Hi All
I am in the market for a brand new laptop and waiting for some good Black Friday deals. I have finalised my specifications and now just deciding amongst the laptop brands.
Between Acer, Dell, HP and Lenovo which brand do my fellow bargainers recommend?
Thanks
I bought a MSI from centrecom exactly a year ago for my year 7 child. It had so much trouble switching between the school network and the home network. My kid had to reset the network every single time. Now, it totally failed.
I submitted a ticket via centrecom's system. Not a single word from them.
I have bought a few Dells in the past. Their customer service was much better.
msi asus ga is like 3rd tier
top tier is lenovo hp or dell which are govt. enterprise level
i quite like acer although i realise they arent that good but three in a row and i like them
so there's only 4 brands worth looking at
Microsoft, Apple or Dell
Razer, Samsung.
Yes
Acer
Check out Sinomanic Tianhua GX-1C
Lenovo is usually good
Seems like we've got a nice spread of brands for OP to roll the dice on
FWIW I've had nothing but problems with my lenovo laptop. I've seen other users with the exact same problems (poor performance possibly caused by poorly done power profiles, noisy fans for no reason, poor build quality (hinges broke literally a week out of warranty). Personally would avoid.
which model of lenovo? how old?
Was a 2019 Yoga 730 15". Mid range laptop but seemingly received 0 software support from the manufacturer.
No idea about software updates but I hadn't had to use lenovo support for anything in the past, until last week - in short, they are useless for anything that's not already on their website or (presumably) on their call centre notes. And this was what they call Lenovo 'Premium' support. I guess they were polite (whilst putting me on hold for 30 minutes to check and finally give me no valuable info), so that's something.
Really does sour the ownership experience somewhat. Sort of a baseline sourness that will only become more sour if there are further issues.
Having said all that, I've no idea if any other manufacturer is any better.
I would say it depends on what you are going to use your laptop for. Consumer laptops from Lenovo ideapad, Dell (Inspiron, XPS) are quite good. I guess if you want a business grade laptop Lenovo Thinkpad, Dell (Latitude,Vostro) Hp Probook tends to be better built and last longer.
Bad question. Each of those brands manufactures dozens of laptops, good and bad. Without knowing specific models, you're flipping a coin and asking whether head or tails is better.
Personally prefer Dell.
throughout these years, bought AW, XPS, G15 from dell.
Ordered 1x G15 few days ago, waiting for it to be delivered, excited.
Any good deals on g15?
https://www.dell.com/en-au/shop/gaming-and-games/g15-ryzen-e…
AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H 8-core/16-thread
RTX 3060
16GB
6 cell battery
$2,299.00
wait for 20% + 7% (meta7), it will goes down to around $1710.
If you are student, register for it, you will get the 20% + 7% code for student.
All bad if you get a lemon, and all good if you're lucky enough to get a good one.
Honestly just go with whatever you like the best (price, looks, specs, battery life, whatever) because you'll always dislike something more if you get something you don't like as much, it's purely emotional.
big benefit buying from a retail store then online, much easier to exchange products. But more cash.
Microsoft
forget brands - consumer or business model
There are gems and lemons from each brand, but what are your priorities? Gaming/mobility/warranty etc
If you're interested in getting more value, consider a non-mainstream brand like Clevo (can be known by other names like Horize or Metabox).
I got mine back in 2013 from Logical Blue One (RIP), still going strong (literally typing this comment on it). Great value (at the time, obviously) and whilst (mine, at least) is a bit chunkier than your typical laptop these days, its performance has been great. Funnily I originally picked the model I have due to the 4 x RAM slots for a cheaper upgrade path, but haven't felt the need to yet (bought it with 16GB RAM).
Only issues I've had with it is the keyboard dying, which appears to possibly be the motherboard (I got a replacement keyboard off Ali Express and it has the same faults); and the wireless has been playing up, but that happens with the missus laptop too, so I suspect either Windows 10 (both laptops shipped with 7/8) or my AP.
only recommendation, if you're a teacher or a priest, it's a bad look to get a HP Predator …
But you'll fit right in with the rest of the Bastards
As someone who has sold many different brands of laptops over the last 8 years and had to deal with the returns of them, here is my entirely subjective opinion based on my own personal experiences;
MSI and Asus tend to have reliability issues a year or two down the road.
Lenovo is solid. T or X series tend to be the best bet.
Dell's Latitude/Precisions are good, Inspirion not so much.
HP's Probook/Elitebook are good, Pavillion not so much.
The Surface devices vary wildly in quality, but have been good of late.
The Razer laptops are basically known for their poor reliability, I'd avoid them.
Apple's products are reliable, but at a price premium and OSX instead of Windows, so that'll come down to your use-case.
The smaller brands mentioned above tend to be decent, but the downside being if something does go wrong outside of warranty periods, it's harder to get aftermarket support. YMMV.
Finally, as far as the best value, device quality to dollar given as there are regular sales on both, I'd suggest a Lenovo Thinkpad or Dell Latitude.
Happy shopping!
I had similar feedback i.e. Dell and Lenovo seem to be good but trying to get after-service from these mob, shudder. As I cant even get good pre sale assistance.
After reading your post i looked at a few and liked these 3, thoughts?
Hows XPS 13 range - do they have separate XPS for Business and Consumer?
1) https://www.dell.com/en-au/work/shop/business-laptops-ultrab…
2) https://www.dell.com/en-au/work/shop/business-laptops-ultrab…
3) https://www.dell.com/en-au/work/shop/business-laptops-ultrab…
Poorly formed question. First describe what use case the laptop is for (what software you will be running, how large a screen do you need) then state your budget
Depends what you are using it for, and what you value.
For me, I am SUPER picky about my trackpad, and I like 'decent' speakers. I found Dell ticks those boxes well in addition to reasonable performance. I would check out their gaming models since they pack more punch and look and feel amazing (G series, or the XPS).
Other than that, I have bought an HP chromebook (higher end one) for my parents which also looked and felt amazing (but not as bright as a proper laptop).
You should check out HN or JB and touch laptops since specs dont always tell the whole story with the laptop experience (trackpad, sound, how rigid etc)
Seeking help from OZb Brain trust
Need a laptop for perosnal use (browsing with ocassional Photo-Video editing and gaming)
Must have the following;
Centred Trackpad and backlit KB
Thunderbolt 4
i7 Processor
16GB RAM & 512 SSD (if not an option to upgrade later)
Light weight and decent battery.
Budget Max $1800
I have looked at few brand ASUS, HP and Lenovo but narrowed down the following two from Dell - but not limited.
Please help
1)
Inspiron 13 Laptop with i7 and GeForce MX 450
https://www.dell.com/en-au/shop/laptops/inspiron-13/spd/insp…
What I like:
The looks, clean interface, centred trackpad, GFX card.
Newer processor i7-11390H
What I dont like:
GFX cards drain a lot of batter and I have searched and couldnt find any options so far that disables its (power supply) and puts it on standby.
The specs are confusing as in one section it reads 2 x Thunderbolt 4 ports. whereas the schematic diagram shows Power and USB C 3.2 Gen1 for those ports.
Lacks a decent webcam and unsure if both HDD and RAM can be upgraded or not.
Due to MX card as customisation will be availble in mid Jan 2022
Pre slaes exp staff dont seem to have product knowledge.
2)
XPS 13 9305 i7 16GB RAM
https://www.dell.com/en-au/shop/dell-laptops/xps-13-laptop/s…
What I like:
The looks, clean interface, centred trackpad, Sep2020 processor light weight and everything about it.
read impressive reviews about battery life.
What I dont like:
A proper webcam, missing a USB A (although not much fussed either)
unsure if both HDD and RAM can be upgraded or not.
Wish had a GFX card option in 13"
Msi or Asus.