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  • DyeF9

    In Thrust We Trust
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    Jan 25, 2019
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    What I learned today: many consumer laptops no longer have an easily (if at all) replaceable battery.

    Made me start considering an Intel NUC or a traditional desktop.
    The HP EliteBook 735 G6 Notebook PC I recommended is not difficult. It's a cover, a connector and some torx screws. It's also more geared toward corporate use, not consumer. Your call. I can't recommend a prebuilt desktop, since I haven't owned one in a couple decades. I've always built those myself and used hand picked parts.
     

    toddnjoyce

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    Sep 27, 2017
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    The HP EliteBook 735 G6 Notebook PC I recommended is not difficult. It's a cover, a connector and some torx screws. It's also more geared toward corporate use, not consumer. Your call. I can't recommend a prebuilt desktop, since I haven't owned one in a couple decades. I've always built those myself and used hand picked parts.

    Thanks for all the info; life is compromises. Was in Costco today and they had a Surface Pro 7 (i5, 8GB ram, 128gb hdd) with type pad and pen for $799.

    I was tempted. Then realized that may be too bare bones. But I’m still tempted.
     

    DyeF9

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    Jan 25, 2019
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    Thanks for all the info; life is compromises. Was in Costco today and they had a Surface Pro 7 (i5, 8GB ram, 128gb hdd) with type pad and pen for $799.

    I was tempted. Then realized that may be too bare bones. But I’m still tempted.
    No matter what you decide, laptop or desktop, I still recommend 16 GB RAM, and at least a 512 GB main drive (m.2, SSD or NVM.e)

    Processor probably won't make a huge difference, though an i5 for Intel or Ryzen 5 would be the more ideal ones to go with.
     

    TX OMFS

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    0   0   0
    Nov 3, 2014
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    Thanks for all the info; life is compromises. Was in Costco today and they had a Surface Pro 7 (i5, 8GB ram, 128gb hdd) with type pad and pen for $799.

    I was tempted. Then realized that may be too bare bones. But I’m still tempted.
    That's not enough memory IMO. You can do better for similar money I would think.
     

    just country

    Active Member
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    Dec 9, 2019
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    Hmmm. OK. I won't dispute you on that.

    I will, however, observe that if this is true, then Best Buy has done a 180 sometime in the last decade.

    The fact that Best Buy Geek Squad employees have been employed by the FBI to search every computer that comes into the shop is enough for me to stay away.
    morning, that's why I do not use google or any other
    websites. do not answer msgs or calls from unknown
    peoples. lost a computer for answering msg. I did not
    know the sender. totally locked the computer. apple
    computer. apple would not help. justme gbot tum.
    eset pro is one of the best security searches.
    I did not know that best buy employed fed. agents.
    makes sense!!
     

    no2gates

    These are not the droids you're looking for.
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    Aug 31, 2013
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    Grand Prairie, TX
    As some others have said, 512 G drive is the smallest I would go. You can't fit much of anything in 120 G.
    Most laptops can upgrade the SSD fairly easily, as long as you're comfortable doing it.
    If you need just word processing and web surfing, 8 G of memory would be the minimum, but 16 G would be recommended if you do any photo editing at all. You could always check to see if the laptop has the ability to upgrade the memory (some have soldered memory and no DIMM slots).
     

    DyeF9

    In Thrust We Trust
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    Jan 25, 2019
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    As some others have said, 512 G drive is the smallest I would go. You can't fit much of anything in 120 G.
    Most laptops can upgrade the SSD fairly easily, as long as you're comfortable doing it.
    If you need just word processing and web surfing, 8 G of memory would be the minimum, but 16 G would be recommended if you do any photo editing at all. You could always check to see if the laptop has the ability to upgrade the memory (some have soldered memory and no DIMM slots).
    The reason I suggested a minimum for 16 GB, aside from Google chrome and windows being bogarts for memory, was because OP said he wanted something that was relatively future proofed. That extra but of ram will definitely help later down the road as well.
     

    CyberWolf

    Active Member
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    Aug 22, 2018
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    Yep. I’m even looking at 32GB RAM options. Not cheap, but may be worth it.
    Really depends on what you need...

    Future-proofing is great to a degree, but not cost-effective beyond a certain point - remember the 80/20 rule...

    Personally, I've decided that I prefer the Surface Pro above all others (thats after working with practically every brand/form-factor available).

    Without turning this into a massive dissertation on the subject, I'll just state that I've been using a Surface Pro daily for a few years now, and towards the end of last year, picked up 2 'sets' of Pro 7s w/ i5, 8/128 & keyboard/arc mouse/pen for my Mom and SIL who just started a new job (about $1200 each w/ damage protection plan). That spec woks great for what they need, and both seem to love using them.

    Myself, I use a maxed-out i7 (add another ~$1300; tried an i5 and returned it same-day) and while I wouldn't mind upgrading to the newest model, mine runs great...Not counting the convenience of the NIR camera (WHB), weight & form factor, etc., I can simultaneously run a ton of stuff with no issues (e.g. office, browsers, text editors, visual studio or Solidworks (one at a time), mindjet, vmware workstation, all kinds of endpoint protection & mdm/mam agents, etc.).

    For when I'm in the office and/or need more juice or display, that get paired with a Lenovo P330 Tiny (and it really is) w/ i7, 32gb ram, 2 × 1tb NVMe flash, onboard gbe/wifi/bt/display/etc., and dedicated GPU w/ 6x mini-DP. Fully compatible with Windows/Linux (Windows build is certified to Run Solidworks), friggin tiny, fast as all get-out, and got some great discounts when purchasing direct (I seem to recall them using ID.me).


    ETA: 2 important details I forgot to mention about the Surface Pro (NOT Surfacebook - don't like those)

    1. With the docking station, I can drive 3 large displays (including onboard mini-dp)

    2. This is the ONLY laptop I have ever used that has never flaked out when connecting or disconnecting from the dock. Every. other. one. I've used has done that at least occasionally - enough to have zero trust in docking/undocking with anything open which could be corrupted.
     
    Last edited:

    Orbie

    Born Texan
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    7   0   0
    Feb 21, 2011
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    San Antonio
    tagged for later
    8D6C0C23-52BE-4F58-AFF8-6DBFC1DA0A44.jpeg
     

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