Laptop in 40 - 50 K for homeuse (15 inch)

1) What is your budget? (INR or USD)
40 to 50 K (If any good models with lesser amount also acceptable :smile:

)

2) What size & weight consideration (if any) would you prefer?

Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen

3) What are the primary tasks you will be performing with this notebook?
Browsing and watching movies. Will also use it for reading ePubs and Pdf a lot

5) Any typical configuration in your mind you're eyeing for ?
Have been using same laptop for 4 years. So not sure what are the latest must have configurations. But would require 8 GB or above RAM or expandable option.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Not sure.

6) Anything else you would like to say?

Screen resolution Full HD preferably for watching movies
Battery back up 4 to 5 hours would be good
Purchase place ( Due to COVID situation, not sure about online availability but will go for fastest delivery)
Would like to have a backlit keyboard and Numpad

Hi All,
My laptop of 3.5 years (HP Pavillion 15-au116TX ) just stopped working today. It already had a non functioning battery (worked only on direct power). The cost for battery replacement itself was 8K as per HP dealer. Now today when i went outside i had just closed laptop and didn't shut it like i normally do. But when i came back some 2 hours later, laptop was burning hot and i noticed on underside that there were discolorations and looked like something melted inside. When i booted it was telling OS not found. Tried unsuccessfully to re-install windows. Taking it to a hardware shop but not much hopeful. I need a good suggestion which would also handle a bit of rough use and travel.

W

You have 2 good options but both have their own cons:

*www.amazon.in/Acer-A515-43-15-6-in...ywords=ips&qid=1592508606&s=computers&sr=1-36

no backlit keyboard but has IPS screen which is rate at its price point.

*www.amazon.in/Asus-Laptop-X512DA-E...ywords=ips&qid=1592508673&s=computers&sr=1-52

Has better design & backlit keyboard but no ips screen.

whitestar_999 said:
You have 2 good options but both have their own cons:

*www.amazon.in/Acer-A515-43-15-6-in...ywords=ips&qid=1592508606&s=computers&sr=1-36
no backlit keyboard but has IPS screen which is rate at its price point.

*www.amazon.in/Asus-Laptop-X512DA-E...ywords=ips&qid=1592508673&s=computers&sr=1-52
Has better design & backlit keyboard but no ips screen.

Thanks, will check this. But would like to have both back lit and ips option. What do I have to change to get both?

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jackal_79 said:
Thanks, will check this. But would like to have both back lit and ips option. What do I have to change to get both?

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*www.amazon.in/Acer-SF315-52G-15-6-...cer+swift+3&qid=1592544442&s=computers&sr=1-1

R5 3500U has similar CPU performance to i5 82xxU but has better iGPU & costs less. If you won't play any light games as well, this one will do the job for you.

W

omega44-xt said:
Buy Acer Swift 3 8th Gen Core i5 15.6-inch Full HD Thin and Light Laptop (8GB/1TB HDD/Windows 10/Microsoft Office 2016 HS/2GB Graphics/Sparkly Silver/1.8kg), SF315-52G Online at Low Prices in India - Amazon.in

R5 3500U has similar CPU performance to i5 82xxU but has better iGPU & costs less. If you won't play any light games as well, this one will do the job for you.

It is a bad idea nowadays to get a laptop without ssd.

@jackal_79 if you have to pick between ips & backlit keyboard then I suggest giving up the backlit keyboard.

*www.amazon.in/ASUS-ZenBook-UX430UA...ywords=ips&qid=1592546745&s=computers&sr=1-29

IPS screen with backlit keyboard but 14" screen size.

whitestar_999 said:
It is a bad idea nowadays to get a laptop without ssd.

@jackal_79 if you have to pick between ips & backlit keyboard then I suggest giving up the backlit keyboard.

*www.amazon.in/ASUS-ZenBook-UX430UA...ywords=ips&qid=1592546745&s=computers&sr=1-29
IPS screen with backlit keyboard but 14" screen size.

My bad, I didn't check it properly. Usually, there's a model with SSD & MX150 at that price.

whitestar_999 said:
It is a bad idea nowadays to get a laptop without ssd.

@jackal_79 if you have to pick between ips & backlit keyboard then I suggest giving up the backlit keyboard.

*www.amazon.in/ASUS-ZenBook-UX430UA...ywords=ips&qid=1592546745&s=computers&sr=1-29
IPS screen with backlit keyboard but 14" screen size.

If you don't mind me asking, why is it so important to have SSD with lower space than normal HDD with higher space?

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jackal_79 said:
If you don't mind me asking, why is it so important to have SSD with lower space than normal HDD with higher space?

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IMO its better to have largest possible SSD in your budget instead of largest possible HDD. Work laptop is running Windows 10 Pro N on 5400 rpm 500GB drive with 16GB ddr4 ram, takes 2-3 minutes to boot up while a Windows 10 VM with 4 GB ram and 64GB vmdk on nvme ssd boots up in 20 seconds on my personal laptop and is more responsive.

W

jackal_79 said:
If you don't mind me asking, why is it so important to have SSD with lower space than normal HDD with higher space?

10th gen i7 running win 10 on a 5400rpm hdd will run slower than a 4th gen i3 running win 10 on ssd or even a 2nd gen i3 running win 7/8.1 on same 5400rpm hdd.

today's visit to nearest computer shop didn't go well. First they said my current laptop is suspected to have board issue and can only be checked after couple of days as they have to send it to a different place but is shutdown due to lockdown. And anyway if it is a board problem i would be better off buying a new one. Second he explained that due to lockdown and issue with china getting good models from ASUS or Acer is very difficult. he suggested two models of ASUS and Dell with IPS and backlit keyboard which was way over my budget. Then he suggested a Dell Vostro 3478 model which comes with out OS and hence would cost around 43K. But he said Dell Vostro 3478 is full HD which i am not sure of.
Do you guys know if there any models with no OS but comes with backlit, IPS, 8GB RAM & i5? Or should i go for something AMD based?

W

SaiyanGoku said:
IMO its better to have largest possible SSD in your budget instead of largest possible HDD. Work laptop is running Windows 10 Pro N on 5400 rpm 500GB drive with 16GB ddr4 ram, takes 2-3 minutes to boot up while a Windows 10 VM with 4 GB ram and 64GB vmdk on nvme ssd boots up in 20 seconds on my personal laptop and is more responsive.

How much ram your laptop has to do that?

W

jackal_79 said:
today's visit to nearest computer shop didn't go well. First they said my current laptop is suspected to have board issue and can only be checked after couple of days as they have to send it to a different place but is shutdown due to lockdown. And anyway if it is a board problem i would be better off buying a new one. Second he explained that due to lockdown and issue with china getting good models from ASUS or Acer is very difficult. he suggested two models of ASUS and Dell with IPS and backlit keyboard which was way over my budget. Then he suggested a Dell Vostro 3478 model which comes with out OS and hence would cost around 43K. But he said Dell Vostro 3478 is full HD which i am not sure of.
Do you guys know if there any models with no OS but comes with backlit, IPS, 8GB RAM & i5? Or should i go for something AMD based?

Never ever trust shopkeepers, have you visited acer or asus exclusive stores nearby. Nowadays almost all good models come with win 10 pre-installed. Ryzen 3500u is equivalent to 8th gen core i5 & especially for your usages there is no practical difference. In your budget it is difficult to get a model with both ips screen & backlit keyboard with 15.1" screen size except may be this:

*www.amazon.in/FX505DD-Graphics-5-3...ywords=ips&qid=1592593268&s=computers&sr=1-30

whitestar_999 said:
Never ever trust shopkeepers, have you visited acer or asus exclusive stores nearby. Nowadays almost all good models come with win 10 pre-installed. Ryzen 3500u is equivalent to 8th gen core i5 & especially for your usages there is no practical difference. In your budget it is difficult to get a model with both ips screen & backlit keyboard with 15.1" screen size except may be this:

*www.amazon.in/FX505DD-Graphics-5-3...ywords=ips&qid=1592593268&s=computers&sr=1-30

Nearest authorized showrooms are around 50 Kms away. But the said city is under fresh lockdown. So either i have to order online or i have to buy best available option from the local shopkeepers.

W

jackal_79 said:
Nearest authorized showrooms are around 50 Kms away. But the said city is under fresh lockdown. So either i have to order online or i have to buy best available option from the local shopkeepers.

Buying online is better than buying from local shopkeepers who are not authorized sellers.

jackal_79 said:
today's visit to nearest computer shop didn't go well. First they said my current laptop is suspected to have board issue and can only be checked after couple of days as they have to send it to a different place but is shutdown due to lockdown. And anyway if it is a board problem i would be better off buying a new one. Second he explained that due to lockdown and issue with china getting good models from ASUS or Acer is very difficult. he suggested two models of ASUS and Dell with IPS and backlit keyboard which was way over my budget. Then he suggested a Dell Vostro 3478 model which comes with out OS and hence would cost around 43K. But he said Dell Vostro 3478 is full HD which i am not sure of.
Do you guys know if there any models with no OS but comes with backlit, IPS, 8GB RAM & i5? Or should i go for something AMD based?

Shopkeepers usually try to upsell crap.
You'd have to compromise with backlit keyboard in your budget, well because India and custom duty + GST + depreciating INR.

whitestar_999 said:
How much ram your laptop has to do that?

8 GB at least. Windows 10 itself would use 2-3 GB on standby.

whitestar_999 said:
Buying online is better than buying from local shopkeepers who are not authorized sellers.

having the same thoughts as local shopkeeper i talked to are also not willing to take CC and wants account transfer or cash. I want to go with CC having low or no EMI options

jackal_79 said:
If you don't mind me asking, why is it so important to have SSD with lower space than normal HDD with higher space?

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Because, once you use Win10 from SSD, you won't like using it from HDD, the perceivable difference is huge to be noticeable, say Win10 boot takes 30s on HDD (very optimistic number) but it will take 10-15s on SSD. Even after reaching desktop, Win10 on HDD will still some seconds (optimistically) at least to be perfectly usable as background apps are being loaded, whereas on SSD, just start whatever you want ASAP & that app will open. General app load times are very low. An HDD is actually much slower than UFS 2.1 storage found in most 15k phones these days.

So ideally have an SSD for OS+apps & HDD for storage. But for general users, 512GB SSD should suffice easily IMO. If you need more storage, get an ext HDD maybe.

FullHD is 1080p resolution, 1920x1080. Avoid laptops with 1366x768 resolution at all costs, its just bad for even 30k laptops.

For your budget, R5/i5 + 8GB RAM + SSD (+ HDD optional) + 1080p display is easily possible, try to get those specs.

W

SaiyanGoku said:
8 GB at least. Windows 10 itself would use 2-3 GB on standby.

Now I see, I missed vmdk in a hurry & confused 64gb vmdk with ram.

omega44-xt said:
FullHD is 1080p resolution, 1920x1080. Avoid laptops with 1366x768 resolution at all costs, its just bad for even 30k laptops.

For your budget, R5/i5 + 8GB RAM + SSD (+ HDD optional) + 1080p display is easily possible, try to get those specs.

Thanks. My query on SSD was due to the fact I have never used it before. So the idea of system booting up in seconds and not having to wait patiently for all apps to load is alien to me

and saving some bucks going for a normal HDD looked appealing. Anyway will give SSD a try.
At my work I have usually used a ThinkPad and have found them to be very sturdy and able to handle rough use. Can you suggest any ThinkPad for home use which might suit my requirements? Even something without os will do if they support ubuntu.

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W

jackal_79 said:
Thanks. My query on SSD was due to the fact I have never used it before. So the idea of system booting up in seconds and not having to wait patiently for all apps to load is alien to me and saving some bucks going for a normal HDD looked appealing. Anyway will give SSD a try.
At my work I have usually used a ThinkPad and have found them to be very sturdy and able to handle rough use. Can you suggest any ThinkPad for home use which might suit my requirements? Even something without os will do if they support ubuntu.

Once you use ssd you will never go back to hdd(think of amoled screens vs old nokia keypad phones tft lcd screens).

Which ThinkPad? Lenovo is now Chinese so quality is not anymore like original ThinkPad under IBM. Cheapest thinkpad in your budget will be 14" screen size with i3 processor & no ssd so not really value for money other than the brand name & build quality which may or may not be much better than similarly priced models from other brands.

whitestar_999 said:
Once you use ssd you will never go back to hdd(think of amoled screens vs old nokia keypad phones tft lcd screens).

Which ThinkPad? Lenovo is now Chinese so quality is not anymore like original ThinkPad under IBM. Cheapest thinkpad in your budget will be 14" screen size with i3 processor & no ssd so not really value for money other than the brand name & build quality which may or may not be much better than similarly priced models from other brands.

So can you suggest any other brand with good build quality? Also, is there any website like gsmarena for laptops where you can find available models based on your preference something like gsmarena phone finder?

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W

Build quality also vary nowadays from model to model so some models of same brand may have better build quality than other similar models of same brand. In my opinion Asus & Acer build quality is fine for their typical non-gaming laptops in 30-50k price range. Dell seems better but is also costlier & the main usp of dell anyway is their after sales support. Lenovo is a hit or miss. HP seems avg overall with no distinguishing feature. I don't know of any sites like gsmarena for laptops & there shouldn't be one(at least for India) because models availability here is messy with some models only available online while some only offline & many old models not available anymore on brand's own site but still available on amazon/fk.

whitestar_999 said:
Build quality also vary nowadays from model to model so some models of same brand may have better build quality than other similar models of same brand. In my opinion Asus & Acer build quality is fine for their typical non-gaming laptops in 30-50k price range. Dell seems better but is also costlier & the main usp of dell anyway is their after sales support. Lenovo is a hit or miss. HP seems avg overall with no distinguishing feature. I don't know of any sites like gsmarena for laptops & there shouldn't be one(at least for India) because models availability here is messy with some models only available online while some only offline & many old models not available anymore on brand's own site but still available on amazon/fk.

I am planning to stay away from HP due to my current laptop and also my office laptop is hp. Most of my colleagues laptops have crashed once or twice in last one year. Will check out acer or asus.

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What are the ports I should be looking for. Should I be looking for USB 3?

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W

jackal_79 said:
What are the ports I should be looking for. Should I be looking for USB 3?

USB 3 is standard nowadays, you won't get any laptop without usb 3 & the only thing you have to see is how many usb 3 ports you get.

jackal_79 said:
What are the ports I should be looking for. Should I be looking for USB 3?

Look for a USB-C. Pretty useful these days with latest phones moving onto it.

How do amd ryzen compare with i5 in laptops?

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jackal_79 said:
How do amd ryzen compare with i5 in laptops?

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R5 3500U ~ i5 82xxU/10xxxU < R5 4500U

omega44-xt said:
R5 3500U ~ i5 82xxU/10xxxU < R5 4500U

Can you please elaborate?

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jackal_79 said:
Can you please elaborate?

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*www.notebookcheck.net/i5-8250U-vs-R5-3500U-vs-R5-4500U_9206_11161_11687.247596.0.html

jackal_79 said:
Can you please elaborate?

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R5 3500U similar in performance to i5 82xxU/10xxxU but both are much weaker than R5 4500U

Not sure what else you want to know.

whitestar_999 said:
Never ever trust shopkeepers, have you visited acer or asus exclusive stores nearby. Nowadays almost all good models come with win 10 pre-installed. Ryzen 3500u is equivalent to 8th gen core i5 & especially for your usages there is no practical difference. In your budget it is difficult to get a model with both ips screen & backlit keyboard with 15.1" screen size except may be this:

*www.amazon.in/FX505DD-Graphics-5-3...ywords=ips&qid=1592593268&s=computers&sr=1-30

the above model was available yesterday morning but now out of stock. Many models are showing out of stock in amazon and FK. The overall demand for laptops due to online classes and current situation is not helping i guess. My laptop problem couldn't have happened at a worse moment :-(

I found this model Buy ASUS VivoBook 15 X512DA-EJ502T AMD Quad Core Ryzen 5-3500U 15.6-inch FHD Thin and Light Laptop (8GB RAM/512GB NVMe SSD/Windows 10/Integrated Graphics/FP Reader/Backlit KB/1.60 Kg), Slate Gray Online at Low Prices in India - Amazon.in

promising except for the LED display. Anyone have any experience with this model? How is the display performance. Saw some negative comments on amazon.
Also is it true that using SSD instead of HDD increases the battery life by 30 minutes?

W

That laptop is good except for screen which is the usual TN panel. You will always find some negative comments for almost any laptop display that is why it is recommended to check the laptop model/similar model screen in showroom. SSD does consume less power than hdd but increasing battery life by 30min is not some fixed rule.

Mi laptop horizon

Neo said:
Mi laptop horizon

Sorry! what?

Neo said:
Mi laptop horizon

Overpriced, soldered non-upgradable ram and ssd.

Only SSD upgradable - 14:46 position of the video.

W

Neo said:
Mi laptop horizon

It is not a good option & whatever positive sentiment xiaomi had is now already gone after the China row. No need to pick a chinese laptop(incl lenovo) when similarly priced better options are available from Taiwanese competitors(asus & acer) or a bit costlier but also better build quality options from US companies(dell & hp).

Well looks like Fixed Non-upgradable RAM is 'New Normal' for the Light & Thin Laptops - Very Very disappointed and when it turns for AMD Ryzen 4000 series light notebooks it is worse because 2GB goes to Vega Graphics.

Upcoming Acer Swift 3 with 4000 Ryzen also comes with Fixed 8 GB RAM - So anybody who buys that will have to live 5.9GB RAM forever.....

It is worst than COVID Pandemic (which apple starts it) - If anybody needs all the upgradability and stuff, they must buy the 2.5 to 3.5 Kg gaming machine. As of now Looks like the Acer A515-A43 is the last and only machine which buyer can enjoy 16GB RAM in future.

I'm really frustrated at this point to get a lightweight AMD 4 series Laptop.....Sorry for my post but this the fact.

whitestar_999 said:
It is not a good option & whatever positive sentiment xiaomi had is now already gone after the China row. No need to pick a chinese laptop(incl lenovo) when similarly priced better options are available from Taiwanese competitors(asus & acer) or a bit costlier but also better build quality options from US companies(dell & hp).

My thoughts too. Initially I didn't understand his post but then found the website. Even though it sounds promising,( it even has a no emi option with Hdfc which is perfect for me) now I don't want to buy from them.
I am not familiar with acer as a laptop brand. How are they?

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W

Both asus & acer are Taiwanese companies, no need to tell about asus as they are the leader in mobo segment & as for acer their build quality is also good for their price aka they may not have the build quality of costlier dell models but among similarly priced models their build quality is decent.

Neo said:
Mi laptop horizon

No, just no. For a so-called "premium" ultrabook, it lacks backlit KB & FP, both found in other laptops at this price, like Acer Swift 3, R5 4500U model at 60k has those + more powerful CPU, slightly inferior iGPU compared to MX250. So overall, overpriced for a Xiaomi laptop which likely suffers from poor after-sales, worse than that of even Acer & Asus.

W

omega44-xt said:
worse than that of even Acer & Asus.

Actually asus & acer after sales support is not much different from lenovo & hp. You can say that other than dell, rest 4 major brands have more or less similar after sales support quality.

omega44-xt said:
No, just no. For a so-called "premium" ultrabook, it lacks backlit KB & FP, both found in other laptops at this price, like Acer Swift 3, R5 4500U model at 60k has those + more powerful CPU, slightly inferior iGPU compared to MX250. So overall, overpriced for a Xiaomi laptop which likely suffers from poor after-sales, worse than that of even Acer & Asus.

Hi, Acer Swift 3 got RAM upgradability?

16GB RAM is more than enough. Mi horizon seems neat to me. Didn't know that I didn't have backlit keyboard though so that's a let down. If I was out to buy a new laptop I would get this only.

Edit: ok so we stuck with 8Gib of RAM? That sucks. Would have been the perfect laptop if not for that.

whitestar_999 said:
Both asus & acer are Taiwanese companies, no need to tell about asus as they are the leader in mobo segment & as for acer their build quality is also good for their price aka they may not have the build quality of costlier dell models but among similarly priced models their build quality is decent.

Can you suggest some good acer models that may match my required configs? I found two good Dell models (Vostro 15 3590 with 8GB & Inspiron 15 5590 with 4GB). Both are in the 45 + range and price might increase if you customize it. But both have limited RAM upgrade option.

W

jackal_79 said:
Can you suggest some good acer models that may match my required configs? I found two good Dell models (Vostro 15 3590 with 8GB & Inspiron 15 5590 with 4GB). Both are in the 45 + range and price might increase if you customize it. But both have limited RAM upgrade option.

Do these models have both ips screen & backlit keyboards? If willing to give up on backlit keyboard then already suggested an acer model & if willing to give up on ips screen then there are asus vivobook models.

jackal_79 said:
Can you suggest some good acer models that may match my required configs? I found two good Dell models (Vostro 15 3590 with 8GB & Inspiron 15 5590 with 4GB). Both are in the 45 + range and price might increase if you customize it. But both have limited RAM upgrade option.

Both of these have terrible value mainly because of intel. Don't buy stupid dual core laptops when even phones have 4 cores now. At 55K, Vostro 15 3590 8GB ram variant comes with a HDD like its 2014 (from Dell's website). 4GB ram in Inspiron 15 5590 at 45k is daylight robbery.

whitestar_999 said:
Do these models have both ips screen & backlit keyboards? If willing to give up on backlit keyboard then already suggested an acer model & if willing to give up on ips screen then there are asus vivobook models.

Both have led display and backlit is optional on inspiron.

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jackal_79 said:
Both have led display and backlit is optional on inspiron.

All laptop panels are led display but is it ips display?

whitestar_999 said:
Actually asus & acer after sales support is not much different from lenovo & hp. You can say that other than dell, rest 4 major brands have more or less similar after sales support quality.

HP & Lenovo have a larger presence, like more service centres in Tier 2 & 3 cities.

dissel said:
Hi, Acer Swift 3 got RAM upgradability?

No, he mentions it as well. Although for most users, 8GB is enough for normal usage.

Just wondering any Acer or AMD Company representative presents in this forum ?

W

dissel said:
Just wondering any Acer or AMD Company representative presents in this forum ?

I don't think there are currently any active official rep of any company here. You can still save this reddit link for future reference for many other brands/shops though.
verireps - IndianGaming

whitestar_999 said:
I don't think there are currently any active official rep of any company here. You can still save this reddit link for future reference for many other brands/shops though.
verireps - IndianGaming

Thanks for the replying, just one request If you please let me know why my last post which I replied for post no #55 in the place of post no #56 disappeared? Asking this so in future I will not going to share any of my findings here anymore which may help prospective buyers to know better.

The last post I made about shortcomings of Upcoming Laptop Trends comes with a multicore processor with fixed ram - No curse word / No personal Attack / Not even company name or anything - But my post disappear without saying a valid reason....If I know the objectionable content of my post I will refrain writing any comment here.

Hope you understand - Just looking forward some response of Digit Forum Mod - It will help me in future to develop myself and become more forum friendly.

W

dissel said:
Thanks for the replying, just one request If you please let me know why my last post which I replied for post no #55 in the place of post no #56 disappeared? Asking this so in future I will not going to share any of my findings here anymore which may help prospective buyers to know better.

The last post I made about shortcomings of Upcoming Laptop Trends comes with a multicore processor with fixed ram - No curse word / No personal Attack / Not even company name or anything - But my post disappear without saying a valid reason....If I know the objectionable content of my post I will refrain writing any comment here.

Hope you understand - Just looking forward some response of Digit Forum Mod - It will help me in future to develop myself and become more forum friendly.

You are not the only one whose post disappeared, one of my PM did too. It seems forum was restored using an older backup & anything posted between that time & restored backup is gone. Just for future reference, whenever a mod deletes a post you should get a notification especially if you are not a spammer posting spam links(aka usual members get some notification/warning for any deleted/edited post).

Please advice on this laptop:

*www.amazon.in/VivoBook-15-6-inch-Integrated-Graphics-X512FA-EJ550T/dp/B07RWYQJ5Y

*www.asus.com/in/Laptops/ASUS-VivoBook-15-X512FA/specifications/

W

jackal_79 said:
Please advice on this laptop:

It does have a better design & backlit keyboard but has a TN screen while the acer model I suggested earlier has better processor & much better graphics because of ryzen 3500u & has IPS screen along with double the ram & ssd in asus model and all this just for ~2k more but now it is out of stock.

whitestar_999 said:
It does have a better design & backlit keyboard but has a TN screen while the acer model I suggested earlier has better processor & much better graphics because of ryzen 3500u & has IPS screen along with double the ram & ssd in asus model and all this just for ~2k more but now it is out of stock.

Thanks. Can you please confirm the model?

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jackal_79 said:
Thanks. Can you please confirm the model?

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

You mean the asus one, if you are willing to sacrifice ips screen & extra ram/ssd then this is a good option.

jackal_79 said:
Please advice on this laptop:

*www.amazon.in/VivoBook-15-6-inch-Integrated-Graphics-X512FA-EJ550T/dp/B07RWYQJ5Y

*www.asus.com/in/Laptops/ASUS-VivoBook-15-X512FA/specifications/

An i3 8xxxU = R3 3200U < i5 82xxU/10xxxU = R5 3500U < R5 4500U

So R5 3500U is a better choice for the price, 2c/4t of i3 vs 4c/8t R5.

W

omega44-xt said:
An i3 8xxxU = R3 3200U < i5 82xxU/10xxxU = R5 3500U < R5 4500U

Actually i3 8th gen is faster than 3200u by ~15% on an average as per benchmarks & its integrated graphics is also a bit better than vega 3 of 3200u so overall i3 8th gen is superior to 3200u & should be replaced only by 3500u or above among ryzen processors.

whitestar_999 said:
You mean the asus one, if you are willing to sacrifice ips screen & extra ram/ssd then this is a good option.

No I am asking about the acer model you were referring to.

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jackal_79 said:
No I am asking about the acer model you were referring to.

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That is the best option but it has gone out of stock on amazon site so you will have to wait. It is still available on acer site though but with a bit increased price.

*store.acer.com/en-in/laptops/aspire-5-a515-43-r44z-2

whitestar_999 said:
Actually i3 8th gen is faster than 3200u by ~15% on an average as per benchmarks & its integrated graphics is also a bit better than vega 3 of 3200u so overall i3 8th gen is superior to 3200u & should be replaced only by 3500u or above among ryzen processors.

I should have used "similar" symbol. 10-15% isn't something noticeable.

whitestar_999 said:
That is the best option but it has gone out of stock on amazon site so you will have to wait. It is still available on acer site though but with a bit increased price.

*store.acer.com/en-in/laptops/aspire-5-a515-43-r44z-2

is there any Microsoft Surface models worth looking at? Not familiar with them. How are they?

jackal_79 said:
is there any Microsoft Surface models worth looking at? Not familiar with them. How are they?

Overpriced for your primary tasks and usage.

W

jackal_79 said:
is there any Microsoft Surface models worth looking at? Not familiar with them. How are they?

Not worth their price at least in India.

jackal_79 said:
is there any Microsoft Surface models worth looking at? Not familiar with them. How are they?

Good laptops but overpriced in India, as others said as well.

whitestar_999 said:
Not worth their price at least in India.

My laptop buying quest still continues. Visit to local dealers was not helpful. They do not have Acer model A515-43. But have A515-54 & 52 which as per them costs between 53 - 61K which sounds too expensive as the mentioned models don't have much difference than 43 model. You know anything about these models?Also, i noticed 43 model comes without a optical drive.Have this general question, Although when you buy a laptop you get pre installed original Windows 10 you don't get the CD/DVD of the OS and in case of a failure you have to go service centre. Are the OEM's buying windows OS with multi user license and installing in multiple laptops? is that why we don't get the OS in CD/DVD?

W

CD/DVD is obsolete nowadays, games run on steam/similar services net installers & all OS now supports bootable usb drive. Win 10 saves activation info on microsoft's own servers so in future if you need to reinstall win 10 then all you need to do is install the same version that came pre-installed(home or pro) on laptop/pc & then connect to net & microsoft will automatically reactivate your win 10 install as long as system hardware is not changed(aka basically laptop/pc motherboard is still the same).

jackal_79 said:
Have this general question, Although when you buy a laptop you get pre installed original Windows 10 you don't get the CD/DVD of the OS and in case of a failure you have to go service centre. Are the OEM's buying windows OS with multi user license and installing in multiple laptops? is that why we don't get the OS in CD/DVD?

You don't have to go anywhere.
Backup your windows key and copy it on a usb drive and/or cloud storage using this:

*www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/advanced_tokens_manager.html

You can download windows 10 from microsoft directly and use the key you backed up for activation if you have to re-install the OS.

DVDs drives are slow and take unnecessary space which could be utilized by important components such as heatsinks and larger batteries.

W

@SaiyanGoku see my above post. Laptops with pre-installed win 10 use oem keys which don't need to be backed up. Only retail keys need to be backed up & almost nobody uses them at least in India.

whitestar_999 said:
@SaiyanGoku see my above post. Laptops with pre-installed win 10 use oem keys which don't need to be backed up. Only retail keys need to be backed up & almost nobody uses them at least in India.

I know but it'll be a peace of mind thing to have the key as a backup. Most shops would install pirated OS even when there's a license key sticker on bottom.

whitestar_999 said:
CD/DVD is obsolete nowadays, games run on steam/similar services net installers & all OS now supports bootable usb drive. Win 10 saves activation info on microsoft's own servers so in future if you need to reinstall win 10 then all you need to do is install the same version that came pre-installed(home or pro) on laptop/pc & then connect to net & microsoft will automatically reactivate your win 10 install as long as system hardware is not changed(aka basically laptop/pc motherboard is still the same).

thanks a lot @whitestar_999 & @SaiyanGoku . Will keep that in mind. So you guys know anything about the acer models 52 & 54?

jackal_79 said:
thanks a lot @whitestar_999 & @SaiyanGoku . Will keep that in mind. So you guys know anything about the acer models 52 & 54?

Both of these are overpriced intel variants.

*store.acer.com/en-in/aspire-5-a515-43-r44z-2

Seems to be in stock for 40k
Also, ditch the dealers, buy online.

W

SaiyanGoku said:
I know but it'll be a peace of mind thing to have the key as a backup. Most shops would install pirated OS even when there's a license key sticker on bottom.

As far as I know no laptops with pre-installed win 10 oem version comes with such stickers.

jackal_79 said:
thanks a lot @whitestar_999 & @SaiyanGoku . Will keep that in mind. So you guys know anything about the acer models 52 & 54?

If you are talking about below models then not worth buying.

*store.acer.com/en-in/aspire-5-a515-52g-4

*store.acer.com/en-in/aspire-5-a515-54g-51ub-3

H

I'm also in a buying decision process just like OP. The Acer A515-43 is really the best laptop for the money. You won't really miss the backlit keyboard like how you'd miss a good display on the Vivobook. Don't use the laptop in pitch darkness anyway, you won't need the backlight.

Also, asking everyone, how good a deal are these 3 below mentioned Dell laptops with the flat 10% off from ICICI. Are they worth investing above the A515-43 for the offer price?

*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/cty/pdp/spd/inspiron-15-5590-laptop/icc-c583503win8

*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...top/spd/vostro-15-3590-laptop/icc-d583005win8

*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...top/spd/vostro-15-3590-laptop/icc-d583004win8

Also adding one more from Dell. Though this will significant overshoot the 40-50 range, there is a 2000 rupee coupon + flat 10% off + Sennheiser HD350BT for ₹499:

*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...p/spd/inspiron-15-7591-laptop/icc-c586501win8

hari.vgl said:
I'm also in a buying decision process just like OP. The Acer A515-43 is really the best laptop for the money. You won't really miss the backlit keyboard like how you'd miss a good display on the Vivobook. Don't use the laptop in pitch darkness anyway, you won't need the backlight.

Also, asking everyone, how good a deal are these 3 below mentioned Dell laptops with the flat 10% off from ICICI. Are they worth investing above the A515-43 for the offer price?

*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/cty/pdp/spd/inspiron-15-5590-laptop/icc-c583503win8
*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...top/spd/vostro-15-3590-laptop/icc-d583005win8
*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...top/spd/vostro-15-3590-laptop/icc-d583004win8

Also adding one more from Dell. Though this will significant overshoot the 40-50 range, there is a 2000 rupee coupon + flat 10% off + Sennheiser HD350BT for ₹499:

*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...p/spd/inspiron-15-7591-laptop/icc-c586501win8

All 4 are overpriced. Don't buy a laptop based on the included accessories. I am being biased against dell here because they haven't had good value for years now.

H

SaiyanGoku said:
All 4 are overpriced. Don't buy a laptop based on the included accessories. I am being biased against dell here because they haven't had good value for years now.

I didn't ask based on included accessories. I asked purely based on price. Leaving aside the Sennheiser offer and warranty offers, and even the free Office suite:

The Vostro 15 3590 with i5-10210u + Win10 + Radeon 610 2GB + 8GB RAM + 256GB NVME + 1TB 7200rpm HDD is available for ₹51.3k

The Inspiron 15 5590 with i5-10210u + Win10 + 8GB RAM + 512GB NVME + Backlit KB is available for ₹55.3k

The Inspiron 15 7591 with i5-9300h + Win10 + GTX 1050 3GB + 8GB RAM + 512GB NVME + Backlit KB + 130W Charger + 56Wh Battery is available for ₹68.4k

I would love to hear the other people's opinions on these deals ?

W

hari.vgl said:
The Vostro 15 3590 with i5-10210u + Win10 + Radeon 610 2GB + 8GB RAM + 256GB NVME + 1TB 7200rpm HDD is available for ₹51.3k

Waste of money, radeon 610 is equivalent to intel integrated graphics so what exactly are you paying the extra money for when all the components in this laptop are available in laptops priced less than 40k.

hari.vgl said:
The Inspiron 15 5590 with i5-10210u + Win10 + 8GB RAM + 512GB NVME + Backlit KB is available for ₹55.3k

same as above & even more waste of money.

hari.vgl said:
The Inspiron 15 7591 with i5-9300h + Win10 + GTX 1050 3GB + 8GB RAM + 512GB NVME + Backlit KB + 130W Charger + 56Wh Battery is available for ₹68.4k

You can get 1050 in 55k laptops with similar/better build quality from asus,acer & lenovo.

whitestar_999 said:
You can get 1050 in 55k laptops with similar/better build quality from asus,acer & lenovo.

1050 is 3 year old (is a waste of money now), 1650 has replaced it and with 50% more performance at similar prices.
*www.notebookcheck.net/GeForce-GTX-...n-RX-560X-Laptop_9828_7503_8810.247598.0.html

W

SaiyanGoku said:
1050 is 3 year old (is a waste of money now), 1650 has replaced it and with 50% more performance at similar prices.
*www.notebookcheck.net/GeForce-GTX-...n-RX-560X-Laptop_9828_7503_8810.247598.0.html

Yes forgot about 1650, meant that actually.

whitestar_999 said:
Yes forgot about 1650, meant that actually.

Is there any problem with data recovery incase of a failure in an SSD?I was told chances of data recovery is very less compared to HDD.

W

jackal_79 said:
Is there any problem with data recovery incase of a failure in an SSD?I was told chances of data recovery is very less compared to HDD.

That is correct, ssd write data in a very different way from hdd so chances of data recovery are much less compared to hdd. In any case one should never rely on data recovery anyway as taking backups in different media at different locations is the only recommended way.

whitestar_999 said:
That is correct, ssd write data in a very different way from hdd so chances of data recovery are much less compared to hdd. In any case one should never rely on data recovery anyway as taking backups in different media at different locations is the only recommended way.

So it would be better if I go for a model that supports both like acer A515 right? One more thing, it's not clear from acer site if that model only comes with SSD but also supports a secondary device as HDD. So can I connect my existing faulty laptops HDD to this? Do I have to take it to a acer shop for installing HDD?

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

W

jackal_79 said:
So it would be better if I go for a model that supports both like acer A515 right? One more thing, it's not clear from acer site if that model only comes with SSD but also supports a secondary device as HDD. So can I connect my existing faulty laptops HDD to this? Do I have to take it to a acer shop for installing HDD?

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

All laptop mobos nowadays have at least 1 sata port & if a laptop is coming with NVMe ssd(as in acer model) then that means the sata port is empty so almost always there is option to add 2.5" hdd/ssd as long is there is empty space inside. Reviews/comments on amazon also mention space for 2.5" drive. Yes, in case of acer they have very restrictive warranty policy so even opening a screw by yourself is a big no so you will have to go to their service centre & you may also have to pay ~500 as service charge(as this is not warranty because nothing in acer laptop requires servicing but rather you adding your own hardware).

1

jackal_79 said:
I found this model Buy ASUS VivoBook 15 X512DA-EJ502T AMD Quad Core Ryzen 5-3500U 15.6-inch FHD Thin and Light Laptop (8GB RAM/512GB NVMe SSD/Windows 10/Integrated Graphics/FP Reader/Backlit KB/1.60 Kg), Slate Gray Online at Low Prices in India - Amazon.in

promising except for the LED display. Anyone have any experience with this model? How is the display performance. Saw some negative comments on amazon.
Also is it true that using SSD instead of HDD increases the battery life by 30 minutes?

This ASUS laptop is actually very good in its original price point of around 38-41K

I went to couple of showrooms looking for the same and had seen the X509FA variant with i3. The screen looked pretty decent considering the price point. Nothing great to write about, but definitely workable for indoor usage and document processing+browsing+watch movies. The viewing angles are not that great since its a TN panel.

IMO you would not be able to differentiate much between the panel's on the Asus or the Acer laptops.

The point is that this laptop (ASUS Vivobook 15 X512DA EJ501T is now overpriced by at least 10K do considering that it was selling around 40-41K even during early July 2020.

I would recommend to reach out to a retailer and bargain for this particular model. Don't settle for any other model and a price above 45K. Most retailers don't act in the customers best interest unfortunately. They often include some bundled trash (like laptop bag+mouse+earphones+alcohol based spray for screen cleaning+silicon cover for keyboard etc etc) that they claim to be worth 3-4K also along with the laptop. Tell them straightway that you don't need those and ask them to reduce that much price on the MRP.

Don't mind haggling with the store guy, the objective is to obtain the best deal possible.

If you can ditch the SSD , you can opt for the 1 TB HDD model of Asus X509DA as well.

Amazon / Flipkart sales are expected to start soon and you can watch out for these laptops for a bargain.

123hero said:
If you can ditch the SSD , you can opt for the 1 TB HDD model of Asus X509DA as well.

No, that's like going back 10 years in time for tech.

1

SaiyanGoku said:
No, that's like going back 10 years in time for tech.

Do agree on the storage part and I also side with the opinion that it is better to shell out a couple of thousands more for a worthy product since the incremental value is always higher.

But the SSD models are vanishing like thin air and are way too overpriced at the moment.(Both ASUS and Acer models retailing at well above 45K)

If the OP is able to get a deal on X509DA for around 44K and throw in a 256 GB SSD - it would be more than enough to get the stuff done.

Reg

hari.vgl said:
I'm also in a buying decision process just like OP. The Acer A515-43 is really the best laptop for the money. You won't really miss the backlit keyboard like how you'd miss a good display on the Vivobook. Don't use the laptop in pitch darkness anyway, you won't need the backlight.

Also, asking everyone, how good a deal are these 3 below mentioned Dell laptops with the flat 10% off from ICICI. Are they worth investing above the A515-43 for the offer price?

*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/cty/pdp/spd/inspiron-15-5590-laptop/icc-c583503win8
*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...top/spd/vostro-15-3590-laptop/icc-d583005win8
*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...top/spd/vostro-15-3590-laptop/icc-d583004win8

Also adding one more from Dell. Though this will significant overshoot the 40-50 range, there is a 2000 rupee coupon + flat 10% off + Sennheiser HD350BT for ₹499:

*www.dell.com/en-in/shop/laptops-2-...p/spd/inspiron-15-7591-laptop/icc-c586501win8

Backlit keyboard is very useful in case you plan to use it in bed and your partner doesn't like light being on.

I like to browse and finish up pending work before watching some entertainment and then sleep. It has been significantly irritating to do this with a keyboard without backlight.

It depends on individual preference.

sling-shot said:
Backlit keyboard is very useful in case you plan to use it in bed and your partner doesn't like light being on.

I like to browse and finish up pending work before watching some entertainment and then sleep. It has been significantly irritating to do this with a keyboard without backlight.

It depends on individual preference.

Even in daylight, I find backlit KBs easier to read. You notice this when you shift from a backlit KB to non-backlit one.

omega44-xt said:
Even in daylight, I find backlit KBs easier to read. You notice this when you shift from a backlit KB to non-backlit one.

On the contrary some people might find it distracting while watching movies or something.

Having the option is definitely a plus from my side.

sling-shot said:
On the contrary some people might find it distracting while watching movies or something.

Having the option is definitely a plus from my side.

You can turn it off. Usually there are 2 brightness settings as well.

Nowadays even some 30k laptops have backlit KB, so it is a must-have thing IMO.

Any good deals for laptops on Amazon Prime day sale?

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

W

jackal_79 said:
Any good deals for laptops on Amazon Prime day sale?

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

Nothing yet except for some gaming laptops around 50k but you will need to add ssd to them by visiting service centre.