2018-02-15 20:43:43

So, a month ago I posted a sudden issue I had with my old laptop, which I believe was an Asus Series Q825 laptop.   While that was being sent in for repairs, I purchased a back-up laptop. 

    I tried an HP Envy laptop last week, and noticed some annoying sound issues where at times sound would just completely vanish until a reboot.  Though, after an update, my sound started flickering badly before completely vanishing.  This prompted a return. 

    So I then just bought another Asus q825 laptop (after mishaps that kept giving me the 824 model) and things were going fine.  But the moment I got on Microsoft Edge, everything began to slow down emensely.  As well, when I go into the start menu, I notice NVDA start stuttering midway down the list of aps at around the M mark.  Currently I'm just avoiding using edge (yay Google Chrome) and openning the start menu, while staring wearily at the new monthly patch to see if any crippling issues will be brought up.


     I don't know, I feel like everything has been going badly for me computer wise ever since that issue with the new patches that have been slowing down computers to varying degrees.  Does anyone have any recommendations for laptops they are using that seem to be functioning fine at the moment?  That or if anyone knows what's going on with this Asus laptop to start acting odd with microsoft Edge and the start menu despite being new?

2018-02-15 22:46:56

Honestly, I haven't updated my windows 10 computer since December, largely because I heard about an update which slowed down some intel computers, so I have disabled the Windows update service for some time.
In terms of suggestions for a new laptop, I'd say go for a laptop which comes as clean as possible as regards preinstalled software such as sound enhancements, antiviruses, or foto and video apps. I am currently using an HP 15 notebook which I bought around one and a half year ago. It cost 500 dollars on offer, and has the following specifications:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) 5200U at 2.2 GHZ, up to 2.7 GHZ with turbo boost
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
Hard Disk: 1 TB HDD
Graphics: intel(R) HD graphics 5500
I bought this one because it was the best laptop I could get for that price, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. Last month the battery showed the first problem which forced me to eventually purchase another battery, as the laptop would automatically shut down when the battery dropped below 60%.
As I've seen from other experiences of other friends' laptops, there has come a time where you cannot put your finger on an exact brand and say, OK, this brand produces excellent laptops, go for any of their models and you'll not be disappointed. Some of my friends have had issues with HP laptops, with Lenovo laptops, with Toshiba and Samsung laptops, and so on. Dell seems to be producing laptops of a really good quality, but they are generally quite more expensive in comparison to the laptops of other brands with the same specifications.

2018-02-15 23:30:46

I know that it might be recommended to avoid the updates, but it seems newer computers update most of the post-December patches before I can tell it not to do so.  Considering my issues seem to be related with microsoft related products so far (though power point has no issues right now, thank god), it's probably there doing.  I'm probably going to hold off on this Feb 13 update for a few days before going in and trying it, trying to monitor any discussions on the patch beforehand.  Though, if the oddity with the start menu continues, I might have to go back to the store I bought this laptop from and ask about it. 

    As well, maybe when I get my old Asus laptop back from repairs, I can get some information on the hell happened to it.

2018-02-15 23:43:32

No you should always update, the issue with sow downs is due to security issues with intel chips which is why my next one will be probably amd.
As for things with audio. hp has some really shitty realtech sound drivers, newer ones I have generics work a lot better but control panels for them don't work but I chan handle them the units re rubbish without enhancements, more is the pitty but they are not bad with them on so yeah.
Its not ms, we need to wait for more newer intel chips now baah.

2018-02-16 17:33:24

honestly, I've had nothing but troubles with windows 10 laptops, over all. most of these newer laptops don't seem to last as well as older ones do, not to mention shitty audio drivers (see my realTech topic for details). personally, and again, this is just a personal opinion, and experience, avoid dell and HP. dell is not worth it's highly justified price, and HP, well, let's put it this way, it's cheap for a reason. I currently have a lanovo, but only because there's nothing else besides lanovo, dell and HP in the shops. with that said, because of a few issues, mainly audio, and or just windows 10 being a bitch, I'm still torturing my series 3 samsung, with a 3rd gen i3, straight from 2012. but unless you want refurbished, and or windows 8.1, not to mention samsung, that probably is not an option for you. and again, this is also just a personal recommendation, but intel is also not worth it's price. you can get a better AMD for less money. not to mention the keyboard. lanovo, even with 15.6 inch, will not give you a full full keyboard. not sure wich, if any of these apply to you, but they're there if this is something to go by. HTH.

2018-02-16 22:14:20

Eh, I might do the update after I do a bit of reading i need to catch up on.  Though ugh, I'm in agreement with the crappy audio drivers for HP.  I had a friend have their laptop crap out on them sound wise. 


    Huh odd.  I just realized that this laptop is running Windos version 1607, while the last one i had was version 1703 when I first got it.  Wonder if that might explain my odd experience with the start menu.  I should look into that after updating, and see if I can go back to 1703, or see if 1709 is safe enough to poke about.

2018-02-17 04:54:46

hi,
You should install 1709. The spectre updates were released on jan4. If you want to disable the mitigations for the spectre and meltdown vulnerabilities, there are registry keys, or programs that will do it. I personally would like to do it soon. These updates result in a decrease in system performance the more the older the processor. The morally correct thing for intel to do is give everyone free replacement processors instead of slowing them down. But I doubt intel would do this. 1709 has significantly improved performance wise, so you should notice a difference.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2018-02-17 09:52:14

I think intel would replace all cpus if they could, this effects its servers to.
But to fix the issue they need to redesign and rebuild at cost by the way every chip.
So basically because they didn't find this issue till now every processer they ever made is a bunch of crap.
They can't possibly afford to replace every chip so the chips from the last 5 years will get updates and any new cpus will have fixes however that is one reason I am switching to the competition till they sort themselves out.
Amd units while not totally cured are less saseptable to all this at any rate due to failiers in the updates ms and intel have had to pull some of them back.

2018-02-18 08:12:12

At the current moment, I'm using an acer laptop. It's an Aspire E5-576G.
In truthful honesty it's not a great laptop money can buy, but it's good enough if finances are tight. The audio is clean, minimal bloatware actual even less so than microsoft, and the software provided is actually useful. One app they give you is so you can back up your network drivers should you decide to downgrade to 8.1, which I may do, honestly, but that's for another day.
The keyboard does have a number pad which was necessary for me, but some of the keys on the keyboard are in weird places. If you want to know more on this machine, see my review, which doesn't reflect my opinion on this machine as of late.
Lenovo are a pile lately. Although the audio is clean, unless your ready to spend several thousand dollars on a laptop, your better off getting even an acer. Lenovo aren't as well built and well tuned as they used to be IMHO.

2018-02-18 15:25:12

I just got an Acer Q505UAR. it was about $879, I like it, keyboard is nice, the thing it lacks is an SSD, and the person neglected to tell me that despite me saying i wanted one with an SSD. It has a fingerprint scanner built into the touchpad, its really hit and miss though, not like the iPhone that works nearly every time unless your finger is damp or something.

The one thing that is driving me nuts is the speech clicking and popping in NVDA. It does this no matter if its on headphones or speakers, I tried another audio driver and reverted it, same thing. It happens with all synths, but eloquence is the worst. Other than that the audio is good, it doesn't do any weird EQ type shit for you or mess with the settings. You do have to tell it what you plugged in every time but that's standard fare with laptops these days.

I don't know what it is with the 8th gen i5's being so fucking slow, 1.6GHz on two other 8th gen i5 laptops, that's slow to me, and that's what this is. It's slow to start up, and even my mom's old asus from 2013 that has a spinning drive and is running the latest windows 10 starts up faster than this thing. That being said, its about as fast as you're gonna get with a spinning drive in a laptop computer. It comes with 12 gigs of DDR4 memory and the intel graphics chip like the mid range one.

It's touch screen and works with a pen, which I didn't buy. It also is a convertible  meaning you can flip it into tablet mode where the screen will rotate all the way around to the bottom and you flip it over. I wouldn't do this and I wouldn't recommend doing it with a computer with a spinning drive in it. I don't know how you could flip a hard drive over without causing damage to it. THe other one that I had was the same, but it had an SSD so there was no issue there.

oh, there's one glaring flaw with the keyboard, and I on't know how you can make a keyboard like this, but the thing has no home, and, page up or page down keys. I'm finding small ways here and there to work around it, but I also have a bluetooth keyboard if I need those keys. I actually like to type on the laptop keyboard much better than I like the bluetooth one.

It has one USB 2 port, one USB 3 port and one USB C port. It has an HDMI port, and an SD Card reader slot. the USB 3 and the card reader are on the left, the charging port, the HDMI, the USB 2, and the USB C are on the right along with the headphone jack. There is no ethernet connectivity or VGA on here. The keyboard is backlight in this sort of blue thing that looks nice. It can be turned off and has a few brightness levels. It's a 15.6 in ch screen.

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2018-02-18 16:24:17

If you want a decent laptop...I'd say get one from a brand you trust. MyDell Vostro hasn't let me down, but I had nothing but trouble with an Acer (hard drive went) and a Toshiba (headphone jack died)

I'd even suggest if you feel up to it, getting an older laptop, an iso of Win7 and using that, along with a backup OS like some flavor of Linux, that way if one breaks you have the other to work with.

Warning: Grumpy post above
Also on Linux natively

2018-02-18 16:38:41

post 11, well said. have an old laptop, with something older than win10, as backup. couldn't have said it myself better. as for the i5's being slow, I find my i3 faster and quietter than I found my i5. no ideas what's up these days.

2018-02-18 17:19:54

hi,
Iron, that is what you get for choosing a portable laptop. You probably have one of the underpowered versions of the i5, the Y series. Not all i5s are created equal.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2018-02-18 20:43:31

heh? laptops are inherently portable

Facts with Tom MacDonald, Adam Calhoun, and Dax
End racism
End division
Become united

2018-02-18 20:50:48

that was not what I ment. There are several class of mobile processor. An ultraportable will have vastly different hardware than a larger laptop, so will a convertable.

A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

2018-02-18 21:59:12

To add to my previous post....I'd argue that yes, you do need a backup of some sort, be it an external HD, cloud (yah right?) or a backup OS like I suggested, I'm personally in favor of a backup OS because 1. Having another OS on your system is useful for many reasons, 2. It'll help you become a better user if you can get good with that othe OS and 3. Let's say Windows gets infected with a virus that locks your data, you still got Linux/Mac/Etc on that machine and it's still useable, for instance. Plus it's good to try other OSes

Warning: Grumpy post above
Also on Linux natively