|
Kritzkrieg Kop posted:I stupidly want to ask what are these situations where you have a gaming laptop and need to run off battery instead of plugging in? It's less "I want a laptop that I can game with on battery" and more "I'd rather not have to deal with owning multiple separate laptops." For me, I drag my laptop over to friend's places for the evening on a regular basis to game and such, so I appreciate having an actual dGPU (admittedly, a 1050 has been sufficient for me since I mostly do Overwatch and similar). But I also use it for travel--working on the train, in classrooms, presentations, etc., where I can't always count on having power readily available, and thus I do appreciate having a 5+hr battery. 14 hours is a bit more than I'd ever need, but I could see use cases for it for people who fly not-first-class on a regular basis. It's a legitimate point, though, that you can get something like that $800 OP2 and a $400 Chromebook with a 10+hr battery and still come in under the price point of a new XPS15.
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2018 15:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 21:20 |
|
|
This is also why the external GPUs seem overpriced and stupid at first, but then when you evaluate the use cases, it actually is not THAT stupid.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2018 16:10
|
|
|
Kritzkrieg Kop posted:I stupidly want to ask what are these situations where you have a gaming laptop and need to run off battery instead of plugging in? I've owned gaming laptops for ten years and I cannot think of any scenario where I really needed to run off battery. Are you guys just taking them to lecture halls? I think I did it like once when traveling for work then just said gently caress it and used my work laptop for bed browsing Sure, my username and a thread I made about pooping autofill at inappropriate times but thats life
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2018 16:25
|
|
|
LorneReams posted:This is also why the external GPUs seem overpriced and stupid at first, but then when you evaluate the use cases, it actually is not THAT stupid. Yeah, it's really not that bad, especially if it means you can keep a portable laptop for a few extra years and just upgrade the eGPU, instead of having to buy a new laptop. That does only really work if you're just gaming at one location, though; there's no way I'm going to drag around a eGPU enclosure and a laptop when I bop from house to house.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2018 16:48
|
|
|
I'm tempted to get an egpu every now and then just so I could demo VR outside the house easier.
|
|
#
?
Dec 19, 2018 16:55
|
|
|
Dad's retiring and wants to use his last $1000 electronics stipend on a computer. Looking for: Nice screen Under $1000 >13" Light Able to use it in bed SSD Bluetoothable for wireless Headset He's really enamored with Surface Pros and how light and pretty they are, but I'm not sure he understands that he won't be able to place it down on his lap like a laptop in bed, so asking him if he was interested in using it like a tablet/iPad in bed was like... very difficult. Tbh, I think he wants a 2 in 1, and that's kind of out of my wheelhouse.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 04:55
|
|
|
anothergod posted:Dad's retiring and wants to use his last $1000 electronics stipend on a computer. Looking for: When you say >13", do you mean 13" is okay or it has to be bigger? Because 15" is too big for handling like a tablet, even as a ultralight 2-in-1 model. Though maybe they're willing to put up with the extra weight and bulk for the bigger screen if their eyesight is weakening.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 06:01
|
|
|
Yeah I don't think anyone with a 15"+ laptop is going more than an hour without plugging it in. A 200w dc cigarette lighter inverter for long car trips is < $30 (I bought one to work remote from my boat recently, works great, just make sure in the reviews people say it works well with laptops) Most planes on trips longer than 90 minutes have a 120v plug right in the search these days Barring that, 100w capable usb-c batteries all exist for under $100 these days You would be hard pressed to find a situation where you're actually "gaming" for a period long enough to drain the battery, where a power source would not be available Actually, what I've found is that the smaller the screen, the more time I spend on the device. 13" laptops get used 3x as much on the couch as my fancy XPS 15 laptop which just lives on my desk. I can't imagine how much time a 17" gaming laptop spends on your lap, once the honeymoon phase is over.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 06:22
|
|
|
I think 13" will be fine as long as it's got a nice screen. He liked the screens on the Surface Pro 6 and my T460p. I'm currently eyeing the Thinkpad L380, though I'm sure part of that is my Thinkpad affinity.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 06:39
|
|
|
xps 13 imho
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 13:48
|
|
|
Since the OP hasn't been updated in some time, where are we in the current cycle as far as CPU/GPU chipsets? My MSI GT62VR 6RE is finally making GBS threads itself (known fan issues. I've cracked the case and get them spinning by hand!) and I will likely replace it towards the end of January.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 18:37
|
|
|
Reasonably close to a new dGPU generation for laptops. No exact launch date has been released, but Feb/March wouldn't surprise me.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 19:30
|
|
|
Thank you! Does that mean we should be expecting them to ship my then or just an announcement?
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 20:06
|
|
|
There's usually not much of a delay between announcing new parts and their shipping. A few weeks, maybe. But again, they haven't officially released any info--this is based on speculation from leaks about laptop parts and based off NVidia's normal scheduling.
|
|
#
?
Dec 20, 2018 20:33
|
|
|
Kjermzs posted:Thank you! Does that mean we should be expecting them to ship my then or just an announcement? You can already find mobile versions of the latest Intel & AMD CPUs (and APUs for the latter.) We don't have mobile Turing parts yet, however they seem to be less power-efficient (which includes both power consumption and heat generation/management) than Pascal, which is still a good choice as far as I'm concerned. AMD's mobile GPUs (both Polaris and Vega) are similarly not as efficient as Pascal, so if you get a good deal on something now (such as this,) then it wouldn't be a bad idea to go for it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 07:22
|
|
|
Any thoughts on the Razer Blade 15? I have a 1080 Ti desktop and a Macbook 12" but my SO offered to get me a RB15 as a Christmas present for on-the-go gaming. Reviews seem to mention heat issues.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 11:34
|
|
|
anothergod posted:I think 13" will be fine as long as it's got a nice screen. He liked the screens on the Surface Pro 6 and my T460p. I'm currently eyeing the Thinkpad L380, though I'm sure part of that is my Thinkpad affinity. ThinkPad x1 yoga ? You could have a look through the outlet site to see if you can find a 3rd gen but here's a 2nd gen for $500 https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/outletus/laptops/thinkpad/yoga-series/Thinkpad-X1-Yoga-2nd-Gen/p/20JEX50300
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 11:58
|
|
|
Or the Lenovo X1 Tablet? I was dead set on a surface pro 6, then saw it. Price includes keyboard and pen as well.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 13:11
|
|
|
I have a question that may or may not be misplaced as it sort of spans several topics. Sorry in advance if this isn't the right thread. anyway, I have a 2015 13" Macbook Pro w/Retina display that is showing its age. Will probably be looking to replace it in the next year or so. Have been a mac user for most of my life so I am well into their walled garden of proprietary nonsense. For reference, my primary use for this laptop is work (basically, office suite and some stats software) and very occasional gaming (a habit I probably shouldn't encourage). I just threw down a lot of money for a new car this summer and I am trying to be fiscally cautious when shopping for a replacement, so this time around I am considering PC laptops very seriously. I know specific recommendations are in the OP so I'll skip those for now. Question is this: for anyone here that has experience with both platforms, is the savings you get from switching to PC worth the hassle of leaving the mac ecosystem? I'm generally happy with MacOS, but haven't used Windows regularly in over a decade so I don't have a point of comparison. I'm also a little concerned about hardware longevity. In the past I have been really happy with how my Apple computers have aged (this one excepted), but I don't have any idea how PC laptop compare, or which manufacturers/price points I would be looking at if I wanted comparable or better hardware longevity. Any help here would be appreciated. Thanks for entertaining my uninformed questions... at one point in my life I was less clueless about computers, but it's been a long time. Any advice is appreciated.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 16:13
|
|
|
Kommienzuspadt posted:Question is this: for anyone here that has experience with both platforms, is the savings you get from switching to PC worth the hassle of leaving the mac ecosystem? I'm generally happy with MacOS, but haven't used Windows regularly in over a decade so I don't have a point of comparison. There is very little that you can do on Mac that you can't do on PC. It might not always be as well integrated, but it'll work. The one, painfully singular exception to this is iMessage: the ability to seamlessly move conversations from iPhone to iMac/Macbook and back has no real equivalent in the PC world. There are lesser examples (Messages for Android/PC), but they all have their limitations compared to iMessage. Otherwise you can find most pieces of Mac software as either direct ports on PC or a reasonable facsimile. If you have any specific critical applications, list 'em out and we can recommend options. Kommienzuspadt posted:I'm also a little concerned about hardware longevity. In the past I have been really happy with how my Apple computers have aged (this one excepted), but I don't have any idea how PC laptop compare, or which manufacturers/price points I would be looking at if I wanted comparable or better hardware longevity. Any help here would be appreciated. Hardware longevity is usually directly tied to how much you pay for a laptop and who you buy it from. That $500 Walmart Acer special is never going to last you as long as a Macbook would, but then again, it's close to 1/3 the price of the cheapest Mac laptop, so that should be expected. If you stick to reputable brands (go-to ones being the Dell XPS line and the Lenovo Thinkpad line), they are very well built, and should last a considerable time. But, of course, you pay for the quality, so you may not find yourself saving that much money over a Mac in the first place. In all seriousness, have you considered a used option? Especially on the PC side, lightly-used laptops often sell at a deep discount. I picked up a very good quality 2017 XPS 15 for $600, when the new 2018 models run closer to $1400.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 16:42
|
|
|
shrike82 posted:Any thoughts on the Razer Blade 15? Anything with a 1070 in that form factor is gonna have heat issues, it just goes with the territory. Like the previous blade, it's a Real Nice Laptop with Real Bad Support. If you're not handy with laptop repair, good luck when something goes wrong because Razer don't give a poo poo. I have a 2016 blade that's still trooping along without issue, but it's also been disabled completely by windows updates twice now, and it took Razer 2 or 3 weeks to fix the issue both times. It's, imho, the only decent looking thin/light laptop with that much power crammed into it, but heat, noise and wacky drivers are gonna be par for the course.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 17:16
|
|
|
Dr. Fishopolis posted:Anything with a 1070 in that form factor is gonna have heat issues, it just goes with the territory. Like the previous blade, it's a Real Nice Laptop with Real Bad Support. If you're not handy with laptop repair, good luck when something goes wrong because Razer don't give a poo poo. I've had no problems with my 2016ish blade 14 and I expect it'll last me until tsmc 7/Intel 10, but I don't think I'd want a 1070 in something this thin. It's already right on the edge of acceptable with a 1060. Is the heat dissipation substantially better in the 15?
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 18:18
|
|
|
Are the US sold Mate books still an OK choice? I've been on the fence, but they seem exactly what I am looking for.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 19:11
|
|
|
Kommienzuspadt posted:
All in all, I'm happy I switched. When I left the PC world there were no good laptops, and now there are plenty to choose from. At the same time, Macs have gotten less reliable at least from the reports about the new MBPs and their keyboard/overheating problems. Its not a slam dunk anymore. List price to list price you don't save much, but you can get discounts much more easily on the PC side. For example, I bought a last-gen ThinkPad from the refurb store. The new one was about the same price as the current MBP (but higher specs), and this one was almost half that price. I also sprung for the extended warranty. Hope this helps.
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 20:10
|
|
|
is there anywhere with uk shipping where i can buy replacement batteries for a thinkpad x220? like new old stock, or some half-decent third party replacement. i like this little laptop!
|
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 20:31
|
|
|
Generic Monk posted:is there anywhere with uk shipping where i can buy replacement batteries for a thinkpad x220? like new old stock, or some half-decent third party replacement. i like this little laptop! I'm sorry to say this might be a pain in the rear end if you don't want to spend a huge amount of money directly with Lenovo: There are a TON of counterfeit Lenovo batteries on the market. A lot of them are quite good fakes and people use them without even realizing it. If you still want cheap but don't want to risk the high chance of receiving a counterfeit, check eBay for a lightly used battery. A screenshot showing battery capacity would be great. E: Oh, also don't buy anything that ships from China, or from a Chinese based seller with a local warehouse. E2: I just searched UK eBay filtering by European Union item location. The counterfeit situation isn't as bonkers as in the US. CopperHound fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Dec 21, 2018 |
|
#
?
Dec 21, 2018 21:05
|
|
|
DrDork posted:There is very little that you can do on Mac that you can't do on PC. It might not always be as well integrated, but it'll work. The one, painfully singular exception to this is iMessage: the ability to seamlessly move conversations from iPhone to iMac/Macbook and back has no real equivalent in the PC world. There are lesser examples (Messages for Android/PC), but they all have their limitations compared to iMessage. Otherwise you can find most pieces of Mac software as either direct ports on PC or a reasonable facsimile. If you have any specific critical applications, list 'em out and we can recommend options. Thanks for the information - this is super helpful! I will admit that iMessage is pretty nice, but if that's the only real sacrifice I would be making then it seems like the savings might be worth it. A couple more software Qs: 1. I've been using Time Machine for regular backups. Is there PC software that can use their backup format to restore my files ? Or is there alternative backup software I can start using now that will work well cross platform? 2. This is a bigger question that is maybe beyond the scope of this thread, but what is he general consensus opinion on Windows 10? I've read mixed things online, but I can't say I've loved the last few iterations of MacOS either. Oh, I am very open to refurbished laptops (the one I am using now was refurbished). Where do you recommend I shop for them? Was planning on buying via Newegg, open to other suggestions. Mark Larson posted:This year I switched from a MacBook Pro 2015 to a ThinkPad. I pretty much wanted the ability to run Python and R, and interact with my VMs/droplets on AWS and DO. So far I've only run into one software that doesn't run on Windows, which Sketch. So I'm using Figma. The ThinkPad has been great hardware-wise. Mac stuff is great until it goes wrong, and it can go very, very wrong. I ran into kernel panics early on in the life of the Mac and they replaced the logic board, then again just before the warranty was expiring. That gave me pause, since out of warranty repairs on Macs are quite expensive. Thanks! This is super helpful. Where'd you grab your refurbished ThinkPad? I'm not exactly in a rush, so I can accord to take the time and hunt around until I find a great deal. Not sure if either of you would know this, but are there deal aggregator websites I should monitor while I'm shopping around? Sorry if these questions are a bit general. Much appreciated.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 01:35
|
|
|
Direct from the manufacturer is the best source for refurbished laptops because they usually carry the same warranty as new. And they often ship faster than new because they only sell what they have in stock.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 02:17
|
|
|
^^^^ He's right. Dell and Lenovo both have outlet sites where they sell refurbs. Stocking is always hit or miss, but the prices they ask for are usually pretty reasonable, and they usually refresh the stocks at least once a week. Failing that, you can occasionally find them for sale on NewEgg, or as a last resort, eBay. I know people can be pretty iffy about eBay, but they've stacked the deck very heavily in the buyer's favor, so it's pretty hard to get stuck with a bum laptop these days. Some other sites (BestBuy, NewEgg, etc.) actually do direct sales on eBay, as well, so if you can catch one of those 10% off eBay coupons, you can save some extra cash. SAMart has a surprising number that come up, too. For aggregators, I'd drop in to a few sites like SlickDeals and set up alerts to poke you when refurbs pop up. As far as Win10 goes, most of the people whining about it are the same ones who insist on staying with Win7 because of the aesthetic, or because they refuse to install a little utility that'll switch the (admittedly hideous) new Start menu back to the old style, or they fundamentally can't stand forced security updates, etc. There's a small number that legit have to stay with earlier versions for software compatibility, but most of the holdouts are basically just curmudgeons at this point. Win10 is fine and has a bunch of improvements over 7 and 8.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 03:59
|
|
|
Kommienzuspadt posted:This is a bigger question that is maybe beyond the scope of this thread, but what is he general consensus opinion on Windows 10? I've read mixed things online, but I can't say I've loved the last few iterations of MacOS either. Kommienzuspadt posted:This is a bigger question that is maybe beyond the scope of this thread, but what is he general consensus opinion on Windows 10? I've read mixed things online, but I can't say I've loved the last few iterations of MacOS either. I have Windows 10 Pro - one advantage of ordering a ThinkPad (or Latitude/Precision) is that you can get Pro without any bloatware. However, I am starting to get very, very annoyed by Windows' heavy-handed update system. Its not uncommon to open up my laptop in the morning and be greeted by an empty system, where all the apps and stuff I was working on are gone. The least Windows can do is say that the system would be restarted, which sometimes does happen on my Desktop, also Windows 10 Pro. I've taken to saving stuff before I suspend the laptop for the night but it is unbelievably annoying to not have the guarantee that things stay the same from night to morning. TBH I'm thinking of installing Linux but that also has its downsides.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 13:07
|
|
|
Mark Larson posted:However, I am starting to get very, very annoyed by Windows' heavy-handed update system. Its not uncommon to open up my laptop in the morning and be greeted by an empty system, where all the apps and stuff I was working on are gone. The least Windows can do is say that the system would be restarted, which sometimes does happen on my Desktop, also Windows 10 Pro. I've taken to saving stuff before I suspend the laptop for the night but it is unbelievably annoying to not have the guarantee that things stay the same from night to morning. TBH I'm thinking of installing Linux but that also has its downsides. https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 13:21
|
|
|
I'll have to look into that when I get home. I was under the impression that you had to be in a domain group to properly lock down windows 10.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 17:50
|
|
|
I really appreciate how Mac OS seems to just stay out of your way and it just keeps working. No problems with sleep or hibernate or any of that. Also it's free.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 18:17
|
|
|
Mu Zeta posted:Also it's free.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 18:25
|
|
|
CopperHound posted:is this a joke? GNU/MacOS
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 18:42
|
|
|
CopperHound posted:is this a joke? When there's a new version of Mac OS it doesn't cost any money. When Windows 11 comes out it will be $100+. I have an iMac from 2012 and it's running the current OS and I've never spent a dime on the software.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 18:48
|
|
|
Mu Zeta posted:When there's a new version of Mac OS it doesn't cost any money. When Windows 11 comes out it will be $100+. I have an iMac from 2012 and it's running the current OS and I've never spent a dime on the software. Windows 10 was a free upgrade to basically anyone not on still on XP, and still is even if they aren't officially promoting it anymore. 
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 18:59
|
|
|
Why do they sell Windows 10 then? You can't buy Mac OS.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 19:39
|
|
|
Because Microsoft doesn't control all the compatible hardware. E: also I've been out of the loop for a while but Mac OS also used to have paid system updates. I don't know when that stopped.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 19:59
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 14, 2024 21:20 |
|
|
Mu Zeta posted:Why do they sell Windows 10 then? You can't buy Mac OS. They sell Windows 10 because you can build your own machine that doesn't come with a license. All Apple computers come with a license inherently. That doesn't mean that you can't get a free license to Windows. With the way Microsoft subsidizes things, it frequently is cheaper to buy a prebuilt that comes with a Windows license than to buy equivalent hardware components, ergo free Windows. Edit: You can absolutely buy MacOS. Yes, it's an older version, and yes they sell it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 22, 2018 20:06
|
|
