Need a new pooter - any advice?
My just 2 yrs old HP15 laptop is crapping out so I think a new machine is in order. The battery went bad, wont hold a charge and after an update (which might not be the cause) I am getting a display that freezes or flickers from black to white and sometimes just fills the screen with a zillion hyphen like hash marks.
This behaviour is also accompanied by a message 'Application has been blocked from accessing graphics hardware'. I did a full virus scan - no problems reported. I'm at my wits end to locate the problem so will probably have to go find myself a good priced one at Walmart which is where I got this HP15.
Until these problems surfaced about two weeks ago I was delighted with the machines performance. I can only afford $600 max - preferably less - so anyone got any recommendations?
This behaviour is also accompanied by a message 'Application has been blocked from accessing graphics hardware'. I did a full virus scan - no problems reported. I'm at my wits end to locate the problem so will probably have to go find myself a good priced one at Walmart which is where I got this HP15.
Until these problems surfaced about two weeks ago I was delighted with the machines performance. I can only afford $600 max - preferably less - so anyone got any recommendations?
Comments
That's a little bit more than $600 and maybe uk only..I dunno.
Reason I suggest it. I already have a extremely heavily used 10 year old Fujitsu lifebook. It was made in Germany(back then). It's been bullet proof and never failed. I think it's only ever crashed twice. It's outclassed for many years..but it's been military grade in my opinion. Compared to Dell and the Acer I had preivously(only lasted a few years each), my Fujitsu has been bullet proff. My next laptop will certainly be another Fujitsu.
You're telling me! They're so powerful these days that if you actually sit with them on your lap for longer than 10 minutes you need to the emergency room to be treated for 3rd degree burns :))
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
Mind you, I'm stuck with an expensive Dell XPS 15 piece of crap that throttles at the drop of a hat, due to the power regulators overheating. Was a lovely spec on paper, but anytime you try and utilise the power it downclocks and undervolts everything to keep the regulators from melting.
"Never buy Dell".
You know I haven't got the knowledge needed to make sense of advice regarding machine specs, I just assume that whatevers on offer is probably adequate anyway since I'm hardly a power user, my machines are primarly used for word processing and light web browsing, mainly four websites, two Speccy, my own message base and Amazon Prime for videos and Audible for audio books and thats it.
Yes, Rich, my wife got a Dell at the same time as I got my HP15, her machine has been a constant pain in the ass, mainly weird slow downs so now thanks to Pobbit I have a clue as to why. All previous Dells have been slow but reliable nothing to justify their cost.
Well later on I'll let you all know what purchasing mistake I made!
https://mb.boardhost.com/BikerMike/index.html?1593001131
I'll second that. Shoddy. I'd vote for a tower, as laptops tend to give you neck aches, along with burnt **** and are harder to repair. If the screen goes, you're buggered on a laptop, if the wifi breaks (some have the wifi wires are in the lid and shoddy ones tend to break from all the opening / closing.), you're buggered. etc etc.
But its all down to personal choice. A laptop is convenient and a tiny bit more social-able as you can sit with your wife while you read our wittering rather than be in the PC room (if you have one) on your own. :)
@luny@mstdn.games
https://www.luny.co.uk
Wrong statement. It should read "Never buy cheap".
Most "work" brands (HP, Lenovo, Dell, Fujitsu) have a "cheap" line of products and a "professional" one. I've even seen Toshiba (yes, Toshiba!) laptops that seemed cheaper than chinese unbranded ones.
I've had both HP and Dell laptops that managed to resist job mistreatment (fall, hits, fast temperature changes, no ventilation) for years... but they were the "professional" ones, not the "consumer ones".
I'd avoid Compaq (cheap HP brand), Acer (it's like betting... most of them are unreliable, a few ones are indestructible) and unbranded clones. OTOH, I'll favour brands that you're sure that will honor their warranties (it would be better if it's a local service).
Also, avoid eMMC laptops... keep in mind that they offer small storage and, in case of failure, you won't be able to detach the HDD and read it in another computer.
An' you know what they said?
Well, some of it was true!
But I suppose the advantage in my situation is Mrs. Boozy has had a Dell account since the late 90’s so a good amount of perks and customer loyalty discounts does mean my mini tower was a lot more high end than the one I had before it. In fact it cost more than twice the amount the one I had before it, and that was after discounts and wotnot. Also when I ordered it I made sure that I opted out of all the bloatware, and other unwanted shite that comes with a ready built PC.
There were still a few bits of useless tat on there, but it didn’t come loaded with a bunch of Columns clones in a “Games” folder, or programs with names like Professional Microphone Tester, or Microsoft Pencil Sharpener.
Agreed. The sub 250 laptops generally start off *just* about okay but within a few weeks they'll be running like crap. They are not worth the money. Save up and get something from about 500.
Some refurbished laptops can be excellent value for money - you can get very decent specs for low amount, with a years guarantee too. Personally (and I've no affiliation with this company whatsoever) I have purchased two laptops for my teenage kids from this place and both my nephews (late teens, early twenties) have too (https://www.mycheaplaptop.co.uk/product-category/all-laptops/). My youngest and one of the nephews have an HP Elitebook 745 which is a very capable laptop that can be grabbed for about £330.
In fact I can't recommend that place enough.
Just realized it doesnt have a CD drive but no biggie I hardly ever used mine before.
https://mb.boardhost.com/BikerMike/index.html?1593001131
But luckily you can always buy an external CD/DVD drive if needed.
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
Considering all the hassles Firefox has put me through, its getting too 'feature rich' in my opinion, I preferred the original stripped down browser so I've decided to give Edge a chance to prove itself and so far its doing pretty good, it found all my favourite sites (like here god knows how) and my message base and really thats all I need for the most part.
Microsoft didnt kill off Accessories so I can still use Wordpad and as for all the security software I used to have to look after (and pay for) they claim the whole reason for Win 10S is it takes care of all that for you - well I'm prepared to give it a go. More fool me, probably...
https://mb.boardhost.com/BikerMike/index.html?1593001131
You could give Brave a try, that's not too bad, gives you the option of regular, private, and even tor browsing, and you can search directly from the address bar using duckduckgo. I'm not sure how Brave works for add-ons, or plug in's though, I use it pretty bare bones.
SevenFFF / Threetwosevensixseven / colonel32
NXtel • NXTP • ESP Update • ESP Reset • CSpect Plugins
But is this necessarily a bad thing? I'm not a sophisticated user - as I believe you once pointed out to me - and as long as Edge gets me the sites I need and protects me without the need for me to manage three or four security apps, well fair enough though I don't much care for being limited to the Microsoft store, I must admit.
https://mb.boardhost.com/BikerMike/index.html?1593001131
Give it a try, but if you decide that it's too limiting, try asking around and see if there's someone in your network that can put Windows 10 Pro on it instead.
My games for the Spectrum: Dingo, The Speccies, The Speccies 2, Vallation, SQIJ.
Twitter: Sokurah
Not necessarily. I was just pointing out to @dm_boozefreek that you couldn't run Brave, or old versions of Firefox.
SevenFFF / Threetwosevensixseven / colonel32
NXtel • NXTP • ESP Update • ESP Reset • CSpect Plugins
I was unaware Microsoft had became so restrictive, locking it down like that kind of defeats the purpose of the web to me. Might as well just buy a smartphone.
To me it sounds terrible I’m always looking for alternatives to what MS, and especially what Google offer. MS can be nosy enough as it is, but Googles creepy data-farming is bordering on illegal these days.