How to choose a working laptop (February, 2016)

It’s 2016 and I’ll tell you how to choose the right laptop. By the word “right” I mean a reasoned price and balanced components. There will be no specific models besides the one I bought myself. The material describes recommendations and a call to common sense!



Resources :

• IRC channel #hardware , where you can get professional advice, naturally in English ( XLV and sirsquishy )
• notebookcheck , as a great site that has accurate information on processors, video cards and excellent reviews. Here is a link to mobile processors and video cards .
• tomshardware - great reviews and technical glossary.

So, for starters, about brands, namely those that should be avoided or just pass by :

• We don’t consider Apple (expensive toys with a sealed memory), at half price you can buy MSI or Dell, which is no worse than anyone, but also wins in cooling and ergonomics.
• Acer - according to that channel (IRC), this company can no longer provide a decent quality of hardware, as it was 7-8 years ago, although most of all crap always.
• Acer Packard Bell is even worse than Acer. I really don’t know which brain controls and which brain their laptops design, but from personal experience they suffer from ergonomics, as well as build quality and softness of plastic. This applies to medium and cheap models.
• Toshiba - also, according to various prosarennyh people, the office makes excellent office equipment, but before laptops it doesn’t work out very well.
• HP is a shitburger , which in Russian is a “shit sandwich”. We bypass them! Here is an example: the original , copy # 1 , copy # 2 and a picture . If in a nutshell - HP did (and possibly continues) laptops with a BGA defect. To the question, since the problem is peculiar to HP laptops, why the latter do not recall defective laptops,representative of the companythe volunteer with a badge answered simply and with a taste that the company of laptops does not withdraw buy a new laptop or repair the mother! What is not a shitburger?

Now about the brands that you should pay attention to :

• Asus - which has grown quite well over the past 7 years, after choosing a model we read reviews in different languages.
• Lenovo  - soft bookmarks do not interfere with high-quality laptops. Not perfect, but pretty good.
• MSI are wonderful laptops, you can buy models with good fillings and good design (cooling, layout, etc.) for little money.
• Dell - great and expensive laptops. I’m writing to you temporarily since 1535 which is made in polland !

A separate list will be brands that are not like the others:

• Eurocom - Sell crazy gaming laptops, essentially reselling Clevo technology. Real egg cookers for those who did not understand that for games in 4K it is worth buying a system unit.

So, where do we start the choice? From the processor. Probably? Nearly? No, we start the choice by setting the purchase budget and the goals for which you need a laptop. For example, up to 500 euros, a good processor (for this money only -U), ddr3 memory and hard per terabyte. If suddenly for 520 euros you smiled HQ c ddr4 - do not hesitate to buy!

For example, for 500 euros you can buy a good laptop with an i5 / i7 U-processor of the 5th (broadwell) or less than the 6th (skylake) generation and a diagonal of 15 inches, USB3.0 ports and ddr3 memory. DDR4 in a good laptop cheaper than 600 can not be found.

Never focus on a 1n store. See prices in America and Europe. Remember that China is closer to Russia!)

I found a laptop with 5500U that is identical to another position on the site and it costs only 150 euros more than 5200U and also there is a “game video card”, nvidia 920 with 2GB ddr3 memory. Now discounts! Should I buy 5500U? 600 euros against 450?

Not! That’s why, we are reading an article . In short - when choosing a laptop with a processor that does not end in H / Q / M / X and their combinations, we are guided by the price, ergonomics and what it contains: how much RAM, can I increase it or is the slot soldered there (the second slot is simply sealed on the motherboard as on lenovo 100-15IBD) or there are no slots at all and the memory is soldered on the motherboard.

If some model is more convenient for you, and the processor index is slightly lower there, there is nothing to worry about and it will not do the weather.

The difference between U series processors is about 5% in tasks that require a processor. A 5% increase is not worth a 30% increase in price.

Now about the temptation in the form of the 920th nvidia, or the 940th, or some m330 from ATI, in a third more expensive laptop with the best only 5% _or_about_processor: these cards will give you an increase in comparison with the integrated video in old or relatively new games. And nothing else. Modern games (since 2014, let’s say) both lag and will lag. Slow memory, narrow bus, weak chip - these are the reasons. Games start with cards on GDDR5, for example, this is a version of the GTX950 with 2GB. And the model above. Such a laptop will cost 700 euros and more. What is beyond the budget of 500 euros. Let's decide how much we want to spend? 500 euros for a working laptop or 700 euros for an initial game horse (for example, from MSI with GTX950 4Gb [gddr5], 8Gb ram [DDR4] and 500GB hard + 2M slots on the mother to connect a special SSD there)?

What thoughts usually arise in the head?

I found a great i5-U (broadwell) and see ~ 130 euros more expensive than i5-U (skylake). The models are the same, ddr3, 1TB, integrated video. What should I choose? Or i7-U (broadwell) at 30 the most expensive.

Stay on i5-U, 5th generation (broadwell) or wait 3 months (2016, almost feral, article date!), Since Skylake processors appeared relatively recently (September 2015) and prices have not settled down yet. Here  (link) the " colossal " difference in performance. If you do not mind the 30 euros that can be lowered to upgrade the memory (2nd lddr3-12800 bracket on 4Gb), then you can amuse yourself with the i7-U.

I found an old (but new!) Laptop with an M processor of the 3rd (or 4th) generation. In terms of performance (tests), it is the same as the 5200, but it is cheaper by a quarter. Should I buy it?

If you found such a laptop (not usable!), Then you are very lucky, since it is difficult to find old iron. Now about the price: if price is a decisive factor for you, take it, just consider that it is hotter and autonomy will suffer. But this is a good workhorse. I also note that it is worth considering from the 4th generation and above. So if there is a 3rd processor - it is better to wait a bit with the purchase and find a fresh option.

If I buy a laptop with Turboboost, can I play games normally?

Yes and no. Yes - if the laptop is correctly made and cooled. No - if vice versa. Since the high temperature (especially heating from the video card) nullifies the turboboost, which is activated if the temperature allows. That is why it is better to buy a normal processor with normal frequencies, rather than ultra-lowvoltage.

I found a cool Razer with 6500U and a nimble GTX950 for 900 bucks, I will buy it for myself for games!

Buddy, you're off topic! The GTX950 is certainly good, but the ultra-low voltage processor doesn't go anywhere. Stop suffering from fooling around, look in the direction of other models, as for 900 bucks (700+ euros) if a lot more prettier (= smart) laptops.

I want to buy a gaming laptop, what do you recommend?

HQ / MQ / K / X skylake processor (6th generation, see the link , parrots, TDP, understand ..), DDR4 RAM, HDD or SSD, motherboard has 2M slots, good cooling, video card with GDDR5 memory and bus from 128 bits (better 2x128 or 256 for all and above).

Why is that?

• 2M for SSD to have two or HDD + SSD at once without sacrificing an optical drive
• excellent processor
• A larger DDR4 memory will cost less than a similar DDR3 memory due to the higher chip density. And it is faster (for the same money).
• the video card will allow you to really play games.

And here is the MacBook Pro on i7 ..

Following!

* Bilan:

• U series processors as a budget solution for a workhorse, do not overpay for a discrete graphics card, and it is better to buy without it, as it will get warmer = there will be more turbo boosts.
• Old laptops with M / H processors - with similar, and often 10% higher performance, can be an alternative only at the lowest price. If the price is higher - buy U. Prices are equal - compare the ergonomics that are inside and the reviews, then if you see it as the best solution, then buy.
• We take gaming laptops only on full-fledged (without lower frequencies) processors, and only on video cards with gddr5, and RAM with ddr4, since ddr4 in the future will be cheaper with upgrades
• Once again, we understand that it is impossible to fit without loss (heat and finance) in one package — a U processor and a GTX card. This is wrong, blasphemous and simply illogical.

An example of a working laptop for little money, which I bought for myself and which "rides" to me: lenovo z51-70 on i7-5500U, with 4GB lddr3 (12800) RAM and 1TB hard for 480 euros. And another 20 euros - for the second 4GB module.

I wish you good luck and choosing a laptop to be guided by the head, and not by emotions. Do not pay for the button accordion goat. All components must be matched wisely. I spent on the search and selection (up to 500 euros of laptop) 2 weeks and 8 online stores, excluding the issuance of Google.

* resume, fr.

upd : to the question of screens. Here is a little discussion.

upd # 2: Speaking of poppies. Since such a discussion has unfolded: Apple offers processors of 4-5 generations with ddr3 memory and mediocre video. SSDs don't surprise anyone right now. The main “Yabloko” agrument is screen, weight, touchpad and autonomy. But I believe that you can’t pay for a laptop that has a filling that costs a maximum of 600 euros, a minimum of 2.5 times as much. For 700 euros you can buy a third-party laptop with skylake (6th generation), ddr4 memory and an excellent graphics card. In addition, this laptop can not be upgraded, since the memory is sealed there. And the option to buy from 16GB and add another 16GB will not work. Autonomy does not play a role if the laptop does not part with the outlet for long. The weight of the model 1 kg less will not make it easier to carry. This is a fashion item like vertu or its cheap iphone substitute.