I used an Asus Vivobook before, now switched to Lenovo. What was your best laptop ever?

Hi all! I tried deleting firefox with revo uninstaller, which I've been using for the past year or so to skip the annoying confirmations and fake slow load times apps tend to inject while uninstalling, but now for some reason this started happening the moment I decided to cancel the uninstalling process. I restarted and everything appeared normal, but it started up again a while afterwards. (Ps, ignore the weird renames and files, I've had this since I was 13 and I never really bothered deleting the cringe stuff.)

Okay, I'm a bit of a Reddit n00b, so I hope its okay to ask this question here.

I'm looking for a compact laptop. 13 inch or perhaps 14 inch. I do want a pretty big SSD of at least 1 TB. (Not going to discuss this - I like my files to be local). I'm not doing anything really special with it - not some intensive games of 3D applications or anything. Mostly just some MS Office work and some streaming from Youtube and Netflix and stuff like that.

The only thing is that some recent laptops that I had (both from work and private) actually didn't work very well with simple tasks like just watching a YouTube video. I don't really understand why this is an issue in 2026, but for example by brand new Lenovo Thinkpad that I have for work really gets hot (like: unable to keep it on my lap) from just watching a simple YouTube video. So I guess my main criterium for my new laptop is that it doesn't overheat from watching a simple video...? Which sounds stupid, but I don't understand why laptops in 2026 can get overheated from just wathcing a couple of minutes of video...

So any advice on this is appreciated!

I’m looking at buying a laptop, primarily for gaming.
My other half wants to play Planet Zoo 2 so need to know if this is good for it?
My knowledge is frazzled by chatGPT but my old laptop is a 11 year old with an Nvidia GTX 950 so well outdated

Any advice would be much appreciated

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Country: Canada
• Budget: C$1500
• Are you open to refurbs/used options?: Yes
• Screen size: 15"
• Weight limit: The lighter the better, cause the one I already own is quite heavy and its uncomfortable for carrying around.
• Purpose: Coding, Multi-tasking
• Desired battery life: The longer the better, as I need mobility for my work.

I currently own an HP laptop that has served me well for the past 5 or 6 years. Its performance has been great, but it’s starting to slow down, and I am planning to buy a new laptop within the next few months.

Based on my workflow (coding and heavy multi-tasking), I am looking for something with strong performance, a lighter build (since my current HP is quite heavy and uncomfortable to carry around), and long battery life for mobility.

However, I am really confused about which brand offers the best performance and value for money. Here are my main dilemmas:

1. Brand & Ecosystem Options

• MacBook: I’ve heard amazing things about its performance, incredible battery life, and lightweight design. Since I've never used a Mac before, I'm slightly worried about the learning curve. I am also an Android user, but I know there are workarounds (like third-party apps and browser tools) to achieve seamless phone-to-Mac collaboration, so that isn't a dealbreaker.
• Microsoft Surface / Samsung Galaxy Book: I’ve heard mixed reviews about Galaxy Books, and I’m unsure if Surface or Galaxy Book performance actually reaches the limits of a MacBook.
• HP: Should I stick with what I know and try a newer high-end HP model, or branch out?

2. Specifications: RAM & Storage

• My current laptop has 16GB of RAM, which has been solid and sufficient for the last 5–6 years.
• Question: Will a 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD configuration be sufficient for my future coding and multi-tasking needs, or should I push for higher specs?

3. MacBook Configuration Dilemmas

If I wanna buy a MacBook:

• Is it better to go with a newer chip (e.g., an M5) paired with 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD?
• ... Or should I opt for an older generation chip (like an M3 or M4) paired with higher RAM?

as mentioned in post title. though the display is thankfully not causing any obstruction, there is still a blackish blotch on the top corner of the screen along with two lines at the top. i can use it as i was before.

should i get it checked and fixed? if so, how much will it cost if repaired by a local shop and not the HP store itself? or should i get it repaired only by the HP store? OR is it okay to ignore it since it's just a display thing and won't turn worse over time? please let me know. thankyou !! :D

ps. it's out of the warranty period. about three weeks ago, i got its battery changed since it got realllly bloated. there seems to be some bad omen around my laptop sigh :/

Tried F8,F9,F10

Not really sure what to do to load my pc Bios.

Background: was using youtube and pc crashed and since stuck on this screen

I am buying an x390 yoga 16gb ram

256ssd

Core i5 8365u

For about 138 usd

Is it a good deal or am I getting ripped off

My budget is 1000-1700 USD. I want a great deal and battery life is very important to me and coolness to since i want it to be realiable and long lasting. I dont care about GPU since you could probably spend money on an actual pc with better gpu that a laptop could ever compare to, 32 gb ram, 1 tb storage and big battery with not much weight sounds like a dream. But if like the perfect laptop was there that has everything good af, i would spend 1600-1700. I’m in philadelphia right now but dont mind traveling if its close enough. I just want a really good deal that id be forever thankful to somebody for. Thank you so much, have a good day everyone.

Take a look at this HP 250 G10 Backlit (2025) Professional Intel Core i5 13th Gen 1334U - (16 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 11 Home) 250 G10 Thin and Light Laptop on Flipkart https://dl.flipkart.com/s/wDJL5uNNNN

Well as we all know about the RAM prices, I don't wanna spend unnecessarily on DDR5 RAM, so please helppp me guyyss,

I don't know i thought DDR4 was good enough but then I watched a few vids and asked AI about it, it was pretty insistent on DDR5. Could y'all please help me out with it, I'm gonna go for 16GB RAM for context.

Thank youu

Edit: I am a Computer Science Major with a specialization in Data Science who wanna buy a new Laptop

Need to buy laptop mostly for office laptop than you

Budget: ~$500
I’m looking for a laptop to use at home for work. To access apps, I’ll need to set up VPNs.
It doesn’t have to have a touchscreen.
Since I often research, I usually open multiple apps and browser tabs simultaneously.

Any recs?

Old laptop was a rog Zephyrus g14 with the ryzen 7 4800hs and a 1660ti. No longer gaming so don't need a gaming laptop.

Current preferences are for build quality, battery life and speed (cpu and ram). Would prefer a 15" laptop but 14-16" is okay.

Currently one I have my eye on is the surface laptop 15. But unsure about switching to ARM. I primarily use laptop for videos, emails, YouTube and notes/book keeping business stuff. Don't really use any specific programs that may not run with arm (can't think of any off the top of my head).

Not looking for a MacBook. I don't like macOS.

Bought it 4 months ago for ~$800. Didnt like it much but its literally brand new. My parents gonna whoop my ass if they know. Should i take it to fix it professionally? I have an old laptop that i can use but it needs to be plugged in to use. Or is there any place where i can trade in for some cash?

I was playing a game with my freinds off of steam when my laptops fan suddenly started going randomly very loud every couple of seconds. idk barely anything abt computers I got this from my mom on my birthday after begging for awhile and ive had it for about a year. I cleaned the fans and tried to clean them according to a YouTube tutorial I saw but the heatsink I think its called is connected to my fan so I just vacuumed excess dust and brushed, but even after I cleaned it(my dad's buying me an air can later today to try cleaning it more so who knows) the fan is still SUPER DUPER LOUD in short bursts every couple seconds other then that the fan sound like its barely working when I start it up.

Any tips or should I just take it to a repair shop or save up for an actual pc 😭😓🤔

I have an HP Victus 16 (Ryzen 7 5800H, RTX 3060) that I've owned since February 2022. Today, I opened it up for the second time ever and decided to disconnect the battery before cleaning the dust out. The laptop had been completely shut down for at least 10 hours, and the battery was at 100%.

While pulling the battery connector out of its motherboard socket by hand, I saw the tiniest blue spark and heard a little tick. The spark appeared directly between the white plastic connector and the socket I was pulling it out of.

I immediately panicked and pushed the connector back in. I then flipped the laptop over and pressed the power button, but absolutely nothing happened. No boot, no power indicator, nothing. I plugged in the charger, pressed the power button, and thankfully the laptop turned on. After that, I disconnected the charger, and the laptop continued running on battery power. I tested the fans and everything seemed normal. I then shut it down completely and successfully turned it back on using only the battery.

Everything appears to be working normally now, but that initial spark and the fact that it wouldn't turn on until I connected the charger really freaked me out. I'm wondering whether this was a brief electrical arc from disconnecting the battery while it was still electrically live, static electricity, or something else entirely.

My questions are:

1. Is a tiny spark like this normal or expected when disconnecting a laptop battery?

2. Could I have damaged the motherboard, battery connector, or power circuitry even though everything seems to work normally now?

3. Why would the laptop refuse to turn on immediately after the spark but work perfectly after I connected the charger?

4. Should I be concerned about any potential long-term damage?

I'd appreciate any insight from people who have experienced something similar. This laptop is nearly five years old and has been my daily work and gaming machine, so the thought of accidentally damaging it while cleaning it is pretty awful.

Was going through the review by notebookcheck and this looks really bad. I'm looking for a long term windows device and don't want to end up with any downsides especially on something basic/important like the display. I also thought pwm was not an issue on mini leds...

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Microsoft-Surface-Laptop-Ultra-RTX-Spark-Review-The-2000-nits-Mini-LED-panel-is-a-problem.1426103.0.html

ive recently bought a used elitebook 640 g9 14" with an i7 1255u 32gb ddr4 512gb ssd off ebay, and have installed win 11 iot enterprise ltsc 24h2 on it, but for the life of me i cant get audio to output via the laptops inbuilt speakers, ive tried the drivers from the Microsoft update, ive tried the drivers hp's website "https://support.hp.com/ca-en/drivers/hp-elitebook-640-14-inch-g9-notebook-pc/2101000544", what's strange is that it shows up in the audio volume adjust as there being built in speakers, and it tries to output audio via them, but nothing is coming out of the speakers, i have tried the aux jack and some headphones and this works fine, i have also made sure that the speakers are enabled it the bios, i have also made sure to install the hp app and the hp audio control app, which both have done nothing to help, has anyone got any ideas on why this might be and how to fix it?

I ripped of the red and yellow circled tape, because the plastic screw holds on back plate cracked (ignore green circled ones for now)

So i kept the 2 screws near it in (to avoid the plastic fragments tightened by the screw from rattling in there)

But the 2 pieces of tape were attached and got ripped off and lost the stickiness

But the green circled ones are still fine.

What do i do? (i dont have any conductive tape on me).

Ps: ignore the doughnut shaped dents in the back case

Hey everyone.

I recently bought a brand new Dell laptop, and I do love it. But there's one thing I'd like to ask.

It seems like the back cover screws were manipulated with (pics attached). The package was factory sealed though 🤔

Do you think I'm being a little bit paranoid? Maybe Dell just lowered their QA standards.

Thanks