LENOVO Laptop

[fang37]

I purchased a Lenovo laptop recently.

Specs

Z50-70

Processor; Intel Core i7 - 451U

CPU: 2GHz (2.6GHz)

System: 64-bit

RAM: 4GHz

Product Label: 185942213

It had a big HD but I replaced it with a 120GB - Kingston SSE - massive improvement.

It cost a tick under B25k +B3.5k for the replacement HD.

It came with Windows 8.1 but was replaced with Windows 7 Pro.

How does it rank in the laptop stakes?

[fang37]

Amendment!

RAM - 4GHz

CPU @ 2.00GHz 2.60GHz

Edited July 28, 2015 by fang37

[guzzi850m2]

RAM is normally measured in (G)B and you should have min 8 in such a nice spec machine.

[dave_boo]

As long as you are happy with the build quality what does it matter how the specs rank?

Using a laptop for content creation is like using a screw driver to hammer in nails. Thus all out specs are misleading. Sturdiness of construction and good battery life trump other concerns.

[fang37]

Would you add 4Gb RAM to this computer?

Usage - email, social media, internet search. No gaming.

About B1k is the price.

[RichCor]

fang37,

Please don't cross post the same question in multiple topics, unless requested to do so by a ModMin.

Laptop - 4gb v 8gb RAM

Started by fang37, 57 minutes ago

[rakman]

Yes, I'd upgrade to 8 GB.

[fasteddie]

I'm no expert, but if it's 64bit, I don't think 4gig of ram is enough.

[DogNo1]

If you install many programs and download some files, that 120 GB is going to seem very cramped. Also, if you use cloud storage such as One Drive, Google Drive or Bitcasa, they want to create their own directories under "users" and synch their contents there. Takes up a lot of space. I'm upgrading all of my machines to 500 GB SSDs.

[thedemon]

As suggested, 120GB may be too small for data storage but it is big enough for OS and apps. Large SSD's are still quite expensive.

If that was my notebook I would remove the useless (for me anyway) optical drive and install the original HDD in a caddy like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-2nd-HDD-SSD-Hard-Drive-Caddy-for-12-7mm-Universal-CD-DVD-ROM-Optical-Bay-/280820379708

Then redirect the documents folder to the new D drive.

[fang37]

I have 73gb free. I am not into gaming. Free disk space is constant.

New HD - B3500? - 120gb.

Gmail; EXCEL (only a few small worksheets)

My only whinge - "slow" access to sites eg BKK Bank FE, Gmail. It is good but that is not good enough!

I am just about sold on more RAM - less than B1k.

What else can I do to make it quicker? Our PCs are NEVER quick enough?

How can I assess speed of PC?

[fang37]

4gb RAM to be installed tomorrow.

To date, my best free PC analyzer is 360 ???

[fang37]

I am upgrading RAM from 4gb to 8gb.

Any recommendations re 4gb RAM?

Quality is my choice rather than price.

Purpose - overall speed/efficiency.

Edited July 29, 2015 by fang37

[scorecard]

If you install many programs and download some files, that 120 GB is going to seem very cramped. Also, if you use cloud storage such as One Drive, Google Drive or Bitcasa, they want to create their own directories under "users" and synch their contents there. Takes up a lot of space. I'm upgrading all of my machines to 500 GB SSDs.

" I'm upgrading all of my machines to 500 GB SSDs."

Very interesting, would you mind please sharing where to buy the SSD 500 GB and approximate pricing. I'm in Chiang Mai but location to buy not an issue.

I've just ordered a Lenova Yoga notebook / tablet. The shop (here in CM) will do the download to upgrade from 8.1 to 10, no charge, and I'll pick it up in a couple of days.

The machine comes with disk hard drive 500GB . The IT shop said they can change it to SSD, 120 storage at 1990Baht and SSD 240 storage also available at 3,400Baht.

The IT shop suggested that much bigger storage SSD drive probably available in the near future and prices will probably go down.

Can you please comment. Thanks.

Just a little more, can the 500 SSD you mentioned fit into any notebook / laptop / PC?

Thanks.

Edited July 29, 2015 by scorecard

[fang37]

I am not computer savvy.

Most of the time I rely upon a computer tech I have used for 12 years.

The lenovo came with 1 Tb HDD - very slow!

Tech recommended a Kingston - huge improvement.

I do not download movies, do not game so capacity is such that 120Gb is ample. Currently, I am using about 30-40% of capacity.

It was about B3500 installed.

BTW, he has never oversold me. Initially, he recommended that I do not upgrade RAM.

Re Windows 10, his recommendation was to delay for a short time.

[RichCor]

Fang37,

No need to repost the exact same information in each topic, or even multiple times in a given topic.

If you were not aware you were doing this, may I suggest consulting a neurologist.

If you are interested in improving the performance of your PC, why not first find your "Windows Experience Index" by running the Performance Information and Tools Assessment.

This will show you where your machine flies, and where it's bottlenecked.

Microsoft OS -> Control Panel -> Performance Information and Tools

or use the search box and type Performance Information and Tools

You may need to find the link at the bottom-right to rerun the assessment

Post your scores here.

The first image shown here is the one the assessment tool show you, but selecting the "View and Print Detailed Performance..." link will display similar information with better component descriptions for posting (see second image).

On my Laptop with 2GB RAM the machine originally scored 4.4 overall. With 4GB RAM the machine now scores 5.6. Limiting factor for my Laptop is the internal Graphics Card and the Hard Drive. Can't do much about the graphics card, but I could realize better performance doing as you did by going with an SSD or an SSHD.

My Acer Aspire 4752, Windows Index:

View and Print Detailed Performance:

[fang37]

Windows assessment:

Processor - 7.1

RAM - 5.9

Graphics - 5.2

Gaming - 6.6

HD - 5.9

I was unaware of multiple posts. I consulted with the neurologist about 1 week ago.

[RichCor]

So RAM is an area with room for improvement.

[fang37]

Moderators - this thread relates to lenovo laptop.

Has it outrun its useful life?

If so, please CLOSE thread.

[fang37]

Upgraded RAM today - Kingston - added 4Gb - now 8Gb.

Windows performance index

Before upgrade After

CPU 7.1 7.1

RAM 5.9 7.6

Graphics 5.2 6.6

Gaming 5.6 6.6

HD 5.9 7.8

RAM - B890.

Happy? No

DELIGHTED!

Biggest surprise - HD.

Total change - SDD HD; upgrade RAM

[Lorn]

Upgraded RAM today - Kingston - added 4Gb - now 8Gb.

Windows performance index

Before upgrade After

CPU 7.1 7.1

RAM 5.9 7.6

Graphics 5.2 6.6

Gaming 5.6 6.6

HD 5.9 7.8

RAM - B890.

Happy? No

DELIGHTED!

Biggest surprise - HD.

Total change - SDD HD; upgrade RAM

It's possible the test was using the onboard intel hd card (4600?) for the original test for some reason instead of the geforce gtx. Some games also do that so if there is one that is not working as it should check that that isn't causing the issue

[fang37]

Thank you, Lorn

I do not do gaming.

I have no understanding re your comment onboard Intel hd card.

geforce.gtx - How do I discover the source? I did a search - nothing on my PC.

What can I do to validate the test?

Initial reaction - a great improvement! True? - an illusion - no idea.

Edited July 31, 2015 by fang37

[Gumballl]

Anytime your system accesses the HDD, you can expect to see performance drop a bit, if not, a lot. The performance increase you are witnessing is believable.

I use my laptop for similar purposes as you, and I too recommend at least 8GB of RAM. It's very inexpensive (I recently replaced the 1GB wafer in my BIL's laptop with two Kingston 4GB wafers for 1720 Baht), and it allows for you to run multiple applications at a single time, with very little (if any) access to the HDD once the application is fully up/running.

Whether you use an HDD or SSD, don't expect to see much, if any, improvements in speed once the application is running in RAM. The SSD is wonderful to have if you install your OS on it; the system boots very quickly.

P.S. I should have added that on some systems (especially laptops), the video chip-set requires a 'slice' of your RAM. Thus even though you may have 8 GB of RAM, don't expect that your applications will have full access to all of it.

Edited July 31, 2015 by Gumballl

[slipperylobster]

You are just using a browser and surfing. since the speed of your browser/browsing (except initial startup) is limited by your bandwidth/internet speed...you need not upgrade to 8...just leave it at 4.

Web pages, streaming, and downloading, will not be any quicker with 8.

Lots of free utilities out there that will monitor your memory usage and display it in your taskbar/toolbar. See what you are actually using...try loading 5 tabs at once..on your browser...and see if your memory is full or not. Mine never is.

You would want 8 gig for heavy duty stuff...gaming and extreme multitasking. Lots of ram comes in handy for running a Virtual Machine as well. You are doing none of this...only surfing/reading facebook...and low memory type endeavors on a slow internet.

Edited July 31, 2015 by slipperylobster

[fang37]

Switching topics

The original HD was a "dog". Replaced it with an SSD - fantastic! (Kingston???)

Now the question. I have a vague recollection that it is NOT recommended to DEFRAG an SSD.

I have defragged the SSD.

I am "fast mad" - no idea why. Looking at the index - other than gaming, all is looking VG! Max is 7.9!

Making this PC even faster - HOW? PRICE ESTIMATE?

[dave_boo]

You are just using a browser and surfing. since the speed of your browser/browsing (except initial startup) is limited by your bandwidth/internet speed...you need not upgrade to 8...just leave it at 4.

Web pages, streaming, and downloading, will not be any quicker with 8.

Lots of free utilities out there that will monitor your memory usage and display it in your taskbar/toolbar. See what you are actually using...try loading 5 tabs at once..on your browser...and see if your memory is full or not. Mine never is.

You would want 8 gig for heavy duty stuff...gaming and extreme multitasking. Lots of ram comes in handy for running a Virtual Machine as well. You are doing none of this...only surfing/reading facebook...and low memory type endeavors on a slow internet.

If your OS isn't using all the available RAM it's time to change operating systems. Caching things in RAM rather than retrieving from disk is much more intelligent.

[dave_boo]

Switching topics

The original HD was a "dog". Replaced it with an SSD - fantastic! (Kingston???)

Now the question. I have a vague recollection that it is NOT recommended to DEFRAG an SSD.

I have defragged the SSD.

I am "fast mad" - no idea why. Looking at the index - other than gaming, all is looking VG! Max is 7.9!

Making this PC even faster - HOW? PRICE ESTIMATE?

Doesn't make a difference in access time by defragging. Also won't hurt it much as techrepo.com ran an endurance test and the worst lasted 900 TB. That would be completely filling and erasing a 256GB drive *12* times a day for almost 3 years. Doubt you will strain your drive that hard.

**edit**

Bad math.

Edited July 31, 2015 by dave_boo

[fang37]

dave_boo

Change operating systems - to?

[dave_boo]

dave_boo

Change operating systems - to?

Assuming it came with Win8...wait a few months and upgrade to Win10. If you really are not playing games go with Opensuse.

[bobbin]

OMG... This fang character is drivelling me to distraction!

Every computing question you never wanted to hear...ad infinitum.