$1300 Budget 15inch ultra Laptop.

Melb69 on 07/04/2019 - 09:50
Last edited 18/04/2019 - 19:21 by 1 other user

Ok OZB. I originally started our budget allowance at $500. Not knowing exactly whether the spec for that price matched our needs.

Thanks to all that posted. It was helpful advice, but once we looked into it further we came to the conclusion of the Acer Swift 5 Swift 5 SF515-51T 15.6in model. i5-8265U 8th gen Quad Core

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07K6PXBFS/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp…

$1274.15 delivered at Amazon Aus.(free express if you sign up for prime trial) Only 2 left now if anyone else is interested or try JB or HN as they currently have the same price, but very limited stock. Its original RRP $1799. Currently the normal price $1499 & $1598

Why we chose this one:
1. The IPS 15.6in screen. If you go into the store and check out the Tf screens and the other FHD screens they all aren't the same. Even though the JB salesperson told me FHD screen to another is the same. Not to my eyes. The contrast is alot better on the Swift 5 and seems alot clearer. Maybe as the others have the matt screen and not reflective finish to screen. Yes there maybe reflection issues. Has 3 sided thin bezels.

Partner wanted a larger screen to be able to have internet page open for web research, cut and paste and also word processing app side by side. Given typing is main priority thought the FHD would be better as clearer to the eyes.

  1. Our son thought a 2 drive (SSD $ HD - Asus VivoBook S15 S530FA-EJ297T) set up wasn't ideal and also recommended to go with the 1 drive SSD. The Swift 5 has a 256G drive. SSD for quick start up.

  2. 8g DDR4

  3. Good battery life. Expected 10hours with fast charge.

Features as a plus we weren't really looking for

  1. Lightweight & thin. Only 999g & 1.59mm high. Feels like nothing.

  2. Touch screen.

  3. Has full SD card reader if you want to download pics from camera. Some only have a micro SD port.

  4. All metal chassis. Although being so light and thin it does seem a bit flimsy. Trade off.

  5. Fingerprint scanner.

I'm sure there will be negatives, but don't think there are any deal breakers.

With CB we can get it for $1217.26

Thanks all again who posted. Deal is now over. Just brought mine on the last day.

This laptop as of today has been a fail. Understand you can get a faulty one, but our fan came faulty from start up. Needs to be returned or refund. Now no stock for at least 1-3mth by Amazon. Doesn't really bode well for the reliability long term.

Computing Computer Laptop

Comments

  • alee112 on 07/04/2019 - 10:51

    I would personally go for an i3 CPU as a minimum, haven't really used a pentium processor in a while so I'm not sure if they are any good now, but they were terrible before. Like not bad, but my one struggled to run a few multiple processes at once. I don't really have any recommendations of the top of my head, but you may be interested to look into chromebooks to see if that suit your needs as well, as they are often cheaper.

    • Melb69 on 07/04/2019 - 10:56
      +1

      Thanks for thoughts. I looked into the Chromebooks and they don't seem to use Windows. I think we need to use windows for compatibility with the word programs partner wants to use.

      • alee112 on 07/04/2019 - 14:17

        There's google docs available for chromebooks which is essentially the same as google docs. But that also depends on if you need any other special functionalities as well.

  • cauilfield on 07/04/2019 - 11:08
    +3

    Avoid 4GB, 8GB is minimum these days

    • Melb69 on 07/04/2019 - 11:12

      Ok

  • [Deactivated] on 07/04/2019 - 11:15

    If you don't mind refurbished, Dell Outlet is a good place to get nice spec'ed laptops.

    https://www.dell.com/en-au/outlet

    • Melb69 on 07/04/2019 - 11:19

      Son's Dell is having issues and not that old. So avoiding Dell for the moment. Also prefer new for warranty purposes.

      • scrimshaw on 07/04/2019 - 12:50

        You'll be fine if you stick with a Dell Latitude series as they are enterprise grade notebooks. However, they tend to be a bit more expensive compared to Inspirons which is the cheaper consumer line up.

        I would also skip the Lenovo Ideapads and just get a Thinkpad E580 / 590 series, which are sold directly from the Lenovo.com website and use cashback for a further 5 to 10 percent off.

        For e.g this deal would've been great for $739 for a 14" Lenovo E485 with an additional 12% Shopback cashback
        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/442849

        • Melb69 on 07/04/2019 - 13:29

          Price point is an issue. I already started at $500, but know there isn't really much in that bracket, so bumped budget up to $700. or $699.

        • [Deactivated] on 07/04/2019 - 14:13

          Thanks for this, scrimshaw - great advice & very timely as I'm also looking to buy a new laptop and overwhelmed at choice in the ~$1500 range so thanks for narrowing it down.

          Lenovo ebay store has a limited range - noticed this Thinkpad E590 $1399.

          Wondering whether to wait for the next ebay 20% promo

        • alee112 on 07/04/2019 - 14:21

          Yep, I'm still using my Dell Latitude E6230 I got at the end of 2012. I even run solidworks on it with no issues (bootup takes about a minute though, lol), and I've bumped it to 8gb.
          Also, not all issues affect all of the brand's computer (except apple's butterfly keyboard). I've heard complaints about Dell, HP, Asus, but I've used all three of those brands at some point in the past and never had an issue with any of those.

  • Melb69 on 07/04/2019 - 11:21

    The Lenovo ideapad 15in seems to be the best one so far from above suggestions of spec. Doesn't have an SSD card though. Which I assume would make it a tad slow to start up and run programs. Also on sale at the moment with $50 off.

    • alee112 on 07/04/2019 - 14:27

      That all depends on the price. Yes, ssds are faster, which means that it would cost more.
      Obviously SSDs are faster, but you need to ask yourself if that matters that much to you. Its cool to have windows and programs boot up in 10 seconds, but does the extra 10-15 seconds really matter to you in the end? Yes, that might be time wasted which you could be doing something else, but at the end of the day, it probably only saved you a couple of minutes of productive work, which can easily gained by browsing fb/insta/snap/whatever else you use for a bit less.

  • Biggles266 on 07/04/2019 - 13:11

    I have to get a new laptop some time this year, plus one for my parents. Budget is about the same. I'm just not happy with what you get buying new, even on sale. $500-$700 doesn't really get you much, they are still quite underpowered. I think the best value is to use GraysOnline's web site and get one refurbished but which comes with a 12 month warranty. You can then get ones with better processors and graphics cards for much less than normal shops. They usually have lots of choice. The only issue is you have to know your specs pretty well so you know what you are buying. If you don't like refurbished, you can also look for ones which are brand new, they often sell them on there as well, and should be cheaper than the shops, particularly if you are patient to get a good deal and/or are willing to bid at auction. Watch out for the 15-17% selling fee they add to the advertised price, plus the shipping fee. But they are usually clearly explained on the final screen before you bid or purchase.

    • Melb69 on 07/04/2019 - 13:14

      OK. Sounds like its worth investigating.

      • Biggles266 on 07/04/2019 - 13:18

        I've bought laptops from them before. One came with a keyboard problem and they refunded the money no trouble because it had warranty. The other worked flawlessly and I'm still using it to type this on, 7 years later!

        • Melb69 on 07/04/2019 - 13:31

          Never brought anything off Greys, but will look into it. Its choosing the right laptop as well as where I get it.

      • O O on 09/04/2019 - 18:38
        +1

        Lenovo IdeaPad 330S - 15" FHD/Ryzen 5 2500U/8GB/256GB NVMe SSD $559.20 seems fit your bill.

  • Biggles266 on 07/04/2019 - 13:14

    Don't buy a laptop, from anywhere, without it having a good number of reviews, and a good review score. Laptops are funny, some models work great, and others just seem to have problems. That's true for all makers (Dell, Lenovo, etc.) - so it's not the maker's name alone that you can trust, it's if a particular model has good reviews. If the site you want to buy from doesn't have reviews, just try googling it, other sites may have reviews of that model.

  • Blurem on 07/04/2019 - 21:12

    Honestly, find the best used macbook pro on gumtree with your money, and add a samsung 860 ssd 1tb can be had for around $160ish

  • pinkchick on 08/04/2019 - 09:15

    Budget PC in Mt Waverly have New, refurbed and exdemo. They're very helpful. I just bought a exdemo HP for my son and still has warranty.
    Have a look on their website.

  • rogerm22 on 08/04/2019 - 09:39

    I'd buy something like this.
    https://www.manlylaptops.com.au/8470p-i7-3720M-240-8

    It's an EliteBook which is HP's top range of business laptops. The build quality will be much better than anything new you could buy for the price. My last four laptops have been HP ProBooks, which are HP's cheaper line of business laptops and I can't fault the quality.

    It has a SSD, a very fast i7 CPU and 8GB of RAM. Also the whole bottom cover comes off, for easy access to the RAM/SSD and to remove the fan and clean dust from the cooling vent.

    You could get something similar for much cheaper on eBay, but this one has one year warranty.

    • Melb69 on 08/04/2019 - 13:42

      @rogerm22 Are they new or refurbished? Have you brought anything from the guys on the link?

      • rogerm22 on 08/04/2019 - 14:25

        They are refurbished. That model was woth around $2,600 when new.

        I haven't purchased from them, as I buy all my laptops from eBay (as it's cheaper). But if you Google them, you will see that they have a lot of positive reviews.

        I recommended them as you get a warranty, unlike the laptops I buy from eBay.

  • Easyteas85 on 08/04/2019 - 18:03

    I would personally recommend you consider a Chromebook.
    Super fast, quick to boot, very secure, cheap, long battery life, always updated straight from Google, no annoying issue inherent with Windows/Mac, great for web browsing and word processing.

  • mikekiwimike on 08/04/2019 - 20:27

    Acer as a brand does not have the longevity of other name brands, Asus is a pretty decent budget brand but do consider Dell and Lenovo as well because they do have support to backup your purchase, I can’t vouch for HP (I have worked for Dell).

    You do not need 8gb of ram for your use case, and if it came down to either an SSD or 8gb then get the SSD, it will be the night and day difference for the usage of the laptop.

    As a research laptop where you will be using it a lot, make sure you see the screen in person because in your price range there are a lot of crap screens.

    Personally Apple is what I use so I have no interest in PC laptops :)

    • rogerm22 on 09/04/2019 - 10:52

      While I agree with you about Acer laptops, persnoally I would avoid all budget laptops, no matter what the brand, as the build quality is usually not very good.

      While 4GB of RAM is enough for very basic use, most users will be better of with 8GB.

  • Arzak on 10/04/2019 - 07:18

    I'm interested in the same range, anyone's spotted a good deal over ebay 20% off PEACE promo?
    I'd be looking at ssd and 8 gb ram…13 to 14 screen, no gaming and good battery, win10 pro possibly.

    Thanks for your help

  • O O on 18/04/2019 - 22:19
    +1

    As you increase your budget, takes a look on

    Asus VivoBook 15.6" FHD, i7-8550U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD $1,028 + $12 Delivery.

    • Melb69 on 19/04/2019 - 06:02

      Yeah thanks. The Acer has now made me question the future reliability of the Swift 5. Will do some more research on the Asus vivo book as spec seems better than Swift. i7 and 512 SSD and cheaper than what the swift was as now not in stock

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