Laptop Hell

[LowRyter]

I've had so many issues with these little junk computers.

Before I bought the POS I have now, I ordered a Dell.  I suppose it wasn't Dell's fault but the initial load of Win 10 didn't have any user software on it.  I didn't want to load a CD player app just so I could use the built in CD player plus drivers and every other app from photo viewer to solitaire.  So I sent it back.

I purchased this crappy little HP and it's literally breaking apart, the hinges are breaking out of the plastic case.  So stupid me, I ordered another Dell, that one wouldn't charge the battery which my computer guy says is a typical Dell problem.  Now I have Lavenco boat anchor that was shipped to me by NewEgg on Wednesday, it won't hook to the internet.  And now I learn that Newegg didn't even sell it to me, it came from a 3rd party and now I fighting them to send it back.

All I want is a 14in machine with 1TB hard drive and the usual plugins, slots, media and lit keyboard which can't be found at any retail store.    I have no idea what is meant by Gen9 processors an superRAM ....just give me the size I want in a reliable package.

Typing on this crappy HP hoping the screen doesn't break off from the keyboard

[fotoguzzi]

Why do you need such a large hard drive? If you use cloud storage you won't need it.
 Have you considered a iPad? They come as big as 12" I think. I hardly use my computers since I got an iPad Pro.

[rocker59]

Why do you need such a large hard drive? If you use cloud storage you won't need it.
 Have you considered a iPad? They come as big as 12" I think. I hardly use my computers since I got an iPad Pro.

He probably likes to have his files on his computer, rather than someone else's.

I am the same way.

[Wayne Orwig]

Get an Asus. Not great quality either, but you will save $$$$.
Get it at a place like Walmart. So if there is an issue, they will not question it, just hand you a replacement. Buy it from a computer store and they will say the battery failed because of the coffee you were drinking or something. 

Or go all out and get a top end quality unit like a Surface and pay the big $$$$.

I used to like HP, but there quality has gone way down hill for the printers and laptops. Had a couple of very high dollar photo printers fail, and HP no longer even has the cartridges. I still have a very old HP laptop that was made before the quality went bad. Works well, though it is a bit overwhelmed with todays software. We used Dell at work all of the time. Battery failure was common.

[rocker59]

I've had so many issues with these little junk computers.

Before I bought the POS I have now, I ordered a Dell.  I suppose it wasn't Dell's fault but the initial load of Win 10 didn't have any user software on it.  I didn't want to load a CD player app just so I could use the built in CD player plus drivers and every other app from photo viewer to solitaire.  So I sent it back.

I purchased this crappy little HP and it's literally breaking apart, the hinges are breaking out of the plastic case.  So stupid me, I ordered another Dell, that one wouldn't charge the battery which my computer guy says is a typical Dell problem.  Now I have Lavenco boat anchor that was shipped to me by NewEgg on Wednesday, it won't hook to the internet.  And now I learn that Newegg didn't even sell it to me, it came from a 3rd party and now I fighting them to send it back.

All I want is a 14in machine with 1TB hard drive and the usual plugins, slots, media and lit keyboard which can't be found at any retail store.    I have no idea what is meant by Gen9 processors an superRAM ....just give me the size I want in a reliable package.

Typing on this crappy HP hoping the screen doesn't break off from the keyboard

My HP 15" laptop is five years old.  The hinges are toast.  Pretty weak design.  My previous HP 14" laptop was 8 years old and had a nice full-length hinge that never gave out.

I've had great luck with HP laptops.  Other than the stupid weak hinge design, my current Envy is a badass machine!

Go to Best Buy and check them out.  Maybe a little more expensive, but at least you have a brick and mortar business to deal with, if any issues.

[Zoom Zoom]

I feel for ya John.

I'm fortunate to have a store near me called Micro Center. They have stores spread out around the country. They also have an online presence. I will tell you from many years of personal experience, you would not regret doing business with them. Often, their prices are better than most other places. Easy returns and exchanges.

If you have a store within driving distance, it's worth a visit. If not, online.

Needless to say, this doesn't resolve your current situation, but might be helpful moving forward. I had Dells for some time. Last time I needed something, an IT friend suggested Toshiba. I've had it for a few years now, and it was a bargain basement model that had a built in CD drive. Considering I paid under 400 bucks for it, it has been a good machine. I might think of spending a bit more next time for a faster processor.

John Henry

[Groover]

I'm a Dell guy, we use them at work for our workstations. Though, a lot of our portable type guys like the Microsoft Surface pros, though doesn't sound like the direction for you on the features you want.

I'd go with a Dell business grade laptop to get the features you are looking for - take a look at their Precision series. A little more on price, but they do last and are better built. I've had a 17" precision laptop for almost 4 years now and it's built like a tank. Mine's a Precision M6800 model, and you can probably find a good used one and upgrade the OS if needed (some already come with windows 10) and it will still have good usable specs and all the ports you may need, some have the light-up keyboard option you mentioned, and most will have the intel i7 processor which is still a good processor today - I think there is also a 15" built the same way. They are heavy though as they are built for field and military use (literally, a "tank") - The 15.6 monitor model is Precision M4800.

In regards to the hard drive space, even with cloud storage you'd probably want to match or have more on the hard drive space if you plan on syncing your cloud and local sync folder, which is where the convenience is in that method.

[AJ Huff]

I buy ASUS refurbs off Woot.com (part of Amazon). They have all been excellent. They average out costing me $100/yr. I find that acceptable.

-AJ

[AJ Huff]

I bought a refurb Lenovo off of Newegg and slapped a 120GB solid state drive in it all for less than $200. It's my daughter's laptop. That thing is awesome. I should have bought one for myself.

-AJ

[LowRyter]

I feel for ya John.

I'm fortunate to have a store near me called Micro Center. They have stores spread out around the country. They also have an online presence. I will tell you from many years of personal experience, you would not regret doing business with them. Often, their prices are better than most other places. Easy returns and exchanges.

If you have a store within driving distance, it's worth a visit. If not, online.

Needless to say, this doesn't resolve your current situation, but might be helpful moving forward. I had Dells for some time. Last time I needed something, an IT friend suggested Toshiba. I've had it for a few years now, and it was a bargain basement model that had a built in CD drive. Considering I paid under 400 bucks for it, it has been a good machine. I might think of spending a bit more next time for a faster processor.

John Henry


John Henry

thanks, I'll check their website. 

They had no 14in models on their site

[rocker59]

thanks, I'll check their website. 

They had no 14in models on their site

I went from a 14 to a 15 and won't go back. 

Do you HAVE TO have a 14 ???

[Guzzistajohn]

There’s this guy named Luap that owns a computer shop. I’d call him <shrug>

[twowings]

How much do you want to spend?

[LowRyter]

How much do you want to spend?

don't care.  But can't I get something for a grand or so?  I am not going double that, not even half more.

14in, 1TB, lit keyboard, Win, all the usual readers, connections and media, how hard can it be?  Right side power connection would be nice but not a deal breaker.  Just don't want it to break or go so slow in couple of years that I can't use it anymore. 

Does Luap really sell computers?

[Aaron D.]

I got my current Toshiba for $400, works well. Going to Staples at year end or so gets pretty good results.

[Guzzistajohn]

don't care.  But can't I get something for a grand or so?  I am not going double that, not even half more.

14in, 1TB, lit keyboard, Win, all the usual readers, connections and media, how hard can it be?  Right side power connection would be nice but not a deal breaker.  Just don't want it to break or go so slow in couple of years that I can't use it anymore. 

Does Luap really sell computers?

Yes

[twowings]

You can get some fine stuff for $500-$800...if you'd use Linux you could get by with 1/2 the processing power Windoze uses to get the same effect...

There is a media player called VLC that is free and works with Bill Gates' basket of snakes, too...check it out

[Lannis]

I bought a refurb Lenovo off of Newegg and slapped a 120GB solid state drive in it all for less than $200. It's my daughter's laptop. That thing is awesome. I should have bought one for myself.

-AJ

My 2008 iMac desktop 20" desktop has been working great for 11 years, but it's time for it to go.   The WiFi and the Bluetooth connections no longer work, so it has to be connected directly to the router, plus the OS X "El Capitan" 10.11.5 operating system is the last one that will work on it; the current version won't run even with the full 4 GB of memory.

I guess that's pretty good service in the computer world, 11 years is.   So I got my son the computer expert to "Get Me Another System" and he went to NewEgg and got me a refurbished HP EliteBook 15" laptop business model, which seems very nicely built, no problem with hinges and such in this thing's future I don't think, and installed Linux on it with just enough features to do what I want, no forced updates or "MacKeeper" security stuff.   I think I paid $350 for it.

So we'll see how this works.   I'm revamping my home communications, I hope, trying to convert from satellite and landline to all-cell-signal phone and internet if I can ....

Lannis 

[Bulldog9]

I buy Factory Refurbished IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads, rock solid performers, solid, well built, reliable, and reasonably priced. I usually buy on e-bay, never a problem, never spend more than $600. My wife likes that $$$ Dells, I could buy 3 of mine for one of hers, but my $450 laptop will long outlast the big $$.

Of course you can also buy a new Thinkpad, my son in law has a Thinkpad Workstation that is uber top of the line, had it 3 years, and he swears by it.  As always YMMV

[stubbie]

Gen 9 is the latest processor, cpu. Wouldn't think you would need one of those to do basic work. i3 or i5 maybe. Dells are usually best for that sort of office work. Surprised you have had the sort of problems you have had. Not that I have used a generic computer for the last 10 years. My kids use Apple and Surface about $1200, I use a Metabox but there like 3k. Do you really need a laptop? Can the same thing be done by a desktop?

[LowRyter]

I'm looking for a 14in laptop, 1THd, Win 10, etc., etc.

I finally got my return slip from the vendor, not NE for the POS Lenvenco, like I did with two POS Dells which I am trying to replace my POS HP.

[willowstreetguzziguy]

I switched over to an Apple IMac 3 years ago and have had 0 problems. Well worth the money spent.  No viruses or aggravation. Never going back to PC’s.

[Bert Remington]

If you want a small, reliable laptop for your motorcycle trips, I recommend the Dell XPS 13 with 16GB RAM and 0.5TB SSD.  Check Dell, Staples, etc for older Core I7 versions to save money (they keep them in their online store "backrooms").  Might be hard to find one with 1TB SSD so have a specialty house (Luap?) upgrade to 1TB or else pack an extra 256GB microSD or two and do the Mount thing.  Remember the rules: features, quality and price: pick two.

[Demar]

I just bought a refurb Acer 15" with 1TB for $264 shipped from Newegg. We will see how long it lasts. I've had decent luck with Asus products.

[fossil]

I'm a Dell guy, we use them at work for our workstations. Though, a lot of our portable type guys like the Microsoft Surface pros, though doesn't sound like the direction for you on the features you want.

I'd go with a Dell business grade laptop to get the features you are looking for - take a look at their Precision series. A little more on price, but they do last and are better built. I've had a 17" precision laptop for almost 4 years now and it's built like a tank. Mine's a Precision M6800 model, and you can probably find a good used one and upgrade the OS if needed (some already come with windows 10) and it will still have good usable specs and all the ports you may need, some have the light-up keyboard option you mentioned, and most will have the intel i7 processor which is still a good processor today - I think there is also a 15" built the same way. They are heavy though as they are built for field and military use (literally, a "tank") - The 15.6 monitor model is Precision M4800.

In regards to the hard drive space, even with cloud storage you'd probably want to match or have more on the hard drive space if you plan on syncing your cloud and local sync folder, which is where the convenience is in that method.

Dell Precision if you need top graphics (3D), basically the same computers with "normal" graphics and screens are called Latitude, or very related consumer laptops (real high-end types) called XPS. We use them exclusively in our family (from a nearly 20 years old Latitude D600 to a spankling-new XPS15, both refurbs and new), and they simply work. I am typing this on a 2009 - Latitude E6400 with the newest iteration of Win 10.

The only real competition to these machines are the ThinkPads.

[Luap McKeever]

I feel somewhat qualified to offer an opinion here...

Yes, I own a computer shop and sell computers. Not new ones, but ones that we refurbish in house and put through a vigorous 16-point test before we sell them.  It might not be justifiable cost-wise for John to make the trip though.

Even though I use an HP Envy, I cannot recommend an HP. Their quality is becoming way too sub-par.  Dell is not far behind either. I'll save all the reasons for that for a rainy day. I've reinforced mine and massively upgraded it, but not everyone is in the position to do that.

I recommend Intel. Stay away from AMD processors like the plague. Also, stay away from Acer and Gateway like the plague. Avoid computers from walmart (any electronics for that matter). They're all Frankenstein units. I once replaced a screen in a laptop from walmart and on the back of the screen was a sticker that read "refurbished by company x". The company is one that repairs Walmart electronics. I found it disheartening that they'd use refurbished parts to sell as new, but now know why they sell so cheap.

I recommend the Lenovo Ideapad 330s or the Asus VivoBook 14". Either one is a quality device. I'd probably go with the Lenovo though. I worked on one (viruses) the other day and am thinking about selling my HP to get one of those. It's a nice one.  Link: https://tinyurl.com/yxjj9o46

Also, remember....ALL HARD DRIVES FAIL. I don't care what anyone says. ALL of them WILL DIE eventually. I've seen comments here of opponents of cloud storage. I'm in the proponent camp on this because I've been seeing first hand for over 20 years the tears falling from peoples eyes that have lost decades of family photos because they didn't have a good, reliable back up.  Remember that even external backups fail and 99% of people don't back up often enough. It's not "if" they fail, it's "when" they fail. I'm a fan of google drive. It's automatic, affordable and can be used as an actual drive letter on your computer. A truly wonderful product that I rely on myself.

Hope all of this helps.

[Guzzistajohn]

Considering all the "little people" porn you watch, I'd go IPAD. The virus protection is the best! (so I hear) 

[twowings]

https://puri.sm/

https://system76.com/laptops

[AJ Huff]

My daughter's refurb Lenovo runs Linux. Keeps her out of trouble. I ran dual boot on my refurb Asus until it died. Lasted 7 years though.

-AJ

My 2008 iMac desktop 20" desktop has been working great for 11 years, but it's time for it to go.   The WiFi and the Bluetooth connections no longer work, so it has to be connected directly to the router, plus the OS X "El Capitan" 10.11.5 operating system is the last one that will work on it; the current version won't run even with the full 4 GB of memory.

I guess that's pretty good service in the computer world, 11 years is.   So I got my son the computer expert to "Get Me Another System" and he went to NewEgg and got me a refurbished HP EliteBook 15" laptop business model, which seems very nicely built, no problem with hinges and such in this thing's future I don't think, and installed Linux on it with just enough features to do what I want, no forced updates or "MacKeeper" security stuff.   I think I paid $350 for it.

So we'll see how this works.   I'm revamping my home communications, I hope, trying to convert from satellite and landline to all-cell-signal phone and internet if I can ....

Lannis

[AJ Huff]

I feel somewhat qualified to offer an opinion here...


Also, remember....ALL HARD DRIVES FAIL. I don't care what anyone says. ALL of them WILL DIE eventually. I've seen comments here of opponents of cloud storage. I'm in the proponent camp on this because I've been seeing first hand for over 20 years the tears falling from peoples eyes that have lost decades of family photos because they didn't have a good, reliable back up.  Remember that even external backups fail and 99% of people don't back up often enough. It's not "if" they fail, it's "when" they fail. I'm a fan of google drive. It's automatic, affordable and can be used as an actual drive letter on your computer. A truly wonderful product that I rely on myself.

Hope all of this helps.

Currently I use Dropbox. I have my drive split, small partition for OS and programs, larger partition for any type of data. That partition is set as the Dropbox drive so any file saved to it automatically uploads to Dropbox. When my last laptop died, I just downloaded everything back from Dropbox. Took a awhile but was painless.

I also have a redundant back up of music files to hard drive and pCloud. I'm liking that better than Dropbox.

I learned the hard way that a backup I had saved to external hard dive vaporized when I hooked that hard drive up and it was unreadable. Not much use then.

-AJ