Terminology when buying new laptop

[Wicksey]

What I wrote down from the label is 14ITL6 8GB RAM, 512SSD, Win11 and I think it had Intel i5. It was 496€ but I cannot see it on their website and there seems to be a lot of versions of that 14" model, some with less memory and spec. I got a bit boggled-eyed looking at all the models. In fact some 15" models do not weigh a lot more than the 14" ones, so I'm still just looking for now. I would need to go back and spend more time browsing I think.

[Enrique]

Hi Wicksey,
Good spec on that one for you. Keep looking , don't go below this spec .

Looking around there a lot of "Out of Stock " on the box shifters .....possible indication that "New" versions on their way

Member joe22 might have some input on this Thread................

[Wicksey]

I've ended up ordering this
https://www.hp.com/es-es/shop/product.a ... al-details

Keeping to what I know and having seen a similar one in a shop yesterday, it weighs little more than my current 14" and will be easier to see! Seems to meet all my requirements on paper:
SISTEMA OPERATIVO Windows 11 Home
PROCESADORIntel® Core™ i5 1335U (13.ª generación)
MEMORIA RAM 16 GB RAM
DISCO DURO 512 GB SSD

[markwilding]

Looks good to me. As i have advocated before, try not to fill it with unnecessary apps or programs. In the old day tasks such as converting files or formats had to be done with power consuming programs but now can be done with online apps. This will avoid slow start up times.

In a recent post, a member talked about how long it took to do scan with Malwarebytes. On my laptop it takes a couple of minutes even though I have loads of documents and files to do with my business.

[Wicksey]

In a recent post, a member talked about how long it took to do scan with Malwarebytes. On my laptop it takes a couple of minutes even though I have loads of documents and files to do with my business.

That was me Mark! After 12 hours and nowhere near finished, Enrique suggested I just cancel it. I think it was a full scan, perhaps longer than usual, from what Enrique seemed to say

My C drive has 337GB free out of 453GB, so presumably it is not that full? The D Recovery drive is pretty full though, although I'm not sure what that is and whether things can be removed from that. Is it when the drives are full it makes it run slower, or is it background programs?

[markwilding]

At start up some apps or programs need to go through some checks such as downloading updates or the anti-virus does its scan and this is time consumming. As these programs become more powerful through updates, they need more processor power to maintain the same speeds. However, the processor stays the same so after a long period of time the computer noticeably slows down. Newer apps also work better with more ram. So no, the size of the hard drive makes no difference really but obviously, the more to scan the longer it takes. Enrique will correct anything I have wrong but i think that’s the basics but there will be other factors.
The computer you have bought has a decent processor with a good amount of Ram. That along with the fact that it’s SSD, which are much faster than the older type will mean you will see a big difference from the old computer.

At work I have some old laptops for inactive lessons we do occasionally, the problem is because, I only need them once every 2 months or so, they take forever to allow the students to get started so i have to prepare them at least half an hour before class. The one with the SSD starts up in moments.

[El Cid]

Disk capacity is no longer an issue with the arrival of secure "cloud" based storage. I went from a 2Tb HDD System to one with only a 500gb SSD. All my storage hungry photos and videos are backed up in the (multiple) clouds and synch directly with the local computer. With a fast fibre connection the files download almost instantly and of course are available on all my large variety of devices. I'm pretty sure I could manage with as little as a 256Gb SSD.

Sid

[chrissiehope]

Sid, you mention the Cloud - is this free ? If not, what sort of payment is made & are there different 'suppliers'?
If it's not going to cost me a lot, it is something I might consider
TIA

[markwilding]

It depends what you are looking for. I have 5 different, some are free others come at a cost.

I use Amazon for photos which offers unlimited photos storage at original quality but there is a 5gb limit for video. This is free with Prime. I like this because it’s easy to view the photos on my fire stick.

iCloud from Apple is free for 5GB then 1 euro per month for 50GB, this the is one I use to back up my phone. As I don’t back up my photos here I don’t need any more space but there are various plans.

I have a subscription with Microsoft Office 365, costing 70 Euros per year.which gives me 1TB as part of the subsciption. The gives me Office as well as free Skype calls. I upload everything here including photos, videos and all my documents.It is also possible to pay 100 euros per year and have 6 accounts with 1TB for each account, handy for large families or if the cost is split between friends.

Then there is Google photos which is free but recently imposed a limit of 15GB.

Finally, I use YouTube for video. I merge all the clips together I have taken on a trip and keep them private so only My wife and I have access tothem.

Dropbox is probably the most famous but there are plenty of others.

I suppose Netflix, IPlayer. And Spotify etc, could also be included as they use the cloud to store their content making it unnecessary to have them discs or HDDs

[Wicksey]

I'm rather old fashioned and just back up photos and documents onto USBs. I do store everything on my PC and copied to the laptop as well. I've heard of cloud being hacked so I tend to just keep everything on my own devices and backed up separately. Photos aren't a problem so much but I have a lot of personal info in the documents which I would rather keep 'in house' so to speak.

[El Cid]

The other popular options are Google Mydrive and Microsoft IDrive.

Sid

[markwilding]

I'm rather old fashioned and just back up photos and documents onto USBs. I do store everything on my PC and copied to the laptop as well. I've heard of cloud being hacked so I tend to just keep everything on my own devices and backed up separately. Photos aren't a problem so much but I have a lot of personal info in the documents which I would rather keep 'in house' so to speak.

I have heard of peoples´ houses getting burgled and Computers getting hacked as well. The truth is there is no fool proof way to keep anything safe. I have seen reports of scammers being able to trick their way onto computers and phones to get information which allows them to see what's on it .

When I was little, I used to hear stories about people who didn't trust banks and preferred to keep money under the bed. Most people these days would conclude thats the easiest way to get robbed with no chance of getting the money back, should the thief not be caught.

[gerryh]

If someone has a slow internet connection and a small monthly data allowance then using the Cloud might not be practical.
Local storage would be better.
Cheers
Gerry

[markwilding]

My wife also prefers to have all the photos on a HDD. As a result, Instead of paying a premium to have extra disc space on the MAC, we preferred to go for the faster processor and bought a external 1TB SDD for around a hundred Euros, which is permanently connected to the computer, so we are both happy. It is so small that it can't be seen.

[chrissiehope]

Thanks for everyone's contributions

like Wicksey, I tend to save everything on ext HDs, but I can see the logic of photos / videos in the cloud. I will leave everything as it is for now, as I don't have the time to sort it all out, but I will bear your suggestions in mind when/if I do get round to it

[Wicksey]

Ordered my new laptop from HP and it was delivered the next day. Easy and quick to set up, and I've found Win 11 to be little different to Win 10 so far. Just have to get used to not having touch screen anymore!