Question Which Laptop

[EdP7531]

Hi all,

Not sure if Admins will permit this question, but I need some advice please. I wish to purchase a laptop but there is such a large variety to choose from, I’m totally confused which is best for me.
My requirements are actually quite simple and fairly standard.

• Budget: not more than US $900.
• At least 12 or 13 gen i5 or higher, cost permitting.
• 14-inch preferably but will consider 15” too.
• I don’t use numpad.
• A good CPU, bearing in mind that I do not play any computer games.
• 8GB RAM or higher, cost permitting.
• 512GB SSD, or higher, cost permitting.
• Backlit keyboard. Essential.
• Good quality screen. Will spend hours on the laptop daily.
• Touch screen not required.
• USB 3.0 ports essential. I still use a mouse.
• Ethernet (LAN) port essential, as that’s how I connect to the company’s server.
• Great battery power, but not a deal breaker.
• Must be reasonably portable, lightweight.
• Not sure which is more appropriate or better: Windows 11 Pro.
• Work extensively with Excel and Word, and then Outlook, Visio, PowerPoint, etc.

I really like Dell (a bit expensive lately) but will look at other makes. Many thanks.

 

[ultrarunner100]

Hello;
I'm also in the market for a good laptop under $1,000.
I haven't dug in yet, so I can't really offer much advice, except the following:

1. You do not need USB 3.0 for a mouse; they run fine on USB 2.0
2. Avoid shared RAM; in which the graphics uses a portion of main RAM. From the early days, I have always avoided this, as they run slower, and if you have any graphics intensive apps, they will really bog down.

Other than that, you should read the reviews here. Tom's is probably the best place to get good reviews. I would not rely on sites like Amazon or any other retailer.

Hope this helps
Ultrarunner

 

[EdP7531]

Hello;
I'm also in the market for a good laptop under $1,000.
I haven't dug in yet, so I can't really offer much advice, except the following:

1. You do not need USB 3.0 for a mouse; they run fine on USB 2.0
2. Avoid shared RAM; in which the graphics uses a portion of main RAM. From the early days, I have always avoided this, as they run slower, and if you have any graphics intensive apps, they will really bog down.

Other than that, you should read the reviews here. Tom's is probably the best place to get good reviews. I would not rely on sites like Amazon or any other retailer.

Hope this helps
Ultrarunner

Hi, thanks for your response, much appreciated. But I’m light years behind most people on this forum, so please explain what you mean by shared RAM? I didn’t know that this is a concern. I don’t plan to run graphic intensive apps, but how would I avoid a shared RAM? I’m assuming that I must check the specs on the various manufacturers?

 

[ultrarunner100]

Shared RAM means that the GPU (graphics processing unit, or graphics card) uses some of the computer's main memory to process graphics. It may or may not have any dedicated memory for graphics. This configuration should be less expensive than one with dedicated graphics memory.

Here's a link to a Quora thread that I think describes the differences pretty well:

https://www.quora.com/In-task-manag...-and-shared-GPU-memory-if-I-only-have-one-GPU

 

[EdP7531]

Shared RAM means that the GPU (graphics processing unit, or graphics card) uses some of the computer's main memory to process graphics. It may or may not have any dedicated memory for graphics. This configuration should be less expensive than one with dedicated graphics memory.

Here's a link to a Quora thread that I think describes the differences pretty well:

https://www.quora.com/In-task-manag...-and-shared-GPU-memory-if-I-only-have-one-GPU

Thanks for the info. 👍🏼👍🏼

 

[ultrarunner100]

I decided on a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon gen 11 with i7 1365u processor and 32GB RAM, IPS touch screen (didn't go for the OLED), and a 1G SSD for storage.
The rig cost me a lot more than the 1K budget discussed here, but considering that I will have this computer for at least 5, if not up to 10 years, I think it is a worthwhile investment. I hit just in time to catch Lenovo's semi-annual 50% sale, but does anyone ever pay full price for a Lenovo?