New laptop computer needed

[patekatek]

My 10 year old Fujitsu laptop finally threw in the towel and I am having to shop for a replacement.  I don't live in Pattaya but will be visiting in a few days and would like to know if any expats living in Pattaya have had good, or bad,  experiences shopping at Tukcom.  I'm not into gaming so all I would need is a moderate, up to date notebook or laptop.

I have checked out Lazada, PowerBuy, etc. but thought it might be worth visiting Tukcom since I will be in town.  Thanks for any help offered.

[doctormann]

JIB seem to be a store with a good reputation.  They are in Tukcom - maybe in Central also but not sure about that.

 

 

[scammed]

i usually buy my laptops at tuk com since i cant order from lazada without a computer,

but now with lazada phone app i believe i could get it cheaper on lazada,

its just that there might be a time constraint, such as in need of a computer to transfer my pension in a timely manner, in which case i would still go to tuk com

[Kerryd]

I usually deal with JIB (https://www.jib.co.th/web/) in TukCom as well. They usually have a pretty good selection of laptops and a whack of aftermarket upgrades as well. I bought my last gaming computer (ASUS Republic of Gamers) from them and when it had a battery problem they fixed it (under warranty) no problem (though they did have to send it to Bangkok and it took a couple of weeks).

There are a couple other retailers on the same floor and you could also check out what PowerBuy (one floor down) has to offer if you want to do some comparison shopping.

There are some small shops on the same floor as JIB with used laptops as well if you want something cheap and don't need a high end rig.

Edited August 8, 2020 by Kerryd

[Halfaboy]

In the past I bought a couple of laptops from Pattaya2you. Excellent service. They have a shop in TukCom and also a shop behind tukCom (but this one is rather difficult to find).

 

They are having their own engineers and repairs can be done on the spot.

Edited August 8, 2020 by Halfaboy
Adding.

[SteveK]

I've bought from JIB and they were great.

[patekatek]

Thanks, everyone, for your responses.  It appears I will have several options for comparing prices and products while in Pattaya.  I also did some web checking and there is a JIB store in Phetchaburi, about 35 km from my house.  One in Hua Hin as well.  85 km.

[Eindhoven]

38 minutes ago, patekatek said:

Thanks, everyone, for your responses.  It appears I will have several options for comparing prices and products while in Pattaya.  I also did some web checking and there is a JIB store in Phetchaburi, about 35 km from my house.  One in Hua Hin as well.  85 km.

 

Do not buy any laptop that does not utilise Solid State Drive for storage, unless you know how to upgrade from HDD to SSD by yourself. The old style spinning discs (HDD) are just too slow and fragile.

[Eindhoven]

If you go to Tukcom, there is also IT City on the top floor.. I bought the laptop I am using now there, in February of 2007. Yes, 2007 and still working perfectly.

[stouricks]

2 hours ago, scammed said:

i usually buy my laptops at tuk com since i cant order from lazada without a computer,

but now with lazada phone app i believe i could get it cheaper on lazada,

its just that there might be a time constraint, such as in need of a computer to transfer my pension in a timely manner, in which case i would still go to tuk com

Does your bank or transfer company not have a phone app or a site available via your browser?

[stouricks]

57 minutes ago, patekatek said:

Thanks, everyone, for your responses.  It appears I will have several options for comparing prices and products while in Pattaya.  I also did some web checking and there is a JIB store in Phetchaburi, about 35 km from my house.  One in Hua Hin as well.  85 km.

invade IT is also in Hua Hin, and they are very helpful.

[johnray]

If it works in the shop the chances it will work at home.  Just try out everything.

 

If it's second hand the battery is usually be broken.

Edited August 8, 2020 by johnray

[Eindhoven]

2 minutes ago, johnray said:

If it works in the shop the chances it will work at home.  Just try out everything.

 

If it's second hand the battery is usually be broken.

 

What? Really?

[notrub]

I bought a HP Pavillion from Amazon US and changed the 1TB hard drive for a 500GB solid state one.  Forget what they are called.  Was cheaper than here and the new HD makes it very fast etc. Backlit keys etc.. Like it a lot.  I will look up more details re model number and price if you want.  Cheers B 

[scammed]

1 hour ago, stouricks said:

Does your bank or transfer company not have a phone app or a site available via your browser?

it probably has, but i just hate trying to accomplish anything on something that tiny,

if i were forced to, i would possibly try to do it on the inbuilt laptop monitor

since its so important, but my preference is definitely a really big external monitor,

external keyboard, and external mouse, for ergonomics, convenience,

and peace of mind

[stouricks]

22 minutes ago, scammed said:

it probably has, but i just hate trying to accomplish anything on something that tiny,

if i were forced to, i would possibly try to do it on the inbuilt laptop monitor

since its so important, but my preference is definitely a really big external monitor,

external keyboard, and external mouse, for ergonomics, convenience,

and peace of mind

In that case, get yourself an Intel NUC. See previous threads on this subject.

[Kerryd]

2 hours ago, scammed said:

it probably has, but i just hate trying to accomplish anything on something that tiny,

if i were forced to, i would possibly try to do it on the inbuilt laptop monitor

since its so important, but my preference is definitely a really big external monitor,

external keyboard, and external mouse, for ergonomics, convenience,

and peace of mind

Same here. I use my phone for calls and photos (and music) and rarely run any apps on it, especially banking apps.

I generally use an external monitor/keyboard/mouse with my laptop when I'm at home, and carry a wireless mouse/keyboard with me when travelling. Don't usually watch a lot on the laptop while travelling so the screen size isn't an issue.

When my buddy came over last year, he wanted a cheap laptop basically so he could do a little surfing and check his email. We went to one of those little shops at TukCom and got him a decent little rig. Good enough to let him do what he wants and we set it up so he can watch movies on the TV screen in his apartment (or listen to music).

Unless you are running some high end programs (or video intensive games) you don't need a massive/expensive set up. 

The advantage of buying one from a place like JIB is that you'd be getting a new system that's under warranty and probably last for years. Buying a used one may be cheaper, but it may not last as long and could be obsolete in a couple years. You may get a warranty of 1-3 months which may, or may not, be useful as the shop may, or may not, be there when you need it.
 

[Eindhoven]

4 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Same here. I use my phone for calls and photos (and music) and rarely run any apps on it, especially banking apps.

I generally use an external monitor/keyboard/mouse with my laptop when I'm at home, and carry a wireless mouse/keyboard with me when travelling. Don't usually watch a lot on the laptop while travelling so the screen size isn't an issue.

When my buddy came over last year, he wanted a cheap laptop basically so he could do a little surfing and check his email. We went to one of those little shops at TukCom and got him a decent little rig. Good enough to let him do what he wants and we set it up so he can watch movies on the TV screen in his apartment (or listen to music).

Unless you are running some high end programs (or video intensive games) you don't need a massive/expensive set up. 

The advantage of buying one from a place like JIB is that you'd be getting a new system that's under warranty and probably last for years. Buying a used one may be cheaper, but it may not last as long and could be obsolete in a couple years. You may get a warranty of 1-3 months which may, or may not, be useful as the shop may, or may not, be there when you need it.
 

 

You were doing ok until that work of fiction.

I have twelve year old laptops that were 'refurbs' when I purchased them. All still going. Saying that, I am now using a thirteen year old laptop that I bought from new, for someone else. They gave it to me a few years ago.

 

Does your statement mean that all of my older laptops are obsolete?

That whole paragraph was a waste of time and energy on your part, since it is based on nothing other than something that you made up.

[Kerryd]

What part of "could be obsolete" do you not understand ?

And I'm so glad to know that because you had a successful experience, that automatically means everyone else will obviously enjoy the same success. Like all the people that buy machines with older GPUs, HDs and operating systems (like Win 7) which aren't supported anymore. And when they try to repair/upgrade their machines they find out they can't because their laptop can't fit the new parts or handle the new software.

Apparently though, according to you, they will obviously work perfectly for the next decade (or longer) and every new program will be written to ensure it will function properly on older, slower, less capable machines.

You know, like they've NEVER done so far.

Gee, it's almost like I've never had a computer before ? I mean, except for the first one I built myself back in 1989. Back in the good old days of DOS when 1 mb of RAM was premium and you had to manually adjust the config.sys file to get it to load programs "high" to free up more of that 1mb to run programs.

And then there's the 2 dozen or so I've built since then (like the one I'm using now that I put together specifically for online gaming) and the one to my left (built to do mundane things and limited gaming). 
The one to my right is my gaming laptop, which I have hooked up to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse. The other, old, less capable laptop is in my travel bag. It is almost obsolete as it isn't worth upgrading but as I mostly use it just to check emails and upload  photos I take while travelling around Thailand on the Harley, it's not an issue. If it dies one day (or decade) I'll probably replace it with a tablet.

(Never realized just how many "yellow stickies" I seem to have plastered up everywhere until now !)

[jacko45k]

18 hours ago, Eindhoven said:

If you go to Tukcom, there is also IT City on the top floor.. I bought the laptop I am using now there, in February of 2007. Yes, 2007 and still working perfectly.

Surprised the operating system is still OK...did you have to upgrade the Windows?

[Guderian]

20 hours ago, Halfaboy said:

In the past I bought a couple of laptops from Pattaya2you. Excellent service. They have a shop in TukCom and also a shop behind tukCom (but this one is rather difficult to find).

 

They are having their own engineers and repairs can be done on the spot.

+1

Their prices are very competitive and they will make the computer to your specifications so you only get what you need, not redundant stuff that's bundled in with the models from the big manufacturers. They also offer a free lifetime warranty for maintenance, and they stick by it. I've had a desktop from them for five years now and whenever something goes wrong I just take it straight to them and it's usually fixed on the spot free of charge, other than new parts. You tell them what software you want and the PC comes with it already installed for you. Excellent service and highly recommended.

[Rimmer]

2 hours ago, Kerryd said:

What part of "could be obsolete" do you not understand ?

And I'm so glad to know that because you had a successful experience, that automatically means everyone else will obviously enjoy the same success. Like all the people that buy machines with older GPUs, HDs and operating systems (like Win 7) which aren't supported anymore. And when they try to repair/upgrade their machines they find out they can't because their laptop can't fit the new parts or handle the new software.

Apparently though, according to you, they will obviously work perfectly for the next decade (or longer) and every new program will be written to ensure it will function properly on older, slower, less capable machines.

You know, like they've NEVER done so far.

Gee, it's almost like I've never had a computer before ? I mean, except for the first one I built myself back in 1989. Back in the good old days of DOS when 1 mb of RAM was premium and you had to manually adjust the config.sys file to get it to load programs "high" to free up more of that 1mb to run programs.

And then there's the 2 dozen or so I've built since then (like the one I'm using now that I put together specifically for online gaming) and the one to my left (built to do mundane things and limited gaming). 
The one to my right is my gaming laptop, which I have hooked up to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse. The other, old, less capable laptop is in my travel bag. It is almost obsolete as it isn't worth upgrading but as I mostly use it just to check emails and upload  photos I take while travelling around Thailand on the Harley, it's not an issue. If it dies one day (or decade) I'll probably replace it with a tablet.

(Never realized just how many "yellow stickies" I seem to have plastered up everywhere until now !)

 

Looks like you have the 'towel on the desk thing' same as me, only problem is my cats like to sleep on them and then I can't get to the keyboard  ????

[Kerryd]

Just now, Rimmer said:

 

Looks like you have the 'towel on the desk thing' same as me, only problem is my cats like to sleep on them and then I can't get to the keyboard  ????

Went through a couple of desks before finally trying that. I also ran a strip of wide gun (duct) tape along the edge as that is where it seems the problems usually start. It's also why I went with the large "mouse pad" mats. 
I've actually watched 4 hockey games at once with this set up. Used the gaming laptop to "cast" one game to the TV (that's over on the far right) and then one game on each monitor. Couldn't do much more than that as it was lagging my internet connection. 
Same for when I'm playing online games like EVE Online (space based MMORPG). Very graphics intensive. I can run one client on the low end desktop, 5 on the main desktop and 1-2 on the laptop before the lag beast starts to bite into my performance.

I used to run 4-5 clients on the laptop when I was in Afghanistan but it won't do it here for some reason.
(I think it's the heat. In Afghanistan I would run the aircon all day/night at 24 but here I only normally use the aircon in the bedroom when I sleep. As a result, the temperature in my "computer room" here is usually 10⁰ C hotter than it was in Kandahar. (In Kabul I ran into heating problems as well as we didn't have aircon in the tents. I set up a liquid cooling system on my desktop PC with extra tubing that looped around a special insulated holder I made that could hold a bottle of frozen water. Kept the CPU cool enough to run normally).
It's hot enough here though that I sometimes can't reboot the main desktop as the BIOS tells me the CPU and MB are overheated. I usually run the beast in overclocked mode and it seems I'm usually sitting near the temperature thresholds for the CPU/MB.
I have to close the windows and turn on the aircon for 5-10 minutes to cool the room enough to be able to boot up. And that's with a huge, kick-@ss aftermarket cooling fan on the CPU. Once it's running though it's not a problem.

I do have a brand new liquid cooling system sitting in a box in the right-side computer desk. Holding off on installing it for now. If I was going to stick the tower down under a desk somewhere I'd probably have to install the liquid cooler. (I used to have the tower under the desk but not enough airflow down there. Stuck the aftermarket cooling fan on, didn't help a lot so I moved the tower to the upper shelf.)

As for the cats, well, they are the boss (usually). Maybe set up a decoy keyboard and towel and try to trick them into sleeping on that ? I don't know what it is with cats. They can climb onto anything and sleep anywhere, but as soon as you reach for the keyboard, they are on it.


 

[Eindhoven]

6 hours ago, Kerryd said:

What part of "could be obsolete" do you not understand ?

And I'm so glad to know that because you had a successful experience, that automatically means everyone else will obviously enjoy the same success. Like all the people that buy machines with older GPUs, HDs and operating systems (like Win 7) which aren't supported anymore. And when they try to repair/upgrade their machines they find out they can't because their laptop can't fit the new parts or handle the new software.

Apparently though, according to you, they will obviously work perfectly for the next decade (or longer) and every new program will be written to ensure it will function properly on older, slower, less capable machines.

You know, like they've NEVER done so far.

Gee, it's almost like I've never had a computer before ? I mean, except for the first one I built myself back in 1989. Back in the good old days of DOS when 1 mb of RAM was premium and you had to manually adjust the config.sys file to get it to load programs "high" to free up more of that 1mb to run programs.

And then there's the 2 dozen or so I've built since then (like the one I'm using now that I put together specifically for online gaming) and the one to my left (built to do mundane things and limited gaming). 
The one to my right is my gaming laptop, which I have hooked up to an external monitor, keyboard and mouse. The other, old, less capable laptop is in my travel bag. It is almost obsolete as it isn't worth upgrading but as I mostly use it just to check emails and upload  photos I take while travelling around Thailand on the Harley, it's not an issue. If it dies one day (or decade) I'll probably replace it with a tablet.

(Never realized just how many "yellow stickies" I seem to have plastered up everywhere until now !)

 

I hope you don't mind if I ignore most of that ramble and get straight to the point of why I described that paragraph as a work of fiction.

 

For a laptop GPU to be 'obsolete' right now, how many years old would you estimate that it needs to be? Ten years? Possibly more?

 

So you are comparing the buying of a new laptop with a warranty to buying one that is perhaps ten years old? 

Windows 7 was released in 2009.

So in your mind second hand means perhaps ten years old. Hmmmm.

 

My 'second hand' laptops were less than a year old when purchased(possibly a month) all had one year warranties and bar one, which lasted around nine years(with one repair) all are still working. So that is nine to twelve years with at least four different laptops thus far. None are obsolete since they can all complete the functions for which they were designed, even twelve years later. These were all 'budget' laptops. no more than 10,000 baht at current exchange rates. So twelve years of usage for 10,000 baht(not including the cost of an SSD and more RAM, which was minimal)

These are real examples, not works of fiction. Can you actually state examples of anyone who bought second hand wherein it became obsolete in "a couple of years"?

 

I have at least six older laptops still working and a PC from 2009 working with a graphics card from 2008(HD 4350) that I use as an entertainment system, viewing Full HD content.

 

So I struggle to imagine anyone buying a second hand business machine perhaps two to three years old, having issues with obsolescence. In fact business machines are supported long after consumer machines have been abandoned.

 

So I maintain that yours was a work of fiction, using hyperbole instead of facts in order to convince others.

 

 

[Eindhoven]

4 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Surprised the operating system is still OK...did you have to upgrade the Windows?

 

It came with Linux, as was the norm in those days. I installed XP, then Windows 7(both at no cost). Then the laptop was given to me. I replaced the single core CPU with a dual core costing 240 baht, fitted an SSD costing 800 baht and maxxed out the RAM to 4 GB costing 240 baht.

 

Now it's the machine that I use for travel. It does everything that I need it to do.

 

 

[Eindhoven]

3 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Went through a couple of desks before finally trying that. I also ran a strip of wide gun (duct) tape along the edge as that is where it seems the problems usually start. It's also why I went with the large "mouse pad" mats. 
I've actually watched 4 hockey games at once with this set up. Used the gaming laptop to "cast" one game to the TV (that's over on the far right) and then one game on each monitor. Couldn't do much more than that as it was lagging my internet connection. 
Same for when I'm playing online games like EVE Online (space based MMORPG). Very graphics intensive. I can run one client on the low end desktop, 5 on the main desktop and 1-2 on the laptop before the lag beast starts to bite into my performance.

I used to run 4-5 clients on the laptop when I was in Afghanistan but it won't do it here for some reason.
(I think it's the heat. In Afghanistan I would run the aircon all day/night at 24 but here I only normally use the aircon in the bedroom when I sleep. As a result, the temperature in my "computer room" here is usually 10⁰ C hotter than it was in Kandahar. (In Kabul I ran into heating problems as well as we didn't have aircon in the tents. I set up a liquid cooling system on my desktop PC with extra tubing that looped around a special insulated holder I made that could hold a bottle of frozen water. Kept the CPU cool enough to run normally).
It's hot enough here though that I sometimes can't reboot the main desktop as the BIOS tells me the CPU and MB are overheated. I usually run the beast in overclocked mode and it seems I'm usually sitting near the temperature thresholds for the CPU/MB.
I have to close the windows and turn on the aircon for 5-10 minutes to cool the room enough to be able to boot up. And that's with a huge, kick-@ss aftermarket cooling fan on the CPU. Once it's running though it's not a problem.

I do have a brand new liquid cooling system sitting in a box in the right-side computer desk. Holding off on installing it for now. If I was going to stick the tower down under a desk somewhere I'd probably have to install the liquid cooler. (I used to have the tower under the desk but not enough airflow down there. Stuck the aftermarket cooling fan on, didn't help a lot so I moved the tower to the upper shelf.)

As for the cats, well, they are the boss (usually). Maybe set up a decoy keyboard and towel and try to trick them into sleeping on that ? I don't know what it is with cats. They can climb onto anything and sleep anywhere, but as soon as you reach for the keyboard, they are on it.


 

 

How dare you give your attention to something else?! I had the neighbours cats do the same. Climb through my window and sit on the keyboard if I happened to be on the PC. No interest in it if I was not on the PC.

[jacko45k]

18 hours ago, Eindhoven said:

Now it's the machine that I use for travel. It does everything that I need it to do.

I heard Win 7 was vulnerable (had exploits) and of course there are no updates now. I am still using a Win 7 machine and it has issues with the Chrome Browser and other issues with Firefox!!! I was looking at new laptops, but 100% SSD usually had limited memory size. There are options where there is limited RAM, some SSD and a disc drive that are sufficient and I would hope the SSD would make it fast to start-up and run. Thanks for repsonding.

[William Osborne]

I recently got an ACER Swift 1 in Powerbuy Tucom -13000 baht, 256mb SSD....  computer starts in seconds and is super fast compared to disk drives..... theres another shop next to Powerbuy where I got MS office loaded up.

[Rimmer]

A post with an altered incorrect quote has been removed

[Eindhoven]

On 8/10/2020 at 1:47 AM, jacko45k said:

I heard Win 7 was vulnerable (had exploits) and of course there are no updates now. I am still using a Win 7 machine and it has issues with the Chrome Browser and other issues with Firefox!!! I was looking at new laptops, but 100% SSD usually had limited memory size. There are options where there is limited RAM, some SSD and a disc drive that are sufficient and I would hope the SSD would make it fast to start-up and run. Thanks for repsonding.

 

Mine is running Windows 10 Pro. Also free

Why don't you fit an SSD to your current and move to Windows 10?