dombanks Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 sorry another daft pc question. does anyone have any experience of the likes of novatec or pc specialist? Im after a laptop but what i want when i go to dell or HP seems to be twice the price! the spec roughly is quad i7, ssd, hd screen, decent ram... whats the deal with hybrid drives vs solid state. and before anyone suggests ... apples are out period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibby Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 PC Specialist are good to define what you want in a computer/ lappy at a decent price but if anything goes wrong they can be a bit of a nightmare to deal with. Novatech returns system are much better on past experience. An SSD is the best single performance boost you can give a laptop for the money. Super-fast boot and access times but the cost per GB is higher compared to a standard spinning disk, prices have dropped a lot over the past few years and you can get a 128GB for around £60 now. Pairing one up with a high capacity hard drive to store Windows and programs on the SSD and music & films on a HDD would be the way to go if the laptop chassis you choose can accept two drives. Hybrid drives cache frequently accessed data and are a bit like hybrid cars - a nice idea but the technology isn't quite there yet. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wile E. Coyote Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 If you can stretch to it, buy a Thinkpad. Without a shadow of doubt, the best laptops I've used. I'm typing this on a machine that has just been retired from every day use after five years. I've not had any other brand of laptop still be in working order after 18 months (albeit Dell's higher end ones seem to have their fans). Agree completely on SSDs. Wouldn't buy a laptop without one unless it was unavoidable. As well as being faster they also use less power so the battery lasts longer too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyonspride Posted June 4, 2014 Share Posted June 4, 2014 If you can stretch to it, buy a Thinkpad. Without a shadow of doubt, the best laptops I've used. I'm typing this on a machine that has just been retired from every day use after five years. I've not had any other brand of laptop still be in working order after 18 months (albeit Dell's higher end ones seem to have their fans). Agree completely on SSDs. Wouldn't buy a laptop without one unless it was unavoidable. As well as being faster they also use less power so the battery lasts longer too. This is spot on.......... Business grade machines are faster, last longer and don't come filled with the usual "bloatware". I've got 2 thinkpad T41's, they're both nearly 10 years old and still running like new. One of them has run my web server, 24/7 for the past 6 years (I can count on one hand, the number of times it's been turned off). They have a titanium alloy chassis, water resistant keyboard, they can take a real beating and stripping them down to clean out the dust or carry out an upgrade is an absolute doddle. In contrast I once took apart a Packard Bell Easynote (Dragon), fancy wide screen thing, it was an absolute pile of dog eggs. It was built to never be taken apart, build was atrocious and the memory was of a lower spec (but more MB) and quality than my old T41s. Downside, yeah new they would have cost double a consumer grade laptop of the same spec. But second hand refurbished I paid £120 each. I think laptops are now a compromise, i'd never buy a top spec one, my custom built PC would beat it hands down all day long and ultimately cost a hell of a lot less. If my Nexus 7 could work effectively as a web server, i'd ditch the laptops completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibby Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 I don't buy the bit about bloatware. The company Thinkpad I've got here is full of Thinkvantage guff I'm not allowed to uninstall. First thing most people do with a new computer/ laptop is uninstall Windows 8 and all the manufacturer's gubbins, install Windows 7 (or your Linux flavour of choice if that's your bag) and leave out all the crap you don't need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dombanks Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 thanks, i looked at lenovo but for a similar spec was far too much, im limited on my budget and if i want anything above what the company have said i will have to pay for it myself. i appreciate the buy once good and it lasts ethos but i cant break the bank to do it (not my bank anyway!).... well not at this stage of the game. where do you normally shop for the refurb models? their range is huge any recommendations? its been suggested i drop from an i7 to i5 but tbh at pc specialist it made chuff all difference to the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibby Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 i7 uses more battery power for little gain, only really useful in desktops for 3D rendering and gaming. I'd go i5 in a laptop, my home theatre/ server PC runs on an i3 and it's plenty to watch blu-ray rips, decode full HD videos and the high bitrate audio that comes with them, surf the net, general office bumph and dish up music around the house. Dell outlet is a good source of refurbished kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyonspride Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 I've got an i5 in my PC, overclocked from (iirc) 2.3Ghz to 4.2Ghz and water cooled. I chose the i5 because it was half the price of the i7 and the i7 couldn't be overclocked. You have to be careful with buying PCs and laptops, its easy to just think bigger numbers are better, but what counts most is quality. It was a few years back now, AMD had a tri-core CPU, it was nowhere near as fast as the Intel dual core, but retailers couldn't shift the Intel machines because 3 is more than 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhutch Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 My laptops have all come off ebay, current ones a HP elitebook, IBM Thinkpad before that. Just fire in the model number work uses, and picked one up for about £250, perfect for the job, looks great, job done. Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dombanks Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 time was ticking and i need it for work that i started last week so got the one from novatec after looking about at others on friday..even managed to beat them down on the price, work paid for most of it and was only £150 over their limit which is fine as i will use it for other stuff anyway. it was one of their standard models that i swapped the hybrid for a standard SSD so i guess the spec is ok. time will tell i suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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