SV1GAP

I am in search of a new laptop. I share with you some findings.

1. CPU
I am interested in low heat emission and at least medium speed. The CPUs that I came across in late November 2016 were: i3-5005U, i3-6100U, i5-5200U, i5-6200U, i7-6500U. For the 2017 I think we should forget the 5th Generation Intel® Core™.

Source: http://ark.intel.com/search/...

Source: Ibid.

2. RAM

In late 2016, the prices of DDR3L and DDR4 were exactly the same. As far as the cost of the memory itself is concerned, there is no reason for the DDR3L to be preferred to the DDR4 counterpart. The only reason to buy a laptop equipped with DDR3L is if it is sold at a decreased price. Be aware that in, let's say, 2 years from now the DDR3L will be more expensive than the DDR4. So in case you will upgrade (increase) the RAM, do it soon.

1. SO DIMM DDR3L, 4GB http://www.e-shop.gr/...

2. SO DIMM DDR3L, 8GB http://www.e-shop.gr/...

3. SO DIMM DDR4, 4GB http://www.e-shop.gr/...

4. SO DIMM DDR4, 8GB http://www.e-shop.gr/...


Source: http://www.e-shop.gr/...

3. Hard Disk

Forget hard disk! The only reason to buy a laptop with a H/D is if its SSD is small.

4. SSD

128GB is insufficient storage space, 256GB is acceptable, 512GB is fine. In the accompanying Google spreadsheet I mark with red (=bad) color if it is <200GB and with green (=good) color if it is >300GB. In case you have only 128GB SSD, you can have your files in an external drive.

Form factor: Serial ATA or SATA, mini-SATA or mSATA, M.2

Bus: SATA 3.0, PCI Express 2.0 x4, PCI Express x4 NVMe M.2, PCI Express 3.0

1. https://rog.asus.com/articles/hands-on/easy-guide-to-ssds-sata-msata-m-2-and-u-2/

2. http://rog.asus.com/articles/product-news/ssd-guide-pci-express-m-2-msata-and-sata-express-the-differences-explained/

3. http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2947712/sata-ssd.html

4. http://www.computershopper.com/feature/2016-guide-the-best-m.2-solid-state-drives-tested

5. http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-slc-mlc-and-tlc-nand-flash.html

5. Display

IPS is the way to go, but they are rare and expensive. I mark with red (=bad) color the TN displays. I am not sure about resolution. On a 15.6" screen the 1366*768 resolution has its advantages over the 1920*1080 one. So I don't use a color coding system for the resolution.

http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/laptop-screen-resolution-ripoff

Some searches according to the previous criteria:

1. >=15", CPU: i5, i7, Windows 10, <=800€ http://www.e-shop.gr/...

2. >=15", CPU: i5, i7, 8GB, <=800€ http://www.e-shop.gr/...

3. >=15", CPU: i5, i7, 8GB, Windows 10, <=800€ http://www.e-shop.gr/...

4. CPU: i5, 8GB, Windows 10 http://www.skroutz.gr/...

5. CPU: i5, 8GB, Windows 10, SSD https://www.skroutz.gr/...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Perhaps my choice: http://www.mgmanager.gr/..., unboxing: https://www.youtube.com/...

73 de SV1GAP

Supplement to a comment

Recently I read some articles of a terrific guy (N6QW). Among many other circuits that I have found on his blog is a mic amplifier using PNP (and not NPN) transistor. Firstly I simulated it by using a NPN transistor and after that by using the exact transistor of the original schematic. The related posts are http://n6qw.blogspot.gr/2016/09/40m-junk-box-ssb-transceiver-microphone.html and http://n6qw.blogspot.gr/2016/09/taking-break.html. I posted a comment in the article of the 2nd link and here I post some screenshots related to my comment.

I made a rearrangement of R1, R6+C5 and C4. Although there is no difference in the operation of the circuit, for perception and uniformity purposes perhaps it would be better if in the drawing the R1, R6+C5 and C4 were directly in parallel. As far as audio frequencies is concerned there is no difference (voltage source V1 acts as a short circuit at audio frequencies).