Laptop Upgradeability

[Thandorr]

Hey there, I was hoping to get a bit of help from those of you with a great deal of experience in upgrading laptops over the years; and those who are currently well versed with what is currently on the market.

This fall I'm enrolling in University for IT/Computer Science and I am looking for a solid PC with good upgradeability. I want to buy a PC that I can reasonably expect to have for the next several years, upgrading the hardware as I need to.

I am open to any brand/OEM, as that doesn't matter to me. Thanks for any help you're willing to give.

Cheers!

[chazus]

You don't really upgrade laptops, outside of maybe the hard drive and ram, if you ever need to.

Do you know what kind of work/class you'll be dealing with?

Also going to move this to the build/upgrade subforum.

[Thandorr]

Yeah, it's not realistic to be able to swap out anything but the HD, ram, or battery on most laptop models, but I was wondering if there was something on the market that I wasn't aware of; something I've missed in my research.

Not sure exactly what you're looking for in your question, but I'm going for a B.S in Information Technology with a Minor/Emphasis in Computer Science. I'll start pretty low on the totem pole and focus on getting some of the easier certs. I'll start with Comptia A+ and network + but eventually, I'd like to get into security. The main reason I'll need the laptop is in the daily work wherever I'm working. After I get A+, i'll be able to start working while I'm still in school and I'd like something that will stay with me for awhile on the job.

[Deleted]

Yeah, it's not realistic to be able to swap out anything but the HD, ram, or battery on most laptop models, but I was wondering if there was something on the market that I wasn't aware of; something I've missed in my research.

There are some laptops out there that allow you to change the GPU and CPU, however they are expensive. Probably so, that it will be cheaper to just buy a new laptop

I think you are probably better of with getting a good laptop now, something with a i7 6700HQ and possibly 960m/970m. That should hold out for the next few years. But I would not buy that laptop right now, new GPUs are coming out in June/Juli from AMD/Nvidia. Nothing has been said yet about laptop GPUs but I imagine there could be a few new ones also out around fall.

[the boar]

it bums me out that the laptop market isn't similar to the pc market, pick your own case, display, parts, build it yourself

if you have a country, budget and general idea of what you want (performance, size, etc.) everyone can have a shop around for ideas

[Thandorr]

There are some laptops out there that allow you to change the GPU and CPU, however they are expensive. Probably so, that it will be cheaper to just buy a new laptop

I think you are probably better of with getting a good laptop now, something with a i7 6700HQ and possibly 960m/970m. That should hold out for the next few years. But I would not buy that laptop right now, new GPUs are coming out in June/Juli from AMD/Nvidia. Nothing has been said yet about laptop GPUs but I imagine there could be a few new ones also out around fall.

I appreciate the information, my friend. What do you think about thinkpads? I was looking at a T560 and thought that might be a good one to go with. They are always sturdy and reliable. However, they just released their skylake upgrades to their line-up and I don't imagine they will start carrying them with the new GPU's until the kabylake upgrade in 2017.

[nerdoftheweek]

I appreciate the information, my friend. What do you think about thinkpads? I was looking at a T560 and thought that might be a good one to go with. They are always sturdy and reliable. However, they just released their skylake upgrades to their line-up and I don't imagine they will start carrying them with the new GPU's until the kabylake upgrade in 2017.

Personally, I don't trust Lenova, bought a ThinkPad two years ago, only to find out a year and a half later that it had major security problems and was full of spyware, etc.

[Deleted]

I appreciate the information, my friend. What do you think about thinkpads? I was looking at a T560 and thought that might be a good one to go with. They are always sturdy and reliable. However, they just released their skylake upgrades to their line-up and I don't imagine they will start carrying them with the new GPU's until the kabylake upgrade in 2017.

I myself used a thinkpad E330 for a few years. I still use it when I travel a bit. It is small, sturdy and does the job.
However, I had a quick look at the T560, and it is using a low voltage CPU. SO the i7 model is only a dual core with HT. I have no idea what the requirements are for your study, but it might be better to get a 'normal' cpu. So probably either a i5 6300 HQ or i7 6700HQ (or higher)

Personally, I don't trust Lenova, bought a ThinkPad two years ago, only to find out a year and a half later that it had major security problems and was full of spyware, etc.

I was under the impression their Thinkpad line did not have the spyware issue, that was only for the ideapads and normal consumer laptops.

[nerdoftheweek]

I was under the impression their Thinkpad line did not have the spyware issue, that was only for the ideapads and normal consumer laptops.

It was on my refurbished Thinkpad, don't remember the model as I sent it back and complained and they gave me a certificate for the retailer I bought it from.

[Tommi]

Clevo is a good brand for that. I know that I can upgrade the CPU on my laptop, the graphics is soldered on though

[Thandorr]

Clevo is a good brand for that. I know that I can upgrade the CPU on my laptop, the graphics is soldered on though

Can you give me a bit more information on Clevo. I haven't been able to find all that much information on them, but I honestly haven't spend much time digging as im out of town currently.

[Tommi]

Can you give me a bit more information on Clevo. I haven't been able to find all that much information on them, but I honestly haven't spend much time digging as im out of town currently.

Clevo is a company that produces barebones laptops for themselves and many other OEMs. Generally, they sell a chassis with a mobo, battery, screen and leave the OEM to put in a processor, RAM and whatever else.

As you're from USA, you'll find Sager is slightly more well known over there, but they are clevo resellers. This is an example of a company that sells them: http://www.xoticpc.com/
But if you see a laptop with customization parts like processor, then chances are the base unit was manufactured by clevo.

here's a link to them on that website: http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming...ue&order=price



From experiance in fixing many many clevo based machines, they are god damn easy to fix. Take off back panel, and that's it. Here's come pics of mines from when I changed thermal paste. Very easy machine to repair.

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...31095808_o.jpg
https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...85750478_o.jpg

[Thandorr]

All of the xoticpc stuff looks pretty cool, but I don't know if they are going to offer me what I need. These are gaming machines but the look of them; I am not seeking a gaming machine since I have a PC at home. And these laptops only offer 2+ hours of battery, lol. Whether that is assuming heavy, graphic intensive gaming and not the more productive type work I'll be involved in is unknown to me. Either way, I'm not sure these will meet my needs.

After looking a bit further, I think the Thinkpad T460p may be a good option. Of course, I'm open to your opinions and suggestions. This is a durable 14in laptop with a quad-core soldiered CPU. I haven't looked into the inner workings, but I assume that I'll be able to upgrade the RAM, Battery, and HDD/SSD as needed. The skylake processor should give me several years of use before finally tuckering out, but like I said before, those with much more experience in these areas have valuable opinions to me and I welcome them.

[Tommi]

Oh, I completely misread what you were asking for. Allow me to have a better look for you. Any budget in mind?

[Thandorr]

Something like $1000 preferably. Less is good too! :P