Another new laptop help plea

badger09

In May I bought new Dell Inspiron to replace existing 12 year old model. After many hours on phone with Dell, laptop was returned due to non functioning WiFi. (It was a Realtek WiFi )

I need a basic Windows laptop, no gaming, no video editing etc. I’m drowning in all the choices but considering this one, which is probably higher spec than I need but will be future proofing. 

Can’t pin down WiFi but think Acer use Intel so hope I won’t have same problem. Current Dell, iPhones & iPad all work fine on WiFi. 

https://www.johnlewis.com/acer-aspire-lite-15-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-processor-16gb-ram-512gb-ssd-15-6-full-hd-silver/p114086364

Grateful for pointers on pros/cons of above, or any alternatives recommendations 

Vitor

No mention of backlit keyboard which is handy on a laptop and it's Windows 11 Home which may not matter to you, otherwise seems fine for the  price.

Neil_Jones

Wifi in laptop works differently to Wi-Fi in a PC.

For a PC in theory you can shove any wi-fi card in any slot (external or otherwise) and it'll work.

For a laptop in theory it should work on any internal card that fits the slot, but the reality is it will probably be locked to certain types, makes/models.  External one that ties up a USB port can do what you like but internally it's often a case of you get what you get.

Ayr_Rage

That ACER spec looks very decent for the price.

You must have been very unlucky to have had a Dell with a faulty WiFi adapter, very unusual on any new laptop.

Frozen_up_north

Looks fine to me, although I am typing this reply on a Dell laptop with backlit keys... And I wouldn't consider a laptop without the illuminated keyboard.

While looking for laptops, avoid those with silver keys, my OH has a silver Asus with silver backlit keys, white letters on silver keys is plain hard to see except in near total darkness. White on black is fine.

prowla

Neil_Jones said:

Wifi in laptop works differently to Wi-Fi in a PC.

For a PC in theory you can shove any wi-fi card in any slot (external or otherwise) and it'll work.

For a laptop in theory it should work on any internal card that fits the slot, but the reality is it will probably be locked to certain types, makes/models.  External one that ties up a USB port can do what you like but internally it's often a case of you get what you get.

What does "Wifi in laptop works differently to Wi-Fi in a PC." mean, please?

My Dell desktop PCs have WiFi cards which are the same as can be found in contemporary Dell laptop PCs.

Aidanmc

That Acer is quite similar to the Acer Aspire 3 i purchased recently.
16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Ryzen 5
I'm happy with the Acer. 
Wifi quit working in my old HP, never got to the bottom of it (possibly wire damage at hinge) Got a TP Link wireless adaptor and that works fine.

Neil_Jones

prowla said:

Neil_Jones said:

Wifi in laptop works differently to Wi-Fi in a PC.

For a PC in theory you can shove any wi-fi card in any slot (external or otherwise) and it'll work.

For a laptop in theory it should work on any internal card that fits the slot, but the reality is it will probably be locked to certain types, makes/models.  External one that ties up a USB port can do what you like but internally it's often a case of you get what you get.

What does "Wifi in laptop works differently to Wi-Fi in a PC." mean, please?

My Dell desktop PCs have WiFi cards which are the same as can be found in contemporary Dell laptop PCs.

Perhaps I should have added in terms of working with / connectivity on a hardware level / inside rather than "working" as in connecting to a network and internet usage as that's identical between desktop/laptop.

badger09

Vitor said:

No mention of backlit keyboard which is handy on a laptop and it's Windows 11 Home which may not matter to you, otherwise seems fine for the  price.

Thanks. 

My current Dell doesn’t have a backlit keyboard & can’t say I’ve missed it. Assume advantage is if using it @ night but I don’t. 

Could you expand on ‘‘and its Windows 11 Home which may not matter to you’’?

badger09

Ayr_Rage said:

That ACER spec looks very decent for the price.

You must have been very unlucky to have had a Dell with a faulty WiFi adapter, very unusual on any new laptop.

Thanks. You’re probably right and WiFi on my old Dell laptop is working fine and always has. 2 different Dell Tech support people spent several hours trying to get it to work properly but failed so initiated a return & refund. 

Vitor

- Could you expand on ‘‘and its Windows 11 Home which may not matter to you’’? -

For a laptop which you take out and about, Windows Home lacks the full disk encryption with BitLocker which Pro supports. The other reduced features don't really matter to most users outside of a business. 

- My current Dell doesn’t have a backlit keyboard & can’t say I’ve missed it - 

It's one of those things that once experienced you can't go back.