Laptop Recommendations - Un-Cheapie Stylez

ScoobyNZ on 06/06/2024 - 08:47
Last edited 06/06/2024 - 11:11

I'm looking into options to upgrade my laptop.

Currently I have a Dell XPS 13" 2-n-1 which is coming up 6 (maybe even 7) years old and while it's been good, I find myself more and more wishing I had a larger screen and more importantly, bigger internal SSD Hard Drive.

I have a dock for day-to-day work duty so will be connected to external screens, but will still be used a lot as a laptop as well.. ie on my lap / on the road. So size / weight is also key

I'm looking at just sizing up to the XPS 15", whether 2nd hand or new / refurbished deals from Dell or re-sellers. My current XPS was bought through JB Hifi, but they matched a sale price that was being offered on Dell website.

EDIT: I see the new XPS comes in 14" and 16" models now… so a 15" would either be 2nd-hand or clearance, however there aren't any clearance models listed on Dell.co.nz

I haven't looked at other brands so I'm not sure what options from the likes of HP / Acer / Toshiba etc, are of equal footing with the XPS range.

Not interested in Macbook. Maybe a Surface.. maybe?

Most key factors are size / weight / portability / battery life. Of course, price is a factor, but in true un-cheapie style.. is not the most important factor. I know a new XPS 15" will be about the 4k+ range, depending on sales prices, clearance deals etc.

Wanted specs :

  • Between 14" - 16" screen with tiny bezels to keep overall chassis size small
  • Aluminium / carbon build to keep weight down
  • Not bothered about touch-screen but would like UHD. 4k not a requisite.
  • Not sure on Processor specs
  • 16GB RAM minimum, preferably 32GB
  • 1TB Hard drive

What's out there cheapies? What would you buy if saving money wasn't the main objective? I hope this doesn't hurt too many brains hahaha

EDIT EDIT : I can also add that I can get 10% off through Dell's Education Program by being an Education staff member… so a brand-new base model XPS 14" with the specs I'm after comes to approx $3700 for the non-touch screen model and an extra $100 for the same specced 16" XPS

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  • ace310 on 06/06/2024 - 11:01
    +1

    Look at thinkpads. I feel that touchscreen is not at all useful in a laptop and it is just waste of money, battery & weight. I think that newer XPS are not that great compared to how much they cost. You can definitely find better laptop at that price range unless. Surface are OK, but again limited ports and they cost a premium as well so not really a fan of it. I have an old surface pro which has touch ghosting issue which was a common issue for at the time. Over the years they have been plagued with some issues so I won't really go for surface. Just my personal opinion.

    I used to be dell fan and have owned few dell laptops over time. Original XPS 13.3 with nvidia(still works after 13yrs, no battery), Dell inspiron, Dell latitude. But once I got thinkpad T480s 4 years back, really love it. Dell Latitude 7410 from work, but like thinkpad.

  • Frisky Grandma on 06/06/2024 - 10:35

    Not interested in Macbook. Maybe a Surface.. maybe?

    The new surfaces are either just available or are available shortly. They're all running on snapdragon chips this time around so definitely dont order one until they've had a bit of coverage. If they are what they say they are then you would get all the brilliant stuff about the 2020 and later macs (all the reasons I wouldn't choose a windows pc, but thats me haha) on a windows pc, but every crack they've had at them so far has been… not amazing to say the least.

    Noels will usually have year old models kicking around, if you dont mind having a chat someone would be able to sort it.

    Can I ask why 4k on a laptop? I find 100% scaling too small on anything but my 32" display and integer scaling is too big. 1440p is a sweet spot (or the weird surface / macbook resolutions too).

    Guys at my work have been issued thinkpads and they've been pretty happy with them.

    • ScoobyNZ on 06/06/2024 - 10:56

      Yeah actually 4k isn't a requirement. My current XPS does quite a high pixel count but I have to zoom in to a higher percentage to make it tolerable. I hardly ever use the laptop for watching movies or TV..that's what big screen TV is for haha! So I'll edit that bit out.

      • Frisky Grandma on 06/06/2024 - 12:45

        Fair; quite honestly if im on a budget (again) and buying a laptop screen quality is almost at the top of the list; would rather a somewhat slower computer with a nicer display than the other way around (the sheer number of HP's that have screens whose colours shift at normal viewing angles is deplorable).

    • kfr23 on 06/06/2024 - 20:12

      Yes, I suggest waiting to see what the Snapdragon X Elite chips end up being like before considering a new laptop.

  • Nzfade on 06/06/2024 - 10:58

    Do you need any GPU power? What tasks are you expecting to do on the laptop?

    • ScoobyNZ on 06/06/2024 - 11:02

      No, I'm not a creative type.. no graphics intensive Photo, video editing or CAD. Just a lot of web browsing with multiple browsers / windows / tabs, office document editing, 2 external monitors connected via a docking station.

  • Bill on 06/06/2024 - 21:10

    I've been doing some research looking for basically the same thing.

    One of my favourite options so far is the Asus Zenbook 14x. 14.5-inch screen size, which is perfect for me. 120hz Oled, which I really like, and not too expensive.

    Another option I'm interested in is the Lenovo Yoga series. I really like the form factor and design. Oled too.

    The last option in the running would be a ThinkPad, although the range is really big and complicated and I would prefer an oled screen.

    I like to upgrade more frequently than you do so I also want to spend less, around 2k.

    While I was initially interested, I found the XPS lineup too expensive.

    ARM chips will have twice the battery life, so I'm also interested in that.

  • NovaAlpha on 06/06/2024 - 21:11

    If you're willing to take a risk, then look at the laptops on Taobao. Here's an example:
    https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?app=chrome&bxsign=scdMWZs17…

    They're much cheaper than buying it elsewhere. I've had really good experiences with my recent purchases and saved like $1000 or more.

  • Drcspy on 07/06/2024 - 07:24

    Changing/upgrading the SSD is pretty easy and very cheap

    • ScoobyNZ on 07/06/2024 - 08:16

      Yes I have tried this recently and run into hurdles left right and centre. I actually posted up a previous question here about this exact thing.

      Either the SSD wasn't compatible, or my laptop wouldn't image correctly, or it said it imaged and it wouldn't boot, or a combination of the two. Used several different imaging programs and none were successful. Gave up. Didn't bother asking a 3rd party to do it for me, as it wasn't that important.

  • ScoobyNZ on 07/06/2024 - 08:18

    Right now, I'm leaning towards a 2023 refurb'd XPS15 model from the Dell Outlet store, however it's only Australian, so I need to find an Aussie contact so that I can get it shipped there, as they won't ship to NZ. NZ doesn't have an outlet store. $2800NZ for a model that was over 4k last year. Considered Youshop but it's USA / UK only

  • internetwork on 07/06/2024 - 09:52

    +1 for ThinkPads, They've been nothing but rock solid for me under both IBM and Lenovo manufacturing and i've become somewhat of an aficionado.

    The RRP may look high but Lenovo almost always has some sale running which reveals the 'real' price.

    The X1 series is pretty much flagship and the direct competitor to the XPS line, the plus about Lenovo is you can lookup and purchase the OEM Parts direct from Lenovo and since they give exact FRU numbers it's easy to find equivalent compatible parts from third parties. I personally have a X1 Carbon Gen6 (2018), it's very nice and light (Magnesium + Carbon fiber chassis), battery life has obviously diminished after 6 years from 7hr to 2hr. Was looking to replace earlier this year but decided I'd wait it out a bit longer.

    From my research I found in general these days the AMD CPU is your best bet as they are just better than the Intel equivalent in terms of performance, battery and thermals. AMD is not available on the X1 series due to a partnership deal with Intel. Most models will have soldered RAM so make sure to get 32 gigs on purchase if you want that much.

    The T14s is probably the best AMD variant, Ryzen 5 CPU will handle browsing, MS Office, e-mail etc. just fine. I personally think for office usage it's not really relevant to require the top spec CPU anymore. The Ryzen 7 isn't really needed unless you plan to do Video editing, CAD or try some gaming but then you should go towards a P Series or Legion for that purpose. The T14s pretty much only lacks in the display department, not any good for media consumption but fine for office work.

    The X1 Carbon and P-Series are much better in the display department (you can get OLED), of course the former is Intel only, but still the Intel CPU is fine. The X1 Carbon will probably be lighter and feel like a much more premium product.

    I mostly stuck with Lenovo just because I haven't been let down and the laptops are super configurable (almost every model you can get a cellular modem and change things like the boot splash screen image), but pretty much every major manufacturers business grade laptops will be super reliable. In terms of HP, The Elite/ProBook series seems to be a common buy for businesses, they have all Aluminum chassis, don't know much else.

    I guess the one negative I'd give to Lenovo is for the many of the ThinkPad models that they use this soft touch plastic for the lid which is a fingerprint magnet.

    PBTech currently has a few laptops under their Clearance section, this one strikes me as good for a higher end office laptop but it is last-gen and again lacking in the display department if the colours and resolution matters to you. This particular model has the IR camera for Windows Hello face unlock (if that matters to you) and also has 16Gb soldered RAM + an empty internal DIMM you can install extra RAM later down the line.

    The other caveat to remember when buying Lenovo is when you purchase from a third party the warranty starts the day the laptop ships out of the factory to the retailer, you must make sure to contact Lenovo with proof of purchase and they will update the warranty start date to the purchase date.

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