for stuff I am comfortable losing, and Onedrive for everything important. Both these options mean anyone can access stuff anywhere in the world on any device. My son and daughter who don't live at home anymore share the onedrive with their laptops, pads and phones (android and apple) . When I am travelling with my work laptop I access the one drive, on my work and personal phones (android) I access onedrive, my wife on her laptop and apple phone uses it. Its just brilliant. If you subscribe to O365 you get 1TB of onedrive.
Things like documents I keep mirrored/synched locally and on the OneDrive, so they are accessible when no wifi..
The biggest eater of storage is photos and videos.so if neither of these are your bag you probably don't need huge storage.
SSD is a must these days for the OS, faster, more robust. I actually have a 2TB disk as well as SSD, but only use 200gb, of which most of that is the mirrored OneDrive.
Edited by sparkyhx on Tuesday 14th January 13:10
Thanks for all the advice.
Just to close this, after looking long and hard at what we got for our cash we ended up deciding to prioritise £ then convertibility, battery and screen so went with the new Yoga C740. We won't be heavy users of processing and we both have 8th gen i5 in our work laptops which are perfectly fine, it should be a good travel companion too. Lenovo also gave us a nice little discount on it for just going on a mailing list. Should have it in a day or two.
Just to close this, after looking long and hard at what we got for our cash we ended up deciding to prioritise £ then convertibility, battery and screen so went with the new Yoga C740. We won't be heavy users of processing and we both have 8th gen i5 in our work laptops which are perfectly fine, it should be a good travel companion too. Lenovo also gave us a nice little discount on it for just going on a mailing list. Should have it in a day or two.
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