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New computer,what should I go for,mac,windows etc (Page 2 of 4)
AudioGames.net Forum → Off-topic room → New computer,what should I go for,mac,windows etc
Posts: 26 to 50 of 79
#27 2016-05-21 14:11:53
@griff,
well, I found a dell laptop which costs around 550 dollars and it is 17 inches, but I cannot go for it. it can't blow my mind. :d
@Devin,
My language is Albanian cause I live in Albania. No text-to-speech is built for this language by any developer apart from eSpeak, but eSpeak is very incomprehensive. The only synthesiser that does a very bad but acceptable performance is eloquence which does not support it, but it uses Latin alphabet, so I can use it for my language
#28 2016-05-21 15:42:01 (edited by defender 2016-05-21 15:53:02)
I'm sorry I'm being slow Griff, I can tell you for sure that the Lenovo Ideapad Y50 and the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 and 7000 series are both good bets, but I don't like suggesting anything before I see both written and video reviews on it from at least two different sources, one of which must be an average consumer.
This is farther complicated by the relative inaccessibility of some of the big manufacturers site's, which makes it hard to look at specific models, and by the fact that certain configurations often depend on country.
I'll look at something for you too Afrim, just give me another day or 4, lol.
On another note, I had no idea that the internal super drive on older Macbook models was installed in a standard 2.5 inch bay, that's awesome.
It means that you can install Windows and Mac on a 128GB or 240GB SSD, which you can get quite cheap, from 50 to 80 dollars depending on brand and capacity, and then you can use that as an equally split boot drive for both operating systems with room left over for apps, and use the preexisting 1TB drive for large files such as TV shows, movies, audio books, and music if you want.
Of course then you wouldn't have a disc drive but really, not a big loss in this age, especially with bootable flash drives.
Also, sorry to hear about the screen bullshit happening right outside your warranty, I was lucky in that mine happened about six weeks in, but it still meant that I couldn't use my new laptop for a week.
It's apparently stupidly common, and isn't helped by the fact that Apple likes to mix and match the manufacturers for their components, meaning that you never really know if your screen was made by LG, Samsung, or Toshiba.
Oh, and if you read the small print at the bottom of the email that Apple sends you when your laptop is done being repaired, you'll notice that they are aloud to use refurbished components to refurbish your laptop, and they don't have to tell you.
Factory certified, but still, kinda sketchy for a 350 dollar service plan don't you think?
#29 2016-05-21 19:24:13
Ahoy there,
@defender, you sir are quite good at this. :d
I just had a look for the lenovo y50 and there seem to be too many varients around, a bit steap, but I guess this would be my second choice if I couldn't catch hold of a macbook 2012.
del 15 5000? its a i3 U processer, I think it'll cry and wheap tears just by having jaws running on the thind. 
Take your time bro, I don't mind the wait, specially when I know that your recommendations will be quite good.
The ssd config on a mac really sounds good, btw you are talking about the macbook which comes with a 512 hdd,right?
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#30 2016-05-21 20:34:55
Oh I don't know, I think the optical drive was a really redeeming feature of the older Macs, even if the vertical design of the casing practically guaranteed that they'd fail, sooner or later.
I wish I'd got one of the 2012 MBPs, just because it was the last "real" MBP. But yeah. I gave up my 2011 iMac, so who the hell am I to say?
#31 2016-05-21 23:36:50 (edited by defender 2016-05-21 23:39:06)
Dell Inspiron 5000 and 7000, not just Dell 15 5000 and 7000.
The numbers correspond to I3, I5, and I7 processors, that's why there is also a 3000, so your probably not looking at the right ones.
Also, make sure to find the ones with Broadwell (5000) or Skylake, (6000) series processors, to get the newer ones. You'll know because it'll be in the chip's name.
They should be a minimum of 2.2GHZ, but 2.4 and above is best, just remember that these days having the highest clock rate possible isn't really worth the price if you aren't doing something out of the norm like heavy video editing, batch conversion of large files, or frequent high compression of data. Besides, it's just one of many factors, and this holds especially true when deciding between a dual core or quad core, as nearly everything you do uses only 1 core anyway.
Look up the various processors on arc.intel.com using Google for speed, and the identifier, E.G. "I7-6300U arc", to find out the specifics.
You want at least 3MB shared cash, 4MB is best, and just double those values for a quad core. Hyper threading is useful especially on dual core chips, but it shouldn't be a primary deciding factor, and turbo boost is also important, as long as it actually gives a decent increase in speed, basically anything more than 300MHZ, though it will barely ever even kick in anyway.
Keep in mind that the difference between I5 and I7 processors has also been pretty negligeable in the last three years, in terms of how much extra you pay VS how much extra performance you get, and it's unlikely you'll need that power advantage most of the time anyway.
Those numbers are useful but dont' really give the full picture so if you want to compare two units to see which is best, then use CPU Boss, and make sure to explore each of the headings to get the info you need, because the statistics are all presented in a format that any consumer should be able to understand, even without much technical knowledge, though the more advanced stuff is there as well if you want it.
#32 2016-05-21 23:44:23 (edited by Chris 2016-05-21 23:48:02)
Don't get the 12 inch MacBook. It's got an intel M processor which I've heard is very underpowered. Half of your freezing issues might be due to Jaws. Jaws is a very processor intensive application.
The Air and Pro start out with 128 gigs of storage.. I'm not sure why the 12 inch MacBook is more expensive than the Air when it has an inferior processor. Is it the fact that it starts with twice the Ram and SSD storage or is it the retina screen?
#33 2016-05-22 00:51:47
@Chris,
While I agree that JAWS takes a lot of space in your small or big processor, it is also true that NVDA does the same thing when you're trying to get the same speed as jaws.
The screen reader aspect plays an important role in this case though.
@Defender,
I think I was looking for the dell Inspiron 7000.
#34 2016-05-22 06:53:30
Ahoy there,
@defender, aye, the inspiron series is what I was looking at. googling for del inspiron 5000 brings me this page
http://m.dell.com/mt/www.dell.com/in/p/ … t_redirect
That the write one?
I have also heard about there being not much difference between a I5 and I7, but I don't suppose I5's come in q versions, and Aren't U processors quite under powered?
I suppose going for a I5 processor will make things a bit cheaper so if I go with a I5, what kind I should be looking for?
That is, should I cut out U's, look for m's or...
By the mid2012 macbookpro moddle you mean this right?
@cris, The newer macbookpros are probably priced so high because of the screen, I'm guessing.
grryf
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#35 2016-05-22 23:16:57
hi,
On processors, why has intel seased production of the 37 watt core m laptop processors? Aren't the 15 watt U processors significantly underpowered to M processors? When looking at laptops, I practicly cannot find any laptop with a M processor these days.
#36 2016-05-23 00:29:17 (edited by defender 2016-05-23 00:32:17)
Yeah, that is the Inspiron 5000 series, that's weird, maybe it's different in India?
Based on the top answer given in the link below, I guess it is possible for 5000 series laptops to haveI3's, all be it unlikely; maybe that's changed in the later models?
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-diff … es-laptops
So you could look at 7000 Series models to play it safe, or just do a bit more hunting, calling or emailing Dell if it ends up being necessary.
Also yes, that is the correct Macbook model in the Amazon link.
U series processors simply trade some clock rate for some power savings, so it really doesn't matter as long as the minimum that you want is still reached.
Manufacturers often do this to obtain longer battery life, if they determine that the expected user experience for that class of machine won't suffer enough to make a noticeable difference.
There is no additional power throttling beyond that which happens when heat levels reach a certain point or when the machine is in sleep mode, which happens with any modern CPU anyway...
Essentially it just does what it says on the box, so I really wouldn't worry about it.
The reason you don't see processors with the M suffix these days is firstly because that changed to U for the most part in Hazwell, (4000) series processors and up, but also because desktop sales have declined so much that it's kind of redundant to add ("mobile") to the large majority of them anyway.
Besides, M class is still around in a way, just in a different form with the "Core M" series of processors, which are found in fanless computers, most commonly high powered Windows based tablets and convertibles.
Intel actually has a hole page about it if your curious to see what all the various suffixes mean.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ … mbers.html
#37 2016-05-23 11:52:15
hi,
however, U series processors are not equivalent to M series processors. Nor are the core M processors equivalent to U and M processors. The clock rate of the U processors are significantly lower. For instance, the 4200 M i5 scores alot higher than the 6200 U on benchmarks. I hope that when I have to buy a new laptop the situation improves.
#38 2016-05-23 17:21:57 (edited by defender 2016-05-23 17:30:48)
That comparison is somewhat apples to oranges.
The M series has a less powerful video card, which means less of it's power is being devoted to graphics.
It also has a massively higher power draw compared to the newer processor, and likely gets hotter as well, do to the eight Nanometre difference in architecture.
It's got a higher base clock rate and a higher max clock rate too, but as seen with AMD APUs, that really doesn't mean a hole lot these days, and just because 4200M and 6200U should logically parallel each other in some way doesn't mean they actually do.
Partly that's because I was mistaken when I said that Core M was the new M, because it seems more likely that it's actually a replacement for Y, and M just got entirely absorbed into the standard processor line (the types of CPUs with) no down clocking, up clocking, added L3 cash, or specialized graphics, that don't get a suffix at all.
A better parallel would probably be the I5-4258U VS I5-6200U, but even so the newer chip loses out on pure power.
This, I'm guessing, is mostly do to a combination of relying more on the faster DDR4 RAM and the possible presents of an SSD to do allot of the heavy lifting, as well as the lower minimum system requirements for Windows 8.1 and 10 than for 7, and the consumer push for longer battery life, not unnecessary extra power.
These are no longer the days of the Core 2 and Ivy Bridge extreme series CPUs for instance, and generally, the only people interested in overclocking these days are PC gamers with custom built boxes.
As a result, new processors now have a plethora of smart automated tools that they can use to ramp up and down power based on the current clock rate, throttle consumption to various internal components such as the system fan, RAM, HDD/SSD, and screen, as well as external devices when they aren't being directly accessed or heavily used, and work in perfect tandem with them dynamically, not just in sleep or power nap modes but in general use as well.
This took a while to figure out, and if you look at the processors that came before Hazwell Refresh, you can see that clearly, from ridiculously large differences between top and bottom CPU speeds, to super low base GPU clock rates and weird voltage margins.
The thing is, while on paper the newer chips might be slower, in real life they just aren't, or at least not enough to actually notice. and many respected sources tend to agree with that. No one seems particularly concerned about it either, especially since having a 125 WAT processor with 8 4GHZ cores that turbo to 5GHZ, 16 threads with a 12MB cash, and a heat output akin to a toaster oven is still possible if you really want it, which, it turns out, most people don't if they aren't in research or enterprise, in which case that would be under powered anyway... 
And yes, I know that's not a laptop chip, heh.
#39 2016-05-23 17:40:53
The boosted clock rate isn't usually anything to worry about; not only not because it's almost never in use, but because it's usually restricted to one core. So, the congestion inside the CPU will reduce its effective maximum potential, anyway.
#40 2016-05-24 01:34:08 (edited by defender 2016-05-24 02:17:44)
Here's a really nice one I found for you Afrim, it's a great deal, and since it's from Microsoft, that means you get technical support as well as no useless extra preinstalled apps.
I really hope it's valid in Albania...
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msu … .334961500
That SSD should really speed things up!
If that falls through, then try this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6R441G7762
It's a bit out of your price range, and I don't know if the amount of storage is good enough, especially since Windows takes up like 32GB of that, but still.
#41 2016-05-24 14:10:12
@defender,
Thank you for your suggestion. What do you think about this?
http://www.amazon.com/Inspiron-Ultraboo … B00HAMZVD2
#42 2016-05-24 17:10:39 (edited by defender 2016-05-24 17:12:14)
The processor on that one will probably be under powered, and you likely won't have much battery life either.
Also, it has no SSD which really, really speeds things up, especially when loading large documents such as the ones you mentioned having to deal with.
It's a good price and the large amount of USB 3 ports is nice, but the one I gave you the link for is better in many ways.
#43 2016-05-24 18:46:26
Hi defender,
Yes, I like your suggestion, but is there any 15.6 inches laptop of that version?
if it had a optical DVD drive, it would be awesome.
#44 2016-05-24 18:57:17
I actually loved the microsoft signature laptop you posted, but a shame its not available in india,and even though I found it at one store, it was selling the thing at double the cost!
a question on macs again. when getting the mac 2012 moddle, can you get its processor upgraded from a I5 to a I7hq? or that's only around in the 15 inch mbp?
haven't seen much of that one,though.
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#45 2016-05-24 20:25:12
hi,
At defender, is the graphics power increase really relevant to a blind user? Also, ıf I ever wanted a powerful processer equal to the 4200 m when buying a new laptop in a few years, would the H line of processors be at least equivalent
#46 2016-05-25 20:09:51
@Defender,
Please, if you could, would it be possible to provide again the link for the second laptop suggestion on post 40 because the actual link doesn't work.
#47 2016-05-25 23:31:33 (edited by defender 2016-05-25 23:37:31)
Sorry I haven't answered for a couple of days, I've been busy playing Redspot. LOL
Anyway, Grryf, your right about the inability to have a quad core in the 13 inch model, and the 15 inch model of that year isn't even soled anymore.
So your only options are an I5 dual core, or an I7 dual core for 150 dollars more.
If you ask me, it isn't worth the extra money, but you should take a look for your self before making a decision just based on my word, so here's a comparison page from a site I use allot.
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-3 … e-i5-3210M
It's basically a 20 percent performance boost across the bored.
Enes, H just means high performance graphics, and in terms of an integrated GPU, E.G. one built into the same chip as the CPU is and sharing system memory as needed; then no, a blind person won't notice much of a difference unless your skipping forwards several generations, because as graphics chips get more efficient, they generally put less strain on the processor and draw less power.
If you wanted to see a bigger difference, you could go with a lower end dedicated card, one that has it's own chip and memory, because it won't be sharing resources with other components.
Thankfully, it's easier to get those for the same price as integrated cards now, and as long as you aren't over stressing it, you won't notice the extra heat and power draw that a dedicated card ends up having either.
In terms of a more performance oriented processor, you could either just go with one that has a higher clock rate and larger than average cash, or get a quad core processor with hyper threading or at least two threads per core, since more and more programs are using multithreading, AKA, all four cores, these days than ever before, and I can only see that becoming more prevalent as time goes on.
Afrim, I checked that link three times just now with a three minute gap in between and it worked for me each time, but try searching for any combination of the following page header, either from Google, with the addition of "newegg", either before or after the text, or using Newegg's own search feature on the site.
2016 Newest HP 15 Premium High Performance Flagship Laptop
Also, I would really go for that Microsoft signature laptop if I were you, 13 inch screen or not; unless you absolutely need a bigger one do to your particular visual impairment.
The reason for that is not only because it's such an amazing deal, but also since the only laptops offering SSD's in a larger form factor will be high end ultrabooks with 4K QHD screens, and the only reason they would do that in the first place would be in order to have a better viewing area for entertainment and professional video/image editing on the go.
Gaming laptops at the high end will also offer SSD's, but almost exclusively as boot drives secondary to a high capacity mechanical HDD, and not as the primary storage medium.
And when I say high end, I mean 1500 and up, so, at least three times your price range.
The reason SSD's are even available for this price, uncommon though it may be, is because the machines that use them fall into the category of; work on the go, ultra portable, and nearly always convertible hybrid tablet/laptops, so they need to be smaller in all directions. and you can't take a mechanical drive on a moving vehicle without something eventually breaking, so...
In fact your lucky to even find a 13.3 inch form factor non convertible, nearly all of them are 11.6 inch convertibles, and there aren't even many of those!
Plus, that 15.6 inch laptop from Newegg only has a 128GB SSD, and after Windows, it's updates, basic apps and runtimes, you'll only have 70 to 80GB of that left for storage.
If you feel able to do so on your own, or know a friend that can, you can always just buy a 15.6 inch laptop with a regular HDD, then buy a 256GB SSD for between 70 and 90 dollars, swap it out, and either sell the old one or put it in an enclosure and use it as an external drive.
#48 2016-05-27 01:07:54 (edited by defender 2016-05-27 01:13:13)
Okay Grryf, I've finally rounded up a few Windows laptops just like I said I would...
I've listed the full model name for each one, as well as the retail price as given by the manufacturer, and the specifications so that you can try to find one just like it in India if you can't buy from the US.
I can provide links from deal sites for each one if necessary, but since I don't know what sites you use there, I figured I'd leave that up to you.
If your using US sites though, try New egg, Best Buy, Staples, and B and H.
Here they are:
Acer Aspire F 15 F5-572-74DZ
730 USD
Intel® Core™ i7-6500U processor Dual-core 2.50 GHz
15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) 16:9
Intel® HD Graphics 520 with Shared Memory
8 GB, DDR3L SDRAM
1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD
Lenovo Y40-80FA001CUS
790 USD
Intel Core i7-5500U dual core Processor (2.40GHz Base, 3.00 GHz Turbo 4MB L3)
AMD Radeon R9 M275 2GB Graphics Card
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 + Bluetooth 4.0
8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L 1600 MHz Memory
500GB Hard Drive + 8GB SSHD
14.0" Full HD 1080p LED AntiGlare Display (1920x1080)
DELL Inspiron i7559-2512BLK
880 USD
Intel Quad Core i7-6700HQ 2.6 GHz Processor
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB GDDR5 Graphics
8 GB DDR3L SDRAM
1 TB HDD + 8 GB SSD Hybrid Drive Storage
15.6 Inch FHD (1920 x 1080 pixels) LED-lit Truelife Screen
I'm especially impressed with the Dell, but all of them are pretty damn good.
#49 2016-05-28 06:49:45 (edited by grryfindore 2016-05-28 06:52:44)
Hi Defender,
Thank you loads for the recommendations.
Aye,When it comes to macbookpro I suppose the I5 is a better deal for my money as compared to a I7, not much difference between the 2.
I quite liked the moddles you suggested by the looks of them,but I guess I'll have to look around for similar specifications around here sinse the lenovo and aser moddles aren't sold here.
I really like the dell and its the one I' was able to find too,but alas too expensive to meet my budget.
grryf
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#50 2016-05-28 09:52:42
@defender,
I am a little confused which one to go for. The reason is because I am much accustomed to a 15.6 inches laptop, which should be a regular laptop, something that I really like. It has an optical DVD drive, the keyboard is big enough to work comfortably, but it has a 128 GB SSD drive, which is really a drawback, +the battery isn't as good as the one of Acer.
On the other hand, the acer aspire v13 is a really good laptop. It is nicely built in general. But I'm afraid the keyboard is small, which will prevent me to type as fast as I do on this laptop. Otherwise, I have absolutely no complaint about it. The DVD drive isn't much of a real issue because I could buy an external USB DVD drive which should range from 25 to 50 dollars. The product isn't valid in Albania, but I have my cousin who lives in New York and he could help me with buying the laptop. Anyway, after finishing these exams I'm currently taking, I will take a break and enjoy summer holidays. Then I'll see which one will I go for.
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