|
Lockback posted:I don't think any of the major laptop brands are using brand specific drivers anymore. Asus, Lenovo, HP, MSI, etc all just use the bog standard drivers from Nvidia and have for years.
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 00:05
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 13:14 |
|
|
Lockback posted:The MBP M3 will be a better laptop. There is a small learning curve for Mac but its really not too bad. It'll be a annoying couple weeks where you google "How to cut and paste on mac" but then its fine. The MBP camera, screen, mics and speakers are all excellent. If their work has images that have all their software I'd strongly suggest the MBP. Apple laptops look like space alien technology compared to everything else out there on the market. There's just no comparison they are Really loving Good at everything they do, especially now since they added back HDMI and SD card slots and headphone jacks
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 00:39
|
|
|
Get hosed Jony
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 00:46
|
|
|
Lockback posted:?? I posted about this a few pages ago but my gf's 2020 Omen 15 needs to run outdated HP graphics drivers or it won't switch between the DGPU and iGPU automatically
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 00:51
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:Apple laptops look like space alien technology compared to everything else out there on the market. There's just no comparison they are Really loving Good at everything they do, especially now since they added back HDMI and SD card slots and headphone jacks To add a personal anecdote to this, I've hosed with writing code on Linux on my desktop and laptops in the past, and after seeing a good deal on a 14" M3 Pro, I finally gave in and bought it for personal use. Every Linux experience of mine has involved trying to get something comfortable to work with (not necessarily working, granted) and still dealing with issues. That includes wrestling with drivers, webcams, HiDPI scaling, display/window server configurations, and even proper laptop sleep states, all because I thought dual booting Windows/Linux on my desktop/laptop would provide the best of both worlds, and I was spending time not just solving these issues but (admittedly hyperfixating on) research on what laptops would be strong enough to play games I was thinking about at the time while also having a Linux distro community large enough to help resolve issues if I ran into them. But Apple Silicon is just so good at everything you'd ask for from a computer - build, battery, processing power under heavy AND light load, and if you buy a laptop, the screen - and they feel like complete products the moment you get your hands on them. I think nowadays the first question for any new laptop seeker with no clear idea where to start should be "why wouldn't an M series Macbook work for you?" There's still plenty of valid reasons not to choose one, like software/hardware needs and price, but if you're knowledgeable enough about those needs, you probably don't need advice on that level. Even price is more negotiable nowadays, thanks to refurbs/second hand Macbooks still being serviceable to very good. I don't really have the need/desire to play games on the go anymore, and after using an Apple Silicon laptop for work, it finally convinced me to just buy one, and experience of using it these first few days absolutely dunks on the experience of first getting my previous Windows laptops and setting them up to be able to dual boot and troubleshoot any related issues. Yeah, my constraints/needs changed, but that's the point - if your needs don't require something that Apple Silicon can't provide at a price you're happy with, it's REALLY hard to beat Apple Silicon. tl;dr gently caress Wayland, the snap package manager, and the S3 sleep state
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 01:27
|
|
|
Thirst Mutilator posted:I don't really have the need/desire to play games on the go anymore, So while the roster of games that work is a lot smaller, the ones that do play great. BG3 runs amazing on my M1 MBP. It's annoying that like Diablo 4 won't run but I guess if you're willing to adjust what you play based on what runs, the experience is still really good.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 04:14
|
|
|
I've used Macs my entire working career, but I still like how windows has snappier real mouse movement. Track pad, Mac wins by a landslide, but real mouse movements just has a few more ms of latency. I also play games and work with games so I'm always dual-machining these days... Otoh, Macs have much better productivity software than Windows if you're willing to pay some money. Things like Mimestream and Fantastical are just kind of godly compared to any windows alternative. It doesn't help that the windows 8+ design language has hosed all app UI that adopted it for the last 5 years. If you're a programmer, there's also a ton of great tools like Medis, the Redis GUI.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 07:25
|
|
|
Did some research and it looks like there’s no real benefit from going 3070ti->4070. Is that accurate? The 80 looks like a decent bump but I’m not sure I want to shell out that much when the rest of the laptop would be functionally the same.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 17:42
|
|
|
Ugly In The Morning posted:Did some research and it looks like there’s no real benefit from going 3070ti->4070. Is that accurate? The 80 looks like a decent bump but I’m not sure I want to shell out that much when the rest of the laptop would be functionally the same. Laptop? Yeah. It'd be like 10%. If you have a 3070ti right now I'd hold off for another generation at least.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 18:16
|
|
|
Lockback posted:Laptop? Yeah. It'd be like 10%. If you have a 3070ti right now I'd hold off for another generation at least. I usually do a laptop refresh every 18 months or so but yeah, I may hold off for a while because even the 4080 doesn’t seem that worth it. Maybe if there’s a good clearance or something.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 18:38
|
|
|
I feel like laptops are so much higher quality and moore's law is so dead 18 months is probably much too quick. Holding off and instead looking at a higher-end model in the next year+ is probably a smarter move.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 18:43
|
|
|
Lockback posted:I feel like laptops are so much higher quality and moore's law is so dead 18 months is probably much too quick. Holding off and instead looking at a higher-end model in the next year+ is probably a smarter move. It’s mostly residual brainworms from growing up as a 90’s/00’s PC gamer I think.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 18:45
|
|
|
Still playing pretty AAA titles on my 3060 machine with respectable performance, can even do a little ray tracing. DLSS I think has really stretched out the lifespan of these in terms of gaming.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 19:01
|
|
|
I find myself tempted by the new stuff not so much due to the performance, but because of the refinement of other things. My Asus G15 (2021) performs perfectly well enough and fills the niche I have for it just fine. I don’t expect something newer to have substantially more performance or even notice increase in performance. But then I look at something like the new G14 and think “lighter weight, better build quality, nicer screens, nicer speakers” and the overall package is tugging at my wallet. Still probably not seriously entertain purchases, but as the performance increases are tapering off, they are spending engineering efforts into making the rest of the machine nicer.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 19:45
|
|
|
Those new aluminum body Asus' they showed at CES do look very nice.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 19:51
|
|
|
Mental Hospitality posted:Those new aluminum body Asus' they showed at CES do look very nice. With the OLED monitors? Yeah I am REALLY interested. I am oscilating between replacing my 2020 G14 next holiday season or wait for the 5060 (which I don't think will be available then, at least not on laptops).
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 20:10
|
|
|
I'm in the same boat of trying to wait until the 5060 to upgrade from my 2020 G14 but I did pick up a couple of the 2023 G14s with the 4060 in them for the kids and they are very nice machines. The screen in particular felt like a big upgrade and it's even a little lighter than the older model which was nice.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 20:36
|
|
|
If someone wants to compel me to make an unwise purchase on something, all they really need to do is put an incredible screen on it. It's honestly the main reason why I bought a MBP 14.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 20:42
|
|
|
I'm thinking about getting a laptop to be a basic media center for my old 1080p tv in my basement. All I plan on doing with it is running streaming services, playing media filez in VLC, and running winamp/geiss  Looking to go inexpensive, not chromebooks, and quiet, in that order. Not really looking for a specific model to buy as much as some guidance. Is there anything in particular I should avoid when I'm picking something out? Are refurbs a no-no? Is there a preferred Windows install for this kind of thing?
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 23:20
|
|
|
Phy posted:I'm thinking about getting a laptop to be a basic media center for my old 1080p tv in my basement. All I plan on doing with it is running streaming services, playing media filez in VLC, and running winamp/geiss IN general you could just kinda hunt and peck. You'll see a lot of refurb acer nitros, there's a reason for that. I'd stay away from them in particular and honestly Acer in general. Finding a 8000-series or newer laptop on facebook marketplace or something is your best bet, though that might violate the quiet requirement, or at least make it harder. Really what you'd want is as new a CPU as you can find, but one that's 15w or less. That'll pretty much guarantee its quiet. And a SSD, because you always want an SSD.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2024 23:34
|
|
|
There are really neat micro pcs that will serve that purpose perfectly if you don't actually need the built in screen and keyboard. Like for sub $200 probably.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 00:04
|
|
|
Flipperwaldt posted:There are really neat micro pcs that will serve that purpose perfectly if you don't actually need the built in screen and keyboard. Like for sub $200 probably. Yep, I had a job where we used Dell micro PCs for exactly this. Worked pretty well.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 00:05
|
|
|
I got this N100 mini PC for this purpose: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005234874016.html (make sure it's not the older N5095 option). Low power, quiet, cheap, will handle anything up to 8K AV1 decoding.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 00:12
|
|
|
I'm going to be in the market for a laptop within the next couple months. Primary use will be general daily internetting, but I want something that can handle some light to moderate gaming (for things I really want to play that aren't coming to the PS5) and potentially, in the future, some light to moderate game development. (I'm not going to be making a 3D AAA powerhouse or anything) Not necessarily looking for a specific recommendation, but are there things I should look out for? Screen will be relatively unimportant, I'll have it hooked up to either a monitor or TV pretty much the entire time, and will only be using the screen as a secondary display. Are the integrated graphics on modern processors decent enough for my use cases? Will I be waiting forever for things to compile if I don't have a beefy processor, ridiculous amount of RAM, and fast SSD or are things generally fast enough nowadays that I won't really have issues? I do a ton of coding for work but all of that compiles on a crazily specced remote workstation so I have absolutely no perspective on what is necessary nowadays. Thanks!
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 00:49
|
|
|
Flipperwaldt posted:There are really neat micro pcs that will serve that purpose perfectly if you don't actually need the built in screen and keyboard. Like for sub $200 probably. Yeah I've done this with laptops in the past, not having the big bulky screen is really nice
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 01:04
|
|
|
mobby_6kl posted:I got this N100 mini PC for this purpose: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005234874016.html (make sure it's not the older N5095 option). Low power, quiet, cheap, will handle anything up to 8K AV1 decoding. Tbh my first thought was "media pc build" but I quickly realized that segment of my brain was at least a decade out of touch, so I figured I'd check about laptops. This probably does me just as well for the requirements I listed, thanks for the new avenue of research.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 02:08
|
|
|
Dr. Eldarion posted:I'm going to be in the market for a laptop within the next couple months. Primary use will be general daily internetting, but I want something that can handle some light to moderate gaming (for things I really want to play that aren't coming to the PS5) and potentially, in the future, some light to moderate game development. (I'm not going to be making a 3D AAA powerhouse or anything) If you’re planning on gaming, even on the lighter side, even a low-end dGPU like a 3050 is going to absolutely stomp an iGPU. Like “factor of five” type performance difference.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 02:38
|
|
|
I’m looking for a cheap laptop for my mom. She mostly just watches videos/Netflix and plays browser games so obviously doesn’t need to be high powered but an SSD and 2+ USB slots would be ideal. I don’t need a specific recommendation but any brands or features to look for/avoid?
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 03:03
|
|
|
There's also stuff like Nvidia shield and Apple TV all the way up through Mac mini as options!
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 03:06
|
|
|
EDIT: Wrong thread
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 03:11
|
|
|
Ugly In The Morning posted:If you’re planning on gaming, even on the lighter side, even a low-end dGPU like a 3050 is going to absolutely stomp an iGPU. Like “factor of five” type performance difference. Not true anymore! The new AMD GPUs have closed the gap considerably. The 3050 in particular is really only 20-30% faster than the 780m integrated GPU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MnhR6K6UY0 Though it depends, some stuff is about the same, some stuff the 3050 wins by 60%. But the 3050 is kind of a cruddy dGPU. But the next gen RDNA is going to be even faster and probably generally be at or beating the 3050. So integrated GPUs have come a long, long way. RatHat posted:I’m looking for a cheap laptop for my mom. She mostly just watches videos/Netflix and plays browser games so obviously doesn’t need to be high powered but an SSD and 2+ USB slots would be ideal. I don’t need a specific recommendation but any brands or features to look for/avoid? Macbook Air would be my best suggestion, this is a Best Buy Open-Box Excellent (which means not or barely used) for $837 https://www.ebay.com/itm/2042751680...e1fa6f2e8ad0INT If it needs to be windows, Asus Vivobook are usually pretty solid for that use case.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 05:21
|
|
|
RatHat posted:I’m looking for a cheap laptop for my mom. She mostly just watches videos/Netflix and plays browser games so obviously doesn’t need to be high powered but an SSD and 2+ USB slots would be ideal. I don’t need a specific recommendation but any brands or features to look for/avoid?
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 06:04
|
|
|
Oh, I missed cheap. Yeah, refurb Yoga is a really good option if you're looking at only spending a few hundred.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 06:11
|
|
|
Phy posted:Tbh my first thought was "media pc build" but I quickly realized that segment of my brain was at least a decade out of touch, Pepperidge Farm remembers Wow "Media PC" is not a term I've heard in a long, long time 
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 06:13
|
|
|
RatHat posted:I’m looking for a cheap laptop for my mom. She mostly just watches videos/Netflix and plays browser games so obviously doesn’t need to be high powered but an SSD and 2+ USB slots would be ideal. I don’t need a specific recommendation but any brands or features to look for/avoid? I had my mom get an HP Envy similar to one of these, and later bought a different model for myself. They're actually really nice, and surprisingly solid. My mom took to the touchscreen and is really happy with it, and I'm still pretty fond of mine. Currently on sale at BestBuy at a price I would consider reasonable (I don't think I'd want to go over $500 on one of these, but I'm an inveterate bargain hunter): https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-env...p?skuId=6535748
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 06:17
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:Pepperidge Farm remembers I had a machine running Windows XP Media Center for a while. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 06:18
|
|
|
CaptainSarcastic posted:I had a machine running Windows XP Media Center for a while. Oh god same, XP MCE 2005 in a horizontal Lian-Li HTPC case.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 07:23
|
|
|
TITTIEKISSER69 posted:Oh god same, XP MCE 2005 in a horizontal Lian-Li HTPC case. My main machine at the time ran Windows XP Pro 64. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 10:59
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:Pepperidge Farm remembers "Multimedia" PC 
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 16:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 17, 2024 13:14 |
|
|
CaptainSarcastic posted:I had a machine running Windows XP Media Center for a while. I can one up that: I not only had one machine running XP Media Center with the remote, but I had another machine on my network running Windows Home Server with Storage Spaces spanning across drives. CaptainSarcastic posted:My main machine at the time ran Windows XP Pro 64. Also did this, my sister kept getting malware so I set her up with XP 64 and no software would run on it, not even malware.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2024 16:25
|
|
