Wanting a new computer/laptop, need some advice!

[Lord Raven]

Was the charger in the back?

[Richard and Blaziken]

@Muhed -

It was an entirely new laptop that had Windows 8 pre-installed, not Windows 7. I returned it and got a new laptop with Windows 7 after it kept crashing. I didn't download anything except AIM and Chrome.

[Lord Raven]

Sounds like a hardware issue, I know nobody who has had that issue

[Richard and Blaziken]

Fair enough. It may very well be, and that's a shame if it helped sour my experience of Windows 8, but I still prefer 7 overall.

[Inferna]

Thanks for all the advice guys!

I wouldn't feel confident enough to build my own computer :L i'd be worried I'd muck something up! Plus I need this asap so the sooner the better really.
I do know a few people that would do it for me but eh I'd prefer to buy one.

I probably won't mind windows 8 once I get used to it! What sort of specs should I be looking at to run PS etc without much problem? I've found a few with about 6gb of RAM. I'd prefer something with a lot of space so 750gb - 1TB would be fine.

[blake.]

in terms of the specs you should be sussing for the adobe suite, best bet is RAM and video RAM, as these will affect how smoothly each program will run the most. for the processor intel i5 or i7 would be preferable, but if a good one comes up and it has and amd processor, its not the end of the world. the majority of laptops and desktops have dedicated graphics processors, but make sure that it does. otherwise you'll be using the intergrated graphics through the cpu, which won't be nearly as efficient as a dedicated chip.

if budget allows, and you get a laptop, i'd definitely look into one with 1920x1080 resolution resolution. massive improvement over the standard 1366x768 resolution you'd find on most laptops, and if you're doing design, you'll benefit from it even more. if it doesn't fit the budget, or you get a desktop, a 1080p external monitor can be had for less than $150 (some desktops come with a monitor anyway). i think 24inch is the sweet spot for size. the bees knees would be a 27inch 2560x1440 resolution screen, but for one that'll support a large range of devices, including consumer laptops/desktops you're looking at $600+. that said, its definitely something to save for. i have one, and the difference is night and day.. so much room for activities.

honestly, the whole creative cloud suite isn't that demanding if you have at most 3-4 a4 documents open in a single program. my low budget laptop from 2010 could deal with 5 a4 spreads in indesign, it just started suffering with more objects/pages/whatever. i've since built my own pc, with monster specs, and it crushes... ps/ai/id open with heaps of documents holla.

get windows 8. there are a tiny amount of scenarios that staying on 7 would make sense. it is more stable, has more features, and will be supported for longer than windows 7. use the new start menu for a week, if you like it, continue to use it. if not, search google for 'start8' 'classic shell' or 'start is back'. these are all programs that bring back the start menu exactly as it was in 7, so you won't even know the difference. it was one of the first things i installed when i got my new computer, but after a couple of weeks, i thought i give the new start menu a go, and actually bother with making it useful. this is what it currently looks like. i mostly use it to start games. 95% of the time, i can't even tell the difference between 7 and 8, because the desktop and explorer interface are the same as before.

storage, go with whatever you want, but don't let it become the deciding factor. external portable harddrives are really cheap these days, so you can keep all your programs/documents/whatever on the internal drive of the laptop/computer and keep all of you media (pictures/movies/music) on the external, which will save a heap of space.

[Inferna]

in terms of the specs you should be sussing for the adobe suite, best bet is RAM and video RAM, as these will affect how smoothly each program will run the most. for the processor intel i5 or i7 would be preferable, but if a good one comes up and it has and amd processor, its not the end of the world. the majority of laptops and desktops have dedicated graphics processors, but make sure that it does. otherwise you'll be using the intergrated graphics through the cpu, which won't be nearly as efficient as a dedicated chip.

if budget allows, and you get a laptop, i'd definitely look into one with 1920x1080 resolution resolution. massive improvement over the standard 1366x768 resolution you'd find on most laptops, and if you're doing design, you'll benefit from it even more. if it doesn't fit the budget, or you get a desktop, a 1080p external monitor can be had for less than $150 (some desktops come with a monitor anyway). i think 24inch is the sweet spot for size. the bees knees would be a 27inch 2560x1440 resolution screen, but for one that'll support a large range of devices, including consumer laptops/desktops you're looking at $600+. that said, its definitely something to save for. i have one, and the difference is night and day.. so much room for activities.

honestly, the whole creative cloud suite isn't that demanding if you have at most 3-4 a4 documents open in a single program. my low budget laptop from 2010 could deal with 5 a4 spreads in indesign, it just started suffering with more objects/pages/whatever. i've since built my own pc, with monster specs, and it crushes... ps/ai/id open with heaps of documents holla.

get windows 8. there are a tiny amount of scenarios that staying on 7 would make sense. it is more stable, has more features, and will be supported for longer than windows 7. use the new start menu for a week, if you like it, continue to use it. if not, search google for 'start8' 'classic shell' or 'start is back'. these are all programs that bring back the start menu exactly as it was in 7, so you won't even know the difference. it was one of the first things i installed when i got my new computer, but after a couple of weeks, i thought i give the new start menu a go, and actually bother with making it useful. this is what it currently looks like. i mostly use it to start games. 95% of the time, i can't even tell the difference between 7 and 8, because the desktop and explorer interface are the same as before.

storage, go with whatever you want, but don't let it become the deciding factor. external portable harddrives are really cheap these days, so you can keep all your programs/documents/whatever on the internal drive of the laptop/computer and keep all of you media (pictures/movies/music) on the external, which will save a heap of space.

Thanks for this aha.
I'm still debating whether or not to get the creative cloud but it looks like i'll have to. I can't get a student discount on the CS6 design suite, which pretty much has exactly all the programs I need, just the cost is far too much rn: £1000+. I doubt I'll even use half of the other programs but it's good to have them I guess.
I'll definitely go for a bigger screen too, might have to up my budget a teeny bit but it'll be worth it.
Yeah considering I'd need to hunt around a little more for a half decent Windows 7 Laptop I'll just go for 8. That's good that I can switch the start screen back to the way it was ha.
I'll probably go for 750gb plus then. I need to buy a new memory stick and a harddrive for putting my stuff from my old laptop onto the new one anyway.
I'm going to try and stretch my budget to around £700 now. Found a few ones I like the look of, probably going to go to Argos or PC World.

Thanks for all the advice guys, any more is appreciated c:

[Trainer Dave]

Howdy all! It's been a long time, but conveniently I've just had to pick up a replacement laptop after mine died. Being a bit foolish I tend to do way too much research, so here's a few helpful hints:

1) Windows 8 is a terrible idea in general. Microsoft trying to merge the tablet and desktop versions of their OS just doesn't work. Not all is lost though! It's actually somewhat snappier than Windows 7, and if you install a utility called Classic Shell you can get back the start menu and largely ignore the rest.

2) I recommend Lenovo as a brand. Conversely, I'd avoid Dell like the plague - their idea of 'customer support' is basically them trying to sell you more warranty between quoting the user manual. In the last few years they've moved towards poor quality (cheap) parts which in my experience have made their PCs totally unreliable. To put things in perspective, my old laptop has completely failed 3 times in 3 years and I'm not replacing any more of the internals (this time it's the motherboard). Dell refused to honour the warranty and the Sale of Goods Act, yet there's nothing you can really do about it.

3) If you're fussed about what's in your PC, try PCSpecialist.co.uk. You can choose exactly what you want and they ship with Windows 7 installed by default. Their PC chassis may be somewhat bland (which allows them to be so customisable), but their customer support is great and they're very reasonably priced.

4) If at all possible, DO NOT sign up for Adobe's 'Creative Cloud'. They're deliberately trying to push people onto the platform as it's subscription-based, which means it'll cost consumers a lot more in the long term. Rather than get tied into software which you have to pay for each year (no doubt they'll raise the prices once they can do away with standalone versions), I suggest trying to move to another platform like GIMP or Paint.NET.

5) Intel have just released a new line of CPUs ("Haswell"), this means that the previous generation are now obsolete. You can choose to either invest in the newer models, which aren't too different in practice (the upgrade isn't significant), or you can try to pick up one of the past generation laptops which are now discounted and on clearance in stores around the UK. You can actually get some really good deals on almost top-spec machines simply because there's a slightly newer model out.

Well, I hope that's helpful to y'all!

[SirBlaziken]

Well, it seems that compared to most, I have know nothing about about this.

[blake.]

4) If at all possible, DO NOT sign up for Adobe's 'Creative Cloud'. They're deliberately trying to push people onto the platform as it's subscription-based, which means it'll cost consumers a lot more in the long term. Rather than get tied into software which you have to pay for each year (no doubt they'll raise the prices once they can do away with standalone versions), I suggest trying to move to another platform like GIMP or Paint.NET.

as nice as it would be to just use GIMP or Paint.NET, the adobe suite is the industry standard, and if OP hopes to pursue a career in design, being familiar with the tools is essential. also, there aren't very many alternatives to indesign, especially ones that would have even half the features. GIMP/Paint.net for PS or inkscape for illustrator could cut it i guess. i'm not going to go into it, but of course, there are other ways to get the suite.

5) Intel have just released a new line of CPUs ("Haswell"), this means that the previous generation are now obsolete. You can choose to either invest in the newer models, which aren't too different in practice (the upgrade isn't significant), or you can try to pick up one of the past generation laptops which are now discounted and on clearance in stores around the UK. You can actually get some really good deals on almost top-spec machines simply because there's a slightly newer model out.

this is true. clearance/ex-display models can be had cheap as chips ($100-$200+ off). you're looking at a 10%ish increase in performance with the newer cpu, and slightly better energy efficiency and heat levels.

inferna, if you've had a bit of a look around at some laptops/desktops, post some links here and i'm sure someone in the thread will be able to suss it out!

[Trainer Dave]

as nice as it would be to just use GIMP or Paint.NET, the adobe suite is the industry standard, and if OP hopes to pursue a career in design, being familiar with the tools is essential. also, there aren't very many alternatives to indesign, especially ones that would have even half the features. GIMP/Paint.net for PS or inkscape for illustrator could cut it i guess. i'm not going to go into it, but of course, there are other ways to get the suite.

Yup - there is the problem, hence I said 'if possible'. Adobe are crafty in that sense. They know they're the industry standard and so charge people extortionate prices for their software. Right now this results in a high level of piracy for obvious reasons. With 'Creative Cloud' they're looking to eventually eliminate piracy while still being able to charge whatever the hell they want, rather than offer a fair deal to consumers. Elsewhere, most companies offer their software with different licenses for home and business use - one being much cheaper. Adobe's only attempt at that has been Elements which is heavily and deliberately restricted.

To put it another way - on what messed up planet is photo editing software more expensive than the majority of computers on the market?

[Inferna]

Howdy all! It's been a long time, but conveniently I've just had to pick up a replacement laptop after mine died. Being a bit foolish I tend to do way too much research, so here's a few helpful hints:

1) Windows 8 is a terrible idea in general. Microsoft trying to merge the tablet and desktop versions of their OS just doesn't work. Not all is lost though! It's actually somewhat snappier than Windows 7, and if you install a utility called Classic Shell you can get back the start menu and largely ignore the rest.

2) I recommend Lenovo as a brand. Conversely, I'd avoid Dell like the plague - their idea of 'customer support' is basically them trying to sell you more warranty between quoting the user manual. In the last few years they've moved towards poor quality (cheap) parts which in my experience have made their PCs totally unreliable. To put things in perspective, my old laptop has completely failed 3 times in 3 years and I'm not replacing any more of the internals (this time it's the motherboard). Dell refused to honour the warranty and the Sale of Goods Act, yet there's nothing you can really do about it.

3) If you're fussed about what's in your PC, try PCSpecialist.co.uk. You can choose exactly what you want and they ship with Windows 7 installed by default. Their PC chassis may be somewhat bland (which allows them to be so customisable), but their customer support is great and they're very reasonably priced.

4) If at all possible, DO NOT sign up for Adobe's 'Creative Cloud'. They're deliberately trying to push people onto the platform as it's subscription-based, which means it'll cost consumers a lot more in the long term. Rather than get tied into software which you have to pay for each year (no doubt they'll raise the prices once they can do away with standalone versions), I suggest trying to move to another platform like GIMP or Paint.NET.

5) Intel have just released a new line of CPUs ("Haswell"), this means that the previous generation are now obsolete. You can choose to either invest in the newer models, which aren't too different in practice (the upgrade isn't significant), or you can try to pick up one of the past generation laptops which are now discounted and on clearance in stores around the UK. You can actually get some really good deals on almost top-spec machines simply because there's a slightly newer model out.

Well, I hope that's helpful to y'all!

1. I don't mind the idea of using windows 8 anymore really. It's just the way it looks that puts me of using it aha.

2. I've had a look at Lenovo and they seem quite good. I think we've got Dell desktops of some kind at college, not really a big fan of Dell in general tbh.

3. Was looking on that website yesterday actually, they seem pretty good! Sadly my budget can't stretch that far for the moment but I'll keep them in mind for definite c:

4. Yeah as much as i'd love to not get adobe I pretty much have to! All of the college computers in the art department have CS6 Master Suite. So if I want to be able to work at home as well I'll pretty much need to buy them in some form aha. I found a student edition of CS6 Design Standard (In Design/PS/AI/Acrobat) so I'm going to try and get that rather than go for the Creative Cloud. I'd much rather have my own programs that I need rather than paying for all the stuff I'll most likely never use. I've always got GIMP in some form so I'll probably download that at some point. Not a huge fan of Paint.NET anymore, I tend to use Sai now.

5. Ooh that's really good then! I'll have a look out for reduced stuff as long as it's half decent.

Thanks for the help c:

Buying from PC World/Argos/Tesco are my options for buying physically. Bit wary about buying from PC World though, I heard their customer service is p bad, don't know if it's changed now or? I might try Amazon because they're quite good about not charging me more just because I live in the Highlands, unlike some sites -_-

£800 is my upper limit, can't really afford to spend more than that!
So here's a few on the cards:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/lenovo-g700-17-3-laptop-21426634-pdt.html
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/sony-vaio-sve1713s1ew-17-3-laptop-white-20731951-pdt.html
http://www.toshiba.co.uk/laptops/satellite-pro/l870/satellite-pro-l870-17x/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-Satellite-S70-10C-17-3-inch-Processor/dp/B00E3R9C78
http://www.johnlewis.com/hp-envy-dv6-7331sa-laptop-intel-core-i7-2-3ghz-8gb-ram-1tb-15-6-beats-audio-black/p588399
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-NP550P7C-S05UK-17-3-inch-Notebook-Processor/dp/B00B5HGGUK
(this would probably be a splurge one)

Quite tempted to go for the Sony or the HP but idk!

[Trainer Dave]

Those all look like decent options - if possible avoid buying from PC World as the support will be terrible.

I've heard very good things about Samsung! Out of my budget though.. (Oddly enough, PCSpecialist machines should be available at under £800 without a problem).

Regarding the HP Envy, or at least the touch versions - I took a look at one the other day, and the screen is outright terrible. Best stay away unless you can check it out in store first!

[Lord Raven]

Microsoft trying to merge the tablet and desktop versions of their OS just doesn't work.

I hate it when people say "don't work" without specifying their experiences.

[Trainer Dave]

I hate it when people say "don't work" without specifying their experiences.

For those that haven't used Windows 8, it's basically two interfaces - the normal desktop and the touch UI which is like something you get on a tablet. The desktop is pretty much like every other version of windows and works great with a mouse, while the tablet part of the OS is almost out of place and doesn't work well at all when using a mouse. Putting a touchscreen on a laptop to help make it easier to use is awkward. The bigger problem, however, is that the start menu is gone and instead you've got to use the inconvenient touch-oriented interface to launch programmes (unless you install something to bring back the start menu).

On top of that, as well as desktop programmes you've got 'metro apps', which are forced to be full screen and equally painful to navigate without a touchpad (I still can't find a decent way to exit them without Alt+F4). They've no real place on a desktop machine and so I've no intention of using them, it's just pointless clutter that I can't really get rid of.

All-in-all, it basically IS an annoying touchscreen-oriented OS taped onto the standard windows OS. It doesn't need to be there and gets in the way more than it improves functionality. They don't feel connected at all, instead it's as if they thought "Hey, let's make the traditional Windows Desktop a tablet PC app, then everyone can have the same OS" ...but nobody wants a tablet PC OS as the front-end.

That said, it's not terrible. With a utility to give me a start menu I can ignore the 'metro' gimmick and just get stuff done. Beyond that it's a bit snappier than Windows 7 and does have some useful features (like a reworked task manager). However, Microsoft's complete refusal to simply give consumers what they want is what's killing the platform - a simple setting to either use metro or use a start menu would have easily relieved people's gripes.