Difficult to find new 15" laptops with 256GB SSD and FHD under £400.
This is one. (Plenty of stock; not sure for how long at this price.)
Note. Upgrading this computer (e.g. adding memory) requires the bottom of the laptop to be unscrewed which is not for the faint-hearted; see youtube clip in posts.
Top comments
ezzer72
11 Apr 179#36
Haha, I love how you label yourself 'PCspecialist', but don't know the difference between a laptop and a desktop, AND refer to storage as memory!
How's business? :smiley::smiley:
harrybeeee1
10 Apr 176#28
What's crazy about an i3 with an SSD?
A core2duo with an SSD can still run great..
plewis00
11 Apr 173#57
If it's a really good deal, post it on HUKD and see what happens...
plewis00 to aaronblackburn
11 Apr 173#48
How does it make a 'huge difference' and to what? It's a U-series CPU so other than a bit of clockspeed and Turbo Boost, it offers very little for the extra £100 (which is basically another 25% of the cost of this). Standard-voltage mobile CPUs might at least offer another couple of cores which would be useful and worth the money. You are just buying an i7 for the sake of it, for the name.
Latest comments (75)
Sambosa
19 Jun 17#75
I'd been waiting for a while to replace a 10 year old Vaio with black screen. Despite the casing feeling a bit fragile it suits my needs of just having somewhere to store photos and music perfectly. I'd been hawking for a while, so thank you Musicrab x
TygerTyger
18 May 171#74
Now £379.97 ... plus a bit of TCB if that takes your fancy.
Tempted by this as a laptop for the kids for homework etc ... any views on anything comparable. Not seeing much out there in this price bracket with SSD and FHD screen as an alternative but I might be wrong.
rbz5416
19 Apr 17#73
Did anyone take the plunge?
Publix
13 Apr 17#72
What a wonderfully contentious post. Very entertaining. Well done.
The whole thing I mean.
Youtube recommended this video to me and I started watching it as I have an old workstation for gaming
Spod
10 Apr 173#2
FHD and SSD for under £400 is hard to argue with. That's fine for browsing the new and office work. It's not much fun getting the back off of these if you want to upgrade the RAM. I much prefer manufacturers like Dell who leave panels over the RAM for easy upgrades. Hard to beat for the money though.
This shows you how to get the back off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEn6RIb_5E
rbz5416 to Spod
10 Apr 17#3
That's ludicrous, especially given their models where the entire bottom panel pops off without tools to access everything.
rand0m to Spod
11 Apr 17#35
thats a terrible design!
MaximusRo to Spod
12 Apr 17#70
Dell Latitude E5540 and E5550 have no panel, you have to take the whole back out, not very difficult at all but still.
Musicrab
11 Apr 17#69
Some people like to clean install their computers; not normally necessary unless you're installing lots of stuff; and Windows 7 update occasionally jams needing an OS reinstall. How? Either by using the factory image (you made a set of disks when you bought the computer) or by getting the latest 7 ISO from MS at https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows7
mrtea1967
11 Apr 17#68
Musicrab,Thankyou for response,its in very good condition ( hard earned has bought it so i look after it ) .It is a little sluggish,no where near a worry though.And ive stuck with Windows 7,probably as its my first computer / laptop i like it more than W 10.What do you mean by reinstall please ? literally uninstall and put back on ?
Spod
11 Apr 17#67
D'Oh! Missed that altogether! Ah well, that's life, as the French say!
brilly
11 Apr 17#66
ofc you could have looked at the comment made 14 hours before that :smirk:
Spod
11 Apr 17#65
Was that FHD or 4K though?
jameshothothot
11 Apr 171#64
Well if he can get me 1TB of RAM then I'm pretty sure business Is booming!
Though I saw a youtube video saying optimal memory on video rendering peaked around 16 or 32gb. 64gb made little difference
Spod
11 Apr 17#63
What a surprise. aaronblackburn has gone offline. Expect a new troll "expert" to appear sometime soon ...
aaronblackburn
11 Apr 171#62
lol
djaydearz
11 Apr 171#61
^that gave you away I am afraid.....
Spod
11 Apr 172#60
Congratulations! That's quite an accomplishment. You've managed to make PcSpecialist_ look like an expert by comparison.
aaronblackburn
11 Apr 17#59
yeah
Spod
11 Apr 171#58
Serieously? You think it's easier to upgrade the screen on a laptop than the RAM?
plewis00
11 Apr 173#57
If it's a really good deal, post it on HUKD and see what happens...
aaronblackburn
11 Apr 17#56
i beg to differ
Spod
11 Apr 172#55
Hmmm, aaronblackburn, another expert know-it-all with only 5 comments who jumps into the discussion with an underwhelming poorly-researched alternative. No capitals at the beginning of posts either. I wonder ...
You can upgrade RAM. Screen resolution isn't so easily changed.
aaronblackburn
11 Apr 17#54
it does have more ram -_-
plewis00
11 Apr 172#53
Do you know anything about CPUs or are you just making this stuff up? The only thing I will concede (that you didn't even spot yourself) is that the i3 is a 5th gen Broadwell and the i7 is a 6th gen Skylake but if they were the same generation they would be the same silicon but speed binned differently. There is not a lot of IPC difference (work per clock cycle) between 5th and 6th gen, so there is no (relevant) silicon difference between i3, i5 and i7 in the same generation and very little across generations, which is why people were pleased when AMD Zen launched as it made Intel step it up and stop releasing incremental upgrades and performance gains.
It's also £110 more which makes it nearer 30% more and for £110 more I would probably look at other areas to improve performance, like more RAM or a bigger/faster SSD. I'm sure someone else will confirm this is true.
And in fact, I just looked and your 'much better' deal loses the Full HD screen!
Display:
15.6", LED Backlit Antiglare
Resolution: 1366 x 768
aaronblackburn
11 Apr 17#52
aaronblackburn
11 Apr 17#51
you cannot compare the clockspeed of each cpu if that are not in the same band. I7 cpus will be able to get more work done per clock cycle so the additional ghz isnt really relevant. You need to look at the actual performance rate instead of clockspeed and it is clear that the i7 thrashes the i3 in terms of that. So yes for another £100 it is well worth it
Spod
11 Apr 172#50
So, PcSpecialist_ has managed 4 posts, mainly on this thread, and is now offline. After this debacle, I suspect he will just re-register with a different name. I was half expecting some "new" user to start posting in his defence ...
plewis00
11 Apr 171#49
Member info:
PcSpecialist_ Offline
Member: 10.04.2017
Likes: 0
Last active: 2 hours, 14 minutes ago
4 posts...
How does it make a 'huge difference' and to what? It's a U-series CPU so other than a bit of clockspeed and Turbo Boost, it offers very little for the extra £100 (which is basically another 25% of the cost of this). Standard-voltage mobile CPUs might at least offer another couple of cores which would be useful and worth the money. You are just buying an i7 for the sake of it, for the name.
Spod
11 Apr 171#46
It's just some idiot who thinks he knows it all and assumes that anybody who wants to buy a laptop is stupid just because it doesn't meet his own needs. His general attitude that he is right so everybody else must be wrong just makes him look like an obnoxious, patronising teenager.
He's probably seen the deskside PC threads where there's always somebody saying that a self-build is better, so he wades into a thread about laptops and starts talking about building your own. Unfortunately, when he finds he's in a hole he doesn't have the sense to stop digging.
The lack of SSD or opsys shows that he hasn't given the build spec any real thought. He's just spouted the first set of components that have come to mind. The fact that he doesn't know the difference between memory and storage confirms that he's not the build genius he would like us to believe he is. The name PcSpecialist_ is laughable.
plewis00
11 Apr 171#45
I reckon it's an autocorrect of 'Spod' as I wondered the same. I also wondered how that guy can generalise that 'desktops are better than laptops' and why a graphics card was specced when it was never even asked for. Or why there is no SSD. Or why the operating system cost has not been considered... :neutral_face:
Spod
11 Apr 172#44
However I read that, I cannot for the life of me work out why the word "spoon" is in that sentence! I can't think what you could have misspelled or had auto-corrected for that to appear there! Are you calling ezzer72 a spoon for some reason? Is it a slang insult that I haven't come across? Or do you just want to give ezzer72 a cuddle from behind? :smirk:
ezzer72
11 Apr 172#43
What size monitor would you recommend for this client, for use on the train?
Your expert advice would be very much appreciated.
p.s. Please tell us where we can buy 1tb of memory, and keep to the £500 budget, thanks.
plewis00
11 Apr 171#42
Yeah I love humping a desktop on my back when I cycle to work! Also the spec suggested seems really mediocre for £500. I would at least put an SSD in there and wouldn't bother with a 1TB hard disk these days when 2 or 3TB is not a lot more.
Spod
11 Apr 173#41
Er, not if you want to carry it around ...
PcSpecialist_
11 Apr 17#40
I actually meant building a pc instead of a laptop you wouldn't even be able to fit the motherboard into the laptop
PcSpecialist_
11 Apr 17#39
Not a laptop spoon a pc I think I know the difference it's better to make a pc than using a laptop
Spod
11 Apr 17#38
Probably designed for speed/cheapness of construction. Typical HP, don't give a damn about user experience unless you are paying for top-end kit. Still, it's better than their cheap Stream rubbish. That stuff really is abysmal. They supply those with 32GB eMMC drives which can't be upgraded, and running Windows 10, which steals more drive space every time there is a Windows upgrade! HP do produce some shockingly bad kit at the low end.
Spod
11 Apr 172#37
Good luck squeezing that 550W power supply into a laptop case ...
EDIT - Damn - ezzer72 beat me to it! That'll teach me not to get distracted 1/2 way through typing a response! :smile:
ezzer72
11 Apr 179#36
Haha, I love how you label yourself 'PCspecialist', but don't know the difference between a laptop and a desktop, AND refer to storage as memory!
Yes, sorry, these off topic because not FHD. I personally don't mind - guess it depends what you're used too. But nice to know you can get 8GB and 256GB SSD for not-too-silly-money.
Regarding the HP tradeup, details here https://hp.tradeuptohp.com/gb/en/pages/tradein/qualifying
They NORMALLY do monthly offers but the one I linked to above - code Z3A60ES - was available for £224 with tradeup but was only available for the first week of this month. Dammit.
damadgeruk
11 Apr 171#33
Time machine not required by those looking to compare prices, that's how we gauge whether they're hot.
Yes, I get the comparison is poor FHD vs HD though this time machine nonsense is just that. We're here to save money, knowing an item was cheaper means it likely will be again in the future.
Nenen
11 Apr 17#32
Sorry to be dim but how do you get trade-in price please?
Similar. If yours was in a good condition but perhaps little sluggish, a Windows reinstall and/or SSD would be the next step before a new computer.
mrtea1967
10 Apr 17#18
Not wishing to side track this post,but still slightly topical.I have a HP pavilion dv6 - 6b50sa would this or what would be its replacement ? i dont do gaming just surf the net and stream at times,so mines probably over qualified for use but i like it.And still do.Thanks for any help
brilly
10 Apr 171#17
nice laptop buddy :confused:
it is quite bad but many of dells are not so easy either
hardly anyone leaves access panels nowadays
garethsmith72
10 Apr 17#16
I have the HP250 I5 with 128GB which Tesco had last year for £280 very impressed
harrybeeee1
10 Apr 17#15
I have an 820 G3 and it does not pop off. They've changed the design it's now lots of screws. The G1 and G2 were a slide tab
Sub HD screen and time machines haven't been invented yet.
masai
10 Apr 17#7
Never had any issues opening up hp laptops. Usually just a screw and then the whole back slides off. Can't be any easier!
Voted hot btw.
rbz5416 to masai
10 Apr 17#12
Not watched the video then? :laughing:
Joey.Bloggsy
10 Apr 17#1
Instead of my budget going up n up to a grand, I'm thinking this would probably do for me.
Any opinions out there? especially with the screen.
Edit, it says 15.6" screen, no?
PcSpecialist_ to Joey.Bloggsy
10 Apr 17#11
if you have a budget of £1000 I would make your own mate as this really isn't this good. Building is a lot cheaper and this isn't that great... for a good £500 pc try this GTX 1050 Graphics card, H110M Motherboard any 550W Power supply, don't need a cooler unless the fans r too loud, any case of your choice, 8gb of ram and 1TB of memory
Musicrab
10 Apr 17#10
Yes, that is crazy considering most people would want 8GB RAM, although 4GB is ok if you don't have too many programs and/or browser tabs open.
hatchers
10 Apr 17#6
Does anyone know if you could install Windows 7 pro on this machine?
dean_brfc to hatchers
10 Apr 17#9
Not sure why you wouldn't. It's got a built in DVD drive so all you need is a valid disc.
Spies
10 Apr 172#4
Its not really ludicrous, you'll only ever likely open it once to add more memory.
rbz5416 to Spies
10 Apr 171#5
... or upgrade the SSD, or replace a depleted battery, or clean the CPU fan...
Granted none of which are everyday tasks but why make it so complicated? As I said, on an EliteBook it just pops off.
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Opening post
This is one. (Plenty of stock; not sure for how long at this price.)
Note. Upgrading this computer (e.g. adding memory) requires the bottom of the laptop to be unscrewed which is not for the faint-hearted; see youtube clip in posts.
Top comments
How's business? :smiley::smiley:
A core2duo with an SSD can still run great..
Latest comments (75)
Tempted by this as a laptop for the kids for homework etc ... any views on anything comparable. Not seeing much out there in this price bracket with SSD and FHD screen as an alternative but I might be wrong.
The whole thing I mean.
Linustechtips goes onto discuss 4k later on!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajyzZ-zaq0o&t=375s
Youtube recommended this video to me and I started watching it as I have an old workstation for gaming
This shows you how to get the back off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEn6RIb_5E
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows7
Though I saw a youtube video saying optimal memory on video rendering peaked around 16 or 32gb. 64gb made little difference
You can upgrade RAM. Screen resolution isn't so easily changed.
It's also £110 more which makes it nearer 30% more and for £110 more I would probably look at other areas to improve performance, like more RAM or a bigger/faster SSD. I'm sure someone else will confirm this is true.
And in fact, I just looked and your 'much better' deal loses the Full HD screen!
Display:
15.6", LED Backlit Antiglare
Resolution: 1366 x 768
PcSpecialist_ Offline
Member: 10.04.2017
Likes: 0
Last active: 2 hours, 14 minutes ago
4 posts...
http://www.ebuyer.com/760636-hp-250-g5-i7-laptop-x0q77es-x0q77es-abu?mkwid=sWA3N2WiH_dm&pcrid=51630194939&pkw&pmt&gclid=CIOQhYyJodICFQ0R0wodMHgDhg
He's probably seen the deskside PC threads where there's always somebody saying that a self-build is better, so he wades into a thread about laptops and starts talking about building your own. Unfortunately, when he finds he's in a hole he doesn't have the sense to stop digging.
The lack of SSD or opsys shows that he hasn't given the build spec any real thought. He's just spouted the first set of components that have come to mind. The fact that he doesn't know the difference between memory and storage confirms that he's not the build genius he would like us to believe he is. The name PcSpecialist_ is laughable.
Your expert advice would be very much appreciated.
p.s. Please tell us where we can buy 1tb of memory, and keep to the £500 budget, thanks.
EDIT - Damn - ezzer72 beat me to it! That'll teach me not to get distracted 1/2 way through typing a response! :smile:
How's business? :smiley::smiley:
HP 250 G5 i3 Laptop 8GB 256Gb SSD Windows 10 Home
Yes, sorry, these off topic because not FHD. I personally don't mind - guess it depends what you're used too. But nice to know you can get 8GB and 256GB SSD for not-too-silly-money.
Regarding the HP tradeup, details here https://hp.tradeuptohp.com/gb/en/pages/tradein/qualifying
They NORMALLY do monthly offers but the one I linked to above - code Z3A60ES - was available for £224 with tradeup but was only available for the first week of this month. Dammit.
Yes, I get the comparison is poor FHD vs HD though this time machine nonsense is just that. We're here to save money, knowing an item was cheaper means it likely will be again in the future.
http://www.ebuyer.com/767251-hp-255-g5-amd-laptop-z3a60es-z3a60es-abu
£335 or £225 with tradein. Checking actual offer end date now...
A core2duo with an SSD can still run great..
Is this not it then?
http://mcscom.co.uk/product/dell-inspiron-15-3543-i7-5500u-2-40ghz-8gb-1tb-geforce-840m-15-6-hd-w10h-1yr-rtb-wty-mln308/
it is quite bad but many of dells are not so easy either
hardly anyone leaves access panels nowadays
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-15-aw054sa-15-6-laptop-silver-10152519-pdt.html
(similar CPU, 8GB RAM, bigger mechanical hard drive; not FHD); I'd replace the DVD drive with a caddy and a 120GB SSD (approx £50 all in** to give a much faster machine)
** need to check DVD drive size first etc.
Voted hot btw.
Any opinions out there? especially with the screen.
Edit, it says 15.6" screen, no?
Granted none of which are everyday tasks but why make it so complicated? As I said, on an EliteBook it just pops off.