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Sara and I might have the same laptop, or maybe different years. I'm going to have to go check now! Mine's an HP Envy, with a 17" screen, 1 TB HD. It came with 12 gb of ram, and I upgraded it to 16 gb. Super easy.
 
jk703 said:
Very helpful, thanks Courtney! I'm really just a user, not crazy knowledgeable about computers, more the software, lol! Do you like your HP?

And... I will google AMD. I'm guessing that is the maker of the processor. I think.
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My father was the network administrator at a school district. So I take his information/advice as gold. He said Intel is like Macy's, top name brand and quality. AMD is more like Walmart, KMart. He said AMD often overheats and can't keep up with Intel. He also said that you get what you pay for, spend more money to get Intel and you'll not have nearly as many issues with performance and quality as you would with AMD, even if it did save you a couple dollars in the long-run, you might end up spending more getting a cooling fan, etc.

I am also in the market for a new laptop. I'm spending too many days away from the computer, that I need a laptop so I can work while waiting at the doctors office for an hour at a time. I'll be following this thread! Good luck laptop shopping!

jk703 said:
I don't know anything about Samsung and computers... I didn't know they made them!
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Hubby's laptop that I got him years ago was a Samsung. We love their laptops so much, that when his got too much sand in it from overseas, we bought him a new Samsung. Sadly, that one hit the curb with high humidity where he was stationed last year so now he's sticking with his Surface. But outside of the Iraqi sand and the Cuban heat, his Samsung laptops (two of them), lasted 10, almost 11 years!
 
Jenn, I'm glad you started this because as a long term Mac user myself, I want a laptop again (my handmedown one from my dh died last year) and I don't see anything at Apple that fits what I want. I am mentally waffling between a 17" for size or a 15" for weight and fitting in a backpack etc. Mine would be mostly for travel but I want ports AND a dvd drive since my PSE is a hard copy. And yes, if it's not a Mac there's a lot more play around money, isn't there!

I haven't always gone for the most memory when purchasing because I knew i could add it myself from Crucial but I have always had to fight dh and the salesMAN to get a faster processor than they felt I needed. My money, my choice and wth do they know about scrapping and having PSE, LR, the web, mail and maybe music on at the same time???
 
Some good recommendations here! I have a 17" laptop and don't think I could ever go smaller again! And I haven't gone MAC for the price difference and not feeling like I need the extras it offers. I have a Dell right now I believe (not at home, so can't see it), but it is a dinosaur...have already replaced the hard drive on my own once (with my geek brother's help), but the thing is still ticking and does what I need it to do! The one Sara recommended sounds awesome and will definitely be like the one I purchase next it sounds like! Good luck in your hunt!
 
So far for me the HP's are what I'm zeroing in on.

Can anyone give info about HP Envy, Omen, Pavillion and Spectre? I'm going to go google now.
 
I love my Spectre. It's a similar feel and look to a Macbook with a touchscreen that folds back on itself so it's similar to a large tablet. But I don't think they make it in a larger screen like you want.
 
cookingmylife said:
Jenn, I'm glad you started this because as a long term Mac user myself, I want a laptop again (my handmedown one from my dh died last year) and I don't see anything at Apple that fits what I want. I am mentally waffling between a 17" for size or a 15" for weight and fitting in a backpack etc. Mine would be mostly for travel but I want ports AND a dvd drive since my PSE is a hard copy. And yes, if it's not a Mac there's a lot more play around money, isn't there!

I haven't always gone for the most memory when purchasing because I knew i could add it myself from Crucial but I have always had to fight dh and the salesMAN to get a faster processor than they felt I needed. My money, my choice and wth do they know about scrapping and having PSE, LR, the web, mail and maybe music on at the same time???
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AMEN, SISTER! DH doesn't even "help" me look at laptops anymore cuz (1) he doesn't know what I need and (2) that way the salesman (and it's always been a man) must talk to ME.
On a semi-related note, we left a car dealership after I asked a question but the salesMAN answered DH. Like, he wouldn't even look at me, let alone talk to me. OMG. Little did he know that, at the time, I made more money than DH! It's MY car, dude! (Sorry, rant over. I'm going to go cool down now lol.)
 
i'm terrible at this. bought one a few years back and it just didn't let me scrap on it! it was so slow.
 
Good luck! We are all Apple here so I am no help at all!! I have my 27 inch iMac and then a MacBook Air for traveling!!
 
cookingmylife said:
17" for size or a 15" for weight and fitting in a backpack etc. Mine would be mostly for travel but I want ports AND a dvd drive since my PSE is a hard copy.
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I have a backpack that fits my 17" laptop, and my dslr at once. You can find them.

Tree City said:
DH doesn't even "help" me look at laptops anymore cuz (1) he doesn't know what I need and (2) that way the salesman (and it's always been a man) must talk to ME.
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DH loves to let the salesman talk to him, then turn to me and say 'what do you think? You know more about this than me'. Without fail, the salesman gets anxious, and starts trying to kiss up to me.
 
lol! Salesmen and women are funny... when they realize who actually is doing the deciding! DH and I are like Courtney and her husband.... and then after DH asks me what I think... he laughs! It actually works out better, since at that point they are trying to "kiss up."

So.... I have to nix the Spectre for size. That leave the Pavilion 17t and the Envy 17t. I can get a larger SSD HD on the Pavilion, for relatively the same price. Both the graphics and other big ticket items seem similar. I don't know if anyone has used both of these models or know of anything that might help me out!
 
Sorry, I only have experience with the Envy and IDK the differences to even give you a hypothetical on which I'd prefer. But I do want to know what you end up getting! :) If it's the Envy, then I hope you like it; otherwise I'll feel oddly responsible lol!
 
I had a couple of Pavillions before I went with the Spectre. both worked fine and lasted 3-4 years. I don't remember specifically with my 17", but I do remember my 15" ran really hot, and the fan was mega-loud. Not sure if that was just my laptop or if it's more global to the series.
 
Sounds like good advice from everyone, I agree...good quality drives, lots of ram. I'm picking up my new computer soon and I had to fight to get 16 g ram b/c the guy kept telling me I didn't need it. I insisted. Also, get as large a HD as you can and if possible, get it partitioned. My computer guy told me that its good to partition the drive and have PS/LR in its own drive (never in an EHD) as it doesn't run as efficiently. Really think about which is more important, size and portability so you can comfortably sit in a chair with it or a bigger screen for scrapping. I prefer to sacrifice some portability for a bigger screen size b/c I also scrap on a monitor/PC so am used to a bigger screen and when I scrapped on my small laptop it bugged me. For me....size matters :) Good luck and it'll be exciting to have a new system soon to scrap on!
 
Thank you all! I'm leaning toward the Pavillion...though still wavering! I'll keep you posted on my final answer.

@mrs2a50 It seems that the fan and noise are a sort of known issue. Like a constant con for both of the models. I don't know if it will bother me... but we will see, lol! My MBP runs super hot now, so I'm probbaly already used to that! :giggle

@bcgal00 Thanks! I totally agree... that's why I'm actually leaving Apple products for a laptop. They don't make a 17" anymore. :( I don't worry to much about portability. As long as I can sit on the couch with it, both at home and at the beach, then I'm good! lol!

@Tree City Sara, I wouldn't blame you in any way. It will be faster, better and new compared to my MBP that is over 6 years old, and slow as molasses nowadays. I thank you for giving me your input and helping me narrow down my choices, especially moving back into the Windows based computing world!
 
It sounds like Dells have been eliminated so I won't bother saying that I have one and don't recommend based on the problems we've had.

What I DO recommend is, if possible, buying through Costco. They have a concierge service that really does facilitate repairs/warranties and follows up to make sure your problem is solved. We probably would have ended up paying for the repairs to our Dell if it weren't for Costco.
 
Thank you, Dawn. Appreciate the heads up!
 
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