Need New Laptop-Confused

[SWharton]

I  have been out of the laptop market for a long time. I need an inexpensive lightweight laptop for travel(plane) that I can load Quicken, Libre(these are minimal requirements), security programs. In looking at the laptops offered there are no hard drives. Where do I put software and data? I will not have internet access so I can't use the Cloud.

Just a quick education please so I know what to look for.

I would go to Best Buy and get educated but the closest Best Buy is an hour away.

Thanks

 

[k4rs]

Often the very low end laptop computers these days use an eMMC for storage.  Think of it as a built-in, non-removable, SD card.  They tend to be smaller and slower than a conventional hard drive or SSD.  They are usually large enough to hold the operating system and a few programs.  If you need additional storage you can use a SD card or flash drive.

I also needed a small, light, inexpensive Windows based laptop.  About 2 years ago I purchased purchased a Lenovo N22.  It has worked well for me and they are still available:

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-11-6-inch-Performance-Dual-Core-Processor/dp/B01K9HS4Q0?th=1

The HP Stream is very similar:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075FLGY4G/ref=psdc_13896615011_t1_B01K9HS4Q0

I hope this info helps.

Safe Travels... 

[SWharton]

Thanks for the info. I saw that some had SSD but the size seemed so small and I am not sure what size I needed to support my critical programs. I looked at the ones you referenced and 64G is a more comfortable number, I had been seeing 32G mostly. I didn't realize that SSD technology was less expensive than the traditional HD drive. Things sure have changed. My current laptop has a 1T hard drive and I use about 475G. I won't be loading that much on this machine.

I haven't done much research on SD or SSD but I have a few questions.

If I run out of SSD space can I put programs on SD cards??? Never tried that. 

Are there multiple SD slots? or do would I need to buy an SD hub(I assume there is such a thing)?

Most seem to come with on 4G of memory. Is that enough? I usually buy 8G so I don't have problems.

Technology!!!!!

Thanks

[TheDuke]

You post no internet. That leaves out the inexpensive chrome computer. Any computer without a hard drive will use the internet for programs and data.

Libre comes in a portable mode ( which I use) and can be put on a thumb drive. Slow startup but otherwise okay.

You should be able to get by with a 64 go C drive since you're only going to put a couple of programs onto the computer.

I have no idea what you mean by "security" programs. If that means more programs, but if it does, then 128gb C drive is necessary. 

Thumb drives come in 64 gb, 128 gb and larger. You will need USB connections for them. 

 

 

 

[SWharton]

I was under the impression that Chrome computers could not have programs on them. Solely web-based. Am I wrong on this?

Thanks for telling me Libre has a portable version.

By security programs I  mean Malwarebytes, ccleaner etc. General PC maintenance pgms.

I did a little reading and read about M.2+external case, anything wrong with adding one of these if needed.

As I add on the potential necessities for a lightweight, inexpensive machine the price keeps going up. I'll need to compare to a regular laptop without an optical drive(to keep weight down). 

Thanks for the input.

[RV_]

Your best bet is the new 10" Surface Go. $399.99 with 4GB/64GB: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-go/8V9DP4LNKNSZ/L8M8?icid=SurfaceCat_R1_CP1_SurfaceGo_072018&activetab=pivot%3aoverviewtab

It's brand new. You can get a typecover later if you love it. I just got a like new refurbished Typecover for one of my Surface Pro, I already had one type cover between the two. But I am selling my Surface Pro 3 to get the Surface Go as my new toy. Yes I'm keeping our Surface Pro 4, our Amazon Fire tablets for reading, movies, and music. We have Echodots in every room too. Big Boys and Big Girl toys.

For your uses the 64/4GB would Do. I will go for the $549.99 128GB/8GB of RAM system because it has an SSD, The cheaper 64/4GB has the eMMC drive. look at the tech specs here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/surface-go/8V9DP4LNKNSZ/L8M8?icid=SurfaceCat_R1_CP1_SurfaceGo_072018&activetab=pivot:techspecstab

The best buys are the refurb Surface Pro 3 like these:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=microsoft%20surface%20pro%203%20refurbished&Submit=ENE

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=surface+pro+3+i5

I bought both my Surface Pro 3 and Pro 4 certified refurbished with 1year warranties. I had the Pro 3 replaced twice and that because the first replacement was defective. under warranty. Happy with them. I have a two year warranty on the 4.

Hope that helps. Remember you can use any PC or Bluetooth Keyboards and mice or touchpads with any Surface for under $30.

 

[SWharton]

That looks like a sweet computer, love the weight of it. Bit too pricey for what I want. I need to do some traveling for a month and don't want to carry my 6 lb. with me. Once done with the trip the new laptop will be an extra computer for the 2 of us so don't really want to spend the $$.

I think I will check into shipping the current one, see if it fits into one of the USPS flat rate boxes and just throw everything into the cloud before I leave so I have a copy of what I need if the pkg. gets lost.

Trip isn't until mid-Sept so I have time to do the research.

Thanks though, I would really consider it whenever I do my next laptop upgrade.

[RV_]

OK failing that try the Amazon Fire 10" As there arer scads of under 30 dollar. THe new 10" is $149.99 and is $119.99 when on sale like Prime day. It is 1080 not 720 p like they used to be. And there are great text editors and browsers there now too. You can jailbreak it and use the Play store if you choose. I have one, the current model and love it.

[SWharton]

I'll add it to my list. Thanks a lot Derek

[SWharton]

Derek,

I just looked at the Fire, doesn't appear I can load Quicken onto it.....only web based. Am I correct?

[Bill Joyce]

There are deals for under $500 laptops, but most are for 15" models.  The lighter and smaller ones either come with very small storage, mostly 32GB eMMC or they come as premium laptops in the $800 to $2000 range.    But Dell seems to have some options.

Here is a Dell 13" deal for $499 with a 500GB hard drive - https://deals.dell.com/productdetail/17xe (I hope that comes through).

Another Dell deal, an 11" with a 500GB hard drive for $350 - https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/2-in-1-pcs/inspiron-11-3000-2-in-1/spd/inspiron-11-3185-2-in-1-laptop/fncwd2009s .

 

[SWharton]

I guess I was looking for pie in the sky on this. Everything is looking too pricey for a "spare" computer. I guess I will either carry or ship. If I had internet and didn't need Quicken and Libre I could just use my tablet but I will be needing Quicken and Libre. Oh well, it was a thought. At least I learned something so all was not lost.................

[2gypsies]

I think I'd take your original computer along as a carry on; not shipping it.  A nice computer bag with a strap makes it manageable.

[hatrack]

1 hour ago, SWharton said:

I guess I was looking for pie in the sky on this. Everything is looking too pricey for a "spare" computer. I guess I will either carry or ship. If I had internet and didn't need Quicken and Libre I could just use my tablet but I will be needing Quicken and Libre. Oh well, it was a thought. At least I learned something so all was not lost.................

If you don't mind a refurb here are some deals that I got in a E-Mail.

 

http://www.tigerdirect.com/email/3WWEBEML1967.asp?MobileOptOut=1&SRCCODE=3WWEBEML1967&utm_source=EML&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=3WWEBEML1967&ecm=nDE3kKjHOuELvNnQ%2BfhYgtzbeBgvugyWX%2FC3uMCTkKp%2B29VVAbKRoUo9XcS4MwW4&elqTrackId=0006b6974820478db7c349e3d8703c0c&elq=3cf0007a8f984d938f50f5d91268d321&elqaid=6650&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=5881

[RV_]

What kind of tablet and phone do you have now? Android tablet/phone, iOS tablet/Android phone, Android tablet/iOS phone. And what are your laptops, Apple/Windows/Chrome?

Here is the Surface Pro type cover I just got last week so when I sell one, I'll still have a type cover for the one I keep

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAEWJ7K31090

It is a refurb and was on sale for $29.99. I rarely travel anymore so rarely use my type cover. I do use, like now, my onscreen touch keyboard a lot.

But the cost of the type covers seem to deter folks.

I get the Newegg emails a couple of times a week and the daily shell shockers emails Have some great deals.

I was faced with a similar decision in the last few months when a Technician wiped my drive instead of fixing the  Apps that were malfunctioning. Yes I let a MS phone support do a remote with me. I've never had an issue with them before and foolishly did not check my backup images and data backups. They wiped my data trying to move it all to a new account to fix an app account ownership issue. I immediately checked and my last image was Aug 2017!!! My 27" All in one is now semifunctional. TMI?

No, all that to explain that I got complacent. I will lose a lot of pictures and most of my music. However the important ones of family and travel are safe. And I can re-rip 3000 CDs. My Dell 2720 is horrible to get to the drives, so I did not keep a cloned disk as before.

The point is I cheaped out and did not keep a complete spare system in the guest bedroom. I bought several years ago a 64GB/4GB  mini PC that is still working great back there. It replaced a full size system I sold and thought I've never lost data, and had images for experimenting and saves so I could do deep system tweaks and tricks. No more

After a couple of weeks of trying to come up with a solution, I decided to go back to my old spare system way of redundancy. But rather than spend big bucks for a new system, I ended up ordering a new 27" monitor Quad HD like I'm used to, and a refurb desktop with a year warranty for parts and labor. These:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009969

$179.99 with 20bucks off

And this deskrop https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883286789

[SWharton]

Thanks, I have been lightly looking at refurbs and will make one more pass as I didn't pay that much attention to the specs. I am not giving up but it is about 60/40 against a new computer.

[bigjim]

I am basically a computer illiterate.  I can barely use mine and have been helped along by folks like Stan Miller, Rv and others.  Even the way I am I have had good luck buying at least 2 "refurbs" from Walmart.com. I get the ones sold by Walmart and usually get it shipped to the local store for pick-up. Like anything used there is a risk involved and Walmart has a limited time to return but you should know pretty quick if it is OK and if not it can be returned through the local Walmart if you maintain your receipts.

[SWharton]

Figured out what I am going to do.........

A few days before I leave I will order a laptop from Walmart or Sams(Sams has an Asus that meets all my requirements for $229) and pick it up at the local store at my destination. That way I only need to carry with me my Quicken Disk(not sure I can  download the version I am on, need to check). I'll pick up the computer, stop at McDonald's or a Library, load the software I need, download the files I need from the cloud.

Coming home I'll just ship it back or see if it will fit into my carry on luggage.

Thanks everyone I think this will work OK.

 

 

[k4rs]

Looking at the Sams Club web site I think I have found the computer you are referring to.  Like many new laptops these days, it does not include an optical drive.  I hope you have your Quicken on a flash drive.

Safe Travels...

 

[SWharton]

I just chatted with Quicken and now have a downloaded version of the Quicken I am using. Before I leave I will upload that and my database to the cloud and pick it up from the cloud at my destination. Things appear to be working out.

[Bill Joyce]

You can get a USB (external) DVD drive for $20 (on sale) to $40.  It comes in handy when you need to reinstall software.  You do have to remember you have it and where it is stored.  

[SWharton]

Yes, the challenge of RVs, where is something!!!! I had planned to do that the next time I get a new laptop with a hard drive. Not this time, another thing to carry. 

[AlleyOop]

30 minutes ago, Bill Joyce said:

You can get a USB (external) DVD drive for $20 (on sale) to $40.  It comes in handy when you need to reinstall software.  You do have to remember you have it and where it is stored.  

I'm just a tad late to the idea that DVDs are becoming ancient and USB drives are "the in thing". I already can't remember what is on which USB drive and I only have a half dozen.

[SWharton]

I agree with you. Everyone assumes you have internet connectivity and we know that is not true. I prefer an EHD for my offline storage over a DVD. EHDs have huge capacity.

I like having the physical disk as a backup, just like I do my own backups to 2 external drives every week. One I keep in the MH and one in the car. If I have internet then my more critical files go up to the cloud when changed.

I do not want to be dependent on the internet. I still have MS Streets so I have a PC based mapping program, I have started to use others but Streets is still my favorite. I also refuse to pay a monthly subscription fee for something I can load on my PC. All these little fees start adding up fast.

The weird thing is I love technology and embrace it but I don't trust it. So many people use today's technology and don't understand the ramifications.  My daughter puts all her kids pictures in the cloud and I asked if she had them backed up. She had no idea that the cloud was her only copy of the pictures, this has been resolved. Scary.

My next stop is to find and download Libre mobile for my trip.

End of rant................

[hatrack]

31 minutes ago, SWharton said:

My next stop is to find and download Libre mobile for my trip

Portable  version.

 

ttp://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?id=2055