Laptop Megathread: Your laptop doesn't have Haswell? More like Hasbeen~

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Laptop Megathread: Your laptop doesn't have Haswell? More like Hasbeen~

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mystes: May 31, 2006

Why are laptop prices so bad now? My current laptop cost $550 around 2.5 years ago and it has an i5 processor, good battery life, and a touchscreen, plus it's pretty light and it came with an SSD drive (although only 128gb).

It's only 13.3 inches and I've been wishing I had something a bit bigger lately, and I also wouldn't mind upgrading to a quad core processor, but it just seems like the prices aren't that good right now. I guess the current price of ram are partially to blame, but it's pretty annoying.

# ¿ Feb 14, 2018 01:40

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 10:06

mystes: May 31, 2006

It's also annoying that in 2018 you still have to be careful because there are tons of laptops that look good at first glance but actually have 1600x900 screens or whatever.

# ¿ Feb 14, 2018 01:48

mystes: May 31, 2006

Mouse Cadet posted:

How would this do for a spreadsheet/basic database/programming machine?
https://computers.woot.com/offers/hp-5099669-recertified-hp-pavilion-15z-cd000-laptop-s?ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_pc_2_21

If I can add a SSD, I have a spare Samsung 840EVO 120gb
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147247

Pros: 16gb of ram. Ram is expensive now.
Cons:
- Refurb
- No ssd
- CPU: The pre-ryzen amd cpu's really aren't that good. Even for multithreaded stuff, it will only perform as well as a dual core intel processor, and for singlethreaded stuff it will perform much more poorly.

I don't really think it's worth $500. (Possibly the only exception would be if you definitely need 16gb of ram but don't need a lot of cpu performance for some reason. Usually this wouldn't be the case with anything you would be doing with a laptop.)

If you want something cheap, just get something with a dual core intel processor. If you want something to use around the house there have been lots of deals for laptops with 7th generation hq (quad core) processors recently. If you want something more portable, there are laptops with quad core 8th generation processors for fairly cheap now.

mystes fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Feb 20, 2018

# ¿ Feb 20, 2018 16:38

mystes: May 31, 2006

Eletriarnation posted:

You may not want to wait long enough for them to get common/cheap, but we're already starting to see Intel 6-cores in gaming laptops and there's a range of mobile Coffee Lake models up in ark.intel.com so we should be seeing some more mainstream models of laptop with them soon.

If anyone's looking for 6 core laptops, there are deals on 3 models of dell G3s and G7s (the build quality probably isn't as good as other dell models) with 6 core i7-8750H processors for around $1000 right now: https://slickdeals.net/f/11533843-d...earchBarV2Algo1

I don't know how the performance compares to the 4 core i7-7700hq processors in laptops with better cooling though.

# ¿ May 20, 2018 00:17

mystes: May 31, 2006

Isn't the mx150 pointless and no better than Intel integrated graphics?

Edit: lol I guess with ram being so expensive it's better just to have the dedicated ram, though.

mystes fucked around with this message at 09:00 on May 21, 2018

# ¿ May 21, 2018 08:58

mystes: May 31, 2006

Red Crown posted:

This ticks pretty much everything I need, my only turn-off is the 256GB SSD. So, I checked out something similar, and it looks like getting the 500GB SSD pushes you up to a higher overall weight class. I'm willing to plop down the extra money for it, as long as there aren't any big red flags here: bad resolution, known poor product quality, better deal from another product line, etc.

Bad resolution, 2 core instead of 4 core, no discrete graphics.

# ¿ May 21, 2018 22:47

mystes: May 31, 2006

Mu Zeta posted:

I don't think paying extra for the i7 was ever worth it. Especially now since the i5 are also quad core.

Don't only the i7 processors have hyperthreading?

# ¿ May 22, 2018 19:10

mystes: May 31, 2006

Seamonster posted:

no

Oh, that really makes the i5/i7 designations confusing or meaningless, then.

Edit: Or I guess you just have to look at what generation it is to understand what it means.

mystes fucked around with this message at 19:17 on May 22, 2018

# ¿ May 22, 2018 19:14

mystes: May 31, 2006

What are you using the laptop for out of curiosity?

# ¿ May 27, 2018 15:28

mystes: May 31, 2006

PMush Perfect posted:

Alright, got the linked things, gonna get the expanded ram too, I think my former roomie might have an old 4GB stick lying around, though, so I'm gonna ask before I spend on that.

If it's older, it might not be DDR4.

# ¿ Jun 16, 2018 23:34

mystes: May 31, 2006

GoodBee posted:

I thought I mentioned I was looking at 15" screens with 1920 x 1080 resolution but I did not. I don't know if that's more screen than necessary.

Probably Flipperwaldt is one of those people who wants 4k resolution on a tiny display. I certainly don't have good enough vision for that, but I guess congratulations to people who do.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2018 02:01

mystes: May 31, 2006

Hunt11 posted:

So are there any good pc laptops that are renowned for having reliable chargers?

Is the chargers failing usually a problem for you? I don't think I've ever had that happen

# ¿ Jun 30, 2018 19:22

mystes: May 31, 2006

Animal posted:

You can always wipe the drive and do a fresh Windows install if you are paranoid. It’s not like they can snoop you from the hardware level

Can't bios makers use Management Engine to do this? Or is it locked down so only Intel can?

mystes fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Jul 2, 2018

# ¿ Jul 2, 2018 20:56

mystes: May 31, 2006

Vital Signs posted:

There is only one 2.5 slot on this model. In retrospect I should of gotten an m.2 drive and could of went a bit more smoothly, but whatever.

Ya I had that driver handy from another computer, but it still took some time to do all the drivers. Just wasn�t expecting to lose WiFi like that.

You just need a USB SATA cable. They're dirt cheap.

# ¿ Jul 8, 2018 17:58

mystes: May 31, 2006

Unsinkabear posted:

Why would an international warranty be a plus?

I think Arbite is not in the US and wants a warranty that would be valid in his/her country?

# ¿ Jul 26, 2018 15:29

mystes: May 31, 2006

I kind of want to get an 8750h laptop but it seems like cooling becomes incredibly important so I'm waiting a bit in hopes that I can get better information about specific models.

Although at this rate I might actually just end up waiting for the higher tdp ryzen laptops and also hope ram prices come down as a result of the Chinese antitrust investigation.

# ¿ Aug 6, 2018 14:53

mystes: May 31, 2006

Unsinkabear posted:

Those films aren't exactly intended to remove and reapply endlessly

"Attaches and reattaches with ease"

# ¿ Aug 30, 2018 03:56

mystes: May 31, 2006

KingSlime posted:

Agreed, you don't get any meaningful savings with ARM. Look at the sticker price on that yoga, over $800

Why opt for a crippled machine just to save $100 at best? May as well get a Chromebook. Please let ARM based windows die, Microsoft...

I really don't understand why Microsoft is pushing for this again now. By all accounts the performance is terrible (at least for emulated x86 code).

# ¿ Aug 31, 2018 15:27

mystes: May 31, 2006

Lube banjo posted:

presumably the A13x, or whatever it is in a macbook pro 2020, would have active cooling allowing it to hit higher clocks though.

Also, Apple ARMs are already on 10nm TSMC and are rumored to make 7nm this year.

yeah they are slightly ahead of the curve

Doesn't the iPhone 8 processor already have a stupid number of cores though? If it takes it 6 cores to match a dual core i5, isn't arm still going to get creamed now that Intel is switching to 4 cores?

This probably means that Intel's low power chips are doomed, though, which explains why Microsoft is putting so much effort into arm: in the future they are going to have to have arm version to compete with low power ultraportables like Chromebooks which is something they have clearly been desperate to do.

# ¿ Sep 1, 2018 16:22

mystes: May 31, 2006

Unsinkabear posted:

What do you 2-in-1 people actually use the stylus for? Are you super hardcore note takers, am I missing something, or is it mostly about the tent mode?

In terms of styluses in general, I have a samsung android tablet with a stylus that that I use for things like taking notes on pdf files. It's basically one of those things where either you have a specific thing you want it for or you will never need it, but if you need it for something it's very helpful to have at least one device that you can do it on.

In general, 2-in-1's seem like they end up being more trouble than just carrying two separate devices, but for the education market laptops with styluses might make sense. In college I feel like it would have been really convenient to be able to mostly take notes by typing but to also be able to draw diagrams when necessary.

Also, because of android support, 2-in-1 functionality might actually be useful on a chromebook as long as it works sufficiently well in laptop mode as well (the one's that actually detach can be annoyingly top heavy, but maybe they have gotten better?)

mystes fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Sep 1, 2018

# ¿ Sep 1, 2018 18:38

mystes: May 31, 2006

buglord posted:

Hi laptop thread. I found a really cool thing you guys probably already knew about, but its kinda exciting to me and I wanna know what you guys think. Is anyone excited for this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfImJZDKoo8

It seems like its borderline meme levels of gimmick here but a laptop with a capacitive, haptic keyboard with sound cues sounds really cool if they can pull it off. Then being able to draw on the "keyboard" too? The paid previewers on YouTube like the guy above are sorta positive because they have to be, but I really hope typing on it is good.

I guess there was a similar model before it with an older style, but still touch-based keyboard? Has anyone used that before?

I don't think anyone bought the previous model. They were going for like $200 all over the place a few months ago, too, as stores were trying to get rid of their stock. I was sort of tempted but I couldn't think of any actual use for it. I'm honestly surprised they're making a new version.

With eink I guess it could actually theoretically be useful for some things, but it doesn't seem like it would be worth the trouble.

# ¿ Sep 4, 2018 20:31

mystes: May 31, 2006

Ace of Baes posted:

Looking for a new laptop as my current one is on the brink, current laptop is a ASUS K55 15-Inch Laptop (AMD A-Series Quad-Core A8-4500M 1.9 GHz, 6 GB DDR3, Windows 8) I bought for $400 is 2013, looking for something of similar quality for <$300, preferably around $200, used/refurbished is fine, pretty much just use it for school/Netflix (instead of a PC) machine, needs to have an HDMI port

Is your current laptop seriously falling apart or is it just not up to the task now? Because a $200 laptop isn't going to be any better.

# ¿ Sep 15, 2018 13:04

mystes: May 31, 2006

Bob Morales posted:

900MHz or is that the model number?

It looks like it should be 900MHz, not the 2.2ghz Celeron 900. It really probably isn't worth messing with in 2018.

# ¿ Sep 17, 2018 13:24

mystes: May 31, 2006

AMD has launched their newer higher TDP laptop processors: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-ryzen-7-2800h-2600h,37800.html

However, I wonder how well these will compare to intel's current offerings. They don't have any 6 core processors to compete with the i7-8750h either.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2018 16:22

mystes: May 31, 2006

Unsinkabear posted:

This one IS a touchscreen, hence my surprise

That's pretty weird. You normally really have to work to cause this sort of thing on a touchscreen. I've done all sorts of stuff to my current laptop (which unfortunately has a touchscreen) and never had any issues. I did manage to get a small bright spot on a Samsung tablet, but only because I was dumb and stepped on it with pretty much my full weight.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2018 18:06

mystes: May 31, 2006

Unsinkabear posted:

I think it's because it's a soft matte finish, rather than the traditional stiff glass touchscreen. But that has me worried about all matte panels, which was up until now a pretty strong preference of mine.

Oh, I didn't even realize there were matte touchscreens (at least with modern capacitive touchscreens; I guess lots of devices used to have flimsier matte resistive touchscreens).

# ¿ Sep 18, 2018 18:32

mystes: May 31, 2006

Aeka 2.0 posted:

Faster sleep mode wakeup?

My co worker's 3 year old Lenovo wakes up fairly instantly when he opens it.
When I open my Aero15x 8 it takes a bit longer. Almost like a full boot up, but it isn't. What could be different. He is on Windows 7, im on 10.

Is it possible you're hibernating rather than suspending to ram?

# ¿ Sep 21, 2018 17:20

mystes: May 31, 2006

Bob Morales posted:

True - but this was a work laptop. T550S I believe

You replaced the panel on your work laptop?

# ¿ Sep 27, 2018 01:49

mystes: May 31, 2006

Hadlock posted:

I for one enjoy having my SSL certificate trust records tampered with by the Chinese and web telemetry sent in to a black hole from the factory * cough * Lenovo * cough *

Which reminds me, I need to reinstall Windows 10 from scratch and then upgrade to pro to turn off all the consumer app store bullshit.

After having Windows pro on my thinkpad for years with all the consumer stuff dialed down or turned completely off, it's amazing how much advertising and soft pitching the consumer version does. Windows 10 pro gives you a lot more lattitude to run the os more tightly.

Yeah Windows Pro gives you the freedom to use the group policy editor to change telemetry settings that don't actually do anything unless you have Enterprise.

# ¿ Oct 9, 2018 22:17

mystes: May 31, 2006

Hadlock posted:

Bank of America

I don't think this is true (even though they were a member of the consortium that created U2F).

They used to have a proprietary securid fob type thing but now I think they only support using SMS and email to send codes for two factor authentication.

If I'm wrong and there is some sort of hidden option for U2F I would really like to know though.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2018 14:16

mystes: May 31, 2006

Hadlock posted:

Yeah I will admit I only browsed that dongle auth site, did not validate all of them. I was mainly trying to make the point that this is a real thing supported by the sites most people use.

I just wish more sites (including BoA) actually supported it.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2018 21:57

mystes: May 31, 2006

G-Prime posted:

It's called the clit or the nipple because we're all still a little bit childish, get out of here with your branding.

"Eraser head" is also acceptable in polite company.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2018 16:39

mystes: May 31, 2006

There's another brand for $10 on Amazon. I don't know if it's any good though.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2018 03:24

mystes: May 31, 2006

If win pro keys are still $5 on ebay, I would probably just buy one before bothering to hunt around for a windows 8 pro key lying around somewhere.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2018 21:22

mystes: May 31, 2006

Atomizer posted:

Let me go back to this and share my experience. So I checked Brickseek and there might've been a few of these at a not-too-far Walmart. I tried calling about a dozen times and nobody loving answers the phone, so I drove there after work, which was late at night, knowing that the "in stock" numbers might be wrong. So I walk around the store (again, this is very late but they're open 24/7) and there are almost no employees. I finally get the store manager, who's a little tweaked out and can't find the laptops that he confirms their system is supposed to have. I go home, annoyed, then call the next day in the afternoon, and after about a minute of ringing someone answers the loving main CS line. The guy in electronics finally confirms that they haven't been able to find those laptops and they've had multiple people call and ask about them already. So no sweet $300 Ryzen laptops for me!

Walmart clearance is always like this. There's a reason people on sites like Slickdeals describe it as "extremely YMMV."

mystes fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Nov 4, 2018

# ¿ Nov 4, 2018 13:31

mystes: May 31, 2006

Hadlock posted:

Is that a real thing

I literally cannot remember the last time I saw a physical CD or DVD, anywhere, probably some time in 2014

I've probably seen an optical disk in a case for sale at like Walmart or something, but haven't actually seen a physical disk in forever.

Honestly curious what people are using CDs for in 2019. Wireless battery powered bluetooth adapters with like 10 hours play time are under $15, I have one on my bedside radio and another on my boat.

Any device needing a physical data cd is probably so old that it could be replaced with a raspberry pi and SD card, unless that device is some piece of hospital equipment or industrial control device, in which case what are you doing in the laptop thread.

When I bought Turbotax last tax season (I hate supporting their lobbying to prevent the government from making filing taxes easier, but it's just too much of a pain doing it manually) it unfortunately came on a cd so I had to buy a usb cd drive for it. Hopefully if I ever need the cd drive again I'll be able to remember where I put it.

I can't imagine wanting a laptop with a cd drive in it or even caring whether a desktop comes with one in 2018.

# ¿ Nov 11, 2018 00:01

mystes: May 31, 2006

Atomizer posted:

Turbotax is neither the only available tax preparation software () nor could you not have simply downloaded it from their site in TYOOL 2017!!! () You literally didn't need to go through any of what you typed!

It was cheaper to buy it from amazon on cd (even with the added cost of a cd drive) because it was on sale in that format. I guess I could have paid more to avoid the inconvenience of waiting a few days though, so it's true that this was self inflicted and I didn't need to go through the cruel and unusual torture of optical media.

Statutory Ape posted:

if you have simple enough taxes to file you can do it fast and free at creditkarma.com btw

E: you know, while i have a post in here that isnt laptop related, let me ask this question: is there anything out there that will make chrome boot up the same tabs in the same locations every time PC starts/reboots?

Unfortunately I don't think most of the free things will work unless you can use 1040-EZ and only need one state, neither of which applied to me for my 2017 taxes.

mystes fucked around with this message at 00:36 on Nov 11, 2018

# ¿ Nov 11, 2018 00:32

mystes: May 31, 2006

Atomizer posted:

Right but you're buying a license to use the software, so you could've purchased the physical medium and then still downloaded & installed the most current version from their site. Similarly, once in a while you might find a good deal on a PC game, and it'll come in a box with a disc and a license key; you can ignore the disc and just input the key in Steam or wherever.

It didn't come with a serial number or I would have tried that. I looked into it now and apparently you can contact support and send them a copy of your receipt and they'll add a download to your account or something, though.

Also, part of the reason I'm using it is that I really don't want to do taxes for multiple states manually, although at least it's not an issue where I moved during the year now (I'm just working in a different state than I live) so I guess it probably wouldn't be that complicated.

For a while I was just using excel1040 for my 1040 which isn't bad and does all the calculations for you but you still have to make sure you understand a lot of stuff on the forms correctly and then either have to mail it in (not bad in itself but it's nicer to efile and no immediately whether it was ok rather than risking forgetting a form or something) or recreate it for the horrible "Free File Fillable Forms" site (everything about the site is terrible and lol that it doesn't even do any math for you, but it will at least give you send you cryptic error messages after you try to submit the forms if there's a problem).r

# ¿ Nov 11, 2018 01:55

mystes: May 31, 2006

roomforthetuna posted:

creditkarma's tax thing is definitely not limited to 1040-EZ, though it might be limited to only one state per filing (or might not, I just didn't try!)

That's good to know. Unfortunately I checked and it doesn't support multiple states (yet), but maybe if I'm lucky they'll add that for 2018.

# ¿ Nov 11, 2018 02:14

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 10:06

mystes: May 31, 2006

Statutory Ape posted:

I never touch my screen but I do love the gorilla glass

My previous laptop had a glass touchscreen and my god the reflections were terrible. I recently got a new laptop and I went back to a normal matte screen and it's 1000 times better. You also don't really need the protection of gorilla glass on the screen of a laptop, either, so there's really no reason for it unless you really really want a touchscreen.

# ¿ Dec 10, 2018 18:25

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Laptop Megathread: Your laptop doesn't have Haswell? More like Hasbeen~

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