The time has come to replace my trusty old laptop.

Kit1

HI I have had a samsung laptop for a very long time but it is now time for a new one but there are so many to chose from.  I use the laptop for checking emails, social media and uploading photos.  I am not looking for something too powerful as l don't use it for work so don't want to pay the earth for it.  Any tips would be appreciated.

MinuteNoodles

Put a SSD in the Samsung?

parcival

Could you tell us why you want a replacement please as I assume the Samsung is still working.......

Kit1

Hi thank you both.  The Samsung is very slow when you switch it on and loading google, emails etc and more so since l updated it to windows 10.  I think l have had it for over 10 years so it has lasted well.  I have been looking to see what is available and there are so many to choose from now it is so confusing and they don't say if they come with word, excel etc but l guess now you have to buy all these separately as a package like microsoft 365 - am l correct or is this something completely different.  Sorry for so many questions but as it so long since l have had to buy one there are so many  changes and much more choice now.  Thanks again.

MinuteNoodles

For general computing PCs became plenty fast enough a decade and a half ago and it's only really if you're doing more intense stuff like photo and video editing, 3D modelling, gaming etc that you actually benefit from newer CPUs. The slowness is literally down to the hard drive speed. My son has a 2 year old laptop with a mechanical hard drive in which he was given by a scheme and it's dog slow - several minutes after starting it Windows is finally usable. He finds it so frustrating he stopped using it. My wife uses a 2006 Thinkpad T61 which I fitted a SSD in and it's up and running in barely 30 seconds, before that it was like my son's laptop. Reminds me I really must get a SSD ordered for my son's laptop so I can have my computer back. Talking of Samsungs my brother got one that must be about 10 years old from his employers, the council, and that too was dog slow. I upgraded that to a SSD and that transformed that too.

If you're buying a new laptop avoid any without a SSD in. Also you need to be careful with SSDs, avoid any with ones that are described as eSSD, typically 32GB or 64GB capacity as eSSD is dog slow too.

neilmcl

Kit1 said:

Hi thank you both.  The Samsung is very slow when you switch it on and loading google, emails etc and more so since l updated it to windows 10.  I think l have had it for over 10 years so it has lasted well.  I have been looking to see what is available and there are so many to choose from now it is so confusing and they don't say if they come with word, excel etc but l guess now you have to buy all these separately as a package like microsoft 365 - am l correct or is this something completely different.  Sorry for so many questions but as it so long since l have had to buy one there are so many  changes and much more choice now.  Thanks again.

That sounds like the perfect candidate for an SSD upgrade. You can get a fairly decent 250 GB for under £30.

Paula_Smith

How about a Chromebook?

TheRightOne

neilmcl said:

Kit1 said:

Hi thank you both.  The Samsung is very slow when you switch it on and loading google, emails etc and more so since l updated it to windows 10.  I think l have had it for over 10 years so it has lasted well.  I have been looking to see what is available and there are so many to choose from now it is so confusing and they don't say if they come with word, excel etc but l guess now you have to buy all these separately as a package like microsoft 365 - am l correct or is this something completely different.  Sorry for so many questions but as it so long since l have had to buy one there are so many  changes and much more choice now.  Thanks again.

That sounds like the perfect candidate for an SSD upgrade. You can get a fairly decent 250 GB for under £30.

The irony.....

Though you might want to find out the exact model. That way you can more easily demonstrate to the OP how easy the swap.
Ten year old Samsung should have a dedicated hatch for the storage drive.

TheRightOne

MinuteNoodles said:

For general computing PCs became plenty fast enough a decade and a half ago and it's only really if you're doing more intense stuff like photo and video editing, 3D modelling, gaming etc that you actually benefit from newer CPUs. The slowness is literally down to the hard drive speed. My son has a 2 year old laptop with a mechanical hard drive in which he was given by a scheme and it's dog slow - several minutes after starting it Windows is finally usable. He finds it so frustrating he stopped using it. My wife uses a 2006 Thinkpad T61 which I fitted a SSD in and it's up and running in barely 30 seconds, before that it was like my son's laptop. Reminds me I really must get a SSD ordered for my son's laptop so I can have my computer back. Talking of Samsungs my brother got one that must be about 10 years old from his employers, the council, and that too was dog slow. I upgraded that to a SSD and that transformed that too.

If you're buying a new laptop avoid any without a SSD in. Also you need to be careful with SSDs, avoid any with ones that are described as eSSD, typically 32GB or 64GB capacity as eSSD is dog slow too.

*eMMC.

TheRightOne

Kit1 said:

Hi thank you both.  The Samsung is very slow when you switch it on and loading google, emails etc and more so since l updated it to windows 10.  I think l have had it for over 10 years so it has lasted well.  I have been looking to see what is available and there are so many to choose from now it is so confusing and they don't say if they come with word, excel etc but l guess now you have to buy all these separately as a package like microsoft 365 - am l correct or is this something completely different.  Sorry for so many questions but as it so long since l have had to buy one there are so many  changes and much more choice now.  Thanks again.

Full model number of current laptop could be useful. That way we can see the likely specification.

fenlander_uk

I have a 15 year-old Toshiba Satellite A100 with a Centrino processor. It originally ran Vista. I upped the RAM to 4GB, fitted a new battery and a cheap SSD and installed Linux Mint XFCE. It's now in daily use and happily does all the things you list quickly and fuss-free (using LibreOffice instead of Microsoft Office). I should make clear that I am not a Linux nut - I have 3 other PCs, all Windows 10 - but the Linux machine often comes as a breath of fresh air (especially when I use it because all the W10 machines are busy upgrading again).

In fairness, I will mention a few areas where upgrading an old PC will always fall short.
- Firstly, data transfer. An old machine will typically have only USB2 ports, 10/100 Ethernet and a slow wi-fi card, so if you move a lot of large data files (e.g. video) to and from the cloud or between machines on a home network, the faster USB3, gigabit Ethernet and 5GHz wifi connectivity of a new machine is a major plus. Upgrading these areas of an old machine is not necessarily impossible, but neither is it particularly straightforward. If you don't foresee needing to move large data files around, then there is no issue here.
- Secondly, an old machine will probably have a relatively low-resolution screen compared with what is available nowadays. My Toshiba is 1280x800, but that's fine for the use I make of it. However, you mention photos: if you view a lot of images a newer screen might make a difference.
- Thirdly, processor speed. Old processors are relatively slow and do not usually have a built-in GPU. This limits video performance, among other things. My Toshiba will just about handle a 720p video file, provided it is on the machine's own SSD, but playing a 1080p file or any HD video from a network drive, is just not on. Neither is any serious gaming. Again this is not an issue for you if you do not expect to use your laptop for those purposes.
- Fourthly, wear and tear. If your old machine is generally knackered, upgrading will not be cost-effective.

In summary I would say, if you want a new machine and have the cash, go for it. Sometimes you need to treat yourself and anyway, it's probably good for somebody's economy. But if the old one is in decent condition, don't throw it away. With a modest expenditure, it can become a valuable asset, even if you only use it when Windows on your new PC is having a hissy fit.