Buying a notebook for around 500$

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Guest

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I do not know much about laptops(or notebooks), having always stuck to PC in the past. But now it turns out I need one.
It will be really helpful if you guys recommend a few for me since I don't know where to start looking.
I am gonna need at least 500gb storage but I also want an ssd(about 128 gb)
I DO NOT need a gpu as all my gaming is done on my PC. An apu( or if not, a cpu) should do just fine
I'm going to be using the laptop for some net surfing, movie viewing, presentation making and other less intensive tasks, but I'm looking for a smooth, lag-free experience.

Thanx

[P.S. : It would be helpful if the laptop is light with a screen around 10 to 12 inches]
 

Akr706

Estimable
Oct 31, 2014
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4,510
I have never seen any 11-13 inches laptop with both HDD and SSD. You have to compromise on either of them. For a lag-free experience, you can go for a laptop with i5-5200u and 4 GB of RAM, you will get a 500GB HDD at 5400 RPM in this budget.

But the prices will depend on your choices towards brands. Which brand do you prefer? If you ask me, i would say dell and if you can increase your budget to $600, then this will suit your needs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Dell-Inspiron-13-13-1-500GB-Signature-Edition-2-1-Laptop-/281713527693

This is from official microsoft store on ebay.
 

fudgecakes99

Estimable
Mar 17, 2014
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4,610
Here's a few others i found that almost meet those specs i don't think for under 500.

http://www.cowboom.com/product/1371335/
HP 4-1215DX 14in Laptop i5 1.8GHz 4GB 500GB + 32GB SSD WiFi

http://www.cowboom.com/product/1493404/
Lenovo Yoga 2 2-in-1 13.3in Touch-Screen Laptop i5 1.6GHz 4GB 500GB + 16GB SSD


Now my personal recomendation, if you can get more money, i'd go with this.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232576&cm_re=laptop_ssd_and_hdd-_-34-232-576-_-Product

128gb ssd plus 1tb hdd. A dedicated gpu as well. It's a great laptop for that price. But know it's over budget. Also what do you plan on using that laptop for? Gaming? Work? Browsing?
 
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OK thanx. It is not a necessity for the screen to be 10-12 inches. I just said that bcoz I wanted to make sure the laptop is easily portable.

I do not have a favourite brand. As I said before I do not know anything about laptops.

Should I go for a laptop with only an ssd and buy a separate usb 3.0 500gb hdd?
 
G

Guest

Guest


I do not need a dedicated GPU. It is just for work and some movie watching. I wont be gaming on it at all.
 

Akr706

Estimable
Oct 31, 2014
3
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4,510


SSDs will give you faster boot, faster loading of applications and faster data transfer, but in $500, you will be able to get a laptop with only 128GB SSD.

EDIT- So If you go for HDD and good specs, then this one will be enough for you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Inspiron-15-i5548-1670SLV-15-6-inch-HD-touchscreen-Signature-Edition-Laptop-/281710362416

Or if you decide to go for portability with SSD, as I said you will be able to get 128GB in this budget. You can go for this one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-ASUS-Transformer-Book-T300-Chi-12-5-128GB-Signature-Edition-2-1-Laptop-/251988232111
 

fudgecakes99

Estimable
Mar 17, 2014
72
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4,610


Then your best bet is the hp from cowboom you can find them for various prices on that site go by the number scaling to find a better conditioned one. Usually the "used" laptops on cowboom are just returned merchandise from bestbuy. It's like their equavilent of a warehouse. You'll most likely find a close to brand new laptop then refurbished. That said yeah hp 32gb ssd so don't go putting any big files on that it will boot up fast and give you better browser boot times, so watching videos will be faster but make sure to put all your important data on the 500gb hdd. Gl with the laptop.
 
G

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Okay I like the Inspiron 5548.
The yoga 2 is good too.
But before I make a decision, can you guys tell me for sure if a 128 ssd and a 500 gb external hdd provide reliable performance?
I mean will the hdd be too slow?

And can you recommend a few other ssd only models at around this price range( I do not want a tablet notebook hybrid) . I can increase my budget upto 600$ maybe
 

fudgecakes99

Estimable
Mar 17, 2014
72
0
4,610


I don't think you're going to find a laptop with a 128gb ssd and 500gb hdd for under 500. That said personally if you don't plan on putting any major programs or games then i'd go 128gb ssd, if you do plan on using a lot of data go with the 500gb hdd laptop. You will get much faster load times with the ssd and overall better performance times faster browsing with the ssd, but know if you want to put a ton of stuff on it you won't be able to.
 
G

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I know i wont be able to. I'm sorry I couldn't make it clear in my last post. I was asking for a few good 128gb ssd only models
And I wanted to ask if it would terribly slow things down if I used another external 500gb hdd over usb 3.0 with it.

Thanx
 

fudgecakes99

Estimable
Mar 17, 2014
72
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4,610
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA42J1VR8191 under 600 240gb ssd, only refurbished but 16gigs of ram so a lot of room for multitasking. 2.5ghz processor which is pretty good for a laptop.

http://www.cowboom.com/product/1492679/
13.3 inches sony flip 128gb ssd 1.5ghz processor and 8 gigs of ram. 574.99

http://www.cowboom.com/product/1640409/
11.6 inches dell inspirion 1.6ghz 128gb ssd 8gigs of ram 549.99

If the laptop has a usb 3.0 port it'll be fine. The only real "bottlenecking" over an external drive i'd say would be an ssd maybe. If its an hdd you'll be fine.

I couldn't find any native usb 3.0 laptops for under 600, but don't worry all usb 3.0 devices are backwards compatible with 2.0. And if you really want that extra transfer speed all you have to do is buy a usb 3.0 express card which you plug into a port on your laptop to give you 3.0 capibility to which you'd plug a sata adapter for your 3.5inch hdd or 2.5inch.
 
I would say that a lenvo is the best laptop as they make great laptops for the budget end. As for ssd and hdd. I would get a ssd if you don't need much storage as they do provide faster boot times but thats about it. They do provide faster transfer rates but this is only important if you transfer a lot of files which video producers do.
 
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Guest

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OK guys after doing a lot of research I have found a laptop that has specs suitable for my requirements.
It is the asus zenbook ux305fa.
In my country a 4gb RAM variant with core m 5y10 and 256 gb ssd is available within my budget.

So, should I go for it? Is it any good?
 

fudgecakes99

Estimable
Mar 17, 2014
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4,610
That processor has me a little worried, everything else is some quality tech. but .8 ghz for a processor seems a bit poop. Granted it'll use a lot less power. I say if you can find one with a better processor at least 2ghz is the minimum i'd shoot for. Anything lower isn't really worth it. You can't replace the cpu, but you can always swap out ram and ssd's later. Cpu's are pretty permanent usually in laptops unless you do some crazy diy.
 
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But several review sites say that the processor has a boost mode which raises clock to 2.0 GHz and that keeping the laptop in balanced mode keeps the processor at 2 GHz most of the time.

Is boost clock as effective as base clock?
 

fudgecakes99

Estimable
Mar 17, 2014
72
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No not nearly as effective as base clock. Base clock is a constant. Boost clock is dependent on a lot of variables Temperature being one of the main ones. If the temperature threshold pasts a certain number it'll decrease the clock. Laptops in general don't have very good, thermal dissipation. So getting anywhere near 2.0ghz for a long time is improbable, at worst. That said .8ghz shouldn't produce that much heat so you should get at least a 1.3-1.5 if you're lucky as a constant boost. But you never know, if you're in a hot climate you'll get a lower boost. Couple with the fact theirs no way to manually change the thermal threshold of the boost clock. It's just not worth it in my opinion.

 
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Guest
So can you recommend me a good laptop which can be upgraded easily with an ssd.
This upgrade should not void the warranty though.

Thanx