[RndTbl] Advice on finally buying my first laptop

Alberto Abrao alberto at abrao.net
Sat Sep 26 20:27:06 CDT 2020


I've worked in the trenches for the longest time.

Whatever you do, do not buy HP.

Dell, Lenovo, ASUS, hell, even Acer. But *never* HP.

Kind regards,
Alberto Abrao

On 2020-09-26 7:48 p.m., Adam Thompson wrote:
> Thunderbolt 3 (actually USB-C, but both, really) can die in a fire. 
> Preferably a very painful one.
> Great in theory but a giant PITA in practice.
>
> I think you should pick your laptop based on the case/product series 
> (e.g. do you need a titanium-reinforced unit?), then screen, then 
> keyboard, then GPU (if it matters to you). CPU differences are minimal 
> unless you're doing something unusual... and you're not getting a 
> mobile GPU to run 4k games at 120Hz anyway.
>
> I would never buy another HP, even if it was half the price of 
> everything else. Multiple negative experiences with several HP product 
> lines over the last 10yrs. ASUS and Acer make better laptops than HP 
> does, both physically and driver-wise.
>
> If you want a docking station for multi-monitor or PCIe or serial or 
> whatever, plan your entire purchase around that.
>
> -Adam
>
> On September 26, 2020 6:25:09 p.m. CDT, "Bradford C. Vokey" 
> <brad at fsi.ca> wrote:
>
>     Hi all!
>
>     I want to purchase my very first laptop in the next few days. :) I've
>     purchased several for the wife and kids over the years but I've always
>     stayed "desktop forever" for my daily tasks, mostly due to the
>     cost/performance of desktops vs laptops.
>
>     However, I am now spending so much more time outside remote connecting
>     to my various desktops on mobile devices that maybe it is time to
>     finally just get a decent laptop.
>
>     I've always hated the small screen real estate available when using
>     laptops when compared to a multi-monitor desktop that I am really drawn
>     to a dual screen laptop like the ROG Zephyrus Duo
>     (https://www.asus.com/ca-en/Laptops/ROG-Zephyrus-Duo-15/).  However, I
>     don't want to invest so much $$$ ($4K+!) into my very first laptop.
>
>     So I have given in (for now) and narrowed it down to a much more
>     affordable Ryzen 7 laptop from HP (I know, lots of bloatware coming my
>     way from HP):
>
>     https://www.costco.ca/.product.100673520.html
>
>     Looks like the HP Omen 15 line has lots of future upgrade ability (at
>     least for a laptop) with 2 internal NVMe M.2 connectors, and up to 64GB
>     of DDR4-3200 memory max. Plus it is fairly portable vs beefier "gaming"
>     laptops and I can easily get it at Costco so I will have a no hassle
>     return if needed (at least for the first 90 days).
>
>     Looking over reviews on the web, the Ryzen 7 "H" series seems to give
>     1.5 - 2.0 x the battery life vs a similar speed Intel i7 / i9 "H" variant.
>
>     Of course I will have to give up getting Thunderbolt with any of the
>     current generation Ryzen laptops and will usually be stuck with low to
>     mid-end discrete graphics with the current Intel vs AMD laptop politics.
>
>     For you laptop users out there, is Thunderbolt worth the Intel tax and
>     the Intel battery draining premium?
>
>     During the summer, I want to be able to play AAA games by the pool and
>     on the docks with this laptop so at least an entry level or better
>     discrete graphics card *and* a matte or > 300 nit display will be mandatory.
>
>     Thoughts and comments on your favorite laptop(s) are welcome!
>
>     For the MUUG Roundtable topic police: I intend to install WSL2 so :P.
>
>
> -- 
> Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
>
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-- 
Kind regards,
Alberto Abrao

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