(Another) Laptop buying advice thread

[virtuocity]

I seem to go through a laptop every 18 months. I use my lappy on average 4-5 hours per day, so quite a heavy user.

The issue is generally the hard drive failing. It makes clunky noises for a few weeks and then eventually crashes.

I'm going back to study for four years so I'm looking for a machine which will survive for a long time- I don't care how much it costs.

SSDs are now becoming more widely used. I understand that these are much better than hard drives and don't have moving parts. Would this be the solution to my problems? Can someone give me real life advice about SSDs?

Do I go for a gaming laptop? High spec designed to run greedy software programmes?

Or do I go Mac? Obviously a good product, but the SSD upgrade is very pricey.

Mac also have a 3 year warranty which I could buy. If I go for another laptop, I could buy an in-store warranty but I'd be concerned about the customer service aspect and exclusions.

Thanks all.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

if you buy from John Lewis you get a 2 year warranty thrown in.

hard drives should last more than 2 years , 5 at least, so think you have been very unlucky.

SSD drives are certainly the way forward , and are coming down in price all the time, they are much faster than normal hard drives, use less power (so your battery lasts longer) and produce less heat.

A bog standard laptop these days will come with at least a 500GB hard drive, unfortunately a decent 500GB SSD will cost you at least £250 although these prices are dropping all the time.
There is no point in spending £50 on a 128GB drive if it is going to be full in 6 months, the minimum size I would want to see in a laptop is 256Gb.

warning, the following will invalidate your warranty.
Open the box and set up your new laptop.
Then go through the procedure to make a set of recovery disks.
remove the old hard drive and swap in the new SSD
Boot up with the recovery discs you just made and off you go

Sell the old drive on ebay or keep it as an emergency in case of problems later on.

shout back if you want any specific help

 

[virtuocity]

Super advice Phil, thanks.

Was chatting to a Mac advisor there. I get 14% discount off new purchases and free hardware warranty for 3 years. Not bad I thought, plus their hard drives are a bit like SSDs in that they don't have moving parts.

Big outlay but I need something which is going to last me through my degree.

I haven't heard anything bad about MacBooks although I imagine them to be like Muira wedges in that after spending a fortune on them, you daren't slag them off or you'll have admitted to making one heck of a financial mistake!

 

[Beezerk]

Why not just replace the HDD? Done it on mine and a few other old computers I had.

 

[Jimbooo]

I have bought a few Lenovo Thinkpads for our software developers and they swear by them. Really solid build. Good quality.

I'm just about to buy another high-spec one for me
http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/

I had a gaming laptop but didn't like it (bought from scan). I'd rather one graphics card than 2 that swap about.

Definitely want SSD and memory is pretty cheap these days so up to 16GB if you can afford it.

My 2p!

 

[chris661]

I have bought a few Lenovo Thinkpads for our software developers and they swear by them. Really solid build. Good quality.

I'm just about to buy another high-spec one for me
http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/

I had a gaming laptop but didn't like it (bought from scan). I'd rather one graphics card than 2 that swap about.

Definitely want SSD and memory is pretty cheap these days so up to 16GB if you can afford it.

My 2p!

I know an awful lot of coders/network guys/security swear by thinkpads. Although after spending the last two days on and off trying to get an external hard drive working I am firmly of the opinion that windows is a skidmark on the digital world :angry:

 

[Jimbooo]

I know an awful lot of coders/network guys/security swear by thinkpads. Although after spending the last two days on and off trying to get an external hard drive working I am firmly of the opinion that windows is a skidmark on the digital world :angry:

Agree... we all run Linux on ours

 

[DanFST]

If buying a mac, i'd go for an older non retina. You'll save yourself a load of money.

I thought i'd upgrade my old 2010 macbook pro. For a higher spec retina with SSD. It was a big mistake, It's marginally faster using Lightroom, but other than that I can't tell the difference.

 

[chris661]

Agree... we all run Linux on ours

Snap. I have windows installed but generally use a couple of different flavours of linux for myself. Once it is up and running it is great.

Anyway get a mac for decent hardware

 

[williamalex1]

i seem to go through a laptop every 18 months. I use my lappy on average 4-5 hours per day, so quite a heavy user.

The issue is generally the hard drive failing. It makes clunky noises for a few weeks and then eventually crashes.

I'm going back to study for four years so i'm looking for a machine which will survive for a long time- i don't care how much it costs.

Ssds are now becoming more widely used. I understand that these are much better than hard drives and don't have moving parts. Would this be the solution to my problems? Can someone give me real life advice about ssds?

Do i go for a gaming laptop? High spec designed to run greedy software programmes?

Or do i go mac? Obviously a good product, but the ssd upgrade is very pricey.

Mac also have a 3 year warranty which i could buy. If i go for another laptop, i could buy an in-store warranty but i'd be concerned about the customer service aspect and exclusions.

Thanks all.

my laptop makes a burring noise every now and then , is that the hard drive ready to go. ????
Sorry for the hi jack.