Laptop Recommendation. Budget around $1500

ace310 on 29/07/2023 - 19:29
Last edited 29/07/2023 - 19:58

Hi All,

Please recommend a 13"/14" laptop for business use. Mostly for accounting purpose along with some personal use. Asking for a friend.

Req Specs :
* Intel i5 12th gen
* 16 gb ram
* 512 gb m2 preferable (can go 256 and replace it with 1tb later if it was for me, but recommend it if you know any)
* Good battery life
* Portable but doesn't need to be thin & light if not within price range
* 13/14" screen.
* Windows

I was looking at few ones I think are decent
* Dell
* Lenovo for around $1400. Anyone have any idea on this.
* Lenovo - $1389
*MSI -$1k

Any other recommendations or discounts on a better deal or a clearance one out there?

Thanks a lot.

General Discussion

Comments

  • icecold on 29/07/2023 - 20:01
    +1

    If it's any help we run HP Probooks at work in both 14 and 15inch config. Currently all intel based but moving to AMD going forward.

    These run all aspects from accounting through to engineers doing product design.

    • ace310 on 29/07/2023 - 20:04

      I have always used Lenovo(IBM), Dell so am familiar with them. Nothing against HP.

    • ace310 on 29/07/2023 - 20:07

      How about this one HP Probook ?

      • mdsl32 on 02/08/2023 - 14:09
        +1

        Can vouch for the AMD Mobile CPUs they are much better on the battery than Intel is.
        I have the HP Elitebook 845 g9 (personally purchased) and im very happy with it.

        The probook EDUs are the same as the business ones too just Windows 10/11 Home instead of Pro

  • akrotohur on 29/07/2023 - 21:31

    Must be brand new?

    • ace310 on 29/07/2023 - 22:07

      Yes.

  • gooddeals on 29/07/2023 - 23:01

    May be this one?

    https://www.dell.com/en-nz/shop/laptop-notebook-computers/vo…

    cheaper if you can get a few coupons (and sometimes negotiate directly via chat)

  • Grandma on 29/07/2023 - 23:05
    +1

    Give consideration to M1 MacBook air. 256gb can be had around that price and it will perform better than any windows computer at that price as well as having a better display.

    They don't generate much heat at all and have absurdly good performance and battery as well as being built super duper well

    Much worse io, macos might be deal breakers though.

    • Alroys on 29/07/2023 - 23:33
      +2

      If they are an accountant id guess they would want Windows for Excel

    • Drcspy on 30/07/2023 - 07:41

      "Give consideration to M1 MacBook air. 256gb can be had around that price and it will perform better than any windows computer at that price"

      A quick look on pricespy says you can get a couple nearer $1700 but they're both 8Gb ram. One is 3 years old and counting and they're both 13" .

      I'd be interested to know how they perform better than any windows computer of similar price ?

      Personally after having had two HP laptops break hinges I've gone off them. I'm currently using an MSI 14" which seems pretty good and a friend just bought one with 16GB and 512Gb for about $1000. I'm not totally convinced of the build quality of them and would be more inclined to suggest Dell or Lenovo, (ex IBM).

      • ace310 on 30/07/2023 - 10:24

        Exactly my thoughts.

        I have good experiences with Dell and lenovo. Still rocking Dell xps13 from atleast 12 years old with a Nvidia cheapest. Gets hot but still has got life in it. Kids use it now. Battery only last 30 minutes or so which is a surprise considering the age. Have lenovo t14 as my personal workhorse for over 4 years and running absolutely fine.

        Use dell latitude 7410 from work.

        I would recommend Apple m1 but can't get it below $1500 I think. Also MS Office is required which is expensive on mac.

        • Seeker on 30/07/2023 - 12:41

          You can get it from the education store for NZ$1,569.00 but specs not quite what you need.

      • Grandma on 30/07/2023 - 16:09

        At 3 years I'm not sure. 8gb is a limitation but it's nowhere near as bad as a regular PC at 8gb.

        The thing that really sold me on M1/M2 Mac's are the power use. No fans, no slowdown, consistently fantastic performance, I can treat mine like an iPad. It sits in standby for weeks, it turns on instantly, even when pushing it far enough to throttle (which is shockingly hard)… It's still never too hot to touch and it's operating temperature is the best on a laptop, it feels like your hands heat it up. They really do have the 'endgame' feel to them.

        Now that said, 2x USBC thunderbolts, awful external monitor support, repair lockdown and very expensive pricing of memory or storage upgrades are a really negative point. Chrome doesn't run super duper smooth but safari is really good

        My work laptop is a 10th gen i7 (iirc) 32gb and it's night and day as to which one i prefer to use. Even my 3900x desktop doesn't feel as snappy as an M1 MacBook.

        Now all this said, I am very much in the camp of being very willing to sacrifice a bit of performance for a great screen / great hardware. You might not be the same, if you dock the computer honestly who cares about the above.

        If you put windows on these things I'd have lines of staff lining up to swap over. Probooks / travelmated are great but at around that price but I'd take an M1 Mac every day of the week

    • mdsl32 on 02/08/2023 - 14:11

      Asus Vivobook OLED has entered the chat at $1500~ on special

    • facecar on 04/08/2023 - 11:26

      I bought one of these 1 year ago for 1599 and I love it. Occasionally you see them for less. Even runs a few steam games natively.
      1549 at the moment at NL
      https://www.noelleeming.co.nz/p/macbook-air-13-inch%3A-apple…

  • Kiwi on 30/07/2023 - 10:34

    Have access to Lenovo EDU store at all?

    • ace310 on 30/07/2023 - 10:37

      Nope. I wish

        • ace310 on 31/07/2023 - 15:45

          Thanks for the offer. It's for a friend, so will have to check with him if he decides to get something from Lenovo first.

    • desikiwi on 03/08/2023 - 21:43

      samsung has edu store sorry no computer on there just mobile phones and tablets

  • desikiwi on 31/07/2023 - 06:32
    +1

    Apple M1 MacBook Air if you want the following

    Excellent resell value
    High quality cases i use fintie tatura case
    Slim and light
    Very stable os and apps and fast as well
    Everything works very well and smooth
    Silent and no noise as machine has no fan
    Extremely energy efficient
    Dongle solution is a game changer ie you can buy a 30 $ dongle it will carry hdmi power USB c usb 2.0 micro sd etc
    Ie one ubc in it connects to power and external monitor
    You can use a small light mobile pb charger i use anker 33 watt charger it charges my phone and laptop at same time no issues
    Macbooks lcd is the best in the class

    And many more

      • desikiwi on 31/07/2023 - 15:38

        Yes 8 gb onboard cpu die ram is more like 16 gb on windows and ,16 gb gb on board M1 is more like 32 gb ,
        256 gb is more like 180 gb usage space with apps installed but I got around this by offloading most of my not regular use data to either dongle connected micro sd card , 4 tb mechanical hdd i also got a type c usb stick which connects directly to phone, mac and also. Dongle

        I personally feel once you get used to iOS its like lot nicer to use then windows ps i also use Linux on my ThinkPad which imo even better example mint Linux Ubuntu etc but you don't get the same battery life thin and light form factor etc but it's super cheap i got mine for 150 usd + 70 usb many years ago battery nd all parts are available for repair .

      • mdsl32 on 02/08/2023 - 14:13

        CGA with apple is quite difficult from a retailer perspective and they are the most strict.
        If around 24months generally any vendor in nz will repair it but outside of 36months it's generally a no meaning retailer gets screwed.

        • Grandma on 02/08/2023 - 17:54

          Faulty item purchased yesterday? Apple kick a stink and you arent suppsoed to just swap it.

          Very often I got chewed out for just credit recharging apple shit that was clearly faulty. Im not gonna tell a kid who just bought airpods that just dont work at all that they then have to wait 3 weeks

          • mdsl32 on 02/08/2023 - 19:12

            @Grandma: Outside of DOA correct which is only 14-30 days depending on the vendor

      • nzmax on 04/08/2023 - 01:48

        The prices to upgrade the specs from the basic specs are a joke IMO. You can't even upgrade the RAM later on. That all puts me off Macs. I think they are fine for people who want an appliance type of computer and not into tech. Or just want something for productivity and good battery life but not running games etc on it.

        • Avantime on 04/08/2023 - 03:22

          The M1's biggest draw is the outstanding battery life in a thin-and-light form factor. Nothing else comes close.

          For me I just can't get my head around MacOS, while still using a Windows gaming rig daily.

          • desikiwi on 04/08/2023 - 08:42

            @Avantime: LinkedIn learning tutorial on Mac OS it's free via most libraries in new zealand it's good I went though it , it did help a lot . They also have ipad is tutorials and then I got a ipad it was useful ipad is very powerful

          • nzmax on 04/08/2023 - 15:39

            @Avantime: IMO if you use Linux such as Ubuntu or Mint, it is quite a similar experience. Windows 8 and the removal of the start menu, and now windows 11 with many control panel features difficult to find and hidden in old legacy menus is a bit of a nightmare. IMO they tried to dumb down windows 10 which was reasonably good and it was supposed to be the last numbered version.

  • desikiwi on 04/08/2023 - 08:44

    Another option but also not for everyone is ipad air M1 it's only 1000 on edu account i brought the Logitech folio case it has touch pad and keyboard and stand . It's very smooth , and I buy the usb hub for it so it can run display and external storage

    • facecar on 04/08/2023 - 11:22

      why not just get a macbook at that point?

    • ace310 on 04/08/2023 - 11:34

      That's not an option, thanks for recommending though. As mentioned it's for business use, so need something without dongles. Won't be needing external display as well. Definitely require office suite.

      • desikiwi on 04/08/2023 - 11:51

        Office use then ThinkPad with better display as many default displays are tn panels . They are light and built quality is good and parts are easy to get .

        • ace310 on 04/08/2023 - 11:55

          Couldn't agree more. I have Lenovo t14 myself since 5 yrs and still going strong after around 8+ hrs of daily use.

  • ace310 on 04/08/2023 - 11:37

    Probably he has decided on getting this ASUS Vivobook 15X OLED - $1388. Seems like a decent buy and within his budget.

  • cheapo on 04/08/2023 - 18:36

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