Refurb vs New, AMD vs Intel, I'm so confused, help!

Guapa1

My granny has a saying that I try and live by.

'Buy cheap, buy twice'.

I see the sense it would make getting a business laptop, so I'll do a bit more digging into refurb ones. Out of the ones into my 1st post though, which would you go with?
Thanks for responding

Strider590

Well..... I have to say that Dell aren't as bad as people try to make out.
I think the biggest reason people bad mouth them is because you don't see them in the shops.
For many years and even now people are distrusting of buying online.

Guapa1

Thanks Strider, I'm hunting for at least a 15.4 screen. My friend has a 14 and I think it's find for occasional watching, but I don't have a TV.

ABH_3

Guapa1 wrote: »

Good afternoon,

I've decided that it is time for a new laptop and have started researching and have got myself thoroughly confused!

I'm not surprised when you're purchasing something unfamiliar it's always a concern. Here's my interpretation.

I don't have a TV so I do pretty much everything online. Web browsing, blogging, listening to music. watching DVDs and films online, reading ebooks, using skype etc. I'm also planning to get into podcasting casting in the near future.

Me too, though I've no interest in the 'pod casting' stuff, I tend not to get into stuff I can't see I making a serious contribution too. It also helps if you're not just one of the crowd, if you get in there earlier enough and people like it they will or should come back.

Anyway, the laptop here's what I know and the aspects of choosing a laptop that I think are important, my advice will also be included in this jumble of words too.

Are you moving the laptop around at all? Like sitting with it on your knee? If so, buy lightweight! As there's nothing worse than sitting on the sofa, laptop on your knee only to finish what you're doing after a couple of hours to find that it's 'cooked' your various err bits

Doing stuff with graphics, anything that requires lots of processing - which judging by your descriptions above, graphics, watching online tv\dvds etc - buy one that can be upgraded to the Maximum amount of RAM (Memory).

Likely to use it outside at all? If so, buy one with a NON reflective screen, or suffer with the reflections of what's behind you as you work, which could mean the sun itself bouncing its rays off your screen. Bet you didn't think about screen coatings did you?

You might also like to consider battery life here too if you're outside with your laptops, as the longer you will want it to stay on the larger the battery will need to be to compensate for the lack of electricity. So choose a system that's aimed at portability, which is essentially any 'business' orientated machine. As they're aimed at people who will want everything, but they'll want to be portable with it too.

How many cores? Best purchase I ever made is a multi-core processor, I can't tell you how much it's improved my computing experience having one core to dedicate to certain tasks whilst leaving one to dedicate to whatever else I'm doing.

Other than that there's graphics cards, an individual gpu was always considered much better than an integrated gpu. But I've just taken a look at these two reviews:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQB0-9g5H_c&NR=1
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrt-cWHJ4oY

The latter playing the Parkour game 'Mirros Edge', the 'stops' you'll see on the screen are as a result of the application 'fraps' which the uploader is using to record what is happening onscreen, you won't or should not actually see it onscreen yourself.

Considering the two laptops are virtually spec wise the same, I would surmise you would be happy with either the Dell or the HP, what's more you get a remote control for controlling the DVD players too

The matter regarding AMD vs Intel doesn't matter anymore in reality. The choice is only really for the system builders, that would be those that build their own computers, there is a general understanding in laptop terms that Intel would always be better, usually due to AMD being on the backfoot most of the time. Intel tends to be inside most business machines as I'm sure the people in this forum will confirm usually due them running cooler or their level of 'tech' being better founded, whether is this is well actually so or not I've yet to discover.

I suppose it could be down to how you perceive it, you could equally argue that AMD is at the cutting edge and as such they've not had the opportunity to determine how best to cool their chips, should cooling be an actual concern. Most people would drop into the bios and possibly underclock it if it was that much of a problem. You could equally argue therefore that they've not had the opportunity to determine the best algorithms for cooling their new tech. As I said, it's down to how you choose to look at it, but such changes wouldn't require direct access to the laptop, just a bios flash update or eequivalent.

Hope the above assists in your decision, or at the very least doesn't add to your confusion. Either way, whatever you choose is bound to be better than whatever it is you're using - right?

Guapa1

Thank you for such a thoughtful post ABH, the videos were helpful. I was struggling to find reviews of the HP.

My old job had a lot of travelling and I remember having to close the curtains to watch a film. The room I'm staying in at the moment is a sun trap, so definitely no reflective stuff!

I'm definitely veering towards a business type laptop now, however the screens on the whole seem to be just that little bit too small.

I'm going through the ibm/lenovo list on ebay, and there really aren't that many 15" ones.

I'm the worst for making a decision, typical Libra!

Guapa1

I've seen my new baby. Of course because it's me, there is none to be found!

I like the look of the Lenovo R61.

There were a few knocking about in my price range, but they aren't from vendors though and I feel like I would like a bit of protection. There are some from the ibm clearance outlet, but I'm not sure about that either.
I'll have to keep a keen eye out now.

I want it now though! *sulks like a spoilt child*

lol

ABH_3

Guapa1 wrote: »

I've seen my new baby. Of course because it's me, there is none to be found!

I like the look of the Lenovo R61.

There were a few knocking about in my price range, but they aren't from vendors though and I feel like I would like a bit of protection. There are some from the ibm clearance outlet, but I'm not sure about that either.
I'll have to keep a keen eye out now.

I want it now though! *sulks like a spoilt child*

lol

I can appreciate your eagerness but you can use the time effectively by simply surfing through those specialised websites that maybe of interest, such as:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=119206
http://www.whatlaptop.co.uk/reviews/laptops
http://www.notebookforums.com/reviews/

It might kill some time whilst you're dreaming of your new machine I would be more tempted to purchase from their outlet store as opposed to any other retailer, as afterall your consumer rights will be intact providing you purchase from a UK supplier, this assumes of course that their Outlet is in the UK.

Anyway, I'm glad you've found something agreeable.

HTH

Guapa1

LOL, thank you ABH. I will have a look, compare and be patient... Well I'll try anyway!