O.T., But Would Appreciate Any Guidance

[MasterBlaster]

So, if I had about $2K to spend on a new, 15” notebook PC with Intel brains and Win10 Pro, which hardware would you pick?

I’m thinking 16MB RAM, 512 SSD, touch screen, back lighted keyboard, and of course the WiFi, Bluetooth, etc. Should also be capable of driving a 27” (or so” external monitor.

I’ve gat a Dell in the “cart”, but want to jump and miss something obvious.

Thanks!

 

[dmroeder]

Sounds good, other than the touch screen. My daughter has a touch screen on her laptop, it only gets in the way. In the same way that NUMLOCK being off does.

If I'm spending my own money, I would not pay Dell extra to put more RAM in it. I'd buy it with the default amount and order the proper amount separately. It is typically cheaper, assuming that you can actually buy RAM right now.

I'd probably do the same with the SSD, assuming that you can buy them.

Super quick glance at Newegg, $64 dollars for 2x8GB DDR4, $114 for 2x16GB.

~$100 for a 1TB SSD. ~$60 for a 512GB

 

[Ken Roach]

I buy my work PC's one generation old, from remanufacturers, because I'm value-minded and know they're likely to have short, brutal lives on the shop floor.

A couple of months ago I bought a Dell Precision 3530 from Interconnection.org for under $550 with roughly those specs, minus the touchscreen.

When I'm in the office clicked into a docking station, I drive a 27" 2560x1140 Dell monitor via DisplayPort from it as my second screen, no problem.

 

[GaryS]

First the SSD should be at least 1TB 2TB would be better
ans install as much RAM as windows and the mother board will support the more RAM you have the better it will run
As many USB3 ports as you can get
WiFi and Bluetooth
HDMI Port but about a 15" screen you can always plug in an external monitor when at your desk, a larg screen as really a pain to carry site to site
I had to upgrade mine to 1TB some time back and i now wisk it was 2TB

 

[MasterBlaster]

All good inputs, thanks guys. I failed to mention that this is a personal purchase, I retired over ten years ago.

 

[dmroeder]

All good inputs, thanks guys. I failed to mention that this is a personal purchase, I retired over ten years ago.

What kind of retirement projects will you be doing with it? For casual use, 16GB of RAM and 512GB is more than enough capacity.

 

[5618]

I am a big fan of the Lenovo ThinkPad line, at least the T and P series which have great build quality. X1 Carbon also have a fanbase but I haven't used one. I think the X1 is a lighter model where you lose some power and features for less weight, like a MacBook Air. Some of the Yoga models look enticing but I don't know much about them. Other series are not as well built and I wouldn't consider them. Custom builds have crazy long lead times nowadays, and many stock models are in short supply.

A friend has a touchscreen that took me a while to get used to. I would try to point at things to explain and select things when I didn't want to. Once I got a touchscreen and got used to it, I think it's great.

I have four 14" T series, all with touchscreen. My work laptops are 14" T series without touchscreen and I miss the touch. I also have a 17" P series. If touchscreen was available on that with 4K, I would have got it. I did consider a Dell XPS 17 to have a touchscreen, but that would have cost about a thousand more than the P17.

If you can go through Perks at Work, it's the best Lenovo pricing I've seen, at least for me. Lenovo is our current corporate supplier which might help.

 

[MasterBlaster]

What kind of retirement projects will you be doing with it? For casual use, 16GB of RAM and 512GB is more than enough capacity.

It is mostly casual use. Some photo editing, will have MS Office and Acrobat Pro. I have an iPad now (fairly new) but really miss being able to access files on my two Dell desktop units with the iPad. When I'm out in my shop I sometimes want to access files that live in the house.

Thanks for you input.

 

[harryting]

I am a big fan of the Lenovo ThinkPad line, at least the T and P series which have great build quality.

same. The Thinkpad is almost a generation ahead of anything from Dell. The Dell battery run down fast and some smaller one literally melt under pressure with warped case and all.

 

[geniusintraining]

I would also get a network hard drive, I have a couple of these and they are great https://www.bestbuy.com/site/buffal...-hard-drive-nas-black/8485085.p?skuId=8485085

You can put a lot on them then keep your SSD clean and fast

 

[MikeyN]

If you aren't in a big rush, check out Framework. They are a new startup and are completely on board with the right-to-repair movement. Pretty in touch with the community as well. I've got a DIY model pre-ordered, but it likely won't arrive until the end of the month, possibly into October, so I can't say anything about build quality or performance yet.

The two main features that drew me to this were the ability to repair and upgrade anything on it myself, and the fact that the only built in port is a 3.5" combo headphone jack. Instead, they have four hot swappable ports built in so you can change to USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, Display Port, or even an extra SSD if you so desire. They are going to open the protocols up to the public, so third party options will also be available in the near future.

 

[dmroeder]

If you aren't in a big rush, check out Framework. They are a new startup and are completely on board with the right-to-repair movement. Pretty in touch with the community as well. I've got a DIY model pre-ordered, but it likely won't arrive until the end of the month, possibly into October, so I can't say anything about build quality or performance yet.

Oh interesting, thanks for sharing. This is up my alley as I've always built my own desktops. I'd appreciate hearing an update once you kick the tires on it.

Edit: I guess on the surface, RAM and storage can be upgraded on nearly every laptop, but the serviceability looks easier on them. A dell technician came out to replace fan on my work laptop, it was quite the operation.

 

[Ken Moore]

If you go to the Lenovo website, the prices are cheaper than any other source. They have "specials" all the time. I recently purchased my wife a 14" Thinkpad 8gb ram, 512 ssd for about $900.00 (processor is an I-5) does everything she needs.

 

[OkiePC]

USB 3 type C. This little detail I have on my latest laptop has been one of those things I don't know how I lived without. My little dock block (which stays in the office) plugs into it so that it can fire up two external monitors, plus the extra USB ports, NIC and the laptop charges from this port.

Now when I am in the office, I plug in one cable and leave the the regular power adapter in the bag. That one cable supports my connection to the test bench Ethernet switch, the monitors, the cables for my smart phones etc.

 

[pturmel]

Thunderbolt 3. I have a 10G fiber ethernet interface I use in the office in lieu of a proper dock. You've not lived until you can move DVD images around your network in seconds instead of minutes.


(And it doubles as USB-C.)