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Hadlock posted:As of the *60 series you can order an IPS on nearly every Thinkpad model now, which mostly solves that problem. But yeah if you get the TN 1366*768 panel, you kind of get what you pay for. Even the IPS ones can have the screen lottery for color uniformity and other stuff.
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Aug 21, 2016 15:59
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Not in any way I believe is unique to Lenovo though. Really would make little sense if it was, not like they make them themselves or sources them from that weird places.
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Aug 21, 2016 16:56
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Cybernetic Vermin posted:Not in any way I believe is unique to Lenovo though. Really would make little sense if it was, not like they make them themselves or sources them from that weird places. Yeah I think you're right. They just use two or three IPS panels and one is just better than the others.
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Aug 21, 2016 17:13
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Atomizer posted:That post was just a small handful of CBs that fit the poster's specific criteria. I maintain a decent spreadsheet full of CBs, though. For example: Could you recommend a 13 inch chromebook for my mum? Ideally around £200 / $250 but can go higher if it's a good deal.
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Aug 21, 2016 17:40
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fuf posted:Could you recommend a 13 inch chromebook for my mum? Ideally around £200 / $250 but can go higher if it's a good deal. Sure! The Toshiba CB 2 (2015) Celeron 3215U (refurbished) is $250, assuming you can get this for the same price over there: https://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Chromebook-CB35-C3300-Certified-Refurbished/dp/B01B6KT8AA/ There are some other nice 13" ones that are more expensive (e.g. Dell, HP) and others that I wouldn't recommend due to performance, i.e. having low-end Atom Nxxxx or ARM CPUs, or only 2 GB of RAM, but the 2nd-generation Toshiba CB2 is a fantastic deal due to performance, display, speakers, trackpad, backlit keyboard, and performance. If you can't find the Celeron version for that price refurbished, it's still worth it new for $300; the i3 version is a slight performance boost (which I'm sure won't matter either way for your Mom's purposes) that I can see here for a little over $300 refurbished, so that's also an option. You could also try eBay, I just use Amazon for most stuff because the prices are good to begin with and plenty of 3rd party merchants also list there.
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Aug 21, 2016 18:14
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People who know how much laptops cost, what sort of prices am I looking at if I upgrade to someone with the new cards when they come out? I'm kind of sick of my laptop making GBS threads itself every couple of weeks, and none of the solutions offered by windows/google are working for me this time round. I can take it off to someone who knows more than me and hope they can fix it, but that's going to cost money and I'm thinking of upgrading anyway, and this is happening frequently enough that I'm not convinced I haven't just ballsed up my hardware anyway. Thing is, my budget is £6-800, which is about $8-1000. Are the shiny new models going to be way out of my price range, as I suspect. And if I do end up buying sooner rather than later, any recommendations? I'd like to be able to play games, but I'm happy to play on low settings and mediocre framerates. Probably want the 15.6 inches (or similar) since I'm travelling a bunch with it. I care a lot more about durability than resolution or battery life. I'm mostly using it to write job application cover letters and distract myself with video games right now, so...
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Aug 21, 2016 18:25
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Atomizer posted:Sure! The Toshiba CB 2 (2015) Celeron 3215U (refurbished) is $250, assuming you can get this for the same price over there: Thanks  So I've been looking around for the Toshiba CB 2 and it looks like they don't sell them in the UK anymore? I can't find a new one for sale anywhere. This list has Toshiba at #1 but lists "Can't purchase new" as a negative: http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/laptops/best-chromebooks-top-5-chromebooks-in-the-us-1233696 What about these two? http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-chromebook-14-silver-10144349-pdt.html http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/asus-c300-13-3-chromebook-black-10023973-pdt.html Since it's for a little old lady do you think there's an argument to be made for not getting an HD display because it will make font sizes smaller?
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Aug 21, 2016 18:28
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MooCowlian posted:People who know how much laptops cost, what sort of prices am I looking at if I upgrade to someone with the new cards when they come out? You're talking about the nVidia Pascal stuff? 1060/1070/1080? Laptops have started to arrive with those mobile GPUs, and they're ridiculously expensive both due to limited supply and lack of competition from AMD. Think US$1300-1500 for a 1060 model, and it's going to be big & clunky with weak battery life, and not necessarily great durability. You're not going to be able to get a Pascal laptop with that budget any time soon. Your best bet is to just check out clearance prices on 970m/980m laptops. fuf posted:Thanks Yeah, so Toshiba's getting out of the laptop business, which is fine because those CBs are still great and are great deals due to clearance pricing. I wouldn't recommend either of those two specific models, primarily due to only having 2 GB of RAM, 4 GB being the bare minimum. Also, the 2nd one has an Atom N2830 CPU which is horrific. The N29xx and N3xxx Atoms are better, and any xxxxU Celeron is ideal. The first one also has a mediocre 720P display, which is OK on a smaller size like 11.6" but hardly on 14" and up. If you're willing to go up to that 14" CB though there's a better model, the CB3-431-C5FM which has 4 GB of RAM and a better N3160 CPU for only US$270: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Chromebook-Aluminum-Quad-Core-CB3-431-C5FM/dp/B01CVOLVPA/ There's also going to be an Asus C301, which is basically a 13" version of the Acer 14" with the same hardware & display, but a 64 GB SSD, for US$300. It's still not out though. Really the problem here is going to be selection and availability. The one you want is this one, when it's back in stock: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-cb3-431-14-full-hd-chromebook-silver-10148244-pdt.html Also here's a Toshiba, but it's a US model so expect the keyboard to be a little different (as I learned from the whole UK Pixel thing): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Toshi...JMAAOSwRQlXfWmv
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Aug 21, 2016 18:49
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Atomizer posted:Yeah, so Toshiba's getting out of the laptop business, which is fine because those CBs are still great and are great deals due to clearance pricing. Thanks again my man. Yeah the availability thing is annoying because I really need to get one ordered for her tonight. What about the Acer CB 13? http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/acer-full-hd-chromebook-13-black-10138558-pdt.html How do the Nvidia CPUs stack up compared to the others? I'm worried she won't be able to read small fonts on an HD 13" screen - is that a ridiculous concern?
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Aug 21, 2016 19:23
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So my mom needs a new laptop. She wants one big enough to have a numberpad (because she's an accountant and wants a numberpad). She doesn't do anything too demanding so whatever she gets would hopefully be durable enough to last for a while. So Is a Thinkpad T560 a bad idea? Is there a better idea?
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Aug 21, 2016 19:28
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Atomizer posted:You're talking about the nVidia Pascal stuff? 1060/1070/1080? Laptops have started to arrive with those mobile GPUs, and they're ridiculously expensive both due to limited supply and lack of competition from AMD. Think US$1300-1500 for a 1060 model, and it's going to be big & clunky with weak battery life, and not necessarily great durability. There's a lot of, uh, big assumptions, happening in this post, can you validate some of them, particularly the heat+ battery life, and long term b scarcity/high price claims with some links please?
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Aug 21, 2016 19:37
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I thought they'd probably be way out of my price range. I've been scrolling through newegg/amazon/pc world for a while while I watch the old one restart itself over and over again as I fiddle with stuff, and it seems like this dell inspiron 15-7559 is way ahead of anything else in the field. 960m, i7, 1080p for £800 looks like way more than ASUS or Lenovo (they seem to be the other two with lots of options ?) have on offer, to the point where either I'm just a terrible searcher and missing everything else that's good, or it's too good to be true. Am I bad at shopping, is there some big catch I haven't noticed, is it just really good?
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Aug 21, 2016 19:44
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Hadlock posted:There's a lot of, uh, big assumptions, happening in this post, can you validate some of them, particularly the heat+ battery life, and long term b scarcity/high price claims with some links please? At least the 1060 ones should actually have less bad battery life than a 970m/980m laptop.
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Aug 21, 2016 19:46
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I CANNOT EJACULATE WITHOUT SEEING NATIVE AMERICANS BRUTALISED!
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Hadlock posted:There's a lot of, uh, big assumptions, happening in this post, can you validate some of them, particularly the heat+ battery life, and long term b scarcity/high price claims with some links please? It seems reasonable to infer from historical laptops that the new model with the new graphics card will be big, weak, hot, weakly batteried and expensive, because the new high-end GPUs have always been in machines fitting that description. (eg. the Y50 was in this position a few years ago.) Or you could get bigger, stronger, better batteried and cooled but twice as expensive models from xotic or the like.
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Aug 21, 2016 19:59
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FISHMANPET posted:So my mom needs a new laptop. She wants one big enough to have a numberpad (because she's an accountant and wants a numberpad). She doesn't do anything too demanding so whatever she gets would hopefully be durable enough to last for a while. Is she opposed to adding a USB numberpad? That would open up your possibilities.
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Aug 21, 2016 20:13
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Fuschia tude posted:Is she opposed to adding a USB numberpad? That would open up your possibilities. She used to have one of those, and was much happier when she got a computer that had a built in number-pad. Is there a reason to open up possibilities? Is there some problem with a T560?
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Aug 21, 2016 20:18
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FISHMANPET posted:She used to have one of those, and was much happier when she got a computer that had a built in number-pad. Is there a reason to open up possibilities? Is there some problem with a T560? There's nothing wrong with anything in the T5xx line and it'll definitely do what you want. I mean, if she wants her daily driver to be an RV, get her a bucket of protein powder and don't make her angry.
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Aug 21, 2016 20:28
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I guess I should have looked a little closer at other companies, the Dell Latitude 15" laptops have numberpads as well. Also look to be quite a bit cheaper than the T560 model. We get probably a few thousand of the various Latitudes at work every year so I'd feel pretty confident with one of those too. She's not the type to take her laptop anywhere so it doesn't matter if it's big, it just has to go from the couch to her lap every once and a while when she uses it.
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Aug 21, 2016 20:34
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roomforthetuna posted:How would one even do that? He could provide links to specific models in the price range, but it seems like if you don't think it's true it would be much easier to provide one link to falsify the claims than it would be to somehow provide links showing that every possible model is expensive and shoddy with poor battery life. to be fair, even just looking at the various images there's the cheap bulky and plasticky $1600 1070 MSI/Asus models, and then there's the nicer models for like 2 grand or so. like this one, which is the one i'm planning on getting. http://www.xoticpc.com/aorus-x5-v6-pc3k3d.html
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Aug 21, 2016 21:07
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Cat Army 
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FISHMANPET posted:I guess I should have looked a little closer at other companies, the Dell Latitude 15" laptops have numberpads as well. Also look to be quite a bit cheaper than the T560 model. We get probably a few thousand of the various Latitudes at work every year so I'd feel pretty confident with one of those too.
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Aug 21, 2016 21:12
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Since stumbling across a Youtuber by the name of Louis Rossmann and watching his Thinkpad vids (in between MacBook repairs and very interesting life advice stuff) I just ordered an X220 off eBay for £150 to potentially replace my 2011 MacBook Air 11. I'll be amazed if it does, but will have a go, as he really sold me on the classic Thinkpads (and some of his life stuff made me think re: pissing £1400 away on a brand new MacBook Pro or Dell XPS just because they're sexy - being honest with myself that's a big factor). Already got a spare SSD lying around. The RAM is the same (4GB) but yay I can upgrade it! It'll probably have the lovely TN panel but it looks reasonably easy to replace. If this is as great as I'm hoping, it could be a revelation. That said, it's already 5 years old and my Air (same age) is really starting to struggle to cope with Chrome and YouTube. A cheap 5 year old refurb that needs upgrading after a year isn't as much of a saving as it seems. Consider me intrigued though and looking forward to it turning up on Tuesday. GargleBlaster fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Aug 21, 2016 |
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Aug 21, 2016 22:08
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I'm still using an X220 and it handles all my laptop use cases. The screen and the touchpad probably won't be as good as your Air but it should be a solid, dependable machine.
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Aug 21, 2016 22:42
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fuf posted:Thanks again my man. The Tegra is probably OK, but I've never actually used one of those myself. ARM CPUs aren't bad themselves; the Rockchip in the Asus Flip (and some other models) is surprisingly responsive, moreso than you'd think. It's just not a powerhouse, and that Tegra's a couple years old at this point so I can't say I feel super-comfortable saying to just go for it. In any case the GPU performance will be superior to the CPU performance however I don't think that's going to be of use for your Mom. It's a very real concern with high resolution small displays, but there are a few solutions. One is to run the system natively at a quarter resolution; my Pixel has a 2560x1700 panel, but defaults to 1280x850, which is perfect (higher-resolution content, like photos and videos still take advantage of the display's native resolution.) You can also use the zoom function (Ctrl +) to make everything larger, and this works well. Third, does she specifically need a smaller laptop? Does she need a laptop at all? The Acer CB 15 is the largest Chromebook, and is powerful with good build quality and price. It comes in a variety of configurations, but the best fit would be the one with the FHD display, 3205U Celeron, and 4 GB of RAM (http://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/compare/NX.MUNAA.014-NX.MUNAA.016). MSRP is US$250-300. It would work well and be easier to view (1080P is perfect at 15.6".) Alternately, if she doesn't need a portable system, how about a Chromebox or Chromebase? The former is just a little ChromeOS desktop that you hook up to whatever monitor, mouse, and keyboard you'd like (so display quality is then entirely within your control and you can use peripherals you already own) and the latter is just an all-in-one (and they generally come with large displays.) There are plenty of Chromebox models in particular by Acer, Lenovo, etc., so in general you look for the minimum of a ----U Celeron and 4 GB of RAM. Hadlock posted:There's a lot of, uh, big assumptions, happening in this post, can you validate some of them, particularly the heat+ battery life, and long term b scarcity/high price claims with some links please? I honestly can't tell if you're loving with me.  I didn't mention heat, and battery life is rarely good on "gaming" laptops even outside of gaming mode; a 1060 alone has a TDP of 120 watts, and even while not gaming how much time do you think you can get from a gaming laptop's battery? Here, for example, is a new Pascal-equipped laptop that is expensive, big & clunky, with terrible battery life, and great performance: http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/msi-gt62vr-6re I also didn't comment on long-term scarcity; eventually prices will decrease but you'd be fooling yourself if you think it's going to happen any time soon. His budget is $1k max and that laptop I linked is $2k; when the hell do you think the price will drop to his range?  GargleBlaster posted:Since stumbling across a Youtuber by the name of Louis Rossmann and watching his Thinkpad vids (in between MacBook repairs and very interesting life advice stuff) I just ordered an X220 off eBay for £150 to potentially replace my 2011 MacBook Air 11. I'll be amazed if it does, but will have a go, as he really sold me on the classic Thinkpads (and some of his life stuff made me think re: pissing £1400 away on a brand new MacBook Pro or Dell XPS just because they're sexy - being honest with myself that's a big factor). Already got a spare SSD lying around. The RAM is the same (4GB) but yay I can upgrade it! It'll probably have the lovely TN panel but it looks reasonably easy to replace. Rossmann is great; he produces really thorough repair videos, and he works on Macs (because it's profitable!) while simultaneously hating them. He was/is also kinda under an ominous legal threat from Apple (ostensibly due to showing technical schematics) because his work eats into the profit of Apple Service Centers (which just replace components instead of repairing them.)
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Aug 21, 2016 22:49
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What's the general feeling towards Sager laptops? I've seen a few opinions along the lines of "medium quality build" and "good price to performance ratio" elsewhere on the interwebs, but looking for a goon perspective on any red flags with the company or laptops themselves. Thinking of selling my 2015 13" MacBook pro and getting something like this. Overall I love the Macbook but I'm ready to give up the ecosystem stuff for something I don't have worry about being able to run stuff smoothly. I mean, the other day I wanted to give HotS a spin and had to turn the graphics down to medium or something unbearable like that. Obviously I could get something much cheaper for HotS (and most games already out) but I'm looking for something that will give me a solid couple/few years for anything new coming out. Also looking forward to switching back to Windows 10. I've been running it in parallels but mostly avoid it since it runs like poo poo. I also want to avoid the flashy "gaming" laptop that looks like something a college freshman convinced his mom is required for his Comp Sci degree. I'd build a desktop but unfortunately I don't have the space in my house for a desk. mannayz fucked around with this message at 23:10 on Aug 21, 2016 |
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Aug 21, 2016 23:07
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Sager is, if I am not mistaken, entirely a reseller of white-label generic OEM designed machines, and as such I don't think there is much one can tell about any given Sager machine based on the Sager badge.
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Aug 21, 2016 23:46
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I had a Sager for ~3 years in 2011 that was a great deal in terms of price for performance , but ended up having a sort of complete collapse ~1 year out of warranty; a couple parts failed that were complicated to try and fix, the motherboard got hosed up in a way I didn't totally understand, and their customer service wasn't helpful at all. Before that it was good as a mostly stationary desktop-replacement, and if you're more tech savvy maybe the issues would be more navigable. e: Mine was a Clevo, which I'm pretty sure all Sagers are -- iirc, Avadirect is also a good source for barebones Clevos. From reddit, but this seems like a pretty good guide to Sagers/Clevos in general: https://www.reddit.com/r/SuggestALaptop/wiki/clevo The Iron Rose posted:to be fair, even just looking at the various images there's the cheap bulky and plasticky $1600 1070 MSI/Asus models, and then there's the nicer models for like 2 grand or so. This does look like it pretty much checks all the boxes for what I'd want in 10xx notebook, and I was thinking about getting it, but I wish they'd gone for a 1440p screen instead of 3k. It feels like that would have been better for gaming on a 1070/scale up and down better, but I also just haven't heard much about that resolution so I might be off base -- is that not really an issue? I'm waiting to see if the Aero 14 refresh keeps the 1440p screen, adds a 1070 and keeps the incredible battery life (and hopefully drops a bit in price...). foutre fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Aug 21, 2016 |
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Aug 21, 2016 23:48
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RIP ZEEZ
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My wife is in the market for a laptop or one of those laptop/tablet combination things. Her primary use will be for taking with her to nursing classes and using it to read electronic textbooks at home or on the go. All the really basic stuff--type papers, watch Netflix/Hulu, access her school's software (Blackboard, which requires Java) and, if time ever permits, play some older games like Skyrim or Dragon Age. Games aren't a big priority for her, though. We've eliminated Chromebooks because they can't access Blackboard due to not having Java. We've also decided against Macbooks due to general pricetags and not having any other Apple products in the house, so the whole "Apple environment" thing wouldn't be a plus for us. Basically, we are trying to decide between something like a Surface Pro 4 (i5, 128GB, 4GB RAM model is $699 on the MS website after student discount, +$116 for the cover/keyboard) or a cheaper standard laptop. Some quick searches on Newegg showed me a bunch of stuff like this Dell Latitude E6430 with what looks to be very comparable specs for a lot less money ($309). Is there any reason to avoid refurbished stuff from Newegg? Are the Surface Pros worth it? The convenience of being able to go full on tablet mode with the Surface seems pretty nice, but I don't know how annoying the kickstand part would be. [edit] Essentially the SP4 is coming in at the top end of our budget, and if that's what it takes to get a quality machine then that's fine. I was just curious how the more traditional clamshells stand up to it and if there were cheaper, better options. Aranan fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Aug 22, 2016 |
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Aug 22, 2016 00:32
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Got it, thanks. I hadn't realized a lot of these brands are just wrappers around the same skeleton. I guess then the only thing that differentiates them is whatever add on guarantees and warranties they're willing to offer. It's funny seeing Falcon Northwest as a reseller as I recall some guy in grad school bragging about his. "Stationary desktop replacement" describes what I'm looking for pretty well. Something I can use on the dining room table and put away when people are over and I need to look like an adult.
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Aug 22, 2016 00:36
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GargleBlaster posted:Since stumbling across a Youtuber by the name of Louis Rossmann and watching his Thinkpad vids (in between MacBook repairs and very interesting life advice stuff) I just ordered an X220 off eBay for £150 to potentially replace my 2011 MacBook Air 11. Chas McGill posted:I'm still using an X220 and it handles all my laptop use cases. The screen and the touchpad probably won't be as good as your Air but it should be a solid, dependable machine. I would have chosen the X230 for 20-30% improved battery life and 50% better GPU performance, but otherwise it's a good choice. The only reason I can think of to buy the X220 is as a diehard old-style thinkpad keyboard or perhaps saving an extra $60 over the X230.
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Aug 22, 2016 00:39
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foutre posted:This does look like it pretty much checks all the boxes for what I'd want in 10xx notebook, and I was thinking about getting it, but I wish they'd gone for a 1440p screen instead of 3k. It feels like that would have been better for gaming on a 1070/scale up and down better, but I also just haven't heard much about that resolution so I might be off base -- is that not really an issue? I'm waiting to see if the Aero 14 refresh keeps the 1440p screen, adds a 1070 and keeps the incredible battery life (and hopefully drops a bit in price...). The native resolution isn't a huge issue, setting aside quality concerns amongst multiple display choices. If it's too low then you'll hate it because you can't do anything about it. If it's higher than you could ever take advantage of then you're basically sacrificing performance and battery life, since higher resolution displays take more effort from the GPU to drive. If in this case it's a higher resolution than you'd use for gaming (but would take advantage of elsewhere,) as long as you're not against scaling down then it shouldn't be a problem. Aranan posted:My wife is in the market for a laptop or one of those laptop/tablet combination things. Refurbished stuff is fine, although keep in mind that Dell refurb isn't directly from Newegg, it's from a 3rd party (which isn't necessarily an issue, but just so you're aware.) There's nothing wrong with getting a standard laptop though, however models newer than that Dell will be more portable with better battery life. Maybe something like an Asus Zenbook, Dell XPS 13, HP Spectre, etc. The Lenovo Yogas are nice convertibles. You're not looking for brand new ones here, recent refurbs will be fine. Thinkpads would also be nice (check the OP!) Gaming is ultimately going to be an afterthought; she's going to want portability and battery life, and you're working within a budget which is fine. I've recently posted an HP that has a 960M which is kind of middling for gaming but an entry point, and although it was ~$650 a few weeks ago which is in your budget the price has risen unfortunately. I often suggest Woot for laptops and link the good deals. Here's one that you may like that's still available for a few more days. The Surface tablets are nice but tend to be pricey, although you might find a Surface 3 at a good price. The tablet kickstand thing with the keyboard can work, but it's not perfect. You wouldn't prefer to use it on your lap, but on a table it's almost as good as a hinged laptop.
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Aug 22, 2016 01:52
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foutre posted:I had a Sager for ~3 years in 2011 that was a great deal in terms of price for performance , but ended up having a sort of complete collapse ~1 year out of warranty; a couple parts failed that were complicated to try and fix, the motherboard got hosed up in a way I didn't totally understand, and their customer service wasn't helpful at all. Before that it was good as a mostly stationary desktop-replacement, and if you're more tech savvy maybe the issues would be more navigable. I'm inclined to agree about preferring 1440p over 3k, but the high resolution will be great for watching movies and the like, and I'm not adverse to scaling the resolution down to 1440p when gaming. It's expensive as hell, but it has a really nice CPU, a killer GPU, and it looks more durable than the Asus. Which is all I care about really, since I destroy laptops. I'm not really sure if the Aorus is worth $700 more than the Asus, but it looks a hell of a lot nicer, has a better screen and keyboard, and if it's even moderately durable then it's worth it in my books.
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Aug 22, 2016 02:07
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Atomizer posted:Refurbished stuff is fine, although keep in mind that Dell refurb isn't directly from Newegg, it's from a 3rd party (which isn't necessarily an issue, but just so you're aware.) There's nothing wrong with getting a standard laptop though, however models newer than that Dell will be more portable with better battery life. Maybe something like an Asus Zenbook, Dell XPS 13, HP Spectre, etc. The Lenovo Yogas are nice convertibles. You're not looking for brand new ones here, recent refurbs will be fine. Thinkpads would also be nice (check the OP!) Gaming is ultimately going to be an afterthought; she's going to want portability and battery life, and you're working within a budget which is fine. I've recently posted an HP that has a 960M which is kind of middling for gaming but an entry point, and although it was ~$650 a few weeks ago which is in your budget the price has risen unfortunately. I often suggest Woot for laptops and link the good deals. Here's one that you may like that's still available for a few more days. Thanks a ton for the suggestions. I'll look into those specific models, and yes that Woot one is quite tempting. May wind up just snagging that one tomorrow.
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Aug 22, 2016 02:15
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Thanks to everyone/anyone that suggested the upgrade to windows 10. I'm only a couple hours in using it, but I really like it. Anyone have advice on browser use? Is there a good comparison chart out there about what each has to offer?
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Aug 22, 2016 02:34
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just use chrome and ublock origin
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Aug 22, 2016 02:37
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Maybe it's different on Windows but Chrome on Mac drains battery life like crazy. You get literally hours longer runtime with Safari.quote:While reviewing the new MacBook Pro with Retina display, I ran the usual Verge battery test on Apple’s new machine. With the screen set to 65 percent brightness, it cycles through a series of websites until the laptop’s battery gives out. The native Safari made the new Retina machine look good: 13 hours and 18 minutes. Google’s Chrome, on the other hand, forced the laptop to tap out at 9 hours and 45 minutes.
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Aug 22, 2016 02:41
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Back when I was a lot more into computers and did a lot of gaming, I switched to Chrome from Mozilla when Chrome first came out. Since I have just always stuck with Chrome. It is a great browser, but it can hog various aspects of your resources. Just wondering if most folks are still using Chrome for good reason or just blindly like me.
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Aug 22, 2016 02:45
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Vital Signs posted:Thanks to everyone/anyone that suggested the upgrade to windows 10. I'm only a couple hours in using it, but I really like it. As was suggested, Chrome, with plugins ublock origin + flashblock, at least until Google disables Flash by default If you're new to Windows, go to Ninite.com and that has a list of pretty much all the best free/semi-free software for Windows and can auto install it for you.
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Aug 22, 2016 03:27
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Aranan posted:Thanks a ton for the suggestions. I'll look into those specific models, and yes that Woot one is quite tempting. May wind up just snagging that one tomorrow. Just to go into a little more detail on that Lenovo Flex: Pros: Convertible CPU (sufficiently powerful and efficient) Touchscreen SSD The iGPU is HD 520, which is not Earth-shattering but is a step in the right direction towards having something that can handle games. You could expect to be able to play some older stuff, WoW, mainstream F2P things like LoL and the like. This may be of some assistance. Meh: RAM amount is the minimum I'd suggest for a non-budget system, although I have used Win 8/10 on 1 GB machines successfully. Battery life may be around 6 hours, just barely sufficient. Vital Signs posted:Back when I was a lot more into computers and did a lot of gaming, I switched to Chrome from Mozilla when Chrome first came out. Since I have just always stuck with Chrome. It is a great browser, but it can hog various aspects of your resources. Just wondering if most folks are still using Chrome for good reason or just blindly like me. Chrome is still my go-to (mainly because I mostly use ChromeOS & AndroidOS) but I think Firefox is competitive again in terms of features, extensions, and performance. The one sticking point has to do with video codecs and hardware acceleration; basically all hardware (dGPUs and iGPUs) supports AVC/h.264 (and nowadays HEVC/h.265) but those are patented. Google has tried to advance its competitors, VP8 and VP9, which don't have hardware acceleration but are royalty-free (and Mozilla has also tried to go this route.) The end result is that, by default, Edge will try to request AVC video from streaming sites (notably Youtube) which offloads the work to the GPU. Chrome will request VP8 which loads the CPU, unless you use an extension like h264ify. In the end, I still prefer using Chrome, even on Windows.
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Aug 22, 2016 03:35
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Thanks for the suggestions/replies! Maybe I'll give firefox a try again, glad to hear it's competitive again.
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Aug 22, 2016 03:38
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Firefox performance still lags pretty significantly compared to Chrome. Our product technically will render using Firefox, but is not advised based on performance issues. It's more than a 50% performance hit for us. Probably not something you will notice on highly optimized, lightweight day to day stuff like facebook, but you might see it on an older laptop trying to render a particularly complex site.
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Aug 22, 2016 03:43
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