Buying new laptop - I need help.

[Kaworu]

Hi!

I’m thinking of buying a new laptop. My old one is at least 7 years old (I remember chatting on it about the Smoleńsk catastrophe, which happened in 2010 – you know, the one where the President of Poland and lots of Polish politicians has died) and runs really slowly.

Actually, I think I have found a nice one, but I am unsure if it’s good one considering the price. Will you help me?

Specification:
Hard Drive: 1000 GB HDD
Screen: 15’’-15.9’’
Pixels: 1920x1080
CPU: AMD A4 4x 2.0 GHz (max 3.3 GHz)
RAM: 16 GB (1600 MHz, DDR3)
Graphic card: aMD Radeon R7 M360 with 2 GB of own memory
OS: Windows 10
Other things: Wi-fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, IAN 10/100 Mbps, cards reader, videocamera, speakers, microphone, numeric keypad, DVD

[If I have to be honest, there are some terms that I do not understand, but the graphic card (now I have some chipsed build-in into the mainframe - as you can imagine it wasn't that efficient even when I bought my computer), hard drive, 4 processors (the whole CPU is at least 2 times more efficient that CPU in my current laptop) and RAM memory sound good for me.]

The cost is slightly more than 2400 ZŁ / PLN, which is approximately 570 euro.

Now my question: do you think it is a good laptop considering the price and other stuff? I think it is, but I have no experience with computer hardware and I could be easily misguided. Thus this topic, I need some kind of guidance.

[Silfir]

Well, I don't know what you can even get in Poland for 2400 ZL / 570 €, but I think there should be a plenty of better options.

The CPU is an old generation AMD chip - these tend to be, across the board, a lot slower than comparable Intel CPUs. Having four of them doesn't really help there - you still end up far slower than, say, an i5-7200U.

The obligatory question - does it have to be a laptop?

[Cespenar]

Did you look at what are the band of games you generally want to play with this (or the work you want to do), and how those games' minimum/recommended requirements fare with your potential new rig?

[Kaworu]

Did you look at what are the band of games you generally want to play with this (or the work you want to do), and how those games' minimum/recommended requirements fare with your potential new rig?

Hm... I really dunno. Generally, even if I will play video games (which did not happened in the last few years, because my original laptop had veeeeeeeery ****ty Windows Vista and I installed Linux instead in order for it to start in less than loooong 5-10 minutes) they won't necessarily be very new. In fact, the newest computer games I have are Tomb Raider Underworld and Neverwinter Nights 2.

Of course, it would be nice to buy a cutting edge laptop which would let me play newest games, but I am more concerned with surfing the net without waiting to long for pages to load (currently I have a lot of problems with that, perhaps because of low RAM???).

But basically, I should look for an Intel CPU, right? And yes, it rather had to be a laptop (I have not enough space on my desk for traditional computer, plus I quite often visit my second flat in weekends and need to take my computer with me).

So according to ya, I should look for a computer with less RAM and better processor?

EDIT: I looked through Internet and I have found a laptop quite similiar to the one above, but with 4 CPU i7 with 3.7 max GHz (2.7 regular). They are two things that are different:

1. It has only 256 GB HHD (SSD, which, according to my understanding is faster?).
2. It has Windows 7 instead of Windows 10.

It is slightly more expensive (almost 2500 PLN), but still within my bugdet. Oh, and it doesn't have any camera or microphone, but it's not a big deal, is it? I mean, I can always buy one and just plug it in? (Also, I do not remember when last time I used my camera in current laptop...).

[Silfir]

Windows 7 is just fine in my book. You don't really need a quad core i7, but it can't hurt. Yes, at the moment Intel CPUs - specifically, i3s, i5s or i7s - is what I'd be looking at.

I would take a 256 GB SSD over a 1 TB HDD any day of the week, particularly if speed is your main objective. If you need a lot of raw storage space, external hard drives are a thing. I'd also make sure to have at least 8 GB RAM.

I don't suppose you could link to the offer you're talking about? It doesn't sound bad.

[Kaworu]

I could :) LINK

This is a Polish auction site, but if you will scroll down, just below the picture, in the grayish box you have all the yummy stuff :)

[137beth]

Well, I ought to start by saying that I've only ever lived in the U.S., so my knowledge of European prices is based on Google's currency converter.

Here is an HP laptop that is about the same price and size as the one you mentioned. It has a faster Skylake i5 processor, though. It only has 8 GB of RAM, but if you are only using the computer for basic office tasks, web browsing, and gaming, then 8 GB is plenty. Also, the RAM in that computer is faster DDR4-2133 than the RAM in the computer you are comparing it to, and RAM speed may matter more for your use cases than the amount of RAM.


If you really need 16 GB of RAM for some reason, and you want the latest generation CPU, it is going to cost more. Here is a HP x360 15.6 inch laptop, which costs $790 (706 Euros according to Google's converter). It has a high-end CPU from Intel's latest generation of processors, 16 GB DDR4 RAM, and a dedicated graphics card (which would make a big difference for gaming, but otherwise probably won't matter).

Jumping brands to Dell,
here is a 15-inch Dell Inspiron that is cheaper than the one you mentioned. It also has 8 GB of DDR4 memory, the most recent generation Intel processor (i5), and a 1 TB HDD. It has no dedicated graphics card, but Intel's built-in GPU is more than sufficient for web browsing and low-end gaming.

if you want a Dell laptop with at least 16 GB of RAM, you'd need to spend at least $849 (if you're buying it directly from the Dell online store, not counting whatever extra fees come from being in another country.) However, as I said earlier, there aren't too many use cases for which having 16 GB of RAM will get you better performance than 8 GB.

[Kaworu]

Okay, related question - what antivirus software would you recommend for me? For documents, I think I'm gonna use LibreOffice (I see no need in paying for Microsoft Office), but antivirus is a must-have. I was thinking of Kaspersky (I know you guys in US do not like it because it's Russian, but it's very popular in Europe). However, there are 3 levels of this software - Antivirus, Internet Security, and Total Security. I really do not know which one to use. I mean, I can afford every one of them, it's just a matter of buying what I really want and will use. I want to protect myself from viruses and to have a firewall, but I do not think I need encryption, so... Internet Security?

Also, I was looking at the propositions above and there are some of my thoughts:

• Dell Inspiron 15 looks kinda... weird in comparison? Maybe it has superior CPU, but less RAM and no true graphic card. My laptop has also some kind of chipset instead of a graphic card and I have to say, its performance wasn't that good. I remember I was trying to play TR:Underworld on it and it was impossible. I know that now technology has progressed, but I am afraid that if I will have "fake" graphic card, something like that can happen again. It's also above my budget.
• HP Envy is WAAAAAAAY above my budget. Specification looks good, but I am not sure if I like the new, totally flat laptops. Plus it's silver and has touchable screen that I do not need at all.
• HP Pavilion is also too expensive and flatty-silver. I like the specification though. Just it has a weird graphic card and touchable screen.

[Trekkin]

Okay, related question - what antivirus software would you recommend for me? For documents, I think I'm gonna use LibreOffice (I see no need in paying for Microsoft Office), but antivirus is a must-have. I was thinking of Kaspersky (I know you guys in US do not like it because it's Russian, but it's very popular in Europe). However, there are 3 levels of this software - Antivirus, Internet Security, and Total Security. I really do not know which one to use. I mean, I can afford every one of them, it's just a matter of buying what I really want and will use. I want to protect myself from viruses and to have a firewall, but I do not think I need encryption, so... Internet Security?

Kaspersky Internet Security isn't bad; I run Malwarebytes, Spybot SD and Lavasoft Ad-Aware on my Windows machine.

[Silfir]

I could :) LINK

This is a Polish auction site, but if you will scroll down, just below the picture, in the grayish box you have all the yummy stuff :)

Well... It's used and five years old - but at least it was worth well over 1000€ back when it was new. If it's in good working condition, I'd say it's a good deal. The CPU is still excellent, and the GPU should be a fair bit above integrated graphics level. Of course, I don't speak a word of Polish, and I don't have the machine in front of me.

[Gnoman]

Okay, related question - what antivirus software would you recommend for me? For documents, I think I'm gonna use LibreOffice (I see no need in paying for Microsoft Office), but antivirus is a must-have. I was thinking of Kaspersky (I know you guys in US do not like it because it's Russian, but it's very popular in Europe). However, there are 3 levels of this software - Antivirus, Internet Security, and Total Security. I really do not know which one to use. I mean, I can afford every one of them, it's just a matter of buying what I really want and will use. I want to protect myself from viruses and to have a firewall, but I do not think I need encryption, so... Internet Security?

The security and firewall programs built into Windows are more than adequate against most threats. No, it isn't perfect - there is no such thing as a perfect security suite - but it is far more than merely adequate, and comes without the extra system resources needed to run a third-party AV. Run a Malwarebytes scan every month or so (more if you have reason to suspect infection) as a backup, but buying an AV is basically a sucker bet.

[Kaworu]

Gnoman: so you would advise me to use, I dunno, Avast and Malvarebyte?

[Gnoman]

No. I would advise you to use the built-in tools that are provided with Windows, and do an occasional scan with a dedicated anti-malware tool like Malwarebytes as your ONLY security software.

[Kaworu]

Hm... is that secure though? I mean, maybe I have some kind of wrong idea from Windows XP, but I always believed that "build-in Windows" security system are kinda... inadequate?

[Silfir]

Used to be, is not anymore. Starting from Windows 7.

I rely on Windows Defender and adblock origin and practice safe browsing habits. Never ran into trouble.

[Cespenar]

You would get more out of script blockers for your browser rather than any old style antivirus software. Almost anything goes through your browser nowadays.

Also, Microsoft Security Essentials (downloadable for free) is pretty adequate for the job anyway.