Business Notebook Advice

[suedseefrucht]

Hi,

 

I would like to get a notebook for programming, MS office, web surfing, so i3/R3 or i5/R5 with internal graphics should be enough.

My budget is up to 1000 € / 1180 USD but I think this should be possible cheaper.

Since I dont need high end specs, I would like to spend the money on a long lifetime and good quality.

 

I like the simple and clean looks of ThinkPads from lenovo.

But I need your experience of lifetimes and quality.

 

Thank you!

[Bladzy]

Judging by specs, price and lastly looks (729,00€):
https://www.otto.de/p/captiva-power-starter-r59-110-business-notebook-39-6-cm-15-6-zoll-amd-ryzen-5-500-gb-ssd-1301721267/#variationId=1301721268

Or this one if you want some more storage (769,00€):
https://www.otto.de/p/captiva-power-starter-r59-125-business-notebook-39-6-cm-15-6-zoll-amd-ryzen-5-1000-gb-ssd-1301647331/#variationId=1301647382

But the model I'd take for the money is probably this one (799,00€)
https://www.otto.de/p/hp-15-dk1250ng-notebook-39-6-cm-15-6-zoll-intel-core-i5-geforce-gtx-1650-ti-1000-gb-ssd-1295442683/#variationId=1295442684

 

It comes with a decent GPU so you can do gaming aswell. All its specs are on par or better than the ones above, at roughly the same price. If you don't mind the gamery look you should give this one a try. But there is one drawback, you do not want to use this unit on battery...    (but if thats no top priority, hell yeah go for it, at its current price of 799€ its a steal.)

In case you are wondering about those recommendations:

Programming can use up quite a bit of RAM (depends on the application though). I prefer having at least a fhd display, makes text so much nicer to read! I personally also make quite a lot of use of multiprocessing thats why I like those CPU's. Having more than 500GB of storage is crucial (at least for me). A backlit keyboard really is comfort worth having (trust me, you will miss it if you own a backlit keyboard). The GPU in the last one come at preatty much no extra cost and is a bonus and since I always go for the biggest value that would be it. 

I don't like recommending e-waste. Thats why I stay away from thin and lights that have been stripped of their performance and connectivity (ports). Let alone chrome-books... 

[Darkseth]

But you did recommend e-waste I don't think, HP's cheapest gaming-series is the first choice (or even the 10th...), when you want a high quality business Device. A Device, that pretty much is "e-waste" (lower/bad build quality just for gamery look and maximum specs, low warranty and support)

For HP, you can start with HP ProBook G8 series or at least Envy for consumer.

Btw, that "HP Gaming toy" has just an older gen Intel quad Core. That CPU Power isn't that special for the Price, other devices can offer 6-8 cores already.

--> I don't recopmmend that HP Notebook, it's not a steal. CPU is mediocre, build quality is mediocre, Display is mediocre, Support is mediocre, battery life is mediocre... Overall an overpriced Notebook with below average specs/quality, only "okay" if you want Gaming below 800€

 

Or a company, noone has ever heared of, a Ryzen 5 4500u is also not enough for that price.
There is literaly no review or anything out there, i don't know how anyone could recommend that.

 

 

In that Price, i'd look for a good 16:10 Display: Lenovo Ideapad 5 Pro (if it doesn't has to be a business device). Full Aluminum build, high resolution, 16:10. You'll see alot of lines at the same Time.

One Step above the Ideapad Pro series is the Lenovo Yoga Slim series: https://geizhals.de/lenovo-yoga-slim-7-pro-14ach5-light-silver-82ms0026ge-a2496548.html

999€, Ryzen 7 5800H (high wattage Zen3 8-core), one of the best Displays at around 1000€.

You want to stick to Windows, no Gaming, and maximum 1000€? This one. By a HUGE margin. One of THE most interesting Windows Notebooks at 1000€ right now, also thanks to this extremely good Display.
CPU Performance is MORE than double of that HP above, while consuming less power at the same Time, and much less heat.

(Edit: Even if you don't "need" that performance.. the Build quality is great, battery life is good, Display is a dream, and the Display alone will make working on it much better)

 

Or you try to get a modern model of a T (or X or P)-Thinkpad or HP Elitebook 845~, they come with a very good build quality, out of the box 3 year warranty, and you can buy pro-level support which is superior to consumer-level support.

But still just a 1080p 16:9 Panel.

If new: Thinkpad E14/E15 G3 (300 nits brightness, Ryzen 5000), maybe purchase premium support for it.

 

Good and cheaper: https://geizhals.de/lenovo-ideapad-5-14alc05-graphite-grey-82lm00apge-a2548315.html

Still Zen2, but 8 Cores, 16 Threads. it completely Destroys that HP Gaming toy from above in CPU Tasks.

 

Or, for that price, you switch to a Macbook Air M1 base configuration.

Best battery life out of all, performance is extremely high, great Display, great Speakers, extremely good build quality, and most important: It's fanless and will never be loud.
But SSD/Ram are not upgradeable, but plenty enough for what you're doing. But if not for the storage, it's without any competition in that pricerange.
However, it depends what "programming" means.. learning it for Uni? Or huge Projects?

[Bladzy]

On 7/13/2021 at 6:34 PM, Darkseth said:

But you did recommend e-waste I don't think, HP's cheapest gaming-series is the first choice (or even the 10th...), when you want a high quality business Device. A Device, that pretty much is "e-waste" (lower/bad build quality just for gamery look and maximum specs, low warranty and support)

For HP, you can start with HP ProBook G8 series or at least Envy for consumer.

Btw, that "HP Gaming toy" has just an older gen Intel quad Core. That CPU Power isn't that special for the Price, other devices can offer 6-8 cores already.

--> I don't recopmmend that HP Notebook, it's not a steal. CPU is mediocre, build quality is mediocre, Display is mediocre, Support is mediocre, battery life is mediocre... Overall an overpriced Notebook with below average specs/quality, only "okay" if you want Gaming below 800€

 

Or a company, noone has ever heared of, a Ryzen 5 4500u is also not enough for that price.
There is literaly no review or anything out there, i don't know how anyone could recommend that.

 

 

In that Price, i'd look for a good 16:10 Display: Lenovo Ideapad 5 Pro (if it doesn't has to be a business device). Full Aluminum build, high resolution, 16:10. You'll see alot of lines at the same Time.

One Step above the Ideapad Pro series is the Lenovo Yoga Slim series: https://geizhals.de/lenovo-yoga-slim-7-pro-14ach5-light-silver-82ms0026ge-a2496548.html

999€, Ryzen 7 5800H (high wattage Zen3 8-core), one of the best Displays at around 1000€.

You want to stick to Windows, no Gaming, and maximum 1000€? This one. By a HUGE margin. One of THE most interesting Windows Notebooks at 1000€ right now, also thanks to this extremely good Display.
CPU Performance is MORE than double of that HP above, while consuming less power at the same Time, and much less heat.

(Edit: Even if you don't "need" that performance.. the Build quality is great, battery life is good, Display is a dream, and the Display alone will make working on it much better)

 

Or you try to get a modern model of a T (or X or P)-Thinkpad or HP Elitebook 845~, they come with a very good build quality, out of the box 3 year warranty, and you can buy pro-level support which is superior to consumer-level support.

But still just a 1080p 16:9 Panel.

If new: Thinkpad E14/E15 G3 (300 nits brightness, Ryzen 5000), maybe purchase premium support for it.

 

Good and cheaper: https://geizhals.de/lenovo-ideapad-5-14alc05-graphite-grey-82lm00apge-a2548315.html

Still Zen2, but 8 Cores, 16 Threads. it completely Destroys that HP Gaming toy from above in CPU Tasks.

 

Or, for that price, you switch to a Macbook Air M1 base configuration.

Best battery life out of all, performance is extremely high, great Display, great Speakers, extremely good build quality, and most important: It's fanless and will never be loud.
But SSD/Ram are not upgradeable, but plenty enough for what you're doing. But if not for the storage, it's without any competition in that pricerange.
However, it depends what "programming" means.. learning it for Uni? Or huge Projects?

Dunno where all this salt comes from... But first of all he wanted to go with less than 1k€'s which you seem to have missed. Thats why I recommended lower priced parts. I never said pick the HP one for it's looks btw... Only if he doesn't mind them dude. I do data sience on my machines, thats why max specs are important to me. I never said the Intel CPU is special, but the unit has a dedicated graphics card at almost no extra cost compared to apu options with similar performance and price. The first 2 options have more cores, which I doubt he will need, but is nice to have for multi processing as I said. The 4500u is an excellent processor for programming hence its boost, core count, price and low power consumption. It also comes with decent vega graphics in case one wanted to play a game. I can't judge built quality w/o holding them in my hands. But they seem to be produced partly with alluminium and plastic, similar to lenovos Idea Pad 3's which really feel great, so I don't worry. The customer support I never had to contact with HP products, so again, I can't judge and you may have had bad experiences who knows.. For coding (readability) on a 15 inch you don't need a higher resolution than 1080p since pixel density is increased. Thats about it. I can't argue that your choices are not good, since they are,  indeed. But besides this one: https://geizhals.de/lenovo-ideapad-5-14alc05-graphite-grey-82lm00apge-a2548315.html they all play in a different price park than what I was aiming at, sub 800€ which makes them somewhat uncomparable.
 

The Lenovo Idea Pad 5 14alc05 , that you have linked really is a good choice. Mainly because the CPU is newer and because of its Battery. It beats the captivas. And If a dedicated gpu is of none interest, thats probably your best bet, agree. 

[Bladzy]

While browsing the web I stumbled across sth. that may be worth a look. https://bit.ly/3yTgXAU

 

It again has a dedicated GPU but its priced even lower (660€). It's considerable if a GPU is sth. you are after. Drawbacks are: less Ram, but it us upgradable. And it comes without windows, so you'd have to format and install a version on your own (at no extra cost, since windows works just fine unactivated). 

 

Other than that, it's what I deem appropriate for a business/coding laptop. The looks are not to gamery. It should feel comfortable and i  general provide a good user experience.

[suedseefrucht]

6 hours ago, Bladzy said:

if a GPU is sth. you are after

I've still got my gaming pc build, which you can see down below.
So this is really just for presentations, mobile web surfing, programming and maybe CNC control.

[suedseefrucht]

On 7/13/2021 at 6:34 PM, Darkseth said:

But still just a 1080p 16:9 Panel.

1080p is fine for what I want to do with it.
 

[Bladzy]

5 hours ago, suedseefrucht said:

I've still got my gaming pc build, which you can see down below.
So this is really just for presentations, mobile web surfing, programming and maybe CNC control.

Oh I did not even realize you are in possession of a desktop rig alrdy. In that case I'd go with the Idea Pad 5 14alc05 that Darkseth linked above. Its battery processor combo really is appearing, and besides that it got everything I'd personally want from a laptop. Connectivity, fhd screen, enough ram and storage. For presentations additionally to the HDMi the usb-c port may be interesting on this unit. It supports power delivery and display output. I think it will serve you well. You will have to install windows and amd's adrenalin software yourself, but that's doable.  As far as CNC control goes, honestly I don't know what's possible on laptops. I can imagine that wiring it will get a little tricky. 

[Darkseth]

On 7/15/2021 at 1:29 AM, Bladzy said:

Dunno where all this salt comes from...

There is no salt, buddy. I just didn't agree with these recommendations, and were trying to explain why  Don't mind me, if i sound a little harsh sometimes, it's rarely meant in a bad way.  (hitzige diskussion und so ) 

 

While a Ryzen 5 4500u is fine for this stuff, it doesn't belong to a 750€ Notebook today - especially when you don't know how good the laptop is, and how the support will be from an unknown company.

That can't possibly be the first choice when someone wants a reliable business notebook with a Focus on quality and longetivity.

If it's a Lenovo Thinkpad E series you kinda know what you're getting, especially with those 3-5 year premium support plan, if needed.

 

Btw: https://www.notebookcheck.com/Lenovo-ThinkPad-E14-G3-AMD-Laptop-im-Test-Guenstiger-Business-Rechner-mit-Ryzen-Power.549483.0.html

Notebookcheck reviewed the G3 one yesterday, and it seems to be the best E-Thinkpad ever. This should be similar on the E15 model.

 

On 7/15/2021 at 9:36 AM, suedseefrucht said:

1080p is fine for what I want to do with it.
 

There are higher res options <1000€, which are also 16:10, so you would be able to see more lines of code at the same time.

It's less that 1080p 16:9 is particulary "bad", the other options just became really interesting, so they were worth a mention