choose a new laptop 15 to 20,000 THB (or more?)

[notrub]

I am looking to improve my existing Asus laptops and want to find Asus or Acer brands if poss.  I am not a gamer so I get confused by all the focus on gaming etc..

 

I would like a 1TB hard drive with plenty of usb sockets and sd card reader.  Good fast but not ott processor.  14 or 15 inch is OK as I mostly use this one hooked yo to a 32 " monitor and rarely take it out of the house.  Backlit keyboard would be nice but not essential. Good music player is important and wifi connectivity is essential. I see Asus still offers 2 year guarantee but read that their support stinks. I am not waiting for some earth shattering improvement so a 'not the latest model' could be OK for the right price.   Price is important but not at the expense of choosing the correct PC. I also have an asus tablet/reader that works OK so I am kind of leaning in that brand direction but could change.  Also where to buy?  Lazada seems to have the best prices but not always.  I buy a lot from them and have few complaints.

 

Any comments or suggestions welcome and thank you in advance.  Thanks for taking the time to read this.

 

[KneeDeep]

What's wrong with your current laptop? Perhaps stating what you have will allow people to compare....

[OneMoreFarang]

In my opinion the most important thing you can do is buy a notebook with a SSD. Or if you buy one with a HDD replace it with the SSD.

That is a night and day difference in performance.

I have a 10 year old ThinkPad with an SSD (a few years old). The big Windows update 1803 was finished within about an hour.

Today I had to install that update on a brand new i7 processor but with a 2TB HDD. After 5 hours the update was still not done.

That gives you an idea about the performance difference.

 

Personally I have very good experience with ThinkPad notebooks (not just the one above). If I would buy a new one and I am on a budget I would buy one for about 30k and replace the HDD with a SSD - easy to do.

If I would be even more on a budget I would buy a 2nd hand ThinkPad (or an older model, sometimes available for a good price online). And again put a SSD inside.

The "new" notebook should have at least 8GB RAM and should have drivers available for Windows 10.

[hkt83100]

Are you fixed to using Windows? A different OS might speed up everything by a factor of 2..4. But - as OMF mentions - a switch from HDD to SSD is crucial. Furthermore it saves energy and takes the noise level down, and the machine will run cooler, too. On my notebook (old Compaq CQ58 with Intel I3, 6 MB RAM, 500 GB SSD) I am running Kubuntu 18.04 now, it is a good performer.

[Laza 45]

I got an ACER  a year ago and am very happy with it.. mine has 500 G HD.. 8 of Ram and an upgraded graphics card.. cost me about 20,000.. The one in the link I will add has 1 Tera HD & 4 Ram similar price.... I got mine from the local Bannana IT at Tesco..  I haven't had any problems so don't know about servicing.. I had Dell before and would have got another one but their prices have gone up a lot since I bought the last one... ACER is better value, I think.. My ACER came with Windows 10 installed.. up and running.. no problems there either..   I did have problems with the Dell but their servicing was excellent.. I live in an out of the way place but they came to my home and fixed it a quickly as they could..

 

http://shoponline.bananastore.com/product-detail/?productid=92687

Edited May 4, 2018 by Laza 45
..more information..

[helloagain]

Save up and buy a mac. Flaming windows 10 and what they take from you what you do etc. Mac is super fast. Yes not easy at first but use it and ask on your phone hiw to do this and that. There is also office 2016 for mac which i just paid for works fine much better tham mac pages

[HHTel]

I've had an ACER for some years with no problems.  They are certainly within your price range.  I keep toying with the idea of buying a new one, but the one I have won't break!!

I have it attached to my 55" via an HDMI cable.  A wifi mouse and keyboard allows me to sit on my sofa and control operations from there.  Perfect for a lazy swine like myself.

[OneMoreFarang]

39 minutes ago, helloagain said:

Save up and buy a mac. Flaming windows 10 and what they take from you what you do etc. Mac is super fast. Yes not easy at first but use it and ask on your phone hiw to do this and that. There is also office 2016 for mac which i just paid for works fine much better tham mac pages

You recommend he should buy a mac to use Microsoft Office. What a great idea...

[Dario]

Two months ago I also had to choose a new laptop. I didn't want to invest 35'000 Baht for an "underspecced" MacBook and I couldn't find anything in Thailand which would please me. I wanted at least 12 MB RAM and and an i7 7500 processor. I found what I wanted on Amazon, an HP brand new 2018 model 15.6". Cost me around 23'000 Baht, including 3 day shipping and 7% VAT. Great machine, good looking in silver, too.  I have replaced the 1TB HD with a 512GB SSD. Blazing fast now.

[NoshowJones]

18 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

In my opinion the most important thing you can do is buy a notebook with a SSD. Or if you buy one with a HDD replace it with the SSD.

That is a night and day difference in performance.

I have a 10 year old ThinkPad with an SSD (a few years old). The big Windows update 1803 was finished within about an hour.

Today I had to install that update on a brand new i7 processor but with a 2TB HDD. After 5 hours the update was still not done.

That gives you an idea about the performance difference.

 

Personally I have very good experience with ThinkPad notebooks (not just the one above). If I would buy a new one and I am on a budget I would buy one for about 30k and replace the HDD with a SSD - easy to do.

If I would be even more on a budget I would buy a 2nd hand ThinkPad (or an older model, sometimes available for a good price online). And again put a SSD inside.

The "new" notebook should have at least 8GB RAM and should have drivers available for Windows 10.

I would think about buying from one of the Banana outlets, I have just bought my second laptop from them and the service is excellent, 1000 Baht of the price, a free case, and a box of goodies.

[RuamRudy]

3 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I would think about buying from one of the Banana outlets, I have just bought my second laptop from them and the service is excellent, 1000 Baht of the price, a free case, and a box of goodies.

Avoid the one in Patong (Jung Ceylon) - I bought a Toshiba there and they configured it wrongly then, when I tried to get them to fix it the guy suddenly lost the ability to speak English and walked away. 

 

That said, I then took it to Banana in Pantip Plaza and they fixed it quickly and free of charge - with an apology for their Phuket branch's behaviour.

[notrub]

Thank you for your thoughts and comments.  SSD is as costly as some computers, just for the drive.  I don't see any 1TB SSD drives online (Lazada) so don't know where to start with that.

 

Second thing is about an optical disc drive.  I think that means a dvd player and I never use them.  The space (in the machine) and cost of a dvd drive rules that out for me.  Or am I missing something and should have one on my new device?  I would like lots of usb type connectors and an sd card reader, however.

 

My friend Patrick at Baan computers on Koh Phangan said removing a dvd player gives room for a supplementary SSD.  I live in Isaan now and so cannot stop by for a chin wag with him about all his stuff.

 

I am tempted by a 14,000 THB 14" (Asus?) and also a 22,000 THB 15"  from Acer.  I am not a power user and the 2 Asus laptops are just getting a little long in tooth.  X200 MA and a little x205 TA.

 

While we are at it, I use 1TB ext drives from Transcend for movies and have had a few problems.  Any thoughts on other brands.

 

I have only been looking on Lazada and could use some advice for different sources for safe online shopping.  (BTW steer clear of Gearbest, TopTom (or TomTop?) and any affiliates as they are toxic in a big way)

 

Thanks again,  B

[Dario]

26 minutes ago, notrub said:

Thank you for your thoughts and comments.  SSD is as costly as some computers, just for the drive.  I don't see any 1TB SSD drives online (Lazada) so don't know where to start with that.

 

Second thing is about an optical disc drive.  I think that means a dvd player and I never use them.  The space (in the machine) and cost of a dvd drive rules that out for me.  Or am I missing something and should have one on my new device?  I would like lots of usb type connectors and an sd card reader, however.

 

My friend Patrick at Baan computers on Koh Phangan said removing a dvd player gives room for a supplementary SSD.  I live in Isaan now and so cannot stop by for a chin wag with him about all his stuff.

 

I am tempted by a 14,000 THB 14" (Asus?) and also a 22,000 THB 15"  from Acer.  I am not a power user and the 2 Asus laptops are just getting a little long in tooth.  X200 MA and a little x205 TA.

 

While we are at it, I use 1TB ext drives from Transcend for movies and have had a few problems.  Any thoughts on other brands.

 

I have only been looking on Lazada and could use some advice for different sources for safe online shopping.  (BTW steer clear of Gearbest, TopTom (or TomTop?) and any affiliates as they are toxic in a big way)

 

Thanks again,  B

 

Hi, I'm buying a lot from Lazada, but didn't find value for money when it comes to laptops. No, you don't need a DVD player, for what? My HP doesn't have one. But it has 3 USB ports, I don't think, ANY laptop has more than three. It also has a back light keyboard. And WIFI, of course. Have you looked at my post? No seller in Thailand can beat what I bought for just 23'000 Baht on Amazon. Yes, Amazon. Jeff Bezos knows how to sell cheap, even to Thailand! I think you can find a 1TB SSD on Lazada (prices are competitive), but why would you want  a 1TB SSD for around 20'000 Baht or more? 512 GB is more than enough. You can hook up an external HD, if you need more space. I have an external 2TB WD HD connected at all times. All sensitive data goes on there.

 

 

 

[GreasyFingers]

Thailand online suppliers are Invade IT and Advice IT (not sure if correct names, but google should pick them up)

[RickTik]

I just happened to complete a focused search for a new laptop.  The best one out there is the new ASUS - VivoBook, Model ": X540UADS51.  It includes a 1TB Hard Drive and uses Intel Core i5.  It is a 15.6"   and is priced in your/our price range. It was just released by ASUS in March of this year.  That is the computer I just bought 6 hours ago.

[Dario]

8 minutes ago, GreasyFingers said:

Thailand online suppliers are Invade IT and Advice IT (not sure if correct names, but google should pick them up)

The names are correct. Lately I bought 8G RAM DDR4 2133MHz on Lazada from J.I.B. After I had it already installed I found it cheaper on Invade IT. The owner is a foreigner and surely can be trusted more than many sellers on Lazada.

[CarolinaJames]

I just happened to complete a focused search for a new laptop.  The best one out there is the new ASUS - VivoBook, Model ": X540UADS51.  It includes a 1TB Hard Drive and uses Intel Core i5.  It is a 15.6"   and is priced in your/our price range. It was just released by ASUS in March of this year.  That is the computer I just bought 6 hours ago.

Where did you buy it? Thanks



Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[OneMoreFarang]

26 minutes ago, RickTik said:

I just happened to complete a focused search for a new laptop.  The best one out there is ....

Sorry but statements like that just don't make sense. Because people use notebooks for different purposes. What is good for one person does not have to be good for another person. There is no such thing as "the best out there".

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, RuamRudy said:

Avoid the one in Patong (Jung Ceylon) - I bought a Toshiba there and they configured it wrongly then, when I tried to get them to fix it the guy suddenly lost the ability to speak English and walked away. 

 

That said, I then took it to Banana in Pantip Plaza and they fixed it quickly and free of charge - with an apology for their Phuket branch's behaviour.

I suppose with any branch, you need to talk with the assistant and get a feel for the place, the first Banana shop I went into at Fortune town was very small with only one person working in it, I saw the laptop I wanted, and asked about any freebies, he said no, not even a free case.

The next Banana shop was also a very small shop with three male assistants, the three of them were standing talking among themselves, I asked for service and they just looked at me, I just walked back out.

I then went into a bigger one and got all the satisfaction I wanted and bought the laptop, so I think it is probably better to deal with the larger branches.

 

[OneMoreFarang]

35 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I suppose with any branch, you need to talk with the assistant and get a feel for the place, the first Banana shop I went into at Fortune town was very small with only one person working in it, I saw the laptop I wanted, and asked about any freebies, he said no, not even a free case.

The next Banana shop was also a very small shop with three male assistants, the three of them were standing talking among themselves, I asked for service and they just looked at me, I just walked back out.

I then went into a bigger one and got all the satisfaction I wanted and bought the laptop, so I think it is probably better to deal with the larger branches.

 

The freebies are often time limited, for specific shops, etc. I am pretty sure it's not up to the assistant if they give you any freebies.

[NoshowJones]

6 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

The freebies are often time limited, for specific shops, etc. I am pretty sure it's not up to the assistant if they give you any freebies.

Yes, I would agree with that.

[arithai12]

6 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Sorry but statements like that just don't make sense. Because people use notebooks for different purposes. What is good for one person does not have to be good for another person. There is no such thing as "the best out there".

you are right, but you also recommended as a main thing to change the HDD with SSD drive, a very expensive move which is justified only for some kinds of use (none of the wishes of the OP reflects this need).

btw, i think it's a normal feature now for mid-range laptops and up to have a HDD along side with a small SSD, which is used for faster boot and for most commonly used programs. it's a decent, much cheaper compromise.

[arithai12]

11 hours ago, hkt83100 said:

Are you fixed to using Windows? A different OS might speed up everything by a factor of 2..4. But - as OMF mentions - a switch from HDD to SSD is crucial. Furthermore it saves energy and takes the noise level down, and the machine will run cooler, too. On my notebook (old Compaq CQ58 with Intel I3, 6 MB RAM, 500 GB SSD) I am running Kubuntu 18.04 now, it is a good performer.

Beats me how an old laptop with an SSD will help the OP with his wish for many USB sockets, backlit keyboard, and good music player.

[arithai12]

10 hours ago, helloagain said:

Save up and buy a mac. Flaming windows 10 and what they take from you what you do etc. Mac is super fast. Yes not easy at first but use it and ask on your phone hiw to do this and that. There is also office 2016 for mac which i just paid for works fine much better tham mac pages

Can you please specify in which universe Mac is superfast dollar for dollar?

Please factor in not just the Mac but all the Apple-specific devices you need to use it properly.

[OneMoreFarang]

15 minutes ago, arithai12 said:

you are right, but you also recommended as a main thing to change the HDD with SSD drive, a very expensive move which is justified only for some kinds of use (none of the wishes of the OP reflects this need).

btw, i think it's a normal feature now for mid-range laptops and up to have a HDD along side with a small SSD, which is used for faster boot and for most commonly used programs. it's a decent, much cheaper compromise.

Do you know what SSDs cost these days? Maybe 5,000B for 500GB. And if you are on a budget just buy the cheapest SSD, it's still faster than any HDD. And like I mentioned earlier they make a night and day difference.

Today I just installed the Windows 1803 update on a brand new Lenovo with 1TB HDD. It took over 3 hours - on a brand new notebook! On my 10 year old Lenovo ThinkPad X61s with SSD it took not even half that time. You can have the fastest CPU, lots or RAM and whatever. You will never make up the difference to any SSD in performance. And if you every used a PC with SSD you won't want to go back to any PC with HDD.

There are very few exceptions why people might chose a HDD.

[RickTik]

12 hours ago, CarolinaJames said:

 

Where did you buy it? Thanks



Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

I ended up buying it on Amazon.  I was going to get it at BestBuy but I wasn't thrilled with customer service at that particular store.  Also, they didn't have any in stock and there would have been a lengthy delivery time. 

Edited May 4, 2018 by RickTik

[Rhys]

Let us know which one you picked..... Not happy with the Lenovo.

 

[Estrada]

From my experience of working in large companies with hundreds of laptops on the go, I would never by an HP again. The smaller ones used to overheat and burnout. I have bought two HP desktop all-in ones here and both developed a problem with shutting down and losing the operating system (possibly a cracked board). With the ASUS laptop, problems were overheating requiring an external fan and the battery packed in twice. With Vaio laptops, one had a cracked board the second had a continuous problems with the RAM which entailed removing them and cleaning the contacts so that it can be used. In the end the large power supply overheated and burnt out because it was not up to the job and I was unable to get a replacement in Libya where I was working. Sony eventually replaced all the power packs with an uprated model. Switched to ACER Ferrari with no problems and then to a $3,000 ACER Aspire 8942G 17" i7 1.28TB HDD which I have had since DEC 2009 and it is still going strong even though I have used it almost every day for work and pleasure. The original had two 640GB HDs and I replaced on with a 1TB HD giving me 1.68TB internal HD. Two years ago I bought the ACER Predator 17" i7 1TB HDD Gaming Laptop ($3,000) with the aim of replacing my old ACER with it. Unfortunately my children who are at University, prefer to use my Predator for work (photograph and video editing etc) even though they have HP and ASUS laptops of their own. The battery has packed in and to replace it you have to take the laptops apart which really means taking it to the service centre, however we never use it on battery anyway. Certainly, my ACER Aspire at $3,000 has worked out a lot cheaper in the long run. I would advise buying an ACER laptop based on my experience especially as there is an excellent service centre here. With regard to Lazada, you are actually buying online from shops such as IT City and Banana IT.

[Henryford]

I have just bought an Acer Spin 5 and really love it. i5-8250 and 256 gb SSD. The spin facility is really useful as you can use it as a tablet as well. Very good quality build, all the ports you need (except LAN). 1080  IPS screen. Backlit  keyboard.  I paid 24,000 baht with W10 pre-installed. Again easier than messing about with getting Windows after you buy.

 

Whatever you buy i would highly recommend getting a SSD, so much quicker than a HDD. Windows  boots up in under 10 seconds and shuts down in 5 seconds.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Henryford

[Thailand J]

 

 

https://www.jib.co.th/web/index.php/pricelist/pricelist_main/25

 

Here is a long list: Acer,  Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo.  If you see one you like you can order it at any  JIB branch.

Edited May 5, 2018 by Thailand J