Computer/Laptop Recommendations

Off Topic
41

[quote]Claudan wrote:
I strongly and respectfully disagree. an integrated GPU is the one of the main reasons people get ripped off. It is absolute crap compared to paying extra $50 and getting DEDICATED memory for graphics operations, instead of using ‘communal’ memory to deal with graphics operations and any other operations.

Apps/videos/browsers/games are only getting MORE demanding, it only makes sense to dedicate independent memory for that cause, which ‘integreated graphics cards’ cannot provide.
[/quote]
The memory is not the issue. Even some of the most powerful desktop GPUs get by just fine with 2GB when playing very demanding games. My computer never even has to use even 4GB RAM when gaming. 4+2=6<8 For browsing and movies, it’s more than enough. The graphics processing power is the bottleneck.

Then there’s integrated graphics and integrated graphics. Three-year old Atom? No thanks. Iris Pro? Whole other story Crysis 3 - Intel Iris Pro 5200 Graphics Review: Core i7-4950HQ Tested

The only remarkable progress in the last 2 generations of processors is the integrated graphics. Is it good enough for playing the latest games on the highest settings? Hell no. (And why go the laptop route?) But it will be more than enough for web browsing, watching video with reasonable bitrate and so on. How demanding can browser games be?

I’ve run both my PCs on Intel HD3000 (from sandy bridge aka 2nd gen core) without issues other than when playing real games. Haswell graphics will be fine if you’re not going to be gaming or use GPGPU, in which case you know that.

There are also quite bad dedicated mobile graphics cards.

Don’t get me wrong. If it’s not much more expensive, go ahead, all else being equal. But most of the high end portable laptops these last few years have gotten by fine on modern integrated graphics.

42

[quote]Scotto wrote:

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]Scotto wrote:

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

I mean, I remember reading that HP tends to make laptops overheat. They may use the best fans in the world, but if they aren’t big enough or the vent is in a bad spot, then best parts in the world will still fail, no?
[/quote]

I don’t recommend anyone buy HP laptops anymore, I’ve had 4 of the big desktop replacement laptops (friends and colleagues) fail due to horrible cooling design. The last one ran so hot the solder holding the integrated network card melted and became dislodged.[/quote]

You know the little rubber foot things on the bottom of the laptop to stop it from sliding? Yeah, my laptop ran so hot it melted the glue holding them on and they slide off. Melted the glue on the cooling tray I use too.

My laptop also melted the internal wireless connector (havent’ the slightest clue what the real name of this part is.)

I liked my HP outside of the heat to be honest. Like really liked it for the $. Just runs really, really hot. [/quote]

Yup same problems, I told my next door neighbor to only run it with a cooling tray, I cleaned it out and had the edges propped on some big books till she could get the cooling tray.
[/quote]

lmao, i’ve used bottle caps, books, match-boxes, until I finally stumbled across the idea to use my ACL/Knee ice-machine to cool down my laptop, that worked like a charm. Needless to say, that computer has been retired.

43

[quote]Claudan wrote:

[quote]Scotto wrote:

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

[quote]Scotto wrote:

[quote]countingbeans wrote:

I mean, I remember reading that HP tends to make laptops overheat. They may use the best fans in the world, but if they aren’t big enough or the vent is in a bad spot, then best parts in the world will still fail, no?
[/quote]

I don’t recommend anyone buy HP laptops anymore, I’ve had 4 of the big desktop replacement laptops (friends and colleagues) fail due to horrible cooling design. The last one ran so hot the solder holding the integrated network card melted and became dislodged.[/quote]

You know the little rubber foot things on the bottom of the laptop to stop it from sliding? Yeah, my laptop ran so hot it melted the glue holding them on and they slide off. Melted the glue on the cooling tray I use too.

My laptop also melted the internal wireless connector (havent’ the slightest clue what the real name of this part is.)

I liked my HP outside of the heat to be honest. Like really liked it for the $. Just runs really, really hot. [/quote]

Yup same problems, I told my next door neighbor to only run it with a cooling tray, I cleaned it out and had the edges propped on some big books till she could get the cooling tray.
[/quote]

lmao, i’ve used bottle caps, books, match-boxes, until I finally stumbled across the idea to use my ACL/Knee ice-machine to cool down my laptop, that worked like a charm. Needless to say, that computer has been retired. [/quote]

Getting the extended battery actually helped a lot.

It lifts the back of the computer about 3/4" off the platform and lets a good amount of air between the cooling tray fans and the computer.

44

[quote]Claudan wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]Claudan wrote:

[quote]chobbs wrote:
Clauden what’s your opinions on macs [/quote]

Great products. User friendly, etc etc, just very expensive.

The reason most PC-nerds hate on Apple products is because Apple does all the thinking for you, and literally tells you what options/functions you may use or may not use.

PCs let you change EVERYTHING as long as you know how to.

Also, I guess, PCs have upgrade-able parts while Macs you cannot upgrade individual components.
[/quote]
Okay so do you buy them refurbed or from the store?[/quote]

i either buy refurbed online or original online.

[/quote]
Any place specific?

I am really looking at getting a Mac. I dont play PC games online or any. I need it for work and would like to have the connectivity between my phone/ipad.

45

[quote]Derek542 wrote:
I am really looking at getting a Mac. I dont play PC games online or any. I need it for work and would like to have the connectivity between my phone/ipad. [/quote]

The biggest caveat with a mac is the learning curve. My dad bought a macbook air, but never really used it; when my mom’s laptop died, she ended up using it for a few months before she gave up and bought a new PC laptop.

My girlfriend bought a macbook recently, and she, too, is having several issues getting used to it. On the surface things appear pretty similar between it and Windows, but there are a lot of differences when you’re really using it day-in and day-out.

46

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:
I am really looking at getting a Mac. I dont play PC games online or any. I need it for work and would like to have the connectivity between my phone/ipad. [/quote]

The biggest caveat with a mac is the learning curve. My dad bought a macbook air, but never really used it; when my mom’s laptop died, she ended up using it for a few months before she gave up and bought a new PC laptop.

My girlfriend bought a macbook recently, and she, too, is having several issues getting used to it. On the surface things appear pretty similar between it and Windows, but there are a lot of differences when you’re really using it day-in and day-out.[/quote]
Internet surfing, email and working word/excel/power point presentations is all I really do anymore on my laptop.

47

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:
I am really looking at getting a Mac. I dont play PC games online or any. I need it for work and would like to have the connectivity between my phone/ipad. [/quote]

The biggest caveat with a mac is the learning curve. My dad bought a macbook air, but never really used it; when my mom’s laptop died, she ended up using it for a few months before she gave up and bought a new PC laptop.

My girlfriend bought a macbook recently, and she, too, is having several issues getting used to it. On the surface things appear pretty similar between it and Windows, but there are a lot of differences when you’re really using it day-in and day-out.[/quote]
Internet surfing, email and working word/excel/power point presentations is all I really do anymore on my laptop. [/quote]

That’s about all they do too, which is why I’m surprised they had issues. I’ll see if I can get more info. Right now I’d just be guessing what the issues were.

48

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:
I am really looking at getting a Mac. I dont play PC games online or any. I need it for work and would like to have the connectivity between my phone/ipad. [/quote]

The biggest caveat with a mac is the learning curve. My dad bought a macbook air, but never really used it; when my mom’s laptop died, she ended up using it for a few months before she gave up and bought a new PC laptop.

My girlfriend bought a macbook recently, and she, too, is having several issues getting used to it. On the surface things appear pretty similar between it and Windows, but there are a lot of differences when you’re really using it day-in and day-out.[/quote]
Internet surfing, email and working word/excel/power point presentations is all I really do anymore on my laptop. [/quote]

That’s about all they do too, which is why I’m surprised they had issues. I’ll see if I can get more info. Right now I’d just be guessing what the issues were.[/quote]
Were you going to make a sexist comment? :slight_smile:

49

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:
I am really looking at getting a Mac. I dont play PC games online or any. I need it for work and would like to have the connectivity between my phone/ipad. [/quote]

The biggest caveat with a mac is the learning curve. My dad bought a macbook air, but never really used it; when my mom’s laptop died, she ended up using it for a few months before she gave up and bought a new PC laptop.

My girlfriend bought a macbook recently, and she, too, is having several issues getting used to it. On the surface things appear pretty similar between it and Windows, but there are a lot of differences when you’re really using it day-in and day-out.[/quote]
Internet surfing, email and working word/excel/power point presentations is all I really do anymore on my laptop. [/quote]

That’s about all they do too, which is why I’m surprised they had issues. I’ll see if I can get more info. Right now I’d just be guessing what the issues were.[/quote]
Were you going to make a sexist comment? :slight_smile:

[/quote]

Lol, no, I actually wasn’t. I think most of their issues stemmed from trying to transfer files to and from flash drives, but I have to double check on this.

50

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:
I am really looking at getting a Mac. I dont play PC games online or any. I need it for work and would like to have the connectivity between my phone/ipad. [/quote]

The biggest caveat with a mac is the learning curve. My dad bought a macbook air, but never really used it; when my mom’s laptop died, she ended up using it for a few months before she gave up and bought a new PC laptop.

My girlfriend bought a macbook recently, and she, too, is having several issues getting used to it. On the surface things appear pretty similar between it and Windows, but there are a lot of differences when you’re really using it day-in and day-out.[/quote]
Internet surfing, email and working word/excel/power point presentations is all I really do anymore on my laptop. [/quote]

That’s about all they do too, which is why I’m surprised they had issues. I’ll see if I can get more info. Right now I’d just be guessing what the issues were.[/quote]
Were you going to make a sexist comment? :slight_smile:

[/quote]

Lol, no, I actually wasn’t. I think most of their issues stemmed from trying to transfer files to and from flash drives, but I have to double check on this.[/quote]
I have no problem keeping things in the cloud, hell that is the reason why I want it.

51

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:
I am really looking at getting a Mac. I dont play PC games online or any. I need it for work and would like to have the connectivity between my phone/ipad. [/quote]

The biggest caveat with a mac is the learning curve. My dad bought a macbook air, but never really used it; when my mom’s laptop died, she ended up using it for a few months before she gave up and bought a new PC laptop.

My girlfriend bought a macbook recently, and she, too, is having several issues getting used to it. On the surface things appear pretty similar between it and Windows, but there are a lot of differences when you’re really using it day-in and day-out.[/quote]

This, definitely. I feel like this undermines the Mac though, which coming from a PC guy, is a statement. My sister is an Apple drone and I’ve come to LOVE the whole one finger/two finger swipes. I can literally swipe between 3 different desktops with the use of a three-finger-swipe. It’s pretty dope. The only sad part is that I still catch myself using the ‘Mac shortcuts’ on a PC keyboard… quite amusing.

@Derek, Refurbished Mac Deals - Apple
Yeah I can tell you an all-apple-environment makes it nice for syncing. very seamless. btw, Mac’s can definitely crush some games/graphic-intensive-situations even if you were to put it to the test, so you’re not sacrificing performance by going macbook.

52

I love my Mac, but I am frustrated by Apple’s refusal to keep things standardized so things continue to sync even as one component ages. For example, when I bought a new shuffle for working out I couldn’t load music onto it from my old Macbook Pro. New phone, same trouble, PLUS all new cords for work and other places I like to plug in. Now I’ve upgraded everything, but with some bitterness.

Still, as products go, they’re lovely. And I don’t even understand having trouble learning the new system. It walks you through everything. But then, I don’t mind messing around and exploring and I’m not ashamed to ask questions.

53

[quote]Claudan wrote:

[quote]LoRez wrote:

[quote]Derek542 wrote:
I am really looking at getting a Mac. I dont play PC games online or any. I need it for work and would like to have the connectivity between my phone/ipad. [/quote]

The biggest caveat with a mac is the learning curve. My dad bought a macbook air, but never really used it; when my mom’s laptop died, she ended up using it for a few months before she gave up and bought a new PC laptop.

My girlfriend bought a macbook recently, and she, too, is having several issues getting used to it. On the surface things appear pretty similar between it and Windows, but there are a lot of differences when you’re really using it day-in and day-out.[/quote]

This, definitely. I feel like this undermines the Mac though, which coming from a PC guy, is a statement. My sister is an Apple drone and I’ve come to LOVE the whole one finger/two finger swipes. I can literally swipe between 3 different desktops with the use of a three-finger-swipe. It’s pretty dope. The only sad part is that I still catch myself using the ‘Mac shortcuts’ on a PC keyboard… quite amusing.

@Derek, Refurbished Mac Deals - Apple
Yeah I can tell you an all-apple-environment makes it nice for syncing. very seamless. btw, Mac’s can definitely crush some games/graphic-intensive-situations even if you were to put it to the test, so you’re not sacrificing performance by going macbook.

[/quote]
Thank you sir, you are a scholar and a gentleman and I praise you for your effort.

54

[quote]EmilyQ wrote:
I love my Mac, but I am frustrated by Apple’s refusal to keep things standardized so things continue to sync even as one component ages. For example, when I bought a new shuffle for working out I couldn’t load music onto it from my old Macbook Pro. New phone, same trouble, PLUS all new cords for work and other places I like to plug in. Now I’ve upgraded everything, but with some bitterness.

Still, as products go, they’re lovely. And I don’t even understand having trouble learning the new system. It walks you through everything. But then, I don’t mind messing around and exploring and I’m not ashamed to ask questions.[/quote]

I just happen to work for a company that develops cross-platform syncing solutions. Syncing, is, HARD(simultaneously a very delicate matter)… and it’s not even the good kind of hard.

55

Kakno, thanks for the key attributes to look for. Definitely leaning towards the desktop route, and will be looking for sdd options and bigger screen along with 1920/1080.

Thanks for all the responses, looks like i have some researching to do to find a good fit.

I’ll just add that i have a normal sized fan right behind my laptop with back elevated slightly and that seems to keep it cool enough.

56

[quote]Claudan wrote:

[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
It is not true that the big box stores are always rip-offs. They have sale items which can very often beat the online retailers. Look at the deal sites: those cheap-asses will and do go to Best Buy, Staples, etc to buy computers when they go on sale. Costco also runs some good sales. They can’t mark the prices on big ticket items up too high because people actually look at those prices.

The biggest rip-off in the big stores is accessories. [/quote]

That’s where we are differ in points. You are talking bout “sales” and “cheap”. I’m talking about paying a price, and getting product that is in actuality worth less because of inferior components.

[/quote]

No, your computer snobbery is preventing you from seeing that just because something is on ‘sale,’ that it does not necessarily mean it’s an inferior product.

A cheaper component is not an inferior component. Most people that don’t play games don’t need a high end system, and yes, an integrated video card can be fine. A 2nd gen i3 will do word processing fine.

57

[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:

[quote]Claudan wrote:

[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:
It is not true that the big box stores are always rip-offs. They have sale items which can very often beat the online retailers. Look at the deal sites: those cheap-asses will and do go to Best Buy, Staples, etc to buy computers when they go on sale. Costco also runs some good sales. They can’t mark the prices on big ticket items up too high because people actually look at those prices.

The biggest rip-off in the big stores is accessories. [/quote]

That’s where we are differ in points. You are talking bout “sales” and “cheap”. I’m talking about paying a price, and getting product that is in actuality worth less because of inferior components.

[/quote]

No, your computer snobbery is preventing you from seeing that just because something is on ‘sale,’ that it does not necessarily mean it’s an inferior product.

A cheaper component is not an inferior component. Most people that don’t play games don’t need a high end system, and yes, an integrated video card can be fine. A 2nd gen i3 will do word processing fine.[/quote]

I think you are misunderstanding what I’m saying…

I buy things on sale all the time, it’s just good business. That wasn’t my point.

58

essential software to download?

What say ye?

c-cleaner, etc…

Any good programs that will scan the computer and pick the best drivers for you?

come on people, hook me up

59

One thing I thought I’d mention is to find out if your local electronics store matches online prices. I’ve got one here (the place that rhymes with “sprys”…you know “would you like sprys with that?”) that has a big sign advertising that they match online prices. Sure it wouldn’t work on refurbished item prices but if you’re buying brand new, it’s something worth looking into. That way, if you need to take it in for any issues, you don’t need to ship it to an online retailer.

60

[quote]Claudan wrote:
I just happen to work for a company that develops cross-platform syncing solutions. Syncing, is, HARD(simultaneously a very delicate matter)… and it’s not even the good kind of hard. [/quote]

Agreed, syncing is very hard. I’ve worked on a few projects where I’ve had to do it. Master-slave isn’t bad, but the p2p stuff gets really tricky really fast.