Laptop suggestions?

[Ian C]

You're right, it is a bit outside the spec in my original post,  but if someone is keen to make a case for a more expensive Apple, I'm happy to listen[emoji106]if it doesn't help me, it may help someone else [emoji106]

The difference is massive, yes there more expensive but there beautiful built and v fast, as an example we got my son a MacBook for his 18 birthday he is now 25 and it runs almost like new and is still with 350 ish to sell!

[tree-fancier123]

these look ok from 3 years ago, selling for about 500 used on ebay, maybe worth a punt from a seller with good feedback

a new version is around 1500. Only suggested this model as it has a tablet style interface too.

Or go back to basics and get a Rasberry Pi

 

[harvey b davison]

I'm keenly following this, as I'm going to have to bite the bullet at some point on a new laptop. Currently got a hp, with windows etc, and don't, mind going down the same route. However what I cant get my head round is paying a subscription for Microsoft office etc. I also have the free libre software downloaded, and I am quite happy to use that. I also have programs such as autocad, sketch up, and gimp photoshop suite for photography and video editing. So my question would be how would a mac be compatible with what I already have and would I be able to download and run everything I need / want.

[Steve Bullman]

12 minutes ago, harvey b davison said:

I'm keenly following this, as I'm going to have to bite the bullet at some point on a new laptop. Currently got a hp, with windows etc, and don't, mind going down the same route. However what I cant get my head round is paying a subscription for Microsoft office etc. I also have the free libre software downloaded, and I am quite happy to use that. I also have programs such as autocad, sketch up, and gimp photoshop suite for photography and video editing. So my question would be how would a mac be compatible with what I already have and would I be able to download and run everything I need / want.

There are Mac versions of more software available. I use gimp myself 

[htb]

6 minutes ago, Steve Bullman said:

I use gimp myself

What does the village idiot do programmes as well as ancient woodland management?

[topchippyles]

53 minutes ago, harvey b davison said:

I'm keenly following this, as I'm going to have to bite the bullet at some point on a new laptop. Currently got a hp, with windows etc, and don't, mind going down the same route. However what I cant get my head round is paying a subscription for Microsoft office etc. I also have the free libre software downloaded, and I am quite happy to use that. I also have programs such as autocad, sketch up, and gimp photoshop suite for photography and video editing. So my question would be how would a mac be compatible with what I already have and would I be able to download and run everything I need / want.

Those programs would not be compatible from a windows operating system on a macbook (apple)

[Stere]

Best vfm for new imo is buying direct from the dell or lenovo website.

 

Around £500 quid for something decent.

 

10th gen i5 SSD and 8GB RAM etc

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by Stere

[spudulike]

Just had a look around and CPUs are now commonly 6 and 8 core. My lappy is X4 and is pretty sprightly on all the normal stuff that you....and I do. When booting, mine used to take 3-5 minutes after a few years abuse. I used to turn it on and make a cuppa before using it. I reckon it is around 15 seconds now due to a SSD I fitted a while ago and that is with the same drive image being used and cost around £40. I have upgraded memory to 1GB and both are pretty easy mods. It has stayed that way and did the wifes desktop a year ago, same issues and bingo...super fast boot up time, no turning it on 30 mins before use!

I just checked and mine is 10 years old and that is sooooooo long in computing terms but, it really shows that if you don't need games or are doing highly intensive graphics rendering or the like, all you need is an old banger with a bit of extra zip from memory and SSD.

You could buy a decent 5 year old laptop making sure the processor is at least X4 core and then put around £60-80 of bits in it and bingo...it will blow you away!

Lots of companies do refurb laptops for a couple of hundred £, just don't start thinking that you are going to use any more than 20% of the performance of a modern laptop surfing the net so why pay a fortune for it?

 

[Dan Maynard]

Those programs would not be compatible from a windows operating system on a macbook (apple)

Careful there Les, in the last 5 years Mac's have got a lot more mainstream. Of the things mentioned AutoCAD, SketchUp, gimp, Microsoft Office, Libre office all available for Mac now.

I still stand by the statement Mac are a premium product. They are good, but expensive so it's a bit like buying a Mercedes when a Ford is cheaper, more economical.

I buy Lenovo, I picture them somewhere around Volvo, my 9 year old one is solid and dependable. I've upgraded to SSD like Spud and had new batteries every few years. We bought a load of the £500 ones earlier in the year and they are cracking machines.

One other thought to chuck in is whether you have iPhone? If you do and so have all your photos, music, mail and so on with Apple then the MacBook becomes even more attractive because everything will share across nicely. If you are happy to pay for it then the user experience is great. I believe this is one of the main reasons Mac's are so much more popular now, they used to be really niche.

If you're on Android then I would do a £500 Lenovo i5 8GB and SSD. Dell always had the reputation of falling to pieces when I used to travel around commissioning machinery.

And don't ignore the refurbished either, these often come from large companies who upgrade in fleets every 2 or 3 years. It's a case of the right thing coming up at the right time though.

And like car brand it's a personal thing, you won't get Les off his HP.

[Dan Maynard]

And yes, subscription for Microsoft Office is an interesting one. You can pay £249 one off fee for one computer now (£120 if no business use), so you're not forced into subscription.

Or, in my business I used to pay £7 per user per month for hosted email and buy boxed copies of Office. These were expensive so we were still running Office 2010 until a few months ago when we bought the new laptops.

I now pay £9 a month per user for hosted email, and each user can install Office onto up to 5 PCs. So Microsoft Office is now so cheap it's a no brainer.

For home or single user though I would look at LibreOffice, it is pretty good. My kids didn't like it because the PowerPoint equivalent is a bit limited but if you're just doing quotes and spreadsheets it will be fine.