I don't think i've understood credit cards

callum9999

2sides2everystory wrote: »

...

You are clearly not a power user then... Using a computer to do basic things a lot doesn't make you a "power" user. And £50 isn't very much to pay for computing.

closed

What use do you need an i7 for?

A £300 laptop would be faster than a 9 year old one.

iguanapunk

Yeah, a power user is somebody who runs graphics intensive games, image and video editing and DJ software.

chattychappy

2sides2everystory wrote: »

My #2 son bought his just before he started A levels. A Vaio - £700! So far so good.

I think he has done very well. I've found Sony laptops the worst. I've had 3, and each one has had multiple separate problems. Never again!

2sides2everystory wrote: »

You want to spend £750! Unless you are very careful you do know no laptop will last more than about 4 or 5 years problem free due to the lack of durability in any of them? Yeah yeah ... OK I see you are very careful - 9 years on a Dell costing £1,500.

Precisely. You can't buy a laptop and expect it to last NINE years. That's not to say it won't.

The reality with laptops is that they pack alot of stuff into a small space and generate a fair amount of heat. If you are actually carrying it around from time to time then it will get bashed, cracked, damp, whatever.

Then there is the risk of theft...

Buying more powerful laptops is governed by the law of diminishing returns. A machine twice as powerful can cost three times the price. Over the long term, you are therefore better off getting something less than top-notch and replacing more often. On average you'll get more power that way.

The OP mentioned Asus. I know Asus very well - in fact I was in Taiwan last week and a friend works for them. It is a good brand. But a company I know imports these things (another brand) - the failure rate on some models was as high as 50% over 2 years on some models. Hence they reduced their warranty to 1 year to try and save costs. There isn't so much difference over the brands.

BEFORE anyone shouts EU consumer regs, etc and legal rights, I'm just reporting the failure rate. Whether you have a legal remedy doesn't deal with the inconvenience and hassle.

Personally I've generally reckoned to get 3 years out of my laptops and that's held good for about 15 years now. I generally pass them onto my parents who then get a bit longer out of them - perhaps putting up with batteries that are failing, the odd crash/USB port not working, etc etc.

Meanwhile, my desktops have rarely failed. My BBC Model B circa 1983 still works fine!

iguanapunk

chattychappy wrote: »

The OP mentioned Asus. I know Asus very well - in fact I was in Taiwan last week and a friend works for them. It is a good brand. But a company I know imports these things (another brand) - the failure rate on some models was as high as 50% over 2 years on some models. Hence they reduced their warranty to 1 year to try and save costs. There isn't so much difference over the brands.

BEFORE anyone shouts EU consumer regs, etc and legal rights, I'm just reporting the failure rate. Whether you have a legal remedy doesn't deal with the inconvenience and hassle.

I didn't want to read that, I had my heart set on the Asus but I thank you for your insider knowledge. I take care of my laptops and I don't move them around very much which is why my last one worked for so long.

2sides2everystory

iguanapunk wrote: »

Yeah, a power user is somebody who runs graphics intensive games, image and video editing and DJ software.

Ah yes ... but for graphics intensive you really need a big airy box with about a dozen fans in it. Databases are my thing. If you need expensive hardware to shake out the answers from those then maybe I haven't programmed it right . I don't find much calling for graphics intensive thesedays - it's the eyesight you see As for DJ software well I got my annual fix yesterday from the re-run of selected back numbers of Top of the Pops!

If you are set on a hot slab then don't forget to de-dustify the innards and maybe reset the heatsink (with the right stuff) after each couple of years or two. As CC says I think its the heat or the lack of cooling that does for many. I have already fixed two with dry solder problems.

anyway, I hope Santa gets it right :xmassmile

andrew-the-cat

2sides2everystory wrote: »

Databases are my thing. If you need expensive hardware to shake out the answers from those then maybe I haven't programmed it right .

Not at all, but if your database is huge and has 10,000 requests a minute then of course it's going to need good kit to run it. I've seen database servers which are running FOUR quad core CPU's, 64gb of RAM etc.

Fiddlestick

thesim wrote: »

I'm in the same boat, I'm start uni in January and need a laptop but I'm just going for a cheap one...as long as its works, connects to the internet and doesnt take all day to do something I'm ok.

If it's just for writting assignments and browsing the web then you are spot on - you really would be better off with a basic model, even a second hand one.

If you are doing some sort of computer related course or you want to play games then I would get something better, but not for essay writing.

chattychappy

iguanapunk wrote: »

I didn't want to read that, I had my heart set on the Asus but I thank you for your insider knowledge

Oh don't misunderstand me. Asus is as good as it gets in terms of design etc. Just all laptops have pretty high failure rates, relative to other IT.

One thing I like about Taiwanese stuff is they tend to build stuff around fairly standard chipsets and bundled software etc. This tends to give fewer problems down the line and makes it more likely that problems that do arise can be remedied.

Gromitt

andrew-the-cat wrote: »

Not at all, but if your database is huge and has 10,000 requests a minute then of course it's going to need good kit to run it. I've seen database servers which are running FOUR quad core CPU's, 64gb of RAM etc.

Our accounts server is like that. One server that handles ALL accounting, it gets thousands of requests per minute. Orders, shipping, despatch, deliveries, stock locations, stock updates, etc. Used to be multiple systems but now all merged into one. The backup server is only half as powerful but the idea is that 99% of the time its only processing the updates from the main server, so only has a single connection to deal with.