Laptop recommendations (again!)
Discussion
2 years after this thread it looks like i'm sadly back on the market for a laptop.
I bought a Lenovo ideapad which has been an interesting ownership experience! About 8 months into owning the laptop I noticed diagonal white lines on the screen. Contacted Lenovo, they took the computer in for repair under warranty. Replaced the display and returned it to me. Although the bezel wasn't secured so I returned it again, they returned it and the hinges were messed up - so that was another return and I got a goodwill gesture of some free headphones out of them.
I had some issues where the computer would just shut down by itself during use (plenty of power), maybe it was overheating. The screen on occasion would lose picture and turn grey / white (like when TV loses a channel in the old days). I took it in for repair under warranty. I thought they would not find any issues with it. However, it seems that the repair centre said it's not economical to repair and I am being given a full refund which I can use at John Lewis (not overly happy about being restricted to John Lewis!)
I actually really liked the computer (when it wasn't faulty) and would consider buying another. However, i'm not sure whether I was unlucky with this laptop or if Lenovo are a bit s
t. Maybe spending £2k on a Thinkpad would get a better quality product but i'd rather stay around the £1k range +/- £200.
Specs are going to be similar to last time:
Screen size - I had 16 inch and that was a good size. Otherwise i'd go for 15.6 inches and wouldn't want to go smaller. Last time I deliberated between AMOLED or IPS screen. I can't say i'm keen on the idea of OLED / AMOLED screens due to reliability and potential burn-in issues. Although my IPS experience wasn't great either! Must be flicker free. Screen quality is one of the more important items as I can suffer from eye pain and headaches (i've had my eyes checked) and spend a large chunk of the day in front of a screen.
Keyboard layout - Would still like a number pad (rather than row of numbers along the top)
Hard drive - SSD is essential and i'm sure they come with enough storage for me.
OS - Windows 11. I'm not interested in Apple (as good as people may think they are) and a Chromebook is insufficient for my applications.
Processor - I don't need a supercomputer but would like something which will last the next 5 years at least. I think an i5 is lowest I should go. I had AMD in the Lenovo and it was fine so i'm not fussy about intel vs AMD.
GPU - Not a gamer so don't need the latest Nvidia GPU. I do have a 4K screen and need the computer to be capable of displaying 3840 x 2160 on it. My Lenovo had HDMI port + USB-C so I could theoretically hook it up to 2 monitors which was nice, although not necessary.
Weight - I'd like to try keep it under 2kg. I don't want a 4kg gaming monster.
Preferably, it should be available on John Lewis as I have an £850 credit note - I really need to look into whether I have to accept this. Should I be hesitant to buy Lenovo again or was I probably unlucky? Thoughts on Dell? I was considering one of those previously, although the screen didn't seem great and they're quite expensive. Even the XPS which had small screen had some poor reviews and did run very hot in the store.
I would be grateful for any recommendations / brands to consider.
I bought a Lenovo ideapad which has been an interesting ownership experience! About 8 months into owning the laptop I noticed diagonal white lines on the screen. Contacted Lenovo, they took the computer in for repair under warranty. Replaced the display and returned it to me. Although the bezel wasn't secured so I returned it again, they returned it and the hinges were messed up - so that was another return and I got a goodwill gesture of some free headphones out of them.
I had some issues where the computer would just shut down by itself during use (plenty of power), maybe it was overheating. The screen on occasion would lose picture and turn grey / white (like when TV loses a channel in the old days). I took it in for repair under warranty. I thought they would not find any issues with it. However, it seems that the repair centre said it's not economical to repair and I am being given a full refund which I can use at John Lewis (not overly happy about being restricted to John Lewis!)
I actually really liked the computer (when it wasn't faulty) and would consider buying another. However, i'm not sure whether I was unlucky with this laptop or if Lenovo are a bit s
t. Maybe spending £2k on a Thinkpad would get a better quality product but i'd rather stay around the £1k range +/- £200. Specs are going to be similar to last time:
Screen size - I had 16 inch and that was a good size. Otherwise i'd go for 15.6 inches and wouldn't want to go smaller. Last time I deliberated between AMOLED or IPS screen. I can't say i'm keen on the idea of OLED / AMOLED screens due to reliability and potential burn-in issues. Although my IPS experience wasn't great either! Must be flicker free. Screen quality is one of the more important items as I can suffer from eye pain and headaches (i've had my eyes checked) and spend a large chunk of the day in front of a screen.
Keyboard layout - Would still like a number pad (rather than row of numbers along the top)
Hard drive - SSD is essential and i'm sure they come with enough storage for me.
OS - Windows 11. I'm not interested in Apple (as good as people may think they are) and a Chromebook is insufficient for my applications.
Processor - I don't need a supercomputer but would like something which will last the next 5 years at least. I think an i5 is lowest I should go. I had AMD in the Lenovo and it was fine so i'm not fussy about intel vs AMD.
GPU - Not a gamer so don't need the latest Nvidia GPU. I do have a 4K screen and need the computer to be capable of displaying 3840 x 2160 on it. My Lenovo had HDMI port + USB-C so I could theoretically hook it up to 2 monitors which was nice, although not necessary.
Weight - I'd like to try keep it under 2kg. I don't want a 4kg gaming monster.
Preferably, it should be available on John Lewis as I have an £850 credit note - I really need to look into whether I have to accept this. Should I be hesitant to buy Lenovo again or was I probably unlucky? Thoughts on Dell? I was considering one of those previously, although the screen didn't seem great and they're quite expensive. Even the XPS which had small screen had some poor reviews and did run very hot in the store.
I would be grateful for any recommendations / brands to consider.
Lenovo are usually recommended on here but with the proviso that they are talkng about the T series - the business end of the model range. Have a look here to see the differences in the ranges:
https://www.howtogeek.com/119825/whats-the-differe...
Have a play with the Lenovo configurator as a P16s Gen 2 With AMD 7 Pro7840U/16Gb/1Tb/1920x1200 IPS screen is around £1129:
https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/configurator/cto/inde...
There are numerous other models to look at but going up to a 3840x2400 screen does add a fair wedge. If you are buying from them online maybe you can persuade them to use the credit voucher.
https://www.howtogeek.com/119825/whats-the-differe...
Have a play with the Lenovo configurator as a P16s Gen 2 With AMD 7 Pro7840U/16Gb/1Tb/1920x1200 IPS screen is around £1129:
https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/configurator/cto/inde...
There are numerous other models to look at but going up to a 3840x2400 screen does add a fair wedge. If you are buying from them online maybe you can persuade them to use the credit voucher.
OMG! Just buy what you were told to get before, advice you totally ignored!
What GaryB failed to mention is that he uses his laptop all day, everyday. He needs a well built business machine but isn’t willing to pay out for one.
It isn’t Lenovo the brand that is a problem GaryB, any consumer laptop will flag very quickly with your usage profile. They just aren’t built for that.
Your budget isn’t going to cut it, unless you go second hand, but they don’t sell those in John Lewis.
What GaryB failed to mention is that he uses his laptop all day, everyday. He needs a well built business machine but isn’t willing to pay out for one.
It isn’t Lenovo the brand that is a problem GaryB, any consumer laptop will flag very quickly with your usage profile. They just aren’t built for that.
Your budget isn’t going to cut it, unless you go second hand, but they don’t sell those in John Lewis.
Edited by wyson on Friday 14th March 17:18
I know a lot of professional organisations use Thinkpads and they're pretty robust and reliable. From my use of the corporate machines they can be a bit on the heavy side.
Nevertheless, it doesn't seem John Lewis stock these models. I'm going to try argue it out to get a refund but am not overly optimistic.
Nevertheless, it doesn't seem John Lewis stock these models. I'm going to try argue it out to get a refund but am not overly optimistic.
wyson said:
OMG! Just buy what you were told to get before, advice you totally ignored!
What GaryB failed to mention is that he uses his laptop all day, everyday. He needs a well built business machine but isn’t willing to pay out for one.
It isn’t Lenovo the brand that is a problem GaryB, any consumer laptop will flag very quickly with your usage profile. They just aren’t built for that.
Your budget isn’t going to cut it, unless you go second hand, but they don’t sell those in John Lewis.
I thought technology may have moved on a bit in the last 2 years. What GaryB failed to mention is that he uses his laptop all day, everyday. He needs a well built business machine but isn’t willing to pay out for one.
It isn’t Lenovo the brand that is a problem GaryB, any consumer laptop will flag very quickly with your usage profile. They just aren’t built for that.
Your budget isn’t going to cut it, unless you go second hand, but they don’t sell those in John Lewis.
Edited by wyson on Friday 14th March 17:18
The Samsung was returned and it doesn't seem that they make that version any more. I'm not really sure I do need a business machine, I consume media on my laptop and imagine the business machines aren't really kitted out with decent speakers as it's generally not a priority. If it's money well spent then I could probably push the budget, although i'm getting a bit shafted with the John Lewis credit note.
OLED or IPS display? I'm still hesitant about getting into an OLED display, but my Lenovo IPS wasn't exactly bulletproof either.
JL don’t have any business grade laptops. Use your John Lewis voucher to buy an MacBook Air and sell it boxed as new on eBay.
Use the money to by a HP Elitebook and upgrade the warranty to 3 years on site. Lenovo T Series are decent too, but the aftersales isn’t as good and their on-site warranties are more expensive.
Recent Dell stuff hasn’t been good in my experience.
Use the money to by a HP Elitebook and upgrade the warranty to 3 years on site. Lenovo T Series are decent too, but the aftersales isn’t as good and their on-site warranties are more expensive.
Recent Dell stuff hasn’t been good in my experience.
Have a look at an Acer - I've had three over the years, never had any problems with any of them. My daughter had a Spin 2 for her 6th form - my wife is now using it, and she has had this replaced with a Travel Mate P4 Spin for her 4 years at university in the USA. This plus a 4 year warranty was £730 direct from Acer - there was a £350 discount promotion applied to this.
Have also had a Lenovo in the late 2010s - which is still running, but a bit slow now.
I personally would avoid current Asus products having had issues with a Zenfone bricking - fixed under warranty, and a laptop touch screen failing after 2 months, fixed, but now has just started randomly freezing less than a year old. I do have an older same model laptop (smaller screen) that has not had an issue at all.
The Zenfone 8 bricking just after 2 years is very common, and Asus are not interested in replacing the m/b (the issue) without a £500 fee.
Have also had a Lenovo in the late 2010s - which is still running, but a bit slow now.
I personally would avoid current Asus products having had issues with a Zenfone bricking - fixed under warranty, and a laptop touch screen failing after 2 months, fixed, but now has just started randomly freezing less than a year old. I do have an older same model laptop (smaller screen) that has not had an issue at all.
The Zenfone 8 bricking just after 2 years is very common, and Asus are not interested in replacing the m/b (the issue) without a £500 fee.
wyson said:
What GaryB failed to mention is that he uses his laptop all day, everyday. He needs a well built business machine but isn’t willing to pay out for one.
It isn’t Lenovo the brand that is a problem GaryB, any consumer laptop will flag very quickly with your usage profile. They just aren’t built for that.
My current Elitebook seems to be lasting OK. Though at some point this has happened, still works fine, but it travels daily with me, gets chucked around in my bike pannier and often carried one handed between meeting rooms etc. Looking online they aren't that expensive and build good enough. Though even at 1.4kg when you have to lug it around all day it is noticeable (roughly the equivalent of carrying around a bike D-lock in the bag), I try to take the iPad Pro (half the weight) when possible. It isn’t Lenovo the brand that is a problem GaryB, any consumer laptop will flag very quickly with your usage profile. They just aren’t built for that.
quinny100 said:
JL don’t have any business grade laptops. Use your John Lewis voucher to buy an MacBook Air and sell it boxed as new on eBay.
Use the money to by a HP Elitebook and upgrade the warranty to 3 years on site. Lenovo T Series are decent too, but the aftersales isn’t as good and their on-site warranties are more expensive.
Recent Dell stuff hasn’t been good in my experience.
It's an idea to buy something to sell on eBay. Although i'd be a bit hesitant because I will lose money on eBay fees, PayPal fees and then there's a chance the buyer could scam me and i'll be out of pocket. I'm discussing it with John Lewis but reckon i'll be lucky to get £500 in the bank account vs £850 credit note. Use the money to by a HP Elitebook and upgrade the warranty to 3 years on site. Lenovo T Series are decent too, but the aftersales isn’t as good and their on-site warranties are more expensive.
Recent Dell stuff hasn’t been good in my experience.
My workplace moved across to HP Elitebook. I did consider buying an Elitebook a few years back. My general experience of the Elitebook is that the computer seems quite well put together and keyboard is nice. However, the glossy screen is fairly lousy and not very bright. The computer can get pretty toasty when being used for fairly basic things and the battery life isn't great. The laptop is fairly heavy for what it is as well - although if i'm at home I won't exactly be travelling far from one room to another and i've gone travelling with a computer which was close to 3kg before.
It doesn't seem I have many options if i'm after a business machine - looks like it's going to be either Lenovo / Dell / HP.
NDA said:
It's a shame you don't like Apple stuff - I buy a new MBP every 5 years or so and pass my old ones on. Incredibly reliable (in my experience) and I'm on it day and night.
I've always been a bit put off on Apple. The restrictions and that you would have to use Apple peripherals. Maybe it has changed a bit now, I just am not sure I want to experiment too much with the OS and trying to get applications working on it. TownIdiot said:
I've just bought an Asus Duo from John Lewis mainly down to the fact my wife had a 500 quid voucher she couldn't find anything to buy with.
It's so good I've actually dropped my desktop setup and use this instead.
I already have concerns about OLED screens and the risk that they fail. 2 screens sounds like double the chance that something will go wrong! It's so good I've actually dropped my desktop setup and use this instead.
nvubu said:
Have a look at an Acer - I've had three over the years, never had any problems with any of them. My daughter had a Spin 2 for her 6th form - my wife is now using it, and she has had this replaced with a Travel Mate P4 Spin for her 4 years at university in the USA. This plus a 4 year warranty was £730 direct from Acer - there was a £350 discount promotion applied to this.
Have also had a Lenovo in the late 2010s - which is still running, but a bit slow now.
I personally would avoid current Asus products having had issues with a Zenfone bricking - fixed under warranty, and a laptop touch screen failing after 2 months, fixed, but now has just started randomly freezing less than a year old. I do have an older same model laptop (smaller screen) that has not had an issue at all.
The Zenfone 8 bricking just after 2 years is very common, and Asus are not interested in replacing the m/b (the issue) without a £500 fee.
I will have a look at what's available on Acer. I remember last time I was looking at the Aspire 5 but something put me off. I'm still not fully convinced that I am doing anything especially intensive which warrants spending £2k on a laptop. Have also had a Lenovo in the late 2010s - which is still running, but a bit slow now.
I personally would avoid current Asus products having had issues with a Zenfone bricking - fixed under warranty, and a laptop touch screen failing after 2 months, fixed, but now has just started randomly freezing less than a year old. I do have an older same model laptop (smaller screen) that has not had an issue at all.
The Zenfone 8 bricking just after 2 years is very common, and Asus are not interested in replacing the m/b (the issue) without a £500 fee.
JL don’t have any business grade laptops. Use your John Lewis voucher to buy an MacBook Air and sell it boxed as new on eBay.
Use the money to by a HP Elitebook and upgrade the warranty to 3 years on site. Lenovo T Series are decent too, but the aftersales isn’t as good and their on-site warranties are more expensive.
Recent Dell stuff hasn’t been good in my experience.
Use the money to by a HP Elitebook and upgrade the warranty to 3 years on site. Lenovo T Series are decent too, but the aftersales isn’t as good and their on-site warranties are more expensive.
Recent Dell stuff hasn’t been good in my experience.
quinny100 said:
JL don’t have any business grade laptops. Use your John Lewis voucher to buy an MacBook Air and sell it boxed as new on eBay.
Use the money to by a HP Elitebook and upgrade the warranty to 3 years on site. Lenovo T Series are decent too, but the aftersales isn’t as good and their on-site warranties are more expensive.
Recent Dell stuff hasn’t been good in my experience.
The eBay option is a possibility. Although I have a few reservations and i'm going to find out how much cash John Lewis would offer me in return for my 2 year old computer. I'm guessing it's probably about 50% so I will take the voucher. There could be a few bits and pieces I will buy in John Lewis over time. I don't foresee any big purchases which will use the entire voucher now though - a shame as I bought a fridge / freezer in December. Use the money to by a HP Elitebook and upgrade the warranty to 3 years on site. Lenovo T Series are decent too, but the aftersales isn’t as good and their on-site warranties are more expensive.
Recent Dell stuff hasn’t been good in my experience.
It was suggested that an HP Zbook firefly or Elitebook X and Ultra could be options. I'm not sure about all the differences between them but there's quite a price range.
I was looking into the Lenovo T and P series. I believe the P has a dedicated GPU which I probably don't need?
How are the Dell Latitude these days? That was another recommendation I came across.
JL don’t have any business grade laptops. Use your John Lewis voucher to buy an MacBook Air and sell it boxed as new on eBay.
Use the money to by a HP Elitebook and upgrade the warranty to 3 years on site. Lenovo T Series are decent too, but the aftersales isn’t as good and their on-site warranties are more expensive.
Recent Dell stuff hasn’t been good in my experience.
Use the money to by a HP Elitebook and upgrade the warranty to 3 years on site. Lenovo T Series are decent too, but the aftersales isn’t as good and their on-site warranties are more expensive.
Recent Dell stuff hasn’t been good in my experience.
I have been doing some research over the last week and this is the current shortlist:
Lenovo
Thinkpad T16 - this is the frontrunner. I don't think I can justify needing a P16. I'm not keen on the red dot and the speakers are meant to be pretty weedy - understandably it's a business computer and not a priority. I can upgrade to a good matte display which is 100% sRGB.
The issue is processor: AMD vs Intel. If I go for AMD then it's the Gen 2 version which has soldered RAM. If I go for intel then I get Gen 3. Alternatively, I wait until May / June and buy the Gen 4. I really did want to sort something out quite quickly but maybe it's worth waiting for Gen 4? I could wait and buy the AMD Gen 4 and potentially save a little money over the Intel version?
HP
Elitebook 660 - I have used Elitebook for work and I know its a well put together machine. However, the display is glossy and 45% NTSC. My work laptop can get pretty toasty and I believe this is also the case for the 660.
Zbook Firefly - It seems to be a better display than the 660. I'm aware it's meant to be a fairly thin and light machine which probably means some compromises in terms of performance and cooling are made. There won't be much difference in price between this and a T16.
Zbook Power - Starting to push the budget a bit and don't really need something which is more aimed at CAD Design and processor crunching tasks.
Dell
Generally haven't seen good things about Dell. I guess the Latitude or Precision are options. Overall, the T16 is probably the better product.
Lenovo
Thinkpad T16 - this is the frontrunner. I don't think I can justify needing a P16. I'm not keen on the red dot and the speakers are meant to be pretty weedy - understandably it's a business computer and not a priority. I can upgrade to a good matte display which is 100% sRGB.
The issue is processor: AMD vs Intel. If I go for AMD then it's the Gen 2 version which has soldered RAM. If I go for intel then I get Gen 3. Alternatively, I wait until May / June and buy the Gen 4. I really did want to sort something out quite quickly but maybe it's worth waiting for Gen 4? I could wait and buy the AMD Gen 4 and potentially save a little money over the Intel version?
HP
Elitebook 660 - I have used Elitebook for work and I know its a well put together machine. However, the display is glossy and 45% NTSC. My work laptop can get pretty toasty and I believe this is also the case for the 660.
Zbook Firefly - It seems to be a better display than the 660. I'm aware it's meant to be a fairly thin and light machine which probably means some compromises in terms of performance and cooling are made. There won't be much difference in price between this and a T16.
Zbook Power - Starting to push the budget a bit and don't really need something which is more aimed at CAD Design and processor crunching tasks.
Dell
Generally haven't seen good things about Dell. I guess the Latitude or Precision are options. Overall, the T16 is probably the better product.
I've just picked up a second hand Gen 3 T14s with the 1920x1200 400 NIT low power screen & a Ryzen 6850U processor & it's pretty quick. I thought a 14" screen would be too small but because of the 16:10 aspect ratio it's actually fine for everything except maybe CAD & it's more portable than the 16" version. You might want to be sure you like the size of the T16 as the 16:10 screen makes it significantly larger than the previous 15" versions. As far as soldered RAM goes, just stick 32GB in it & stop worrying about it.
Mr Pointy said:
I've just picked up a second hand Gen 3 T14s with the 1920x1200 400 NIT low power screen & a Ryzen 6850U processor & it's pretty quick. I thought a 14" screen would be too small but because of the 16:10 aspect ratio it's actually fine for everything except maybe CAD & it's more portable than the 16" version. You might want to be sure you like the size of the T16 as the 16:10 screen makes it significantly larger than the previous 15" versions. As far as soldered RAM goes, just stick 32GB in it & stop worrying about it.
My ideapad was a 16'' 16:10 display and I was happy with that screen size. I have used 10'' netbooks and it was ok for use. I would prefer a bigger display to work on and maybe watch videos.
It mainly seems the difference between the upcoming Gen 4 and the Gen 2 / Gen 3 is the processors. I could spec up a 32GB Gen 2 AMD Ryzen 7 with bigger battery and good display for about £1300. It's tempting, although maybe it's a bit impatient of me.
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