Budget Laptop

[jaiyenyen]

Hi.

I'm thinking of replacing my 5yr old laptop. It's got very slow despite cleanups. I have a budget of around 15.000 baht. I know it's not a lot, but what would be my best options?

It only need it for fairly light work. Office work, emails, downloading and watching movies and series, music etc. No gaming.

I'm not too bright when it comes to computers, so I would like something dependable.

 

I look forward to your suggestions. 

[OneMoreFarang]

I would by a used ThinkPad for about 10k and add a fast SDD and maybe add RAM.

They are available on Lazada and probably other places.

Don't expect to get a decent new notebook for <= 15k.

[wadman]

If your laptop is running windows, create a new user profile. Keep the old user profile around for a while, until you are absolutely sure you don't need it anymore. Using a new user profile can speed things up considerably. 

[Eindhoven]

2 hours ago, jaiyenyen said:

Hi.

I'm thinking of replacing my 5yr old laptop. It's got very slow despite cleanups. I have a budget of around 15.000 baht. I know it's not a lot, but what would be my best options?

It only need it for fairly light work. Office work, emails, downloading and watching movies and series, music etc. No gaming.

I'm not too bright when it comes to computers, so I would like something dependable.

 

I look forward to your suggestions. 

 

Once again...it seems that people are too quick to spend your money without asking even the most cursory of questions.

Five year old laptop should still be viable. The likelihood is that it was sold with outdated technology within. That would be the old magnetic spinning disk storage. That can be swapped out in minutes for a much faster and far more efficient solid state drive, costing from 500 baht. No more slowness and no need to spend 15k.

[Eindhoven]

2 hours ago, jaiyenyen said:

Hi.

I'm thinking of replacing my 5yr old laptop. It's got very slow despite cleanups. I have a budget of around 15.000 baht. I know it's not a lot, but what would be my best options?

It only need it for fairly light work. Office work, emails, downloading and watching movies and series, music etc. No gaming.

I'm not too bright when it comes to computers, so I would like something dependable.

 

I look forward to your suggestions. 

 

My suggestion is the same for everyone. Start all queries with the details of the current laptop. Otherwise everyone has to guess. It seems rudimentary, but most people appear incapable of understanding that not every device is exactly the same. So post details. Brand name and model number cannot be too difficult.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Eindhoven

[jaiyenyen]

Good point.

It's a Lenovo ideapad 320 with an AMD A4 processor.

I hadn't given any thought to upgrading the hard disc. That's something I'd be happy to do. Is there anything else I could do to improve what I've already got?

 

 

[Oldie]

If the CPU or/and the graphic card or/and not enough memory is the problem then an SDD will not solve the problem. 

[Eindhoven]

3 hours ago, Oldie said:

If the CPU or/and the graphic card or/and not enough memory is the problem then an SDD will not solve the problem. 

 

 

 

Quote

It only need it for fairly light work. Office work, emails, downloading and watching movies and series, music etc. No gaming.

 

Any five year old notebook CPU will be adequate to those tasks. Five year old laptop also likely to have at least 4 GB of RAM. Not sure why you even mentioned graphics cards. If it has one, then at five years old, again more than adequate to the task.

 

 

[Eindhoven]

2 hours ago, jaiyenyen said:

Good point.

It's a Lenovo ideapad 320 with an AMD A4 processor.

I hadn't given any thought to upgrading the hard disc. That's something I'd be happy to do. Is there anything else I could do to improve what I've already got?

 

 

 

SSD will be enough. HDD is the bottle neck.

 

 

 

AMD A4-9120 APU is not the greatest processing unit around, but in conjunction with a solid state drive and a clean install of the OS, you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

 

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

2 hours ago, jaiyenyen said:

Good point.

It's a Lenovo ideapad 320 with an AMD A4 processor.

I hadn't given any thought to upgrading the hard disc. That's something I'd be happy to do. Is there anything else I could do to improve what I've already got?

 

 

You have the same problem I had with my older laptop, about same 5 year like you.

As I read the specs on your laptop, you have 4 gb ram memory today, and you can upgrade that to 8 gb instead. Same I did and I also changed the harddrive to ssd 512 gb.

The total cost for me was about 2000-2500 baht. I can gurantee that it´s going to work perfect for the things you specified that you do with your computer.

The best place you will find the stuff is if you take your laptop to the closest Advice shop.

[Eindhoven]

Just now, Dagfinnur Traustason said:

You have the same problem I had with my older laptop, about same 5 year like you.

As I read the specs on your laptop, you have 4 gb ram memory today, and you can upgrade that to 8 gb instead. Same I did and I also changed the harddrive to ssd 512 gb.

The total cost for me was about 2000-2500 baht. I can gurantee that it´s going to work perfect for the things you specified that you do with your computer.

The best place you will find the stuff is if you take your laptop to the closest Advice shop.

 

No need for him to take his laptop anywhere and no need to upgrade the RAM. Total cost from 500 baht (128 GB) if he does it himself. 256 GB SSD around 900 baht.

SSD makes the biggest difference. Upgrading the RAM on top of fitting the SSD won't make that much difference unless he is utilising applications that need a lot of RAM. 

 

Illustrated here:

 

 

[fdsa]

+ for SSD.

It will cost you 2-3k baht + 1-2k more for cloning your OS and files from the old hard drive, and will make a huge difference in laptop performance.

Make sure the SSD size is same or larger than the current HDD.

 

Don't opt for "reinstalling windows" or whatever, insist on cloning the disk. And you don't need to buy a new llicense for windows because HDD-SSD upgrade is permitted by Microsoft.

Concerning the cost - I'd suggest more expensive Samsung SSDs rather than cheap ADATA or Kingston/Kingmax/Kingspec/Kingwhatever.

Edited February 20, 2021 by fdsa

[Eindhoven]

Of course if Advice will fit the SSD bought from them for a small added cost or even free, you can get them to do it.

Though there is nothing wrong with the idea of upgrading RAM from 4GB to 8GB if it's in your budget. But it will only bring a small improvement as compared to the fitting of an SSD, for the likely cost of at least 1000 baht. More than the cost of a 256GB SSD.

[Eindhoven]

1 minute ago, fdsa said:

+ for SSD.

It will cost you 2-3k baht + 1-2k more for cloning your OS and files from the old hard drive, and will make a huge difference in laptop performance.

Just don't opt for "reinstalling windows" or whatever, insist on cloning the disk. Make sure the SSD size is same or larger than the current HDD.

 

What are you talking about? Though prices are ridiculously inflated and who pays for their drives to be cloned?? Crazy.

Why should he clone the disk and carry over any crud that was slowing the device down in the first place. Clean install always recommended unless you have a complicated setup that you wish to preserve.

 

1000 baht will cover the cost of a 256 GB SSD for that device. No need to spend more.

[jaiyenyen]

I really appreciate all your advice guys.

At the moment, I have 4gb Ram and a 500gb HHD. I'm really happy to know that an upgrade to a SSD will make a difference. I'll probably upgrade the RAM too as it's not too much money.

[Eindhoven]

1 minute ago, jaiyenyen said:

I really appreciate all your advice guys.

At the moment, I have 4gb Ram and a 500gb HHD. I'm really happy to know that an upgrade to a SSD will make a difference. I'll probably upgrade the RAM too as it's not too much money.

 

It quite likely a device that was sold without a Windows licence, so I would run a clean install of genuine Windows 10 and purchase a cheap key via Lazada/Shopee/eBay for less than the equivalent of US$5 with which to activate it. If of course you already have a genuine install of Windows 10, you can ignore this message.

 

Creating the Windows 10 USB flash drive

1. Visit the Microsoft Media Creation Tool website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
2. Click Download Tool Now.
3. Save the Application.
4. Plug your USB Flash Drive into the PC where you saved the application.
5. Run the Application.
6. Accept the EULA
7. Select Create installation media for another PC and click Next.
8. Choose the correct settings for your version of Windows 10

• Language (Country)
• Windows 10
• 64-bit (x64)

• Click Next.
• Select USB Flash Drive and click Next.
• Select the Flash Drive and click Next.

Allow the application to complete. You will be prompted when it is finished and has successfully created the bootable drive.

[jaiyenyen]

Sorry.

Another question. HHD at the moment is 500gb.

Eindhoven, you're suggesting a smaller SSD. Is that okay? Or would a 500GB SSD be better in the long run.

[BenDeCosta]

Don't buy anything with less than 8Gb of ram or you will find that the computer not only runs slowly with general tasks, but it will get worse with more Windows updates in the future.

Edited February 20, 2021 by BenDeCosta

[Eindhoven]

Just now, jaiyenyen said:

Sorry.

Another question. HHD at the moment is 500gb.

Eindhoven, you're suggesting a smaller SSD. Is that okay? Or would a 500GB SSD be better in the long run.

 

You can answer that question yourself. You've had the laptop for a few years. How much space is left on the HDD?

 

If you think you need 500 GB you can buy 500 GB of storage: https://shopee.co.th/Silicon-Power-128GB-256GB-512GB-เอสเอสดี-A55-SSD-3D-TLC-NAND-SATA-III-2.5-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-3-Years-Warranty-i.219846402.7131212222 Typical prices for budget SSD.

 

Higher quality would be Samsung EVO (not QLC), Crucial MX 500, Western Digital Blue etc..

[fdsa]

Samsung 500 GB SSD is 2450 in JIB: https://www.jib.co.th/web/product/readProduct/45272/1028/500-GB-SSD--เอสเอสดี--SAMSUNG-870-EVO-SATA-III--MZ-77E500BW-

should be not much expensive in the other shops.

[Eindhoven]

47 minutes ago, BenDeCosta said:

Don't buy anything with less than 8Gb of ram or you will find that the computer not only runs slowly with general tasks, but it will get worse with more Windows updates in the future.

 

He's not buying anything...

 

Your 8GB story is ....not accurate. 

[jaiyenyen]

1 minute ago, BenDeCosta said:

Don't buy anything with less than 8Gb of ram or you will find that the computer not only runs slowly with general tasks, but it will get worse with more Windows updates in the future.

Thanks for the advice Ben DC. I've made up my mind to upgrade to 8gb Ram and a SSD on my existing laptop.

[Eindhoven]

2 minutes ago, fdsa said:

Samsung 500 GB SSD is 2450 in JIB: https://www.jib.co.th/web/product/readProduct/45272/1028/500-GB-SSD--เอสเอสดี--SAMSUNG-870-EVO-SATA-III--MZ-77E500BW-

should be not much expensive in the other shops.

 

Almost too good for the laptop in question. But if the OP can afford, then why not?

[lopburi3]

6 minutes ago, jaiyenyen said:

Sorry.

Another question. HHD at the moment is 500gb.

Eindhoven, you're suggesting a smaller SSD. Is that okay? Or would a 500GB SSD be better in the long run.

I would pay the extra although 256 has plenty of room for operating system and programs so should be OK - especially if you buy a case for old HDD and use for file storage.  But good to have two copies so I chose to have enough room on SSD for working programs and files and use external for video type files and backups.

[Eindhoven]

25 minutes ago, fdsa said:

+ for SSD.

It will cost you 2-3k baht + 1-2k more for cloning your OS and files from the old hard drive, and will make a huge difference in laptop performance.

Make sure the SSD size is same or larger than the current HDD.

 

Don't opt for "reinstalling windows" or whatever, insist on cloning the disk. And you don't need to buy a new llicense for windows because HDD-SSD upgrade is permitted by Microsoft.

Concerning the cost - I'd suggest more expensive Samsung SSDs rather than cheap ADATA or Kingston/Kingmax/Kingspec/Kingwhatever.

 

 

Do you know of what you are writing??

 

You place Kingston alongside Kingmax?? One is a legitimate and longstanding company and the other a Chinese knockoff.

Adata is a Taiwanese company. They make good drives: https://www.xpg.com/en/feature/583/

[Eindhoven]

One of the reasons why I am keeping the cost down on upgrading, it the laptop itself: https://notebookspec.com/notebook/8302-lenovo-ideapad-320-80xu002jta.html

 

Personally I would not spend the money on a Samsung for that laptop. Of course you may be able to move the components to a newer laptop once you eventually upgrade.

But for me it's an ultra budget laptop and I would chose to spend the minimum on it. But that's just an opinion.

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

1 hour ago, Eindhoven said:

 

He's not buying anything....pay attention. 

 

Your 8GB story is ....not accurate. 

Yes, his 8 gb is very accurate. <removed>. Everyone that buys a new computer today should have an absolute minimum of 8 gb ram. By todays standards that should be seen as low end.

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

27 minutes ago, jaiyenyen said:

Thanks for the advice Ben DC. I've made up my mind to upgrade to 8gb Ram and a SSD on my existing laptop.

Good choice. I hope you get satisfied.

[lopburi3]

2 minutes ago, Dagfinnur Traustason said:

Everyone that buys a new computer today

That is not what we have been talking about - increasing the speed of a 4-5 year old computer is the goal and the SSD will do a very good job of that by itself.

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

36 minutes ago, jaiyenyen said:

Sorry.

Another question. HHD at the moment is 500gb.

Eindhoven, you're suggesting a smaller SSD. Is that okay? Or would a 500GB SSD be better in the long run.

If you wish to keep the installation you already have on your computer, you will do best with a ssd with same size. Then you can for example use Easeus software to clone your system. By that you will not lose anyting you have on your old drive, and the computer will look exactly like before.

If you plan to make a new installation you can do with a 128gb or a 256gb ssd drive, depending on how much space you will need for downloads and files.