Opinions on this laptop?

pimento

I need a new laptop. My current one is 10 years old and really slow.

I saw this in the paper this morning and it looks like a good deal. Can I have an informed opinion, please?

https://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-14-ce0501sa-14-intel-core-i5-laptop-256-gb-ssd-silver-10184651-pdt.html?intcmpid=display~RR

I will be using it for mainly internet and using family history software (family tree/ Ancestry) and looking at document scans online.

arciere

It looks fine, although probably on the expensive side.
Battery good, relatively lightweight, but from the pictures it looks bulky.
I am using a 3-year-old Asus Zenbook which is lighter and thinner than this one (but also slower), but I can see that the price of the Zenbook has gone up.

pimento

Thank you. Do you think that the RAM is upgradeable? (ie I will be able to add more in the future)

Are laptops like mattresses in that you find the larger retailers having their own models made so that it's difficult to price match?

that

just watch out for extras, and free subscriptions. those subscriptions will probably auto-renew after 3 months or a year and be linked to your credit card. You wont even realise unless you scrutinise the cc bill

arciere

It's hard to tell, sometimes a minor difference in the specs, like a different CPU with the same speed or even a different colour, makes it a different model number.

Not sure about the memory, will need to check the manual or available slots, but in general with what you are planning to do, 8GB will be more than enough.

Personally I carry my laptop in my bag, so screen size is critical, but if you are not too concerned about that, you can probably find better laptops in the 15" range (if you don't mind a bigger laptop).

pimento

The laptop will generally go no further than my front room so I don't mind a larger one. Any suggestions?

Absolute top budget of £500.

arciere

I must admit that I am struggling to find a better laptop in the 15" range. 15.4-15.6" used to be the standard until recently, with anything smaller (except the old 'netbooks') normally priced way more, with the same specs. It looks like it's all shifted towards the 14" size.

There are some good laptops in the 15.6" range at £500 or less, but the vast majority of them still have 1TB HDD drives, so the faster CPU is often not a justification to give up the SSD drive.

pimento

That's great. I can always add a monitor if I have to.

Many thanks

agrinnall

pimento wrote: »

Thank you. Do you think that the RAM is upgradeable? (ie I will be able to add more in the future)

I can't see why you would ever need to upgrade the RAM, 8GB will be plenty for what you want to do and almost certainly enough for anything that the machine is capable of doing.

cranford

I guess it varies from store to store but you will find on this forum examples of pushy salespersons that insist that you need the install/ support package and at least you have to buy the recovery pen drive.
The last one I bought from this group I gave them the option: just sell me the laptop or I will walk away.
You could always buy it on line.

arciere

To be honest, I never had this kind of problems when I shopped at PC World and similar.
Yes, you do get the questions and offers if you want the extended warranty, this antivirus or that Office, but it all stops the moment I reply "no thank you, just the laptop".

If you see unwanted credit card charges on your monthly statement, you must A) have had a dishonest salesman and you didn't check the amount that was charged on your credit card or the paperwork they made you sign, if any.