Help Selecting A Computer

[JustGeorge]

My son is getting a new laptop. The price limit is 500.

I know **** about computers.

Which of these is the best deal?

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www.amazon.com

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www.amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YWM1CM1?ref=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&social_share=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=1

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www.amazon.com

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www.amazon.com

Things to take into account:

Durability. He can be kind of hard on stuff.

Speed. He gets agitated when things run slowly.

Usefulness. I want something for him that will remain useful for a long time.

 

[ChristineM]

Go for more memory.and bigger hdd
So 2nd and last

 

[sun rise]

I start with use. What will you use it for outside of RF, email and web browsing? One of the choices looks like a tablet. Do you want a tablet or a PC that can be a tablet?

 

[Twilight Hue]

My son is getting a new laptop. The price limit is 500.

I know **** about computers.

Which of these is the best deal?

Loading…

www.amazon.com

Loading…

www.amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YWM1CM1?ref=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&social_share=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=1

Loading…

www.amazon.com

Loading…

www.amazon.com

Things to take into account:

Durability. He can be kind of hard on stuff.

Speed. He gets agitated when things run slowly.

Usefulness. I want something for him that will remain useful for a long time.

Probably a gaming laptop. I have a TUF and am happy with its speed and power for the price.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Have you tried turning it off and back on again?

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Probably a gaming laptop. I have a TUF and am happy with its speed and power for the price.

Those look really good, but the cheapest I've seen is $800 for those.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Those look really good, but the cheapest I've seen is $800 for those.

It is. I got mine on sale at 700.

 

[Wu Wei]

Avoid the
Lenovo Flex 5 Laptop
Lenovo IdeaPad 1 Laptop, with AMD

 

[Twilight Hue]

Avoid the
Lenovo Flex 5 Laptop
Lenovo IdeaPad 1 Laptop, with AMD

And "Alienware" Dell company is absolute overpriced garbage. I would say even worse than the old Gateways.

 

[Quagmire]

These days I wouldn't look at anything with less than 16 gigs of RAM. Especially if he's going to be doing a lot of gaming.

I've heard good things about the processor on this one:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YWM1CM1?ref=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&social_share=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=1

AMD processors used to be considered second fiddle to Intel, but their newish Ryzen series have changed that, and the Ryzen 5 5000 is one of their better models.

Some good sites to look at reviews for each of the laptops that you have in mind:
Notebookcheck
PC Mag
GSMArema
CNet

The quickest way to find their review about whatever laptop you're looking at is just to enter the name of the site and then the name of the laptop in Google.

Whenever I'm considering buying any device I always make a point of watching a few reviews on YouTube. You can learn a lot that way and a good reviewer will bring up things that you wouldn't have thought of.

You can also look on Reddit to hear what people who've actually bought that model think about it and what experiences they've had.

*Edit: two of the laptops on your list have Celeron processors which are low end processors, usually found in Chromebooks and budget laptops. I would go with something else.

 

[Regiomontanus]

My son is getting a new laptop. The price limit is 500.

I know **** about computers.

Which of these is the best deal?

Loading…

www.amazon.com

Loading…

www.amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YWM1CM1?ref=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&social_share=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_P00G5KF4Y1VQPVKKYR0Y_1&starsLeft=1&skipTwisterOG=1

Loading…

www.amazon.com

Loading…

www.amazon.com

Things to take into account:

Durability. He can be kind of hard on stuff.

Speed. He gets agitated when things run slowly.

Usefulness. I want something for him that will remain useful for a long time.

My general advice: get an HP.

In terms of hardware specs, it depends on what one uses it for.

 

[Wu Wei]

And "Alienware" Dell company is absolute overpriced garbage. I would say even worse than the old Gateways.

Those were not choices that she gave.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Those were not choices that she gave.

It was clearly meant to add on to the list.

 

[JustGeorge]

I start with use. What will you use it for outside of RF, email and web browsing? One of the choices looks like a tablet. Do you want a tablet or a PC that can be a tablet?

It isn't for me, it'll be for LeeAnder. He will watch videos. I'm sure he'll want to game some.

 

[JustGeorge]

*Edit: two of the laptops on your list have Celeron processors which are low end processors, usually found in Chromebooks and budget laptops. I would go with something else.

Which two are those?

 

[Quagmire]

Which two are those?

The second one and the last one.

Amazon can be kind of stingy with their specs (as far as including the information I mean) but they'll usually tell you what kind of a processor you're looking at, although you might have to read through the page to find it.

 

[Quagmire]

As far as durability and longevity go, you might want to look at some Asus laptops. Their famous for both of those features and they're generally in the same price range as Lenovo.

 

[Quagmire]

It isn't for me, it'll be for LeeAnder. He will watch videos. I'm sure he'll want to game some.

That being the case you might want to ask him if he'd rather have a tablet than a laptop.

Tablets are generally more durable, less moving parts to break, and you can get something with decent specs for cheaper than you would have to pay with a laptop.

The biggest compromise would be that he would have to settle for a smaller screen: something between 10 and 12 inches as opposed to a 14 inch screen on the laptops you're looking at.

I prefer tablets myself when it comes to watching movies and playing games. They're just more convenient.

 

[sun rise]

It isn't for me, it'll be for LeeAnder. He will watch videos. I'm sure he'll want to game some.

Gaming can be an extreme money pit. Work Hard, Play Harder, and Save Money with the Best Gaming Laptops Under $1,500 has a comparison between $500, $1000 and $1500 Note the comment about compatibility. Buying him one that he can't use to play a game he wants to play might not be an ideal state of affairs.

Our advice is to spend a little more than $500 if you can—dedicated GPU laptops are available starting at around $700 and offer more longevity and compatibility with later games.​

 

[JustGeorge]

Its confusing for me, because I know absolutely nothing. When I get a computer, I pick a price range, and then ask the salesperson "does this play Sims 3?" I go with the cheapest 'yes' option.

I asked him to pick 5, and then I'd ask around to try to figure out which is the best.

(And here I am.)