New Laptop budget $2000 or more

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stone2

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#281108 30-Jan-2021 09:53

I’m in the market for a laptop and want one that is bang for my buck. Ideally budget is around $2000. Can spend more if needed. Useful for web browsing, video streaming, occasional video transcoding and overall snappy speed. 2 in 1 maybe? I like Dell and would like to able to upgrade the ram and SSD. I know 2 in 1 isn’t an option for that but aren’t 2 in 1’s great for using on the couch and such? What do you people in the know think?

timmmay

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#2644337 30-Jan-2021 10:13

HP Probook are good quality but the fans can get loud at times. I don't like the Surface Pro as much, Wifi is a bit weak, but they are very quiet. Lenovo are good quality, haven't used one recently but solid and can be heavy. I haven't used a Dell laptop in years.

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#2644339 30-Jan-2021 10:15

I was looking for a new one for wife and was pointed in the direction of the Lenovo E14. Got one for around $1000, immediately upgraded the 8 GB RAM to 16 GB RAM bought from PB Tech. Really happy with it - wife uses Photoshop and Indesign a lot too.

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#2644343 30-Jan-2021 10:28

I believe that you should always look at the heaviest job you require the computer to do & purchase a machine well capable of that task. Every other lighter function will be easily coped with.

Video transcoding is the opposite end of the scale from the everyday web browsing & video streaming. You’re asking a reasonably heavy task from the system with transcoding - 30 images per second + sound. If you’re wanting to do this efficiently & effectively & not ending up with mouths that move silently followed by speech a split second later, or videos that jerk or tear or suffer dropped frames - then you need to look at either a laptop with a premium discreet graphics processor or get an eGPU unit to boost your graphics processing power on an everyday laptop.

If you don’t have GPU grunt available, you won’t ever get good transcoding results.

Megabyte - so geek it megahertz

networkn

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#2644345 30-Jan-2021 10:35

Quality, features, price, pick any two. I like the HP stuff, we have sold it for a long long time. The Probook is probably what fits in your budget, though the Elitebooks are what I consider best of breed. I'd almost always go for something made for business, unless you want to do heay graphics stuff. Some of the Probook stuff has OK graphics cards built in. Work out how portable you require it to be. Bigger screen == More weight. I'd stay away from consumer grade stuff (stuff typically sold by HN/NL).

stone2

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#2644346 30-Jan-2021 10:38

networkn:
Quality, features, price, pick any two. I like the HP stuff, we have sold it for a long long time. The Probook is probably what fits in your budget, though the Elitebooks are what I consider best of breed. I'd almost always go for something made for business, unless you want to do heay graphics stuff. Some of the Probook stuff has OK graphics cards built in. Work out how portable you require it to be. Bigger screen == More weight. I'd stay away from consumer grade stuff (stuff typically sold by HN/NL).

Yeah. You’re right about the gpu. Thanks will keep that in mind.

stone2

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#2644349 30-Jan-2021 10:43

stone2:
networkn:
Quality, features, price, pick any two. I like the HP stuff, we have sold it for a long long time. The Probook is probably what fits in your budget, though the Elitebooks are what I consider best of breed. I'd almost always go for something made for business, unless you want to do heay graphics stuff. Some of the Probook stuff has OK graphics cards built in. Work out how portable you require it to be. Bigger screen == More weight. I'd stay away from consumer grade stuff (stuff typically sold by HN/NL).

Yeah. You’re right about the gpu. Thanks will keep that in mind.

Thanks. I have no intention of ever buying a laptop from HN/NL. 👍

networkn

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#2644350 30-Jan-2021 10:46

There will be people who disagree of course, but excluding graphics specific work, video or editing, the built in graphics provided by CPU manafacturers are plenty for the average person. It's exceptionally rare for customers to contact us complaining of slowless attributable to GPU constraints. Admittedly, they are mostly business users, but many of them do have elements of their work that have some graphics connection such as reviewing artwork, making basic brochures, or presentations.

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#2644364 30-Jan-2021 11:23

Take a look at the newly announced Asus Zenbook Duo 14 with two screens in a compact size.

Price when it lands in NZ would be around 2.5k I'm estimating.

Edit: It's the UX482 version.

timmmay

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#2644429 30-Jan-2021 15:35

networkn:
Quality, features, price, pick any two. I like the HP stuff, we have sold it for a long long time. The Probook is probably what fits in your budget, though the Elitebooks are what I consider best of breed. I'd almost always go for something made for business, unless you want to do heay graphics stuff. Some of the Probook stuff has OK graphics cards built in. Work out how portable you require it to be. Bigger screen == More weight. I'd stay away from consumer grade stuff (stuff typically sold by HN/NL).

Elite book fans sound like a small jet engine taking off. I regret changing my surface to an elite book for that one reason, because otherwise it's a great computer.

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#2644440 30-Jan-2021 16:50

timmmay:
networkn:

Quality, features, price, pick any two. I like the HP stuff, we have sold it for a long long time. The Probook is probably what fits in your budget, though the Elitebooks are what I consider best of breed. I'd almost always go for something made for business, unless you want to do heay graphics stuff. Some of the Probook stuff has OK graphics cards built in. Work out how portable you require it to be. Bigger screen == More weight. I'd stay away from consumer grade stuff (stuff typically sold by HN/NL).

Elite book fans sound like a small jet engine taking off. I regret changing my surface to an elite book for that one reason, because otherwise it's a great computer.

Some models can be like that, but you are more sensitive to it, by your own admission, than most people. I'll take an Elitebook over anything MS Surface every day of the week, twice on Sundays.

timmmay

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#2644451 30-Jan-2021 17:27

networkn:

Some models can be like that, but you are more sensitive to it, by your own admission, than most people. I'll take an Elitebook over anything MS Surface every day of the week, twice on Sundays.

Yeah I'm a sensitive bas****. It's not just me though, a guy at work recently posted a photo of his Elitebook that got so hot he put it into a fridge.

RickW

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#2644456 30-Jan-2021 18:28

Could you get away with a Mac? the new m1 MacBooks and MacBook airs are pretty bloody impressive and if you are looking at transcoding being the most power intensive thing you do then I can't recumbent highly enough. I've got mine transcoding 3 4k hevc HDR streams at the same time using Plex to 1080p SDR no issues at all and the battery life can't be beaten either.

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#2644474 30-Jan-2021 19:56

Sounds like Surface Laptop would be in your wheel house. Depending on preferred screen size.

stone2

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#2644653 31-Jan-2021 10:24

RickW:
Could you get away with a Mac? the new m1 MacBooks and MacBook airs are pretty bloody impressive and if you are looking at transcoding being the most power intensive thing you do then I can't recumbent highly enough. I've got mine transcoding 3 4k hevc HDR streams at the same time using Plex to 1080p SDR no issues at all and the battery life can't be beaten either.

Yep they are pretty impressive but I just can’t get my head around apple os and find it to restricted imo.
Even tho I have an apple phone and iPad lol. I’ve always done my computing on windows.

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#2644767 31-Jan-2021 15:33

stone2: I’m in the market for a laptop and want one that is bang for my buck. Ideally budget is around $2000. Can spend more if needed. Useful for web browsing, video streaming, occasional video transcoding and overall snappy speed. 2 in 1 maybe? I like Dell and would like to able to upgrade the ram and SSD. I know 2 in 1 isn’t an option for that but aren’t 2 in 1’s great for using on the couch and such? What do you people in the know think?

https://www.dell.com/en-nz/shop/laptops-ultrabooks-notebooks/inspiron-15-7501-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-7501-laptop/hni750102nz