Anyone know about laptops??

[Gemi33]

Hi

Hoping someone here can help me make a decision. I need to buy a new laptop and I don't have a huge amount to spend so have been looking in the sales. I have basically got it down to two but can't decide. They are the same price but one has a better processor (intel core versus intel premium gold) so will be quicker and has windows 10s while the other is windows 10 and has more storage. I just need it for everyday use really but I can't decide and don't have anyone to ask who knows about these things - which would you go for?

Thanks!

Windows 10 in S mode can be taken out of S mode (but not put back) so don't worry about that. Storage is up to you, I've never filled a 500gb but then I don't store masses of photos or huge applications. If the smaller storage laptop is an SSD then definitely go for that, the difference is incredible.

Do you have links?

Thanks for your help, it looks like they both say SSD -

www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/lenovo-ideapad-s340-14-intel-core-i3-laptop-128-gb-ssd-blue-10199300-pdt.html

www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/asus-vivobook-15-x512fa-15-6-intel-pentium-gold-laptop-256-gb-ssd-silver-10195125-pdt.html

I think I prefer the look of the ASUS one to be honest but don't want to choose based on that if the other one is generally better so someone else's opinion is really helpful, thanks!

Oh I actually have the Lenovo one (in a slightly different spec)! It's very solidly built, I'm happy with it.

I think they're fairly even, if you have a computer now take a look at how much storage you're actually using. I think the smaller storage would be fine if you're only checking emails and use the cloud for photos etc if you're into that. There's tiny differences that might not matter to you- the asus is physically larger and has a number pad on the keyboard, the lenovo has a significantly larger battery ("up to 10 hours", mine gives me about 2 days of uni classes if I'm careful with it).

@bardlion what is all that about Windows Safe Mode?

The good news is they have solid state hard drives (SSD).
The bad news is they only have 4gb memory. Windows 10 will run in 4gb but it’s the minimum.

Looking at Curry’s Sales items you have to spend £379 or £399 before you get 8gb memory for Windows10 to run in.

Can you get to Curry’s? ask them to reboot each laptop, login and go to bbc website. Time how long it takes.

When it says it comes with Windows 10 it means that's what the operating system is. It doesn't mean it comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc installed on it. You'll need to buy that separately if you need those so you'll need to allow for that when considering the price.

Sorry if you know that already, when I bought my laptop from Tesco I didn't know this and had to pay another £100 to get those things!

Thanks. I don't think I actually use that much storage so less would probably be fine - I think I was leaning towards the ASUS one based on how it looks, I just think it looks nicer but the faster processor on the other one has confused me!

@tanstaafl A lot of laptops these days come with windows 10 "in S mode" which only allows you to use apps from the microsoft store, so no Chrome browser etc. You can take it out of s mode, but it can never go back in. Not sure why you'd want it to go back though.

4gb is fine for everyday use. I have a pc with 4gb and a laptop with 8 and the difference is only noticeable in terms of trying to multitask. I'm a computer science student so it does get quite heavy but it's really only the difference between having spotify running alongside everything vs. having to use my phone for music. 8gb is obviously better but if you can't afford it then you'll never know anything better so it won't matter to you so much!

Have you thought about buying a refurbished one? I bought one from Argos eBay site, £199 for a 17.5inch laptop with Ryzen 5 and Radeon graphics.

@bandlion
Reading up on S mode; well I never! Apologies!