Understanding a few laptop specs

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Earbanean

887 posts

Ultimate Geek

#251136 10-Jun-2019 14:04

I'm looking to get a laptop for home office, occasional meetings and a bit of Netflix streaming - alongside a desktop PC we already have. I'm kind of looking at 15.6" 1080p screen, 256 SSD, 8 Gb RAM and an i5 or thereabouts processor.

Around the $1,100 - $1,300 I've seen;

- HP Probook 450 G5 with i5 8250U, UWVA anti-glare LED, GeForce 930X 2Gb dedicated

- HP 15-DA0307TX with i7 8550U, WLED screen, GeForce MX130

- Dell Inspiron 15 3000, with i5 8265U, anti-glare LED and AMD Radeon 520 - 2Gb GDDR5

I don't fully understand the diffs between the screens, the processors and the graphics. Are there any clearly better or worse options of what I have here? Anything else I'm missing?

I think there may be differences between the SSDs as well, but not sure they would be critical for my use cases.

Note, the second two I can get in Sydney this week, so will be a bit cheaper due to strength of NZ dollar and GST refund at airport.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#2255293 10-Jun-2019 14:24

Unless it is much cheaper in Sydney, I suggest buying in NZ as you are protected by our CGA....unless you often travel to sydney and can use their consumer law.

The gst refund is irrelevant as you have to pay gst when you come back to NZ.

Of those 3 you list,the dell might be best. Obviously you want the gfx card, so HP 15-DA0307TX is fastest cpu and gfx card. Although, laptop gfx cards are not great , unless you are paying for a monster sized laptop.

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lNomNoml

1801 posts

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#2255312 10-Jun-2019 14:41

I would recommend for your case unless you absolutely need one to get a laptop without a dedicated graphics chip (discreet / dedicated) as this is usually the first component to go, but that's also my personal preference. Built in Intel graphics these days is more than enough to handle Netflix and Microsoft Office applications, also agreed with surfy dude, don't get in Australia, unless you absolutely can justify the cost difference and not being protected under the CGA which for a laptop I would not recommend, laptops don't last anymore.

If this is a business expensive and you are not too fused over the warranty and longevity of the laptop then they are all in your case roughly the same experience, generally the i7 will run hotter though.

timmmay

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#2255339 10-Jun-2019 15:10

I use the built in video in my 8 year old i7 desktop CPU, it works fine, so the modern ones should be great for anything standard. I don't think you need a GPU either.

geekiegeek

2513 posts

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#2255396 10-Jun-2019 16:33

My personal bare minimums would be 1080p screen resolution and 8GB of RAM. Like others have said, unless you are buying for gaming, don't waste money on dedicated graphics - I'm writing this on inbuilt graphics running a 4K external monitor on my MacBook Pro. i5 quad core would be my CPU pick.

The screen types are basically between standard which is usually glossy and anti-glare which will be a matte finish. Personally I prefer glossy.

Most modern SSD laptops will be plenty fast for the types of workload you suggest.

yitz

2038 posts

Uber Geek

#2255404 10-Jun-2019 16:46

HP 15-DA00XX and Dell Inspiron 15 3000 are the lines with basic chassis so come with basic 1x1 Wi-Fi if that is a consideration for you re streaming.

Also the 15-DA0307TX is a 3-cell battery (usually you would expect 4-cell in the Core i5/i7 models) so while the CPU, graphics and FHD display are good there are areas of shortcoming.

Edit: Looks like they changed to non-removable batteries in that generation so 3-cell is 41 Wh which is basic.

Earbanean

887 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2255460 10-Jun-2019 17:43

I agree I don't need dedicated graphics for what I'm after. However, the price point I'm in seems to be driven by getting Full HD, 15.6", SSD, 8 Gb RAM - and it seems at this price point they seem to have dedicated graphics, as per the examples I mentioned.

Earbanean

887 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2255461 10-Jun-2019 17:45

yitz:

HP 15-DA00XX and Dell Inspiron 15 3000 are the lines with basic chassis so come with basic 1x1 Wi-Fi if that is a consideration for you re streaming.

Also the 15-DA0307TX is a 3-cell battery (usually you would expect 4-cell in the Core i5/i7 models) so while the CPU, graphics and FHD display are good there are areas of shortcoming.

Edit: Looks like they changed to non-removable batteries in that generation so 3-cell is 41 Wh which is basic.

Good point about battery and WiFi. I hadn't looked at those specs as differentiaters.

Technofreak

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#2255537 10-Jun-2019 20:37

My 2 cents

A glossy screen looks great, but a matt screen is much better to use IMO. It's much more usable in most situations as there isn't as much glare/reflection with a matte screen. I would go with a matte screen every time and in the future would be one of the considerations when buying a new laptop. YMMV

My current Dell had a glossy screen and I bought a matte screen protector to get rid of the glare/reflections of the glossy screen.

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