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"Disposable" laptop recommendation

1llusion
By 1llusion
in Phones and Tablets
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Go to solution Solved by Scheer,

Check eBay for used HP Elitebooks. The 12" 2560p, 14" 8460p, and 15" 8560p models can be found for $150-$200, and hold up extremely well. Most of them should be 2nd gen i5's with 4GB of RAM.

 

At my uncles company a typical Best Buy laptop will last his employees a year, maybe a bit longer. They drive 50k-100k miles a year, with the laptop mounted in a stand in the passenger seat, as well as getting to a lot of mountain tops that really beat the computers up. Three years ago I ordered a 8460p and a 8560p for his guys to try out, both are still in near perfect shape with the only part replaced being SSD's. The batteries are still lasting 2.5-3 hours, brand new they were a bit over 4 hours.

 

There is a seal around the display, with a couple little bumpers, so the keys do not imprint on the display. The keyboard has drain holes in case you spill on it, the body is all aluminum so it will dent when impacted. The touchpad is glass etched, not the crappy plastic coated ones that wear out, plus you get the little dimple if you like using those. The hinge is the most impressive part though, after three years there is maybe 1/2" of play at the top of the display. 

 

They are a bit heavy and bulky though, if that is an issue.

Posted

Hi,

 

I would like to ask what laptop would you recommend.

 

My situation: I am currently experimenting with software synthesizers and would like to go out and  perform live.
I will be using Ableton Live and the laptop will be used only for this and nothing else.

 

From my previous experience, a live gig can be quite a rough place so I expect the computer to get broken one way or another at some point, so I need a laptop that can be easily replaced without breaking the bank. The system requirements are not that high, I need at least 4gb RAM (keeping it at 4 would be ok, more is better but not vital) and a processor that could handle slightly higher load (and i3 might do the trick).

Graphics card is not really needed since I won't be running any graphic intensive applications.

 

Additionally, I will be plugging in quite a few USB peripherals (MIDI controllers, sound cards etc.) so having more USB ports is better than less.

 

Thank you very much!

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Posted

a chromebook for 150$?

Archangel (Desktop) CPU: i5 4590 GPU:Asus R9 280  3GB RAM:HyperX Beast 2x4GBPSU:SeaSonic S12G 750W Mobo:GA-H97m-HD3 Case:CM Silencio 650 Storage:1 TB WD Red
Celestial (Laptop 1) CPU:i7 4720HQ GPU:GTX 860M 4GB RAM:2x4GB SK Hynix DDR3Storage: 250GB 850 EVO Model:Lenovo Y50-70
Seraph (Laptop 2) CPU:i7 6700HQ GPU:GTX 970M 3GB RAM:2x8GB DDR4Storage: 256GB Samsung 951 + 1TB Toshiba HDD Model:Asus GL502VT
Windows 10 is now MSX! - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/440190-can-we-start-calling-windows-10/page-6

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or get a rough and tough laptop designed for stuff like thaT?

Current Build : 

 
CASE: Fractal Design R4 w/Window CPU: Intel 4930K,  RAM: 16GB Ripjaws Z 2133Mhz  Cooling: H100i  MotherBoard: Asus P9x79 Pro , PSU: CS750M   Storage: 2x Samsung 840 Pro 256Gb , 1Tb Seagate Barracuda, 500GB WD Black,  Graphics: Gigabyte GTX 780 Windforce 3GB,  Monitors: AOC G2460PG ( G sync monitor), Edge10 24" 1080p , 24" 1680*1020p monitor ( LCD)  Microphone: Blue Yeti  Keyboard: Cougar 700k  Phone: Samsung Note 3  Headphones: Sennheiser HD598

Laptop:

 CPU: 
4710MQ  Ram: 8GB 1600MHz Storage:120Gb 840 Evo + 1Tb 5400Rpm HDD  Graphics: GTX 850M 2GB   Screen: 1080p IPS  
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Posted
  • Author

or get a rough and tough laptop designed for stuff like thaT?

I had a look at machines designed specifically for something like this. One problem is that they are too expensive and second problem is that they still won't be protected against a random pint of flying beer.

 

I have learned that having expensive equipment at smaller gigs is not worth it so I'd rather have some laptop that on the one hand does not perform that good, but if it breaks, I will have no problem replacing it.

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  • Solution

Check eBay for used HP Elitebooks. The 12" 2560p, 14" 8460p, and 15" 8560p models can be found for $150-$200, and hold up extremely well. Most of them should be 2nd gen i5's with 4GB of RAM.

 

At my uncles company a typical Best Buy laptop will last his employees a year, maybe a bit longer. They drive 50k-100k miles a year, with the laptop mounted in a stand in the passenger seat, as well as getting to a lot of mountain tops that really beat the computers up. Three years ago I ordered a 8460p and a 8560p for his guys to try out, both are still in near perfect shape with the only part replaced being SSD's. The batteries are still lasting 2.5-3 hours, brand new they were a bit over 4 hours.

 

There is a seal around the display, with a couple little bumpers, so the keys do not imprint on the display. The keyboard has drain holes in case you spill on it, the body is all aluminum so it will dent when impacted. The touchpad is glass etched, not the crappy plastic coated ones that wear out, plus you get the little dimple if you like using those. The hinge is the most impressive part though, after three years there is maybe 1/2" of play at the top of the display. 

 

They are a bit heavy and bulky though, if that is an issue.

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Posted
  • Author

Check eBay for used HP Elitebooks. The 12" 2560p, 14" 8460p, and 15" 8560p models can be found for $150-$200, and hold up extremely well. Most of them should be 2nd gen i5's with 4GB of RAM.

 

At my uncles company a typical Best Buy laptop will last his employees a year, maybe a bit longer. They drive 50k-100k miles a year, with the laptop mounted in a stand in the passenger seat, as well as getting to a lot of mountain tops that really beat the computers up. Three years ago I ordered a 8460p and a 8560p for his guys to try out, both are still in near perfect shape with the only part replaced being SSD's. The batteries are still lasting 2.5-3 hours, brand new they were a bit over 4 hours.

 

There is a seal around the display, with a couple little bumpers, so the keys do not imprint on the display. The keyboard has drain holes in case you spill on it, the body is all aluminum so it will dent when impacted. The touchpad is glass etched, not the crappy plastic coated ones that wear out, plus you get the little dimple if you like using those. The hinge is the most impressive part though, after three years there is maybe 1/2" of play at the top of the display. 

 

They are a bit heavy and bulky though, if that is an issue.

Perfect! Thank you very much :)

Weight is not that much of an issue... with the average guitar amp being over 25kg and I am not even talking about the drum kit...

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