Getting a new laptop thread

digitalscream

TTBZ said:

darthed1981 said:

I know laptops are all cool and stuff, but you guys should consider if working from a desktop anyhow building a desktop.

You can build something suitable for video editing for £500 and when a bit breaks, you can swap it, plus you can buy yourself a big swish monitor or two.

Got any links to a decent spec sheet for a £500 editing machine? I'm well out of the loop on this sort of thing but I'm looking for something similar to Rabs! All I know is my pc nerdy mate said look into Ryzen if you're not gaming. Was looking at laptops but I do have somewhere to put a desktop now. Mind you by the time you've got a decent monitor, desk etc you could've just got a decent laptop but I suppose it still wouldn't be as powerful or future proof?

It's not just that - having a 24" monitor, for example, is going to make the entire machine more useful for video editing, picture editing or even DAW work.

As I said earlier - the most important aspect of a laptop is the screen. The second-most-important is its video output capabilities. It's only after those are sorted that I look at the CPU/RAM/storage specs.

TTBZ

Yes that's true, I hate working on a cramped screen, it feels too cluttered. My work ones are 24" high res ones and it makes it all feel more organised.

57Deluxe

be careful with these ultra HD claims for laptop screen resolution because they can end up being so small you can't read anything without Binoculars

darthed1981

57Deluxe said:

be careful with these ultra HD claims for laptop screen resolution because they can end up being so small you can't read anything without Binoculars

Fortunately Windows 10 has decent display-scaling capabilities, so as long as you aren't a luddite using Win 7, you will be OK with a hi-res screen.

57Deluxe

ermmm.... W10 has endless driver inconsistencies and is certainly the case with many HD graphics. I am having problems with my new Gaming Laptop as we speak...

BigBearKris

Rabs said:

Went and got one today...  I did look at some of the smaller 14" ones..  Very pretty and almost reach my spec but not quite without paying like £1200-£1400 for one which  I don't really want to do, the ones in my price range don't tend to have the Nvidia chips in them or I probably would have gone for one... Maybe if I was the kind of person who needed a portable laptop for work or something, one of those would be awesome but I don't really need it..

Instead I got a Dell Inspiron 7000...  Got everything I was after.. i7, 512GB SSD, 8GBram, Nvidia Graphics with 2GBram... £799...  Got to set it up yet as I only just got back in.. So lots of installing to do.. Fun fun    (new toys, YAY )


https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-15-7000-15-6-intel-core-i7-laptop-512-gb-ssd-silver-10192736-pdt.html

Nice one - one of the ones that came up in my suggestions- I will be getting either that one or 14" Lenovo- so early feedback would be greatly appreciated (especially how does it cope with streaming and playing HD videos smoothly- that MX before- and how hot does it get whilst).

Rabs

BigBearKris said:

Rabs said:

Went and got one today...  I did look at some of the smaller 14" ones..  Very pretty and almost reach my spec but not quite without paying like £1200-£1400 for one which  I don't really want to do, the ones in my price range don't tend to have the Nvidia chips in them or I probably would have gone for one... Maybe if I was the kind of person who needed a portable laptop for work or something, one of those would be awesome but I don't really need it..

Instead I got a Dell Inspiron 7000...  Got everything I was after.. i7, 512GB SSD, 8GBram, Nvidia Graphics with 2GBram... £799...  Got to set it up yet as I only just got back in.. So lots of installing to do.. Fun fun    (new toys, YAY )


https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-15-7000-15-6-intel-core-i7-laptop-512-gb-ssd-silver-10192736-pdt.html

Nice one - one of the ones that came up in my suggestions- I will be getting either that one or 14" Lenovo- so early feedback would be greatly appreciated (especially how does it cope with streaming and playing HD videos smoothly- that MX before- and how hot does it get whilst).

Well the initial experience wasn't fun.. But I don't think I can blame the computer as such..  I went around changing all the settings, man it takes ages. Then went to get the windows updates and the stupid thing wouldn't update.. Then I realised that the version of window wasn't activated.. So I did the trouble shooting thing and it activated.. Then I realised that despite telling it I was in the UK it set my location as Canada (cos the time was wrong)… Then after trying several things including getting the latest update and installing it manually it still wouldn't work.

So I decided at this point there must be some corruption somewhere so I reset the machine back to factory settings and it all worked straight away.. So that was all a bit of a pain. Still need to back my current PC up and transfer all the files over and install the programs.. So haven't really used it properly.. But it seems like a nice machine all round.

Another annoyance, this time with effiing Microsoft..  When you start the machine you get Cortana talking to you. It tires to force you to both add three security questions and link a Microsoft account to it, which I refuse to do.. Just don't want it. I found a way round it all.. But what a stupid fucking pain in the arse.

I will let you know more in a few days.. 

Axe_meister

If it has an i7 (4 or 2 cores?), Then CPU is not that much of a bottleneck, memory and storage will be save your money and upgrade what you have. I keep thinking I must upgrade my i74770S but I don't actually need to. Still does every perfectly well just have become inpatient. I was fine with Handbrake taking an hour 5 years ago and it still takes an hour

digitalscream

Rabs said:

BigBearKris said:

Rabs said:

Went and got one today...  I did look at some of the smaller 14" ones..  Very pretty and almost reach my spec but not quite without paying like £1200-£1400 for one which  I don't really want to do, the ones in my price range don't tend to have the Nvidia chips in them or I probably would have gone for one... Maybe if I was the kind of person who needed a portable laptop for work or something, one of those would be awesome but I don't really need it..

Instead I got a Dell Inspiron 7000...  Got everything I was after.. i7, 512GB SSD, 8GBram, Nvidia Graphics with 2GBram... £799...  Got to set it up yet as I only just got back in.. So lots of installing to do.. Fun fun    (new toys, YAY )


https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-15-7000-15-6-intel-core-i7-laptop-512-gb-ssd-silver-10192736-pdt.html

Nice one - one of the ones that came up in my suggestions- I will be getting either that one or 14" Lenovo- so early feedback would be greatly appreciated (especially how does it cope with streaming and playing HD videos smoothly- that MX before- and how hot does it get whilst).

Well the initial experience wasn't fun.. But I don't think I can blame the computer as such..  I went around changing all the settings, man it takes ages. Then went to get the windows updates and the stupid thing wouldn't update.. Then I realised that the version of window wasn't activated.. So I did the trouble shooting thing and it activated.. Then I realised that despite telling it I was in the UK it set my location as Canada (cos the time was wrong)… Then after trying several things including getting the latest update and installing it manually it still wouldn't work.

So I decided at this point there must be some corruption somewhere so I reset the machine back to factory settings and it all worked straight away.. So that was all a bit of a pain. Still need to back my current PC up and transfer all the files over and install the programs.. So haven't really used it properly.. But it seems like a nice machine all round.

Another annoyance, this time with effiing Microsoft..  When you start the machine you get Cortana talking to you. It tires to force you to both add three security questions and link a Microsoft account to it, which I refuse to do.. Just don't want it. I found a way round it all.. But what a stupid fucking pain in the arse.

I will let you know more in a few days.. 

Some days, y'know, I'm grateful that Linux gives me everything I want/need, so I don't have to go down the Apple/Microsoft route and become ever-more dependent on their online services.

Interestingly, the whole reason I moved to Linux in the first place was because I needed to get some shit done at a time when their activation services went tits-up right when I was rebuilding my machine...and I happened to have a SuSE installation DVD from a magazine cover to hand (remember them? ).

BigBearKris

Rabs said:

BigBearKris said:

Rabs said:

Went and got one today...  I did look at some of the smaller 14" ones..  Very pretty and almost reach my spec but not quite without paying like £1200-£1400 for one which  I don't really want to do, the ones in my price range don't tend to have the Nvidia chips in them or I probably would have gone for one... Maybe if I was the kind of person who needed a portable laptop for work or something, one of those would be awesome but I don't really need it..

Instead I got a Dell Inspiron 7000...  Got everything I was after.. i7, 512GB SSD, 8GBram, Nvidia Graphics with 2GBram... £799...  Got to set it up yet as I only just got back in.. So lots of installing to do.. Fun fun    (new toys, YAY )


https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/dell-inspiron-15-7000-15-6-intel-core-i7-laptop-512-gb-ssd-silver-10192736-pdt.html

Nice one - one of the ones that came up in my suggestions- I will be getting either that one or 14" Lenovo- so early feedback would be greatly appreciated (especially how does it cope with streaming and playing HD videos smoothly- that MX before- and how hot does it get whilst).

Well the initial experience wasn't fun.. But I don't think I can blame the computer as such..  I went around changing all the settings, man it takes ages. Then went to get the windows updates and the stupid thing wouldn't update.. Then I realised that the version of window wasn't activated.. So I did the trouble shooting thing and it activated.. Then I realised that despite telling it I was in the UK it set my location as Canada (cos the time was wrong)… Then after trying several things including getting the latest update and installing it manually it still wouldn't work.

So I decided at this point there must be some corruption somewhere so I reset the machine back to factory settings and it all worked straight away.. So that was all a bit of a pain. Still need to back my current PC up and transfer all the files over and install the programs.. So haven't really used it properly.. But it seems like a nice machine all round.

Another annoyance, this time with effiing Microsoft..  When you start the machine you get Cortana talking to you. It tires to force you to both add three security questions and link a Microsoft account to it, which I refuse to do.. Just don't want it. I found a way round it all.. But what a stupid fucking pain in the arse.

I will let you know more in a few days.. 

So yesterday - I went to my local CurrysPC and licked up the same Dell - 7000 series, 512 GB SSD, GeForceMX and i7 8th gen. 

My installation process was thankfully much less troublesome and Cortana was shut up with a single click on the icon at startup, activation done straight away and as soon as I logged into Google account all my settings were restored. I politely declined all the "help" with gathering extra data, voice recognition, Cortana assistance etc - and I didn't find it intrusive afterwards at all.
I just copied some pics, videos and music from the old laptop and everything works great. Still getting used to almost instant response in comparison to my old Acer Aspire taking a sweet couple minutes to open chrome, copy files and the likes
Laptop keeps nice and cool, although I'm yet to put it through paces to properly assess it. 

I also wonder - I have chosen the model with 2GB stripdown GeForce, as I'm not planning on any gaming or graphic processing - is it actually any better than the integrated GPU that comes with 8th gen i7 processor. I can see that you can choose and switch between the units in settings so I'll try to benchmark between the two...

menamestom

BigBearKris said:

Rabs said:

BigBearKris said:

Rabs said:

I also wonder - I have chosen the model with 2GB stripdown GeForce, as I'm not planning on any gaming or graphic processing - is it actually any better than the integrated GPU that comes with 8th gen i7 processor. I can see that you can choose and switch between the units in settings so I'll try to benchmark between the two...

It will be much faster but also develop much more heat.  So if you did game it would be throttled to below it's capacity so the heat output did not exceed the heat dissipation properties of the laptop.  But for video editing and the like I think you would see much quicker performance than the integrated graphics, probably twice as quick.

BigBearKris

menamestom said:

BigBearKris said:

Rabs said:

BigBearKris said:

Rabs said:

I also wonder - I have chosen the model with 2GB stripdown GeForce, as I'm not planning on any gaming or graphic processing - is it actually any better than the integrated GPU that comes with 8th gen i7 processor. I can see that you can choose and switch between the units in settings so I'll try to benchmark between the two...

It will be much faster but also develop much more heat.  So if you did game it would be throttled to below it's capacity so the heat output did not exceed the heat dissipation properties of the laptop.  But for video editing and the like I think you would see much quicker performance than the integrated graphics, probably twice as quick.

You mean that integrated GPU would be faster, but also generate more heat?

menamestom

BigBearKris said:

menamestom said:

BigBearKris said:

Rabs said:

BigBearKris said:

Rabs said:

I also wonder - I have chosen the model with 2GB stripdown GeForce, as I'm not planning on any gaming or graphic processing - is it actually any better than the integrated GPU that comes with 8th gen i7 processor. I can see that you can choose and switch between the units in settings so I'll try to benchmark between the two...

It will be much faster but also develop much more heat.  So if you did game it would be throttled to below it's capacity so the heat output did not exceed the heat dissipation properties of the laptop.  But for video editing and the like I think you would see much quicker performance than the integrated graphics, probably twice as quick.

You mean that integrated GPU would be faster, but also generate more heat?

No, the Geforce will be much quicker than if you just had integrated Intel graphics.  It's a worthwhile upgrade as long as you don't expect it to run at full speed for long gaming sessions etc.

BigBearKris

Laptop has stripped down Geforce unit - MX150 with 2GB designated memory. 
I'm not planning on gaming (have a xbox for that but I don't play these days anyway) but should cope with some 3d graphics / hinresolution streaming I guess.

Grumpyrocker

BigBearKris said:

Laptop has stripped down Geforce unit - MX150 with 2GB designated memory. 
I'm not planning on gaming (have a xbox for that but I don't play these days anyway) but should cope with some 3d graphics / hinresolution streaming I guess.

Graphics card co-processing is also hand for video and photo editing.

Rabs

Well I am all set up and running now..

All very good..  Put premier pro on and it works good, the one I got has the MX250 with 2GB, not the best but better than I had..  Got all my software on ok and am happy


PLUS now I have a new laptop with all the updated bits in it, I am now getting over double the speed downloads as my old PC was so old its speed was restricted by the old wifi adapter.. Same when transferring files over.. My old laptop only had USB 2 so this is just a pleasure to use.


They keyboard is slightly odd, reminds me of a mac but I will get used to that quick enough.

Rabs

BigBearKris said:

So yesterday - I went to my local CurrysPC and licked up the same Dell - 7000 series, 512 GB SSD, GeForceMX and i7 8th gen. 

My installation process was thankfully much less troublesome and Cortana was shut up with a single click on the icon at startup, activation done straight away and as soon as I logged into Google account all my settings were restored. I politely declined all the "help" with gathering extra data, voice recognition, Cortana assistance etc - and I didn't find it intrusive afterwards at all.
I just copied some pics, videos and music from the old laptop and everything works great. Still getting used to almost instant response in comparison to my old Acer Aspire taking a sweet couple minutes to open chrome, copy files and the likes
Laptop keeps nice and cool, although I'm yet to put it through paces to properly assess it. 

I also wonder - I have chosen the model with 2GB stripdown GeForce, as I'm not planning on any gaming or graphic processing - is it actually any better than the integrated GPU that comes with 8th gen i7 processor. I can see that you can choose and switch between the units in settings so I'll try to benchmark between the two...

Hello.
How is your computer doing?

Im pretty happy with everything but just found a bug you may want to know about.. I noticed that the laptops fan was coming on just sitting on the internet which it shouldn't do.. So I checked the task processes and found that the Nvidia Container was taking up like 28% of the CPU..  I looked it up and its seems to be a known issue with the latest Nvidia driver..  But I found a fix for it and its all fine now.. So if you have this issue let me know and I will tell you how to sort it.

BigBearKris

Rabs said:

BigBearKris said:

So yesterday - I went to my local CurrysPC and licked up the same Dell - 7000 series, 512 GB SSD, GeForceMX and i7 8th gen. 

My installation process was thankfully much less troublesome and Cortana was shut up with a single click on the icon at startup, activation done straight away and as soon as I logged into Google account all my settings were restored. I politely declined all the "help" with gathering extra data, voice recognition, Cortana assistance etc - and I didn't find it intrusive afterwards at all.
I just copied some pics, videos and music from the old laptop and everything works great. Still getting used to almost instant response in comparison to my old Acer Aspire taking a sweet couple minutes to open chrome, copy files and the likes
Laptop keeps nice and cool, although I'm yet to put it through paces to properly assess it. 

I also wonder - I have chosen the model with 2GB stripdown GeForce, as I'm not planning on any gaming or graphic processing - is it actually any better than the integrated GPU that comes with 8th gen i7 processor. I can see that you can choose and switch between the units in settings so I'll try to benchmark between the two...

Hello.
How is your computer doing?

Im pretty happy with everything but just found a bug you may want to know about.. I noticed that the laptops fan was coming on just sitting on the internet which it shouldn't do.. So I checked the task processes and found that the Nvidia Container was taking up like 28% of the CPU..  I looked it up and its seems to be a known issue with the latest Nvidia driver..  But I found a fix for it and its all fine now.. So if you have this issue let me know and I will tell you how to sort it.

Hi mate. Yeah -im very pleased with it - spent little time with it - noticed the fan working hard during 3d benchmark test. 

What is the driver fix then?

Rabs

BigBearKris said:

Rabs said:

BigBearKris said:

So yesterday - I went to my local CurrysPC and licked up the same Dell - 7000 series, 512 GB SSD, GeForceMX and i7 8th gen. 

My installation process was thankfully much less troublesome and Cortana was shut up with a single click on the icon at startup, activation done straight away and as soon as I logged into Google account all my settings were restored. I politely declined all the "help" with gathering extra data, voice recognition, Cortana assistance etc - and I didn't find it intrusive afterwards at all.
I just copied some pics, videos and music from the old laptop and everything works great. Still getting used to almost instant response in comparison to my old Acer Aspire taking a sweet couple minutes to open chrome, copy files and the likes
Laptop keeps nice and cool, although I'm yet to put it through paces to properly assess it. 

I also wonder - I have chosen the model with 2GB stripdown GeForce, as I'm not planning on any gaming or graphic processing - is it actually any better than the integrated GPU that comes with 8th gen i7 processor. I can see that you can choose and switch between the units in settings so I'll try to benchmark between the two...

Hello.
How is your computer doing?

Im pretty happy with everything but just found a bug you may want to know about.. I noticed that the laptops fan was coming on just sitting on the internet which it shouldn't do.. So I checked the task processes and found that the Nvidia Container was taking up like 28% of the CPU..  I looked it up and its seems to be a known issue with the latest Nvidia driver..  But I found a fix for it and its all fine now.. So if you have this issue let me know and I will tell you how to sort it.

Hi mate. Yeah -im very pleased with it - spent little time with it - noticed the fan working hard during 3d benchmark test. 

What is the driver fix then?

Well its a bit odd but seems to work... Still working for me.

First check its an issue...  Go to the Task Manager and in the Processes tab list them by CPU usage..  If Nvidia Container is at the top and using like 25% CPU then you should do this.

Basically..  Go to the Services tab and stop the Nvidia Container services and then go back to Processes and end task.


Then go to C:/Programe Files/Nvidia Corporation and delete the DisplayDriverRAS folder..  Apparently this is collecting some kind of telemetry data and can get stuck..  Delete that and restart the machine and it should fix it.

BigBearKris

I have just uninstalled whole GeForce Experience which coordinates all the nvidia background apps which also does the trick.