laptop advice
 

Hey, with all these other threads on laptop advices, I thought it might be okay if I ask too. So, my sister is looking for a Word laptop and this is what she saw on sale. Since we don't have the luxury to just buy and get another one few years later if this one doesn't pan out, I want to make sure this laptop is good before she gets it. Please tell me if this would be a good buy and if it would last. She's looking for one that's good enough to play games on such as Minecraft. I don't think she'll really be doing anything else that difficult.

HP Envy 15t Select Laptop/Intel Core i5
15.6" display, 8GB memory, 1.0 TB HD, Windows 8.1
sale for $599.99 plus tax

only comment I have is that HP used to be the Rolls-Royce of equipment with bomb-proof reliability., and you paid a well deserved premium for that.
currently though just about everyone I know with modern day competitive-priced HP kit reports that it lasts the 1-year warranty period then collapses in a snotty heap soon after.
my own HP tower PC has just gone to permanent BSOD but it is 5-6 years old. can't wait to replace it, Vista is the shittest OS ever bar none period, and that's up against some pretty stiff competition from Microsoft.
they can do marketing brilliantly but technically they're still in primary school.

I heard HP is not so great but I want to get others' opinions. In your opinion, which brand is reliable?

personally I'd be looking to futureproof by getting a tablet with a clip-on keyboard - best example I can think of is ASUS transformer devices where the KB has a battery that (very simply) doubles the battery life of the tablet.
you'd need to check that the device has USB ports for eg. external drives, and other plugs for the sort of stuff you take for granted on a desktop PC.
depends what you want the new 'pooter to do.
for most of us at home a standard PC is vastly over-specced with unwanted features which you'll never use when all you're doing is a bit of WP, interwebz, and pissing about with your photo and music libraries.

that's how it looks to me, others who do gaming or use it for work will say otherwise, them needing all (or at least some) of those bells and whistles.

Samsung, Toshiba, ASUS, Lenovo, Apple are all top tier for reliability. BUT higher grade HPs are also top tier, and the Envy is higher grade.

Thanks, UT.

I have had to fix a few HP laptops and they seem to lean towards being awkward to sort out and not that reliable. I bought Mrs Bloke a Toshiba laptop three years ago and it's been faultless - even with the kids mashing it about. I'd definitely buy another.

Just because this is the most recent Technology thread and just because I am ripping out my hair and turning the air blue...

How do I open a new internet session in Windows 8?!
It's like I'm back in the flipping Stone Age - I can't check any facts or figures, spellins, create links, NOTHING, because I can only have one Internet Explorer window open.

Pop up ads, I got them.
I welcome them.
Because then I can use the bar to access what I need to.

But it's a p*ss-poor way to run a railroad.
I must be missing something obvious and fundamental, but of course nothing comes with a manual or crib sheet these days :crone:

The answer to this might also answer my same question re the iPad. Or vice versa. Except I don't get adverts on there because it's already been tamed by Limey.

Hit the little + at the top to the right of the open tab to open a new window.

this isn't necessarily doing anything for @Lola_Bunny but for @Sundae I read today that Microsoft gave suffered a disaster with Windows 8 (rotten product, appalling enduser sales, negligible corporate sales, a total bloody nose) and will be switching to Windows 9 a year earlier than planned, anything to get rid of the toxic 'windows 8' tag.

you Sundae are not missing anything, you just fell for the Microshaft con trick, don't feel bad, we've all done it, most of us more than once, and our bosses, the corporates, are the dumbest fucks on earth for sticking with it.

Nope, there isn't one.
Bugger.

I heard Windows 8 is horrible, more diificult and cumbersome than Win 7. I hope Win 9 is better.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk

sorry Sundae. (tugs forelock contritely for being the bearer of bad news, mumbles a bit, looks apologetic then buggers off when nobody's looking)

Sundae: I havent handled a Win 8, so I can't really help you. Sorry.

I'm happy with my Windows 3.5