In the market for a new laptop. Main uses are watching HD sport/movies and office work. No gaming. Want it to be built to last, say for 5 years. Budget up to $1200 and I'll be travelling in a couple weeks so can take advantage of duty free deals if it makes sense.
Is this good value for the price?
https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKASU1505326/ASUS-Vivobook…
Had a look and Amazon AU but couldn't find anything better for the price.
Many thanks for any advice from sage minded!
Good deal, only comment is the 32Gb ram is way overkill for what you seem to want to do with this - that money would have been better spent on a larger ssd as you'll likely need/want to upgrade from 256gb at some time in the next 5 years anyway.
Oh definitely. I figured that since it came in under budget and I am notorious for having 50 windows open, one can never have too much ram. Plus it only cost $100 more from memory. Storage will be easy to sort later as I plan on getting a 1tb drive.
Lenovo direct with cashback i found was a decent spec and bargain
I'd go pbtech and see which models you like 15.6 is too big for travel imo 14 is a good sweet spot
I had a quick look at lenovo and yeah decent sale going on.
You can customise it a little bit too.
Normal sale page
https://www.lenovo.com/nz/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpade/le…
Confirm build page
https://www.lenovo.com/nz/en/configurator/cto/index.html?bun…
They have sales 100% of the time. The "original price" is never what the product was originally priced at. The sale price is the normal price.
Yep then knock even more off with cashback and new customer code by signing up to mailing list , not a bad price after all that
New customer discount doesn't apply to sale products. Therefore it's pretty useless.
Built to last say no more , if you like windows / linux , get any old or new thinkpad really any will do , fyi do not get the default optioned thinkpad they have not great but durable tn panel i don't like them, you can easily upgrade it ether after market or just spec it online on their website if your buying new,
if you want overall best laptop dont care about os get a macbook air m1 old over 80 % battery or new or refurbish , i scored a 3 year extended battery barely used macbook air for my partner a year ago for 900 nzd i also got a new one with student discount some years ago for 1,5k .
if you like using many tabs opened get 16gb mac book air m1 ,
thinkpads are easy to upgrade any thing and parts are easy to get
OLED screens are expensive to replace if you break it. Generally i would avoid it unless you are looking for the best image possible.
HP Probooks/Elitebooks or Thinkpads is what i usually aim for as they are well built and will last 3-5 years if not more with minimal maintenance
Wait until PB black Friday coming soon.
I’d recommend looking into the HP ProBook series with at least an 11th gen processor. With a budget of $1.2k, it’s a bit tight for what you’re after, but if you can stretch it slightly, the Microsoft Surface Pro is also a solid option. I’d avoid the HP Pavilion and Lenovo Ideapad series—they often come across as either cheap plastic or very basic in terms of quality. If you’re going for HP, the ProBook or EliteBook lines are much better choices. HP’s Support Assistant is also quite handy for managing drivers, troubleshooting, and guides in one place. Lenovo used to have great ThinkPads, but they’ve cut corners in recent years. At this price point, don’t expect anything above a 1080p screen. If you want to chat I’m open!
Are the Surfaces not still infamously difficult/expensive to repair?
Older surface laptops (surface pro 7) do tend to be quite difficult to repair, but the newer surface pro 9 has a repair ability score of 7/10 from ifixit(https://www.ifixit.com/News/68671/does-the-surface-pro-9-mar…?) surface pros are the MacBooks of windows, great quality and expensive!
I just saw Fox419’s pick (https://www.lenovo.com/nz/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpade/le…), and it’s a solid option. It could use a bit more storage(512GB), but the bigger issue is battery life. Newer MacBooks, especially the M1 series and above, will always have better battery life compared to newer Windows laptops. However, fitting a new MacBook into your budget might be tough. If you’re considering a second-hand MacBook, there are some great deals, but navigating the second-hand market can be tricky and often times getting scammed. Overall, MacBooks offer great screens and battery life, and they pair nicely with iPhones and AirPods if you own one, making them great for movies. That said, your choice also depends on the kind of work apps you’ll use—Windows can sometimes have its advantages!
Thanks for all the amazing help and advice. Knew I came to the right place!
Ended up pulling the trigger on a Thinkpad E14 G6 for $1k after a massive $250 cashback. Will be waiting a while for the cashback to materialise but was pretty stoked with the overall price.
Ticked a few upgrades: 2.2k screen, 32Gb ram, 57Wh battery. Will add more storage later on with the extra slot.
Processor AMD Ryzen™ 5 7535HS Processor (3.30 GHz up to 4.55 GHz)
Operating System Windows 11 Home 64
Memory 32 GB DDR5-4800MHz (SODIMM) - (2 x 16 GB) - selected upgrade
First Solid State Drive 256 GB SSD M.2 2242 PCIe Gen4 TLC Opal
Display 14" 2.2K (2240 x 1400), IPS, Anti-Glare, Non-Touch, 100%sRGB, 300 nits, 60Hz - selected upgrade
Camera 1080P FHD IR/RGB Hybrid with Microphone
Color Graphite Black
Wireless Realtek Wi-Fi 6 8852BE 2x2 AX & Bluetooth® 5.1 or above
Battery 3 Cell Li-Polymer 57Wh - selected upgrade
Warranty 1 Year Courier or Carry-in