Current Events > Is this a good deal on a laptop?

(+) Yeah! (+)

seems even better than the one with worse specs at the bottom of the screen shot. is it a good deal in general, though?

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/7/7/AAP15pAADa0V.jpg

Don't buy HP

Flockaveli posted...

Don't buy HP

what why

Not gonna be amazing for gaming (useable though, just not great) but pretty good otherwise. You really want either a dedicated GPU or a Ryzen 6000 CPU for gaming.

what about stardew valley?

that's all I want as far as a game on it

berlyman101 posted...

what about stardew valley?

that's all I want as far as a game on it

It can play that. Stardew Valley isn't a very heavy game.

But if you're wanting a gaming laptop, check out Asus brand.

Been using them for 10 years.

yeah I want to know that too

why wouldnt you buy HP?

impossible to tell without seeing all other specs

screen resolution, nits, touch/not, etc
battery capacity
weight
extra features (i. e. biometrics, camera quality, etc)
keyboard and touchpad quality
any bundled software (i.e. free year of ms office, etc)

also, statements such as "don't buy hp", or really any sweeping generalizations, are ill-informed, incorrect, and come from emotion. Usually stemming from one's personal experience. Which, as we all know, is a fallacy to apply to everyone.

@berlyman101 posted...

seems even better than the one with worse specs at the bottom of the screen shot. is it a good deal in general, though?

NOoOoo...!
Unless you need the laptop RIGHT NOW, skip it TC.

Usually you can get a pretty good deal from a sale like this but assuming you can wait, this one is honestly not worth it even with the 16GB+512GB specs.

1.) Ryzen 5000 vs 6000 series
A poster mentioned about Ryzen 6000 for gaming; this is true. The Ryzen 5500U "Lucienne" above came out last year with GCN5 iGPU (GCN5 = 5th iteration of GCN architecture). Ryzen 6000 series "Rembrandt" laptop should come out sooner or later this year with RDNA2 iGPU.

So, what's the deal with GCN5 vs RDNA2? Well...
PS4 = GCN2
PS4 Pro = GCN4
PS5 = RDNA2(!!)

Of course, this DOESN'T mean 6000 series iGPU has PS5 graphic (different tech specs). However this illustrates a massive iGPU jump from 5000 to 6000 series compared to say, from 4000 to 5000 series.

2.) HP's Spare Parts Availability
Another poster mentioned, "Don't buy HP!" I obviously don't know his/her reasoning but I tend to agree here.

Laptop in this price range doesn't exactly have the best QC. Sooner or later something will break. This by itself is not a con specific to HP. It's a cheap laptop afterall, can't expect Nintendo's level of indestructibility here.

But the thing is, I found out that HP's service center would stop providing spare parts after a period of time that's shorter than their competitors' period of time. I hope that make sense. You can import the part yourself after said period but HP (and other brands) will refuse to install it, forcing you to find a 3rd party repair or buy a new laptop.

I need to mention that this is my own personal observation. Your local service center may have a different policy.

3.) Alternatives
What's your maximum budget TC? Any preferred specs? Use case?

In a nutshell, for your budget ($500 - $600) :
- Want to play game? Wait for Ryzen 6000 series.
- Want something looong lasting, repairable, and built like an aircraft carrier? Used ThinkPad laptop.
- Want something small and stylish? Used Dell XPS 13. Carefully check the thermal here, search google for further review.

You can also try a used gaming laptop assuming you can find one for your budget. Remember that if you want Windows 11, you'll need at least an 8th gen Intel.

EDIT: Thermal, gaming laptop

HP used to be a meme brand for laptops. Dunno how much has changed nowadays

LordYeezus posted...

HP used to be a meme brand for laptops. Dunno how much has changed nowadays

Still the same

LordYeezus posted...

HP used to be a meme brand for laptops. Dunno how much has changed nowadays

lol, I was gonna say this. Pretty cheap though. Cheapest sub $1,000 RTX2060 laptop in my area back then until they replaced it with RTX3050 and jacked the price :(

LordYeezus posted...

HP used to be a meme brand for laptops. Dunno how much has changed nowadays

What year was that, I thought they were alright in like late 00s-early 00s, then eventually turned into shit.

Thanks for the responses.

My use case is streaming, light games, and more importantly coding/data analysis and light video editing. Possibly game development later on but I doubt I'd be doing any 3d stuff.

I could go a bit higher since I have a choice of 200 dollars to use at either Amazon or best buy.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Yeah I don't need it for that but we're on a gaming website.

so for those basing your opinion on that, it's not so much a factor for me.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

My gaming laptop is fucking sick

Naysaspace posted...

impossible to tell without seeing all other specs

screen resolution, nits, touch/not, etc
battery capacity
weight
extra features (i. e. biometrics, camera quality, etc)
keyboard and touchpad quality
any bundled software (i.e. free year of ms office, etc)

also, statements such as "don't buy hp", or really any sweeping generalizations, are ill-informed, incorrect, and come from emotion. Usually stemming from one's personal experience. Which, as we all know, is a fallacy to apply to everyone.

I've been in the IT industry for a long time and while I generally agree with your statements about generalizations, in this case it's warranted. Don't buy HP laptops.

@berlyman101 posted...

My use case is streaming, light games, and more importantly coding/data analysis and light video editing. Possibly game development later on but I doubt I'd be doing any 3d stuff.

I could go a bit higher since I have a choice of 200 dollars to use at either Amazon or best buy.

Sorry for late reply TC. With a budget of $550+$200, you most definitely can get a better deal than that HP. For your use case, I'd suggest a used ThinkPad or a cheap gaming laptop from Best Buy Open Box.

Regarding gaming laptop, you obviously don't need its dGPU but its cooling should be able to sustain the CPU performance in turbo freq and protect your SSD from unwanted heat.

1.) ThinkPad
A new one costs a leg so we'll aim for a used one. Various companies buy them in bulk then sell them after the warranty runs out, usually after 3/4 years. These ex-companies ThinkPads usually come in a (very) good condition without ugly damage or excessive wear and tear that people associate with used goods.

You should be able to get a 2018 model with 8th gen Intel or maybe even a 2019 one with 10th gen Intel / Ryzen 3000. See the T480 for starter, I once saw this for under $500. See also the slim X series and if lucky, the powerful P series with Xeon. Internet has a further buying guide for used ThinkPad.

With them you'll get a much better experience:
- Cheap yet sturdy, durable and repairable
- Pleasant IPS screen
- Comfortable keyboard for long coding session
- Great community support, modding, linux, and so on

The keyboard cannot be overstated, trust me on this. You won't go back to those usual keyboards on the $500 laptops after this lol.

Btw ThinkPad spec varies by regions, for example some may come with entry level MX dGPU. See the official site for details:
https://psref.lenovo.com/

Beside Lenovo, Dell and HP also offer similar business line laptops. Iirc the keyboards on Dell/HP utilize half height keys for up and down arrow in a single line formation while ThinkPad has full sized keys in an inverted-T formation. I prefer ThinkPad for those.

2.) Best Buy Open Box
Since you mostly have CPU-bound tasks, it's safe to assume the CPU will hit turbo freq constantly. This generates a lot of heat and if your SSD is exposed, you might risk a data loss.

SSD is usually rated for 60-70C at max. Please take this into account if you live somewhere hot and use a laptop with paltry cooling or high end proc. Look at a teardown video and use the farthest-from-CPU SSD slot. Throttle your CPU if necessary and use cooling mod.

Due to the heating problem above, a cheap gaming laptop from Best Buy Open Box actually suits your need. Get a cheap one from Asus/Acer. For school/office Legion laptop has plain old design without gaming aesthetic, might be out of your budget though.

Take for example the cheap Asus TUF F series gaming laptops. Their cooling often struggle to handle both the CPU and the dGPU at the same time however you won't engage the dGPU so no problem there. Plus better built, screen and keyboard than that HP.

3.) HP Laptop
Just kidding. Stay away

Good luck TC!

thisworld posted...

Sorry for late reply TC. With a budget of $550+$200, you most definitely can get a better deal than that HP. For your use case, I'd suggest a used ThinkPad or a cheap gaming laptop from Best Buy Open Box.

Regarding gaming laptop, you obviously don't need its dGPU but its cooling should be able to sustain the CPU performance in turbo freq and protect your SSD from unwanted heat.

1.) ThinkPad
A new one costs a leg so we'll aim for a used one. Various companies buy them in bulk then sell them after the warranty runs out, usually after 3/4 years. These ex-companies ThinkPads usually come in a (very) good condition without ugly damage or excessive wear and tear that people associate with used goods.

You should be able to get a 2018 model with 8th gen Intel or maybe even a 2019 one with 10th gen Intel / Ryzen 3000. See the T480 for starter, I once saw this for under $500. See also the slim X series and if lucky, the powerful P series with Xeon. Internet has a further buying guide for used ThinkPad.

With them you'll get a much better experience:
- Cheap yet sturdy, durable and repairable
- Pleasant IPS screen
- Comfortable keyboard for long coding session
- Great community support, modding, linux, and so on

The keyboard cannot be overstated, trust me on this. You won't go back to those usual keyboards on the $500 laptops after this lol.

Btw ThinkPad spec varies by regions, for example some may come with entry level MX dGPU. See the official site for details:
https://psref.lenovo.com/

Beside Lenovo, Dell and HP also offer similar business line laptops. Iirc the keyboards on Dell/HP utilize half height keys for up and down arrow in a single line formation while ThinkPad has full sized keys in an inverted-T formation. I prefer ThinkPad for those.

2.) Best Buy Open Box
Since you mostly have CPU-bound tasks, it's safe to assume the CPU will hit turbo freq constantly. This generates a lot of heat and if your SSD is exposed, you might risk a data loss.

SSD is usually rated for 60-70C at max. Please take this into account if you live somewhere hot and use a laptop with paltry cooling or high end proc. Look at a teardown video and use the farthest-from-CPU SSD slot. Throttle your CPU if necessary and use cooling mod.

Due to the heating problem above, a cheap gaming laptop from Best Buy Open Box actually suits your need. Get a cheap one from Asus/Acer. For school/office Legion laptop has plain old design without gaming aesthetic, might be out of your budget though.

Take for example the cheap Asus TUF F series gaming laptops. Their cooling often struggle to handle both the CPU and the dGPU at the same time however you won't engage the dGPU so no problem there. Plus better built, screen and keyboard than that HP.

3.) HP Laptop
Just kidding. Stay away

Good luck TC!

This is great. Thank you, @thisworld

berlyman101 posted...

This is great. Thank you, @thisworld

You're welcome TC. I'm glad I could help.

Don't buy Windows 11

Speaking from experience, HP laptops are loaded with bloatware and overheat very easily

had to replace the internal fan in mine twice, and now it's starting to fail a third time

FL81 posted...

had to replace the internal fan in mine twice, and now it's starting to fail a third time

Damn that's crazy. Did you try undervolting the CPU?

My laptop is an HP Pavilion gaming laptop, 2018 model. Upgraded it to 16GB RAM a couple years ago so I could run CoD Warzone, and had to replace the battery a few months ago.

It runs great still. Only paid like $750 for it back in Jan 2019, didnt expect it to last this long.

thisworld posted...

Damn that's crazy. Did you try undervolting the CPU?

Nah, but I do have a newer laptop though