Need some Laptop recommendations.

H

hbidad

Gawd
Joined
May 8, 2002
Messages
834
Hello all,

I'm a long time member here and even a longer time lurker since my kids grew up. Today I just got back in town from my Son's Navy bootcamp graduation at the Great Lakes, he's already been to Houston and now at San Antonio while I was still driving home. That being said, he is now able to use his Cell and Laptop... I haven't had a laptop in years since all my work is online and I need at least three monitors. Can someone recommend the best bang for the buck laptop that can be had easily (don't really want to watch over auctions or for random limited times deals)?

Second point, two days before my 4+ hour car ride trip I suffered a slipped disk, and was multiplied by my twisted hips (childhood injury) that lead to scoliosis to present. Needless to say I am suffering from sciatica now.

Third point, I work from my home office and I cannot find an office chair I can sit in more than 1 hour. I need to work - purely remote IT, SSH and web but requires multitasking. I hope this is still not a problem after 2 weeks at most. Chiropractor wants me in Monday, again.

In conclusion, what do you [H] fam recommend for a mobile solution to assist with my work while laying in bed (this is hardly nothing, I know) and to be able to accept a web video chat from my son as soon as it comes in, with a good webcam built in. I'm not all worried about SSD and webcams as that can be bought separately if it is worth it, same as ram if the MB/CPU can support it - I can buy those separate if needed. I guess I need a base at the least so I can get started
 
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Thank you Dracowolf , I'm not worried about a budget at the moment but just something to work well for about a month and maybe something still good to pass on to my son (not sure what he has). I'm not afraid of a 1.6K kit but would like to see something cheaper for the bang of it.
 
I missed the Acer link, sorry. I know DDR4 is mainstream now ..I'm clueless in the mobile GPU and CPU ranges, best bang for the buck?
 
If you're not really gaming, the i3-based Inspiron 15 3000 ($500)or i5-based Inspiron 15 5000 ($600-800) or i7-based 7000 ($800-1000).

Light, relatively cool. Even the fully-kitted versions aren't terribly expensive.
 
Chas, thanks man! Does your recommendations include the webcam concerns? I'm not lazy, I just cannot move right now. Thanks!
 
hbidad said:
Chas, thanks man! Does your recommendations include the webcam concerns? I'm not lazy, I just cannot move right now. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Currently using an Inspiron 15 7000 (the one with the IPS 4K screen. The webcam works just fine. Have used it a couple times this weekend as I'm on vacation and militantly ignoring my phone.

WIN_20170910_11_25_30_Pro.jpg
 
For ultralights yeah most have ditched Ethernet ports. A usb nic is always an option. Most but not all mid-size will have one and then most of the big brick desktop replacements will have one.

For mobile CPU's, you got a few different series. U, HQ, and HK. The 7th gen U's were pretty weak and but low power. HQ is where most of the high performance segment wants to be. HK are top of the line unless you get a desktop cpu laptop.
The 8th gen U's have basically dbl'd the cores\threads from 7th but lowered frequency. Still get a nice boost in performance and low power usage. Only a few of these have come out like that Acer so far but more coming. I think an XPS 13 is supposed to be out this week with one. Nothing on HQ or HK's yet will be a while.

I'd look for something with a 7300HQ or 7700HQ for cpu. Nothing wrong with the older 6700HQ either.

You want an IPS screen, with good brightness.

If your not gaming GPU doesn't matter as much. Onboard intel is fine for Windows but obviously a dedicated GPU will give you a little more snap and allow for some gaming. The MX150 is great low end gpu to get better you have to move up to a 10 series. So 1050, 1050 ti, etc.

If your not big into upgrading then get something with at least a 250GB SSD if not 500GB. A larger storage drive may or may not be necessary for your needs.

8GB ram is fine for most Windows usage so 12 or 16 would be more than enough. Laptops can come with odd ram configurations, single 8's, 8+4, single 16's. Dual channel is always preferred so 4+4 or 8+8.

The Dell Inspiron 15's are great except the low end ones have TN panels that people really hate. To get a 7300HQ, SSD, and IPS panel you have to move up to the 7000 gaming series with a 1050 ti in the $850-1200 range.
http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-7000-gaming/spd/inspiron-15-7567-laptop
These do have great batteries, screens, pretty good cooling, all around good machines. Only real drawback is no TB3 port which is not that big a deal.
Problem is you can't buy these kinds of specs without getting a "gamer" laptop in this range. One of these without the 1050 ti using just onboard for $650 range would be REALLY nice for work machine.

I do recommend you hit up any stores that have a decent lineup of laptops just to look at screens, get a feel for keyboards, and feel weights. And if you see an XPS 15 4K screen, be ready to dish out some cash because its hard to resist.
 
I've got an XPS 15 with i5-7300, GTX 1050 and 4K. It's a fantastic laptop. I bought the 8GB/256GB version (from Amazon) and upgraded the RAM/SSD myself to 16GB/500GB.

Dracowolf is right about the 4K touchscreen. Once I tried it I was hooked.

The XPS 13 is really sweet, too, if you're looking for a light, small laptop.
 
Another vote for the Dell XPSs in general.

I've got 2 at the moment, an XPS 13 (mine) and the newer XPS 2 in1 (girlfriends) and the only complaint - which might be a big deal for you - is the wonky webcam placement underneath the sweet, sweet near bezel-less screen vs. the usual top center webcams. Otherwise, it's about the only Dell product I'd use / recommend nowadays. I would have gone for the 15 if I didn't already have an almost new15.6 gaming laptop. #gearacquisitionsyndrome <- to my fellow camera peeps.
 
This is a little more than I wanted to spend on this as it might be overkill - from Bestbuy (local reasons):

Dell - XPS 15.6" 4K Ultra HD Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 - 512GB SSD - Silver
  • Model: XPS9560-7001SLV
 
hbidad said:
This is a little more than I wanted to spend on this as it might be overkill - from Bestbuy (local reasons):

Dell - XPS 15.6" 4K Ultra HD Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 - 512GB SSD - Silver
  • Model: XPS9560-7001SLV
Click to expand...
How much $$?
 
That's a pretty good price for an i7 with upgraded RAM/SSD. It will last you quite a long time, but it ain't cheap, to be sure.
 
Yeah, the i5 with less ram/SSD was sold out.. and I got tired of looking around lol. Thank you all for taking your time out for your suggestions and helping me out
!
 
Damn, but I do not have a MC near me. I can't change my order now either... stuck waiting for expected shipment date of the 29th. Thank you everyone!
 
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