Regular joe - checking email / fb / gumtree / oz bargain / chrome (tech savvy joe) / edge (basic joe) / Mikrosoft Word (Unemployed joe writing resumes), Excel (employed joe) etc etc.
I mean I know a 4800U would be nice but what's a normal guy actually need? Them numbers are confusing.
I have a laptop with one of those lower end intel Pentium quad cores. it is enough but can be a bit slow at times. I'd say if you never want to feel a slow down:
i3 or Ryzen 3 or better, 4gb ram +, SSD
Personally, I wouldn't go less than an i5 or equivalent. You can probably "get away" with lower spec stuff depending on what you're doing, but when you're working (even on relatively simply tasks), the higher processing power, combined with a good whack of RAM pays for itself.
If you're really not worried about performance, you could get something lower end. But if (like me) you just don't want to stuff around, stretch the budget and get a mid-range workhorse.
Im not that price sensitive. Its just a part of me wants to buy this as it has the best specs https://www.harveynorman.com.au/lenovo-yoga-slim-7-14-inch-r… but I know I won't utilise it at all - but I still wants this shiny machine and spec sheet that will stay at the top for 1 month.
Yeah, nah. That's over the odds for what you're talking about.
Without getting into nuts and bolts specs, best price, yada, yada, I'd be going for a spec fore like this https://www.harveynorman.com.au/hp-pavilion-x360-14-inch-i5-…
I personally like the Lenovo T Series … if you're not price sensitive, I'd get a higher end i5 and load up on RAM and SSD. My last buy was along these lines and I think is was in the $1,600 ballpark.
Thanks for the reply. I'll check out that laptop in person.
I haven't had a T series but have had an X1 carbon before - it was nice - just seemed like I was paying for build quality - the specs felt like they were from 2 years ago compared to other laptops on the market.
@fd9: Worth a look. Maybe there's better options out there … don't know? All I know is, it worked for me and will likely get another when the current one inevitably carks it!
@fd9: I'd highly recommend the Asus ZenBook series (not the Vivobook, they take shortcuts). I have had a great experience with multiple ZenBooks in the past 3 years. For example, this new model: https://www.skycomp.com.au/asus-zenbook-14-um425ia-am010r-14…
You can find the 6 month old model for around $1200. They're super thin and light, have snappy SSDs and have been reliable.
This is a last-gen Ryzen model for $1199: https://www.computeralliance.com.au/parts?id=27351
This has a Ryzen H processor as opposed to a U processor (more powerful).
@Techie4066: Thanks Techie! Ill have a look at the Zenbooks in person.
Idk why I avoided them in the past - well I do - coz of their complex naming system like UM425ia i threw my hands in the air lol.
@fd9: I totally understand, after searching through their product lines for the past years and recommending their laptops to other people, I still don't get their product naming scheme. UX and UM is reserved for the ZenBooks normally, and the first number is the screen size (3, 4, or 5 for 13, 14 and 15). The rest, who knows, except the last two letters specify if it has integrated or discrete graphics. Other than that, they have PCIe SSDs, which makes them super snappy. I'd recommend them at a good price any day.
Unless you are buying a very cheap laptop such as this Inspiron 11 3000 it's not very common for a CPU to be the main bottleneck for those tasks you mentioned.
Usually the bottleneck lies in other components, such as the use of dog-slow mechanical hdd's, EMMC memory, 4GB of single channel DDR memory etc. that's why you evaluate the worth of a laptop by looking at the entire package and not just looking at what CPU it runs. A Core i5 laptop with a mechanical HDD is still going to be much slower than a similar device with a SSD.
…I am a regular Joe-lene and I thought a CPU was a computer
Im no tech guy but I think colloquially some people call the desktop computer tower a CPU - thought I meant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_processing_unit as in the main chip inside the PC
CPU is part of the computer, a bit like the engine is only part of a car
I'd say even if you don't need the power, aim for a Ryzen 5 4500U or i5 10th gen at least if you want to use your laptop for a good couple of years. Laptops with worse CPUs typically cheap out on other very important things such as screen, RAM, battery life and build quality. I have a 2013 MacBook Air which is still very usable and I most likely won't be able to say the same if it was a $500 laptop with a cheap CPU. Aim for something decent, but not extravagant. In your use case, I'd say stick with 8-16GB ram (16gb if you want to use your laptop running smoothly for more than a couple of years as it's becoming the standard), 256GB SSD minimum (my MBA has 128gb and it filled up quite quickly), integrated GPU only and a decent 1080p or higher screen with decent colour accuracy and brightness: at least 300 nits, or it will be hard to see outdoors.
Awesome - thanks for the detailed helpful reply.
That's probably the easiest cliff notes version for someone, given all the absurd naming conventions for the U and H series differences where some of the H series Ryzen 3s with SMT might be "enough", but the U series without SMT definitely not.
How you looked Lenovo on ozbargain?
This one is pretty good for performance. Only 8gb ram but you can add extra later when your ram usage is >80%.
For non intensive use, i3 or R3, integrated gpu, 8GB ram, 128-256gb ssd, FHD display is enough to feel snappy for 2~3 years and little slow for 1~2 years.
More powerful system is good if it doesn't cost too much. The one linked above should feel snappy for 2~3 years, add extra 8gb ram for 1~2 more years of snappy experience then it will feel little slow for 1~2 years.
Thanks for the reply!
That looks really good.
When you say feel snappy for X years:
- What actually causes it to stop feeling snappy?
Is it 1) New programs in 2 years e.g. 2022 updates of MS Office, Chrome etc will be more resource hungry so and old laptop wont do?
Or is it 2) The computer getting bogged down with stuff somehow - and a full reset would make it snappy again?
Thank you
I'm no expert but feeling slow would come from 1). For casual use, it's the browsers that use quite a resource and may be as windows get updated. I would expect the 8GB ram to not be able to keep up with the demand (1-2 years), followed by R5-4500U (3-4 years). It's really rough estimate so you might get 2-8 years in total out of it
From personal experience, 2) usually comes from hard drives ageing. It becomes super slow after 2-4 years.
Ah okay - thanks for the explanation - so do SSDs have this same issue? This is interesting - i'll re-think buying high end stuff and future-proofing knowing this i.e. that its just going to slow down anyway.
@fd9: SSD should be fine as long as you don't fill it up to like 95% capacity. Best to avoid HDD if you don't need 1tb+ storage.
Mid-range usually offers the best price to performance. You would usually pay a premium for high-end stuff and it's not a guarantee it will actually be future proof. Like how R5 4500U is like 35% faster than last gen R7 3700U and next gen might also bring huge improvement. Also, you might lose your pc or dies right after the warranty period.
I'd rather buy 3 mid-range ($900) and upgrade more frequently over 1 high-end pc ($2700). But it's up to you really, some feature of high-end may appeal you to more than simply a performance.
@MagicMushroom: That's some food for thought. Didn't realise a generation could do so much difference. I think ill just buy that $900 Lenovo after your explanation. Also I won't feel so paranoid about hitting it in different places and can just focus on using it. Thanks!
What's a good one sold on Amazon? it must be fulfilled by Bezo's slaves though.
I was looking at upgrading my 10 year old desktop, and like you…shiiiiiiiny! But the build I would do was coming to over $3k. But as I'd bought well originally…i7, 16gb and had previously upgraded video card to an 1080, the benchmarking was showing core-for-core it was still holding it's own and I hadn't even overclocked it yet. So I bought some new ssd drives and a noctua cpu fan and wound it right up to 5ghz.
Nothing has really changed in 10 years. I've also got a Sony viao that's 7 years old and it still kicks arse. The best thing I love about it is that it's super light so I never double think using it. I've also got a similar vintage qosmio.. But at over 5kgs…I can't be bothered fetching it out even though it's got an i7 cpu in it.
So go for the lightest one.
Ayy VAIO.
Those were the apples of my eye in years gone buy but I never had enough back then to afford one.
I think an SSD and 16GB RAM are probably more important than processor these days in terms of making the computer usable
In 2011 I bought an Asus K53SC for about $390. It came with 2nd gen i3, 4GB, 500GB, a bottom-end NVIDIA GT520MX, Win7. Over the following year or two I took the RAM to 8, put in a 256GB Samsung 850 Evo and in 2015 took it to Win10 when it was free. It currently runs the latest ver of Win10, 2004 (19041.488). It's still my current daily device. I do all the usual stuff but I also do intensive video editing using Adobe Premier Pro and DaVinci Resolve 16, both of which specify in their system requirements much higher specs required than I have. They are massive and on a scale of resource requirements from 1 to 100, if your browsers, Word, Excel, email client, video player etc are 5 to 10, these things are 80 to 90. My 9 year old early i3 handles them just fine. OP wrote the question well and the answer is .. anything you buy today will have a CPU with more than enough grunt to handle the tasks you list. You list two browsers, Excel, Word, an app or two (actually covered by 'browsers' because ozbargain etc is just a site). You can run all those things and more, simultaneously, on the cheapest laptop you can buy today and you won't notice any performance issues. If you have a lot of things open, on a hot day, the fan will run harder than it would if you had a 10th generation i7, and the response of an i7 within programs or flicking between programs might be microseconds as opposed to milliseconds. You won't notice it. Buy whatever your budget allows, install ioBit Uninstaller (free) and dump everything that came installed on it, bloat-ware and otherwise, that you don't need. If you don't know what you're doing, google the model you bought and bloat-ware. If you're unsure about a particular program, google "do i need xyz" and make your decision from there. If you know how and want to play around, one day take it to 8GB RAM if you can - you probably can't because it'll be soldered and not DIMM - and an SSD. They will make a difference you'll notice, big time. But you won't need to.
Thats really awesome FlyHigh111 - Thanks for the informative reply and congrats on the longevity of your machine!
So if 8GB ram enough for the normal person?
Generally speaking yes. And most laptops will have at least a fairly simple way to upgrade RAM if required. Unless you're buying a super-thin device like a Surface or something.
To answer OP's question CORRECTLY and EXACTLY…..
For regular Joe who has basic computer requirements such as browsing internet, emails, word documents and some online meetings (85%-95% of PC users)……….
Any old Intel Core i5 will suffice with 4GB RAM
Always better with more RAM though
The other responses are people's "personal" preferences.
They dont answer OPs question.
With respect to other people's responses…….
Gaming PCs always have significantly higher specs as do users that run complex programs such as MS Access, high end CAD, movie production and editing, and complex desk top publishing such as 20 page brochures………In other words expensive commercial programs that cost thousands of dollars which Joe avergare would never use.
Thanks for the reply!
How much ram is enough? Is 8gb enough for this sort of thing?
Everyones saying 16 gb to future proof the pc - but in three years i suspect ill buy something newer anyway as the battery degrades.
Replacement batteries much cheaper than replacement laptops.
Get something with a replaceable battery and rest easy.
If minimising cost 8gb is fine.
But you said price was not a major factor, so 16gn wouldn't hurt.
If ram is not soldered you can just do 8gb now and upgrade to 16gb if/when necessary.
Whatever you buy, if you want it to last a long time, install HWmonitor to check temperatures and reapply the thermal paste when it's time.
I still have a laptop from 2009 that runs like a dream.
Thanks for the information! That's great.
Sorry I should have been clearer: Yea price isn't an issue for the right machine but at the same time I don't want to buy something I won't use and just get the best machine money can buy for the sake of it.
@fd9: Understood. 8gb now with the chance to upgrade to 16gb by not being soldered would be good.
16gb wouldn't raise the price too much regardless.
Lots of good suggestions in this thread.
Removable battery is key since these do only last a few years in my experience.
@ozbjunkie: Thanks for the reply.
It seems almost impossible to find ultrabooks that are not soldered unfortunately. I didn't mention but the machine has to be portable.
I'll check the specs and try to find something with non-soldered ram and a removable battery. Cheers
Some Ozbargainers will have you believe that you need an 8 core laptop for basic use ;)
https://www.techradar.com/au/news/best-laptops-for-kids