OMO nearly new laptop

[johnnyrod]

Might be a bit of a big ask this... Can anyone recommend me a laptop maybe a year or two old I could get? Not got the moolah for something new unless it's crap, so am mindlessly optimistic that a slightly less new one could be landed. In truth I surf a bit and that sort of thing, maybe once a year I'll edit a bit of gopro video, it's not very taxing stuff, though hopefully said machine won't turn into a slug in the next 12 months. So pretty vague, anyone able to offer some sense to me? i'm not a Luddite but there are a thousand laptops out there and I have no idea where to start. Thanks!

[Bibio]

cant go wrong with Dell or ACER.

get a copy of win7pro and do a fresh install. its the bloatware that causes computers to slow down. OS, drivers, anti virus and firewall (i just use windows own antivirus and firewall) is all you need then just install your software. the more shizz you have in the startup the more it hogs memory.

[timwilky]

Its the carp you forget to remove/disable says the dope who ran proc explorer this morning looking for an issue and noticed two versions of SQL SERVER express that I last used 3 years ago still running. Quickly turned them off/disabled and got back 15% of my processor and a lot of memory.

Yep, depending on the manufacturer's OEM installation medium and how the bloat is packaged I'd suggest downloading a Microsoft OEM iso (from official sources) and installing the manufacturer's SLIC to get a clean install then cherry pick the rest for the essentials. I'd also suggest spending a bit of time getting rid of non-essential services and losing most of the eye candy to clean things up further.

Even Windows 10 runs well once it is rid of the bloat.

I typically run basic hardware... 13" for mobility, Intel i5 with on-board graphics (dedicated graphics are largely wasted on me), 8GB RAM (more and dual channel if available)... Every manufacturer has something to offer.

New, these things cost somewhere around AUD1100 - call it GBP600-700, but check for yourself.

It won't set the world on fire, but this is fine for occasional 1080p editing with a little patience.

My basis for comparison btw is a quad core Macbook Pro (bought for iphone app dev) and a dedicated video workstation. They'll blow through video, but come at a hefty price.

[johnnyrod]

I would be looking for a fresh install, I can do that myself, however there is a bewildering array of hardware out there. Last time I bought a laptop it was a great little Samsung but that was 2007! People used to poo-poo HP but I don't know if times have changed, again Dell desktops seemed to be the cheap and nasty end of things, but then Toshiba/Sony etc. are a premium price, and then there's trying compare specs which seem the same but there must be some difference between all these!

[Talking Heads]

My Asus laptop is ten years old this summer and still goes like greased weasel poop.
The reason why its faster now than when I bought it is Linux installed on an SSD.
Ditching Windows is one of the best things I ever did.

My recommendations for laptop hardware would be Asus or Lenovo/IBM

[SV650rules]

You can now get hybrid solid state / platter drives that will speed up your computer, the system puts regularly accessed stuff in the solid state bit and all the photos and space hogging stuff on the normal magnetic platter part, worked a treat with with my Mini tower, when I noticed it getting a bit slower again I got Norton Utilities (one cost lifetime download) and gave the computer a good cleanup with it, back to very fast again - windows does build up all kinds of crap and needs a good dose of laxative every so often.

[Sir Trev]

Dell have an Outlet Store where they sell used/refurb machines. Might be worth a look.

[yokohama]

If you go Dell, I'd recommend the Vostro range. Business laptops and I think better quality than the average home consumer ones. I'm typing this on a 9 year old one which is still going strong.

[maviczap]

I boosted all the laptops in my household by doing a transfer of the operating system to an ssd and increasing the memory. Even the old ones improved a lot

So get a nearly new machine and install an ssd