Depends on the trackpad but in my own error I never checked what was on the XPS before I bought and I see now it has no buttons. If it doesn't have an actual mechanical press for the buttons then it would drive me insane. The first thing I turn off on any laptop is the pad tap to click.Originally Posted by CJay
Interesting, that's what I turn on first. If i'm already using a trackpad then i just go all in, don't want to be pressing down to click. Might as well use a mouse at that point
Yeah, you don't need buttons on a trackpad. It actually confuses me when I have to use one with buttons. Apple trackpads are miles better, but apparently Windows laptops have gotten better recently. I didn't realise top end laptops still had buttons.
That's why I want to buy a mouse.
I inadvertently drag stuff all the time with those stupid touch ones. Worst thing about my work HP one is that you can't save it that it has to be clicked so you have to go into the control panel every time you switch on to change it.
I used to love the little ball/stick thing they had on the IBM ThinkPads.
It does click thankfully. Might still get that mouse though.
https://youtu.be/xCb3KlaQAKI
What's this Thunderbolt 3 port about? Most searches I've done seem to refer back to plugging in apple stuff, but it looks like a USB-C port. Is it just a standard one of those with a marketing name?
It's a faster USB C port.
Happy days. Must get a few C to C cables.
The touchpad on the XPS isn't actually that bad as touchpads go. The touch to click is a whole lot less of a pain than it is on my HP one that I use for work, but for all the gestures they have it's shite that they don't have one for middle click (like the way you can click the scroll wheel on a real mouse to open a link in a new tab in Chrome).
I'm looking for something with a decent screen, SSD and decent battery life.
http://www.argos.co.uk/product/6552624
That looked perfect but they seem to be out of stock.
Any suggestions?
What shops can I actually go into to buy a laptop? Pretty much the only place I can think of is Curry's.
I always use pcspecialist.co.uk
The custom built ones? I was looking at their laptops - are they any good? I like how with your normal name brands I can read proper reviews.
Do you have Harvey Norman or DID there?
That said, online will be better. I just bought direct from Dell.
Also, the fact that it's 2017 and there are still so many 1366x768 screens about is disgusting.
Harvey Norman only seems to sell furniture judging by their website? What's DID?
I use PCSpecialist for all of the PCs and laptops in my office. There's 3 laptops that are 4 years old* and 3 desktops that are anywhere between 3 years and 6 months old. All still run great and have never had any issues.
*I did upgrade the laptops by installing an SSD about a year ago.
DID Electrical, though it may only be here.
I'd have a check of Harvey Normans site if they operate there. They definitely do stuff like laptops, TV's, etc as well as the furniture.
EDIT - yeah I see now. There seems to be loads more stuff on harveynorman.ie than is on the .co.uk one.
It’s in stock on Amazon. Probably more expensive than at Argos though. It’s probably got the best combination of decent screen and specs at this price range. I looked for quite a while for my wife before she told me she didn’t want to spend that much, at which point I told her she may as well just stick with her current crap one in that case. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01NCU9B..._vQUWzbYQ6WKHFI'm looking for something with a decent screen, SSD and decent battery life.
http://www.argos.co.uk/product/6552624
That looked perfect but they seem to be out of stock.
Any suggestions?
FHD + 8gb ram + decent processor + ssd for under £500 is very hard to find. There seems to be a compromise in one of those factors with every laptop.
The RAM would probably the best one to scrimp on and so long as you can expand it. That said, it's about a decade since I bought RAM so it could be expensive now.
Yeah, £100 more though! Bit annoying when I know I could have had it for the Argos price.
Yeah, it seems to be that way.
I did find it on Debenhams for £510 but it's the gold version. Not sure about that.
I'd rather pay the extra cash from Amazon.
Although you would look devilishly cute with it.
That's pretty impressive they're still going well. What models did you get?
What's my best way to connect a laptop to the TV to play games? There is a HDMI port on it, but is there something better that I can use from that Thunderbolt port?
HDMI. Your thunderbolt ports are USB-C. If you had a USB-C monitor you could connect it and probably get display and power out of the single cable. At least that’s how it is on the new MBPs.
Grand job, I think I've a HDMI cable laying around and all.
I might buy a monitor at some stage anyway so as I'm not hogging the telly.
https://www.cclonline.com/product/23...620-/NOT04488/
That looks pretty decent but I can't find any indication of battery life.
http://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/getpdf....99.pdf?ver=1.0
Page 8.
Up to 12 hours? Holy shit.
I’d be very surprised if that is a real world test. That’s probably best possible case i.e. lowest brightness setting, etc.
Indeed, it's probably closer to 8 in a real world test.
Yeah, obviously you won't get the full amount. But the best claim I've seen before that was 10 hours. So even claiming that many is impressive, assuming all the manufacturers' claims are just lies.
From reviews it seems like you could easily expect 6 hours plus.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-250....181969.0.html
Looks like a good choice. I have no idea why they’ve slapped a vga port on it, though.
That's the G5. I can't seem to find any proper reviews for the one I linked (the G6).
Fair point - thought it was just a different processor. It shouldn't be a worry, anyway. You going for it?
Yeah, think I'm going to.
Ordered it. Holding you responsible if it's no good, @CJay.
My real advice is to buy a MacBook Pro.
I need Windows.
I thought you could install Windows on Macs nowadays.
What would be the point?
Also MacBook Pros are far too expensive anyway.
They can boot either once you do. But yeah, when I was looking lately I was shocked by how expensive they are.
I was shocked by how much some of the high end Windows laptops were too. Some of the 'best laptops' reviews lists I was looking at had ones that were £1500+
Mine was €1700 (though I didn't pay the VAT and got it for around €1350), but even in that range there always seems to be a compromise. Screen was mine.
I paid just under £1500 for mine.
512GB SSD and 4k monitor though.
My laptop is going massively on the go slow at the moment. Football Manager was almost unplayable last night. I’m going to defrag, clean the hard drive etc today but at 5 years old I think it’s knackered.
Anyone seen any good offers? I don’t need anything fancy, my current one was only £300
Spend £80 and stick an SSD in. It’ll feel like new and get you another year out of it.
Yeah, I’m not poncing about with the thing. I had to google what an SSD was and I’m still not sure. Unless it’s plug and play it’s a no go.
Replacing the HD with an SSD is piss easy (I managed it following this). Paid £110 for a 480gb ssd and it has improved the thing a lot. New lease of life and all that. Stuck a bit more RAM in for good measure as well, which set me back about £40.
Had to replace the keyboard at the same time which was a more mixed exercise on the success front.
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