New laptop recommendation

[ARBONKAS]

Hello. Please could I have some advise on buying a new laptop?

The laptop will be used for everyday tasks - internet, some office work, basic photo editing, very basic video editing. Often end up multitasking.

As far as gaming goes, only needs to be suitable for Football Manager (SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: OS Windows 7 (SP1), 8/8.1, 10 (Update 1903/May 2019 or later) – 64-bit PROCESSOR Intel Core 2 or AMD Athlon 64 – 1.8 GHz + MEMORY 4 GB RAM GRAPHICS Intel GMA X4500, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT or AMD/ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 – 256MB VRAM DIRECTX API Version 11 HARD DRIVE 7GB available space)

Size wise no smaller than 15.6". Most important a reliable machine, not overheating.

I am currently set on HP Pavilion 15-ec1001na - Amazon product

Is there anything better for around this price range?

Thank you.

 

[jimscreechy]

Its a decent spec for what you want to do. However 256GB SSD's are simply too small for todays average user. I would look at a 512GB SSD for a basic standard set up at least.

The same thing with RAM. 8GB is really at the lower limit of what is required these days, and that really isn't going to be adequate for any new system your thinking of buying. You will experience a noticeable improvement with the same PC if you go to 16GB, as well as not having to think about any imminent upgrades.

 

[Carbon 60]

Hi,

Virtually all the sources I've read say that 8GB DDR4 RAM is easily enough for FM 2021 and you should be able to do some light multitasking as well. Here's a page from FM Blog which pretty much sums up the agreed choice of laptops, and the good news is that your linked HP is on the list: Best Gaming Laptops for Football Manager 2021.

 

[jimscreechy]

Well, requirements listed on a system for Windows 7 with 4GB of RAM is quite a way different from running the same app on Windows 10, and in fact I would say that the football manager aspect of this purchase is largely irrelevant. Windows 10 is a far more resource heavy OS than Windows7 and can eat 4GB or ram just from booting, running a few process and loading the required services. Irrespective of which software or games he's loading I would not recommend 8GB of RAM

Were he playing tick tack toe or solitaire I would still recommend 16GB of RAM, not only because (as I have said) this will make a noticeable difference with performance, but because 8GB RAM is at the very low end of what is reasonable spec for Windows10 and a decent level of performance.

I am only surprised that there is a counter opinion on this given it is a fairly well documented topic, and unless there is a very strict budget to be adhered to, I would not recommend that any new device be purchased with 8GB of RAM for Windows 10. I think that recommending 8GB to someone buying a new laptop is very questionable advice indeed.