buying new notebook and install ssd and ram later

[72BKK]

hello everyone 

i found very helpful many of your tips and for this i thank you all. ????

Now i have decided to give up the adding ssd and ram solution (yes the idea came to my mind after reading that recent post someone mentioned above). I will buy a new laptop with all the needed specs.

 

I know that saving money isnt always a good thing, i was just trying to explore every solution. For example i was watching some ebay listing from US sellers but i don't think it's a good idea to buy it that way cause there are import taxes (anyone know?) and i think there might be problems with the battery charger plug (not sure i want to rely on the adaptor)

So i will spend my money in thailand i guess.

20K aren't clearly enough for what i need.

I am thinking of a 15.6" FHD screen, ssd 256gb, 8gb ram, i5 or i7 processor, windows OS laptop and so far i have seen that Dell Inspiron could be the best one for me.

Dell authorized dealer in Pantip sells it for 25.900 baht with no windows. They offer 600 baht discount....lol what an offer! and 300 baht for windows (the copy)

Lazada delivers it in my home for the same price

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/dell-notebook-3576-w566955149wthw10-156-fhd-i7-8550u-amd-radeon-r5-520-8gb-ssd-256gb-win10-2y-onsite-i207803800-s442662086.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.2.71ec4334AURO9B&search=1

this seller on shopee seems to be the best deal (not sure i can change the language)

https://shopee.co.th/Notebook-Dell-Inspiron-3576-W566915149TH-(Black)-i.16387070.714775552

 

so this is it. My research has produced this result and i think I am going to spend between 24.5k and 25.9k.....hardly earned and not sure very well spent????

 

thank you again????

 

ps further advices are welcome????

 

 

 

 

[SheungWan]

That model somewhat on the heavier side with the DVD player. (over 2 kilo). Hope you don't plan to lug it around too much.

[chrisinth]

On 1/11/2019 at 3:58 PM, wgdanson said:

You could of course fit an SSD, as opposed to a HDD, in the other slot, whatever size you think you will need to store your data. 

You can put your One Drive or Google Drive folder wherever you want

Yep, certainly you could fit an SSD instead of a HDD if your storage requirements weren't for much space. In my case I have large local caches of cloud solutions; this is my preference as I often work without an internet connection. With caches of 150 (ish) GB on multiple cloud solutions, space disappears very quickly. 

 

And of course SSD for storage (all programs on the OS drive), is it really worth it? 

 

All that said, everyone's needs and setups are different.

[wgdanson]

On 1/11/2019 at 10:10 PM, 72BKK said:

hello everyone 

i found very helpful many of your tips and for this i thank you all. ????

Now i have decided to give up the adding ssd and ram solution (yes the idea came to my mind after reading that recent post someone mentioned above). I will buy a new laptop with all the needed specs.

 

I know that saving money isnt always a good thing, i was just trying to explore every solution. For example i was watching some ebay listing from US sellers but i don't think it's a good idea to buy it that way cause there are import taxes (anyone know?) and i think there might be problems with the battery charger plug (not sure i want to rely on the adaptor)

So i will spend my money in thailand i guess.

20K aren't clearly enough for what i need.

I am thinking of a 15.6" FHD screen, ssd 256gb, 8gb ram, i5 or i7 processor, windows OS laptop and so far i have seen that Dell Inspiron could be the best one for me.

Dell authorized dealer in Pantip sells it for 25.900 baht with no windows. They offer 600 baht discount....lol what an offer! and 300 baht for windows (the copy)

Lazada delivers it in my home for the same price

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/dell-notebook-3576-w566955149wthw10-156-fhd-i7-8550u-amd-radeon-r5-520-8gb-ssd-256gb-win10-2y-onsite-i207803800-s442662086.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.2.71ec4334AURO9B&search=1

this seller on shopee seems to be the best deal (not sure i can change the language)

https://shopee.co.th/Notebook-Dell-Inspiron-3576-W566915149TH-(Black)-i.16387070.714775552

 

so this is it. My research has produced this result and i think I am going to spend between 24.5k and 25.9k.....hardly earned and not sure very well spent????

 

thank you again????

 

ps further advices are welcome????

 

 

 

 

DO NOT let them install a copy of Windows. Download it yourself from Microsoft and then buy a key from ebay. I got them for £3 each, work perfectly and all upgrades work fine. And you can install in whatever language you want. Do you really need a DVD these days?

[72BKK]

On 1/13/2019 at 9:27 AM, wgdanson said:

DO NOT let them install a copy of Windows. Download it yourself from Microsoft and then buy a key from ebay. I got them for £3 each, work perfectly and all upgrades work fine. And you can install in whatever language you want. Do you really need a DVD these days?

Thanks Wgdanson

I always had the copy of windows and office in prev pc (bought 2 in thailand so far). Why do you say to not do it again?

Yes I don't use the the DVD no more but i could only find this one with the specs i need. It's probably going to be too heavy????

I don't know i am running out of ideas.

my budget is around 25k and for this money that laptop seems the only solution....

[wgdanson]

1 hour ago, 72BKK said:

Thanks Wgdanson

I always had the copy of windows and office in prev pc (bought 2 in thailand so far). Why do you say to not do it again?

Yes I don't use the the DVD no more but i could only find this one with the specs i need. It's probably going to be too heavy????

I don't know i am running out of ideas.

my budget is around 25k and for this money that laptop seems the only solution....

The copy of Windows THEY put on for you could have come from anywhere, with virus, bloatware etc. Do it yourself and you only have one person to blame............Bill Gates !  lol . If it does have a copy of W10, download from MS site, Media Creation Tool and do a clean install yourself. Get a key off ebay.

Why bother with Microsoft Office and all the licensing and expense. Get Libre Office FREE which does everything you'll ever need, if not better than MS Office. VLC player for music & movies has all the codecs for any type of file. 

[72BKK]

3 hours ago, wgdanson said:

If it does have a copy of W10, download from MS site, Media Creation Tool and do a clean install yourself. Get a key off ebay.

Thanks I'll do it!

May I ask you one more thing?

What do you think about buying one laptop on eBay or Amazon from Us or UK sellers?

I have found surely better prices and some seller also specify the import tax duty. My only concern is about the plug and the voltage that in Thailand are different. A simple adaptor would be enough?

Would you buy a laptop this way to save some money?

[wgdanson]

32 minutes ago, 72BKK said:

Thanks I'll do it!

May I ask you one more thing?

What do you think about buying one laptop on eBay or Amazon from Us or UK sellers?

I have found surely better prices and some seller also specify the import tax duty. My only concern is about the plug and the voltage that in Thailand are different. A simple adaptor would be enough?

Would you buy a laptop this way to save some money?

NO !. No guarantee it will get to you, it will be working, it is not nicked, it is genuine insides. Get yourself a nice NEW one with warranty.

[wgdanson]

https://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/laptops/best-laptops-1304361

 

[Pib]

47 minutes ago, 72BKK said:

Thanks I'll do it!

May I ask you one more thing?

What do you think about buying one laptop on eBay or Amazon from Us or UK sellers?

I have found surely better prices and some seller also specify the import tax duty. My only concern is about the plug and the voltage that in Thailand are different. A simple adaptor would be enough?

Would you buy a laptop this way to save some money?

Keep in mind the warranty as it's common the stated warranty only applies to that area of the world.  That is, take a US/UK bought laptop to a warranty service center in Thailand and you could find out you have no warranty coverage for this part of the world....would have to send the laptop back to a US/UK warranty service center.   And vice-versa.

 

Don't worry about power adapter as they are all 120/240V & 50/60Hhz capable....you will only possibly need a plug adapter to fit in the the wall socket. 

[72BKK]

well, definitely not going to buy a computer with no warranty in thailand

[Pib]

It seems laptops in this part of the world quite frequently come with 2 or 3 year warranties compared to 1 or 2 year warranties in other parts of the world like the US.  Now of course the warranty period varies widely from manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model like generally only 1 year for low cost models...I'm just saying based on the laptops I've shopped for/bought over my decade in Thailand in the Bt25K to 30K ballpark and then compared that make/model to the US version that generally the warranty period for southeast Asia was a little longer....a year longer in many casess.  Kinda similar to how pricing varies from region to region, etc.   

 

But yea, many laptop warranties are "not" worldwide; may only apply to the region you bought it in....buy it in Thailand and take it to farangland like the US/UK and you could very well have no warranty support in the US/UK for your Thailand bought laptop.  And vice versa.  Be sure to checkout the region(s) the warranty is good in.

 

 

[72BKK]

13 minutes ago, Pib said:

It seems laptops in this part of the world quite frequently come with 2 or 3 year warranties compared to 1 or 2 year warranties in other parts of the world like the US.  Now of course the warranty period varies widely from manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model like generally only 1 year for low cost models...I'm just saying based on the laptops I've shopped for/bought over my decade in Thailand in the Bt25K to 30K ballpark and then compared that make/model to the US version that generally the warranty period for southeast Asia was a little longer....a year longer in many casess.  Kinda similar to how pricing varies from region to region, etc.   

 

But yea, many laptop warranties are "not" worldwide; may only apply to the region you bought it in....buy it in Thailand and take it to farangland like the US/UK and you could very well have no warranty support in the US/UK for your Thailand bought laptop.  And vice versa.  Be sure to checkout the region(s) the warranty is good in.

 

 

thanks

i ll buy it in thailand, with warranty possibly for more than 1 year as you said.

Now my problem is which one to buy lol

Dell inspiron 15.6 fhd 8gb ram and 256gb ssd seems the best one but it comes with an useless dvd and for this it's a bit heavy. The cost is just a bit over my 25k budget (25.9k). I don't find an alternative so i guess this is it....

[Pib]

18 minutes ago, 72BKK said:

thanks

i ll buy it in thailand, with warranty possibly for more than 1 year as you said.

Now my problem is which one to buy lol

Dell inspiron 15.6 fhd 8gb ram and 256gb ssd seems the best one but it comes with an useless dvd and for this it's a bit heavy. The cost is just a bit over my 25k budget (25.9k). I don't find an alternative so i guess this is it....

Unless you are going to be carrying your laptop around all the time....like backpacking with, traveling all the time with your laptop, etc., I wouldn't worry about the extra few ounces of a DVD drive.   

 

Heck, people who buy "gaming laptops" which weigh 3 or 4 times that of light-weight/ultrathin laptops would laugh at you.  These gamers wanted a "powerful" computer they can pay CPU/GPU intensive games on, easily/quickly move around with like to another room in their residence, take it over to the friends house, etc.  They are "not" really worried about fitting it in their briefcase, backpacking with it, or it being light as feather.  

 

If the laptop is going to be spending the great majority of its life setting on a desk/table in your home and/or being moved around a little within your home, I wouldn't worry about it weighing a few extra ounces because it also has DVD capability.

[72BKK]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

If the laptop is going to be spending the great majority of its life setting on a desk/table in your home and/or being moved around a little within your home, I wouldn't worry about it weighing a few extra ounces because it also has DVD capability.

Actually i have already an home computer and the laptop will be used to go out sometimes and avoid to spend entire days at home 

[72BKK]

i am going to buy this one but first i have a couple of more doubts

 

1st one is the AMD radeon 520 which i was told is bad and also hard to update

 

2nd one is that it comes with no windows. Wgdanson you said it's easy to install windows by downloading it from microsoft website and then activate by buying a key on ebay. I was told that installing windows on a new laptop is preatty hard for a non expert user like me. You stated it was easy didn't you? 

 

buy it or not? mmmhhh...

[72BKK]

one more question,

 

i understand that ssd is better than hdd and for this reason i have only looked at laptops with ssd.

 

What about the combination of the 2? Asus vivobook for example has hdd sata 1tb + 256gb ssd. Is this one ok? Or is it still preferable having just ssd with no hdd?

[72BKK]

https://www.advice.co.th/product/notebook/notebook-asus/notebook-asus-vivobook-s-s530fn-bq098t-gun-metal-

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/dell-notebook-3576-w566955149wthw10-156-fhd-i7-8550u-amd-radeon-r5-520-8gb-ssd-256gb-win10-2y-onsite-i207803800-s442662086.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.2.71ec4334AURO9B&search=1

 

which one is the best one between these 2?

[Pib]

When it comes to GPUs now days it's pretty much either Nvidia or AMD Radeon GPUs. Nothing wrong with either.  Personally, I prefer Nvidia GPUs but that's justt me.....kinda like how some folks prefer Toyota over Honda....Android over Apple....Coke over Pepsi...Black or White...etc.

 

How much drive storage you need is an individual thing.  Whether you want all the storage on one drive or two drives or three drives....etc....is up to you.  Personally for a laptop I would avoid using a hard disk  drive (HDD) (spinning platter) type since it has mechanical moving parts that can get damaged when moving the laptop around, backpacking with it, etc.  SSDs are all electronic so nothing mechanical to break....jar it all your want.  SSDs are more expensive than HDDs, especially in the larger storage sizes.  A of people who have a lot of games, videos, big files like to store their operation system and core programs on their small SSD (like 256GB or 128GB) and keep they games/videos/big files on the much larger HDD since the HDD will probably have a more space than the SSDs.   Personally, I would look for a laptop that came with only a 500GB SSD and that's it....or buy one that only came with a HDD and just swap it out with a 500GB SSDs---but that's just me....storage needs is a personal thing, 

 

"Benchmarks-wise" PCIe SSD drives are faster than SATA SSD drives which are faster than SATA hard disk (spinning platter) drives.   But in real life in booting Windows, apps/games starting up, etc., you will notice very little difference between a PCIe SSD and SATA SSDs due to the nature of apps/games and since "many small" files are loaded which load much slower than large files even on SSDs.   Quite a few videos on Youtube comparing M.2 PCI SSD vs SATA SSD vs HDD in terms of benchmarks and actual real world loading/running of programs.  

[KneeDeep]

8 hours ago, 72BKK said:

https://www.advice.co.th/product/notebook/notebook-asus/notebook-asus-vivobook-s-s530fn-bq098t-gun-metal-

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/dell-notebook-3576-w566955149wthw10-156-fhd-i7-8550u-amd-radeon-r5-520-8gb-ssd-256gb-win10-2y-onsite-i207803800-s442662086.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.2.71ec4334AURO9B&search=1

 

which one is the best one between these 2?

 

As you may have noticed, both models have SSD connected via SATA and not PCI.

 

The ASUS S15 has an IPS screen, the DELL, TN.

IPS is better.

 

DELL screen is poor in colour reproduction and viewing angles. ASUS screen poor in colour reproduction.

DELL 51% of sRGB colour spectrum. ASUS 68% of sRGB colour spectrum.  With a good screen, expect 90%. So both poor.

 

Need to upgrade the DELL? Then you'll need to remove the keyboard.

 

ASUS, you'll need to remove ten to fourteen different sized screws.

 

Whilst it appears that the ASUS might have PCIe NVMe SSD, it appears that it is connected via SATA.

 

In conclusion, out of the two I would chose the ASUS, but only because the DELL is poor. Just budget consumer range, with a high spec looking CPU.

 

In fact they are both relatively poor, but with ridiculously high prices. 688 and 825 euros respectively. Ridiculous for a plastic laptop.

 

AS is usual, people fall for the headlines without delving into the details.

 

I purchased a second user top of the range DELL, full aluminium body, Full HD Touchscreen etc for half the price. Not even a scratch on it.

 

 

 

 

[72BKK]

8 hours ago, KneeDeep said:

 

As you may have noticed, both models have SSD connected via SATA and not PCI.

 

The ASUS S15 has an IPS screen, the DELL, TN.

IPS is better.

 

DELL screen is poor in colour reproduction and viewing angles. ASUS screen poor in colour reproduction.

DELL 51% of sRGB colour spectrum. ASUS 68% of sRGB colour spectrum.  With a good screen, expect 90%. So both poor.

 

Need to upgrade the DELL? Then you'll need to remove the keyboard.

 

ASUS, you'll need to remove ten to fourteen different sized screws.

 

Whilst it appears that the ASUS might have PCIe NVMe SSD, it appears that it is connected via SATA.

 

In conclusion, out of the two I would chose the ASUS, but only because the DELL is poor. Just budget consumer range, with a high spec looking CPU.

 

In fact they are both relatively poor, but with ridiculously high prices. 688 and 825 euros respectively. Ridiculous for a plastic laptop.

 

AS is usual, people fall for the headlines without delving into the details.

 

I purchased a second user top of the range DELL, full aluminium body, Full HD Touchscreen etc for half the price. Not even a scratch on it.

 

 

 

 

so please can you suggest a new laptop to buy here for 25-30k budget?

[72BKK]

8 hours ago, KneeDeep said:

I purchased a second user top of the range DELL, full aluminium body, Full HD Touchscreen etc for half the price. Not even a scratch on it.

or maybe you're just pointing out that i should buy a second hand one?

[KneeDeep]

2 hours ago, 72BKK said:

so please can you suggest a new laptop to buy here for 25-30k budget?

 

Not really, as I don't want to spend my holiday looking for a laptop for you.

But it's not an issue looking more closely at what you may have already selected.

[KneeDeep]

2 hours ago, 72BKK said:

or maybe you're just pointing out that i should buy a second hand one?

 

Not necessarily. Just pointing out that because of the exchange rates, the laptops are not particularly good value.

Paying ridiculous amounts for a budget range laptop that doesn't even support NVMe. 

 

So, in short. you are paying through the nose for the i7 processor.

 

I picked up one of these for a mere £400; https://www.dell.com/th/p/inspiron-17-7746-laptop/pd

 

Forged aluminium body, Backlit keyboard, 17.3" Full HD IPS Touchscreen with Gorilla Glass, 8 GB of RAM, 240 GB SSD, nVidia GT845 2GB Graphics card....

 

Compare that to the plasticky device at which you are looking.

All plastic construction, no edge to edge touchscreen, no backlit keyboard, smaller screen, difficult to maintain, as no maintenance panel, 

 

Note the difference Inspiron 3567/Inspiron 7746. The 3 range is their budget range. 5 is mid-range and 7 top of the range.

 

So in the 3576 you are getting a cheap plastic construction with no frills. 

[72BKK]

1 hour ago, KneeDeep said:

 

Not really, as I don't want to spend my holiday looking for a laptop for you.

But it's not an issue looking more closely at what you may have already selected.

You don t say it has to be necessary a second hand laptop but you don t also say which new one is ok for you.  Maybe it's just because you can't find a new one which you think is good for 25-30k. Everybody can buy an excellente laptop by spending a lot of money or take the risk by buying a second hand one with excellent specs. But both are not an option for me that's all

[KneeDeep]

Example of refurbished device in your price range; https://mcscom.co.uk/product/dell-inspiron-15-7586-2-in-1-i7-8565u-1-80ghz-16gb-256gb-nvme-geforce-mx150-15-6-4k-uhd-touch-win-10-1yrs-rtb-wty-mln740/

 

Not that I am recommending such a device. Just stating that I wouldn't be settling for a bulk standard device at the price level you have set.

[KneeDeep]

1 minute ago, 72BKK said:

You don t say it has to be necessary a second hand laptop but you don t also say which new one is ok for you.  Maybe it's just because you can't find a new one which you think is good for 25-30k. Everybody can buy an excellente laptop by spending a lot of money or take the risk by buying a second hand one with excellent specs. But both are not an option for me that's all

 

Are you blind? I am on holiday and don't want to be scouring the Thai market for a laptop for you! 

I think I am giving you more than enough help.

[KneeDeep]

For instance, this device has an easy opening hatch that allows you to upgrade/replace easily and have a much better spec than what you have shown;

https://mcscom.co.uk/product/dell-inspiron-15-5577-i7-7700hq-2-80ghz-16gb-256gb-ssd-1tb-gtx-1050m-15-6-fhd-w10h-1yr-rtb-wty-mln757/

 

Though it's not for you, as it has a UK keyboard.

 

I've shown you for what to look. It's your job to source it. I'm not your mum ????

[KneeDeep]

Americans have it easy; https://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?brandid=2201&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&frid=186

 

[72BKK]

I didn't mean to bother you. Sorry for that. 

I like these 2 laptops even if they are second hand. Prices are ok (though not sure about import tax)

But as you say I am not used to uk keyboard and most of all my concern is about the warranty. Does it work in thailand?

In case it doesnt work I have to ship it back to UK?