Terminology when buying new laptop

[Wicksey]

I currently have a 14" HP Convertible x360 laptop which has a touch screen with Win10. We like it and although it's getting on a bit and only has 4GB RAM, it generally works OK although a bit slow at times. Problem is that the battery is wearing out and I know it is only a matter of time when it will completely fail, and it seems I cannot get a replacement (throwaway society ).

Looking at similar new models these are close to a thousand euros which I really don't want to spend, but being a creature of habit, I do tend to stick to what I know and have been only looking at HP. New models have 16GB RAM, which presumably is quicker ??? and now have SSD hard drives which I'm sure I read somewhere don't last as long as the old style HDs. I'm not sure what I am looking for really, is 16GB RAM plenty (as I currently only have 4) and the SSDs I've seen on newer models are 512GB? The current Intel processor is 1.60GHz, but no idea if that is good or bad or how it compares to new models. We use it for day to day surfing the net, not gaming, and occasionally for streaming TV when it usually works fine.

I've only ever had HP laptops although various makes of PC in the past. Perhaps someone can recommend other makes? We use it every day and take it on holiday, so we don't want anything more than the current weight of 1.4kgs or larger than 14".

[markwilding]

I tend to buy HP laptops and the first thing that always goes is the battery. My last two have solid state drives and In my opinion any trade off with the fact that they might not last as long as the old type is worth it due to the fact that they are faster. I have a new IMac desktop and if anything the Mac is slower at start-up when powered on. However, both start-up immediately from sleep. They are more expensive though so mine, which has all the specs you describe apart from the HDD being ITB, cost 1,300 pounds. These days it isn't necessary to have so much capacity due to the cloud. All my work stuff is on the cloud giving access to it on my I pad and phone and the other computers I have. The Mac only has 256 GBs and I bought a separate SSD drive for my wife who prefers to back up photos on one.

Something else like about newer computers is charging through USBC. I have a 64w USB C charger which also has USBC 15W and the old USB type that charges absolutely everything I need charging from the laptop to phones and tablets as well as things like headphones.

One of the most power intensive tasks is mirroring the screen to a TV. I do this to watch Southampton matches when they are not on Sky and it works fine on my 4 and a half year old laptop. I imagine today's lower spec processors are even more powerful than mine which was the one of the fastest at the time.

Personally, I would set yourself a budget and go from there, maybe get a less powerful processor and less HDD space in favour of more ram. These days computers are not as sluggish as they were some years ago and for your usage, which looks to be similar to mine, that should be fine.

[Wicksey]

Thanks Mark. Just a shame that I will end up throwing out a perfectly servicable machine just because the battery wears out.

[DannyB]

If you are only using it for the sort of things you mention, do you really need a fully featured laptop. I recently replaced mine with a Samsung A8 tablet, 64gb plus a SD card as big as you want. 200 euros or so and has filled all my needs

[markwilding]

Thanks Mark. Just a shame that I will end up throwing out a perfectly servicable machine just because the battery wears out.

I have never had a problem getting 3rd party replacement batteries mostly from Amazon. Just type in your laptop model number into Google and see what's available.

[Wicksey]

If you are only using it for the sort of things you mention, do you really need a fully featured laptop. I recently replaced mine with a Samsung A8 tablet, 64gb plus a SD card as big as you want. 200 euros or so and has filled all my needs

I do prefer the laptop with a full sized keyboard as I do fair bit of typing on it. I do occasionally use it for my accounts on excell spreadsheets etc and find the laptop set-up better. We both like the touchscreen function but I could without it if I had to, as that seems to really push the price up.

Mark, I did have a look at batteries on Amazon but some of the reviews were a bit scary as they damaged laptops. Also, I did take the back off to have a look, but the batteries that say they fit this model are different to what I have.

[Enrique]

Hi Wicksey,
I'm a bit late to the Party due to technical issues..........
Have a look round for deals that pop up from time to time...............

Set budget as per Mark.

I like and use Acer laptops............... this one looks interesting............

https://www.pccomponentes.com/acer-aspi ... gb-ssd-156

I've used this company and had good results.

[Wicksey]

Thanks for that recommendation Enrique, I shall keep an eye out. Hopefully this one will last a bit longer but I need to really start looking now for its replacement.

[El Cid]

Bigger and heavier than Wicksey said she wants. A good buy though.

Move to Apple and get the Macbook Air M2 13". Fabulous laptop. Always at the top of the review lists.

Sid

[Wicksey]

Apple and Mac are different operating systems though, and I do prefer Windows. I am sticking to what I know, the same with phones. I do all the IT stuff at home so want to keep it simple!

[El Cid]

I take your point - there would be a learning curve to change OS. Alternatives recommended to the Mac are Dell XPS 13 and Asus Zen 13. Both meet your size/weight criteria.

Sid

[Pamela1]

Thanks Mark. Just a shame that I will end up throwing out a perfectly servicable machine just because the battery wears out.

My HP laptop stopped charging after about 14mnths, it was out of warranty. Very annoying but i compensated by plugging into the mains. I never did get round to replacing the battery, probably because i never take the laptop with me anywhere so it was something i could put up with. That was about 5yrs ago. Eventually the laptop screen got accidently damaged so i decided it was time for a newer model. I still went for HP because apart from the battery i did like the laptop and especially the soft touch keys and touch pad. I am quite happy with the new one apart from the touch pad which is quite stiff compared to my last one, i'm slowly getting used to it. The one good thing is that it is much faster. Wicksey you will find that when you do buy a new one you will have a newer version of windows, i don't like change and i'm still getting used to the new interface changes on windows 11, i preferred the Windows 10 layout on my old one,it was just what i was used to.

[costakid]

Thanks Mark. Just a shame that I will end up throwing out a perfectly servicable machine just because the battery wears out.

My HP laptop stopped charging after about 14mnths, it was out of warranty. Very annoying but i compensated by plugging into the mains. I never did get round to replacing the battery, probably because i never take the laptop with me anywhere so it was something i could put up with. That was about 5yrs ago. Eventually the laptop screen got accidently damaged so i decided it was time for a newer model. I still went for HP because apart from the battery i did like the laptop and especially the soft touch keys and touch pad. I am quite happy with the new one apart from the touch pad which is quite stiff compared to my last one, i'm slowly getting used to it. The one good thing is that it is much faster. Wicksey you will find that when you do buy a new one you will have a newer version of windows, i don't like change and i'm still getting used to the new interface changes on windows 11, i preferred the Windows 10 layout on my old one,it was just what i was used to.

Hi Pamela, its an age thing. None of us like change, we like what we like.

[Joe22]

My take on this subject would be to go for mid range spec on any well known make, depending on budget.
I know Apple is out of the question but over the years of having owned Asus, HP and Acer laptops I would rate them in that order as to build quality. Lenovo get decent reviews and Dell can also be considered.

Getting back to spec which obviously can affect price in a big way is a minefield for anyone.
Might be a bit OTT on this but here goes my idea of mid range innards.

Processor...
Intel Core i5, 11th generation or higher (I'd dismiss an i3 in favour of the more superior i5).
Or one of the AMD Ryzen 5 generations (they tend to be cheaper than intel but are just as good, if not better).

Ram...
8 or 16GB (16GB is preferable but for a light non gaming user isn't necessary).

Hard drive...
An M.2 NVME SSD of the capacity required (new laptops usually come with this type of drive).
I'd say a minimum of 512GB.

Something around those parameters I think would more than do for several years for an average user these days and will stream live TV no problem given a good enough internet connection.

A non touchscreen HP 14 inch laptop I found on amazon.es for a reasonable price is this.
https://www.amazon.es/HP-14s-dq4005ns-O ... r=8-2&th=1
The web page offers a multitude of configurations for what you think is 14 inch but no, there's only one.
Any other configuration I clicked on becomes a 15.6 inch.

Anyway the 14 inch advertised is €650, weight is 1.46kg and comes with Windows 11 Home, for a W10 user, W11 will take a bit of getting used to but isn't that difficult to master.

Hope this post gives some idea of what to look for as in mid range'ish spec without breaking the bank.

[Wicksey]

Many thanks Joe22. I had come to the conclusion that 8-16GB and 512GB SSD would be ideal, so I shall keep searching and see what comes up. My current laptop was on offer at Worten a few years back for under 400€, but similar ones are around 1000€ now. Even 650€ is rather a lot to me but I think I shall have to look around that amount as prices have risen so much.

[El Cid]

This might be the answer. Lighter even than the Macbook and it keeps you with HP.

https://www.amazon.es/HP-Pavilion-Aero- ... B096V3489K

Sid

[Wicksey]

Thanks Sid, I spotted this when looking at that link
https://www.amazon.es/HP-14s-dq4005ns-O ... 3489K?th=1

That is probably nearer my price limit and is also very similar in size to mine and the same weight (this weighs 1.46kg). Seems to be a number of models I can consider, especially if I also look at Asus, Dell etc.

[Pamela1]

Hi Pamela, its an age thing. None of us like change, we like what we like.
[/quote]

Very True costakid.

[Wicksey]

Back to this again, having been to Mediamarkt and saw some well priced Lenovo laptops. Any thoughts? They seem to get a reasonable write up as long as you go for the higher memory and spec as we've already discussed above.

[Enrique]

Hi Wicksey,

Always go for the largest specs for your Budget as the OS and other software will bloat up over time.

I'm not a fan of Lenovo .............. prefer Acer and HP for Laptops.

Please Post the Model ID's ( Lenovo ) of the ones you're looking at.