I need a new laptop

[Preston-CLB]

I heartily agree with Bill, here.

Buy a high-quality machine. Yes, it will cost more, but the return in less frustration and possible repair costs down the road is worth it.

Be sure you get the Pro version of Windoze.

If you do decide to wipe the drive and reinstall the OS, be sure to go to the manufacturer's site and download any model-specific drivers.
-P

[Dan_Eastvale]

Does "degradable" mean it will self-destruct if you leave it in the sunshine too long?
-p

In five seconds Mr. Phelps

[mofugly13]

Do not buy a cheaper retail laptop (BestBuy etc.) if non-Mac.

Cheaper laptops are filled with adware crap because of thin margins,
and use crap components where they can.

Get a laptop from a biz-oriented vendor and get it imaged with
a basic Windows OS without frills and extra stuff.

If your laptop does have extra BS, make a USB recovery stick and wipe
it and reinstall. (Almost better to buy a Windows Pro license)

What is a biz oriented vendor?
You mean selling to businesses?

I'm guessing Costco is not one??

Anyway...the Costco holiday savings flyer just came out and it has quite a few laptops in it.....anyone seen it and see anything I should take a look at?



Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

[Cowboy T]

The ones from Costco generally are going to have the crapware pre-installed on them as well, same as Best Buy and other big-box stores. I've seen computers come directly from Dell loaded with crapware.

[Iknownot]

Anyway...the Costco holiday savings flyer just came out and it has quite a few laptops in it.....anyone seen it and see anything I should take a look at?



Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

You never really said how much you want to spend but this one currently up on Costco.com for $600 pretty much exactly fits the requirements you typed out in your original post and has decent enough specs that it should last you 4-5 years easy. It also has Intel Xe graphics which should give you the ability for light gaming should you even want to get into that (I know you said you didn?t care at all, but it?s there if you ever do). Comes with a 2 year warranty as well.

https://www.costco.com/acer-aspire-5-17.3%22-laptop---13th-gen-intel-core-i5-1335u---1080p---windows-11-home.product.4000177473.html

Aside from that I?m not sure what more you?d want for the same or similar money based on what you original typed.

[Iknownot]

The ones from Costco generally are going to have the crapware pre-installed on them as well, same as Best Buy and other big-box stores. I've seen computers come directly from Dell loaded with crapware.

That?s really a non issue with minimal effort. Just do a clean win 11 install using MS USB installer tool (on Ms website ) before you start using the laptop. Windows doesn?t take forever to install like it used to. An extra 1/2 hour of effort at the start and you don?t have to worry about bloatware ever.

Or if you don?t mind a less clean way of doing it just go into installed apps and delete everything that isn?t a windows installed app. That usually works ok as well.

(Clean install is a better choice ).

[hermosabeach]

Since it's not for work, will you use it as a laptop?

If you don't need a laptop, a desk top gives a lot more options due to the space you have.

Yes in California it's nice to have a laptop with an 8 hours battery for brown and blackouts.


But if you won't be moving it, would you consider a full size pc?

[Iknownot]

/\/\/\. For the OP’s stated uses a laptop will work just fine. Any decent spec’d one from the last year or two will be plenty fast for what he wants to do. And If he wants more screen space or a keyboard and mouse set up he can go out and get a laptop stand, Monitor and KB/m for $200 or under and have a Desktop like set up and dual screen capability.

[hermosabeach]

New costco sale
Laptop

https://www.costco.com/.product.4000157083.html?EMID=B2C_2023_1025_MVM_Monthly&correlationId=c3fa1466-3cc7-4386-8182-b1e6752754be-0

$499 was $699
HP 15.6" Touchscreen Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 7520U - Windows 11
Item 1051382 Model 15-fc0105cl
4.4 out of 5 stars. Read reviews for average rating value is 4.4 of 5. Read 183 Reviews Same page link.
4.4

(183)
Write a review
View Larger Image 1

[gabe123]

if your old work laptop wasn't too lacking, then you won't need a fancy laptop. Any new laptop now can dances around the old ones. For normal laptop, I find that $600 to $800 one AFTER $200-300 sale at Costco are normally the sweet spot. The specs are basically very similar. One advice though, do not just buy on specs alone. Go and handle laptop to see if you like it. The screen you have to look at it to know if you like it. Some laptops very good specs but the screen is just bad. Size, weight, etc..

[mofugly13]

if your old work laptop wasn't too lacking, then you won't need a fancy laptop. Any new laptop now can dances around the old ones. For normal laptop, I find that $600 to $800 one AFTER $200-300 sale at Costco are normally the sweet spot. The specs are basically very similar. One advice though, do not just buy on specs alone. Go and handle laptop to see if you like it. The screen you have to look at it to know if you like it. Some laptops very good specs but the screen is just bad. Size, weight, etc..

I actually looked at the ones on display at Costco. It seems that I'm being recommended to get 1tb of storage but there's not a whole lot of selection with that. But I know how quickly storage gets filled up.

One thing I know I want is a touchscreen. My old laptop had that and it's a feature I really like. Whenever I'm helping my daughter on her MacBook I'm always trying to use it like a touchscreen and it's annoying that it doesn't have it.

There's this Lenovo I liked at Costco. At a price I'd be willing to spend....

But the whole reason I came and asked is because I really need someone to tell me what I want! It's ridiculous. But my last desktop I bought one with so many bells and whistles that I sent need or use and probably added 1000 to the price. I tend to do things like that with some items.



Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

[mofugly13]

New costco sale
Laptop

https://www.costco.com/.product.4000157083.html?EMID=B2C_2023_1025_MVM_Monthly&correlationId=c3fa1466-3cc7-4386-8182-b1e6752754be-0

$499 was $699
HP 15.6" Touchscreen Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 7520U - Windows 11
Item 1051382 Model 15-fc0105cl
4.4 out of 5 stars. Read reviews for average rating value is 4.4 of 5. Read 183 Reviews Same page link.
4.4

(183)
Write a review
View Larger Image 1

That looks good

The beginning of this thread it was heavily recommended a Dell or Lenovo....and that tends to make me think ok....I must get a Dell or Lenovo.....

But I've had HP products before and that one looks just fine to me...

Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

[Iknownot]

I actually looked at the ones on display at Costco. It seems that I'm being recommended to get 1tb of storage but there's not a whole lot of selection with that. But I know how quickly storage gets filled up.

One thing I know I want is a touchscreen. My old laptop had that and it's a feature I really like. Whenever I'm helping my daughter on her MacBook I'm always trying to use it like a touchscreen and it's annoying that it doesn't have it.

There's this Lenovo I liked at Costco. At a price I'd be willing to spend....

But the whole reason I came and asked is because I really need someone to tell me what I want! It's ridiculous. But my last desktop I bought one with so many bells and whistles that I sent need or use and probably added 1000 to the price. I tend to do things like that with some items.



Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

That will work perfectly fine for what you want and it has the specs you want. The only real issue is it comes with a 512ssd. You can upgrade that later if you want by buying a bigger size M.2, installing it yourself after cloning your original drive or doing a fresh win 11 install. But if you don?t want the hassle you?d want to start with 1TB.

Aside from that you are over thinking this. Anything in the $600-800 range with a 12th or 13th gen Intel i5 or better or a current gen ryzen 5 or 7 will be what you want and really most of these laptops are very similar in specs and performance (In general ). Pick the one you think is the best value as you are already on target for your stated needs.

In any case if you narrow down what you want like touch screen, 16 or 17 inch and 1TB storage if you start paying attention to prices over the next few weeks you might even be able to catch a pre- Black Friday or actual BF sale and end up with a nicer laptop in the $500-600 range. But you should be ready to hop if you are serious about it and see something. Those sale price items go out of stock quickly.

[gabe123]

I actually looked at the ones on display at Costco. It seems that I'm being recommended to get 1tb of storage but there's not a whole lot of selection with that. But I know how quickly storage gets filled up.

One thing I know I want is a touchscreen. My old laptop had that and it's a feature I really like. Whenever I'm helping my daughter on her MacBook I'm always trying to use it like a touchscreen and it's annoying that it doesn't have it.

There's this Lenovo I liked at Costco. At a price I'd be willing to spend....

But the whole reason I came and asked is because I really need someone to tell me what I want! It's ridiculous. But my last desktop I bought one with so many bells and whistles that I sent need or use and probably added 1000 to the price. I tend to do things like that with some items.



Sent from my SM-G990U using Tapatalk

I don't pay much attention to SSD size when looking at laptop, but I imagine 512GB is common, and you can't get 1, or 2TB without having to pay a whole lot more for other things that you don't need. a Crucial 2TB m2 ssd on sale on Amazon today is around $75. It is quite easy to change it yourself. You got to know what physical size the ssd in the new laptop is. Sometimes the manufacturers use shorter one, like 30mm or things like that. Create a restore usb drive before you change the ssd and use it to install fresh windows. You can also buy a micro sd card to add storage to your laptop, and it work just fine, just a little slower.

I don't have much experience with Lenovo. Only 2 brands I deal with a lot. Dell and Hp, and these are corporate workhorse laptops, not consumer grade. When a Dell battery dies, normally from not being charged for a long time in storage, it just dies. The chip inside it cuts off everything, and it is safe to continue using the laptop without removing the battery. I have yet to encounter a swollen Dell battery, although I know they are out there. For HPs, 50% of 3, 4 year old HPs that I handled have swollen battery. Some swollen so bad the laptop case is crack open, and yet, it continues to work, power the laptop, and can be charged. This is a fire hazard.

I no longer build desktop. There is just no point any more ( for me). I only buy Dell now.

[Iknownot]

/\/\/\ you can upgrade the SSD later as long as the laptop has an M.2 slot (or older sata connector ). It’s not common in the price range the OP is looking but there are some PC laptops with the storage on the MOBO which are not upgradable and that is certainly often the case with chromebooks and for sure MacBooks