laptops

[elhota]

For the price $500 - $600 price range, which laptop would be the best:  ASUS Vivobook, Lenovo Thinkpad, or HP?

The ASUS and HP have Intel i5 processors (i5-8250u and i5-8265u) while the Lenovo has the AMD Ryzen Pro 2300u.  The Intel i5 have slightly better performance than the AMD Ryzen.  And a lot of people I talk to are not too impressed with AMD processors (they say they are slow, or run too hot and are not durable).

The Lenovo Thinkpad is a business computer while the ASUS and HP at that price range are for home/consumer use.

[Korth]

Always ask yourself two questions:

- What do you plan to use the compiyer for?

- how much are you willing to pay for it.

Intel-vs-AMD or Nvidia-vs-AMD opinions are opinions. Intel and AMD leapfrog each other, and their technologies change a lot every year, so experience with older machines made by the brands is barely relevant. And AMD has never really competed aggressively for the elite top-tier ubercomputing stuff ... but they keep on growing market share and gradually dominating low-end to mid-end machinery, where bang-for-the-buck is the mainstay. Plenty of people do run AMD hardware at 1080/60 or 4K/30 without issue - in their gutless Playstations and Xbox consoles.

Compare side by side specs. All specs, not just the hot sale specs. Google up a few product reviews (real reviews by real reviewers, not feedback on newegg).

You can get a good grasp on what hardware can really do at logicalincrements.com

[elhota]

I ended up getting a A series Thinkpad with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD.  It's supposed to have the same components and chassis as the T series Thinkpads except the processor is AMD, while the T series is Intel.  I plan to use it for spreadsheets, word processing, and of course surfing the net.  I'll probably give it to my son when he gets to high school in a couple years (one of the reasons I went with the Thinkpad is that it needs to be able to take the abuse if my son will lugging it around school in his backpack). 

[Kinnear99]

The lag is probably coming from demand of the higher 1080p graphics compared to the 720p graphics the ASUS had.  You could try lowering the graphics settings of the game and see if that helps.  Good luck!

[elhota]

I originally purchased the ASUS Vivobook for $499 but eventually returned it. It had 1 TB hybrid (SHD).  It was super fast (had the i5-8250u).  But there were some drawbacks:

- the display quality was not great (720p and the colors were not vibrant- a little washed out)

- battery life was not good- it lasted less than 2 hours when my son was playing online games (but was better, around 5-6 hours when reset to full time battery saver mode)

I ended up getting the Thinkpad A series with the Ryzen Pro 2300u for $568.  I find that it's not quite as fast as the ASUS was.  My son said that with the ASUS, there was no lagging, but with the Thinkpad he experienced a bit of lagging (he plays a game called Roblox).  But I find the display quality of the Thinkpad is SO MUCH BETTER than the ASUS.  1080p and much more vibrant and clear.  Ultimately, the reason I went with the Thinkpad is that it that they are built for business use, so hopefully it will last me for years to come. 

[Kinnear99]

Just remember to look at the laptop as a whole and not just the processors.  Basically you need to decide what the purpose of the laptop is (Buissness, Gaming, school etc...) and go from there.  For your price range, I'd assume you would like it more for casual use instead of gaming but i'd recommend getting something with an SSD anyway (instead of the classic HDD) so you can start and access your files significantly faster. As for the processor, I recommend a quad core of at least 1.8GHz.  I also recommend getting 8GB of RAM as well.  4GB just doesnt cut it anymore, even for casual usage. Note that the price of a laptop with these specs might cost around $700 or $800 when on sale which may be above your price range, but i think it's worth the extra price

[srlawren]

@elhota I'm partial to ThinkPads.  Still have and occaionally use a 10-year-old T series for my personal use, still going strong despite a drop onto concrete that scuffed up one corner.  I swapped out the HDD for an SSD about 5 or 6 years ago, but not becuase the HDD was failing, just becuase I wanted quicker performance (night and day for sure).  I actually recently ordered a new ThinkPad for myself but won't have it for a bit yet (custom ordered).  My work PC is also a ThinkPad, at my request after a previous cheaper unit they provided kicked the bucket.  I'd have to have a very compelling reason not to pick a ThinkPad, and I've yet to run into that. 

What do I love about them?

- keyboard is amazing!! Beats out pretty much every other laptop keyboards, including Lenovo's other product lines.  YES the FN and CTRL being in the wrong order is annoying, BUT, you can very easily swap them in BIOS or software setting and keep using your muscle memory (despite the key caps then showing the "wrong" label).  Problem solved, easily.

- Durable and built to last

- Not too flashy, professional if somewhat boring.  I happen to love the look but realize it's not for everyone

- most can be heavily customized and ordered to meet your needs.  I was able to confgigure literally everything I wanted with the exception of AX Wifi (wasn't an option on my build), but I can make due with AC for now.

They're just a great fit for me personally.  But everyone's needs are differerent.

In the price range you're looking, I'm guessing the ThinkPad may not be as compelling of an option than some of the more premium T, X, and P lines, for example.

@yanzhiqiang 8th gen vs 10th gen Intel core architecture isn't really night and day.  Does Dell offer 10th gen units without a ton of other compromises in that $500-600 price point?  This is a serious question, I have not personally looked.  Dell is also a great brand and you're unlikely to go wrong with either.

ASUS, I have run into some quality issues with--one on my aforementioned work unit that completely bricked itself in under 2 years, and another in a friend's personal unit that had the graphics die--though to their credit they replaced his motherboard under warranty.   The work unit was beyond warranty.  

[yanzhiqiang]

all the deals is here

https://deals.dell.com/en-ca/category/laptops

[yanzhiqiang]

sorrey forget the link:

https://www.dell.com/en-ca/shop/dell-laptops/new-inspiron-15-5000-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-5593-laptop...

[yanzhiqiang]

when I shop for laptops, I always check Dell, because only dell use latest cpus, like this one looks like just a i3 but it is 1oth generation, the ones you are looking are 8th generation. So compare and make your dicision.