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Thread: New laptop time.

  1. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    Andy and Wayne, all good tips, thank you. The idea of the January sales is sound, but I'm an impatient kinda bloke, and " the thought is father to the deed ". I know PCW aren't the ideal place to deal with, but that's who the lease company are tied to. So be it.

    Toby, secondhand isn't going to be a viable option, for the reasons detailed above.

    Justin, ah USB ports, my pet subject. I know that the top end machines like young Twinspin has often have four ports. Almost all the ones in my price bracket have three. Now here's the thing. As I said earlier, my trusty Acer has four, which is why fitting it with a new engine, flared arches and go faster stripes has crossed my mind more than once. Question is, how far can I upgrade it? New HD is easy, but can I stick at least 8 gig of ram in, and how fast a processor will it take? I don't want to spend money on that, and then find it's slower than an off the shelf one.

    With a terrabyte hd in a new one, I'd be able to lose the external drive anyway, so effectively four ports anyway. I've also had success with using an unpowered hub to accept mouse receiver and USB sticks with music transferred from the download tablet.

    Keep going lads, we'll get there in the end. Thanks to all so far.

    How far you can upgrade a laptop CPU Peter is all dependent on which socket (for the CPU) its motherboard uses. It also depends on the BIOS & chipset around the CPU to an extent. There's a tool I can never remember the name of which you can run to find out details like that. A good place to start is the manufacturer - search on the laptop model number & see what the fastest processor they sold for it used. My last laptop was 1.5Ghz Core2 & would take a Core 2 Duo up to 2.5Ghz. You know me - I'm a nerd - and even I couldn't be bothered upgrading it. I just bought a new machine.

  2. #22
    ukpartydj's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Imagine View Post
    Can I jump in as a fellow Techie like Justin? (although when Intel went for the i3/5/7 I lost the plot as an i5 can be potentially better than an i7....)

    As for SSD...I'm not up to date with those having ditched the idea when they first came out....don't they have a limited number of reads/writes like a USB stick or has the technology moved on since then?
    The i3, i5, i7 models are essentially just a name to suggest performance. If I'm not mistaken i3 processors are dual core processors where i5 and i7 are quad core.
    some i3 CPUs are better than i7 CPUs which is why Jules's post is very important to a geek like myself:


    Quote Originally Posted by DJ Jules View Post
    I've always found this to be a godsend when trying to compare laptops and processors as it gives you relative performance for pretty much every CPU on the market...

    https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php

    Note that if you're buying second hand things get more complicated in that i3, i5, i7 pecking order. Newer i3 processors outperform older i5's and likewise for i5's and i7's. Newer processors are also less power hungry and therefore run cooler. Celeron's are always just slow and should be avoided....

    Julian
    I've recently purchased 2 new laptops second hand from an ebay shop called it-zone or it-zone2. They seem to sell business class laptops like the Dell Latitude, my experience with them has been excellent (bought 2 laptops) and the laptops are priced very well so I'd recommend you check them out - http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/it-zone-2?...p2047675.l2559
    My previous 5 year old lappy was a dell latitude so I've gone for them again as they've got a very strong build quality unlike most of PC world's offerings - (Please note I hate PC World, they lost my laptop when all it needed was a new hdd (10 min job I could've done myself) and it took them 2 months and 4 visits to tell me that + some of the staff I've come across are tech-morons).

    I must say I was overchuffed with my latest purchase. One year old £230 lappy with a processor of similar calibre to a £1500 new 2015 Macbook!!! passmark scores mine at 8799 and Macbook at 9357 (I think I got a bargain). My old latitude scored 1538 and ran Traktor quite well haha. I only just bought a new desktop PC and this laptop is almost as powerful as the desktop CPU the RAM is much faster than my new PC :O graphics are nearly as good haha and the PC cost £30 more.

    I also bought a high end i5 3320m dell latitude for £150 (same model latitude e6430) I got that first and thought that was a beast for the price (CPU passmark score at 4192).

    I'd highly recommend sacking off PC world and getting a second hand Latitude because:

    Backlit keyboard
    If you get I7-3720QM 2.6ghz it's quite insane I must say the CPU load has not moved a single bar off the bottom with 4 decks playing in traktor and 3 effects running on every deck.
    Other good CPUs are put in these machines / you can upgrade.
    8GB DDR3 1333mhz RAM
    500gb Hard Drive - not SSD but the fastest hdd I own!
    Graphics are pretty decent too not that we'd care but you could play modern games I'd say.
    2x USB3, 1x USB2 HDMI, VGA, E-sata
    It's got a CD DVD RW which you press a button and you can pull out and replace with another HDD (no need for external HDD) If you're internal drive fails and your music is on the expansion hard drive just press the button whip it out like the battery and if you have another backup latitude like I do just whack it in the other lappy! no extra cables!
    I'd recommend the high resolution versions though - 1600x900 ... my backup is 1366x768 and whilst it's fine the higher res screen does fit a lot more in!

    Also there is a Express Card Pull out mini ruler/Box cutter/ diameter measure...
    Name:  dLwa6.jpg
Views: 240
Size:  28.0 KB


    For £230 in PC world you can get ...

    Intel Dual Core 1.6ghz N3050 CPU - scores 734 on passmark
    32GB SSD
    1366 x 768 lower resolution screen
    1 USB3, 1 USB2
    2GB Ram

    Or spend around £900 in PC world to get a similar spec as my year old latitude.
    It's not just the latitude's that are good value, HP elitebook is another good sturdy laptop but no backlit keyboard I've had a couple of those, given one to my mum who uses it every day and between us it's been in use for around 6 years and she still says it runs fine.

    Dorset DJ - Dorset based DJ service
    11:11 EVENTS LTD - 11:11 EVENTS LTD

  3. #23
    Dinosaur Excalibur's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ukpartydj View Post


    For £230 in PC world you can get ...

    Intel Dual Core 1.6ghz N3050 CPU - scores 734 on passmark
    32GB SSD
    1366 x 768 lower resolution screen
    1 USB3, 1 USB2
    2GB Ram
    That's worse spec than what I already have!

    It's a consideration, but effectively you're adding over £100 to leave PC World, due to the lease. Upgrading means I have to buy my existing machine ( not actually the laptop in question, my desktop, which can't be let go. Long story. ) and don't get the bonuses they'll give me for continuing.
    It's easier to carry on with them than leave, and to be honest, they've offered me the best deal I've ever had from them, meaning I can swap early without paying a penny to do so. Added to which, the spare cash I had earmarked may just have been diverted to my van's MOT. Battery, Tyres, Brakes and labour aren't cheap.
    Excalibur. Older than the average DJ.

    www.excaliburmobiledisco.co.uk

  4. #24
    Resident Antagonist Benny Smyth's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    Battery, Tyres, Brakes and labour aren't cheap.
    Tell that to Apple.


  5. #25
    ukpartydj's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Excalibur View Post
    That's worse spec than what I already have!

    It's a consideration, but effectively you're adding over £100 to leave PC World, due to the lease. Upgrading means I have to buy my existing machine ( not actually the laptop in question, my desktop, which can't be let go. Long story. ) and don't get the bonuses they'll give me for continuing.
    It's easier to carry on with them than leave, and to be honest, they've offered me the best deal I've ever had from them, meaning I can swap early without paying a penny to do so. Added to which, the spare cash I had earmarked may just have been diverted to my van's MOT. Battery, Tyres, Brakes and labour aren't cheap.
    My fiancée hates it when I say this but... "that's how they get ya!"... I've had 4 laptops from pc world... Only one I've been happy with and I didn't just get cheap stuff.

    No wonder people think apple are so amazing when there is such trash being churned out by even decent brands like dell and Toshiba!

    Dorset DJ - Dorset based DJ service
    11:11 EVENTS LTD - 11:11 EVENTS LTD

  6. #26
    ukpartydj's Avatar
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    Oh also don't get a low clock speed on the cpu! DJ software doesn't seem to be able to utilise multiple cores well... Or at least a couple of years ago it didn't! Check single threaded performance which is linked largely with clock speed! 2.0ghz or more I'd say... Had a 1.8ghz i7 which was pants! Couldn't deal with traktor!

    Dorset DJ - Dorset based DJ service
    11:11 EVENTS LTD - 11:11 EVENTS LTD

  7. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by ukpartydj View Post
    Oh also don't get a low clock speed on the cpu! DJ software doesn't seem to be able to utilise multiple cores well... Or at least a couple of years ago it didn't! Check single threaded performance which is linked largely with clock speed! 2.0ghz or more I'd say... Had a 1.8ghz i7 which was pants! Couldn't deal with traktor!
    Then maybe Traktor is (maybe was) a sack of cack. Sorry. If it's video you're saying it had trouble with, maybe fair dues, but not audio alone. Multiple core systems have been around for how long now?!

    As for PC world.. I call them something else. Rhymes with Missy World. If I ever have dissatisfaction with a supplier I tend not go ever go back if I can possibly help it. Their sales people spout absolute horse crap. It was the same with Dixons & Comet. If I ever go it's for one reason alone: PRICE. I hate to think how many people have been fleeced into buying unsuitable gear in those shops. I remember going in to spend a lot of money on a digital camera. All was going swimmingly til the salesman dumped me to talk to a guy wanting an expensive camcorder.

    Good call on the it-zone ebay seller, but do they ever have many laptops with UK keyboards?

  8. #28

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    Argos has a ebay shop where you can pick up a bargain! I bought a Acer i5 1 tb 6gb for £300.00 Last year from it. I don't use it for djing as my 4 year old Sony Vaio is still brilliant. But defo do a google search on Argos ebay! They got everything there.

  9. #29

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    If I'm after a windows laptop I tend to go for an ex-corporate Lenovo Thinkpad and upgrade the disk to an SSD. The only issue with those is they tend not to have great on-board graphics so if you do video getting one with discreet graphics might be a good idea. The thinkpad T series for example comes with a 3 year warranty so you can normally get an ex corporate machine with some warranty left. I've used loads of these over the years and only had one which had a fan problem - ordered a new one for £15 and good as new.

    One thing that caught me out recently was I upgraded my controller to an NI S8 and discovered that the screens on it actually use the video driver on the laptop over the usb. This meant I ended up having to upgrade the laptop for one with a newer graphics chipset. A valuable lesson learnt on doing the research before you buy - and particularly bad as IT is my business - the shame !!!

    When is comes to processors I agree with whats been said - its not worth going for anything too exotic (intel I7) as the software will not use it - I tend to go for a faster i3 or i5 if I can to give it some headroom.

    So many possibilities with PC's just need to take your time, know what you need and be careful getting diverted by sales people.

  10. #30

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    As other people have pointed out - PC World will offer you what appears to be a good deal (relative to what you have now) to keep you with them and keep you locked in. It's the usual tricks of the trade. Overall though, their deals are appalling and I've got to agree with comments above ref their "know how" and attitude to customer service.

    There are a TON of ex-corporate laptops on eBay which are all well suited to the job of DJ'ing. The other plus side is because these models have been churned out in their 1,000's, spare parts are abundant and cheap.

    I've just bought one of these for my daughter for Xmas, but these are capable machines and would be more than up to the job for DJ'ing (though you may want to look for one with dedicated graphics if you do a lot of video):

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3218424636...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

    Julian
    http://www.bristoldiscohire.co.uk - Quality Disco and Equipment hire for Bristol & Bath
    Weddings, Birthday Parties, Kids Parties, School Disco's and more
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