Laptop upgrade advice

Dreamin

Full time elf
Joined
Dec 28, 2016
Messages
382
Location
Sunshine Coast
That laptop checks pretty near every box except for being out of stock.

It's instock on their online store according to the link.

Also plenty of others have stock but I buy from Umart, they are local and competative and there when I need bits and bobs urgently. it seems to be a model selling quick. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=D509DA-BR208T which doesn't surprise me. Not many 15" models have dual drive option for that price from my experience.
 

Derf

am now a 5v hypocrite
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
Messages
251
Location
Narellan Vale, NSW
When searching things on a budget I normally point people into refurbished laptops. Last 10 I have bought have been either X Displays or Used for 3 months either at banks, etc then not needed with 0 wear on the thumpad as it is in a holder all the time.


They will have something under your budget with more power than what you would like.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AAH

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
Community project designer
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
4,188
Location
Eaglehawk
When searching things on a budget I normally point people into refurbished laptops. Last 10 I have bought have been either X Displays or Used for 3 months either at banks, etc then not needed with 0 wear on the thumpad as it is in a holder all the time.


They will have something under your budget with more power than what you would like.
I'm damned if I can find anything that suits. So far I haven't found anything better than the Asus lappy. It'd be awesome if there was some way of searching by ram size, screen res and whether they are dual hdd compatible.
 

tooms

12v4life
Joined
Jan 2, 2015
Messages
208
Location
Kalgoorlie
I'd stick to Dell / Lenovo / HP .. easy to get parts for later on, drivers and firmware maintained for a couple of years, I've found the Asus / Acer / Random cheaper brands once they go out of fashion are rarely updated for drivers and firmware and people just bin them because it's cheaper to buy new then repair.
 

AAH

I love blinky lights :)
Community project designer
Joined
Dec 27, 2010
Messages
4,188
Location
Eaglehawk
I'd stick to Dell / Lenovo / HP .. easy to get parts for later on, drivers and firmware maintained for a couple of years, I've found the Asus / Acer / Random cheaper brands once they go out of fashion are rarely updated for drivers and firmware and people just bin them because it's cheaper to buy new then repair.
I have only ever had Toshiba lappies personally and have never had a problem with them. Both my kids have HP and not a fan of them but they are both the bottom of the range ones. I have a dislike of both Dell and HP when it comes to desktop machines as both companies produce non standard form factors which make it a biatch to add or change stuff on them. I'm not sure what any laptop other than Toshiba or HP is like.
 

Jarrad33

150k of Pixels for 2023
Joined
Oct 8, 2019
Messages
238
Location
Brisbane
I have bought at least 20 Dell laptops in the past 2 years. Only 1 had failed (dead battery) and they come out to fix it. I have added larger hard drive an Ram no problems

I bought 4 HPs and all 4 are dead
 
  • Like
Reactions: AAH

tooms

12v4life
Joined
Jan 2, 2015
Messages
208
Location
Kalgoorlie
I've purchased some fairly low end tier-1 vendor devices in the past, and unfortunately you get what you pay for. Toshiba use to be a great brand, you just don't see them a lot anymore, not to say they are not any good, just not as popular as they once were.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AAH

djgra79

My name is Graham & I love flashing lights!
Global moderator
Generous elf
Joined
Dec 27, 2011
Messages
2,161
Location
Cranbourne West
My HP laptop screen died (LED backlight) within 9 months of brand new. Sent it off to be repaired (via overseas but they paid) and got it back within a week all shiny and new no cost to me. I've replaced the HDD with an SSD after 12 months warranty was up and it zooms along nicely, no complaints.
 

djgra79

My name is Graham & I love flashing lights!
Global moderator
Generous elf
Joined
Dec 27, 2011
Messages
2,161
Location
Cranbourne West
Add an SSD to it yourself afterwards? If I can do it, anyone can!
 

tooms

12v4life
Joined
Jan 2, 2015
Messages
208
Location
Kalgoorlie
SSD all the way. I would start with 32gb of DRAM, 16 at the bare minimum, I'm just sitting here at the moment, not doing anything too heavy on the home PC and it's swallowed up 14gb of dram just with web browsing, email, logging into work and a few other random apps open. Also maybe try and find a laptop with 3 year warranty off the bat.
 

Derf

am now a 5v hypocrite
Joined
Dec 1, 2016
Messages
251
Location
Narellan Vale, NSW
SSD all the way. I would start with 32gb of DRAM, 16 at the bare minimum, I'm just sitting here at the moment, not doing anything too heavy on the home PC and it's swallowed up 14gb of dram just with web browsing, email, logging into work and a few other random apps open. Also maybe try and find a laptop with 3 year warranty off the bat.

Ram-animation.gif
 
Top