Laptop Advice for my Mum

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Handle9

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#2852377 17-Jan-2022 18:05

alasta:

xpd:

Going for "consumer" level laptops these days tends to end in tears, they're cheaply made and dont perform well at all IME.

This is really interesting. I would have thought that consumer focused computers would be targeted towards non-technical users and therefore more user friendly? Is this not the case?

I have a consumer grade laptop and it's generally very reliable. In contrast my father has stupidly purchased a corporate desktop and has spent hundreds of dollars for a technician to repeatedly come over and help get it working properly.

Consumer laptops is code for "built to a price."

A large segment of the market buys on price so OEMs give them what they want - cheap. That introduces any number of compromises.

Higher end consumer laptops are normally called "gaming" or "thin and light."

timmmay

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#2852449 17-Jan-2022 19:59

Our last Asus didn't end well, screen went all funny. Support from Ascent was ok, not great and not terrible. We got a partial refund. Screens and screen connector seems a weak point for all laptops.

I go with HP by default, and can do Dell, Lenovo and maybe Microsoft Surface if someone else is paying for it. I'd leave the rest alone personally. Everyone has difference experiences though.

jonathan18

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#2852458 17-Jan-2022 20:08

Yeah, have to admit my Asus Chromebook (one of their aluminium flash ones) and my son’s Asus Windows laptop have both been back for repairs, whereas the HP Spectre has been fine for the six+ years we’ve owned it. Perhaps that’s a sign!

Not touching Dell after they f-ed up my order (order placed, credit card deducted then nothing; impossible to get straight answers from people, if you could get hold of them).

The Spectre is still going; getting a bit less reliable, but perhaps a fresh Windows install (and maybe more RAM) would keep it going longer. This Asus, though, does appear to offer really good value for money, especially relative to HP 360s - about or over $2k for something close to this (and that would be just a Pavillon).

nztim

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TEAMnetwork

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#2852469 17-Jan-2022 20:30

My Advise is stick with someone with a 3 year warranty, while there is the CGA, it just not worth the hassle of trying to argue it, when say 3 year warranty I mean 3 year manufacturers warranty not a "store" warranty

for HP the OP posted a Zbook Firefly G8 and while that is a nice laptop it is most likely way outside her needs, I got my mum one of an exeed exdemo sale for $999+GST but unless you have those inside channels you are SOL

For HP (which I am a huge fan of) this means the following:

Probook 4XX the warranty extension is UK726E
Probook 6XX the warranty extension is UA6A1E

the HP Elitebook and HP Zbook have 3 year warranty as standard

The Probook 4XX is more expensive for the extended manufacutrers warranty as the components in the laptop are "what ever is available at the time of Manufacture" hence the laptop is cheaper, the Probook 6XX has standard components for that sku

hope this helps

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

jonathan18

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#2861175 3-Feb-2022 11:20

So I've settled on getting an Intel-powered Probook, based on recommendations here, our own positive experience with HP laptops (I currently use a Spectre 360; my wife has an Elitebook for work), and the clean integration with the HP Thunderbolt dock I bought off TM (works well with my wife's laptop), but...

I'm finding it difficult to confirm any differences between the 450 G8 and the 650 G8 - even doing a side-by-side comparison of the specs listed on PB's site, the only difference I could spot was USB ports (450=2 SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate (1 charging, 1 power); 650=3 x Super Speed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate (1 charging)).

That said, I can see in the images the 650 has additional sensors(?) near the camera - is it that the 650 has an IR camera, whereas the 450 doesn't? A problem with PB Tech is one can't trust the text they stick in their listings' titles - while both clearly state "IR Cam", I've previously found they play fast and loose with this description (eg, went to buy a laptop that the listing said came with a stylus but it didn't; they acknowledged they do a quick cut and paste and clearly don't check for accuracy).

Any advice on the differences, and whether they're meaningful would be much appreciated.

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