astrohip

You're almost certainly correct. In reality, the entire laptop is probably overkill. But I like a really fast machine, with lots of RAM, and blazing hard drive speed (and space) to spare. I don't have many vices in life, but a supersonic laptop is one.

Just pulled the trigger on a Thinkpad P16 Gen 2. Should be here in about two weeks. I appreciate everyone's feedback and help on this!

What is your recommendation if I want to stay with 17". I don't see any Lenovo Thinkpads above 16" Thanks!

Thank you, appreciate the feedback. Good to hear those advantages. The two SSD limit isn't an issue (if I understand you correctly). I need 8TB, so (2)4TB is plenty. And I currently don't have an RJ45 port on my XPS17. I bought a USB-C to RJ45 adapter for that one or two times I actually needed one.

Were you happy with it? Why are you selling it? Thanks, I will dig a little deeper. I agree, the 64GB is plenty, and I can easily add my own second SSD.

I'm also looking at a Lenovo Thinkpad P16 Gen 2. I customized it to: i9 13950HX 64GB DDR5 (2) 4 TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 Opal 16" WQUXGA OLED touch, etc etc Nvidia RTX 2000 The rest is pretty much std. Thoughts? Is this a good laptop? Is there anything else in the Lenovo line I should be looking at?

Thanks, looks like a great machine. But how the heck do I customize it? All it does is send me to Amazon (or others) to buy a pre-configured machine. I need to add RAM, add SSD, upgrade to W11-PRO, etc. Can I buy it from ASUS, and have them customize it?

It appears this isn't released yet.

Off to explore LG. Thanks.

Looking at Alienware now. Any thoughts? Their M18 can handle 2 SSD drives.

DId some research into Framework. While it seems an interesting option, I'm reading mixed reviews on reliability and longevity. I'd rather stick with a big name laptop--Lenovo, Dell, etc. Any other ideas, people? For example, if I look at Lenovo, what is considered their high-end line? Their web site doesn't make it easy to compare.

Thanks, I'll take a look. They appear to be AMD, not Intel. How do the two compare?

Looking for a new laptop... I currently have a fully loaded XPS17, bought in 2021, 64GB RAM, (2) 4TB SSD, 17" touch 4K, i9 Intel. It's had problems from the beginning, but I've lived with them. It overheated from day one, would crash, so I've had to use a laptop cooler full-time. Then last year the webcam went out. Now it's started crashing after an hour or two of running (BSOD), so I just reboot every hour to keep going. And just this week, I noticed it won't charge beyond 94%. I'm ready for something new. I like a fast laptop, SSD drives, lots of RAM, etc. Thanks in advance for your feedback. ========TEMPLATE========== General Questions 1) What is your budget? Generous but not unlimited; $4K-$5K should easily get what I want, but can go over that if worth it. 2) What size notebook would you prefer? I like 17", but could live with 16" or even 15" if no other options. 3) In which country will you buying this notebook? US 4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like? Open 5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed? No 6) What are the primary tasks you will be performing with this notebook? General usage 7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both? I travel between two locations weekly (by car), and take this laptop back & forth. I do occasionally travel (fly), and will take it when I do. But I almost always use it at a desk, regardless of where I am. 😎 Will you be playing games on your notebook? No, I'm not a gamer 9) How many hours of battery life do you need? Not an issue, I leave it plugged in all the time. Whatever battery it comes with will work for those few occasions I use it unplugged. 10) Would you prefer to see the notebook you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK? Online only is okay, if it's a brand name, although I'd probably want to see it to make sure the keyboard is decent. I type a LOT. 11) What OS do you prefer? Windows only 12) What ports do you require on your laptop? USB-C (fast, and several), headphone. Card reader is nice but not required Screen Specifics 13) What screen resolution(s) would you prefer?1080p is fine 14) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? glossy preferred, but if matte is only choice to get the machine I want I'll take it Build Quality and Design 15) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? Not really, but don't want a clunker looking laptop Notebook Components 16) How much storage space do you need? I have (2) 4TB SSD now, and I already use a combined 3TB of them. A single 4TB doesn't leave me much room to grow. I need a machine that can handle two SSD drives (and fast ones). If it only comes with a single 4TB, but has space for another, I can add it myself. But only one SSD slot is a deal-breaker. Timing, Warranty and Longevity 17) When do you consider purchasing this laptop? Now 18) How long do you expect to use this laptop? 4-5 years 19) How long could you afford to do without your laptop if it were to fail? I couldn't. I would keep this one as a backup/spare to use. 20) Would you be willing to pay significantly extra for on-site warranty, or would it be acceptable to you to have to ship the laptop to the vendor for repair with perhaps a week or more outage? I can handle shipping it back. ======END TEMPLATE===========

Thanks!

My XPS 17 (9710) has become sluggish to start/shutdown. When I first got it, from start to desktop was about 12-14 seconds. Now it's almost a minute. And shutdown was even quicker, and now it's even longer. So I'm thinking a fresh install of Windows might help. What's involved in doing this (I've never done a Windows re-install before)? I'd love to be able to keep all my data & files. I'd also love to be able to keep my installed programs, although I understand that may be the issue, and I might have to re-install them after Windows refreshes. For those of you who've done this before, is this more trouble than it's worth? Your thoughts and feedback appreciated! Happy Fourth to those who celebrate.

I just replaced the screen in an XPS 13 2-in-1. I had a local laptop repair shop do it. It was quicker and less expensive than I thought it would be. I believe they replaced the entire panel, as @Aaron44126alludes to in his post above.

As an FYI point for anyone reading this in the future... It cost about $250 for a replacement screen, and $150 for labor. $400 to get it back to normal. A little disappointing to have it fail, especially after only three years.

It's the screen. Found a local laptop guy who can order & replace for me. Thanks again for the help!

Thanks @Aaron44126 for the detailed and very helpful reply. My wife left yesterday to visit grandkids, and took her laptop 😒. I'll try these when she gets back.

My wife has an XPS 13 2-in-1. It has a screen issue that I can't diagnose, nor fix. See pic. The bottom 80% of the screen has very small horizontal lines running side to side, that seem to slightly flicker. The top couple inches are normal. I don't believe it's software. Drivers are updated, nothing new has been installed, no physical damage (dropping, etc). Which leads me to think it's a hardware problem. What can I do that might help diagnose this better? And if it is hardware, what are my repair options? It was bought in Feb 2020, so it's three years old. Thanks!!

Thanks, I'll play around with it then. ETA: It is just a plain black button.

Does this model have the fingerprint reader on the Power button? I'm getting mixed results when I search. Thanks. Why? I've been reading about FIDO, and it seems a fingerprint reader is one method.

Thanks for the detailed reply. My CPU is listed as base speed 2.50GHz. It's an i9-11900H. When I run something full throttle (ex: FlacSquisher), it jumps to 100%, but the speed shows 3.35 or so. Even higher than 2.50? Not sure why. Thanks.

How do I tell? I'm looking at TM now, but not sure where it would show me.

I wonder if that's behind some of the sluggishness I'm seeing. Two rando examples: I load Quicken daily, and I have a huge file (just shy of 200MB). It started taking slightly longer to load a couple weeks ago, not terrible, but enough to notice. Starting MS Word used to take 2-3 secs to load, very quick. Now it's a couple seconds longer. I wondered why everyday programs were taking longer, then I see your post, and wonder if they're related?