Ram and processing power

[#1]

My laptop's on the way out. Webcam not working since it was dropped, power socket doesn't always charge due to a damaged pin, cracked case. It's an HP pavilion with a 7th gen Intel i5 and 8GB of ram.

I'm looking at a dell inspiron  to replace it as they are quite robust for laptops in the £400-600 price range. I'm inclined to go for an AMD processor. Not sure about Ryzen 5 or 7. I do a bit of photo editing but nothing too demanding so think the Ryzen 5 will be a big enough improvement

8GB seems fine at the moment in the old machine. Is it worthwhile upgrading to 16GB - not sure.

Would value your thoughts on current RAM and processing power performance if you have recently upgraded.

[#2]

@the_groundsman 
I think that it’s all about getting the best balance between the internal components. I would not consider a machine that did not have a NVME SSD, I would then want 16GB min of RAM and a decent CPU. However very often you will find that it is drive speed (especially when having to use the drive as a cache to compensate for insufficient RAM) and insufficient RAM that has a major impact on performance. 
Multi cored processors are only of use if the running software can use all the cores. The only time I have seen my computer fully using all cores is when converting movie camera output to a different format.

[#3]

Hi @Baldrick1 very helpful. My current machine has a 7th gen intel i5 and it's fine most of the time so I don't think I'm a hugely demanding user, given that's almost a museum piece now. That said its best to future proof as much as you can. I hadn't really looked into drive speed so thanks for the useful pointer.

[#4]

@the_groundsman 

An upgrade will also allow you to run Windows 11. 

[#5]

Just a thought I think  it's very hard to upgrade the RAM on the latest laptops as they are now soldered in.

In older laptops there used to be two slots then that was reduced to one now no slots.

I would defiantly buy a 16GB Ram and a SSD hard drive

Has anyone upgraded a RAM on a modern laptop how did you do it ?

[#6]

@the_groundsman 

I have an old laptop which I had written off. The battery is dead so was removed years ago, it only ran Win 10.

I have turned this into a very decent back up computer by fitting an SSD and installing Linux Mint. It works fine on the mains.

I see from a quick Google search that replacement charging jacks are available for little money. If it was mine and I was scrapping it I would take the line that I had nothing to lose by trying, or getting a dexterous mate, to have a go at taking it apart and swapping the charging jack assembly.

[#7]

Oops.

I can't bring myself to dispose of any hardware. I've got a netbook with puppy Linux, an ancient dell running lubuntu and a backup Samsung windows 10 machine that's really good for nothing. I'm thinking of trying chromeOS flex on one of them. My family all think I need some therapy to get over the obsession 😔

[#8]

I definitely wouldn't go with a screen size smaller that 15" and agree that 16GB RAM should be a minimum along with 1TB SSD.

Something like https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops-2-in-1-pcs/inspiron-16-laptop/spd/inspiron-16-5635-laptop/cn... seems to meet your criteria although it is a little higher than your stated £600 budget.

[#9]

@the_groundsman  

Using Google Shopping search and basic info stated.  16GB RAM and 1TB SSD,  on th s page

https://www.google.co.uk/search?sca_esv=574494873&tbm=shop&q=Inspiron+16+Laptop&tbs=mr:1,price:1,ppr...

Resulted in this machine.  For £380.00 including free delivery from AMAZON !

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fsjun%E3%80%90Win-Display-N5105-Full-Size-Keyboard/dp/B0C7CJJQ42?source=ps-...

Of course, you could "narrow it down" to specific manufacturer, or be more specific about other qualities of your choice, by selection in the relevant areas of the search queries.

[#10]

Would like to add though its a Celeron processor

But realistically you could get something preowned with a decent CPU and ram for about £200-400, I picked up a dell with a i5 9th gen and 16gb ram for around £175, and slapped a SSD in it myself, last month from eBay and it does pretty well. 

16GB ram is a minimum now in my opinion

My personal opinion, I'd grab a refurbished M1 MacBook Air with 8GB ram you can grab one with your budget, one thing I have noticed with the M1 macs is the ram usage is significantly lower than what I'd be using on my windows rig, but macs aren't to everyone's liking

[#11]

Hmmm. That processor looks a little bit rubbish though.



And it's green 🤢

[#12]

I would steer very clear of no-brand laptops on Amazon.

[#13]

I do believe this should do you pretty well:

https://store.chuwi.com/products/corebook-x-i5-1235u especially for the price (i5-1235u, 16GB, and 512GB SSD) 
Comparison vs a regular HP laptop: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwnrIWJoxk4

[#14]

I would steer clear of amazon for anything of value 

[#15]

Not going there