I don’t know what Laptop to get. Is HP good enough?

[DontTrustBill]

Hello all

 

The best way to describe what I need in a machine could be classified as creator or content maker.

 

My last laptop was a 2015 MPB that I killed with a coffee spill. For 2020 I am looking at a few brands other than Apple, I am a little tired of them not truly supporting the professionals and going more for the general market (unless you pay 2x more).

 

 I think I am going to buy the laptop at Costco, I can get the manufacture warrenty plus 3 years of water/any damage repair warranty. But I have also considered best buy and their open box computers...

 

The main laptop in question is here

The new HP Envy 15.

 

I wanted to ask people here what they thought of the HP brand, how reliable is it? My roommates dell xps 13 from the same time (2016) still holds up pretty well so I was thinking of the new xps 15. However the equivalent spec’ed laptop (this one) is out of stock and by the time the promotion is over will be $400 more than the HP. 
 

I kinda wished I had a laptop by the time school starts (September 1st for me). So my real question, would I regret the Hp? They announced a focus on creators for the 2020 models....I’m wondering if I can bank on it. I saw hinge issues with older models. Is the HP laptop really a worth alternative to the MBP 16 or Dell Xps 15?  It certainly is cheaper...

 

my other main question is what other laptops do you think I should be looking at? My ideal specs can be referenced off the two links I have above. The screen itself is fairly important, for the type of work I do. Mostly photography with a little graphic design. The 2060 is a nice draw....I secretly want to game on it. 

 

Thank you for reading this and giving me any of your time/advice. I love the channel and I don't post here often, I know this is a good place to find adcive tho. 

[OddOod]

Do you need to be able to do your work on the move? A similarly spec'd system would be way cheaper in desktop form factor 
My opinion of HP is that you are free to set a stack of cash on fire if you so choose, but I think they'll go the way of toshiba within 5 years

[DontTrustBill]

14 minutes ago, OddOod said:

Do you need to be able to do your work on the move? A similarly spec'd system would be way cheaper in desktop form factor 
My opinion of HP is that you are free to set a stack of cash on fire if you so choose, but I think they'll go the way of toshiba within 5 years

 Mobile is fairly critical. I’ve looked at building a pc. Once you account for everything (keyboard, OS, speakers, monitor) all while being in one spot, just won’t cut it for my work. Unless it was at least modestly portable, I already use a rolling backpack for work, I wouldn’t mind strapping a monitor to it....but realistically a laptop would be better suited for that.  
 

thanks for the warning about Hp. That’s kinda what I was afraid of. 

[OddOod]

Fair. If you were reasonably tech savy I'd just use an old midrange dell and remote into your big box for mobile work. but if you're doing photog work, that might not work. I'd bite the bullet and go i5 xps 15

[Radium_Angel]

41 minutes ago, DontTrustBill said:

HP

Professional experience on HP:

 

I wouldn't buy an HP if you gave me the money to do it with.

[DontTrustBill]

41 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

Professional experience on HP:

 

I wouldn't buy an HP if you gave me the money to do it with.

 Thanks, it’s what I was afraid of but you all have helped me quite a lot 

 

[panzersharkcat]

Some of their business grade stuff is alright but I prefer my ThinkPads for a reason.

[Jordaneer]

13 hours ago, DontTrustBill said:

 Thanks, it’s what I was afraid of but you all have helped me quite a lot 

 

Granted this is my personal experience but I had an HP envy FROM Costco that I bought in 2016 and it proceeded to shit the bed after a year, it would blue screen all the time and eventually the DAC broke so the sound was really cracklely, I ended up buying a Dell G5 about a year ago, and so far it's been great

[DontTrustBill]

23 hours ago, panzersharkcat said:

Some of their business grade stuff is alright but I prefer my ThinkPads for a reason.

 I was just looking at a ThinkPad... I found a P52 workstation on clearance for the same price (2k) it has a 8th gen  i9-8950HK And a Quadro p3200. All in a chassis that is known for being sturdy. 
 

It might be complete overkill for what I need but I am pretty drawn to it... I don’t know now even more lol new Dell XPS 15 or an older model think pad? 

 

23 hours ago, panzersharkcat said:

Some of their business grade stuff is alright but I prefer my ThinkPads for a reason.

 

[Donut417]

On 8/18/2020 at 8:33 PM, DontTrustBill said:

hought of the HP brand,

Owned one back in the day, my sister currently has one that's like 5 years old. Was never really impressed with them. 

 

Recently I bought a MacBook Pro. But if I had to buy a PC, Id look at Lenovo and Dell. Specifically the Think Pad lineup from Lenovo as its their business grade option and Ive heard good things. Dell wise will most likely be the XPS line. 

[Guest]

On 8/18/2020 at 8:33 PM, DontTrustBill said:

I wanted to ask people here what they thought of the HP brand, how reliable is it?

Their laptops can be hit or miss, my wife has had one of their mainstream Pavilions without issue, yet I had a similar model a few years previous that had several issues very quickly. I remember them being very difficult to work on and I swore I'd never buy one again. But that was many years ago, and now I type this on an HP Omen and I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed with what they've done. Bloatware is still an issue but honestly, their design of this thing is pretty good. Only time will tell how it'll hold up, but I'm optimistic.

[DontTrustBill]

On 8/20/2020 at 8:04 PM, Donut417 said:

Owned one back in the day, my sister currently has one that's like 5 years old. Was never really impressed with them. 

 

Recently I bought a MacBook Pro. But if I had to buy a PC, Id look at Lenovo and Dell. Specifically the Think Pad lineup from Lenovo as its their business grade option and Ive heard good things. Dell wise will most likely be the XPS line. 

I am leaning more towards the thinkpad side. I’ve used them for work and I like how rugged they feel. Part of me is considering them because spilling water on my keyboard is how I killed it, Thinkpad has spill resistant keypad.