Looking for suggestions for a laptop for MS Office, browsing and Netflix/Youtube

tmh106

Hello everyone

I am looking for a new laptop and am hopping someone on this forum can point me towards something suitable. I've used the template on the 'How to get help on this forum' topic to show what I need it for.

Budget: Up to €700. Prepared to go over if spending a little extra would get some compelling advantage. But also don't want to spend €700 if €500 would get me something that is perfectly adequate for my needs. And of course everyone loves to get a bargain, so any pointers to current sales deals or special offers would be much appreciated.

Intended use:

• MS Office (mainly Word, Excel, but some Project as well). Current;y mainly use the standalone version of Office tools but I expect I will shift to primarilly use Office 365 soon.
• Watching Netflix/youtube etc. i.e. watching videos. Would like to be able to 'connect' laptop to TV for viewing on TV.
• Internet browsing, email

Mobility: Mobility is not that important as I will be generally using it from my home office. I would prefer a decent size screen over very low weight. I'd like something that can be easily connected to an external monitor and keyboard - don't like to spend extended period working on laptop size keyboard/monitor.

Warranty: Standard warranty should be fine..

What Operating System do you use? Windows

Thanks in advance for any advice offered.

just spotted this the other day

15 inch,
all-metal build
IPS screen
4-core i5
8gb ram

delivered just over €460 through Europe

https://www.geekbuying.com/item/VORKE-Notebook-15-Laptop--8GB-RAM-256GB-ROM-Silver-421138.html

1 year warranty. trustworthy site

won't get anything near the specs for the money in pc world etc

extensive review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR7HL_y8uYE

tmh106

Thanks very much Glasso.

tmh106

tmh106 wrote: »

Thanks very much Glasso.

really looks a great deal and the review doesn't throw up any red flags.

full metal build and IPS screen are outstanding features for the price. backlit keyboard also. heck you can even turn it into a macbook if you wish as the reviewer guy did.

ram and ssd fully up-gradable as well as the option to add a cheap 2.5 inch sata ssd or HDD easily are good features also.

let me know how you get on if you go for it.

tmh106

Thanks glasso. Looks like a very good deal. My only concern is I don't know anything about the manufacturer (vorke) and not being an expert I'm a little uncomfortable that it is not a brand I recognise - but I guess that's why it is such a great price.

But having said all that, I probably will go for it.

Thanks again.

tmh106

tmh106 wrote: »

Thanks glasso. Looks like a very good deal. My only concern is I don't know anything about the manufacturer (vorke) and not being an expert I'm a little uncomfortable that it is not a brand I recognise - but I guess that's why it is such a great price.

But having said all that, I probably will go for it.

Thanks again.

it's true that they are not exactly that well known but they have a history of making pc's (specifically mini desktop pc's). laptops are is some ways a commodity item really these days and it's only in the case of smaller size laptops or gaming laptops where the components are more packed together or produce a lot of heat that you're likely to run into problems due to lack of effective heat dissipation. this is a 15 inch size where there is no discrete (separate) graphics card or major space constraints so heat is not a worry.

You could also look into the Viglen laptop that's often for sale for £400 (~€475) (but currently for sale for £432) that is very similarly spec'd (but with a smaller screen), but also has a touchscreen, a fingerprint reader and a UK site is likely easier to deal with for warranty.

I have a similar budget to yours of 700 and this laptop for €649 is I think one of the best laptop deals I've seen in a long while, but unfortunately it doesn't seem like the Irish Lenovo site has the same deal and the Spanish site doesn't ship internationally.

tmh106

glasso wrote: »

... laptops are is some ways a commodity item really these days and it's only in the case of smaller size laptops or gaming laptops where the components are more packed together or produce a lot of heat that you're likely to run into problems ...

Thanks glasso, understood

run_Forrest_run

great find on that Vorke glasso, savings of at least €200 over the main brands. The ability to add a second SSD is unreal.
If the website is sound I'd seriously consider.

tmh106

Hi Glasso, all.

One other question I thought of. Is it possible and practical to be able to connect the Vorke laptop to an external monitor (e.g. 24") and to an external wireless keyboard? I assume there is not the option of a docking station with this laptop.

Thanks.

tmh106

tmh106 wrote: »

Hi Glasso, all.

One other question I thought of. Is it possible and practical to be able to connect the Vorke laptop to an external monitor (e.g. 24") and to an external wireless keyboard? I assume there is not the option of a docking station with this laptop.

Thanks.

there would be no issue at all with that - hdmi cable out to monitor and a wireless keyboard through a usb dongle or none needed if using a bluetooth keyboard.

tmh106

I tried to order the Vorke from geekbuying.com but my credit card was declined - tried a couple of times to make sure it was not a data entry error on my part.

I received the following email from Geekbuying:

"Thanks for your support to Geekbuying.com. For security purposes we have declined the transaction for Order No.5139691.
Your payment will be returned to your account in 7-15 business days. We apologize for this inconvenience.
If you would like to continue this order you can simply re-order the desired items using a payment method other than credit card, e.g. PayPal."

Anyone experience this before from Geekbuying.comn? I'm pretty certain the card is fine.

tmh106

tmh106 wrote: »

I tried to order the Vorke from geekbuying.com but my credit card was declined - tried a couple of times to make sure it was not a data entry error on my part.

I received the following email from Geekbuying:

"Thanks for your support to Geekbuying.com. For security purposes we have declined the transaction for Order No.5139691.
Your payment will be returned to your account in 7-15 business days. We apologize for this inconvenience.
If you would like to continue this order you can simply re-order the desired items using a payment method other than credit card, e.g. PayPal."

Anyone experience this before from Geekbuying.comn? I'm pretty certain the card is fine.

never had a problem like that and I've bought a number of things from them.

maybe try their live chat

https://www.geekbuying.com/help/about/address/

tmh106

I talked to Geekshipping and they said my bank refused to honour the card. Sure enough I got a text from the bank saying that Geekshipping was trying to put a charge on this and if it was OK. I replied that it was. Retried ordering this morning and it went through OK.
Should arrive in 2-10 days.

tmh106

tmh106 wrote: »

I talked to Geekshipping and they said my bank refused to honour the card. Sure enough I got a text from the bank saying that Geekshipping was trying to put a charge on this and if it was OK. I replied that it was. Retried ordering this morning and it went through OK.
Should arrive in 2-10 days.

looks a good item from the specs and comprehensive youtube review but let us know your impressions when you get it.

tmh106

glasso wrote: »

looks a good item from the specs and comprehensive youtube review but let us know your impressions when you get it.

Will do Glasso. Thanks for all your help.

Lyle Lanley

Anyone bought that Vorke yet? I'm seriously considering it, looking for a review or two!

orm0nd

Lyle Lanley wrote: »

Anyone bought that Vorke yet? I'm seriously considering it, looking for a review or two!

thinking of going for 1 as well, my trusty 9 year old hp is struggling big time , can't complain that machine has serious hours/work done

The Mask 13

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-14-cf1502sa-14-laptop-intel-core-i7-512-gb-ssd-silver-10193348-pdt.html

Am I missing something or is this a pretty good deal? €759
i7 processor
512 ssd
8g ram
Type c port
Ips screen
Miracast
Hdmi
Sd card reader

There are similar options but they seem to be at least €200 dearer. Eg hp pavillion, envy etc. Is there something I'm missing?

DavyD_83

The Mask 13 wrote: »

https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-14-cf1502sa-14-laptop-intel-core-i7-512-gb-ssd-silver-10193348-pdt.html

Am I missing something or is this a pretty good deal? €759
i7 processor
512 ssd
8g ram
Type c port
Ips screen
Miracast
Hdmi
Sd card reader

There are similar options but they seem to be at least €200 dearer. Eg hp pavillion, envy etc. Is there something I'm missing?

I'm getting tempted by the Vorke, very curious to hear the OPs feedback.

Glasso, which would you think between the Vorke, and dell
I just saw on the main laptop thread?

Vorke has

4-core i5 vs 2-core sub i3
8gb ram vs 4gb
all-metal build vs plastic
bigger ssd drive
ips screen vs tn panel

no contest really

torrevieja

glasso wrote: »

just spotted this the other day

15 inch,
all-metal build
IPS screen
4-core i5
8gb ram

delivered just over €460 through Europe

https://www.geekbuying.com/item/VORKE-Notebook-15-Laptop--8GB-RAM-256GB-ROM-Silver-421138.html

1 year warranty. trustworthy site

won't get anything near the specs for the money in pc world etc

extensive review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR7HL_y8uYE

Cheaper through Spain

torrevieja

torrevieja wrote: »

Cheaper through Spain

it's not.

not for the model that is worth buying - the 4-core i5 8250u cpu model

the i7 is an old 2-core model cpu from 2013 that's only half the power which you don't want to buy.

Lyle Lanley

Only available from China now, does that make any difference? Bit cheaper too.

Don't want to get caught paying a big customs bill or something.

Lyle Lanley

Lyle Lanley wrote: »

Only available from China now, does that make any difference? Bit cheaper too.

Don't want to get caught paying a big customs bill or something.

if you order from China you do risk customs.

I've heard that the "EU priority line" shipping option avoids this by delivering into a point in Europe and on from there to the destination but I'm not guaranteeing this!

maybe set up an "in-stock" email alert to see if it comes back into stock in the Europe, Spain etc warehouses.

Lyle Lanley

glasso wrote: »

if you order from China you do risk customs.

I've heard that the "EU priority line" shipping option avoids this by delivering into a point in Europe and on from there to the destination but I'm not guaranteeing this!

maybe set up an "in-stock" email alert to see if it comes back into stock in the Europe, Spain etc warehouses.

Will do, but I've got a small window to get it there cause I don't actually live in Europe either!

Thanks for your help.

degzs

I can see this is still available in Europe ?

Just want to make sure it the right one before o buy

degzs

degzs wrote: »

I can see this is still available in Europe ?

Just want to make sure it the right one before o buy

yes

https://www.geekbuying.com/item/VORKE-Notebook-15-Laptop--8GB-RAM-256GB-ROM-Silver-421138.html

has anybody received this yet?

orm0nd

glasso wrote: »

has anybody received this yet?

Pulled the trigger this morning. Maybe next week hopefully.

orm0nd

orm0nd wrote: »

Pulled the trigger this morning. Maybe next week hopefully.

do come back with a report.

the first guy who bought it never did.

orm0nd

glasso wrote: »

do come back with a report.

the first guy who bought it never did.

Will do. Most likely be a few weeks before I make any real use of it though.

Lyle Lanley

glasso wrote: »

do come back with a report.

the first guy who bought it never did.

I've also bought it but won't be home to collect for about a month now.

tmh106

I'm the OH and my Vorke did arrive. Sorry I have not followed up here but I was literally starting some extended travel away from home the day it arrived so I only had a chance to unpack it and power it on to make sure it is OK. I'm still away from home, back on 16th so will have a chance to play with it then.

What I can say is the delivery process was very smooth and on time, it arrived well packaged. Physically it looks good (IMO) and very brief first impression is it feels solid while being pretty light for a laptop of its size.

degzs

tmh106 wrote: »

I'm the OH and my Vorke did arrive. Sorry I have not followed up here but I was literally starting some extended travel away from home the day it arrived so I only had a chance to unpack it and power it on to make sure it is OK. I'm still away from home, back on 16th so will have a chance to play with it then.

What I can say is the delivery process was very smooth and on time, it arrived well packaged. Physically it looks good (IMO) and very brief first impression is it feels solid while being pretty light for a laptop of its size.

Did you it get it delivered from China?

I am worried about getting caught by customs

degzs

degzs wrote: »

Did you it get it delivered from China?

I am worried about getting caught by customs

buy it through the european warehouse options when in stock.

that's where the people have bought from .

tmh106

degzs wrote: »

Did you it get it delivered from China?

I am worried about getting caught by customs

No, I bought it though European option.

walshb

Hi,

Looking for info/criteria for laptop purchase.

Not wanting to spend a bomb, but looking for a good quality laptop

Any ideas on what to go for

Chip type? OS type, etc etc....

Dell Inspiron is catching my eye...

DELL Inspiron 15 5593 15.6" Laptop - Intel® Core™ i5, 512 GB SSD, Silver

walshb

walshb wrote: »

Hi,

Looking for info/criteria for laptop purchase.

Not wanting to spend a bomb, but looking for a good quality laptop

Any ideas on what to go for

Chip type? OS type, etc etc....

Dell Inspiron is catching my eye...

DELL Inspiron 15 5593 15.6" Laptop - Intel® Core™ i5, 512 GB SSD, Silver

buy the vorke in this thread with the 8250u cpu from a European warehouse.

else if you want to buy in a shop get the asus vivobook 15 with the 3500u cpu in Argos.

Spudman_20000

glasso wrote: »

just spotted this the other day

15 inch,
all-metal build
IPS screen
4-core i5
8gb ram

delivered just over €460 through Europe

https://www.geekbuying.com/item/VORKE-Notebook-15-Laptop--8GB-RAM-256GB-ROM-Silver-421138.html

1 year warranty. trustworthy site

won't get anything near the specs for the money in pc world etc

extensive review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR7HL_y8uYE

Bought this, arrived yesterday, all good so far.

The hard disk size is a bit on the stingy side. What would be the best/easiest option to upgrade the HD space?

Spudman_20000

Spudman_20000 wrote: »

Bought this, arrived yesterday, all good so far.

The hard disk size is a bit on the stingy side. What would be the best/easiest option to upgrade the HD space?

the answer is in the video near the start

orm0nd

arrived yesterday

small compact lightweight machine ,

nice quality finish, keyboard , screen/display good.

loading on some software and it's handling it well.

processor is speedy & and instant response to commands

running large ex. monitor and about 8 or 9 usb devices through a hub with no issues.

it appears to be well isolated and not giving or receiving interference from nearby rf equipment


need to update some more drivers,

probably about at it's value from geek.

now a few nigglers, but at the price don't suppose it's fair to complain

no invoice from seller
came with eu plug on charger, output lead from charger isn't the nicest quality cable,
would like a cd/dvd drive, no Ethernet port meaning using an adapter through usb

wifi connection isn't on par with my other machines and seems sluggish, I use wired connection here but just tried for comparison (haven't checked since I update drivers though)

overall so far I'm pleased with the short trial I've had of it

orm0nd

orm0nd wrote: »

no invoice from seller
came with eu plug on charger, output lead from charger isn't the nicest quality cable,
would like a cd/dvd drive, no Ethernet port meaning using an adapter through usb

wifi connection isn't on par with my other machines and seems sluggish, I use wired connection here but just tried for comparison (haven't checked since I update drivers though)

overall so far I'm pleased with the short trial I've had of it

in fairness it was sold from an eu location. not a uk one and didn't offer a uk plug.

pretty much zero laptops come with cd/dvd drives anymore. usb one from ebay for 15 euro.

likewise unless it's a business laptop. no ethernet port. usb to ethernet adaptor is about 5 euro.

if the wifi card isn't great it's a 10 euro upgrade.

how is the build quality and the screen?

orm0nd

glasso wrote: »

in fairness it was sold from an eu location. not a uk one and didn't offer a uk plug.

pretty much zero laptops come with cd/dvd drives anymore. usb one from ebay for 15 euro.

likewise unless it's a business laptop. no ethernet port. usb to ethernet adaptor is about 5 euro.

if the wifi card isn't great it's a 10 euro upgrade.

how is the build quality and the screen?

As I said build quality good, screen good, I wouldn't class the screen excellent, but I only use it as a extend, some issues getting the it to detect the second monitor but that's quite common with windows 10 and can be annoying, as most of the online solutions won't work.

Don't think you will get a quality high speed adapter for a fiver, fair play if you do, have a couple here and found the cheaper ones caused more issues than they were worth when high speed data decoding online.

Most companies I deal with offer UK plugs when shipping to uk/irl. Have ready made leads so its not an issue for me

Battery is good but slow charging which is probably a good thing for extending its life span.

Time will tell if this machine is value for money or not.

Atm it's performance is excellent

Ten euro from Amazon with prime delivery for gigabit Ethernet with over 4000 reviews

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rankie-Network-Adapter-Gigabit-Black/dp/B010SEARPU/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?keywords=usb+ethernet+adapter+3.0&qid=1583664454&sprefix=usb+et&sr=8-6

If it's ten euro with prime delivery it means that you could find the same one for five euro from say AliExpress

tmh106

Finally ready to start using my new laptop properly.

However before I start installing Office apps on it I had a couple of questions that I hope someone might advise on:

1. The hard drive came partitioned into a C and D partitions: I presume one for Windows OS and one for applications. But I am thinking of deleting D partition, installing everything in C. For backups I usually just backup what is in my Documents folder. Is there any reason why deleting D partition would be a bad idea?
2. The laptop came with no physical media. If I wanted to do a complete reinstall of Windows at some stage in the future how do I do that. Is there a way I cam make a Windows disk/image from the existing installation on the laptop?
3. Are there any other housekeeping/setup tasks I should do before I start installing applications on the laptop?

Thanks.

tmh106

tmh106 wrote: »

Finally ready to start using my new laptop properly.

However before I start installing Office apps on it I had a couple of questions that I hope someone might advise on:

1. The hard drive came partitioned into a C and D partitions: I presume one for Windows OS and one for applications. But I am thinking of deleting D partition, installing everything in C. For backups I usually just backup what is in my Documents folder. Is there any reason why deleting D partition would be a bad idea?
   no.
2. The laptop came with no physical media. If I wanted to do a complete reinstall of Windows at some stage in the future how do I do that. Is there a way I cam make a Windows disk/image from the existing installation on the laptop?
   just download win 10 from microsoft for free when required. no need to make an image. any drivers will just update automatically
3. Are there any other housekeeping/setup tasks I should do before I start installing applications on the laptop?
   not really. doesn't seem to come with a lot of bloatware on it from the video

Thanks.

see above

tmh106

After playing with the machine for a few days I'm pleased with the purchase. I don't have the technical nous to provide the level of detail that glasso or orm0nd. However FWIW here are my impressions:

• Performance seems impressive. Boots up in under 10 seconds.
• Display is crisp and sharp - for what I want it for (office apps, occassional you tube) it will be perfectly fine.
• Keyboard has a nice chunky fell to it, easy to type on. Placement of some of the numeric pad keys a bit different to what I'm used to on previous laptop, but I'll get used to that.
• Overall pleased with my purchase - thanks to glasso for the recommendation.

A few very minor niggles:

• Would be nice to have an indicator light indicating when caps lock is on
• Mousepad tracker seems a bit over sensitive but I think the problem is probably me rather than the mousepad - I'm used to using an external mouse and will probably revert to doing so.

One question: I'm using the anti virus software that comes with Windows. Is that sufficient or should I be looking at installing something else? Thanks.

Also, I saw in orm0nd's review he mentioned that wifi card might not be great. How would I test the performance of that? In my internet browsing (wifi) it seems perfectly fine - sites I prose to come up as quickly as I expect/need; viewing short you tube videos has not had resulted in any pauses.

thanks for the update.

windows defender is fine and actually preferable to most other anti-virus

if the laptop is picking up your wifi for you and the speed is ok then it's fine.

what you could do is go to fast.com on both the laptop and on another device (e.g. phone) that are both connected to the same wifi and compare speed achieved.

you could also try changing the mousepad sensitivity - could help. but no mousepad will be as good as a decent mouse
https://www.top-password.com/blog/change-touchpad-sensitivity-in-windows-10/

Spudman_20000

tmh106 wrote: »

A few very minor niggles:

• Mousepad tracker seems a bit over sensitive but I think the problem is probably me rather than the mousepad - I'm used to using an external mouse and will probably revert to doing so.

Make sure you've removed the layer of plastic off the mouse track pad. I didn't even notice it for a while and the mouse tracking improved a lot when I removed it.

bigtimecharlie

Just placed my order.

Wife working from home so demands on old W7 laptop too much.