Laptop Advice and Recommendations Please?

[Ray Von]

Getting a bit tired of doing everything on my phone, I'm after a laptop (used/dated is not a problem.)

 

My main requirements are:

 

Basic!

Android compatible 

Good webcam (behave!)

Good video editing (again....)

I don't need dvd / cd drive

I don't need games

Long battery capacity

Unappealing to potential "can I just borrow"er's

Screen over 10" ish

 

Many thanks from a complete technophope. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nick C]

The problem there is that good video editing requires quite a bit of grunt.

 

For the other requirements, I'd suggest a refurbished business machine, as they tend to be a bit tougher than their consumer equivalents. I picked up a refurbished Lenovo thinkpad last year for £160, plus £40 for a new battery.

 

Another idea might be a Chrome book - these basically run a Web browser for everything, storing most of their data in the cloud, not much different to a big phone with a keyboard. I've not used one, but they seem popular and easy to use.

[Kris]

I would suggest that you want a Chromebook. 

[davefromacrossthepond]

Windows 10 includes a half way decent video editing app built in. Not the highest tech thing out there, but quite easy to use.

[Steamport Southport]

I'm far from an expert but know quite a few of them. All recommended Lenovo.

 

I got one from John Lewis with something like a three year guarantee. Which I find very useful on electrical goods as they don't try and get out of it like many other retailers.

 

I would look at their website as they have quite a few in all different price ranges.

 

https://www.johnlewis.com/browse/electricals/laptops-macbooks/view-all-laptops-macbooks/_/N-a8f

 

 

Jason

[MichaelE]

I too recommend Lenovo. I have four of them and an older mint condition IBM A31P, plus a newer Dell G3. Video cameras should be fair to good from around the T550 and up. Any earlier and they are not quite up to par. 

 

If you do buy refurb or used, try to find at least a T series business machine with an i7 processor. Quad-core if possible, 16 GB of ram and a solid state drive of at least 512 GB or higher.

 

These are the T500, T510, and T520, along with the A31P. These are probably a little too old for current good video editing, but they will play them just fine. The T520 is a quad-core i7 running at 2.6 Ghz and 16 GB of ram. It is a dual SSD drive, dual boot machine running Windows 7 Pro and XP Pro6 64. All the rest of the Lenovo bells and whistles too that were available including a Smart Card reader.

 

IBM A31P NASA Certified for spaceflight:

 

 

T500; T9600 Core-2-Duo, 8GB Ram:

 

 

T510;  i7 8GB Ram:

 

 

T520:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pete the Elaner]

I bought a factory repack Chromebook a couple of years ago for £130, so not the highest spec but a cheap option. It is fast, the battery really does last 10 hours. I have used mine for video conferencing & it does a good job.

Once you have connected it to wifi with internet access for the first time, you log in with your Google account, so it is as secure as your account.

I am not sure about video editing but it ticks the rest of your boxes.

After I bought it, I found that a new Chromebook includes 100GB of free Google Drive storage space, but my factory repack does not. 15GB is enough for me though.

 

Nick C is entirely correct that they favour cloud storage although you can buy some with reasonably large hard drives.

 

My view is that cloud storage is good because if your laptop gets lost, stolen or broken, your data is still secure & available.

It is also available from anywhere with internet access. As long as your password is secure, it is available only to you.

[Ray Von]

9 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

I bought a factory repack Chromebook a couple of years ago for £130, so not the highest spec but a cheap option. It is fast, the battery really does last 10 hours. I have used mine for video conferencing & it does a good job.

Once you have connected it to wifi with internet access for the first time, you log in with your Google account, so it is as secure as your account.

I am not sure about video editing but it ticks the rest of your boxes.

After I bought it, I found that a new Chromebook includes 100GB of free Google Drive storage space, but my factory repack does not. 15GB is enough for me though.

 

Nick C is entirely correct that they favour cloud storage although you can buy some with reasonably large hard drives.

 

My view is that cloud storage is good because if your laptop gets lost, stolen or broken, your data is still secure & available.

It is also available from anywhere with internet access. As long as your password is secure, it is available only to you.

Cheers, I think I'm looking at going down this route...

Have seen a few on eBay, the problem is I've no idea if they will meet my needs, how current they are or if they are any good, I see that they are made by various brands too(!)

Thanks everyone for the input, it's a great help.

[MyRule1]

20 hours ago, Ray Von said:

My main requirements are:

 

Basic!

Android compatible 

Good webcam (behave!)

Good video editing (again....)

@Ray Vonapart from these three requirements you don't actually say what you will be using the lap-top for. You don't actually say what video editing you will be doing - just cut and paste of something more?

 

If Android compatible is the main requirement then, as suggested by others, Chromebook is really your only realistic option. However for an all round lap-top then I woudl agree that Windows 10 is the better option. Both my most recent purchases have been through John Lewis as their prices are completive and there sales staff seem less pushy that certain other stores and the extended guarantee can be good value. But remember if the laptop has an SSD then most problems will arise either in the first year or after year 3, when the guarantee is either not needed or has run out. I have a Dell on which the on off switch failed in the fourth year!

[Oldddudders]

I have never tried video-editing, but imagine it needs loadsa memory. Cheap computers are seldom awash with that. 

[boxbrownie]

Morgancomputers.co.uk

 

we have bought many refurbished over the years, excellent service and great machines......

[Gilbert]

When a I retired I bought  a re-furnished HP Z-Book. I also got a work station etcbut during Lockdown I've lost my office so its back to the knee....The technician in the high street shop has one as well and does a lot of video stuff. I'm no expert but it seems pretty good compared with my other half's personal and professional Laptops  - and she's an IT person.....

Edited March 27, 2021 by Gilbert

[MichaelE]

2 hours ago, Ray Von said:

Cheers, I think I'm looking at going down this route...

Have seen a few on eBay, the problem is I've no idea if they will meet my needs, how current they are or if they are any good, I see that they are made by various brands too(!)

Thanks everyone for the input, it's a great help.

 

A Chromebook is not a computer and will not run the sort of software required for any sort of video work outside of watching a YouTube video.

 

You will be sadly disappointed if you plan to use a Chromebook for anything besides internet and email access.

[Kris]

1 hour ago, MichaelE said:

 

A Chromebook is not a computer and will not run the sort of software required for any sort of video work outside of watching a YouTube video.

 

You will be sadly disappointed if you plan to use a Chromebook for anything besides internet and email access.

You can edit video on a Chromebook. Maybe not as well as on a PC or a Mac but it can be done. 

 

https://www.androidauthority.com/edit-photos-video-chromebook-1110776/

 

[MichaelE]

They have come a long way since 2010 when they were nothing more than an over sized phone with no phone.

 

If you want to stay inexpensive, then you are still limited, not by the software available, but the hardware specifications of the Chromebook. If you want a higher end Chromebook that can run these video editing programs efficiently, those are in the same price range as a mid-level Windows computer that can run these programs without breaking a sweat. 

 

If you can put up with the hardware limitations of a cheaper Chromebook without spending the same as you would for a Windows laptop, by all means get a Chromebook.

[Ray Von]

13 hours ago, MyRule1 said:

@Ray Vonapart from these three requirements you don't actually say what you will be using the lap-top for.

Hi,

My main use will be, video chatting - obviously we all hope covid will be a distant memory soon, but I can see this activity becoming more common than it was in the past. 

 

I draw / sketch quite a lot and share the resulting scribbles on Facebook, a few friends wanted to actually see the drawing process - so, on my phone, I recorded myself sketching something - downloaded an editing app that allowed for time lapse, speed adjustment, trimming etc (it even adds funky background Muzak! And has loads of other functions that I'd probably never use - this amazed me, considering it is a free phone app...)

I found that I enjoyed doing this and have put the results on YouTube.  However, the phone did struggle somewhat - got a bit warm!  Also, the resulting files take up it's limited memory.

 

So, I think in a nutshell it's:

 

1.  Video chatting (good quality camera)

2.  Editing (ability to cope with this without freezing up)

3.  Compatible with Android phone (transferring files, via cable or have a memory card slot)*

*This last option is pretty flexible, I hope to do away with recording on the phone - mainly because the pic quality is not great, but also the files are too large to Bluetooth across.  In future I may look at linking a good quality camera to the Laptop/Chromebook that I get...

4.  Other than the above, maybe a little bit of web browsing - RMweb obviously! - but I won't be clogging it up with the usual things like eBay, Amazon, online banking, Facebook, weather etc.

 

Hope that's clarified things a bit. 

 

Edited March 28, 2021 by Ray Von
Typo

[StuAllen]

The best advice I can offer is to work out your budget first, then you need to look at the best you can get for your money.
 

You need to think about a few main areas:

 

Storage - if you’re using the cloud the you don’t need a large local drive, you may have cloud storage without knowing, a lot of companies offer cloud storage as part of their package - I have a home Office 365 that gives me a lot of OneDrive space, but also have Cloud storage through Amazon Prime, and Apple.

 

Memory - More is better, depending on what you are editing I would say aim for at least 16gb ram, that said if that outside your initial budget look at whether the laptop allow you to upgrade in the future. With some manufacturers that isn’t an option as the motherboard won’t accept more memory.

 

Processor - again faster is better, need to bear in mind that you probably won’t be able to easily upgrade this in the future.

 

Windows vs Mac vs Chromebook- you need to look at availability of software that you want to use, is it available on the operating system you’ve picked. Also how long will the laptop need to last - Google as an example build and expiry date into the Chromebook after the date they will no longer patch it. That is a potential security hole in the future.

 

 

[Guest]

Probably overkill but I'll mention an M1 Macbook.

Fast!

Very good for video editing.

Epic battery life. 

Good webcam

 

Downside 

Expensive 

Base 256gb storage isn't enough 

People will definitely want to 'borrow' it. 

Only has usb c ports so needs an adaptor to plug memory cards etc. 

[MyRule1]

One thing not mentioned yet is the leading curve for new software @Ray Von if you are confident with the Android software on your phone then a good Android tablet or Chromebook might be best for you.

 

AS mentioned earlier there are some good deals on old / refurbished kit out there. Just check which version of the Android OS they run to ensure your chosen software will run.

 

MY main work is down on Windows 10 devices but for years my mobile device for anything more than a phone has been a Android tablet - just ensure you have lots of memory.

[D9020 Nimbus]

The thing you don't mention is your home Internet connection. Since you only have a phone at present, you might not even have one, but you will need one with a Chromebook or a PC. Also, online video editing (i.e. on a Chromebook) will require a very good internet connection. The speed of connection you can get will depend on where you live. I'd suggest you need to investigate this before you decide on the type of machine to get — you need to think about the overall cost, not just the PC/Chromebook.

[jonhall]

I'm afraid I'm NOT a Lenovo fan,  about 4-5 years ago work equiped me with a pretty decent spec Lenovo Thinkpad  i7, large screen & decent amount of RAM and since it seemed OK and I new no better I then bought the equivalent Ideapad from John Lewis, but with a separate RAM on the graphics card for home. The Work one had webcam fail, then new screen, then thankfully was replaced by an HP (as did the rest of the company). The home one went back to Lenovo under warrantee for one fault within a year, then the webcam failed (which pre this time last year who needed? ) and its now lost the  USB/Bluetooth controller so I can't use a mouse with it. It may be that they had a bad batch of components 4 years ago, but I wouldn't have another one, and the HP weighs a lot less as well.

 

Jon

[Ray Von]

1 hour ago, D9020 Nimbus said:

The thing you don't mention is your home Internet connection. Since you only have a phone at present, you might not even have one, but you will need one with a Chromebook or a PC. Also, online video editing (i.e. on a Chromebook) will require a very good internet connection. The speed of connection you can get will depend on where you live. I'd suggest you need to investigate this before you decide on the type of machine to get — you need to think about the overall cost, not just the PC/Chromebook.

I have WiFi speed of 35mbps - that's pretty good isn't it? 

[Ray Von]

Well - the deed is done.  I've picked up what I think is a good deal on a very good condition second hand one of these:

 

 

https://www.acer.com/ac/en/GB/content/series/acerchromebook314

 

Obviously, the above link is the Acer webpage for that particular model, and is bound to paint a positive picture!

 

But I think I've met all my criteria, and it sounds like it does what I need and more - so I'm reasonably happy with my choice, time of course will tell...

Many thanks to everyone for the advice and input, I would not have known where to begin without your help!

 

A quick Google search suggests that a brand new one retails for in the region of £229.99 (I paid £95 so I'm happy with that.) 

 

The memory capacity (32GB) is excellent for my budget and although my knowledge of tech specs is limited, the Intel processor sounds to be the bees knees, especially considering that I shouldn't be putting a lot of strain on it!  There is also a memory card slot for added storage if need be, and as an added bonus - there is a padded zip up carry case included(!)

Obviously, there will be drawbacks to be found - but for what I paid, I think I got the best I could hope for, watch this space.

 

Thanks again all! 

 

 

 

 

[Oldddudders]

35mbps is about 10 times faster than I ever get out here in la France profonde, so excellent. And 32 GB of memory is very suitable. I paid more than £95 just for 32GB of additional memory to stick in the back of my iMac! 

[Ray Von]

4 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

35mbps is about 10 times faster than I ever get out here in la France profonde, so excellent. And 32 GB of memory is very suitable. I paid more than £95 just for 32GB of additional memory to stick in the back of my iMac! 

Cheers, I'm very lucky with the WiFi I have - I don't profess to understand it, I just went with the first provider that came to mind (TalkTalk if anyone's interested!) 

Strangely, my folks are with the same provider and live only a short distance from me - yet there WiFi speed is much less!(?)

Anyway, for the time being I just have to wait for the Chromebook to arrive and keep everything crossed that it will be up to expectations....