New Laptop vs my old 2010 one - is it really an upgrade?

martinsboh

Commendable
Oct 10, 2016
5
0
1,510
Hi everybody,

I'm afraid that my old notebook - almost 7 years old - is going soon to rest. Several problems are slowing facing (very slow, blue screens, Fan always 100% although dusted) and I was thinking about buying a new one. I was giving a small look at what the market offers nowadays and I remained kind of surprised: at the first sight (please, be patient, I'm not really an expert) it seems that the components are "almost" the same of new actually sold ones. Is it possible?

Actually I'm running a Sony VAIO Eb1s1e, whose components are:
a Intel i5 processor
4gb ram dd3
500gb hd
a 15" monitor with resolution 1366x768

that (I repeat, at the first sight) seems not to be that different from what I could buy today with 400€ . But then my question is: in what are the notebooks in these 6 years improved? are they lighter/battery or something like this? I would have expected an abyss between the new generation of notebooks and my prehistoric one
 

orlbuckeye

Distinguished
Well each generation of i series processor get more energy efficient, has better integrated graphics and runs cooler. 8 gb of ram can make a big difference. Also SSD's are used in system alot more than 7 years ago. Today the genre with the increasing number is the convertible 2-in-1 pc's. They are going lighter and more touch friendly and even pens. The if you want a gaming machine the discrete graphics cards are way more powerful alot have gone above the 1920 x 1080 screens to ultra Hi Def. Some gaming machines allow you to connect an external amplifier that you can use a desktop GP. USB standard has moved from USB2 to USb3 plus other even faster ports. Wifi has moved from 802.11 N to 802.11 AC. The clock speeds haven't increased alot but that's because it's not needed as much.
 

martinsboh

Commendable
Oct 10, 2016
5
0
1,510
I see. My only fear is that to have built in many of the features you mentioned above I should spend 800-900€, that's why I was really surprised.

I'll have a better look and I'll post a thread for some buying recommendation then
 

TJ Hooker

Honorable
Apr 15, 2014
199
0
10,710
A modern i5 will be significantly more powerful than the i5 in your current laptop, although how noticeable that will be will depend on what you're using it for. A new laptop may be a little thinner/lighter/better battery, although that obviously depends on the model. Other than that, you may get 8 GB of RAM instead of 4, and possibly an SSD instead of an HDD.
 

captaincharisma

Distinguished
if price is an issue and you think you really need one just review what you use the laptop for. if you don't use it for things like gaming or video editing then you may be fine getting a laptop with an I3
 
Your issue is the price, if you have a higher end laptop from 6 years ago, it will be just about as fast as low end laptops today. 400 on the lower side of systems, but it should still be faster than yours. Most slowness issues with laptops can be solved with a new solid state drive and a clean Windows setup, but in your case we also have an issue with the fan going at full speeds all the time which shows issues with the cooling system. You also have a lower res screen which can be updated and I'm sure the screen brightness will be better with a new system. This is a good cheaper models with good features. CPU is not the best but more than good enough for basic tasks and even some gaming on lower settings https://www.amazon.com/X555DA-AS11-Full-HD-Laptop-Windows-Silver/dp/B01C086TLS/ref=sr_1_24?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1476130919&sr=1-24&refinements=p_n_feature_twelve_browse-bin%3A9521908011%2Cp_36%3A40000-45000&th=1 this one also https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CGGOZOW?psc=1
 
In the last 6 years the main improvements have been battery life. Intel have made their cpus more efficient so that they can fit them in thinner laptops. The gpu has also improved a lot. This won't really affect you in this low price range. The third thing is the storage. SSDs are now common. This will improve the speeds of the laptop a lot as the boot and load times improve. Then ram has increased in speed and amount. Then the screen has improved a lot as 1080p is now common. Also the type of screen, tn to ips and the speed, 60 to 120hz, this is normally only available on higher end laptops. Also some come with touch screens and pen support. Then wifi has improved a lot. from n to ac.