[Technology] Geek help - New Laptop - What Do I Need?

Greavsey · Oct 1, 2019

Would love the input of NSC's resident computer experts as I sit firmly outside of that group unfortunately... I am planning on setting up a new e-commerce business and have the excuse to purchase a new laptop as a result, as had to hand mine back when I left my previous company...

It's very early days in the planning stage of the business, but I think I am going to need it for:
- standard MS Office applications
- ability to maintain/view a site created by a developer
- some branding/art creation

I am a bit of a sucker for Apple products so my temptation is to go with a Mac, but, happy to be told otherwise...

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give!

Is it PotG? · Oct 1, 2019

BG is your man.

basque seagull · Oct 1, 2019

Greavsey said:
Would love the input of NSC's resident computer experts as I sit firmly outside of that group unfortunately... I am planning on setting up a new e-commerce business and have the excuse to purchase a new laptop as a result, as had to hand mine back when I left my previous company...

It's very early days in the planning stage of the business, but I think I am going to need it for:
- standard MS Office applications
- ability to maintain/view a site created by a developer
- some branding/art creation

I am a bit of a sucker for Apple products so my temptation is to go with a Mac, but, happy to be told otherwise...

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give!

I use MS Office on a macbook pro and it works pretty well, photoshop etc seem to work well on a mac as do most design programs. Having said that I am sure you could do the same on a windows machine. Horses for courses I guess. I bought a refurbished macbook pro back in 2014 and it is still going strong... Hope this helps...

ofco8 · Oct 1, 2019

Hope you have better luck than me.

I bought a new laptop end of August. The screen has disappeared by 50% with a fault and am battling with the supplier!!!

Am now using the old one held together by an elastic band!!!

Bold Seagull · Oct 1, 2019

basque seagull said:
I use MS Office on a macbook pro and it works pretty well, photoshop etc seem to work well on a mac as do most design programs. Having said that I am sure you could do the same on a windows machine. Horses for courses I guess. I bought a refurbished macbook pro back in 2014 and it is still going strong... Hope this helps...

My Macbook Pro dates to late 2011, and is still going strong! My wife uses my old MBP, a 2007 model, and that is still working absolutely fine, even graphic design work - 12 years old!

Expensive though, so you really to look at what you need the machine for. Apple isn't that expensive compared to really high end PC versions, and that's the comparison really, not the £400 off the shelf websurfing and a bit of word models.

Greavsey · Oct 1, 2019

Bold Seagull said:
My Macbook Pro dates to late 2011, and is still going strong! My wife uses my old MBP, a 2007 model, and that is still working absolutely fine, even graphic design work - 12 years old!

Expensive though, so you really to look at what you need the machine for. Apple isn't that expensive compared to really high end PC versions, and that's the comparison really, not the £400 off the shelf websurfing and a bit of word models.

Interesting... thanks, so avoid £400 chromebooks etc?? I really know nothing about this. So, essentially what am I getting for the cost of a Mac versus a cheapo PC?

gripper stebson · Oct 1, 2019

Recently bought a refurb from eBay. No complaints so far.

https://ebay.us/wxztG5

Bold Seagull · Oct 1, 2019

Greavsey said:
Interesting... thanks, so avoid £400 chromebooks etc?? I really know nothing about this. So, essentially what am I getting for the cost of a Mac versus a cheapo PC?

MBP you are getting a combination of all the functioning parts being of similar performance to do the job. It's no good have a sales tag attractive top of the line processor if the graphics card is crap and there's only 2gb of RAM in it. The longevity of a Mac is generally that the processor and the parts are on an equal footing, so the machine doesn't start to become sluggish because one part of it isn't up to the task.

I don't even know what is in them at the moment, quad cores, this, or that. What I have always done with mine is max out the RAM. This machine I have I was able to do it myself and have 16GB of RAM which is probably why it has lasted so long. Some Macs still ship with 8GB, but I wouldn't see the point in investing that much money in a MAC and not upgrading the RAM to at least 16GB, or as much as it can take.

BNthree · Oct 1, 2019

Greavsey said:
Interesting... thanks, so avoid £400 chromebooks etc?? I really know nothing about this. So, essentially what am I getting for the cost of a Mac versus a cheapo PC?

For what you want to do a Chromebook is the wrong type of machine. If you spend 2/3 of what you'd spend on a MacBook on a Windows laptop it should be a similar spec to the MacBook but a third cheaper!

RandyWanger · Oct 1, 2019

I've only just upgraded my 2011 MacBook Pro to a new one with touchbar because of a GPU failure, my 2011 air is still going strong.
I use Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud, both on monthly subscriptions. You may not need CC, depends how involved you want to be with the web and artworking side of things.

Put in a new fast SSD and upgrade the ram on any old MacBook and it'll be almost like new. You just won't get the new OS.

Greavsey · Oct 2, 2019

RandyWanger said:
I've only just upgraded my 2011 MacBook Pro to a new one with touchbar because of a GPU failure, my 2011 air is still going strong.
I use Office 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud, both on monthly subscriptions. You may not need CC, depends how involved you want to be with the web and artworking side of things.

Put in a new fast SSD and upgrade the ram on any old MacBook and it'll be almost like new. You just won't get the new OS.

Thanks - is there anything that I need to watch out for in particular to get Adobe Creative Cloud working as best as possible?

virtual22 · Oct 2, 2019

For business use I have been on MBP's for years now and can't see me going back to windows anytime soon. Only yesterday morning a colleague logged on and his Windows 10 machine decided it was update time, he had no control in the matter, 35 minutes later he was finally able to get working! I'm not sure if this is normal for Windows but OSX is just streets ahead in my opinion. On my second MBP, the first one lasted six and a half years being used eight hours a day, five days a week, plus weekend use and being carted around from office to office. Yes you pay a lot up front and there will always be the haters, but from personal experience it's worth every penny.

Bold Seagull · Oct 2, 2019

Greavsey said:
Thanks - is there anything that I need to watch out for in particular to get Adobe Creative Cloud working as best as possible?

RAM - the more the better. Adobe say it will run on 8GB, but it won't like it once files get larger. You might consider 16GB as a minimum and 32GB as a preferred spec.

From an Adobe forum you might compare something like this as a PC option (£2650):
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/compu...e-i9-laptop-1-tb-ssd-silver-10195517-pdt.html

Steve in Japan · Oct 2, 2019

Bold Seagull said:
RAM - the more the better. Adobe say it will run on 8GB, but it won't like it once files get larger. You might consider 16GB as a minimum and 32GB as a preferred spec.

From an Adobe forum you might compare something like this as a PC option (£2650):
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/compu...e-i9-laptop-1-tb-ssd-silver-10195517-pdt.html

I am looking for something similar at the moment to run Lightroom, but frankly baulking at the price.

Is this the same as the Curry's one? A bit cheaper if so.

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/lap...aptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop/cnx97017

Bold Seagull · Oct 2, 2019

Steve in Japan said:
I am looking for something similar at the moment to run Lightroom, but frankly baulking at the price.

Is this the same as the Curry's one? A bit cheaper if so.

https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/lap...aptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9570-laptop/cnx97017

Sorry, I was going off this bit of advice from the Adobe forum in terms of the question about RAM above.

I think there is a spec. difference in the processor, the Curry's one is a Unlocked Intel® Core™ i9-9980HK Processor, the link above Core™ i9-8950HK Processor (12MB Cache, up to 4.8 GHz, 6 cores). What difference that makes I have no idea!

ozzygull · Oct 2, 2019

As well a decent processor and memory the thing that slows a machine the most is the disk. I would recommend buy one with a SSD (solid State) drive. The drives have a smaller capacity but you can add an external drive for storage or use cloud based storage.

schmunk · Oct 2, 2019

virtual22 said:
For business use I have been on MBP's for years now and can't see me going back to windows anytime soon. Only yesterday morning a colleague logged on and his Windows 10 machine decided it was update time, he had no control in the matter, 35 minutes later he was finally able to get working! I'm not sure if this is normal for Windows but OSX is just streets ahead in my opinion. On my second MBP, the first one lasted six and a half years being used eight hours a day, five days a week, plus weekend use and being carted around from office to office. Yes you pay a lot up front and there will always be the haters, but from personal experience it's worth every penny.

That would only have happened if he'd (i) not set it to auto-update overnight, and (ii) ignored previous requests to update for at least a month.

FWIW my Microsoft Surface Laptop is every bit as good as the equivalent MBP, but then it should be, as it cost about as much...

Edit: actually, that's not true at all - the Windows laptop is £999 for Core i5 / 8GB / 256GB; the same-specs MBP is £1,499!

Edit 2: Hang on, Mac Book Pros aren't even touchscreen? What a swizz! They can **** right off, then.

Weststander · Oct 2, 2019

Is it PotG? said:
BG is your man.

Once he gets over Bayern's magnificent seven.

jameswestport · Oct 2, 2019

Microsoft Surface Laptop + 1

Bold Seagull · Oct 2, 2019

ozzygull said:
As well a decent processor and memory the thing that slows a machine the most is the disk. I would recommend buy one with a SSD (solid State) drive. The drives have a smaller capacity but you can add an external drive for storage or use cloud based storage.

This thread has bounced my thinking about getting an SSD drive for this late 2011 Mac to get some more life out of it. I've got an expensive bit of CAD software that won't run on more recent versions of OSX, so a Mac upgrade for me is the mac +£2k worth of software. Think I'll opt for a SSD and keep saving...

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