Advice on laptop purchase

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concordnz

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#3157261 8-Nov-2023 13:33

Just saw you post that she is sometimes impatient :) - maybe spend sone time ensuring its got a 512Gb Nmve SSD should help - but you will pay $100 more so budget $700 in that case.

Eva888

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#3157263 8-Nov-2023 13:52

concordnz: Just saw you post that she is sometimes impatient :) - maybe spend sone time ensuring its got a 512Gb Nmve SSD should help - but you will pay $100 more so budget $700 in that case.

Thanks. What about the Elite Books on sale in the PB Daily Deals link? They don’t have any in depth specs.

Eva888

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#3157288 8-Nov-2023 15:18

Thanks everyone for the input and talking me out of buying that new one. Great advice.

Have decided to go for an HP Elite book with a 14” display, eyeing up a couple. I prefer the silver look over black because her work one is black.

Eva888

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#3158016 10-Nov-2023 13:30

Just bought an Elite book 840G5 from trade me with Win 11 pro installed. A bit nervous that it could be a lemon but asked for all the features @concordnz suggested. Got it for $400 and it was cheaper plus a newer generation than the PB Tech specials so I think I did ok.

It is 8GB plus 256GB SSD installed. There’s an option for 16GB Ram for $50 and $100 for 512 SSD. Is it worth spending any more for the upgrade if the use will be minimal?

Thanks.

SirisLeOsiris

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#3158087 10-Nov-2023 16:07

That model is dead simple to open with all the base assy screw being captive, it has two RAM slots so you could upgrade it t 16GB by buying a second RAM module from PBtech for less than $50 (Eg MEMADM10010 for $33)

SSD it only has a single slot and it a bit more effort to upgrade as you would need to install Windows but still way cheaper then $100 to upgrade, SSDs start at $63 at PBtech for 500GB or 1TB for $89

16GB can be nice if lots of stuff or web pages get left open.

SSD only matters if you are going to chuck lots of data on it, even with higher end / faster drives it wont make it feel faster.

alinz

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#3158114 10-Nov-2023 18:37

Eva888:

It is 8GB plus 256GB SSD installed. There’s an option for 16GB Ram for $50 and $100 for 512 SSD. Is it worth spending any more for the upgrade if the use will be minimal?

It will be perfect as it is for the use you have mentioned, no upgrades needed.

Lego

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Handle9

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#3158117 10-Nov-2023 20:12

Eva888:

Just bought an Elite book 840G5 from trade me with Win 11 pro installed. A bit nervous that it could be a lemon but asked for all the features @concordnz suggested. Got it for $400 and it was cheaper plus a newer generation than the PB Tech specials so I think I did ok.

It is 8GB plus 256GB SSD installed. There’s an option for 16GB Ram for $50 and $100 for 512 SSD. Is it worth spending any more for the upgrade if the use will be minimal?

Thanks.

You don't really have to upgrade anything but if I was buying it I would get 16GB Ram. Storage isn't going to be an issue for your use case and a Ram upgrade is a quality of life upgrade rather than really important.

Qazzy03

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#3158121 10-Nov-2023 20:46

If she isn't going to use it more than gmail emails then not worth upgrading anything.
However if she was going to surf the web and have mutiple programmes running I personally would get the 16GB for QoL.

Eva888

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#3158129 10-Nov-2023 21:48

OK @handle I’ve asked for the upgrade. I figure it’s only 50 bucks to improve it a tad.

Thanks all.

Eva888

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#3159549 14-Nov-2023 20:11

Laptop arrived and is in mint condition not a mark on it. Have been downloading a few apps like Netflix, Adobe and Zoom. Am a bit puzzled why downloading apps takes around two minutes. Timed it after the first download.

Also start up when it’s turned on is slow with a blank screen seemingly for ages. I expected it to be much snappier than an old Toshiba Tecra I have that has low specs but is almost instant on.

I haven’t signed into Microsoft etc as leaving that to her.

Any suggestions welcome.

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