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Post by langford on Dec 31, 2020 13:46:52 GMT -5
The purchasing decisions continue. My sweetheart is looking for a new PC (the desktop vs. laptop is still to be decided, but it's leaning toward laptop). So, who makes a good/reliable PC/Windows computer these days? Not looking for anything fancy. It will be used for web browsing, email, word processing and spreadsheets... pretty basic stuff. No interest in gaming. I think the quality of tech support from the manufacturer would be part of the decision process, as will value for dollar. All thoughts and opinions welcome. TIA!
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Post by Leftee on Dec 31, 2020 13:50:46 GMT -5
Work has used Dell for 15 years, now, with excellent service.
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Post by HenryJ on Dec 31, 2020 14:21:26 GMT -5
I trust Dell to give me what I want for my money.
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Post by guildx700 on Dec 31, 2020 14:35:51 GMT -5
I've had HP for some time now, never any issues. Current laptop is a few years old, Windows 10, SSD, and one of the few that has a DVD drive in it.
Totally trouble free and as fast as I could ask for. Also has MS Office on it.
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Post by Mfitz804 on Dec 31, 2020 14:36:39 GMT -5
HP. Every Dell I ever had had been a nightmare, including a laptop that crashed the first time I booted it up.
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Post by guildx700 on Dec 31, 2020 14:41:36 GMT -5
Even my wife's old HP/Compaq laptop still runs fine. Never any issues.
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krrf
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Posts: 375
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Post by krrf on Dec 31, 2020 15:19:30 GMT -5
I just build them myself. It's really not that hard to build one; you can build one that is way better than store bough and it's a fun hobby.
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Post by roly on Dec 31, 2020 15:23:12 GMT -5
+1 for DIY.
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Post by modbus on Dec 31, 2020 15:52:51 GMT -5
+2 for DIY.
20+ years ago I bought a PC from a local computer shop that came with a giant case that was really well built and easy to work on -- plenty of room inside. I built two PCs myself in that case over the years.
I still have it, although I hardly ever use it any more. I just find it easier to use a laptop these days. For laptops, I've been happy with Acer.
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Post by Highstrung56 on Dec 31, 2020 16:16:29 GMT -5
I've had many laptops over the years. Dell, IBM, DYI. Over the last several years I have been pleased with Lenovo.
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Davywhizz
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"Still Alive and Well"
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Post by Davywhizz on Dec 31, 2020 19:11:50 GMT -5
I've found HP laptops very good and they seem to have fewer stock apps you don't want but can't get rid of. We've also had reliable Dell PCs plus Asus and Acer laptops.
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Post by rickyguitar on Dec 31, 2020 19:16:00 GMT -5
We have done well with Dell over the years. No complaints.
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Post by Laker on Dec 31, 2020 23:39:03 GMT -5
I had mine built by our company’s IT wizard. I just know it is in a Cooler Master case and has three 1TB SSD drives, touch-screen monitor, and 4TB backup running Windows 10 and, when needed, Windows XP.
I had a Dell with Windows 98 that this replaced when I found I could not really update the Dell because everything in it is proprietary. With my current PC I can update any component I want to. I’ll never purchase a brand name PC again.
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Post by themaestro on Dec 31, 2020 23:41:02 GMT -5
I've had a couple of Asus laptops that I liked.
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Post by Rick Knight on Jan 1, 2021 8:26:30 GMT -5
I've mostly used HPs and have had no complaints. I have been pleased with Lenovo. Is Lenovo the company that took over that part of IBM's business? |
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Post by themaestro on Jan 1, 2021 8:31:09 GMT -5
Rick: Yes Lenovo took over IBM's PC business.
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Post by Leftee on Jan 1, 2021 9:06:09 GMT -5
Hope this thread has helped. 😂
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Post by Highstrung56 on Jan 1, 2021 9:38:03 GMT -5
I've mostly used HPs and have had no complaints. I have been pleased with Lenovo. Is Lenovo the company that took over that part of IBM's business? I did not know Lenovo took over IBM. I had an IBM and it was pretty troublesome. The Lenovo's have been very reliable. My work laptop is also a Lenovo. No complaints. |
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Post by Rick Knight on Jan 1, 2021 10:48:17 GMT -5
I had an IBM and it was pretty troublesome. The Lenovo's have been very reliable. My work laptop is also a Lenovo. No complaints. I had no issues with a company issued IBM years ago. My wife has a Lenovo and seems to like it. |
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Post by tahitijack on Jan 1, 2021 11:16:36 GMT -5
I was a Toshiba guy but when they discontinued consumer laptops I moved to HP. Very happy with HP.
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jdawg
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Post by jdawg on Jan 1, 2021 12:10:52 GMT -5
Most "brands" are actually pretty good. Everyone has their own proprietary chip set firmware but most of the hardware is the same. In my opinion as a network engineer, whatever that's worth, is that the RAM be at a minimum of 8GB for Windows 10 and should be 16GB for smoother operation. A minimum of 1TB hard drive unless you use cloud storage or have a network drive on your home network then probably a 500GB hard drive would be sufficient. I have an 8TB network drive and we put all pictures and videos there and important files. I've used just about all the brands and they all worked well. I have had some trouble with HP updates conflicting with Windows updates but a call to support helped fix all those issues. I'm typing this on an old HP laptop and am ready to update it. I have considered a Chromebook but it uses a form of android as an operating system. I am more familiar with android than IOS (Apple). And the processor has to be over 2 GHz.
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009
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Post by 009 on Jan 1, 2021 12:44:25 GMT -5
I never really like my first desktop PC, a Dell, but that was back in the mid-1990s when they still had disk drives, etc.; never seemed consumer friendly, and their online self-help/support was frustrating. Sam's Club always has HP computers, and I bought one in the early 2000s. Never having any problems with it, replaced it in 2012 with another HP. Again, no problems. HP always provides a model-specific user upgrade manual, which I found handy when adding a second DVD drive, and most recently, upgrading my RAM from 12 to 16 GB (the max for this now-older model).
If you have any longevity and/or performance concerns like I do.... I always get one with an Intel CPU; I suppose mainly because I can trust them. I was considering a new computer a year ago, but could not really understand the performance abilities & reliabilities of these CPU alternatives and the actual Intel CPUs. In the end, it became a moot point when I could not find a desktop model with a case/features as good as the HP I now have: a real box, with a flat top that I can place things on, dual horizontal DVD players, a variety of photo memory card slots and two USB connections in the front, two USB 3.0 connections on the top front, a variety of USB connections on the rear. New desktops all seem to have a rounded or pointy top, a single vertical DVD player slot, and not nearly the flexible array of connections that I've grown to like. I suppose I'd have to build my own computer nowadays to get all these physical features.
(Last night - drank a little, ate a lot, and today posting here is about as productive as I'll be all day....)
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Post by Highstrung56 on Jan 1, 2021 14:12:20 GMT -5
I had an IBM and it was pretty troublesome. The Lenovo's have been very reliable. My work laptop is also a Lenovo. No complaints. I had no issues with a company issued IBM years ago. My wife has a Lenovo and seems to like it. In all fairness to IBM, mine was a Aptiva 486 circa 1995ish running MS DOS. I had the MS-DOS book and would experiment (get myself in trouble). Most of the issues were probably user related. |
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009
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Post by 009 on Jan 1, 2021 16:17:06 GMT -5
I bought an HP laptop from Best Buy about a year and a half ago. Has all sorts of connections, blue tooth as well as wireless, HDMI, SD card, etc. (but on USB 2.0). I was looking for it on Best Buy, but I guess it's "gone." Here's something you may want to evaluate before buying a laptop: While I was looking for my model (only $220) with its 256 GB SSD, I was mostly seeing this "eMMC" storage (mostly 32 and 64 GB options), and not SSDs (on the more inexpensive models). I was only MIA for a year, and now seeing this and wondering what this is. So, here's some info on that.... I would want to, at least, know about this before making a purchase decision: www.windowscentral.com/emmc-vs-ssd |
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Post by guildx700 on Jan 1, 2021 20:16:52 GMT -5
I had no issues with a company issued IBM years ago. My wife has a Lenovo and seems to like it. In all fairness to IBM, mine was a Aptiva 486 circa 1995ish running MS DOS. I had the MS-DOS book and would experiment (get myself in trouble). Most of the issues were probably user related. My first computer was an Aptiva, It had a Zip drive as well as floppy, although folks complained about Zips mine worked great, they had WAY more storage than a floppy 100 MB VS and the Aptiva never gave me an issue, it never gave out, ran and ran, I finally retired it simply due to it being so outdated. To this day I have the IBM supplied power speakers they sound and work fine. The IBM supplied CRT monitor never gave out either. IIRC the hard drive was 500 MB, big for back then. Started out with a 14.4k modem, finally ended up with a 56k one. IIRC also started out with Windows 3.1. |
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Post by Highstrung56 on Jan 1, 2021 20:23:36 GMT -5
In all fairness to IBM, mine was a Aptiva 486 circa 1995ish running MS DOS. I had the MS-DOS book and would experiment (get myself in trouble). Most of the issues were probably user related. My first computer was an Aptiva, It had a Zip drive as well as floppy, although folks complained about Zips mine worked great, they had WAY more storage than a floppy 100 MB VS and the Aptiva never gave me an issue, it never gave out, ran and ran, I finally retired it simply due to it being so outdated. To this day I have the IBM supplied power speakers they sound and work fine. The IBM supplied CRT monitor never gave out either. IIRC the hard drive was 500 MB, big for back then. Started out with a 14.4k modem, finally ended up with a 56k one. IIRC also started out with Windows 3.1. So many will never get to experience this. |
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