Laptop Repair

[TomsFocus]

2 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Just looking at the spec, it states, a 1Tb HDD. I think this may be the issue. An HDD is a different animal to an SSD.  Especially a 1Tb HDD is trying to cope with a huge capacity with older tech...

I guess that makes sense.  Though I don't understand why a near empty HDD would need so much time to find boot files even if they are a long way away.

The eBay one comes with a 128GB SSD so that might be better if it is the HD that's the issue.

[StephenFord]

4 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

The ebay one comes with a 128GB SSD so that might be better if it is the HD that's the issue.

Only you will know for your own use, but 128Gb capacity is pretty small these days for storage, but if you're a 'cloud' user, it may be just fine...

[TomsFocus]

8 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Only you will know for your own use, but 128Gb capacity is pretty small these days for storage, but if you're a 'cloud' user, it may be just fine...

Yeah, I've been thinking about that.  I do have one of very few laptops on the planet that isn't full of p*rn though...   

I'm not too bothered about capacity as it's not meant to be a long term solution.  Just tide me over for a year or two.  But I am bothered about speed...would a loaded SSD slow down like a HDD?

Somehow a lot of stuff ended up on the OneDrive cloud when I tried to transfer from the old laptop to this one.  I can't seem to clear it out either (make it rain?  ) so if anyone knows how to do that that would be useful.

[StephenFord]

3 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

... But I am bothered about speed...would a loaded SSD slow down like a HDD?

I have used about 300Gb of my 1Tb SSD, it's just as quick. I'm not a fan of the 'cloud' because basically it's just another blokes computer, and as a control freak, I like being in control of my data, and not leave it to someone else... 🤣

[TomsFocus]

4 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I have used about 300Gb of my 1Tb SSD, it's just as quick. I'm not a fan of the 'cloud' because basically it's just another blokes computer, and as a control freak, I like being in control of my data, and not leave it to someone else... 🤣

I'm pretty sure someone else has about 90% of my laptop data anyway.   Phone pictures back up onto the cloud.  Bank transactions are all stored online.  Google & Meta know more about me than I do!

I do also have a hard backup on an HDD and an SSD but don't believe any data is really secure.  Always best to cut & glue letters from a newspaper and mail it using a stamp if you really want an untraceable document.  

[StephenFord]

56 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

... Google & Meta know more about me than I do!

Meta know little of me, I don't do 'social' media, being a very anti social person! LOL Oh, my phone photos don't backup, except when I manually do it to my LapTop...

[erictcleric]

I would opt for a smaller SSD vs a larger HDD. SSDs are between 20 - 200 times faster than an HDD, depending on the type of SSD used. 256GB SSDs are also relatively cheap these days and is the minimum spec I'd recommend.

For Onedrive, you can check what's actually stored online rather than the synced local copy. There should be a cloud icon in the bottom right next to the clock; right click on that and choose View Online to see everything that's actually in the Onedrive cloud. 

[Jimpster]

6 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

That's what I was hoping...  But every review on Argos for this model complains about how slow these are!  

Buy HP 15.6in Celeron 4GB 1TB Laptop | Laptops | Argos

When i bought my new lappy it was OK, then it updated and slowed to a crawl, upgraded the RAM fitted 2 SSD's and wiped all the bloatware off it, Dell well known for bloat. It now flies.

[Wino]

28 minutes ago, Jimpster said:

When i bought my new lappy it was OK, then it updated and slowed to a crawl, upgraded the RAM fitted 2 SSD's and wiped all the bloatware off it, Dell well known for bloat. It now flies.

Could you elaborate on the bloatware 😤

[Jimpster]

anything labelled Dell or in your case HP monitoring, reporting back systems checking etc, i tend to do a full wipe clear down to 1 partition then just install widows on lt nothing else except the stuff you want and use

[StephenFord]

36 minutes ago, Jimpster said:

 tend to do a fullI wipe clear down to 1 partition then just install widows on lt nothing else except the stuff you want and use

In my day we'd have referred to you as being a 'power user' LOL I remember doing something similar decades ago, partitioning a drive and installing windows on it, under the close supervision of a knowledgeable friend. Scared the bejesus out of me as I thought I may brick the computer, haven't done anything similar since LOL

[TomsFocus]

I'm not looking to make any modifications this time, just want something that'll work straight out of the box.  

There's a good chance it'll end up returned or sold on within a month if previous attempts are anything to go by lol.

Still not really any the wiser about the chip or whether it's worth upgrading the RAM or SSD.  Problem is an artificial barrier of £200...  4GB & 128GB comes to £190 which 'feels' a lot less than the ~£220 if I upgrade the RAM or SSD.  Just don't want to buy the cheapest combo and then be frustrated by lag...

 

[alexp999]

I wouldn’t personally want a windows computer/laptop with less than 8gb ram and 128gb ssd. That’s the minimum for a reasonable modern experience imo. 

[StephenFord]

2 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

... Just don't want to buy the cheapest combo and then be frustrated by lag...

Is there any way you can 'try' someone you know who has an SSD setup? Honestly, it's like going from a faulty 1 liter diesel, to a sparkling 2 liter V6 turbo LOL

[TomsFocus]

2 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

Is there any way you can 'try' someone you know who has an SSD setup? Honestly, it's like going from a faulty 1 liter diesel, to a sparkling 2 liter V6 turbo LOL

Only people I'm still in contact with now are on here...    Sad but true.

I do believe an SSD is quicker than a HDD, it's just this specific combo I can't really work out.

In car terms it seems like some laptops have a tiny engine (chip) with a massive fuel tank (HD).  Some have a huge engine (chip) with a small turbo (RAM).  And some have a tiny engine with a massive turbo and a massive fuel tank!  Don't really understand how they work out which spec suits which user.  

[StephenFord]

All I know is that when I had the original HDD in mine, it could take over 5 minutes to fully boot up, and even then, there was always something it seemed to be working on. After picking it up with my new SSD, it was fully booted in 45 seconds, that alone just sold me on recommending SSD!

[Wino]

4 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

All I know is that when I had the original HDD in mine, it could take over 5 minutes to fully boot up, and even then, there was always something it seemed to be working on. After picking it up with my new SSD, it was fully booted in 45 seconds, that alone just sold me on recommending SSD!

Only 5 minutes, we have time to make a cuppa and argue the toss as to which slice of cake or biscuits we are having with it before our Dell shows any sign of life 😄

[erictcleric]

Personally I think that HP Celeron laptop has far too many compromises: a slow processor, not a lot of RAM, and a slow hard drive. For a similar price you can do a lot better:

Lenovo V14 G2 Ryzen 5 8GB 256GB SSD 14" FHD Win11 Pro Laptop | Ebuyer.com

[StephenFord]

1 minute ago, erictcleric said:

Personally I think that HP Celeron laptop has far too many compromises: a slow processor, not a lot of RAM, and a slow hard drive. For a similar price you can do a lot better:

Lenovo V14 G2 Ryzen 5 8GB 256GB SSD 14" FHD Win11 Pro Laptop | Ebuyer.com

Tom won't like that - it's well over his £200 budget! 😄

[erictcleric]

True enough, but finding anything new that isn't a Celeron at that price point is a bit of a mission. For laptops you can usually upgrade the RAM* or storage if necessary, but a slow processor is something you're stuck with. I had a laptop with a Pentium Gold processor, which is just above the Celeron. It was technically useable, but opening more than a couple of tabs in a web browser it was clear it was underpowered.

Refurbished might be an option though - Argos even has a few:

Results for refurbished laptops (argos.co.uk)

*Unless they've soldered it onto the motherboard.

[StephenFord]

10 hours ago, erictcleric said:

I had a laptop with a Pentium Gold processor, which is just above the Celeron. It was technically useable, but opening more than a couple of tabs in a web browser it was clear it was underpowered...

 

I must confess that this 'processor' thing is a black art! My laptop has an older Pentium P6200, which in tech terms is ancient compared to your Pentium Gold! As already stated before, my laptop is lightening fast, doing everything I ask of it pretty instantaneously. It can't be down to the processor? I conclude it's down to how quick data can be accessed from the SSD, sorry to witter on about it, but from my own personal observations, the processor, once it gets to a threshold 'standard' is a red herring on speed of operation and is nothing more than 'emperors new clothes' in marketing!

[alexp999]

The name of a processor isn't as important as its architecture, clock speed and core count.

[TomsFocus]

11 hours ago, erictcleric said:

Personally I think that HP Celeron laptop has far too many compromises: a slow processor, not a lot of RAM, and a slow hard drive. For a similar price you can do a lot better:

Lenovo V14 G2 Ryzen 5 8GB 256GB SSD 14" FHD Win11 Pro Laptop | Ebuyer.com

 

11 hours ago, StephenFord said:

Tom won't like that - it's well over his £200 budget! 😄

 

It's only an artificial budget...  I could easily blow £500+ on a laptop.  But I've already done that with 3 different decent spec laptops that I couldn't use.  That's why I ended up spending about £100 on an identical used replacement for my original Summer 2013 model last year.  Terrible value for money, but the only option I was left with, hoping for some health improvement by now.  (Wishful thinking, I know! )  So the priority now is something that 'looks & feels' the same.  Second to that is enough processing speed not to be annoyingly laggy.

Must be 15.6", 1366x768 resolution, black case/keys, touchpad with separate buttons, full size keyboard, fairly thin screen bezels, and a screen that rises above the base, not one that curls underneath.  I think the HP G7 is probably as close as I'll get with all that...but even then I have no idea if I'll be able to use it, so want to keep the spend low this time.

The 20% off eBay offer ends today so I've got to decide whether I'm buying one in that offer within the next few hours lol.

[Jimpster]

14 hours ago, Wino said:

Only 5 minutes, we have time to make a cuppa and argue the toss as to which slice of cake or biscuits we are having with it before our Dell shows any sign of life 😄

thats why i killed mine LOL

[Jimpster]

Try to go Alien ware AMD, intels tend to be slow wheras aliens AMD are intels on steroids. If you can get out to a few shops currys etc and have a play youll see the difference. I would have gone Alien but none available when i needed a new one so got a 17.3" budget Dell and put it on a course of steroids. Possibly out of your budget but look at the larger screen AMD Ryzens.