Need help with a new laptop

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doug1022
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Need help with a new laptop

Post by doug1022 »

Hello Bogleheads,

I left my relatively new, rather expensive Dell laptop next to an open window, and after a rainstorm last night, my laptop is fried and needs to be replaced. I could use help identifying a product that will fit my needs. I very much appreciate in advance any help or insights from the esteemed Boglehead community.

In the past, I have purchased Dell laptops with Intel processors and a very large hard drive (2TB). The large hard drive was to accommodate a big collection of family photos and family videos. We also use Microsoft Office products for work, school and of course, personal finance (excel junky).

I know laptop hard drives are moving from HDD to SSD. Am i better off getting a smaller SSD hard drive and using a reliable cloud service to store my precious family photos / videos? This is new territory for me, and leaves me a bit unsettled. (I do use removable external hard drives to backup my photos / videos today).

My recently deceased laptop, despite being fairly new, was terribly slow. I am a heavy Google Chrome user, and there were periods where it absolutely crawled. Very, very slow. I suspect it may have been related to my use of Norton Anti-Virus, but am not sure. My recent experience with the Dell laptop has me considering other brands - Lenovo, HP, Toshiba.

So those are my biggest factors:
~2TB storage for photos / videos - otherwise, use a reliable Cloud service
MS Office Capable
needs to be able to handle Google Chrome effectively

Many Thanks
stimulacra
Posts: 1006
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by stimulacra »

What were the specs on your previous laptop? What's your budget today?

Yes to getting an SSD. It's night and day in terms of responsiveness and performance.

Getting an SSD doesn't necessarily means you have to get a cloud service for backup. You can and should use external drives to create two backups of your files.

If you have dozens of tabs open on Google Chrome, upgrade your RAM to 16 GB. Along with SSD it'll perk up considerably.
KlangFool
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by KlangFool »

OP,

Did you bought it from Costco? Is it covered under Costco warranty?

https://www.costco.com/allstate-3-years ... 58241.html

KlangFool
Last edited by KlangFool on Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bogle7
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by Bogle7 »

Macbook Air (16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
external hard drive for photos
LibreOffice
Old fart who does three index stock funds, baby.
adamthesmythe
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by adamthesmythe »

Is it possible to buy a laptop with a modest size SSD AND a large HD?

A newer laptop that is slow is likely to be some sort of software issue. I suppose it's possible that the antivirus could be contributing. Also you want to check your wireless connection. I've had a laptops with a wireless card that for some reason never worked right (and was replaced under warranty).

There are some guides out there about Windows things to turn off to improve performance.
zag00
Posts: 453
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by zag00 »

Check out PCLiquidations. Picked up a dell E5450 at a great price. Grade B Refuribished - no visual signs of wear or damage. Wiped clean, and running flawlessly for a couple months now. Alot of the Windows 10 anti-virus/malware softwares and Google Chrome add-ons (ad-blocker, etc.) included are sufficient for everyday browsing/use. I only added CCLeaner to help rid the computer of cache and other behind the scenes junk that inevitably accumulates while browsing the internet.
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RickBoglehead
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by RickBoglehead »

KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:46 pm OP,

Did you bought it from Costco? Is it covered under Costco warranty?

https://www.costco.com/allstate-3-years ... 58241.html

KlangFool
Don't think Costco covers "laptop filled with water in a rainstorm" under their warranty... :shock:
Avid user of forums on variety of interests-financial, home brewing, F-150, EV, home repair, etc. Enjoy learning & passing on knowledge. It's PRINCIPAL, not PRINCIPLE. I ADVISE you to seek ADVICE.
KlangFool
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by KlangFool »

RickBoglehead wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:21 pm
KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:46 pm OP,

Did you bought it from Costco? Is it covered under Costco warranty?

https://www.costco.com/allstate-3-years ... 58241.html

KlangFool
Don't think Costco covers "laptop filled with water in a rainstorm" under their warranty... :shock:
It does if you buy the drop and spill warranty. Great value when you buy a laptop for your kid to go to college and they drop the laptop or let a car run over it.

KlangFool
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cockersx3
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by cockersx3 »

doug1022 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:26 pm Hello Bogleheads,

I left my relatively new, rather expensive Dell laptop next to an open window, and after a rainstorm last night, my laptop is fried and needs to be replaced. I could use help identifying a product that will fit my needs. I very much appreciate in advance any help or insights from the esteemed Boglehead community.

In the past, I have purchased Dell laptops with Intel processors and a very large hard drive (2TB). The large hard drive was to accommodate a big collection of family photos and family videos. We also use Microsoft Office products for work, school and of course, personal finance (excel junky).

I know laptop hard drives are moving from HDD to SSD. Am i better off getting a smaller SSD hard drive and using a reliable cloud service to store my precious family photos / videos? This is new territory for me, and leaves me a bit unsettled. (I do use removable external hard drives to backup my photos / videos today).

My recently deceased laptop, despite being fairly new, was terribly slow. I am a heavy Google Chrome user, and there were periods where it absolutely crawled. Very, very slow. I suspect it may have been related to my use of Norton Anti-Virus, but am not sure. My recent experience with the Dell laptop has me considering other brands - Lenovo, HP, Toshiba.

So those are my biggest factors:
~2TB storage for photos / videos - otherwise, use a reliable Cloud service
MS Office Capable
needs to be able to handle Google Chrome effectively

Many Thanks
I have replaced my hard drives in all laptops with SSD's, and have seen a dramatic improvement and speed and responsiveness. They boot up almost instantly now. Totally worth the money to do this.

I would also recommend moving to cloud storage for the photos and videos. With all the pictures on your hard drive, if something ever happens to it (ie HD failure, laptop gets stolen, etc) all of your precious pictures / videos would be gone forever. Cloud providers have multiple levels of redundancy built in, to help address this. I use Google Photos to store all photos and video, and 1 TB of service is pretty cheap per year. It also works great with my Android phone. Totally worth it for the piece of mind.
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lthenderson
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by lthenderson »

doug1022 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:26 pm Am i better off getting a smaller SSD hard drive and using a reliable cloud service to store my precious family photos / videos?

Very, very slow. I suspect it may have been related to my use of Norton Anti-Virus, but am not sure.
I would never go back to using hard drives to store important information. A cloud service does the backup automatically so it is always up to date, you don't have to worry about losing both the hard drive in the computer and the backup hard drive in the same catastrophic event if you haven't had the time to deposit the backup off site and there are a lot of perks associated with cloud services. The one I use can be logged into anywhere where there is internet access or cell phone service to retrieve any file stored there and you can install all your old files on a new computer by just logging in and pressing a button.

Norton Anti-Virus can be very resource hungry depending on how one configures it. It is always my first place I look at when someone says their computer is slow.
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RickBoglehead
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by RickBoglehead »

KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:24 pm
RickBoglehead wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:21 pm
KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:46 pm OP,

Did you bought it from Costco? Is it covered under Costco warranty?

https://www.costco.com/allstate-3-years ... 58241.html

KlangFool
Don't think Costco covers "laptop filled with water in a rainstorm" under their warranty... :shock:
It does if you buy the drop and spill warranty. Great value when you buy a laptop for your kid to go to college and they drop the laptop or let a car run over it.

KlangFool
Quite right. But that's not the standard Costco 4 year warranty on computers.
Avid user of forums on variety of interests-financial, home brewing, F-150, EV, home repair, etc. Enjoy learning & passing on knowledge. It's PRINCIPAL, not PRINCIPLE. I ADVISE you to seek ADVICE.
KlangFool
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Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2008 12:35 pm

Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by KlangFool »

RickBoglehead wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:52 pm
KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:24 pm
RickBoglehead wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:21 pm
KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:46 pm OP,

Did you bought it from Costco? Is it covered under Costco warranty?

https://www.costco.com/allstate-3-years ... 58241.html

KlangFool
Don't think Costco covers "laptop filled with water in a rainstorm" under their warranty... :shock:
It does if you buy the drop and spill warranty. Great value when you buy a laptop for your kid to go to college and they drop the laptop or let a car run over it.

KlangFool
Quite right. But that's not the standard Costco 4 year warranty on computers.
I didn't said that it was standard and I included the Costco link in my post.

KlangFool
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F150HD
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by F150HD »

doug1022 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:26 pm In the past, I have purchased Dell laptops with Intel processors and a very large hard drive (2TB). The large hard drive was to accommodate a big collection of family photos and family videos.
I'd look into an external hard-drive specifically to back up the photos/videos (even if you 'also' put them in the cloud).

Doesn't have to be this specific drive, but.....for $100ish, good piece of mind.

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Portable ... 07CRG7BBH/

Plugs into USB where you drag/drop the folder w/ the photos and videos. Can get SSD version a bit more $$.

Then you don't need to store them all on your laptop either.
mceagle555
Posts: 174
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by mceagle555 »

doug1022 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:26 pm Hello Bogleheads,

I left my relatively new, rather expensive Dell laptop next to an open window, and after a rainstorm last night, my laptop is fried and needs to be replaced. I could use help identifying a product that will fit my needs. I very much appreciate in advance any help or insights from the esteemed Boglehead community.

In the past, I have purchased Dell laptops with Intel processors and a very large hard drive (2TB). The large hard drive was to accommodate a big collection of family photos and family videos. We also use Microsoft Office products for work, school and of course, personal finance (excel junky).

I know laptop hard drives are moving from HDD to SSD. Am i better off getting a smaller SSD hard drive and using a reliable cloud service to store my precious family photos / videos? This is new territory for me, and leaves me a bit unsettled. (I do use removable external hard drives to backup my photos / videos today).

My recently deceased laptop, despite being fairly new, was terribly slow. I am a heavy Google Chrome user, and there were periods where it absolutely crawled. Very, very slow. I suspect it may have been related to my use of Norton Anti-Virus, but am not sure. My recent experience with the Dell laptop has me considering other brands - Lenovo, HP, Toshiba.

So those are my biggest factors:
~2TB storage for photos / videos - otherwise, use a reliable Cloud service
MS Office Capable
needs to be able to handle Google Chrome effectively

Many Thanks
I work in tech and computers are a hobby of mine. Being a Boglehead and searching for good deals, I tend to "upgrade" my laptop every 18 months, selling it (FB Marketplace) for the same price I bought it for. Over the years I've owned:

- Dell XPS 13
- Dell XPS 15
- HP Spectre 13
- HP Spectre 15
- Huawei Matebook X
- Lenovo Yoga 920
- Thinkpad X1 Carbon 6th Gen
- Thinkpad X1 Carbon 7th Gen
- Thinkpad X1 Yoga 3rd Gen
- Thinkpad X1 Yoga 4th Gen
- Thinkpad X1 Yoga 6th Gen
- Thinkpad T14s (AMD)
- Thinkpad X1 Extreme

Thinkpads tend to be the best combination of reliability (build for road warrior travelers), value (can upgrade most parts), weight (built out of carbon fiber alloy), and suberb typing experience (best keyboards out there).

I could go into a LONG list of details, but given your specs/desires and looking for the best deal, and a reliable computer I'd do this:

1. Go to the Lenovo Outlet website (who makes Thinkpad): https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/outletus/
2. Filter for at least 16gb of RAM (Most laptops are soldered on board these days)
3. Find an X-series (X1 Carbon, X1 Yoga, X1 Extreme), P-series (P14s, P1), or T-series (T14s) that has the screen size you want (14" is my preferred)
4. i5 of i7 processor won't matter for what you want to do (Both are quad core anyways)
5. Don't care too much about the SSD size inside it
6. Buy a 2TB SSD and upgrade the SSD yourself (very easy to do)
7. Buy this external NVME SSD enclosure and whatever SSD size you want to use in it (https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Tool-fr ... B07N48N5GR) This gives you an external hard drive, plus makes it SUPER easy to clone SSD drives, etc...

The outlet stock changes daily, but the below would be an AMAZING machine to last you for 5+ years. Simple to upgrade the SSD.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/outletus/l ... W-PF2HBFAJ
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sunny_socal
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by sunny_socal »

mceagle555 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 4:06 pm
doug1022 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:26 pm Hello Bogleheads,

I left my relatively new, rather expensive Dell laptop next to an open window, and after a rainstorm last night, my laptop is fried and needs to be replaced. I could use help identifying a product that will fit my needs. I very much appreciate in advance any help or insights from the esteemed Boglehead community.

In the past, I have purchased Dell laptops with Intel processors and a very large hard drive (2TB). The large hard drive was to accommodate a big collection of family photos and family videos. We also use Microsoft Office products for work, school and of course, personal finance (excel junky).

I know laptop hard drives are moving from HDD to SSD. Am i better off getting a smaller SSD hard drive and using a reliable cloud service to store my precious family photos / videos? This is new territory for me, and leaves me a bit unsettled. (I do use removable external hard drives to backup my photos / videos today).

My recently deceased laptop, despite being fairly new, was terribly slow. I am a heavy Google Chrome user, and there were periods where it absolutely crawled. Very, very slow. I suspect it may have been related to my use of Norton Anti-Virus, but am not sure. My recent experience with the Dell laptop has me considering other brands - Lenovo, HP, Toshiba.

So those are my biggest factors:
~2TB storage for photos / videos - otherwise, use a reliable Cloud service
MS Office Capable
needs to be able to handle Google Chrome effectively

Many Thanks
I work in tech and computers are a hobby of mine. Being a Boglehead and searching for good deals, I tend to "upgrade" my laptop every 18 months, selling it (FB Marketplace) for the same price I bought it for. Over the years I've owned:

- Dell XPS 13
- Dell XPS 15
- HP Spectre 13
- HP Spectre 15
- Huawei Matebook X
- Lenovo Yoga 920
- Thinkpad X1 Carbon 6th Gen
- Thinkpad X1 Carbon 7th Gen
- Thinkpad X1 Yoga 3rd Gen
- Thinkpad X1 Yoga 4th Gen
- Thinkpad X1 Yoga 6th Gen
- Thinkpad T14s (AMD)
- Thinkpad X1 Extreme

Thinkpads tend to be the best combination of reliability (build for road warrior travelers), value (can upgrade most parts), weight (built out of carbon fiber alloy), and suberb typing experience (best keyboards out there).

I could go into a LONG list of details, but given your specs/desires and looking for the best deal, and a reliable computer I'd do this:

1. Go to the Lenovo Outlet website (who makes Thinkpad): https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/outletus/
2. Filter for at least 16gb of RAM (Most laptops are soldered on board these days)
3. Find an X-series (X1 Carbon, X1 Yoga, X1 Extreme), P-series (P14s, P1), or T-series (T14s) that has the screen size you want (14" is my preferred)
4. i5 of i7 processor won't matter for what you want to do (Both are quad core anyways)
5. Don't care too much about the SSD size inside it
6. Buy a 2TB SSD and upgrade the SSD yourself (very easy to do)
7. Buy this external NVME SSD enclosure and whatever SSD size you want to use in it (https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Tool-fr ... B07N48N5GR) This gives you an external hard drive, plus makes it SUPER easy to clone SSD drives, etc...

The outlet stock changes daily, but the below would be an AMAZING machine to last you for 5+ years. Simple to upgrade the SSD.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/outletus/l ... W-PF2HBFAJ
Came to post something similar. Lenovo business-class laptops are very good. Just got my son a Lenovo 3rd gen X1 Extreme (gen4 only recently released.) 16G RAM, 1TB SSD, Nvidia Graphics, 4k screen, all for $1800. Still had an additional RAM slot and SSD slot available.
tibbitts
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by tibbitts »

As usual I'll be the exception to the "easy to upgrade the ssd" story line.

It used to be easier when most laptops had dedicated separate covers for memory, hard drive bay, and even externally accessible batteries. Now with much thinner computers where you have to try to to pry off the entire plastic bottom cover without breaking any of the paper-thin openings around the ports or any of the dozen or so snap-fit mounting tabs, it's more difficult, and accidents happen.

Assuming the case comes apart and goes back together without any damage, you might also want to clone the drive, and I can't count how many times the first cloning program I've tried didn't work on a particular drive and computer combination (including situations where the software was included with the drive.) I always managed to clone the drive but I got to where I'd find some freeware that I became familiar with, knew the options I wanted to select, etc. Like with a lot of things, sometimes Bogleheads underestimate the trial-and-error most of us have to go through to get to the point where tasks become anywhere close to "easy." And of course it's always possible to get lucky and have everything "just work" the first time around.
02nz
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by 02nz »

tibbitts wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:59 pm As usual I'll be the exception to the "easy to upgrade the ssd" story line.

It used to be easier when most laptops had dedicated separate covers for memory, hard drive bay, and even externally accessible batteries. Now with much thinner computers where you have to try to to pry off the entire plastic bottom cover without breaking any of the paper-thin openings around the ports or any of the dozen or so snap-fit mounting tabs, it's more difficult, and accidents happen.

Assuming the case comes apart and goes back together without any damage, you might also want to clone the drive, and I can't count how many times the first cloning program I've tried didn't work on a particular drive and computer combination (including situations where the software was included with the drive.) I always managed to clone the drive but I got to where I'd find some freeware that I became familiar with, knew the options I wanted to select, etc. Like with a lot of things, sometimes Bogleheads underestimate the trial-and-error most of us have to go through to get to the point where tasks become anywhere close to "easy." And of course it's always possible to get lucky and have everything "just work" the first time around.
You have a point, although I've broken more than my share of those mounting tabs with several laptops, and the bottom cover still stays on just fine. The issue with needing 2TB of storage is that it's almost never offered in standard laptop configurations. There may be some customizable laptops that offer that, but prepare to pay double to triple retail, or more. (For example, on the ThinkPad T14, Lenovo charges $322 - that's the "sale price" - to go from 256GB to 1TB, when at retail that's a difference of maybe $60.)

As for cloning the drive: I never use the included software. The free version of Macrium Reflect works great.
Independent George
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Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by Independent George »

tibbitts wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:59 pm As usual I'll be the exception to the "easy to upgrade the ssd" story line.

It used to be easier when most laptops had dedicated separate covers for memory, hard drive bay, and even externally accessible batteries. Now with much thinner computers where you have to try to to pry off the entire plastic bottom cover without breaking any of the paper-thin openings around the ports or any of the dozen or so snap-fit mounting tabs, it's more difficult, and accidents happen.

Assuming the case comes apart and goes back together without any damage, you might also want to clone the drive, and I can't count how many times the first cloning program I've tried didn't work on a particular drive and computer combination (including situations where the software was included with the drive.) I always managed to clone the drive but I got to where I'd find some freeware that I became familiar with, knew the options I wanted to select, etc. Like with a lot of things, sometimes Bogleheads underestimate the trial-and-error most of us have to go through to get to the point where tasks become anywhere close to "easy." And of course it's always possible to get lucky and have everything "just work" the first time around.
I'm not going to endorse a product that I haven't received let alone used yet, but I just put down a deposit on a Framework laptop, which was specifically designed to be modular and upgradeable (ETA: mid-September). They even include a disassembly tool with the machine. I was planning to write it up once I had a chance to use it for a while, but you can find reviews/teardowns here, here, here, and here. The DIY edition allows you to buy a machine without a drive, in case you already have one, or wanted to just move a drive over from one computer to another.

The fact that Apple solders the SSD into the Macbook is a complete dealbreaker for me. Not only does it make it impossible to recover data in the event of a failure (Apple does not service its machines, it sends them to a third party that swaps out the entire mainboard and sends it back to you as a refurbished laptop), but it means that you have to buy an entirely new machine if you happen to fill up your drive in a year or so.
tibbitts
Posts: 23716
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by tibbitts »

02nz wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:03 pm
tibbitts wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 9:59 pm As usual I'll be the exception to the "easy to upgrade the ssd" story line.

It used to be easier when most laptops had dedicated separate covers for memory, hard drive bay, and even externally accessible batteries. Now with much thinner computers where you have to try to to pry off the entire plastic bottom cover without breaking any of the paper-thin openings around the ports or any of the dozen or so snap-fit mounting tabs, it's more difficult, and accidents happen.

Assuming the case comes apart and goes back together without any damage, you might also want to clone the drive, and I can't count how many times the first cloning program I've tried didn't work on a particular drive and computer combination (including situations where the software was included with the drive.) I always managed to clone the drive but I got to where I'd find some freeware that I became familiar with, knew the options I wanted to select, etc. Like with a lot of things, sometimes Bogleheads underestimate the trial-and-error most of us have to go through to get to the point where tasks become anywhere close to "easy." And of course it's always possible to get lucky and have everything "just work" the first time around.
You have a point, although I've broken more than my share of those mounting tabs with several laptops, and the bottom cover still stays on just fine. The issue with needing 2TB of storage is that it's almost never offered in standard laptop configurations. There may be some customizable laptops that offer that, but prepare to pay double to triple retail, or more. (For example, on the ThinkPad T14, Lenovo charges $322 - that's the "sale price" - to go from 256GB to 1TB, when at retail that's a difference of maybe $60.)

As for cloning the drive: I never use the included software. The free version of Macrium Reflect works great.
Interesting that I've also used only Macrium free version lately as well. However I only got to that point after a lot of experimentation and failures.

The little tabs sometimes don't matter (when they're near a screw); other times they do, and while the computer still works, you end up with an edge or corner that's just annoying not quite tight.

I've never seen a 2tB ssd in a "stock" configuration yet. Since I use an external 2.5in for my photos I know it would be so, so much better to have a 4tB (which is what I'd need for now, presumably more later) internal. I put velcro on my laptop lid and stick the drive on there when I'm using it, but then there's the cable and... it's just annoying.
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Watty
Posts: 28859
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by Watty »

It may be a long shot but if you bought the laptop with a credit card check to see if it provides any coverage for the laptop for the water damage.

I don't really understand where all the talk in this thread about installing a SSD into your next PC came from, just buy one that already has a SSD.
doug1022 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:26 pm I suspect it may have been related to my use of Norton Anti-Virus, but am not wsure.
I used either Norton or McAfee for years depending on which I could get for free. Now the built in Windows antivirus software has improved so that it is on par with those so there is no reason to use them.

If that laptop only had 4GB of memory then that could have been a part of the problem. Even for fairly light use I would not buy a new laptop with less than 8 GB(In fact I just bought one with 8 GB).
Independent George
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Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 11:13 am
Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by Independent George »

One more plug for the Framework laptop: if you play around with the DIY configurator, you'll see that they charge roughly retail prices on memory/SSD modules. By contrast, Lenovo charges roughly double the retail price of an equivalent brand-name module.

Memory
Framework: 8 GB DDR4-3200 @ $49, 16GB (2x8) @ $98, 32GB (2x16) @ $188, 64GB (2x32) @ $358
Lenovo Thinkpad T14: 8GB DDR-3200 (base), 16 GB (2x8) @ +$149, 32 GB (2x16) @ +$447
NewEgg: 8GB @ $50, 16GB (2x8) @ $89, 32 GB (2x16) @ $187, 64 GB (2x32) @ $300

SSD:
Framework: WD Black SN850 (PCIE 4.0): 1TB @$229, 2TB @$489; SN750 (PCIE 3.0): 250GB @ $66, 500GB @ $79, 1TB @$159, 2TB @ $399, 4TB @ $999
Lenovo: 128GB (base), 256 GB: +$182, 512 GB: +$451, 1TB: +$719
NewEgg: SN850: 1TB @ $200, 2TB @ $430; SN750: 250GB @ $60, $1TB @ $120, 2TB @ $380, 4TB @ $955

The SSD is really mind-blowing. Framework offers a 2TB Gen4 SSD for roughly 40% less than Lenovo charges for a 1TB Gen3 drive. Actually, it's probably closer to 50%, since you can't configure a laptop without a drive, so it's +$719 over whatever they're charging for the paltry 128GB drive.

Like I said earlier, I won't actually receive my machine for another month, so I can't speak to the build quality or durability, but I'm really excited about it. I'm not usually an early adopter, but besides the modularity and upgradeability, the fact that they aren't trying to rip you off on the configuration page really makes me appreciate what they're going for.
tibbitts
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by tibbitts »

Watty wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:47 pm I don't really understand where all the talk in this thread about installing a SSD into your next PC came from, just buy one that already has a SSD.
The issue is finding a stock-configuration laptop with a >= 2tB ssd.
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gobel
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by gobel »

KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:04 pm
RickBoglehead wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:52 pm
KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:24 pm
RickBoglehead wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:21 pm
KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:46 pm OP,

Did you bought it from Costco? Is it covered under Costco warranty?

https://www.costco.com/allstate-3-years ... 58241.html

KlangFool
Don't think Costco covers "laptop filled with water in a rainstorm" under their warranty... :shock:
It does if you buy the drop and spill warranty. Great value when you buy a laptop for your kid to go to college and they drop the laptop or let a car run over it.

KlangFool
Quite right. But that's not the standard Costco 4 year warranty on computers.
I didn't said that it was standard and I included the Costco link in my post.

KlangFool
I think your link actually agrees with Rick:
9. WHAT IS NOT COVERED:
...
(I) Damage caused by exposure to weather conditions, improper electrical/power supply, improper equipment modifications, add-on products or accessories, attachments or installation or assembly, collision with any other object, vandalism, animal or insect infestation, corrosion, battery leakage, act of nature (any accident caused or produced by any physical cause which cannot be foreseen or prevented, such as storms, perils of the sea, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes) or any other force majeure or peril originating from outside the Product;
btw Section 9 goes from A to Z then restarts and goes from aa to dd :shock:
KlangFool
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by KlangFool »

gobel wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 11:49 pm
KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 3:04 pm
RickBoglehead wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:52 pm
KlangFool wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:24 pm
RickBoglehead wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 2:21 pm

Don't think Costco covers "laptop filled with water in a rainstorm" under their warranty... :shock:
It does if you buy the drop and spill warranty. Great value when you buy a laptop for your kid to go to college and they drop the laptop or let a car run over it.

KlangFool
Quite right. But that's not the standard Costco 4 year warranty on computers.
I didn't said that it was standard and I included the Costco link in my post.

KlangFool
I think your link actually agrees with Rick:
9. WHAT IS NOT COVERED:
...
(I) Damage caused by exposure to weather conditions, improper electrical/power supply, improper equipment modifications, add-on products or accessories, attachments or installation or assembly, collision with any other object, vandalism, animal or insect infestation, corrosion, battery leakage, act of nature (any accident caused or produced by any physical cause which cannot be foreseen or prevented, such as storms, perils of the sea, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes) or any other force majeure or peril originating from outside the Product;
btw Section 9 goes from A to Z then restarts and goes from aa to dd :shock:
Thanks for the correction!

KlangFool
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Watty
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by Watty »

tibbitts wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 11:33 pm
Watty wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:47 pm I don't really understand where all the talk in this thread about installing a SSD into your next PC came from, just buy one that already has a SSD.
The issue is finding a stock-configuration laptop with a >= 2tB ssd.
I missed that.

I would be concerned that opening a new laptop to install a different SSD might void the warranty so it would be good to look into that.

They are not cheap but they also make dual drive laptops with both a SSD and a conventional hard drive so those would also be an option to look into if you really need that much storage without using an external drive or cloud storage.
02nz
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by 02nz »

Watty wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 8:07 am I would be concerned that opening a new laptop to install a different SSD might void the warranty so it would be good to look into that.
It does not void the warranty. Of course the manufacturer doesn't cover damage you cause or the new SSD, which has its own warranty.
tibbitts
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by tibbitts »

Watty wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 8:07 am I would be concerned that opening a new laptop to install a different SSD might void the warranty so it would be good to look into that.

They are not cheap but they also make dual drive laptops with both a SSD and a conventional hard drive so those would also be an option to look into if you really need that much storage without using an external drive or cloud storage.
As I mentioned it's somewhat likely you'll do some damage opening a laptop - that even happens to techs who have experience. It's just a function of how the laptops are designed, more today than in the past.

I asked about one extended warranty I had (offered by the manufacturer) and was told that as long as I used manufacturer-supplied parts, even if I installed them myself, they would be covered by the warranty. Obviously if installing non-manufacturer-supplied parts that would not be the case, and you might be required to remove them before seeking service. If you break the computer while attempting to install parts it's more of a gray area. If you have accidental damage coverage, which I did with the warranty I inquired about, you'd be more likely to be covered.

I once had a dual-drive-capable laptop and obviously they tend to be among the larger/heavier laptops so as with other features there are always compromises.
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gobel
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by gobel »

KlangFool wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 7:53 am
gobel wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 11:49 pm
9. WHAT IS NOT COVERED:
...
(I) Damage caused by exposure to weather conditions, improper electrical/power supply, improper equipment modifications, add-on products or accessories, attachments or installation or assembly, collision with any other object, vandalism, animal or insect infestation, corrosion, battery leakage, act of nature (any accident caused or produced by any physical cause which cannot be foreseen or prevented, such as storms, perils of the sea, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes) or any other force majeure or peril originating from outside the Product;
btw Section 9 goes from A to Z then restarts and goes from aa to dd :shock:
Thanks for the correction!

KlangFool
no problem! I looked mainly because it sounded like a great deal. The lawyers have obviously seen everything to make up that exclusion list. otoh in the comments there was one person who said they dropped it into a bathtub and got paid in 2 weeks!

btw, OP, did you try the rice trick? I'm guessing it's not much use for a long exposure like that. My kid put their phone in the washing machine - rice trick did not work.
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doug1022
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by doug1022 »

Thank you all for the thoughtful comments.

Addressing a few of the questions / comments:
I bought my damaged laptop at Dell direct, not Costco, nor with a credit card that would have provided extra protection. My Dell warranty expired 3 or 4 months ago (of course).
My budget for a new laptop is ~$1,000.
I still need to look into Cloud backup for files and for my 1TB collection of pictures and videos. I am a neophyte here... I need to research my options and see what makes the most sense based on the needs of our family. Google One intially seems like the best option, though their plans go from 200GB up to 2TB!! Unfortunately, I don't think they offer an in between option for some reason (like 1TB).
I will spend some time this weekend on the sites suggested here, including the Lenovo outlet. I have had very good luck with Lenovo machines at work.

Thanks Again!
cjcerny
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by cjcerny »

Sounds like any 5 year old laptop with a large SSD in it would do the trick. Used laptop from eBay plus new 1 or 2 TB SSD leaves you at likely less than $300. Installing SSD in the laptop and reloading Windows not scary at all after watching a YouTube video or two about it.

Best option would be to ask the family or neighborhood computer geek for about half an hour of his or her time. Upgrading laptop hard drive is a super simple job for a geek. If there is a local computer store that sells used laptops, also easy to ask them to install a big SSD in your laptop of choice.
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galawdawg
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by galawdawg »

I'm a big fan of Lenovo Thinkpads.

I have never used a Chromebook, but I wonder if one would meet your needs if you primarily use Chrome and MS Office? You could use the online MS Office apps or Google Docs, Google Sheets, etc.

This brand new Thinkpad Chromebook C13 is in your budget has a 13.3" UHD (3840x2160) 400 nit touch-screen, 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, AMD Ryzen 7 processor, all-aluminum chassis, Bluetooth, and so on. https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/outletus/l ... W-LR0F1W4Z.

If you prefer Windows, you may want to take a look at this Thinkpad X395, also with 16GB RAM, 256 GB SSD. It is refurbished but has the same one year warranty as a new Lenovo. https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/outletus/l ... W-PC1DZD16
tibbitts
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by tibbitts »

cjcerny wrote: Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:53 am Sounds like any 5 year old laptop with a large SSD in it would do the trick. Used laptop from eBay plus new 1 or 2 TB SSD leaves you at likely less than $300. Installing SSD in the laptop and reloading Windows not scary at all after watching a YouTube video or two about it.

Best option would be to ask the family or neighborhood computer geek for about half an hour of his or her time. Upgrading laptop hard drive is a super simple job for a geek. If there is a local computer store that sells used laptops, also easy to ask them to install a big SSD in your laptop of choice.
I've bought a bunch of used laptops off ebay and otherwise over the years and have had amazing luck, but I wouldn't recommend that now. Most of my used laptops have been business-class models and it seems like increasingly over time, they've led hard lives. It's pure speculation but I'd guess business users are making more use of their laptops lately, whereas maybe before they were more likely to have an office desktop and a laptop that only got used at other times. I know what my business laptops went through in their three-year life cycles and there's no way I would have bought one of those knowing what they had to go through. In any case I'd want a significant discount for used and I'd want a free return period without risking hefty shipping charges.

Needing/wanting a large capacity internal drive, you have limited options other to add one yourself or have someone else do so. I would just not minimize the risk: you still have to accept that every time you open most laptops (depending somewhat on the design) you stand a non-trivial chance of breaking something. That goes for the neighborhood computer geek, professional techs, and clueless owners like me about equally. I haven't found that with desktops: they're just tougher and more resilient. Older laptops seemed to be too, with their more frequent use of dedicated bay covers and generally meatier parts. Sometimes minor issues won't show up right away: for example, that Loctite on the screws isn't quite equally effective after multiple cycles, and if your tech decides to avoid comebacks by adding some, you have to hope (s)he doesn't use the leftover from a Caterpillar rebuild.
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TexasPE
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by TexasPE »

doug1022 wrote: Sat Aug 07, 2021 9:42 am
I still need to look into Cloud backup for files and for my 1TB collection of pictures and videos. I am a neophyte here... I need to research my options and see what makes the most sense based on the needs of our family.
If you are an Amazon Prime member, they have FREE unlimited photo storage + 5 gb video - 5 gb total storage for non-Prime customers.
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JoeRetire
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Re: Need help with a new laptop

Post by JoeRetire »

doug1022 wrote: Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:26 pmAm i better off getting a smaller SSD hard drive and using a reliable cloud service to store my precious family photos / videos?
Yes. This is the way to go.

I use both Google Photos and Amazon Photos for cloud storage of images and video.
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