[viXit]

Originally Posted by Amien

Some people really want a numpad, others are happier with the compact tenkeyless layout, all down to use-case and personal preference.

Indeed. I was merely pointing out small things I noticed.

But I will also agree that typing numbers for logins, OTPs etc. is a hundred times easier on the num pad!

As for the EQ, Windows 10 has a built in native equalizer that you should try first before moving on to 3rd party solutions:-
Right click on the speaker icon > Sound > Playback > Properties > Enhancements > Add/set the EQ from there.

Why couldn't they just give me a simple graphic based band equaliser omg

Now I have to take a few minutes to tune it .
It's inconvenient since I'm used to having preset EQs. and switching between them as and when I like.

Thank you for pointing this out. Will use this.

[antz.bin]

Originally Posted by Grand Vitesse

Sadly, the Ryzen 5 variant has gone out of stock? How has your experience with the laptop been so far? Are the build and screen qualities good? What is the battery back up with your usage?

So after 2 full days of work on the laptop and here is my feedback:

The laptop is FAST. I have not used a faster computer in my life. And I have used workstations with Dual 3GHz Quad Core Xeon processors as daily drivers in the past. As a package, it's really good. I doubt the Ryzen 7 can feel much faster than this in day to day tasks. I have used an 8th Gen i7 Ultrabook with 16 GB of RAM and SSD recently. This is definitely faster. No complaints in that department. I haven't used dedicated gaming rigs or gaming laptops yet but this seems to be good enough for pretty much everything I need. The fast SSD and 3200 MHz RAM seems to be helping a lot with the *FAST* feeling.

Here is a benchmark snapshot in Best Performance mode:
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/34324105

There is hardly any difference between the above and when I did the same test in Best Battery mode:
https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/34324170


On both days, I have charged the laptop once in the morning and it easily lasted the entire work day. This included some automatic updates, Bluetooth Headset connected, Google Meet calls and other browser based tasks (Jira, Google Sheets etc.) It should easily last 7-8 hours if you browse the web on Microsoft Edge (the power efficiency is significantly worse with Google Chrome). It was showing me 24% battery and 2 hrs+ backup remaining when I finally put it away tonight. I am in awe since the battery capacity is just 42Wh.

Bluetooth Headset connection sound clarity and range is much better on this as compared to my 5th Gen i5 powered ThinkPad.

The New Background Blur feature of Google Meet works better on this than my colleague's MacBook Air. The processing is done by the GPU at that time and it does result in substantial power usage but there is no other effect on performance apart from the battery remaining time estimate falling off a cliff (to about 50%) as long as the background blur is on.

Now to balance the review somewhat, here are the cons:

1. The Screen is not IPS LCD. Viewing angles are limited.
2. Webcam is very basic, similar to other budget laptops.
3. There was a yellowish tint on the screen and and I was really disappointed for the first 1.5 days. Then my neighbour (who also bought the same laptop on the same day) came to my rescue and guided me how to change the colour temperature. This has now been fixed.
4. Power button is in the wrong position, it's very easy to press instead of the delete key. This issue is somewhat mitigated by the fact that the laptop is so bloody fast that you can press the same button again, touch the fingerprint scanner and get back to where you were in about 1.5 seconds.
5. RAM is non upgradable. You are stuck with what you have. The Ryzen 7 version could have benefitted greatly from a RAM upgrade in the future. This is one of the reasons I saved the additional money & gave the Ryzen 7 a pass.
6. Touchpad is OK (no issues there) but I am used to more buttons on the ThinkPad, so it will take some getting used to.

All in all, no major deal breakers identified. Overall, extremely happy with the purchase.

[PPS]

Bought an HP Laptop with the Ryzen 5 processor for 47k earlier today. Comes with 8gb RAM, 1TB HDD + 256 SSD. Yet to start using it.
McAfee Live Safe trial version seems included, is there another good anti-virus?

https://store.hp.com/in-en/default/h...u-7qz52pa.html

[Joxster]

Originally Posted by PPS

Bought an HP Laptop with the Ryzen 5 processor for 47k earlier today. Comes with 8gb RAM, 1TB HDD + 256 SSD. Yet to start using it.
McAfee Live Safe trial version seems included, is there another good anti-virus?

Congratulations on the new laptop! Hope you enjoy your experience with it.

You can use AVG Free Antivirus.

Cheers

[Amien]

Originally Posted by PPS

Bought an HP Laptop with the Ryzen 5 processor for 47k earlier today. Comes with 8gb RAM, 1TB HDD + 256 SSD. Yet to start using it.
McAfee Live Safe trial version seems included, is there another good anti-virus?

https://store.hp.com/in-en/default/h...u-7qz52pa.html

Congratulations on your purchase. Even though its an older Ryzen, it is still very capable.

As for the anti-virus, you don't need one on. Windows 10 Defender is good enough. These days, not having a non-native app with root access is more secure than mediocre 2nd-layer protection.

[Grand Vitesse]

Originally Posted by antz.bin

So after 2 full days of work on the laptop and here is my feedback:

...[*]RAM is non upgradable. You are stuck with what you have. The Ryzen 7 version could have benefitted greatly from a RAM upgrade in the future. This is one of the reasons I saved the additional money & gave the Ryzen 7 a pass...
...
All in all, no major deal breakers identified. Overall, extremely happy with the purchase.

Originally Posted by Amien

...
Take a look at the options linked here:- https://nextpc.co/2020/09/19/mid-range/

Thanks guys. Have opted for the Lenovo Ideapad slim 3 with Ryzen 5 (3500U). The lesser price of this Ideapad along with the possibility of a RAM upgrade and the bundled MS office 2019 License helped making the decision. With Lenovo there is now the option of getting a 2 yr extended warranty and ADP (total 3 year coverage) for just Rs.2k extra. The lack of option to get an extended warranty and ADP (at least not for just 2k - as far as I know), and lack of a bundled 2019 MS Office software in the Asus Vivobook 14 M413IA (Ryzen 7) was not encouraging.

Also, I wanted to know whether anyone here has experience with Msi computers (reliability, warranty service and repairs, and build quality etc.). The following seems an interesting model:
https://www.flipkart.com/msi-modern-...7b54b5f01e864f

[GrammarNazi]

Is it worth buying an extended warranty for Acer laptops ?
Aspire 5 - 515-54G - i5 (8th Gen)

Usage is :
70% for simple light tasks - LibreOffice/MS Office, Browsing and
30% of using Photoshop, CorelDraw vector/image rendering.

I want to add a new additional SSD that I bought a while back, but it has a "Warranty Void if Seal broken" on a screw-hole, and from what I gather, it can be a perfect excuse for ASC to deny any warranty claim.

[hrman]

Originally Posted by PPS

Bought an HP Laptop with the Ryzen 5 processor for 47k earlier today. Comes with 8gb RAM, 1TB HDD + 256 SSD. Yet to start using it.
McAfee Live Safe trial version seems included, is there another good anti-virus?

https://store.hp.com/in-en/default/h...u-7qz52pa.html

I have been using the in built Windows defender for many years and have personally not faced any issue, nor the need to pay for Anti Virus.

[Garth]

Originally Posted by Grand Vitesse

Thanks guys. Have opted for the Lenovo Ideapad slim 3 with Ryzen 5 (3500U). The lesser price of this Ideapad along with the possibility of a RAM upgrade and the bundled MS office 2019 License helped making the decision. With Lenovo there is now the option of getting a 2 yr extended warranty and ADP (total 3 year coverage) for just Rs.2k extra. The lack of option to get an extended warranty and ADP (at least not for just 2k - as far as I know), and lack of a bundled 2019 MS Office software in the Asus Vivobook 14 M413IA (Ryzen 7) was not encouraging.

I also bought the same. Am still awaiting for delivery. Will put in a review once I have used it for a couple of days.

[The Rationalist]

Hi guys, my Lenovo ThinkPad which I got from Canada has stopped charging. The error shown is - A battery error has occured. The battery cannot be charged. Replace the battery' . The Lenovo service centre in Camp, Pune has been unable to repair the laptop. Anyone has got any solutions, to send it back to Canada during this pandemic is very difficult. Thanks in advance.

[padmrajravi]

Originally Posted by The Rationalist

Hi guys, my Lenovo ThinkPad which I got from Canada has stopped charging. The error shown is - A battery error has occured. The battery cannot be charged. Replace the battery' . The Lenovo service centre in Camp, Pune has been unable to repair the laptop. Anyone has got any solutions, to send it back to Canada during this pandemic is very difficult. Thanks in advance.

Youtube and Ebay/Amazon are your friends. Battery replacement videos for most Thinkpad models are available in youtube. I replaced the keyboard of my Thinkpad Yoga recently by following a youtube video and purchasing the part from Amazon.com. You may not get the part from Amazon India. Either the international Amazon website or Ebay will have most spare parts.

This is assuming you are having a bad battery. If something has gone wrong with the charging circuitary, only the service centre can fix it. But the logic board going wrong is very unlikely.

[Amien]

Originally Posted by Grand Vitesse

Thanks guys. Have opted for the Lenovo Ideapad slim 3 with Ryzen 5 (3500U). Asus Vivobook 14 M413IA (Ryzen 7) was not encouraging.

Also, I wanted to know whether anyone here has experience with Msi computers (reliability, warranty service and repairs, and build quality etc.).

I think that's a good choice overall. BTW, you can get a competitive extended warranty from just about every brand (including ASUS) these days.

As for MSI, just like every brand they have their hits-and-misses. Service has improved considerably of late and I would say that they are now about on par with most brands. The Modern series is not bad, though somewhat behind the Prestige range for fit/finish. It may be possible to recommend better alternatives if you share your use-case for it.

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Is it worth buying an extended warranty for Acer laptops ?
Usage is :
70% for simple light tasks - LibreOffice/MS Office, Browsing and
30% of using Photoshop, CorelDraw vector/image rendering.

Warranty Void if Seal broken"

Your requirements are quite modest so it shouldn't be hard to meet them in the range you're looking at. Extended warranty is a personal choice based on how you treat your devices/your risk appetite. Any QC/hardware isssues will become apparent long before the standard 1 year warranty expires. Anything over that is just insurance. Every brand offers a competitive warranty, (standard or extended) these days, actual service being subject to the provider contracted at the time.
Don't worry about the warranty void stickers, they do not hold any weight (and are now illegal in many countries). Do wait for the return/replacement window for your new purchase to close before adding an SSD/RAM however.

If durability/longevity is your priority, I would recommend this Thinkpad instead. The 10th gen i3 is more efficient, has a stronger IGP and you should not miss the extra cores for your use-case. Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by The Rationalist

Hi guys, my Lenovo ThinkPad which I got from Canada has stopped charging. to send it back to Canada during this pandemic is very difficult.

Please don't send it to Canada xD. Replacing the battery should do the trick. A simple YT video should be able to guide you through the process.

[AMG Power]

What would be a good laptop for a kid about to enter college? Not a science graduate so a basic one would suffice I guess. Something reliable with good service. Thanks.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by AMG Power

What would be a good laptop for a kid about to enter college? Not a science graduate so a basic one would suffice I guess. Something reliable with good service. Thanks.

I bought a HP laptop (link given below) a week ago for my wife. Her intended usage would mostly be PPT, XLS, Word, PDF and browsing to research for her lectures. I bought it from a HP World shop for 46.5 k. Please do check, I think it would be enough for your kid's purpose.

https://store.hp.com/in-en/default/l...u-7qz52pa.html

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

I bought a HP laptop (link given below) a week ago for my wife. Her intended usage would mostly be PPT, XLS, Word, PDF and browsing to research for her lectures. I bought it from a HP World shop for 46.5 k. Please do check, I think it would be enough for your kid's purpose.

https://store.hp.com/in-en/default/l...u-7qz52pa.html

Thanks. I was also thinking that one of the base models of HP would be good enough.