|
I typically suggest Thinkpads but other brands are good. Thinkpad T14 is a great economical portable option. P14 typically has a bit more power and a bit more weight. X1 Carbon is one of the best laptops I've played with, but it's costly. P16 is great if you need something with more size. Cost not an issue, I use a Macbook Pro for work and its probably what I'd choose again if I had a choice, as long as the Mac is fine in your eco system (it probably does more than you think). I've generally liked the HP business line. I'd stay away from Dell on anything but the XPS line, and I think that's a little overpriced.
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 15:36
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 10:56 |
|
|
down1nit posted:Comedy macbook air 2017 option. They run win 10 pretty well, and macos sorta well for under $200. No one should buy an intel based mac at this point. The Air 2017 is dead ended at Monterey and support for that is expected to end this year. Even for <$200 it's a bad use of funds. (I know you mentioned Windows 10, but that support is coming to an end soonish too.)
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 15:49
|
|
|
Gonna mention again there's some pretty decent sub-$200 refurb Thinkpad Yogas. The build quality is pretty nice. I'd specifically recommend them for Linux because it was super easy to install. They typically come with Windows 11 now, but I can't speak to the Win11 performance because I found the whole OS so aggravating that it pushed me to permanently switch to Linux. The Ubuntu performance is plenty slick for general web-browsing and office-type activities.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 16:22
|
|
|
crepeface posted:Is there a recommended laptop for general office work? Lenovo's outlet is a good place to look. Stock changes constantly but right now you can get a Thinkpad L13 with a FHD+ screen, i5-1255U, 16GB RAM/256GB SSD, and estimated 9hr battery life for $510 refurb: https://www.lenovo.com/us/outletus/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadl/thinkpad-l13-gen-3-(13-inch-intel)/21b3x020us There are similar models with AMD chips as well if you prefer. Most are preinstalled with Windows 11 at this point (not the one I linked), but I am pretty sure that comes with rights to downgrade to 10 as long as you're OK installing it yourself. Eletriarnation fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Jan 3, 2024 |
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 16:25
|
|
|
Check out Best Buy's clearance section on the regular, there are some amazing deals there
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 16:41
|
|
|
poo poo, i probably should have mentioned im in the 52nd state (australia)
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 16:54
|
|
|
crepeface posted:Is there a recommended laptop for general office work?
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 17:18
|
|
|
slidebite posted:Just to be clear, when you say Windows 10, do you mean it can't be 11? Or just not Apple? i'd need to double-check, but there's some legacy industry software that i know is windows 10 compliant but idk about windows 11
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 18:08
|
|
|
General question I’m hoping someone can opine on: I have a 2015 MacBook Pro that I will never get rid of as long as it’s not completely broken. It was my dad’s. I’ve got windows 10 on it and that works great. But long term, 10 will eventually lose support. Is there a Linux distro that’ll work ok on it? I use it with a Logitech mouse so I’m not super worried about the touchpad working and such. I just want to be able to use it for surfing and connecting to other machines remotely on the couch
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 19:14
|
|
|
namlosh posted:General question I’m hoping someone can opine on: You can make these things last a long time. I just retired a 2011 MacBook pro a few months ago. Fedora worked on it but I decided to buy a new computer in the end. Another option is to look at opencore legacy to run modern MacOS on unsupported hardware. https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/MODELS.html
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 19:47
|
|
|
You have almost 2 years left on Win 10 support and honestly I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't limp around for a while after.
|
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 19:50
|
|
|
Yeah I have zero desire to go to win 11. I only boot into win 10 on the rare occasion some game doesn't get have Linux support through steams compatibility layer crepeface posted:poo poo, i probably should have mentioned im in the 52nd state (australia) Get one of your mates to buy one stateside and bring it back in their carry-on luggage Hadlock fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Jan 3, 2024 |
|
#
?
Jan 3, 2024 20:28
|
|
|
bull3964 posted:No one should buy an intel based mac at this point. The Air 2017 is dead ended at Monterey and support for that is expected to end this year. Even for <$200 it's a bad use of funds. (I know you mentioned Windows 10, but that support is coming to an end soonish too.) It's... You're... Ugh. Intel macs were for sale until last year, Ventura is easy to patch, Windows 11 exists, Linux is rumored to be ready for desktops soon, it was a comedy option. All this and still a worthless post about a computer exactly the same as a ThinkPad x1? Suppose I should get rid of my trashcan pro and my 2016 imac since Monterey support is ending and thus the cpu doesn't do math now lol
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 10:47
|
|
|
I saw a post on Reddit that the guy was gonna have to buy a new apple because slack won't run on his laptop because macos version wasn't supported and slack needed whatever version it didn't support There's no technical reason why a ten year old Mac can't do things, computers haven't evolved much since 2014. I just dug a haswell era desktop motherboard out of storage to plug an rtx 4070 in and it plays games just fine But yeah operating system obsolescence is definitely a forced thing now. Even Microsoft is doing it with Windows 11 I've mostly switched over to Linux at this point, most everything I do goes through chrome anyways. My work laptop is a mac and I generally get a new one every 2-3 years so not a big deal
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 11:07
|
|
|
Slack and Chrome dropping support is why I finally retired my 2011 Mac a few months ago. There was nothing wrong with it other than OS obsolescence. gently caress that poo poo I bought a Framework and put Linux on it.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 11:18
|
|
|
down1nit posted:It's... You're... Ugh. I mean if it was a comedy post, that's fine. It's just a legit issue where hardware that looks like a deal (due to how much cheaper than it was new) isn't really when you have to contend with either not getting security updates anymore or jumping though hoops to go with an alternate OS. That's great if you want to hold on to your trashcan and put linux on it, that's a great repurpose of hardware. I still wouldn't recommend anyone buy a used trashcan due to the fact that you can get hardware of the same capability or better for likely cheaper and not have to deal with proprietary Apple hardware quirks.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 16:06
|
|
|
I just came here to say that the new XPS 14 and 16 look absolutely sick but the keyboard layout and giant trackpad/wrist rest combo thing make me wanna barf
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 16:12
|
|
|
I've had the XPS 13 Plus since pretty much it came out and the hidden trackpad area in the palm rest is the bees knees, it's the wasps nipples, it is I would go so far as to say, the entire set of erogenous zones of every major flying insect of the Western world.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 16:33
|
|
|
My thorax is quivering
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 16:50
|
|
|
A dedicated "copilot" key feels like a jumping the shark moment for AI
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 20:47
|
|
|
My buddy got a $3500 allowance for a new laptop, no restrictions that I’m aware of. What’s the most dope thing he can get that doesn’t look like a RGB nightmare? I’m technically literate but am a desktop person. Pitfalls to avoid and lines to look at are appreciated — TIA everyone.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 20:57
|
|
|
tehinternet posted:My buddy got a $3500 allowance for a new laptop, no restrictions that I’m aware of. What’s the most dope thing he can get that doesn’t look like a RGB nightmare? Mac with the M3 Max, that's a nice config.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 21:03
|
|
|
M3 or a custom and loaded Thinkpad P16
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 21:09
|
|
|
M3 MacBook pro is super nice. Mine has magsafe, 3 thunderbolts ports, headphone jack, full size SD card reader and HDMI out. Full set of modern ports Firing Johnny Ives was the best decision apple made post Steve Jobs. If Ives had gotten his way the MacBook would have been hermetically sealed with wireless charging and as thin (and more fragile than) a credit card Hadlock fucked around with this message at 21:15 on Jan 4, 2024 |
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 21:12
|
|
|
tehinternet posted:My buddy got a $3500 allowance for a new laptop, no restrictions that I’m aware of. What’s the most dope thing he can get that doesn’t look like a RGB nightmare? Do they want to play games or what? The aforementioned Dell XPS 16 with an OLED screen and 4070 might be the move if so
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 21:12
|
|
|
A Legion Pro 7 is a very understated looking machine if you set the keyboard backlight to a very simple solid color. You can get one with a 4090 for under $3000 and then your buddy can be like "look I saved the company 500 dollars!" 
Mental Hospitality fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Jan 4, 2024 |
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 21:26
|
|
|
Apologies for the complete lack of details. High resolution (2k-4K), high refresh gaming. 3500 is 4090 money for sure. Appreciate the recommendations thus far given my making GBS threads the bed on details
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 22:00
|
|
|
If gaming the Legion Pro 7 or customizing out a P16, but you'll get more for the money with a legion.
|
|
#
?
Jan 4, 2024 22:03
|
|
|
I like the ROG Flow X13 but it's definitely a product catering to a specific niche.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 01:47
|
|
|
Keep an eye out for 4XXX GPU laptop sales Nvidia is in the process of rolling out their new "special/super" series GPU things and probably trying to clear out old stock
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 10:42
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:Keep an eye out for 4XXX GPU laptop sales I don't know if the super series will make it to laptops. The 4070ti never did and when the 2000 series did a super refresh it was desktop only, iirc.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 15:11
|
|
|
I wouldn't be surprised if Meteor Lake and its much improved ARC igpu is the only somewhat exciting thing to see in 2024 laptops. RTX40XX still seems to dominate the mobile gaming space since AMD is all but MIA in that segment. There's some Ryzen 8000 series rebrands of 2023 parts.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 15:47
|
|
|
They're definitely exciting for me because I realized that I just don't play many high performance games on laptops. Looking for a 2-in-1 with battery life that can at least be within ballpark of macs. Trading build quality and reliability for smaller games and not needing to bring a wacom is worth for me. My question (after trying a couple laptops and returning them), are windows laptops just not very reliable? Even brand new, they seem to crash fairly often. 1 laptop, flow x13, broke twice and another, lenovo yoga, broke 3 times over just a week of use each. They don't wake up from sleep reliably and some things randomly stop working unless you restart like wifi. By comparison, my desktop PC built from parts is extremely reliable and don't need a restart for weeks.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 17:44
|
|
|
Waking up from sleep is a common problem (it is for desktops too if you try to be aggressive in power saving as laptops are), but otherwise a laptop should be pretty solid. And I am not sure what you mean by "Things randomly stop working unless you restart wifi". With a laptop its likely that you are moving either between zones or even losing signal quickly enough the indicator doesn't show it, which can cause issues. Again, thats something inherent in a portable computer, not with a laptop specifically. But if random things are breaking that aren't relying on a wifi connection then that's something weird.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 17:50
|
|
|
I had the wifi just suddenly stop working while in the house sitting. Tried using the windows "repair" function and it told me to restart which is just a lolwat moment. I couldn't even disable and re-enable the module in the advanced settings.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 18:03
|
|
|
I've been very impressed with the stability of my 2021 Asus Strix G15. Especially after reinstalling windows and removing some of the factory software (namely Armoury Crate). It goes to sleep every night, wakes up when I grab it in the morning, plays games. I only really restart it or shut it down if Windows update is bugging me non-stop, so maybe once a week, if that. Other than that the thing just keeps on trucking. I think in the last 2.5 years I might have had 3 of 4 instances of it just locking up and requiring a manual reboot. I remember it happening when I had about 30 tabs loaded in Firefox and probably some game launchers doing stuff in the background.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 18:04
|
|
|
I've actually not minded Armoury Crate at all on my G14, but it is a 2020 so I am not sure if it got more bloated since then.MeruFM posted:I had the wifi just suddenly stop working while in the house sitting. Tried using the windows "repair" function and it told me to restart which is just a lolwat moment. I couldn't even disable and re-enable the module in the advanced settings. Happen once is probably just A Thing, but if it happens with any regularity that's probably a bad Wifi card. Possibly bad drivers, but that's really uncommon these days. For the record, there are only a couple Wifi chip makers anymore, and they are the same chips in desktop and laptops. So thats not a laptop thing as much as a wifi thing.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 18:10
|
|
|
MeruFM posted:I had the wifi just suddenly stop working while in the house sitting. Tried using the windows "repair" function and it told me to restart which is just a lolwat moment. I couldn't even disable and re-enable the module in the advanced settings. If you're talking W11: Control Panel --> Network and Sharing Center --> Change Adapter Settings --> right-click the Wi-Fi adapter --> either Diagnose or Disconnect/Connect. If you search hard enough, sometimes you can find some convoluted workaround to reach the old features MS wants to strip out of their UI.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 18:17
|
|
|
Quixzlizx posted:If you're talking W11: That's pretty funny. I only saw the wifi slider and it was stuck in "enabled mode" and the repair returned with "can't repair, try restarting". Regardless, I already returned both, waiting for a 2-in-1 intel meteor lake laptop before trying another.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 18:24
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 4, 2024 10:56 |
|
|
I'm extremely happy with my Lenovo Legion 7 Slim, so I'd heartily recommend if if you want a gaming laptop thats got a more understated look. In terms of games and performance mine has got an RTX 4060 so anything with a 4080 or 4090 is going to be significantly better, but I'm very happy with the performance I'm getting. To give you an idea (and anyone else looking at one of these), my specs are: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS 32GB DDR5 5600 nVidia RTX 4060 8GB GDDR6 2560x1600 240hz 500nit display As 240fps is somewhat unrealistic and frankly unnecessary in a lot of titles I’ve capped the framerate in pretty much all my games to 120fps to get a smooth and consistent experience. All games are running in native 2560 x 1600 with DLSS enabled where supported and running in balanced power mode. Resident Evil 2 – Maximum settings (subject to VRAM), ray tracing off, 120fps. Switching ray tracing on takes performance down to around 80fps – a significant drop for a very insignificant improvement so I don’t use it.  Portal RTX – Ultra settings, ray tracing on (obviously), DLSS set to performance, frame generation on, 50-70fps. Disappointing but considering RTX is basically bolted onto the base game its understandable. Hard to appreciate how much nicer it makes the game look until you see it in motion.  Cyberpunk 2077 – Optimised settings, DLSS set to performance, frame generation on, ray tracing off, 120fps. Switching ray tracing on drops performance to about 70-80fps and while it does look a bit better the standard lighting looks really good and I prefer the buttery smooth experience over slightly improved lighting.  Dead Space – Maximum settings, DLSS set to balanced, frame generation on, ray tracing on, 100-120fps. Being a horror game I found this really benefits from ray tracing (I completed the game on the Series X with ray tracing on at 30fps) and was worth the performance hit, which was still very close to my 120fps target. There was some odd stuttering here and there which is a known issue, but I only played this using the free trial to see how it ran and have made no effort to optimise/overcome.  War Thunder – Maximum settings, DLSS set to quality, 120fps. Predictably runs great and DLSS at 1600p looks and runs far better than the standard anti aliasing with the game.  Resident Evil Village – Maximum settings (subject to VRAM), ray tracing off, 120fps. This game has some serious issues with 16:10 resolutions where the mouse cursor reappears in the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Fixable with use of mods but annoying considering the other games don’t have this issue.  DOOM Eternal – Mostly Ultra settings with some dialled up to Ultra Nightmare, DLSS set to balanced, ray tracing on, 120fps. Unsurprisingly runs extremely well and at all settings at Ultra Nightmare handily sits at my 120fps target without ray tracing. Dropping most settings to Ultra makes no noticeable difference to graphical quality but frees up enough headroom to switch on ray tracing and still get 120fps.  I’m seriously impressed at how nice ray tracing makes lighting and reflections look and its like the bump mapping in Halo Combat Evolved all over again – I keep stopping to check it out.  I did have an element of trepidation going for a gaming laptop instead of building a new desktop, but I'm happy to say it was totally unfounded and I'm really thrilled with my machine. Lenovo Vantage works really nicely as well and it lets me be super lazy by keeping all my drivers updated for me.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 18:49
|
|
