Laptop upgrade

[latitudeadjuster]

What is better for laptop AMD or Intel? why?

I don't use for gaming, just internet and excel office etc.


I'm frugal so I don't want to not get what is best.

 

[96Pirate]

No PC/laptop expert here but I think this is kind of like Ford vs Chevy. Many people have their favorites and stick to it. I would say overall the Intel's are better but you pay a little bit more for them. I think finding the best pkg (ram, HD, etc) might be key for you. You don't mention if you watch movies or not but if so you would want better graphics card. If just surfing the internet and not too elaborate Excel work, the basic will work regardless of chip but you will pay less for the AMD. Just my thoughts and I will let the experts chime in.

BTW:. Black Friday is getting closer and laptops are typically offered then at great prices so depending on how quickly you need it that might be an option.

 

[Bruce]

Buy a Mac, it will last.

If not find a deal on a Dell Latitude or a model of another make that has real metal behind the plastic.

 

[zipper]

Two Macs here, but now I have to get a PC to run diagnostics software on my Yamaha.

 

[RightStuff]

If you are just looking for something basic, don't rule out a Chromebook.

 

[OCMD]

Stay away from Macs. Very overpriced and you get so much more bang for buck with a PC. If you just need a computer to perform basic functions like Web surfing or word processing, it is hard to justify buying a Mac. One of the reasons Mac hasn't captured a larger share of the computer market is the lack of software written for its operating system. This insufficiency is most obvious in business computing, where most applications were standardized on Windows PCs years ago. Even if a business did determine that Mac offered a better product, it would take a tremendous amount of time and money to make the switch. If you go with a PC, stay away from Lenovos and HPs. Go with an Acer, Dell or Asus. Costco's great with their extended warranty and return policy. Here's one that will last you a few years.

http://www.costco.com/Dell-Inspiron...--4GB-Graphics---1080p.product.100307536.html

 

[robert843]

OK I will throw my 2 cents in on this and I'm not a computer guy but both my current laptops have been mentioned. My work laptop is a Dell Latitude E6430 and this is my second Latitude and honestly they maybe the best laptops ever built durability wise you can drop them and bang them around and they are great but are heavy. Mine is restricted through work on many things one being I'm running through a vpn but with out that and a good internet connection I bet it would be great. you can find many of these that have been refurbished as they are typically used through many corporations for work laptops and at very reasonable prices and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one as a PC. Many will say MAC's are over rated and over priced but I find this to be very similar to people who say some of the negative things they say about jet boats they say this with out ever owning one. I have only owned my Mac for a short period but I got sick and tired of my personal laptop which is another Dell with 8GB ram and a I5 processor being extremely taxed when I did video editing. I went with a Mac with a I5 processor and same ram and the difference is night and day. I still choke on the price I paid for the Mac but no viruses and the speed with similar stats is crazy fast. Go to your local best Bestbuy and they will show you a test side by side if you ask and you will see right from the start the difference. IF they have both computers turned off and start them at the same time the Mac will boot and start at least twice as fast as the PC if not even more. When I did this test at Bestbuy I was looking at $1000 PC with a I7 processor compared to a $1500 Mac with a I5 processor and the Mac started up and I had aprox 12 different browsers and programs opened and running before the PC was even close to starting up. If budget is in the forefront a Mac is not for you and I would look on Tanga for a refurbished Latitude you could probably get one cheap but if you want a great laptop get a Mac. I asked several people before getting one as I had been replacing my personal laptops about every 2-3 years by buying cheaper ones in the $300-$700 range and all my friends that had Macs said they had been running theirs for years. So I opted to spend more on the Mac for a good laptop that should last a long time versus buying a $700 laptop that I would be frustrated with in a year or two and probably replace shortly after that.

 

[zipper]

On a 7yo. Mac Book Pro now, My wife has a 1yo. Mac Book Pro, faster processor. We do like them for speed and durability. Someone needs to write Yamaha engine diagnostics software compatible with Mac, but I guess until then I will have to buy a PC. Maybe I can resurrect my old IBM PC Jr. NOT.

P.S. it is getting harder to get new software for the older Mac with the snow leopard processor.

 

[Big Shasta]

OK I will throw my 2 cents in on this and I'm not a computer guy but both my current laptops have been mentioned. My work laptop is a Dell Latitude E6430 and this is my second Latitude and honestly they maybe the best laptops ever built durability wise you can drop them and bang them around and they are great but are heavy. Mine is restricted through work on many things one being I'm running through a vpn but with out that and a good internet connection I bet it would be great. you can find many of these that have been refurbished as they are typically used through many corporations for work laptops and at very reasonable prices and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one as a PC. Many will say MAC's are over rated and over priced but I find this to be very similar to people who say some of the negative things they say about jet boats they say this with out ever owning one. I have only owned my Mac for a short period but I got sick and tired of my personal laptop which is another Dell with 8GB ram and a I5 processor being extremely taxed when I did video editing. I went with a Mac with a I5 processor and same ram and the difference is night and day. I still choke on the price I paid for the Mac but no viruses and the speed with similar stats is crazy fast. Go to your local best Bestbuy and they will show you a test side by side if you ask and you will see right from the start the difference. IF they have both computers turned off and start them at the same time the Mac will boot and start at least twice as fast as the PC if not even more. When I did this test at Bestbuy I was looking at $1000 PC with a I7 processor compared to a $1500 Mac with a I5 processor and the Mac started up and I had aprox 12 different browsers and programs opened and running before the PC was even close to starting up. If budget is in the forefront a Mac is not for you and I would look on Tanga for a refurbished Latitude you could probably get one cheap but if you want a great laptop get a Mac. I asked several people before getting one as I had been replacing my personal laptops about every 2-3 years by buying cheaper ones in the $300-$700 range and all my friends that had Macs said they had been running theirs for years. So I opted to spend more on the Mac for a good laptop that should last a long time versus buying a $700 laptop that I would be frustrated with in a year or two and probably replace shortly after that.

The new windows 8 and 10 PCs boot in an instant. Especially with Solid state drives. Mine are not top of the line but they boot from power completely off in about 15-20 seconds. The days of 1-2 minute bootups are gone.

I would also add that the only reason to go with a mac is if you do heavy video editing.

I tend to stick with dell. They have some really solid laptops.

Nothing wrong with an AMD but if you just want a basic PC, go with an intel i5. Spring for a solid state drive and a good amount of RAM. 8gb minimum.

 

[veedubtek]

SSD is key. I'm rocking a 9 y/o Vaio, and the only money I've ever put into it was the SSD (choice, not failure), and a power supply jack. It was $1300 new back in 07. Windows laptops get a bad rap because everyone buys junk $500 laptops and act surprised when they have issues. Spend the money on a good one and you won't be disappointed.

 

[robert843]

@Big Shasta both laptops in my test did have a solid state hard drive. I couldn't agree more I will never buy a moving hard drive again but once again the Mac was a lot faster.

 

[Bruce]

Two Macs here, but now I have to get a PC to run diagnostics software on my Yamaha.

Run a windows demo in virtual box.

 

[swatski]

Always had mac laptops. Never any problems. Unless you get them wet...

You get what you pay for with laptops, whichever way you go.

We are currently still using my 2001 (yes, January 2001) Titanium G4 PowerBook with 15 inch screen that looks better than most new laptops. I originally bought it for work. We do all our generic household finance/ bill pay/ looking at pictures stuff. No idea when it was last updated, guessing ten years? It has to be continuously plugged to work, the battery has been dead for like, I'm guessing, ten years?

--

 

[mraz72]

Macs are overpriced, a new Win 10 laptop is going to be tough to beat, add office 365 and you have an awesome platform for less money.

I personally like an Intel i7 with at least 8gb of ram.

 

[latitudeadjuster]

Buy a Mac, it will last.

If not find a deal on a Dell Latitude or a model of another make that has real metal behind the plastic.

Seems like only Latitude's are refurbished. I used to have one when they first came out.

 

[latitudeadjuster]

I have had HP and Dell over 12 years. The last dell was crap....hated it from day one. Most of that was the windows 8 or 9 what ever and the windows format. I upgraded that dell to windows 10 and much better.

Yesterday I went with a frugal HP Laptop with windows 10, touchscreen (pretty cool by the way) and I already had my Norton multi accounts to cover it. I also had the Microsoft account to cover cloud and Office products. I seen mostly good reviews on this laptop. 1T hard drive but I don't use much anyways. 6 hour battery. Best part was it automatically transferred all my favorites and my cloud even explorer history, that was nice with the Microsoft account.

So far no quirks with the laptop and pretty good. Not bad out the door $420 with tax.....so hopefully this one lasts 4 years like the last couple.

Thanks for all the input....I enjoyed reading along with other web reviews.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-Laptop-Core-i3-Touch-15-ay041wm/51397784

Peace out and float your boat!!

 

[OCMD]

As for video editing, I prefer a nice I7 with 16gigs of Ram and a GEForce GTX 850m graphics card (they are now up to 980). Bought it 4 years ago when they were still rare, but got a deal for 900. I haven't looked back and it continues to crank 'em out. I am a video editing expert, and would not hesitate to go PC. My college girl has a MAC and loves it, but for 1/3 of the cost she could have obtained a PC with 3 times the memory, 4 times the storage and twice the speed and power. But her professors brainwashed her and I had to pay the freight. To each his own, but for the price and performance combination? I go PC.

 

[Bruce]

On the Mac vs PC debate I am a longtime PC with Linux user. I have not used Windows for anything other than short term projects since 1999. Since that time I used Linux on PC hardware for servers, desktops and laptops until the middle of 2012 when I bought the first Retina MacBook Pro. That 2880x1800 screen was my main workstation until 2014 when I bought a 2009 MacPro desktop, switched to SSD storage, upgraded the video card, added 32GB of ram and a 4K monitor. Not that long after Apple came out with the 5K iMac which would have been a more expensive but much easier option. So I am fully Mac on the workstation end. My servers remain exclusively Linux based. They are either old Dell Poweredge 2900, newer IBM X3500 or rented cloud instances.

@Rana has long been a Mac user. Her Mac laptops have lasted much better than any of the Toshiba, IBM or Dell laptops that I have purchased. Rana currently uses a recent 13" Retina. She has two older MacBooks that are still working. One of which is a G4 or G5 like @swatskis. That must be the oldest working computer in our home.

A few years previous to my 15" Retina I bought a Latitude 600. Both cost around $2,400 new and both are still working today. I used the Latitude for daily work for a couple of years then gave it to my Mom who uses it daily at her school. It is six plus years old.

Emma and Gavin have touchscreen Chromebooks. I see those as disposable devices that I expect to replace every few years but at a cost of around $250 each.

So I am pretty well converted to Mac on the workstation side and believe they are bettter quality and worth the cost. But I am willign to buy used or refurb to cut the costs.

 

[WickedPorter]

Mac guy here... switched to Mac about 10 years ago once OS X solidified. UNIX geek, love the UNIX core of the OS and the hardware is phenomenal, i.e. METAL. Plus, it runs Windows 10 really well (using bootcamp or in a virtual machine using your favorite VM software) which I still need for some business tasks.

That said, the MacBook Pro hasn't been refreshed in a long time and is due this month, I believe. I'm anxiously awaiting it. I'm really looking forward to a powerful package with lighter chassis. I love my 15" MacBook Pro, but it's a bit on the heavy side.

 

[Bruce]

I love my 15" MacBook Pro, but it's a bit on the heavy side.

Is yours a 15 Retina? I consider my 15" Retina to be light and thin.