Yakoob on 6/11/2015 at 02:16
That's unfortunately the case with most new laptops tho, hard to find something with win8 and the specs I want. Plus, Im actually kinda curious to try Win10, since I already got my desktop on Win7
Volitions Advocate on 6/11/2015 at 17:13
All of the privacy issues with win10 can be addressed with a bit of configuring, and the updates are only an issue if you don't buy the professional version, so do that. (why woudln't you)
Aside from all that, I would recommend going with a builder that can give you exactly what you want. I just purchased a beast of a machine for school now that I'm a grad student. I needed something to deal with all of the raw computing and software development I'm doing in audio work, and I needed it to be portable. I'm not saying you should do what I did but to give you an idea:
I wanted something ultraportable or close to it (not an ultrabook, what a waste of money), small, with a high resolution display (FHD or higher if possible) and I wanted the ram maxed out and have a half decent video card. I also wanted it to boot up fast because I'm constantly moving back and forth from classroom and lab and my office, so some sort of SSD setup.
I ended up with a 4th gen i7, 16 gb of ram, 2 SSD's in Raid 0 + 1TB HDD for storage, a GTX 870 and a QHD+ (3200 x 1900) display all in a 13 inch package. It's a bit overkill, but not by a whole tonne with what I'm doing with it.
You can get significantly less in the same package because these laptops are designed to be built to order. So check out Clevo. Sager is one of their more popular retailers, and i'm sure if you wanted something not on their website (ie. a bit less) you could probably phone them and make it happen.
I could develop games, do 3D work, audio work, software development, recording & production... all day long on this thing. (And MS finally figured out how to scale the display properly in W10, which helps a great deal with such a massive display on a tiny panel, It's just a hair short of 4K!)
heywood on 6/11/2015 at 19:18
Sorry for the thread-jack, but please note that the Pro version of Win 10 will not give you full control over updates. There are three branches in Microsoft's new servicing model:
Current branch - Mainly for consumers, rolling release strategy, continually updated, forced updates
Current branch for business - This is what you get if you select "Defer Upgrades" in the Windows Update settings on Pro or Enterprise. The feature set and updates are the same as on the current branch. Security updates are installed immediately. The installation of feature updates is delayed for "several months" to allow companies to test them, but they are still forced eventually.
Long-term servicing branch - Feature updates are optional and released in bundles every 6-12 months (like service packs). Only critical security updates are required. LTSB is a different ISO entirely that omits some consumer-oriented features like Edge browser, Cortana, Skype, Windows Store apps.
Win 10 Home users will be stuck with the current branch. Win 10 Pro users can choose between the current branch and the current branch for business. The LTSB is only available to customers with an Enterprise Agreement and Software Assurance. So you cannot opt out of updates with Pro.
You can't stop all the telemetry either. A couple weeks ago, Microsoft finally admitted that some of Windows 10 telemetry cannot be disabled. It was disclosed in an IDG interview with a Microsoft VP. Supposedly it's just data related to system health and performance. They are also supposedly going to make it possible for Enterprise customers to disable all telemetry, but that hasn't happened yet. And Pro users won't have that option.
Finally, some of our IT team have been pathfinding a small Win 10 deployment at work using Win 10 Enterprise LTSB and tracking all the IPs it's trying to connect to. Some of it is obvious, like Windows Store, but others are a mystery. And if we block all the traffic, we see slowdowns and some hangs. It's also trying to download the cumulative updates just like the Pro and Home versions, so at the moment it doesn't seem like the update policies of the CBB and LTSB are in effect yet.
Another recent bit of news is that Win 10 will soon appear as a Recommended update in Windows Update, probably early in the new year. When that happens, it will be automatically installed on anybody's PC that has Recommended updates enabled. So for all of us who have decided to wait and see what happens with the Win 10 train wreck before upgrading, make sure you're not receiving Recommended updates.
bikerdude on 6/11/2015 at 22:34
Quote Posted by heywood
make sure you're not receiving Recommended updates.
I strongly recommend that people set there windows update to security updates only, as a computer engineer this is the only setting I am comfortable with at home and on any work networks I have to administer. ALL other updates are only allowed on a machine by a review per update basis, this because all to many time's M$ has rolled out a patch that has broken end user PC's. And therein lies the irony, M$ are forcing updates on all but enterprise users in Win10 - and the incredulity of that is M$ have already been caught (
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=broken+update+windows+10&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=7Ss9VvKcBcriUY7BjvgJ) rolling out f***ed updates yet again.
Nameless Voice on 7/11/2015 at 14:11
I'm beginning to think that once Windows 7 becomes no longer viable, it's time to move to Linux.
The problem there isn't the OS so much as that nearly all the good programs and games are only made for Window.
Yakoob on 7/11/2015 at 18:46
Can we please NOT derail into a Win10 debate? There's already a thread for that.
Quote Posted by Volitions Advocate
Aside from all that, I would recommend going with a builder that can give you exactly what you want. I just purchased a beast of a machine for school now that I'm a grad student. I needed something to deal with all of the raw computing and software development I'm doing in audio work, and I needed it to be portable. I'm not saying you should do what I did but to give you an idea:
The problem with a powerlaptop is that it comes with a higher price tag, shorter battery life, more heat, and greater weight, so is not the most optimal for someone who works out of the house on a daily basis. And as I said I already got a powerPC at home and, frankly, it's a little over powered as far as my work needs go. The current game I'm prototyping I was doing entirely on my old 10yr old laptop with Unity5 (!) granted the realtime shadows didnt work because of old GPU but performance was alright.
I looked at Clevo but it doesnt even look like any of the outlets I know of stock their stuff. The only one I found is (
https://www.xoticpc.com/) XoticPC and I never even heard of the company.
heywood on 8/11/2015 at 13:10
Whatever you do, test drive it first before deciding. Too many laptops in this price range sacrifice build quality for specs. Many of them have a lot of keyboard flex and bad key feel, screens with poor viewing angles or a lot of backlight bleed, etc. Very few of them are comfortable to work on IMO.
Yakoob on 10/11/2015 at 01:01
I'd love to but sadly it does not seem the models I like are at any of the retailers near me. I am using a friends asus right now and absolutely hate the keyboard layout (that's why I Was considering the Acer). But I think I could get used to it, and the spec choice still puts it above the others even despite the keyboard. I usually use an actual mouse so could deal with the twitchy mousepad too.
