Advice on Laptop Purchase

Fury05

Fury05

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Guys I need a recommendation on a replacement for my laptop that was stolen a few weeks ago. Budget of R5000-R6000. It's not much I know but looking for best value in that price range. Laat waai with the suggestions .

Saw this one at Game http://m.guzzle.co.za/deal/1088883/. Looking for some alternatives.
 
Device he linked:

CPU: i3-5005U @ 2Ghz
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 500GB HDD 5400RPM
OS: Windows 10
Display: 15.6" diagonal HD BrightView WLED-backlit (1366 x 768)
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5500
For R5990.

Good luck with the search.
 
Pitbull said:
What you need it for would be the obvious question I suppose?
Click to expand...

General stuff. Mostly work, research. Bit of gaming here and there but nothing heavy. Will be getting an Xbox one soon so no need for dedicated graphics on the laptop.

Just looking for something decent enough to last 4 years or so.
 
Johnatan56 said:
Device he linked:

CPU: i3-5005U @ 2Ghz
RAM: 4GB
Storage: 500GB HDD 5400RPM
OS: Windows 10
Display: 15.6" diagonal HD BrightView WLED-backlit (1366 x 768)
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5500
For R5990.

Good luck with the search.
Click to expand...

Thanks
 
Fury05 said:
General stuff. Mostly work, research. Bit of gaming here and there but nothing heavy. Will be getting an Xbox one soon so no need for dedicated graphics on the laptop.

Just looking for something decent enough to last 4 years or so.
Click to expand...

I actually wanted to know what you mean by "work" do you do video editing?, mostly e-mails/excel and the likes? If normal e-mails and the likes any i3 or i5 will do. When you start doing rendering and the likes you will need more processing power and nothing short of an i7.
 
Pitbull said:
I actually wanted to know what you mean by "work" do you do video editing?, mostly e-mails/excel and the likes? If normal e-mails and the likes any i3 or i5 will do. When you start doing rendering and the likes you will need more processing power and nothing short of an i7.
Click to expand...

Nope no video editing. If I need to I'll use my desktop PC. This is going to be used when on the move. I'm an accountant so mostly excel, word, PowerPoint. As I said, some light gaming. If I can get FIFA working on it it'll be a bonus.

Edit: just to clarify, I'm up to speed with what I 'need' in terms of processing. I'm actually asking if anyone knows of any good deals for the best available components in that price range. So let's says R6000-R7000.
 
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Fury05 said:
Nope no video editing. If I need to I'll use my desktop PC. This is going to be used when on the move. I'm an accountant so mostly excel, word, PowerPoint. As I said, some light gaming. If I can get FIFA working on it it'll be a bonus.

Edit: just to clarify, I'm up to speed with what I 'need' in terms of processing. I'm actually asking if anyone knows of any good deals for the best available components in that price range. So let's says R6000-R7000.
Click to expand...

Cool, apologies I misunderstood your post then.
Will have a look for you. Sure you can get a very decent i3 with some form of GPU for that budget.
 
Pitbull said:
Cool, apologies I misunderstood your post then.
Will have a look for you. Sure you can get a very decent i3 with some form of GPU for that budget.
Click to expand...

Haven't found one yet. I've been looking since yesterday. I think the pricing on laptops have gone up substantially in the last year or so.
 
Fury05 said:
General stuff. Mostly work, research. Bit of gaming here and there but nothing heavy. Will be getting an Xbox one soon so no need for dedicated graphics on the laptop.

Just looking for something decent enough to last 4 years or so.
Click to expand...

If you stretch the budget a bit more:

Lenovo Z50-75 @ R7999

This one is actually capable of playing most games, and has a 1080p display. There is an optional warranty extension for it.

If you stick to your original budget:

HP Probook 450 G2 @ R6,929
ASUS Pro PU551LA @ R7,082

Flip a coin if you have to, both are good options. Gaming-wise they'll be serviceable, but overall not good. FIFA will run just fine though. The Probook will have a little more battery life, but the ASUS will have the better keyboard.
 
CataclysmZA said:
If you stretch the budget a bit more:

Lenovo Z50-75 @ R7999

This one is actually capable of playing most games, and has a 1080p display. There is an optional warranty extension for it.

If you stick to your original budget:

HP Probook 450 G2 @ R6,929
ASUS Pro PU551LA @ R7,082

Flip a coin if you have to, both are good options. Gaming-wise they'll be serviceable, but overall not good. FIFA will run just fine though. The Probook will have a little more battery life, but the ASUS will have the better keyboard.
Click to expand...

Looks good. But AMD . I was hoping to find a good deal on an i5 ideally.
 
Fury05 said:
Looks good. But AMD . I was hoping to find a good deal on an i5 ideally.
Click to expand...

There's nothing wrong with AMD's stuff, especially with their Kaveri APUs. You're not even doing anything that requires a Core i5, going on what you've told us the notebook is going to do, unless you're working with huge spreadsheets that have incredibly complicated calculations to run frequently, then a Core i5 practically becomes necessary.

You can sometimes find Core i5's on a good deal, so keep an eye on Takealot and Raru's daily/weekly deals, and also check out the Makro and CNA sites, they occasionally have sub-7K Core i5 deals as well, though none of these laptops will have a display as nice as the Lenovo's (speaking from hands-on testing experience).
 
I'm a sucker for a Dell :)

I picked up my Dell i5, 6Gb RAM, 750Gb HDD and Onboard HD Gfx for R6500 about 2 years ago. It's an Inspiron and it's still running like a dream.
I can even play games like Watchdogs on it with no performance issues. Not with Max settings, but great graphics. It's currently running Windows 10 (legit) and it's doing great.

If you can, see if you can get a Dell somewhere. That's my recommendation.
 
CataclysmZA said:
There's nothing wrong with AMD's stuff, especially with their Kaveri APUs. You're not even doing anything that requires a Core i5, going on what you've told us the notebook is going to do, unless you're working with huge spreadsheets that have incredibly complicated calculations to run frequently, then a Core i5 practically becomes necessary.

You can sometimes find Core i5's on a good deal, so keep an eye on Takealot and Raru's daily/weekly deals, and also check out the Makro and CNA sites, they occasionally have sub-7K Core i5 deals as well, though none of these laptops will have a display as nice as the Lenovo's (speaking from hands-on testing experience).
Click to expand...

Yeah I suppose. I'll consider the AMD of i can't get anything soon. Thanks bud.

Edit: I see the Amazon reviews aren't very flattering for this particular laptop. Will research some more and see if there are any other issues I should know about.
 
Last edited:
|tera| said:
I'm a sucker for a Dell :)

I picked up my Dell i5, 6Gb RAM, 750Gb HDD and Onboard HD Gfx for R6500 about 2 years ago. It's an Inspiron and it's still running like a dream.
I can even play games like Watchdogs on it with no performance issues. Not with Max settings, but great graphics. It's currently running Windows 10 (legit) and it's doing great.

If you can, see if you can get a Dell somewhere. That's my recommendation.
Click to expand...

I was looking for either an Asus or a Dell. As I said prices are a bit ridiculous at the moment.
 
Most of the i5's/i7's you're going to get in that price range are going to be the 'u' ranges which are pathetic. In the R7k range you won't get a lot of gaming enjoyment, especially with the Rand being so poor.
 
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