Need assistance finding a laptop

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AnaB

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I need help choosing a laptop :confused::o

Laptop mainly for working with MS Office Professional, emails, photos, browsing with endless tabs, etc. Speed and future proofing important. Budget of ±R10-R15 not cast in stone - just need a solid, hassle free machine. Not keen on a bulky machine as it needs to be reasonably portable.
 
So you basically want an Ultrabook but for half the price? Good luck with that.
 
HP 15-Series Core i5 Notebook - R10999
https://www.makro.co.za/computing-a...kard-15-6-15-series-core-i5-notebook-309960EA

HP 15-Series Core i7 Notebook - R12999
https://www.makro.co.za/computing-a...kard-15-6-15-series-core-i7-notebook-309914EA

HP 15-Series Core i5 Notebook Bundle - R8999
https://www.makro.co.za/computing-a...-6-15-series-core-i5-notebook-bundle-297793EA

Any of the above (if you can get the bottom deal, it's a steal, and you can update for free to Windows 10 if you want that) you upgrade to at least 8GB of RAM and replace hard disk with biggest SSD you can afford, can use the 1TB hard drive that's comes out in a casing as a portable USB drive. They feel pretty light to me, obviously if you go to a store you can lift them up and feel.

I myself bought a R4000 cheapy HP and did the above (8GB RAM, SSD - total cost with laptop, R6800), its very snappy for general office and surfing the web use and more responsive than my normal i5 work laptop, but in processor intense tasks its a bit slowish due to the Celeron processor (well duh lol). The cheapest i5 at the time was around R6500 then.
 
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Thank you xodosman123. I figured as much. And I also figured for those two components I must add at least another R5k to the price. That's where I got stumped as I don't know if it's worth spending that kind of money on technology that is ever evolving.
 
AnaB said:
Thank you xodosman123. I figured as much. And I also figured for those two components I must add at least another R5k to the price. That's where I got stumped as I don't know if it's worth spending that kind of money on technology that is ever evolving.
Click to expand...

That's why I suggest i5 and then upgrade those 2 components. If will be much more responsive than the standard i7 listed. If you intend to encode or transcode videos and similar stuff, then the i7 will be worth it.
 
So in this instance the hp at makro as opposed to the various acer and Lenovo they have ?
Looking to use some ebucks on budget unit
 
xodosman123 said:
I7 and must have ssd..
Click to expand...

i7 is overkill for the usages OP posted...an i3 would do general productivity fine though an i5 is probably safest. SSB's advice is solid.

Hate how laptops in this price range still come with 1366*768 monitors....urgh.
 
Personally, I'd get one of these if you can find them around - the CPU isn't too flash but I use mine for work and it handles whatever I throw at it pretty comfortably).

http://www.takealot.com/asus-zenbook-ux305fa-intel-core-m-5y10-13-3-notebook/PLID40940193

Model Name - UX305FA(MS)-FC358T
Screen Size - 13.3" LED Back-Lit Slim Display - (FHD 1920x1080/ 16:9) Anti-Glare Wide View
Processor (CPU) - Intel Core M-5Y10 Processor (4M Cache, up to 2.00 GHz)
Memory (Ram) - 8GB Ram
Storage Drive - 256GB SSD
Graphics Adaptor - Intel HD Graphics 5500
Operating System - Windows 10

bonus...sexy as hell :)
 
how does removing the HD and replacing with SSD affect the warranty?
 
Thank you all for your contributions. It's not as if I have not been trying - just finding it a very confusing exercise. I'm undecided between an Ultrabook and a 15.6", with the latter being my preference mostly because of the numeric keypad (but I can buy a separate keypad). When searching through 15.6" laptops, gaming laptops just add to my confusion because I don't know how bulky they are.

These are the ultrabooks I considered:

http://www.rebeltech.co.za/laptops/...a-ux305ua-fc002t-intel-skylake-core-i7-6.html

http://store.orange.com/za/tablets/...-core-i5-4gb-ram-128gb-ssd-win-10-pro-284490/

http://www.wootware.co.za/dell-7359...0-64bit-convertible-silver-2-in-1-laptop.html

https://www.incredible.co.za/dell (At some Incredible Connection retail outlets I think they have the i7).

The 15.6" range seems to be much larger and thus a bit more difficult for me to sift through to come up with a shortlist.
 
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