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Buying a laptop is as stressful as buying a car

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I

Illusive_Juan

Member
I'm searching for a laptop to do blogging, photo and video editing. I realized that I've never bought a laptop before in my life, and I find myself confused weighing the pros and cons of where to spend my money.

I've budgeted myself for $500 with wiggle room, and I've narrowed it down to two for now.

The Toshiba Satellite C55-C5241, the Asus X550ZA-WH11 and the Acer Aspire E5


The Toshiba and the Acer have a 2.2 ghz processor, but the Acer does have the NVIDIA GeForce 940M.

The Asus has a 2.5 ghz processor with turbo up to 3.4 ghz and it has an integrated AMD Radeon R6.

All have 1 TB HDDs and 8 gigs of RAM, but then this is where things get confusing for me.

The Asus sounds like a solid choice but it doesn't have Bluetooth or a removable battery.

The Acer has a 1080p display and the others don't, but online reviews complain about the battery, which is non-removable. It also doesn't have an optical drive.

The Toshiba has a removable drive and Bluetooth, but the processor and GPU isn't as good as the other two.


My purpose is for web browsing, Netflix, Photoshop and a video editor like Adobe Premiere or AVID or something similar. Gaming would be nice, but I don't game on a PC currently and if anything I would stream my Xbox One to my Laptop with the Xbox app.

Do I want to focus on processor or does the graphics card help? The Asus has a Quad Core AMD A10, but I don't know the difference between a quad core and a dual core. Is the quad core overcompensating for something that doesn't really matter in the long run?

Please give me your input as I don't know much about the tech side of Laptops and I feel like I'm stressing myself out over making the wrong choice.
 
M

Marion Cobretti

Member
Buying a car is stressful, buying a MacBook Pro isn't.

Edit: isn't Lenovo the go to for budget window machines? I have no clue and am curious.
 
A

Afro Samurai

Banned
It's very easy to resell the Macbook Pro.

I can get a great offer within 2 weeks and barely lose money. I buy all of my MacBooks used, or new if the seller isn't techy.
 
L

Lazy vs Crazy

Member
Don't buy a laptop without trying it, or a similar model, at a store. You may get stuck with a keyboard or trackpad you can't stand.
 
S

sgjackson

Member
fwiw i have a laptop built on the same shell that asus is. i use it for general mobile computing for college and have a proper desktop at home i use for other shit. it has the same issues most budget laptops do - flex in the keyboard/frame, shit screen - but i have to give the little fucker credit, after i tossed in an ssd it's plenty fast for general use shit and it's held together through 2 years of abuse and multiple drops with no issues. the keyboard is the worst feature on it, comparable budget laptops are better in this regard, but mine's durable enough, fast enough, and easy to work on.

i'm not really up on laptop benchmarks so idk how fast your specific model is, i sprung for an intel core isomething (either a 5 or a 7).

edit: wirecutter likes that acer and i'd get that over the other two from a spec standpoint.
 
Fonz72

Fonz72

Member
Sounds like the Acer is the way to go. Intel processor, nVidia graphics, 1080p not bad at all. I've had good luck with Acer and Asus in the past.

Battery is only important if you plan to use it on the go. My laptops are plugged in 99% of the time. Do yourself a favor and buy a small wireless mouse. You can get an external DVD drive for next to nothing as well. Plugs in with USB.

Don't pay attention to the Mac people. They have nothing to offer in your price range. Good, but waaay to expensive.
 
L

lenovox1

Member
It reads like you've chosen to go with the Asus. (Discrete graphics help with photo and video editing, but I'm guessing you don't need something to make the next Paramount movie on or you wouldn't be having this dilemma. You'd just get a MacBook Pro).

ETA: Obviously the Acer is the best bang for the buck, but you made it read like you required the integrated optical drive.

Nice decision, test a similar model out at a Best Buy first or sumthin'.
 
S

sarcastor

Member
CPU and Ram will be more important then the video card, optical drive or removable battery. You can always get a usb dvd drive.

$500 is not much but don't even think about a Macbook at that price.
 
M

Mohasus

Member
Illusive_Juan said:
The Toshiba has a removable drive and Bluetooth, but the processor and GPU isn't as good as the other two.
Click to expand...

The processor is the same as the one in the acer. And actually, AMD is so far behind that their quad core is slower than dual core from intel.

Anyway, I'd go with the acer just for the higher res screen, it makes editing things easier. I haven't used a optical drive in years, however I don't use a notebook outside so I don't know if a shitty battery is an annoying problem.
 
J

jwk94

Member
Marion Cobretti said:
Buying a car is stressful, buying a MacBook Pro isn't.

Edit: isn't Lenovo the go to for budget window machines? I have no clue and am curious.
Click to expand...

After having owned a Lenovo Y580 for two years, I'm not going Lenovo again. It's not good. Trackpad freezes, the computer hangs a lot, and it's started coming apart for some odd reason.
 
I

ItIsOkBro

Member
The Kaveri CPUs (one of which is in the Asus) were disappointing to me. The i5 in the Acer will have equal or better performance while also being more energy efficient. Don't worry about AMD's more cores/higher clock speeds. And the Acer scores big points for the resolution and discrete GPU.

The battery capacity is quite shitty tho (2520 mAh) so if you'll be running on battery power often then that's a deal breaker.
 
S

SocksAndShoes

Banned
Be sure to test out the balance of your new laptop in the store. I've heard of people knocking them off tables before and getting really salty about it.
 
C

criesofthepast

Member
I know your budget is $500 and I know you said laptop but you should just get the top of the line 27 inch 5k retina iMac for $2500.

👀
 
S

SmackCrackleNPop

Member
Optical drive isn't that important anymore (very cheap externals for the rare times you want to use it). I didn't even know they still made laptops with removable batteries, at least with batteries available to buy.

Get the one with the better screen and keyboard.
 
N

NightOnyx

Member
Wow, super weird to see a thread about this. This is exactly the same scenario I've been going through the past week. I had about $500 budgeted and was looking at those same 3 laptops. Took a while for me to decide, but I ended up buying the Acer Aspire E5 from Newegg for exactly $500. I just wanted a laptop for internet browsing, streaming movies and tv shows, and also some gaming, which would be mainly cheap older games off of Steam sales. I do my current gen gaming on my PS4.

So for the most part the main reason I went with the Acer was due to the 1080p display, which would be the best for video watching. The Nvidia graphics card seemed to be the best for gaming as well. Should be able to run most of the stuff I am looking to play with solid performance. The whole optical drive doesnt really matter to me though, since I stream basically everything now, and if I really want to watch a DVD/Blu-ray, I have other devices. There is a dummy drive in there though, so if I ever want to buy one and install it, I can do that. I can also upgrade to 16GB of RAM as well, which I plan to do. I'm a bit worried about the build quality, but it sounds like all the laptops in this price range are kind of iffy with their plastic cases. Wish I could give you my impressions so far, but I just ordered it this morning and it won't be delivered until Tuesday.
 
P

Prinz Eugn

Member
I just helped my dad buy a laptop in this range. My advice is to buy refurbished and do not settle for a 720p screen if you plan on using your eyeballs to look at stuff on it.
 
A

Astral/H3X

Member
SocksAndShoes said:
Be sure to test out the balance of your new laptop in the store. I've heard of people knocking them off tables before and getting really salty about it.
Click to expand...

:eek:

Is there a reason that every laptop thread, no matter the budget or desires, ends up with "BUH GET A MBP"

If someone came in and said they needed a server that could run 80 instances of WoW or some shit I guarantee someone would ask if they had checked out a Macbook Pro.

Finaika said:
Why can't we build our own laptop like we do with desktops?
Click to expand...

Because in order to make everything modular and swappable like in a desktop, you need room like in a desktop. Laptops are incredibly cramped and there's usually barely room for the shit that's soldered in there, let alone room to make it all in separate pieces that you can hotswap.
Granted, there are a scarce few where some of the parts you can.
 
S

Skux

Member
Finaika said:
Why can't we build our own laptop like we do with desktops?
Click to expand...

Manufacturers don't use standardised layouts because it all has to be small.

You could probably build one yourself, but it'd be limited to certain brand families and chassis types.
 
C

coolasj19

Why are you reading my tag instead of the title of my post?
Buying a laptop is more stressful than buying a car. I decided on my car when I drove up to the lot in about 15 minutes. Laptops are worse cause for the most part you really gotta have the money upfront. Anyway, do you need a LAPTOP? Why not go granular and make a desktop? I assume you have your reasons. You're not gonna get a laptop with enough HORSEPOWER to do all that and render it in any sort of reasonable time, for sub-$500.
 
U

UFO

Banned
For what its worth I bought a 2010 15" MBP off Criagslist for $500, maxed RAM and swapped in a SSD for $150 more. Nothing wrong with buying a ised Mac, will be better then any $500 PC laptop.
 
…

……forgetit

Member
At that budget buy a desktop, you won't get something remotely good at photo or video editing for $500

Edit: the newegg one is your best bet.

Finaika said:
Why can't we build our own laptop like we do with desktops?
Click to expand...

Because people like there laptops small and the "case" would be the most expensive part. You can upgrade some components on a laptop but with how their built full CPU/GPU swapping wouldn't be cost effective.
 
BiGBoSSMk23

BiGBoSSMk23

A company being excited for their new game is a huge slap in the face to all the fans that liked their old games.
Yeah tell me about it... >.>

Toshiba's are known for being quality. I used to have a Satellite that soldiered on.

I'd go for that one.
 
D

dity

Member
MacBooks that are a couple of years old is still a pretty viable option OP if you don't care much for gaming on a computer (and it doesn't seem like you are). I imagine $500 would get you pretty far in that regard.
 
Vigilant Walrus

Vigilant Walrus

Member
Illusive_Juan said:
I'm searching for a laptop to do blogging, photo and video editing. I realized that I've never bought a laptop before in my life, and I find myself confused weighing the pros and cons of where to spend my money.

I've budgeted myself for $500 with wiggle room, and I've narrowed it down to two for now.

The Toshiba Satellite C55-C5241, the Asus X550ZA-WH11 and the Acer Aspire E5


The Toshiba and the Acer have a 2.2 ghz processor, but the Acer does have the NVIDIA GeForce 940M.

The Asus has a 2.5 ghz processor with turbo up to 3.4 ghz and it has an integrated AMD Radeon R6.

All have 1 TB HDDs and 8 gigs of RAM, but then this is where things get confusing for me.

The Asus sounds like a solid choice but it doesn't have Bluetooth or a removable battery.

The Acer has a 1080p display and the others don't, but online reviews complain about the battery, which is non-removable. It also doesn't have an optical drive.

The Toshiba has a removable drive and Bluetooth, but the processor and GPU isn't as good as the other two.


My purpose is for web browsing, Netflix, Photoshop and a video editor like Adobe Premiere or AVID or something similar. Gaming would be nice, but I don't game on a PC currently and if anything I would stream my Xbox One to my Laptop with the Xbox app.

Do I want to focus on processor or does the graphics card help? The Asus has a Quad Core AMD A10, but I don't know the difference between a quad core and a dual core. Is the quad core overcompensating for something that doesn't really matter in the long run?

Please give me your input as I don't know much about the tech side of Laptops and I feel like I'm stressing myself out over making the wrong choice.
Click to expand...

I have to advise you against all 3 of those laptops. I would urge you spend a bit more money for a serious upgrade in performance that will be extremely beneficial for you when it comes to photo and video editing. Not just because you're getting a Quad-Core processor, but also because the 960m graphics 4GB GGDR5 is going to help immensely. A full HD display of higher quality is going to let you better nail accurate colors.
The laptops you listed are going to be very problematic for video editing. Particularly in HD resolutions.
Here is a Dell Inspiron 7559. It comes in at 800 Dollars. So 300 dollars more than your budget. But its specs are going to run in circles around the laptops you listed. Dave Lees review; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_8yFIYxP4s


ASUS ROG GL552VW-DH71 - If you absolutely must have removeable battery and optical drive (frankly, it pisses me off just thinking about it) then this could be an option. It comes with a very nice i7 QuadCore and is a great machine for around 1000 USD. It also has a USB C connector which future proofs it. Dave Lees review; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWUztGO5puE

Both of them are going to have higher quality keyboards and trackpads and are bound to last longer. Many of these sub laptops are not build to last. They prey on old ladies who don't know much about computers.
Of course I don't know the specifics of your need. But those Intel U processors, 5500 IGPU and 940m? You're in for a really bad time mate.
A budget is a budget I get that, but if you want my opinion it's absolutely worth waiting because before you know it you will have to upgrade your laptop again. The Asus gives you 16 gigs of ram, the dell gives you a 256GB SSD. I think it's worth paying a bit more to be more future proof. You could possible enjoy the laptop for years longer.

Sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear. I know it can seem frustrating to hear suggestions that ignore the budget you have said. I get that a budget is not something you can just blow, but I just hope you realize how slow or compromised these machines are. video editing is really time consuming when your on a slog. not just in rendering but in previewing and in applying effects. It makes it not fun!
 
H

HooYaH

Member
If you're doing video and photo editing, DO NOT buy a 768p resolution laptop at all. I promise you, you will really regret it. As others say, just save up a little and buy a refurbished Macbook or a little higher end laptop with a decent resolution.
 
M

Mega

Banned
jwk94 said:
After having owned a Lenovo Y580 for two years, I'm not going Lenovo again. It's not good. Trackpad freezes, the computer hangs a lot, and it's started coming apart for some odd reason.
Click to expand...

This is why you save up for a Macbook and install Windows if you don't wanna use Mac OS. Acer, Asus, Lenovo, whatever you get is going to irritate you just a little bit, you're gonna keep wondering about what company X is coming out with next year to alleviate your irritation. If you stick with it, it'll start running terribly or begin failing in a few years.

I am not even an Apple fan and have come to accept they make the best, sturdiest laptops. They last for years longer than anyone else's and with less problems. I wish it weren't the case that every other laptop manufacturer continues to be several steps behind but it's the sad truth. Buy the best Macbook you can afford and stop poring over who has the best Intel CPU on some crap that you won't be able to wait to get rid of in 2-3 years.
 
J

jwk94

Member
Mega said:
This is why you save up for a Macbook and install Windows if you don't wanna use Mac OS. Acer, Asus, Lenovo, whatever you get is going to irritate you just a little bit, you're gonna keep wondering about what company X is coming out with next year to alleviate your irritation. If you stick with it, it'll start running terribly or begin failing in a few years.

I am not even an Apple fan and have come to accept they make the best, sturdiest laptops. They last for years longer than anyone else's and with less problems. I wish it weren't the case that every other laptop manufacturer continues to be several steps behind but it's the sad truth. Buy the best Macbook you can afford and stop poring over who has the best Intel CPU on some crap that you won't be able to wait to get rid of in 2-3 years.
Click to expand...

I'm all for light laptops, but I would probably never buy an Apple laptop. The price is too high and I don't like their business practices. The fact that their best laptop has ONE port on it is infuriating.
 
M

Mega

Banned
jwk94 said:
I'm all for light laptops, but I would probably never buy an Apple laptop. The price is too high and I don't like their business practices. The fact that their best laptop has ONE port on it is infuriating.
Click to expand...

I thought so too but the price is economical when you factor in the fact it will outlast every other laptop you could purchase by years and you could bug refurb to bring down the cost. Other companies' Ultra portables are at the same price brackets as some Macbooks so it's not crazy price differences like we saw in the '00s.

The best one isn't the one with one port, for many it's the 13" Retina. I do have the 12" with one port and while I would never claim this is "better" like some foolish Apple evangelist, it frankly does not affect me. I bought a wireless mouse and I barely even use that. So the one port that's supposed to be limiting my productivity goes unused all the time. If it's an issue get any of the others with multiple ports.

All these tech companies have questionable business practices if you look closely enough. It's a non-factor for me and it's pointless to single out one company over another. I hope you don't use Google or Amazon for anything.
 
hemo memo

hemo memo

You can't die before your death
Is the Macbook pro even worth it with that price? Same as OP just blogging and Youtube and that sort of stuff.

Edit: no video editing.
 
D

Draerf

Member
OP, please listen to me. DO NOT buy a laptop that doesn't have an IPS panel! It makes such a huge impact on your experience (especially for photo editing) but people don't seem to think about it until it's too late. Too many laptops have god awful TN panels where every viewing angle has fucked up colors or contrasting.

I dropped a grand on a beefy and fancy laptop with all of the bells and whistles. Except whoops, shitty screen. Miserable to look at anything.

If you can't afford a laptop with a decent IPS display for your budget, then I suggest you need to save some more money.
 
G

Gruso

Member
I only learned the other day that PC Part Picker launched a site for selecting laptops and tablets:

https://portablepicker.com/

It's an absolute godsend for filtering market offerings by the specs you want. I don't think the pricing is very useful outside America, but even then it's great for narrowing down models before you do a local store search.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Draerf said:
OP, please listen to me. DO NOT buy a laptop that doesn't have an IPS panel! It makes such a huge impact on your experience (especially for photo editing) but people don't seem to think about it until it's too late. Too many laptops have god awful TN panels where every viewing angle has fucked up colors or contrasting.

I dropped a grand on a beefy and fancy laptop with all of the bells and whistles. Except whoops, shitty screen. Miserable to look at anything.

If you can't afford a laptop with a decent IPS display for your budget, then I suggest you need to save some more money.
Click to expand...

If you're buying for photo editing and video editing and have a budget of only $500, consider using an e thermal monitor for critical work. Otherwise you'll just restrict your options too much.

Personally I'd prioritise
- 1080p screen if you can get one, for usable screen space.
- 4th gen or above i5 you should be fine on the CPU (5th gen or 6th gen obv. better).
- SSD is useful but add it later as not many at that budget will include one
 
C

crimsondynamics

Member
Illusive_Juan said:
I'm searching for a laptop to do blogging, photo and video editing. I realized that I've never bought a laptop before in my life, and I find myself confused weighing the pros and cons of where to spend my money.

I've budgeted myself for $500 with wiggle room, and I've narrowed it down to two for now.

The Toshiba Satellite C55-C5241, the Asus X550ZA-WH11 and the Acer Aspire E5


The Toshiba and the Acer have a 2.2 ghz processor, but the Acer does have the NVIDIA GeForce 940M.

The Asus has a 2.5 ghz processor with turbo up to 3.4 ghz and it has an integrated AMD Radeon R6.

All have 1 TB HDDs and 8 gigs of RAM, but then this is where things get confusing for me.

The Asus sounds like a solid choice but it doesn't have Bluetooth or a removable battery.

The Acer has a 1080p display and the others don't, but online reviews complain about the battery, which is non-removable. It also doesn't have an optical drive.

The Toshiba has a removable drive and Bluetooth, but the processor and GPU isn't as good as the other two.


My purpose is for web browsing, Netflix, Photoshop and a video editor like Adobe Premiere or AVID or something similar. Gaming would be nice, but I don't game on a PC currently and if anything I would stream my Xbox One to my Laptop with the Xbox app.

Do I want to focus on processor or does the graphics card help? The Asus has a Quad Core AMD A10, but I don't know the difference between a quad core and a dual core. Is the quad core overcompensating for something that doesn't really matter in the long run?

Please give me your input as I don't know much about the tech side of Laptops and I feel like I'm stressing myself out over making the wrong choice.
Click to expand...

First, that's three options, not two! :p

Second, if you are after photo and video editing, among the three choices you really only have one viable choice: the Acer.

The Toshiba doesn't have a discrete GPU. You want a discrete GPU to leverage the rendering power that CUDA (or OpenCL if you had chosen a laptop with an ATI GPU) can provide. The Asus has an AMD CPU. AMD simply can't compare to Intel in terms of raw processing power.

Basically, if you are rendering in Permiere Pro or Photoshop with GPU acceleration enabled, you will be able to render at up to 4x the speed than if you simply relied on CPU rendering. GPU rendering is vastly superior to CPU rendering.

And... why do you need Bluetooth for video and photo editing? If for whatever reason you find yourself needing a Bluetooth in the future, just buy yourself a Bluetooth USB dongle.

Also, when was the last time you used an optical drive for your use case scenario?

Don't let "non-removable battery" get to you. When the time comes that your battery is no longer holding a decent charge, you can simply get it replaced, or most likely, it will be time to move on to a newer laptop.

Finally, if any of these have the option of swapping the 1TB HDD with a SSD, do it. Buy a portable USB3 HDD instead. Sure, you're lugging something extra around, but it beats lugging around a spare battery. :)
 
I

Illusive_Juan

Member
Thank you all for your help and suggestions. Some of you make good points to save up and get something better, but if put off doing what I want to do and I don't want to wait any longer. I probably would go up to $700 but it depends on what I see. I'm on my way to Best Buy later so we'll see what I find.

So if I understand this correctly, if I select a laptop with a dedicated GPU, it will take the load off the processor?

What about a situation where i have an i5 with 2.5 ghz that can turbo up to 3+ versus a quad core i7 with 2.2 ghz? Is the i7 inherently slower or does the quad core make a difference?
 
Jigolo

Jigolo

Member
You should really consider upping your budget a bit when it comes to shopping for a new computer. These machines can last you awhile and can save you money in the long run. My mid 2012 macbook air with 4gb RAM, 128gb SSD, i5 (not sure what gen) 1440x900 display (only thing I really want to upgrade 4k pls) was the most basic model they had at the time and I shelled out a little over 1k for it. And I can tell you right now, nearly 4 years later its running like a champ. I don't plan on getting rid of it anytime soon. Guess I'll boil it down to what I found really important after upgrading, buy a laptop with an good SSD no matter how small. Use external drive if you have to
 
I

injurai

Banned
bionic77 said:
Your life is pretty fucking great if deciding which computer to buy is enough to give you stress.
Click to expand...

It can stress anyone. Getting something that fits the technical requirements of your need. Having a limited or slim budget. Wanting to get something that doesn't fuck you over. I don't get the point of this post.
 
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