I want to buy a new laptop/computer, but don't know wich one to buy.
Should I buy a premade computer or should I make one by myself?
I would appreciate if someone could give me an advise.
Well, you should probably give some details about what you need to do with your computer Smile
For instance:
* do you need mobility because you use your computer at both home and school ?
* do you need small size or can you deal with 17", 3+ kg machines ?
* do you need 10h of battery life, or can you deal with high-powered computers which often have less than 2h of battery life ?
* do you want to run lots of modern games at high framerates and detail settings, or compute things on the GPU, in which case you'll want a powerful GPU and usually a powerful processor ?
* do you want to run CPU-heavy workloads such as some scientific computations, frequent builds of large code bases ?
* do you want to run virtual machines, and "many" of them ? Then you could want > 16 GB of RAM; easy on desktops and higher-end laptops, but many low-end laptops can't do that.
* EDIT: do you need a large amount of persistent storage ? Clearly, >= 2 TB is esaier and cheaper to get on a desktop.

Clearly, for any given amount of money, you'll get a desktop computer more powerful than a laptop. But moving it around is annoying, as we know Smile

Making a (desktop, mostly - DIY laptops are few and not very powerful, AFAIK) computer oneself is a way to get more control over it, clearly. For instance, in pre-made laptops, a powerful CPU and > 16 GB of RAM nearly always implies a powerful GPU, which is a problem for me - I care about the two first items, but not the third one, and frankly, GTX 2060 or higher takes a heavy toll on the money (and power) bill.
Some manufacturers provide fully configurable desktop computers, which can avoid the need to build a computer entirely from parts.
If you don't have a budget, get the mag15.
If you want a cheap and small computer for programming and development, the Raspberry Pi 400 is a good choice. It costs $75 by itself and $100 as a whole kit.


Code:

    Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.8GHz
    4GB LPDDR4-3200
    Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5.0GHz) IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac wireless LAN
    Bluetooth 5.0, BLE
    Gigabit Ethernet
    2 × USB 3.0 and 1 × USB 2.0 ports
    Horizontal 40-pin GPIO header
    2 × micro HDMI ports (supports up to 4Kp60)
    H.265 (4Kp60 decode); H.264 (1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode); OpenGL ES 3.0 graphics
    MicroSD card slot for operating system and data storage
    78- or 79-key compact keyboard (depending on regional variant)
    5V DC via USB connector
    Operating temperature: 0°C to +50°C ambient
    Maximum dimensions 286 mm × 122 mm × 23 mm


If you want cheaper, a Raspberry Pi 4 (around $45) or a 3B+ (Around $35) is a good start.
There are better computers, but these types of computers are designed for experimentation and fiddling. These are also a good choice for programming (languages like Python).

You can get one of those if you want, but that's just me.
I recommend the HP Pavilion 16t, it's a very powerful laptop at an affordable price. I've had mine for around four months now, and have been very happy with it (in the i7-10750h + 1660ti configuration, with an aftermarket 16 GB RAM and 500 GB SSD installed). Its battery life isn't too great, though.

EDIT: Definitely do NOT buy this computer, mine is dead after less than 9 months of usage. Get a Dell or some other brand instead.
Lionel Debroux wrote:
Well, you should probably give some details about what you need to do with your computer Smile


This is key information. We can recommend anything but it may not suit your needs, or we can recommend everything and leave you in the same spot you’re in now except you need to whittle the selection down.

How do you envision using this computer?

I’ll give my two cents though.

I, personally, would shy away from a laptop. They’re popular, portable, and generally a safe purchase but I found out I don’t like laptops because I sit down with them in the same spot all day. It’s always plugged in. So I ended up selling my laptop after a year of ownership, bought a desktop computer and a tablet for mobility. Haven’t looked back.

Typing this on the tablet right now.

My lifestyle and general computer needs don’t require a laptop. Your needs may be different.

Pre-Built versus Making One
Again, without knowing your proficiency with computers, I’ll give my two cents. Go with pre-built. They get a bad rap for having bloat ware but you can buy a “custom built” one from a computer shop without that software. This way you can then upgrade the computer piece-meal over the years. Install more RAM, a new HDD or SSD, update the GPU, and so on. Then perhaps in 4 years you’ll be more confident to build a computer yourself.
Thank you, this definitely helps me.
Don't waste your money on unwanted features you will never use. If you looking for a "gaming" laptop I would advise you look for some this with a lot memory 8 - 12 gb, and make sure you have a graphics card (does not have to be highspec)!!! and make sure you have an SSD not a hard drive.

But if you look a for a simple laptop or computer for programming or surfing the web "chromebooks are the way" (as long it has a intel processor), or you could buy an old laptop off ebay (running windows).
Check out the deals on Costco, they are awesomely awesome. More details would be great, though, lol.
  
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