Octopus Overlords

my dad wants to get my mom a 'premium' notebook for my mom - his requirements:

1) American manufacturer preferred (Dell or HP) - definitely no Chinese companies (nevermind that all these computers are assembled in China anyways...)
2) 17" screen (so this excludes MacBooks)
3) minimum 16GB RAM (nevermind that all mom is going to use this for are web-based tasks...)
4) quiet
5) backlit keyboard
6) integrated webcam

it should also have a decent keyboard, since she won't use an external one.

really, she'd be fine with a Chromebook, but dad is insisting on all the above. i have been combing through refurbs on the Dell and HP sites already.

dad has already suggested:

Dell XPS 17 (9700)
HP Z book 17 G
LG Gram 17 (2020)

Looks pretty good - way to include that Chinese mention to make this a proper R&P topic! If you truly wanted to avoid China - you could look into a Japanese brand. I think Vaio is still properly made in Japan.

Unless you're getting Hunter's, might be the wrong forum.

malchior wrote: ↑Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:52 pm way to include that Chinese mention to make this a proper R&P topic!

you're not wrong, but this should actually have been created in the 'General Computing' forum - notified a mod to have it relocated.

Woosh...


I have had luck with Toshibas but they are China adjacent and quit making laptops earlier this year. Also like Lenovo but... Chinese now.

I dont like Dell or HP. Have a HP laptop I got my wife a few years before she passed. Its been the second slowest POS just behind the Amazon Fire. Im not alone saying HP is SLOW.

mom's current laptop is an HP Pavilion 15-n028us (some $300 item from Staples ca.2013) and it is currently veeeeery slow. i believe the HDD is dying (even though Windows and the BIOS and S.M.A.R.T. all report it is fine) since it's progressively getting worse. reinstalled Windows and it didn't help at all.

mom would seriously be fine with a new $20 128GB SSD and a secondhand 8GB RAM module from eBay (could swap out the 2GB one to make it 12GB total) for this, but dad won't have it.

hitbyambulance wrote: ↑Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:45 pm my dad wants to get my mom a 'premium' notebook for my mom - his requirements:

1) American manufacturer preferred (Dell or HP) - definitely no Chinese companies (nevermind that all these computers are assembled in China anyways...)
2) 17" screen (so this excludes MacBooks)
3) minimum 16GB RAM (nevermind that all mom is going to use this for are web-based tasks...)
4) quiet
5) backlit keyboard
6) integrated webcam

it should also have a decent keyboard, since she won't use an external one.

really, she'd be fine with a Chromebook, but dad is insisting on all the above. i have been combing through refurbs on the Dell and HP sites already.

dad has already suggested:

Dell XPS 17 (9700)
HP Z book 17 G
LG Gram 17 (2020)

If memory serves, you're an experienced Linux user, so it might be worth considering some of the laptops that ship with Linux pre-installed.

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Wed Dec 16, 2020 3:24 am
If memory serves, you're an experienced Linux user, so it might be worth considering some of the laptops that ship with Linux pre-installed.

unfortunately System76 is the only one with models with 17" screens, and since they don't have a US manufacturing plant (yet), all their machines are white-label Chinese-made Clevos and the like.

however... this made me think: https://usamadeproducts.biz/electronics-computers.html - i'm going to float the idea of a FalconNW, Digital Storm or Velocity Micro laptop which is absurdly bonkers coo-coo demented extravagance for my mom's actual computing needs, but the decision being made here is based entirely on emotion, not logic (as often happens with computer purchases). if dad feels he can support a 'merican company and get a high-end product, he will likely go for it.

A Dell XPS is beyond overkill - as is the 16GB. Your old man is throwing money away.

JCC wrote: ↑Wed Dec 16, 2020 9:53 am A Dell XPS is beyond overkill - as is the 16GB. Your old man is throwing money away.

i've suggested upgrading the old laptop, buying refurbished, buying on sale - he literally doesn't care. he's convinced himself he's going to die in the next few years so he just wants to live it up and be reckless with spending. this is 180 degrees from how i was raised with regards to budgeting and money, which is why it's so weird.
this has been going on for some years now. like, a few years ago he purchased a $4k fat tire bike from a local high-end bicycle fabricator (tricked out with all sorts of extras), rode it maybe ten times before deciding he didn't really like it, then sold it for half of what he originally paid for it. a while before that, he had a car that he babied for years in hopes of getting a decent resale on it when he eventually decided to sell it, then let himself be talked into selling it to the dealer for far below what it was worth. (when i asked him later why he did that, he just goes 'I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT')

settled on this particular make/model:

https://slickdeals.net/f/14709233-hp-en ... pro-949-99

HP Envy 17t-cg100: 17.3'' FHD IPS, i7-1165G7, 16GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe SSD, MX450 2GB, Win10 Pro @ $949.99

https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Envy-1 ... 087.0.html

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3566094 ... eview.html

not sure how many "HP households" there are in 2020, but here is one of them.

The problem here is American manufacturers don't put innovations, like a mechanical keyboard, on an uber-laptop. So far, all the American laptop keyboards are little better than membrane keyboards.

FWIW, there's an Inspiron 17 3793 with 16 GB RAM, 256GB SSD+2TB HD for $792 (certified refurb)

IMHO, for a laptop, lightweight is better and far more important than a mechanical keyboard.

If you are going to use it as a desktop, get a dock or USB keyboard.

furthermore - mom will probably never move this laptop from the mini-desk in the living room. a small form factor PC/NUC with monitor, mouse and keyboard would have been a cheaper option. who knows if it would have even be considered? c'est la vie

I agree, which is why I'm using a separate USB keyboard on my desktop right now, but this keyboard is also Bluetooth capable in case I want to use it with my laptop (which I bought for my boot camp but used only once, HP 17 inch)

I'm just saying that "decent keyboard" is really subjective.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sat Dec 19, 2020 8:45 pm my laptop (which I bought for my boot camp but used only once, HP 17 inch)

you only used it once, ever?

Pretty much. Bought it for the bootcamp. Went to class ONCE, then they went online only (this was in March, just as COVID started hitting hard).