# Getting a new laptop today



## D. Strout (Jun 10, 2013)

I'm getting a new laptop today. It's the HP Envy m6-1225dx from Best Buy. i5 processor, 8GB memory, 750GB hard drive (though I might spring for an SSD in it), backlit keyboard, 5.3lbs (2.4kg). Seems like a nice machine, what do you guys think?


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## vanarp (Jun 10, 2013)

Looks good. What OS you plan to use on it?


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## Pmadd (Jun 10, 2013)

Well, the link doesn't work, but other than that it seems decent for regular/everyday use.


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## D. Strout (Jun 10, 2013)

vanarp said:


> Looks good. What OS you plan to use on it?


I'll leave Windows 8 on it, but also dual-boot Ubuntu 13.04.


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## shovenose (Jun 10, 2013)

Hmmm,

-HP laptops are horrible

-the 1366x768 screen resolution sucks

-5400RPM hard drives are slow as shit.

Other than that, enjoy your new computer  Not a bad system except for the points I mntioned above. Unfortunately almost all consumer level laptops have the same three issues: horrible quality, lousy screens with bad contrast and low resolution, and slow disks.


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## Zach (Jun 10, 2013)

shovenose said:


> Hmmm,
> 
> -HP laptops are horrible
> 
> ...


(though I might spring for an SSD in it)


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## shovenose (Jun 10, 2013)

I know, but it's an added cost. He asked for opinions on the laptop not the SSD


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## drmike (Jun 10, 2013)

shovenose said:


> Hmmm,
> 
> 
> -HP laptops are horrible
> ...


HP terrible? I've been buying almost solely from them for probably a decade. No problems and high durability.


Now getting them to work fully under Debian without tinkering, well yeah, issues there.


Screens have always been fine on them, but maybe I am not comparing $500 units to $3k units elsewhere or the latest wiz bang tech.


Slow disk, yeah, totally valid if 5400RPM bundled. SSDs make everything in the world right


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## Zach (Jun 10, 2013)

Thinkpads for running linux on Laptops for sure.


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## nocom (Jun 10, 2013)

excelle3nt


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## shovenose (Jun 10, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> HP terrible? I've been buying almost solely from them for probably a decade. No problems and high durability.


I work at a computer store. We have more people bring in dysfunctional HPs than anything else - and for the same problems every time.


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## drmike (Jun 10, 2013)

shovenose said:


> I work at a computer store. We have more people bring in dysfunctional HPs than anything else - and for the same problems every time.&nbsp;



I believe it. Lots of cost cutting going on in the industry and quality control has gone out the window in many places.


In your store, how much of sales percent on notebooks do you think is HP?


I always recommend reading reviews and not from general places like Best Buy before major purchases.


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## D. Strout (Jun 10, 2013)

Thanks for the opinions guys, but I ended up getting a different machine. It's the Asus Q400A-BHI7N03. Has an i7 instead of the i5, and for less money too. Still has the 1366x768 resolution screen, but it's actually not _that_ bad. I did really want a 1080p screen, but as has been mentioned, those are _very_ hard to come by. The laptop industry has decided that that mediocre resolution is fine by them. I was looking at getting a customized build from HP (yes, I like them, though it seems opinions about them are decidedly mixed) with the better screen, but it was $150 extra - I couldn't justify that.

Aside from the different processor, the specs are basically the same. A lot of reviewers said the sound quality was bleh, which it is, which is why I'm using USB headphones. There are also reports of crashing; hopefully I'll avoid that. So far the laptop has performed admirably, though there are two issues. First is the mousepad, which misses a fair amount of clicks. Annoying, but I'm looking in to fixing it, hopefully won't be an issue for much longer. The page up key is also loose, but it should stay on there OK.


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## Jack (Jun 10, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> HP terrible? I've been buying almost solely from them for probably a decade. No problems and high durability.
> 
> 
> Now getting them to work fully under Debian without tinkering, well yeah, issues there.
> ...


I had nothing but issues with my Compaq laptop CQ60 range but the G6 range that HP offered my cousin had without any issues... 

I guess the Compaq's were built with shite components compared to the HP range or I just got a bad egg...

Compaq has a nice support/warranty team as they offered me a second year of warranty like 80% off list price so I ended up paying


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## drmike (Jun 10, 2013)

&nbsp;



D. Strout said:


> Thanks for the opinions guys, but I ended up getting a different machine. It's the Asus&nbsp;Q400A-BHI7N03.
> 
> 
> &nbsp;
> ...


Crashing is no joke and issue to be concerned with. Question is what is crashing them.


Speakers on portables, well, just suck. No way to have true sound in a case with so little space at this point. Bluetooth or even the plain old headphone out should work great.


Mousepad and keyboard, I stopped using those on portables. Tend to be flat and wrong angles and often small chicklet keys. External mouse and keyboards are your friend and it keeps the stock unit clean and much less likely to destroy your investment with the infamous drink got knocked over. Less sad about destroying a USB keyboard and mouse.


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## shovenose (Jun 11, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> I believe it. Lots of cost cutting going on in the industry and quality control has gone out the window in many places.
> 
> 
> In your store, how much of sales percent on notebooks do you think is HP?
> ...


Well we are a combination of an e waste recycling place, a computer store, and a computer repair shop. Almost all of the laptops (and desktops) we sell are refurbished.

Off the top of my head, this is the order in which we get laptops in that we end up selling refurbished:

1. Dell

2. HP/Compaq

3. Toshiba

4. Lenovo/IBM

5. Gateway/Acer/eMachines

6. Apple

7. Other

These are how many come in to get service due to hardware issues (not counting software issues):

1. HP/Compaq

2. Gateway/Acer/eMachines

3. Toshiba

4. Dell

5. Lenovo/IBM

6. Apple

7. Other


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## earl (Jun 11, 2013)

I thought HP was up for sale? I think Dell made an offer to purchase?


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## vanarp (Jun 11, 2013)

earl said:


> I thought HP was up for sale? I think Dell made an offer to purchase?


 
They see each other as longtime rivals in PC/Server market


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## earl (Jun 11, 2013)

vanarp said:


> They see each other as longtime rivals in PC/Server market


I was under the impression that HP was broke, or something to that respect.. Heard it on the radio a while back.


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## drmike (Jun 11, 2013)

HP should be broke. Many of their business areas have evaporated in the past decade.

Q4 2012, HP brought in $30 billion and still posted a big fat loss. Hardly dead or broke though. Almost $120 billion went through HP in sales in 2012.

http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/hpq/financials


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## libro22 (Jun 11, 2013)

1366x768 is small but fine most of the time. My Lenovo had this resolution, the specs were great at that time and it was really compact. I was able to play great games on that machine. Sadly, it died only after three years. I bought a desktop instead, with SSD and bigger RAM 

I'm planning on getting Thinkpad this December, I find it portable and easy to carry. Any reviews on that?


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## Zach (Jun 11, 2013)

Here's what I'm on right now and have zero issues running anything (aside from most games):

Lenovo E520 Thinkpad

Intel Core i3 2350

6GB DDR3 1333Mhz(?)

64GB ADATA SSD

It's a 15" screen running 1366x768, and personally I find that to be more than enough for getting work done.


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## D. Strout (Jun 12, 2013)

Wi-fi card seems to be dead already. I'm probably going to return this one to Best Buy and get another unit of the same model. Hopefully that will fix all the issues I'm having (wi-fi, mousepad, loose key). I would be worried about the soundness of the model itself, but there are lots of positive reviews on Best Buy and none of them mention the Wi-fi or mousepad issues, so I'm assuming I just got a dud. The Wi-fi card is a solid Intel Centrino card, and the mousepad seems to be Synaptics, so they _should_ both be good.


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## Shados (Jun 12, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> I believe it. Lots of cost cutting going on in the industry and quality control has gone out the window in many places.
> 
> 
> In your store, how much of sales percent on notebooks do you think is HP?
> ...


I take it you're trying to make the point that he'd need to normalize the number of failures against the number of sales across each manufacturer for the information to be useful?

Anecdotally, me and a friend both bought HP laptops around the same time, both had a lot of overheating problems and died pretty quickly. I'm currently using a Gigabyte U2442F-CF2, although with a 256GB SSD. Lightweight, no heat/noise issues even when stressing it, discrete card is good enough to game on, good battery life if you're using the integrated card and 1600x900 isn't a bad compromise as far as resolution goes. The touchpad isn't Synaptics, though, which has made getting synclient-based features working under LInux a PITA.


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## texteditor (Jun 12, 2013)

buffalooed said:


> HP should be broke. Many of their business areas have evaporated in the past decade. Q4 2012, HP brought in $30 billion and still posted a big fat loss. Hardly dead or broke though. Almost $120 billion went through HP in sales in 2012. http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/hpq/financials


They've had like 5 CEOs over something like 6 or 7* 5 (holy shit) years*, each one slowly grinding the company into the ground


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