[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by DogNDamsel12

Attachment 2713151

I am getting this message now from Microsoft. Seems like another attempt at getting me to buy a new laptop? Mine is 10 years old - Lenovo ThinkTank T430s. Runs without any issues - just had a battery change this year.

Is this that marketing strategy of getting people to buy what they don't need?

No issue if you are using it as a personal device as of now. My 2019 laptop is also running Windows 10, although I am having an option to upgrade to 11 and my hardware fully supports the next Windows.

I see a windows not activated message. Did you not activate it for some reason or your OS is pirated ? Lots of legit/illegit ways to activate your OS are available.

[ValarMorghulis]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

Went ahead and got an M3 Macbook Air. Exchanged my old Windoze laptop at Reliance Digital (they offered a cool 16K).

Feeling the same way I felt the first time I got an iPhone: Should have done this earlier

[EnthDriver]

Hello BHPians,

I am here to seek advice as I have started the hunt to replace my current HP 14s because of its ageing and the specs of this laptop won't be enough for my upcoming use cases.

My use case: I am first year student pursuing electrical engineering. I use my laptop primarily for browsing, reading PDFs, listening to music, coding, presentations, dual-booting fedora and for SolidWorks (CAD).

I have shortlisted following laptops:
The first one, Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 6 (AMD) with Ryzen 5 7530U, 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD

Why ThinkPad?

Because they are robust machines and they last for years and they have their own special appeal.

Coming to the second option, I have shortlisted the M3 MacBook air with 16GB RAM and 256GB as I am (kind of) fed up with windows and its inconsistencies. So I decided that macOS would be a fresh breath of air in terms of UI and overall experience.

That arrives me to the question, which of these would be ideal for my use case?

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by EnthDriver

...I have shortlisted the M3 MacBook air with 16GB RAM and 256GB as I am (kind of ) fed up with windows and its inconsistencies. So I decided that macOS would be a fresh breath of air in terms of UI and overall experience...

As a recent convert to Macbooks, I can confidently say that ease of use is a breeze! I mean like everything Apple, this just works. No lag, no drama, no slowing up.

I don't think Fedora works on M3 and for Solidworks you might have to install Parallels Desktop.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by EnthDriver

...
My use case : I am first year student pursuing electrical engineering , I use my laptop primarily for browsing , reading PDFs , listening to music , coding , presentations , dual-booting fedora and for SolidWorks (CAD)...

That arrives me to the question , which of these would be ideal for my usecase ?

A few things you ought to consider:

1. Software needs: Are your primary software requirements available in similarly specced versions on both Windows & Mac? Emulators like Parallels have gotten much better that they used to be, but the best they can still do is native-like, not native-equivalent.

2. Upgradability: Would you be ok to use the configuration you buy for at least the duration of your engg. course? Component upgradability is getting more difficult across the board but Thinkpads can still be tweaked a little here and there. MacBooks now are 'use what you bought or get a new one', pretty much. Upgrades during purchase cost a lot too (~200 USD per step of RAM & SSD upgrades). A similar spec bump when configuring a Thinkpad would cost you less.

3. Running costs: Most Windows on Mac emulators are subscription based, so that's additional costs to consider. Mac specific accessories, at least the ones Apple sell cost a fair chunk of change too. Macs are also much harder to repair 3rd party, and Apple-provided repairs can be expensive.

As a student, you're probably better off getting something you can buy, run & tweak without breaking the bank, and not hindered by artificial constraints Apple sometimes puts on its devices when dealing with anything outside their native ecosystem.

Reference: my work computer is Windows and personal one an M1 MacBook Air. Both great for what I have them for, but I won't swap their use cases.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by EnthDriver

y use case : I am first year student pursuing electrical engineering , I use my laptop primarily for browsing , reading PDFs , listening to music , coding , presentations , dual-booting fedora and for SolidWorks (CAD).

The first one , Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 6 (AMD) with Ryzen 5 7530U , 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD

Coming to the second option , I have shortlisted the M3 MacBook air with 16GB RAM and 256GB as I am (kind of ) fed up with windows?

None of these are optimal for this usage. Get a Gaming laptop in range of 80k to 100k.

Gaming laptops are default choice for engineering.

1. SolidWorks can use GPUs for some projects. Gaming laptops have good GPUs.
2. If college requires add-ins for labs, Mac is ruled out. Not practical to deal with Mac -> Windows VM -> Arm to X86 translation . Typical examples would be VLSI / CAD software and add-ins

Examples :

https://www.amazon.in/ASUS-TUF-Gamin...dp/B0DDTNZ2LR/ (1 lakh)

https://www.amazon.in/ASUS-Gaming-Ge...dp/B0D8LG5P8T/ (75k)

Similar Options with HP Omen / Acer etc.

[rohan_iitr]

Hi,

I am looking to purchase a laptop for personal use. Budget is around 80-90k.

My requirements are - 15 inch display, Windows and MS Office pre-installed, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD along with the usual set of features.

Other preferences include - ease of upgrading RAM & SSD, good after sales, decent build quality and looks.

I already have two 14 inch laptops - one personal and one official, both in good condition. (Both are HP branded - one is intel i5 and another is AMD R7 with 16 GB RAM. Both give acceptable performance for my everyday use case)

This additional purchase is just because of some perk which needs to be claimed from the office. This would be used at home only.

I find the 14 inch display to be very small for anything other than web browsing. (I use an external monitor/keyboard/mouse in the office). Thats why I am leaning towards 15 inch display.

I need help on the following:
1. Which processor should I be targeting at 80-90k price point ?
2. Would it be a good idea to buy laptop with dedicated nvidia graphics ?

Thanks in advance.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

My requirements are - 15 inch display, Windows and MS Office pre-installed, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD along with the usual set of features.

Other preferences include - ease of upgrading RAM & SSD, good after sales, decent build quality and looks. ..
2. Would it be a good idea to buy laptop with dedicated nvidia graphics ?

How much do you care for battery backup and weight /portability ?

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Hi,

I am looking to purchase a laptop for personal use. Budget is around 80-90k.

My requirements are - 15 inch display, Windows and MS Office pre-installed, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD along with the usual set of features.

Other preferences include - ease of upgrading RAM & SSD, good after sales, decent build quality and looks.

............................

I find the 14 inch display to be very small for anything other than web browsing. (I use an external monitor/keyboard/mouse in the office). Thats why I am leaning towards 15 inch display.

I need help on the following:
1. Which processor should I be targeting at 80-90k price point ?
2. Would it be a good idea to buy laptop with dedicated nvidia graphics ?

Thanks in advance.

Firstly if you find 14" screen small, just add an external monitor. Most of the current laptops can support two external monitors out of the box.

If you want high horsepower then go for i7 or i9 (or their AMD equivalent). For normal use and i5 or AMD 5000 series is enough.

I have a Lenovo ThinkPad E14 with AMD 5000 series CPU, 512 GB SSD and 24GB RAM. I have two external monitors (so three in total) and that takes care fo the scree size and real estate.
. 14" HD native screen
. 24" HD external
. 27" 4K external

You can always add an internal SSD ( 512GB, 1TB or 2TB). But I prefer external drives for storage as 512GB is more than enough for working and temporary files. External storage is for backup, or in my case for huge Satellite Image files (each file is 2GB+ and there are 2000+ files for one app and another 4GB+ for other).

For connecting monitors and drives, I have a USB C hub that can add upto seven devices. You get hubs for 5 to 20+ devices and in general the hubs can be cascaded to add more connections.

The reason I like Thinkpads is their build quality, excellent keyboard and a good bright screen.

[rohan_iitr]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

How much do you care for battery backup and weight /portability ?

Battery life and portability are not of great concern. The laptop would be used at home only.

My wife is an artist. She does a lot of video editing work. That's why I was leaning towards entry level gaming laptop (HP Victus) with nvidia graphics.

Are the 2-in-1 laptops (HP x360) any good ? I can't see the use case for having touch screen in a laptop and folding the screen to make it like a tablet PC.

Originally Posted by Aroy

Firstly if you find 14" screen small, just add an external monitor. Most of the current laptops can support two external monitors out of the box.

If you want high horsepower then go for i7 or i9 (or their AMD equivalent). For normal use and i5 or AMD 5000 series is enough.

Like I mentioned, I use an external monitor at office. But at home, I do not plan to use an external monitor.

The laptop is not meant for WFH. It is a going to be personal laptop for home use.

I am familiar with the usual i5/i7 and R5/R7 processors. I am seeing some laptops with Intel Ultra and AMD Ryzen Pro processors. What are these processors targeted at ?

[anivy]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Are the 2-in-1 laptops (HP x360) any good ? I can't see the use case for having touch screen in a laptop and folding the screen to make it like a tablet PC.

Based on an old post (The Laptop Thread: Configs, deals & questions) from 2021, HP x360 is not recommended.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

I am familiar with the usual i5/i7 and R5/R7 processors. I am seeing some laptops with Intel Ultra and AMD Ryzen Pro processors. What are these processors targeted at ?

Intel changed the naming/branding of the Core processor lines from last year. Until this you had the Core i3/i5/i7 series and each generation was sequential. So you had something like Core i5 12th Gen or 13th Gen or 14th Gen. The 13th and 14th Gen were the latest in the series (code named RaptorLake). In 2023 Intel changed the nomenclature and branding as there were significant changes in the design, performance and battery life in the latest generation. So the branding changed to Core Ultra Series 1 which came out in 2023 end and Core Ultra Series 2 which came out end of 2024. The individual SKUs are now called Core Ultra 5, Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 9. The processor numbers will be something like 125U, 155H for Series 1 and 226, 258 etc for Series 2.

It is a bit confusing, but in summary, if buying Intel, Core Ultra 7 Series 2 is the latest and greatest and is the best blend of performance, battery life and enables sleeker designs from the OEMS. In India Core Ultra Series 2 machines are still not too many and are mostly priced upward of a Lakh. In the 90k Range, a Core Ultra 7 Series 1 is the best bet to go for. Since performance is important, the processors to look for are the 155/185H which also have the Integrated GPU and NPU for the AI workloads.

An example of a Core Ultra 7 Series 2 Lenovo Yoga Aura

Core Ultra 7 Series 1- Asus Zenbook 14 (Series 2 from Asus is launching this Thursday)

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Hi,
I am looking to purchase a laptop for personal use. Budget is around 80-90k.

The way things are these days you will find more value if you simply cough up some extra cash and buy a 15inch MacBook Air

You say that you don’t require battery life and that you want it to have expandable memory and storage options, but the laptops that offer that in or near your budget, compromise severely on build, speaker and display quality, which your wife will benefit greatly from if she is doing any video editing work.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Battery life and portability are not of great concern. The laptop would be used at home only.

My wife is an artist. She does a lot of video editing work. That's why I was leaning towards entry level gaming laptop (HP Victus) with nvidia graphics.
But at home, I do not plan to use an external monitor.

Probably you should seriously look at Mac Mini (60k).

1. No laptop < 1 lakh will be able to match it for video editing performance.
2. Very easy to add storage , comes with 40 gbps USB C (Thunderbolt) ports. Just add external SSD. Will be faster than most Intel/ AMD laptop SSDs

For Windows, cheap gaming laptops are good fit here . Victus / Asus Tuf. All have upgradable RAM and SSD. Nvidia cards are good. Do check for specific software she uses for video editing.

Based on how much she cares about colors, external monitors might be required. Gaming laptops have pretty bad displays for color since they prioritise 140 Hz refresh rates.

Depending on content, color accuracy might or might not be an issue.

[bijims]

Originally Posted by rohan_iitr

Hi,

I am looking to purchase a laptop for personal use. Budget is around 80-90k.

My requirements are - 15 inch display, Windows and MS Office pre-installed, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD along with the usual set of features.

Other preferences include - ease of upgrading RAM & SSD, good after sales, decent build quality and looks.

I need help on the following:
1. Which processor should I be targeting at 80-90k price point ?
2. Would it be a good idea to buy laptop with dedicated nvidia graphics ?

Thanks in advance.

Ideally, Macbooks are the best for your use case, however, if Windows is what you are after, then check out laptops with Core Ultra 7 or Ultra 5, but most of these don't come with all the specs you need, the next best choices are the Core i9, Core i7, Ryzen 9 and Ryzen 7. Look for laptops with dedicated GPUs that enable faster rendering and processing, including video editing. Ideally, an 8GB Nvidia RTX 4060 would be good but most of these laptops with this GPU are closer to a lakh.

So I have a couple of options worth considering, with their drawbacks mentioned as well:

1. Dell G15 Ryzen 9 6900 HX
This model, although a bit old has almost everything you need, albeit a couple of generations old CPU and GPU, it cost over 1.47 lakhs at launch and was priced over a lakh just until a couple of months ago, at its current price of 89k, it is a good deal for a Dell laptop.
https://www.flipkart.com/dell-amd-ry...cG0fW5001uotPl

2. HP Zbook Power
This is a Creator Laptop from HP and should match your use case, do consider it
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0BNJ7H8CG/...cG5pqa001NkG7C

Other options worth considering are
1. https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DDTNZ2LR/...8001v31pf&th=1

2. https://www.croma.com/hp-victus-inte...0692a3af4097c7

3. https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0D7H15S9Z/...S001pZPu7&th=1

4.https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0DPQJZ3JR/...G001EyvDT&th=1