Could you help me chose my new Laptop?

Mr_Warren_2

Hi all. I am replacing my old Toshiba Portege R700-182 as it is getting a bit slow and am no longer able to upgrade with latest operating systems.
I am running Windows 7 Pro. with Outlook 2003. I have 2 x 150GB HDD (only 1/4 of the 1st is used) - 4GB RAM - i3 CPU - 32 bit operating system.


I don't play game nor watch movies on Laptop.


We have started using Office 365 @work and my System is too old to allow me to transfer my Emails into the friendlier Outlook (my existing Outlook is 2003 version). I cannot upgrade my Internet Explorer to a newer version etc.


So I am turning to you for advice. What can I do?


Worse but cheapest choice
- Can I upgrade the system and keep my Laptop ?


More expensive choice. Buy a new Laptop but which one of those 3 ?


a) Lenovo B50-80 80EW (i5 - 8GBRAM - 500GB HDD - Windows 7 Pro) £525.00
b) Toshiba S50-B-15N (i5 - 8GBRAM - 1TB HDD and 8SSD - Windows 8) £600.00
c) DELL Latitude E5450 (i5 - 8GBRAM - 500GB HDD - Windows 7 Pro) £682.00


Thank you very much for advice.

enfield_freddy

not all i5,s are i5s when fitted in laptops , do some research as to the CPUs fitted in the models above then wander down this list http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php to check them out , remember the letter that follows the model number

bsod

re-installing windows cures slowness, it should have a system recovery partition.

where are you getting all the other info about incompatibility, internet explorer, outlook and latest operating systems from.

Free windows 10 upgrade available in 1 month.

Mr_Warren_2

Hi all. thanks for reply so far.


I have tried to download latest Internet Explorer version but because I am on Windows 2003, the system tells me that I am unable to upgrade to newer IE.
As for Windows 365, the IT man @work in the US said that I needed a newer version of Windows to allow Email merge onto Outlook.

Mr_Warren_2

@ enfield fredy, both are i5 5200U (3534 and 548) ie. middle of the range from your list.

enfield_freddy

you have clearly not read what I noted down , as you can see some CPUs have a prefix after them , your case "u" , what does "u mean?


go back to that page and select that CPU , and hit compare , then go to another I5 , lets say i5 4570 (without a suffix) , and compare,


your I5 is a cut down i5 , seems to have lost its cores and is not much more than an i3 but with a post name

Fightsback

The U stands for ultra low voltage, i5 desktop processors and i5 laptop processors are completely different beasties as a desktop i5 has unlimited access to power a laptop i5U series is designed as a trade off between performance and flattening your battery with 5 seconds and melting your laptop. An i5U typically has a power design envelope of 15w where as an i5 desktop (latest i5-5675C) has a power design envelope of 65w. It's all about horses for courses.

See here for info:

http://ark.intel.com/products/family/84980/5th-Generation-Intel-Core-i5-Processors

GunJack

There is nothing at all wrong with your "system", that machine is much higher spec than anything I have. It needs a good cleanout of junk, and it'll be good for some time yet.

As for different Office versions, yes it can be a bit fiddly to transfer, but it is doable...I've not long gone from Outlook 2002 to 2007 within W7, fiddly but done...

Find yourself a local IT guy and it'll be worth the £30-40 to have it all done for you

edit:- the version of Office you have has NO bearing on which version of IE you can update to - on W7 you should be running IE11....

Fightsback

GunJack wrote: »

There is nothing at all wrong with your "system", that machine is much higher spec than anything I have. It needs a good cleanout of junk, and it'll be good for some time yet.

As for different Office versions, yes it can be a bit fiddly to transfer, but it is doable...I've not long gone from Outlook 2002 to 2007 within W7, fiddly but done...

Find yourself a local IT guy and it'll be worth the £30-40 to have it all done for you

edit:- the version of Office you have has NO bearing on which version of IE you can update to - on W7 you should be running IE11....

Agreed, also change the HDD for an SSD for about £70-80 and it will feel like a brand new machine.

GunJack

oh, and I wouldn't think of a re-install of Windows until after you have got the e-mail situation sorted and then backed-up...if it's done wrong you could lose all your e-mails...

GunJack

Fightsback wrote: »

Agreed, also change the HDD for an SSD for about £70-80 and it will feel like a brand new machine.

TBH, if cost is an issue I'd even leave the SSD, just a re-install and

1. ditching all the Tosh bloatware
2. Stopping un-needed Services running

should give a decent performance improvement.....but, if cost isn't such an issue