Help me pick a laptop - Hp vs Toshiba

[cyber1]

EDIT: Now im undecided between a hp envy 15 j (i5-4200m,8gb,gt840m) and a toshiba p50b (i7-4710,8gb,mad m265x), but this one is refurbished. see last post.

 

Hey, I underlined for a easier and more quick read.

So im looking for a laptop to replace my aging asus that can now only serve kinda of a desktop.

My current system is : i7-2630qm, gt540m 1gb, 6gb ram, 720gb 5400rpm drive, hd screen

 

I was thinking of going with another, more recent quad core but then saw a i5 laptop for a bit over 200$ less and ended up not being sure if the extra costs is necessary for my usage. I use the computer for really more basic stuff, not much gaming(i do plan on getting gta v, but that isn't enough to consider myself a gamer or buy with that usage in mind)/3d or video editing. just some lightroom and then the regular stuff like chrome with a lot of tabs open, thunderbird, office, youtube and videos, it will be used quite a bit for media viewing.

Some helpful users over on the cpu section already gave me some help and im more confident that a difference in performance on these tasks or real world usage won't really be noticeable.

 

I do plan on getting an ssd regardless of which one i end up buying.So, here are the two contenders i narrowed down to:

 

1- HP Envy 15

-i5 4200m;

-4gb of ram ( i do have a 4gb stick i can use but its 1333mhz and the one that comes with the laptop is 1666mhz. But i can always get one that is like 30$)

-Nvidia gt 840m

-720gb 5400rpm and an free msata port from what i have been told

- 15,6 glossy Led 1366x768 res. 

- Win 8.1

-Backlit keyboard

 

2- Asus k550jk

- i7-4710hq

-8gb of ram (altough, 4gb of those are soldered on the motherboard and so it only has one free slot and it comes with 4gb stick)

-Nvidia gtx 850m

-720gb 7200rpm hdd

- 15.6 matte fhd res.

- Doesn't come with windows

 

The difference between these two in price goes a bit over 200$, which is significant, making the asus more expensive and the hp cheaper by a bit over 200$. 

 

So my questions are:

- Do hp still suffers from overheating issues? I read a lot of complaints and i had one years ago(8) and it heated up and made noise to a point where it was uncomfortable. So this is my biggest fear with the hp. Feedback from hp users would be great(but i do welcome all ), i can't seem to find much feedback or videos on recent models or ones with those specs.

- Which one would you pick considering my use for it (office, web, media)? Would spending the extra money on the asus that has fhd make much difference in terms of watching media? I don't even have a lot of 1080p files to be honest.

 

This ran a bit too long im realizing, so im sorry about that.

Thank you!

[QueenDemetria]

- Which one would you pick considering my use for it (office, web, media)?

For your use the specs of the HP is better, but I  wouldn't recommend a HP at this point. They aren't built to last, they are a pain to work on, and HP's support is still terrible(which I normally don't consider, but with the low quality hardware the support is necessary, however almost non existent in HP's case). I would get the Asus or look for a different brand within your price range(if you get GTA V the Asus won't be bad though).

[cyber1]

Thanks.

Its a shame, because the hp is also better looking with aluminium build(and bakclit keyboard as a plus) instead of full plastic on the asus. I was really hoping hp had figured things out by now, it has been years since reports of overheating are made. I actually didn't had a bad experience with hp support at the time, but it could have gotten worse and to be fair, although everything went well, they didn't really solved the problem if im remebring correctly. But i wanted the materials and hardware to last of course without using the warranty.

The asus is a bit over 200$ more, although it has better specs (doesn't have windows though). I was considering the hp because it seemed good in terms of specs for the price, i can't find another one from other brand with a i5 4200m, they all have the new i5-something U , that scores less than the i5 M on the passmark website, if that is reliable.

[exercutor5]

Hey, I underlined for a easier and more quick read.

So im looking for a laptop to replace my aging asus that can now only serve kinda of a desktop.

My current system is : i7-2630qm, gt540m 1gb, 6gb ram, 720gb 5400rpm drive, hd screen

I was thinking of going with another, more recent quad core but then saw a i5 laptop for a bit over 200$ less and ended up not being sure if the extra costs is necessary for my usage. I use the computer for really more basic stuff, not much gaming(i do plan on getting gta v, but that isn't enough to consider myself a gamer or buy with that usage in mind)/3d or video editing. just some lightroom and then the regular stuff like chrome with a lot of tabs open, thunderbird, office, youtube and videos, it will be used quite a bit for media viewing.

Some helpful users over on the cpu section already gave me some help and im more confident that a difference in performance on these tasks or real world usage won't really be noticeable.

I do plan on getting an ssd regardless of which one i end up buying.So, here are the two contenders i narrowed down to:

1- HP Envy 15

-i5 4200m;

-4gb of ram ( i do have a 4gb stick i can use but its 1333mhz and the one that comes with the laptop is 1666mhz. But i can always get one that is like 30$)

-Nvidia gt 840m

-720gb 5400rpm and an free msata port from what i have been told

- 15,6 glossy Led 1366x768 res.

- Win 8.1

-Backlit keyboard

2- Asus k550jk

- i7-4710hq

-8gb of ram (altough, 4gb of those are soldered on the motherboard and so it only has one free slot and it comes with 4gb stick)

-Nvidia gtx 850m

-720gb 7200rpm hdd

- 15.6 matte fhd res.

- Doesn't come with windows

The difference between these two in price goes a bit over 200$, which is significant.

So my questions are:

- Do hp still suffers from overheating issues? I read a lot of complaints and i had one years ago(8) and it heated up and made noise to a point where it was uncomfortable. So this is my biggest fear with the hp. Feedback from hp users would be great(but i do welcome all ), i can't seem to find much feedback or videos on recent models or ones with those specs.

- Which one would you pick considering my use for it (office, web, media)? Would spending the extra money on the asus that has fhd make much difference in terms of watching media? I don't even have a lot of 1080p files to be honest.

This ran a bit too long im realizing, so im sorry about that.

Thank you!

Which is the one that costs $200 more? The Asus one seems better IMO.

[cyber1]

Which is the one that costs $200 more? The Asus one seems better IMO.

My bad, forgot to mention the most important part of that. I wil edit that.

It's the asus that costs more, the hp turns a bit over 200$ cheaper.

[exercutor5]

What is your overall budget? Maybe the folks here can help you find a laptop with similar or lower prices.

[techguru]

yea ..whats the budget

[rupertsilva10]

HP has keyboard issues. I had 2 HP laptops before and had the same issue. I am using an ASUS X555L now, and it's good! Works efficiently and wonderful.

[cyber1]

Thank you for the replies!

My overall budget is about 750€, give or take, which would be about 850$. Of course if i could save some more even better.

I have been searching for quite a bit and on the stores and online and the asus was the lowest priced i7 quad core was that asus, its a k550jk dm013 at 810, which is a about 900$. I guess its lower in price because it doesn't come with a windows license. 

There is also a toshiba p50-b-11l that does look nicer than the asus for 50€/56$ more, with same processor as the asus, amd r9 265x, but it does come with a windows license and backlit keyboard (could be useful i guess). However i read people have trouble making it recgnozie and boot to an ssd, so i think i cross it of my list.

 

Then its pretty much just dual core i7-5500U and i5-5200u, which seem to score lower than the i5-4200m and the i7-4710hq.

 

I have seen the keyboard flex issue on a youtube video and it doesn't look good indeed. Some say you get used to it, which i don't know if you really do or not, and still, it isn't a great start. I was thinking maybe i could live with that, but having that and overheating issues would be too much.

[techguru]

 

MSI GP60 Leopard-1053

 

MSI FORCE 1492 

 

MSI GP60 Leopard-836

 

SAGER NP2650

 

MSI FORCE 16GC 

 

SAGER NP2670

 

MSI GP70 Leopard-490

 

SAGER NP7155

 

[cyber1]

 

 

MSI GP60 Leopard-1053

 

MSI FORCE 1492 

 

MSI GP60 Leopard-836

 

SAGER NP2650

 

MSI FORCE 16GC 

 

SAGER NP2670

 

MSI GP70 Leopard-490

 

SAGER NP7155

 

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

That sager brand i have never heard of and wasn't able to find it. However, i was looking at that first msi before but unfortunately it goes over my budget by 200€/around 250$

[techguru]

Thanks for the suggestions.

That sager brand i have never heard of and wasn't able to find it. However, i was looking at that first msi before but unfortunately it goes over my budget by 200€/around 250$

some of them might not be available in europe

or they might go under a different model name

 

just visit some gaming laptop websites for europe and you should find a few that are similar

[techguru]

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/clevo-resellers-in-the-european-union-v1.652403/

[cyber1]

Oh, they are clevo laptops. I read good things about those and looked them up before, but still, ends up being more expensive than the msi =/. I didn't know they had a different in different countries though.

The price of that asus k550jk is really kinda of the limit i can go with unfortunately, but for my usage i can't justify going over much of that or going to the 1000€+ range. 

Even the asus with the i7 4710qm and gt 850 could be a bit of an overkill but at least i would "prepared" for any more intense future laptop needs.

[cyber1]

Any more suggestions?

Are hp laptops today still bad in terms of overheating and build quality? Saw one at the store and seemed solid and wasn't hot (but then again, it wasn't doing anything), but i would used it for 1 minute, its not a good representation of actual usage over time. Im just asking because i do like hp looks better and is cheaper, but if it tends to overheat easily or has poor build quality it won't last in long term like i want it to

[CMP]

Lenovo has some good laptops for a good price...

The Yogas are also touchscreen...

But you can take a look around the website.

My dad has the Z710 (2014) I tried it out and the boot up time is crazy fast and does functions pretty fast.

If you do a lot of work and multitask or have many programs open at once then Lenovo can handle it...

[cyber1]

Thank you for the advice.

Im have seen a lot of people recommend lenovos, but in my price range i didn't found anything in stores near me that i found interesting. Also, that story a few months ago with superfish left me a bit with trust issues on them - although they said to have removed that now.

I was really leaning to invest a little more and go with the asus and now its out of stock everywhere =/ Im hoping they will still be back on stock, but i don't know now since a more recent/upgraded model of it has already been launched which is pretty much the same except a higher price tag.

[cyber1]

So now im unsure about the hp envy 15 j (i5-4200m,8gb,gt840m) and a toshiba p50b (i7-4710,8gb,mad m265x). Have in mind that i don't really play games and have just pretty much a regular usage(quite more for multimedia) and i do value a laptop that doens't overheat, lag and good build quality - what everybody wants pretty much..

The price of these two comes up at about the same since the hp needs ram upgrade to 8gb, but the thing is that the toshiba is a refurbished unit and its actually a model that was returned due to a screen malfunction,repaired by toshiba and put back on sale and they don't specify much other than its on good condition, with packages opened. Also, i don't know if toshiba in terms of build quality is reliable today and actually made a thread about it recently and the feedback wasn't that positive.

 

So, which one would you pick? Are refurbished laptops usually ok?

 

Thanks!