Steal of a deal on a laptop more than good enough for most people

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 01/31/2019 at 09:56 • Filed to: None

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B&H Photo has a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with basically all the features you could want out of a laptop. It’s not loaded, but it will suffice, and it’s only $600.  

The specs on this laptop are straightforward: Intel Core i5-8250U , 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, 1080p screen, backlit keyboard, fingerprint reader, and a Thunderbolt 3 USB-C port for docking to a monitor, power adapter, multiple peripherals etc all with one plug, if you get the right dongle or docking station. It weighs only 2.5 lbs.

The i5-8250U is the lowest-end of Intel’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! low power laptop CPUs, but still plenty fast. All of these are great laptop processors with more than enough grunt and low power consumption for good battery life.

N o, there’s no fancy 2-in-1 flippy twisty hinge, and sure you could always step up to more RAM, a bigger SSD, a real GPU, facial recognition for login, or a higher-resolution and/or touch screen. B ut for most folks, this is a nice powerful laptop with plenty of horsepower that should last plenty of years into the future.

Plenty of laptops in the sub-$1000 price range, and even lots of more expensive ones, don’t offer Thunderbolt 3, or any of the other flavors of USB-C port that can both charge the computer and output to a display at the same time for 1-cable docking . The next-cheapest I could find is the HP Envy 13t, which !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and has a semi-proprietary HP USB-C port to do this rather than Thunderbolt 3.

So if you’re in the market for a nice but not crazy overkill laptop, and 1-port Thunderbolt 3 docking appeals to you, this is a solid move. B&H lists its stock status as “more on the way,” but if you order one, you should get one eventually. Like a week or two.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2019 at 10:29

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Good tip. I was actually a little tempted, but it does have... issues. Non-touchscreen is a little annoying, though an IPS display makes up for that somewhat. Webcam is surprisingly shitty for a $1000 laptop in 2018/2019, and only having 1 real and 1 fake usb port... Hmm. Also I’ve heard bad things about the Ideapads, but I think that was because of Lenovo’s past firmware transgressions.

Patrick Nichols > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2019 at 10:37

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Good call, while it wouldn’t fit my needs, it is a hell of a deal. The only major flaw being the 16:9 screen rather than the much more useful 3:2 aspect ratio with laptops of this size.

Also I have my doubts about the trackpad quality and I hate when laptops place the power button where the delete key goes. And last nitpick is that one of the USB A ports could probably be dropped for an sd card reader. I do love thunderbolt 3 ports too since docked peripherals are so much easier to manage and actually gives your desk an advantage over, say, the couch or bed where I’m likely to be less productive .

facw > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 01/31/2019 at 10:44

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I have a touchscreen laptop, but I’ve never used the touchscreen for anything, it really doesn’t seem useful. What is useful is the 3200x1800 screen that was only available with the touchscreen option.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > facw 01/31/2019 at 10:53

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Touchpads frustrate me, so if I don’t have a mouse connected I like using the touchscreen for basic clicking.  It has become enough of a thing that I’ve gone ahead and put it on my “must have” list for my next laptop. :shrugs:

HammerheadFistpunch > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2019 at 11:18

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Man thats so close to perfect for me.  If it had an built in SD card reader i would be all up ons.  Why no SD card reader!

t0ast > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2019 at 11:45

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Solid deal. I’ve been rocking the i7-8550U/ MX150 version of that model for almost a year now and it’s been great so far. The i5 should indeed be more than enough for most basic tasks, I just wanted some light-to-moderate gaming capabilities on top of that.  Either way, the build quality is great and it strikes a nice balance between price, power, battery, and portability. The fans are a little on the noisy side , but that can be mitigated to some extent with undervolting and/or turbo limitations via Intel XTU, ThrottleStop, etc.

Textured Soy Protein > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 01/31/2019 at 12:02

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I’d rather not have a touchscreen on a laptop. It’s of minimal utility and if you do end up using it then you have to clean fingerprints off your screen.

I do agree with you on some laptops having inexcusably shitty webcams. The webcam on my Macbook Pro 13 from 2014 is great. But I video call people so infrequently that it’s not really a concern.

There are 4 total USB ports. Two USB-A, two USB-C. One of the USB-C ports has a charging icon next to it while the other has Thunderbolt 3. The manual says both of the USB-C ports can charge the laptop but full docking with video output needs to use the Thunderbolt 3.

Textured Soy Protein > Patrick Nichols 01/31/2019 at 12:11

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I also prefer a 16:10 or 3:2 screen. I have the 3:2 on my 2014 MBP 13 but it’s pretty rare in Windows laptops. When I was shopping for monitors for my home office setup I had a hard time deciding between a 24" 16:10 1920x1200 or a 25" 16:9 25 60x1440, but I went with the latter for more size and resolution.

Textured Soy Protein > HammerheadFistpunch 01/31/2019 at 12:18

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I know it’s annoying but I can live without a built in SD card reader. My main use of SD cards is my good camera, but at this point most of the time I’m just taking a snap or three and zipping them over to my phone over wifi and editing in Snapseed. Sometimes I’ll fire up the computer to work on a larger batch of pictures off the SD card, but a built-in reader doesn’t seem too much of a loss to me when you can get this handy dandy lil thing that takes both regular and micro SD cards, and has USB-A, USB-C and micro USB connections.

I actually have this one that’s similar but discontinued and lacks the full-size USB-A connection.

I bought it for using with my phone and/or tablet before I got a wifi SD card for my camera (which doesn’t have built-in wifi). So if I got a USB-C laptop with no SD card reader I’d already be all set. 

HammerheadFistpunch > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2019 at 12:44

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Im used to adapters and dongles and widgets and what have you but when I travel i need a minimal rugged package to offload professional type camera footage. Right now Im using an old eeepc because its small, tough has internal reader and a great battery life. i would love to replace it with something way less slow, but I already have a macpro for heavy e diting and dongling.  Still, so close

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2019 at 13:00

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Is this a paid shill or something?

Patrick Nichols > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2019 at 13:29

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True, I think the entire surface line (at least laptop and book) are 3:2, but obviously start at a different price point. I can’t imagine the panels are that much more expensive if manufactured on the same scale, so I guess I just wish they were more common. On a 22 "+ screen I don’t have that big of an issue with it, since at that point you likely have multiple (I go stacked 24" with a vertical 27" wide display) .

Patrick Nichols > facw 01/31/2019 at 13:31

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I generally like it for scrolling when reading web pages or swiping through pictures when its in my lap if I’m not in a typing scenario.

BobintheMtns > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2019 at 14:19

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I’d be wary of lenovo computers.

I bought a lenovo laptop for my business. It took a couple of weeks to get all the pre-installed spyware, adware, and other bullshit chinese crap off of it.... seriously. I installed spybot search and destroy the first time I turned the computer on and spybot about died it found so much malware......

Textured Soy Protein > HammerheadFistpunch 01/31/2019 at 14:52

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Welp, I’m sure you could probably find something with an internal card reader in this price range. The main things that this particular computer offers that most others in this range don’t are the Thunderbolt 3 port and backlit keyboard to go with one of the new quad-core Intel chips.

Although it also sounds like if you’re doing photo editing on an Eee PC you could probably function with a smartphone or tablet and wifi-connected camera or SD card, or a dongle to plug the card into the phone/tablet. 

Textured Soy Protein > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 01/31/2019 at 14:54

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Nope, just sharing this W ILD N CRAZY DEAL for a laptop with Intel  quad core + backlit keyboard + Thunderbolt 3

Textured Soy Protein > Patrick Nichols 01/31/2019 at 15:09

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Some Chromebooks from Google, Samsung and Asus are starting to adopt 3:2 screens. I think outside of Surface stuff the only Windows computers with 3:2 screens are from Huawei. I always kinda hated 16:9 on laptops. 16:9 is fine for TVs but even with a big desktop monitor it’s almost too wide.

When computers first went to widescreen monitors, they were much more commonly 16:10 screens. But as HDTVs became more common it seemed like all computers (outside of Apple sticking with 3:2) went to 16:9. Some Android tablets hung on to 16:10 19200x1200 or 2560x1600 panels.

There are still some 16:10 monitors but they’re less common and as far as I know to get up to that 2k-equivalent 2560x1600 resolution you have to go up to 30" to get it and they’re rare.

Personally for my home office I didn’t want to mess with multiple displays especially without some kind of dock. 25" 2k 16:9 (2560x1440) is fine for my needs. 

Patrick Nichols > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2019 at 15:16

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The other benefit of 3:2 is that if there is only a small bezel on the monitor it offers more space below the keyboard for a bigger trackpad and wrist rests. My multiple monitor setup is on my desktop rig with one monitor able to toggle between the desktop and extending my laptop, but if I was going with a laptop only setup I’d probably go 2 screens and one of the thunderbolt docks.

Textured Soy Protein > Patrick Nichols 01/31/2019 at 17:23

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The Huawei Matebook X Pro Signature Edition is actually very close to my ideal laptop. I want a 14" screen, thin & under 3 lbs , good CPU horsepower , 12+ GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, ideally w/ GPU but not required , backlit keyboard, 1-plug docking.

The Matebook X Pro has a 13.9" 3000x2000 screen, and the Signature Edition which is going for $1450 right now bumps up to an i7-8550U, Nvidia MX150, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD.

All else equal I’d rather have a matte screen than glossy (but I’m fine with the glass screen on my MBP), so t he only thing that really stinks about it is the silly webcam that pops up from under a key on the keyboard and thus looks right at your chin.

Another one that checks most all my boxes in theory is the Asus Zenbook 3 Deluxe that’s on sale at Micro Center for $1250 at the moment. But it has a 1080p 16:9 screen, the webcam is apparently only 480p and crap, and user reviews mention reliability problems along with mediocre support from Asus.

So...while my wife has an Asus Zenpad 3S 10 tablet and I’m seriously considering getting her the new 14" 3:2 Chromebook Flip , I dunno if I’d sink that much money into an Asus product. And I don’t really need to replace my MBP anyway. 

Patrick Nichols > Textured Soy Protein 01/31/2019 at 18:56

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For what its worth, I replaced my 2011 mbp with a first gen surface book (that I love) and it seems to tick all your boxes except the matte screen. Sure it has a touchscreen and no thunderbolt input, but the power connecter can be used as a peripheral dock if you get the extra accessory. The only other downside is the price for a 16GB + i7 + dedicated graphics model is pretty steep new, but I picked mine up for ~$900 refurbished.

Also have heard good things about the porsche design book one if you can find one at a decent price.