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SourKraut posted:I keep going back and forth on ordering this. I have the Dell XPS 13 7390 2-in-1 and love it a lot, but I also have been using it for work quite a bit, and also watching a 3 year old, and there have already been a few close calls that make me think the above with the 4 year Pro Plus warranty would be nice to use when at home (leaving the XPS 13 for work-specific meetings, etc.). To follow up on this, I like the featureset/etc. of the G14, and it sounds like there's ways to minimize its heat-related issues and fan noise in non-intensive applications. My main hesitation is that I would like to be able to get some type of accident coverage plan, which is why the Vostro is so appealing, in case my 3 year old decides to wreck havoc on it accidentally. It looks like ASUS offers it, but not if you buy it from Best Buy, lol. Edit: Also, I like the version that's a step down, https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-r...?skuId=6409482, but can't decide if it's silly to not pay the few hundred extra for the R9 and 2060 given my use case. I think RAM/SSD is upgradable? Canned Sunshine fucked around with this message at 03:13 on Jul 11, 2020 |
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Jul 11, 2020 03:11
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SourKraut posted:To follow up on this, I like the featureset/etc. of the G14, and it sounds like there's ways to minimize its heat-related issues and fan noise in non-intensive applications. My main hesitation is that I would like to be able to get some type of accident coverage plan, which is why the Vostro is so appealing, in case my 3 year old decides to wreck havoc on it accidentally. It looks like ASUS offers it, but not if you buy it from Best Buy, lol. The G14 looks interesting especially for value getting 1 TB SDD / 2060 for $1500 but supposedly it can get finger scorching hot during peak use conditions due to the compact size / also Magnesium chassis allow too much heat to be transferred to the keyboard area. It is pretty crazy how the customer CPU can perform at the same level or in same scenarios even better then intel 45W CPUs commonly used in larger 15" laptops.
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Jul 11, 2020 12:58
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I need to get my dad a new 15" laptop primarily for MS office and web browsing, he multitasks a lot and keeps a lot of browsers and programs open . He's old and hates his current laptop (a 3 year old dell with an i3, 4gb ram, 5400 drive) and wants speed and power and is willing to pay for it. So I was thinking an i7, 256 or 512gb ssd and 16gb ram. Would that be too much? Would 8gb ram be just as good as 16 for what he uses it for? This looks a pretty good deal, https://deals.dell.com/en-us/productdetail/4uqf It has 8gb ram but I think can handle 16. Thank you
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Jul 11, 2020 18:22
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Mouse Cadet posted:I need to get my dad a new 15" laptop primarily for MS office and web browsing, he multitasks a lot and keeps a lot of browsers and programs open . He's old and hates his current laptop (a 3 year old dell with an i3, 4gb ram, 5400 drive) and wants speed and power and is willing to pay for it. I3, 4GB, HDD is a recipe for disaster, so anything will be an improvement Considered just adding a $40 SSD and upping the RAM to 8GB?
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Jul 11, 2020 18:40
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Hadlock posted:Yeah Valve dropping support for Team Fortress 2 on Windows 2000 was the last straw for me, went straight to Win 7 You got a list or guide to those Windows 10 reg hacks? Tired of the start menu being full of advertisements
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Jul 11, 2020 19:44
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Am I missing something about the ads? Because I never see any. I removed all of the tiles so my start menu looks like a Windows 7 start menu, could that be it?
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Jul 11, 2020 19:49
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I have used Shutup10 and 7+ Taskbar Tweaker for years and pretty much only run into Windows 10 annoyances when I'm having to dig through their new settings pages.
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Jul 11, 2020 20:25
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Hi, I was checking the thread OP but didn't see a recommendation for a laptop with touchscreen besides Dell XPS 13 (which is 1900+ euro in my country). Is there something to recommend? For example, I'm looking into getting a Lenovo IdeaPad C340-14IML. The specs seem okay for what I want to do, but I have no idea whether the IdeaPad series is considered good or whether there's not a better alternative around. For reference, the ideapad: Intel Core i7 10510U, 16 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce MX230, 512 GB SSD, 14 Inch for 900 euro. I mostly want to use it for browsing, but with the option of playing some non-GPU intensive games (i.e. divinity original sin 2), doesn't have the be highest FPS or settings.
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Jul 11, 2020 21:52
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Jinnigan posted:You got a list or guide to those Windows 10 reg hacks? Tired of the start menu being full of advertisements What adverts are you seeing?
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Jul 11, 2020 22:29
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Is there any definitive way to find out which kind of aperture I have in my Lenovo laptop for the power adapter? I am trying to find a proper cord that I can hook up to my portable battery in case of need but, even though the tip that goes into the computer is some shade of brown, I can't find any kind of standard colour key online. Additionally, I don't trust myself to measure it because the difference between cords is sometimes less than one millimetre.
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Jul 11, 2020 23:12
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JustJeff88 posted:Is there any definitive way to find out which kind of aperture I have in my Lenovo laptop for the power adapter? I am trying to find a proper cord that I can hook up to my portable battery in case of need but, even though the tip that goes into the computer is some shade of brown, I can't find any kind of standard colour key online. Additionally, I don't trust myself to measure it because the difference between cords is sometimes less than one millimetre. Generally you can search for power adapter for a model of laptop to get an exact fit. I'd link one but you didn't say which laptop you have.
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Jul 12, 2020 00:03
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Rexxed posted:Generally you can search for power adapter for a model of laptop to get an exact fit. I'd link one but you didn't say which laptop you have. I somehow managed to find my e-mail receipt from this 7-year-old laptop. It's a Lenovo Idea Pad y510p Edit: Just to clarify, I am looking for a laptop-to-USB charger that I can plug into my portable battery if I need to. I do not need a full AC power adapter.
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Jul 12, 2020 00:36
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JustJeff88 posted:I somehow managed to find my e-mail receipt from this 7-year-old laptop. It's a Lenovo Idea Pad y510p Laptops usually require 16 to 20 volts and USB batteries are 5 volts so the cord you want may not exist. Laptops also usually like their chargers to provide 60 to 90 watts or more and only the newest USB-C specs get into those ranges. Unless I'm misunderstanding your purpose here and you're not looking to run a laptop off a USB power bank?
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Jul 12, 2020 00:46
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Rexxed posted:Laptops usually require 16 to 20 volts and USB batteries are 5 volts so the cord you want may not exist. Laptops also usually like their chargers to provide 60 to 90 watts or more and only the newest USB-C specs get into those ranges. Unless I'm misunderstanding your purpose here and you're not looking to run a laptop off a USB power bank? I was hoping to use the battery/power bank but I was afraid that a laptop might be too much for it, so at least now I know. I use this laptop little (which is why it's 6 2/3 years old and I haven't replaced it) and I just wanted to have the option of using the power bank to recharge it, but it's not the end of the world. I actually have an adapter for my car that lets me plug any standard plug into the car's lighter through it and I just used my laptop very successfully on a long car trip, so I will probably have to content myself with that.
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Jul 12, 2020 00:57
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JustJeff88 posted:I was hoping to use the battery/power bank but I was afraid that a laptop might be too much for it, so at least now I know. I use this laptop little (which is why it's 6 2/3 years old and I haven't replaced it) and I just wanted to have the option of using the power bank to recharge it, but it's not the end of the world. I actually have an adapter for my car that lets me plug any standard plug into the car's lighter through it and I just used my laptop very successfully on a long car trip, so I will probably have to content myself with that. Yeah there's adapters to kick power up to higher levels but you won't be able to get one that can take 5v and maybe 5 Watts output to what the laptop requires. There are some new laptops using USB-C power and probably some expensive power banks that can handle running them but they're not universal. There's also more huge lithium packs with inverters to provide some 120V AC plugs. They're sort of becoming a weekend camping alternative to generators which is why they're often called generators incorrectly since they don't generate power. Here's a small one, but they have gigantic ones with scaled up costs and power as well: https://smile.amazon.com/NEXPOW-Portable-Generator-Emergency-Inverter/dp/B07SD4KMMN/
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Jul 12, 2020 01:02
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Alright laptop thread, I'm hoping you can help me with my next purchase. My 2017 XPS recently suffered water damage but I'll be receiving a rebate on it from Microsoft's late great coverage plan. I've realized that I do not need a highly specced multimedia laptop so my plan is to build a decent desktop and get a portable device. I'll mainly be using the portable for watching videos, reading, and office work. I've heard good things about the X1 Carbon, and I think I have a good price on a Gen 7 (i5-8265U, 1080p screen, 8gb RAM, 256GB SSD) for ~$1350 CAD. However, I'm worried that the RAM may not be sufficient, especially that it's soldered. Is this a good price given the specs? Also, I'm a fan of the Surface line's 3:2 aspect ratio for reading/productivity, so maybe a Surface Pro would be the better choice?
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Jul 12, 2020 02:14
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Bob Morales posted:I3, 4GB, HDD is a recipe for disaster, so anything will be an improvement Thanks for that idea. Upgrading the current laptop is much cheaper, he's not tech savvy and would need to hire someone to do that for him. If he does get a new one, for the type of things he'll being doing is there an advantage going with an i7 vs i5 and 16gb ram vs 8? He wants something that will last a while and he's about to throw his current one out the window its so slow.
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Jul 12, 2020 15:52
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Mouse Cadet posted:Thanks for that idea. Upgrading the current laptop is much cheaper, he's not tech savvy and would need to hire someone to do that for him. An i7 is overkill but having 16GB of RAM, while also overkill, is the kind of thing that’s always nice. I mean, the first thing I do with a new laptop is jam 32GB of RAM in there because gently caress it, why not. RAM is/was (haven’t bought any since working from home had everyone pillage every computer supplier) cheap as hell.
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Jul 12, 2020 16:09
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What do you folks make of this. https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predato...ctronics&sr=1-3 I am in a very odd situation right now where a generous relative is willing to buy me a $1300 laptop. Ordinarily I wouldn't consider something like this and get a desktop instead. In addition to gaming, I would likely wind up using this with a drawing tablet display for 2d animation work. (And probably upgrade the ram to 32gb later.)
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Jul 12, 2020 22:38
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Spacedad posted:What do you folks make of this. I can’t stand XTREME GAMERZ LAPTOP DESIGN. That’s why I went with the Dell Vostro posted earlier.
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Jul 12, 2020 22:43
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Yeah the 'gamer' design is silly but I am not really bothered by aesthetic if the performance to dollar is good for what I wanna do with it.
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Jul 12, 2020 22:51
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Rexxed posted:Yeah there's adapters to kick power up to higher levels but you won't be able to get one that can take 5v and maybe 5 Watts output to what the laptop requires. There are some new laptops using USB-C power and probably some expensive power banks that can handle running them but they're not universal. While an old laptop wouldn't charger over USB-C, if you do have a PD power bank that supports the appropriate voltage (15V? 20V?), you can get a PD decoy like this, and it will basically tell the powerbank to constantly pump out the required voltage: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000124529027.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.17ad3c00HXmkHq&mp=1 By the point I got to this solution I just used the power bank to charge the tablet with PD directly though 
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Jul 12, 2020 22:51
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Spacedad posted:What do you folks make of this. Ah, the old Spacedad challenge
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Jul 12, 2020 23:10
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Phone posted:I've been posting about C940 deals because it's the one that I have. I bought one back in February for $1300 for the 4K, 16GB, 512+32GB NVMe SSD in Mica from Best Buy. So I ended up pulling the trigger on one of these and I have to say that your assessment was mostly spot on. It's a very nice machine, especially for the discounted price, and overall seems to be a nice improvement in the product line. That said, I had some serious issues with the screen - it would sputter and freeze up on me at least once each day in the week that I had it, during the most mundane of activities and despite driver updates and/or lots of tweaking, so I returned it today and will be going with one of the souped up t490s on clearance. I almost never take my laptop anywhere and I don't mind a heavier machine as long as I can depend on the drat thing to work when I need it to without issue. Maybe I just got a bum one, but I don't know. My wife has an older Yoga that has similar screen issues (when it's unplugged at least), so maybe there's just something about the configuration in that line that Lenovo hasn't been able to figure out yet.
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Jul 13, 2020 03:47
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decision; however, I have been using it more as a 2nd screen for when I'm working.
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Are there generic batteries that can keep a laptop charged up? Even if the laptop is too old for USB-PD? Like, how do I keep my Lenovo w550s charged up when I'm away from plugs? I assume it only charges through the mains plug. Is it possible to buy some kind of portable mains-voltage battery that's convenient for lugging along with a laptop so you won't need to plug in outdoors? I know I could just buy tons of Lenovo batteries and swap them out, but that would be cost inefficient in terms of scale. Plus having to independently keep track of how much lifespan decrease each little li-ion battery has suffered over the months, as opposed to maintaining just one.
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Jul 14, 2020 04:58
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Dumb Lowtax posted:Are there generic batteries that can keep a laptop charged up? Even if the laptop is too old for USB-PD? The efficiency of a conversion is typically between 50 and 85% (probably not towards the high end for a cheap portable converter), so when you charge your external battery from the mains best case you lose 15%, then when you charge your laptop from it you lose 15% in the conversion to AC and another 15% in the laptop adapter, so you're getting probably less than 70% usage of the *capacity* of the extra battery by the time it makes it to the laptop battery, and probably less than 50% of the power you used to charge it by the time it makes it to the laptop battery, versus no capacity wastage and 85% power efficiency if you just used a number of spare laptop batteries. Edit: for example this one was linked, costing $195 with a capacity of 213Wh, which amounts to probably significantly less than 150Wh after the double conversion to charge your laptop battery, and weighs 6lb. A brand new 72Wh battery purchased from Lenovo directly is about $120, and weighs 0.74lb (so two of them is likely more charge, in a quarter of the weight, costing *slightly* more if you bought from Lenovo direct, and this way the 'wear' per charge is the wear of charging and discharging one battery, where with the pack you'd be charging and discharging two batteries for each charge). The external pack might be better if you're planning to charge it from solar panels or something though, because it's likely to have more flexibility about what it charges from than the laptop. roomforthetuna fucked around with this message at 05:29 on Jul 14, 2020 |
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Jul 14, 2020 05:20
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drat, you're a legend. Thanks for the detailed answer and analysis.
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Jul 14, 2020 05:35
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Dumb Lowtax posted:drat, you're a legend. Thanks for the detailed answer and analysis.
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Jul 14, 2020 05:37
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I just found out I will be traveling a great deal more for work, and that travel will involve a 14 day quarantine in a hotel room before leaving. To limit the chances of going (more) insane, I want to grab a gaming laptop. Main games I play right now are COD:MW, Need for Speed, Rocket League, and a few other other not super demanding games. I was looking at this Lenovo 7i: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-7-series/Lenovo-Legion-7/p/81YUCTO1WWENUS0/customize Do I really need the fancy 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, anti-glare, Dolby Vision™ HDR 400, 500 nits, 144Hz G-Sync® screen, or will the basic G-sync screen be fine? Is it worth it to upgrade to the 2070? Can I install my own 2.5" SSD as a secondary drive? It would also be nice to have something where the battery can last at least 3-4 hours on a plane watching a movie, but that may be demanding a bit much from a "gaming" laptop. I'm also open to other manufacturers if anyone has any other suggestions. At this point I have no plan to do any VR or anything (I have a desktop for that and transporting a headset just seems a bit too nerdy).
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Jul 14, 2020 21:18
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Dunno who specifically needs this, but that 100W type-C charger that Aukey showed off a bajillion years ago at CES2020 are here and only $50 with coupon. https://www.amazon.com/MacBook-Charger-AUKEY-Technology-Delivery/dp/B086X37GVS
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Jul 14, 2020 23:16
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Keep in mind with a 100w charger, you won't be able to just just any USB-C cable, it will need to be an emarked one.
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Jul 14, 2020 23:30
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Looking at this: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pav...p?skuId=6409145 1660Ti, 8GB RAM, 16" 144Hz IPS monitor, 512GB SSD for $750. It seems like a crazy deal and I'm pretty tempted to pull the trigger on it for a serviceable travel gaming machine. I feel like I might be missing something that's making it so cheap. I figure I'll throw another $75 and upgrade the RAM to 16GB, but even then it feels underpriced?
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Jul 14, 2020 23:39
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SwissArmyDruid posted:Dunno who specifically needs this, but that 100W type-C charger that Aukey showed off a bajillion years ago at CES2020 are here and only $50 with coupon. I thought most said to avoid Aukey and RAV4Power, and stick to Anker?
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Jul 15, 2020 01:59
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SourKraut posted:I thought most said to avoid Aukey and RAV4Power, and stick to Anker? I've been buying a lot of 3rd party batteries and chargers lately and I'd say RAVPower is pretty close to Anker in terms of quality and their chargers work just dandy for my wife's MBP and my XPS. Aukey is a little cheaper and I've had a couple of their products fail. I would avoid them if you can. The RAVPower 90w dual port version of this charger is only 50 cents more. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083ZBXXN5/ref=emc_b_5_t
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Jul 15, 2020 02:24
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I have this one (65W), it works great: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P6P2L22/ It's 65w, which means it's compatible with all Dell laptops, and probably most usb-c cables. Anyways I got it in January and it works great. Originally I got this cable, 6' long, which I prefer, as it's more thin/bendy, rated for 65W: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071WNXY1R/ But using it in bed, I need about 7.5' length to not be yanking cable connectors around, so I got this, it's great, and bright red, a full 10' long, and it's rated for 100W, but it's much thicker, bending radius is about half: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CWC3BSF/ Life is too short to buy lovely power adapters and cables, and Anker is really cheap for what you get.
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Jul 15, 2020 05:44
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SourKraut posted:I thought most said to avoid Aukey and RAV4Power, and stick to Anker? I've been using a RAVPower USB-C PD GaN charger for powering my Macbook Air, iPhone, iPad, and Nintendo Switch flawlessly with absolutely zero issues ever. It's a wonderful charging brick and I highly recommend that everyone goes for one if possible, especially if it goes on sale which they do often on Amazon. I strongly prefer it to anything Anker has right now in their USB-C PD offerings, unless you need a 100W charger for your 16" Macbook Pro or another power hungry laptop. https://amazon.com/dp/B07TC53ZYD/ Honestly, you're much better off reading reviews of a particular charger or cable and making your decision that way, rather than arbitrarily going with Anker or some other company on the brand alone because there's way more than just Anker out there. Cough Drop The Beat fucked around with this message at 15:37 on Jul 15, 2020 |
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Jul 15, 2020 15:24
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Cough Drop The Beat posted:I've been using a RAVPower USB-C PD GaN charger for powering my Macbook Air, iPhone, iPad, and Nintendo Switch flawlessly with absolutely zero issues ever. It's a wonderful charging brick and I highly recommend that everyone goes for one if possible, especially if it goes on sale which they do often on Amazon. I strongly prefer it to anything Anker has right now in their USB-C PD offerings, unless you need a 100W charger for your 16" Macbook Pro or another power hungry laptop. https://amazon.com/dp/B07TC53ZYD/ I agree, and I look at others, it's mostly been that in addition to what others have said before, I also like to use Fakespot even though it does have flaws, and Aukey and RAVPower often end up with Ds and Fs on Fakespot, which doesn't tend to help my opinion either.
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Jul 15, 2020 17:08
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I drive a BBW posted:I just found out I will be traveling a great deal more for work, and that travel will involve a 14 day quarantine in a hotel room before leaving. To limit the chances of going (more) insane, I want to grab a gaming laptop. Main games I play right now are COD:MW, Need for Speed, Rocket League, and a few other other not super demanding games. I was looking at this Lenovo 7i: I’m also looking at getting a gaming laptop due to being home for the foreseeable future. I will be able to use a 1440p external monitor most of the time and would like to be able to play things like Witcher 3, Baldurs Gate, maybe Diablo 4, etc. It seems like people are generally recommending the ROG G14, but the Omen 15 refresh looks good and the Legion 7i also looks good and it seems like both of those have better thermals than the G14. My budget is around $1500.
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Jul 15, 2020 23:53
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DrOgreface posted:I’m also looking at getting a gaming laptop due to being home for the foreseeable future. I will be able to use a 1440p external monitor most of the time and would like to be able to play things like Witcher 3, Baldurs Gate, maybe Diablo 4, etc. Yeah pretty much all the reviews say the G14 runs really hot during peak use since it's a gaming laptop in a much smaller 14" form factor.
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Jul 16, 2020 01:00
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What are the general thoughts on Omen? I thought typically it's "gently caress HP", but it does look decent?
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Jul 16, 2020 04:27
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