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Laptop Replacement/Suggestions Thread: Bring out yer dead laptops!

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  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    Looks like the mirror dimension in Doctor Strange.

  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    Anyone have experience with the Acer Aspire 7 series as gaming laptops? I had a non-gaming Acer laptop for years that I liked, and I really find the Aspire 7 look appealing (no Xtreme red lines or radical backlighting.)

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  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    No opinions on the Aspire? Fair enough.

    Question 1: How much of a difference would a 1060 make over a 1050ti for a 15" display at 1920x1080?

    Question 2: If I want a 15" display with a 1060 and 16GB of RAM and something that doesn't look like a red underlighting seizure, it looks like the best options are:

    Plus some refurbished laptops that might cross my design threshold for gaming extremity.

    Any opinions on the ASUS vs. the Lenovos?

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  • AridholAridhol Daddliest Catch Registered User regular
    Iolo wrote: »
    No opinions on the Aspire? Fair enough.

    Question 1: How much of a difference would a 1060 make over a 1050ti for a 15" display at 1920x1080?

    Question 2: If I want a 15" display with a 1060 and 16GB of RAM and something that doesn't look like a red underlighting seizure, it looks like the best options are:

    Plus some refurbished laptops that might cross my design threshold for gaming extremity.

    Any opinions on the ASUS vs. the Lenovos?

    I'd go with the 256GB Lenovo.
    A 1060 will be fine for 1080p gaming and the extra vram is needed for some games.

    The 512GB Lenovo also has an IPS display which is nice but it's also $100 more.

    The asus has a 120hz screen which is great but the 3GB vram and 128GB ssd take it out of the running imo.

  • jmcdonaldjmcdonald I voted, did you? DC(ish)Registered User regular
    Iolo wrote: »
    No opinions on the Aspire? Fair enough.

    Question 1: How much of a difference would a 1060 make over a 1050ti for a 15" display at 1920x1080?

    Question 2: If I want a 15" display with a 1060 and 16GB of RAM and something that doesn't look like a red underlighting seizure, it looks like the best options are:

    Plus some refurbished laptops that might cross my design threshold for gaming extremity.

    Any opinions on the ASUS vs. the Lenovos?

    Buy this instead:

    https://www.walmart.com/ip/OVERPOWERED-Gaming-Laptop-15-2-Year-Warranty-144Hz-Intel-i7-8750H-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1060-Mechanical-LED-Keyboard-256-SSD-1TB-HDD-16GB-RAM-Windows-10/510869060

  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    I was actually looking at that one today, and a comparable ASUS they have. I'm hugely apprehensive about buying my consumer electronics from Walmart, though. (You saw the video about their high-end gaming PC, yes?) Do you have actual knowledge of this OP one? (Or were you perhaps joking?)

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  • jmcdonaldjmcdonald I voted, did you? DC(ish)Registered User regular
    Iolo wrote: »
    I was actually looking at that one today, and a comparable ASUS they have. I'm hugely apprehensive about buying my consumer electronics from Walmart, though. (You saw the video about their high-end gaming PC, yes?) Do you have actual knowledge of this OP one? (Or were you perhaps joking?)

    Buy the 60 dollar square trade warranty if it really is that concerning. It’s a hell of a machine for the price, and it is the same one case that a lot of other boutiques use.

  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    edited December 2018
    Does anyone here have any reason to recommend a certain make of laptop? I might get myself a new laptop, and my preference is at least 16GB of RAM, 1440p or above (I need screen real estate and can't truck with 1080p) and graphics capabilities matching or surpassing a 940mx. From what I can see HP, Asus and Lenvovo have offerings in this category, and while I have decent experience with Asus and Lenovo they had their shares of annoyances and good traits. Are any issues associated with HP laptops? Do you know of any solid deals or which retailers to look at or avoid?

    I am not picking between these two, but I link them to indicate what I am looking at:
    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7AB49F1409&ignorebbr=1
    https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-spectre-x360-2-in-1-15-6-4k-ultra-hd-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-hp-finish-in-dark-ash-silver/6188321.p?skuId=6188321

    Absalon on
  • CauldCauld Registered User regular
    My recommendation is to look at the laptops in person. Form factor, screen quality, keyboard layout, build quality etc. are all much easier to assess in person.

    When I was shopping for a new laptop I tried an acer first, but didn't like the form factor or screen. Luckily it was easy to return. I ended up with a Lenovo again and have been happy.

  • SynthesisSynthesis Honda Today! Registered User regular
    Cauld wrote: »
    My recommendation is to look at the laptops in person. Form factor, screen quality, keyboard layout, build quality etc. are all much easier to assess in person.

    When I was shopping for a new laptop I tried an acer first, but didn't like the form factor or screen. Luckily it was easy to return. I ended up with a Lenovo again and have been happy.

    I always, and will always, recommend seeing a monitor in person if you have any opportunity to do so.

    Laptops come with their own displays, so the same rule applies. Before all the other good reasons (weight, ergonomics, keyboard touch).

  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    I'd prefer an uptick on GPU, but this is a really solid laptop, based on specs.

    Dell at Walmart LINK

  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    edited January 2019
    When you will not tolerate 1920x1080 resolution (I need the screen real estate), anything less than 16 GB RAM or bog-standard MX150 graphics or whatever, there are not that many options apparently. If you want a laptop that can do any kind of gaming, they expect you to be happy with Full HD or maybe 1440p if you are willing to really shell out, and if you want a big 4K/Ultrabook screen they think you are insane if you want anything but integrated gpu.

    The Lenovo Yoga 730-15 seems like a nice exception to that rule though. Only has a 1050 but it's better than nothing and available in Sweden for less than an arm and a leg.

    Absalon on
  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    edited January 2019
    I guess a lot of the OEMs at that point think you're going to start looking at actual gaming laptops, your MSIs and Alienwares and suchlike. You'll find 4K screens married to good GPUs and your other spec preferences in that sector (Alienware in particular offer 4K with up to a GTX 1080), and perhaps even without a weight penalty or that gaming laptop appearance if you go the MaxQ route or something. But then prices start getting a bit batty too, and I have no idea if that would be even worse in Sweden.

    Jazz on
  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    Sweden has a 25 % VAT. Our prices are not nices.

  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    Absalon wrote: »
    Sweden has a 25 % VAT. Our prices are not nices.

    UK has 20%. Sympathies. :bro:

  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    So, still not done picking out a laptop.

    Currently looking at a HP Pavilion Gaming 15-CX0020no. Neat design, GTX 1060, 4K resolution, i7 8750H and 16 GB RAM, for a pretty good price. Only issue here is that I have heard some complaints about HP's build quality, customer service and store usability. Does anyone have any experience with HP laptops and interaction?

  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    This is a *really good* "best laptop" article. The reason I like Wirecutter is because they take the time to describe their testing scenarios; which allows you to decide how closely their usage cases coincide with yours. They do this for everything they review, which I find very refreshing.

    https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-laptops/




    @Absalon I'm forced to use a HP laptop at work, but for gaming, I would still avoid them. Anecdotal, but every HP laptop my family members has owned has not aged well, or has flat out crapped out before its time. I won't hide the fact I'm biased against them. I don't think they make very good gaming class machines.

  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    edited January 2019
    Welp, the HP is already on its way because it had the best value for money given my prerequisites (1080p or Mx150 graphics won't do), but I have 2 years of warranty and I'll be extra sensitive to any signs of trouble. Thank you for the warning.

    Absalon on
  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    Absalon, let us know how it goes. I have an HP at work that's been a reliable workhorse for me (although that's not for gaming and I have it basically docked all the time.)

    In other laptop news, my 1060 Lenovo Y520 has exceeded expectations. I've now played a lot of BATTLETECH and Kingdom Rush on it in the last six weeks, which I expected it to be able to do. But I've also played a ton of AC: Odyssey with the graphics turned pretty far up and haven't had any real performance issues. I do play it almost exclusively plugged in. It does seem to have brightness and battery issues off the sauce. Other than that, though, I'm pretty smitten

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  • JazzJazz Registered User regular
    Battletech on the go? That seems like a dangerous thing for you to be able to do :lol:

  • IoloIolo iolo Registered User regular
    Jazz wrote: »
    Battletech on the go? That seems like a dangerous thing for you to be able to do :lol:

    Um, yeah.

    I may not have been optimizing for productivity.

    Lt. Iolo's First Day
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  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    So far so good with my HP laptop. What do I need to put on this thing? I am thinking in terms of security, performance. monitoring performance hogs or temperature etc. It came with McAfee but I always dislike pre-installed security software. They always whine about innocuous downloads and installs and delay startup in my experience.

  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    First step: put vanilla Win10 on a USB key and reinstall windows.

    After that, head to http://www.ninite.com to grab common programs you use. For security, I've been using just Windows Defender; which is very serviceable since Win10 released.

    For performance monitoring, you can grab CPU-Z and HW Monitor, but you shouldn't need them unless you expect to have problems. Honestly, the Processes and Performance tabs of Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) are pretty damn good on their own.

    For my laptop, I have Glasswire installed to help tracking when services attempt to access the internet. It's overkill but when I was a hotel jockey, I found it comforting to be able to somewhat monitor my network activity.

  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    edited January 2019
    One thing I have always wondered - if you got a charger with a grounding pin in the box, does using it make the laptop happier and more long-lived? I am using a non-grounded socket right now and when plugged in the aluminum body is a bit "static" to the touch.

    Absalon on
  • LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    It doesn't really matter what it is:

    If the plug has a ground pin, plug it into a grounded outlet.

    If you have any ungrounded outlets, have them replaced.

  • Snake GandhiSnake Gandhi Des Moines, IARegistered User regular
    Hey all, quick question.

    I'm rocking an Alienware 15" R3 that's served me pretty well, but I'm looking to upgrade the storage. It came with a 128GB SSD and a 1 TB HD, and the SSD is finally just to small. I want to upgrade it too something nicer, but my knowledge of SSD's is basically nill. Looking at the spec's is has 2 full size M.2 ports (1 being used by the current SSD) and 1 half size M.2 port. I'm assuming I can install a SSD in one of the free slots and copy my boot drive over so I don't have to reinstall everything, right? And what should I be looking for in a good SSD besides size? Is there any reason to go with a second smaller drive along with my stock drive or should I just go with 1 big drive?

  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    LD50 wrote: »
    It doesn't really matter what it is:

    If the plug has a ground pin, plug it into a grounded outlet.

    If you have any ungrounded outlets, have them replaced.

    All my outlets are grounded. But, my power strips don't got any grounded outlets.

  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    Absalon wrote: »
    LD50 wrote: »
    It doesn't really matter what it is:

    If the plug has a ground pin, plug it into a grounded outlet.

    If you have any ungrounded outlets, have them replaced.

    All my outlets are grounded. But, my power strips don't got any grounded outlets.

    That's......hm...

  • LD50LD50 Registered User regular
    You should get some grounded surge protectors instead of whatever you're using now.

  • AbsalonAbsalon Lands of Always WinterRegistered User regular
    Mugsley wrote: »
    Absalon wrote: »
    LD50 wrote: »
    It doesn't really matter what it is:

    If the plug has a ground pin, plug it into a grounded outlet.

    If you have any ungrounded outlets, have them replaced.

    All my outlets are grounded. But, my power strips don't got any grounded outlets.

    That's......hm...

    Sweden is different, maybe - wall outlets are almost always grounded but don't use a third prong, while power strips don't always have grounding. I think I have some power strips with grounded outlets lying around.

  • BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Mugsley wrote: »
    First step: put vanilla Win10 on a USB key and reinstall windows.

    After that, head to http://www.ninite.com to grab common programs you use. For security, I've been using just Windows Defender; which is very serviceable since Win10 released.

    For performance monitoring, you can grab CPU-Z and HW Monitor, but you shouldn't need them unless you expect to have problems. Honestly, the Processes and Performance tabs of Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) are pretty damn good on their own.

    For my laptop, I have Glasswire installed to help tracking when services attempt to access the internet. It's overkill but when I was a hotel jockey, I found it comforting to be able to somewhat monitor my network activity.

    Ninite is gold.

  • BrodyBrody The Watch The First ShoreRegistered User regular
    So my wife and I have been considering replacing my desktop with a laptop, and I've been trying to find one with a reasonable price that will still actually play some of the games I want to play. At this point, I'm at "I'd like to be able to run MHW at all", and I think MSI has a ~$700 laptop that theoretically could run it, but it has this turbo boost CPU thing. I assume the reason it doesn't just have the "boosted" clock speed listed as stock is because of thermal concerns, and I'm worried that playing something the recommends a clock speed between listed and boosted is going to cook the device. Honestly, 700 is pushing my budget, and I realize that this may put MHW out of reach. Does anyone have any suggestions?

    https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834155024

    "I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood."

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  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    edited February 2019
    Noticed my laptop was running hotter than usual, but it's the middle of summer here and even with air con going the house it pretty warm so I chalked it up to ambient room temperature.

    Anyway, today I figured I'd pop the bottom panel off to see if there was an empty SSD slot, since I want to put a larger one in. Hold dust buildup, Batman!

    Gave the vents a dust off, booted a game up, and waddaya know, temps dropped by about 10 degrees.

    Sadly, no free SSD slot.

    -Loki- on
  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Speaking of the SSD slots, I’m curious about replacing them entirely, but I’m aware that there’s different connections for SSDs, and I know some of my models used M2 and some didn’t.

    Is there an easy way to find out? I wouldn’t mind popping out one of them and putting in a 1tb.

  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    Open start menu, type system, run system information, look under components > storage > disks at the model listed and internet search that to see if it's M2 or SATA. That would probably work.


    My dad's laptop is dying so he has asked me to find him a new one. He doesn't need a gaming thing, just an internet browsing/word processing/movie streaming box with solid build quality and a large screen that's not Lenovo is what he's after. Any recommendations on brands and such?

    BahamutZERO.gif
  • jgeisjgeis Registered User regular
    If anyone else has a Ryzen mobile powered laptop, AMD has stopped having OEMs push drivers and they've released the first Adrenalin drivers, you can grab them here:

    https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-19-2-3

    They claim that in most games the average FPS gain is about 10%, with an average of 17% on some eSports titles.

  • MugsleyMugsley DelawareRegistered User regular
    Open start menu, type system, run system information, look under components > storage > disks at the model listed and internet search that to see if it's M2 or SATA. That would probably work.


    My dad's laptop is dying so he has asked me to find him a new one. He doesn't need a gaming thing, just an internet browsing/word processing/movie streaming box with solid build quality and a large screen that's not Lenovo is what he's after. Any recommendations on brands and such?

    If you think he's up for it, you can look into a Chromebook. That can be a bit jarring for some, though.

    I'd lean toward a standard Dell. Maybe see what you can find Open Box at a Best Buy maybe. Asus is another good option, though they tend to skew toward the higher end of the spectrum.

  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    edited February 2019
    That's weird. I ended up looking up the part number of my hard drives, and the SSD is a 256gb Samsung drive (samsung mznln256hmhq, turns out it's an M.2). When I popped the rear panel off, it was definitely 2 drives, and I have 256gb (well, 237gb) of SSD space. Would 2 128gb drives in a RAID show up as a 256gb drive in the device manager?

    -Loki- on
  • BahamutZEROBahamutZERO Registered User regular
    edited February 2019
    yeah it could be two drives in a RAID 0 setup, I'm not sure but I would expect the device manager to see them as distinct devices though even if the file system sees them as one drive. I've never actually used a RAID setup myself though so I dunno.

    BahamutZERO on
    BahamutZERO.gif
  • -Loki--Loki- Don't pee in my mouth and tell me it's raining. Registered User regular
    Crazy question - what about using an external SSD for running games off? Steam and uPlay let you just move folders without reinstalling the games, so it should be easy enough to buy a SATA SSD and connect it with a SATA to USB 3.0 adapter.

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