Please help with laptop purchase, looking at HP

NotVeryTechie · 4 February 2019 at 1:56PM

Hi there guys, I need to replace a very old laptop that is on its last legs and I have been twisting myself into knots for ages researching and just not managing to make a decision.

I use my laptop for Office work, including spreadsheets and I do some light graphics work (Adobe Photoshop, Indesign). I also do a lot of internet browsing and often have a lot of tabs open. I do touch-typing and need a good keyboard for that.

In addition, this is a big purchase for me and I really don't want to end up with something that is just not right after spending a bunch of money.

I have been looking particularly at the HP Envy x360 15.6" Intel i7 with 16GB Ram, 128 SSD and 1TB HDD. I really like this system and it had a Full HD IPS panel for colour work. I am not sure if it is quiet and I am not sure if it is a good purchase. HP are listing this version at £1200, which is more than I wanted to spend, but I will stretch for the right system. (I have been using my current Toshiba for 11 years)

Honestly, I have read and watched reviews until I am blue in the face, but it is hard to get a solid opinion on this version.

I did see one review from Europe where the system is a lot cheaper than here - not sure why that is!

Anyway, any thoughts on this? Or should I wait a little for prices to come down, or look at something else?

What about the Acer Swift 5 for example? Are they good quality?

techquest · 4 February 2019 at 5:41PM

I like HP products and the Envy 360 has a good spec. Define quiet, they all have a level of noise, some more acceptable than others. I'm using a Dell XPS product and never had any issues with it, quiet as a mouse and was a sound investment.

The real issue of spending hard earned cash on a product is that no matter what you buy there's always something in it's spec, build, performance that does not quite match expectation, for whatever reason. You could wait for a deal but then something else comes that you just wished you could have, or afford.

Acer produce good product but will not set the world alight.

Don't get hung up on the processer, intel I5 vs i7 for instance. For your office work an i5 will do you fine and that way the price break comes down somewhat. You can get quad cores in both variants and the real difference in speed is not that significant for what your needs are.

Whatever you buy, and if that's the level of spend your intending, make sure you have it well covered by warranty and service for the 1st 3 to 5 years. After that it's old hat and worth far less than what you paid for it and the manufacturer doesn't want to know you.

NotVeryTechie · 4 February 2019 at 6:03PM

Thank you so much techquest. In terms of noise, my Toshiba is becoming distressingly loud, so I really would like something that is generally silent.

Honestly, I do look at all the different makes and models and it just gets overwhelming.

This particular model comes with a 3 year care pack, so I think it would be ok on that score. I just feel uncertain and a little ill when making big decisions.

arciere · 4 February 2019 at 6:23PM

My next laptop will be another Asus Zenbook, have a look at that, see if you like it.

The one I'm using now is fairly old, so CPU is quite slow (it's an m3), but you can't beat its quietness (it hasn't got any fan).

Also, if you can, I would avoid any hard disk or hybrid disk, go for a proper SSD, prices have dropped considerably over the past couple of years.

techquest · 4 February 2019 at 6:31PM

NotVeryTechie wrote: »

Thank you so much techquest. In terms of noise, my Toshiba is becoming distressingly loud, so I really would like something that is generally silent.

Honestly, I do look at all the different makes and models and it just gets overwhelming.

This particular model comes with a 3 year care pack, so I think it would be ok on that score. I just feel uncertain and a little ill when making big decisions.

Just imagine how much better you will feel surrounded by the silence of the fan.

EveryWhere · 5 February 2019 at 9:22AM

Out of interest, what is the model number of your current Toshiba? I am guessing that it really isn't that old and that you can refurbished at reasonable cost. Cleaned up of any dust and fitted with an SSD.

Dependent on the model, you could almost certainly fit the SSD yourself and clean install the OS to it, which would improve the performance considerably.

That would take the pressure off you. Then you could search for a replacement in a more leisurely fashion.

You need to get hands on.
At the price point you mention, dependent on the size of the screen, I would be looking for a QHD IPS screen, NVMe PCIe x 4 SSD, and discrete graphics.

If no PCIe SSD, forget about it. If no discrete Graphics card, forget about it. If missing, you should be spending less than half of what you mention.

NotVeryTechie · 5 February 2019 at 1:43PM

Everywhere, my Toshiba is 11 years old! I will keep it running, but it is struggling! I can't honestly figure out if the HP actually does have a dedicated graphics card. It says NVIDIA GeForce MX150 4 GB GDDRS. Is that good?

EveryWhere · 5 February 2019 at 2:10PM

NotVeryTechie wrote: »

Everywhere, my Toshiba is 11 years old! I will keep it running, but it is struggling! I can't honestly figure out if the HP actually does have a dedicated graphics card. It says NVIDIA GeForce MX150 4 GB GDDRS. Is that good?

Model number(it's on the underside), not age. A £20 SSD can tide you overtoa make the thing less hateful.

It's not just about IPS when it comes to colour work, you need a screen that can reproduce colours in the first instance.

https://www.parkablogs.com/content/laptops-100-adobe-rgb-graphic-designers-digital-artists
https://www.laptopmag.com/benchmarks/color-gamut

NotVeryTechie · 5 February 2019 at 4:01PM

I am still not clear on whether the graphics card mentioned is good enough. I know the HP doesn't have superb colour reproduction, but I thought it was OK, given the price point. Would you say it is actually not going to be good enough?

I did look at the Dell Insperion, but it doesn't have super specs either. I have been researching for such a long time!!

DoaM · 5 February 2019 at 4:46PM

That video card won't set the world afire, but it's a fairly decent mobile video card.

NotVeryTechie · 5 February 2019 at 8:58PM

Thank you DoaM. So I guess the question then is whether the Envy is overpriced at this spec (it is retailing at £1200). I believe the screen is also pretty dark and has to be viewed directly from the front. If that is the case, it will become very irritating very quickly, but it is hard to find decent reviews of the exact model. And also to know what else to get.