Skip to main content
Hey Tarjei,
We've been exclusively using 15" HP EliteBooks for the past few years and found them fantastic. They look identical to a MacBook Pro, yet are more affordable, have a great 15" 1920x1080 FHD screen, include a numeric keypad within the keyboard, and can be customized to supercharge with extra RAM and storage.
Here's a link to the configuration page for the current model HP EliteBook 855 G8 Notebook PC:
www.hp.com/us-en/shop/ConfigureView?urlLangId=&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&storeId=10151&catEntryId=3074457345619963320&quantity=1
M.
When I got a laptop repaired in 2018 after a power surge when I was in Tasmania, this crazy tech guy in Hobart had this on his repair desk:
I've found it very accurate from speaking with our users since that time.
Interesting that Apple isn't #1 on any metric.
Hi Mike,
This is very interesting, I found the 2020 version here: https://www.laptopmag.com/au/features/laptop-brand-ratings
I'm not surprised Asus have climbed to the top - they have really stepped up their hardware, but from reading the article it seems to be mostly focused on gaming performance and the margins are very fine at the top so I would have through between the top three it doesn't really matters
Interesting that both the glamor brands (Apple and Surface) are at the bottom when it comes to what actually matter.
Appreciate the recommendation for the HP 855 but can't find it sold in Oz. How would the 850 G8 below compare?
https://www.scorptec.com.au/product/laptops-&-notebooks/laptops/90911-3g...
Also, what is a reasonable amount of RAM, and at what stage does it not really matter anymore? Would it be worthwhile upgrading from 8 to 16?
Hi Tarjei
I agree with Mike here, the EliteBook is a great computer for modelling. It has been by far the best computer I've ever had.
I've been looking at the computers over the last few weeks myself and the 850 G8 is the one I've had my eye on (my current computer is the 850 G3). You cannot get the HP 855 in Australia I don't think. Also they don't seem to have an Australia version of the custom build page that Mike has linked to, I've had to call and email them given I've wanted extra hard disk space. Their service people have been a bit slow getting back to me in terms of my calls/emails.
Cheers
Tim
Love joining these conversations.
I've found that multi-core really helps, I'd suggest minimum is 4-cores that can thread up. With Excel nowadays, it can actually start to utilise the parallel processing. We actually have a separate desktop for churning larger files.
RAM I think 8gb is sufficient, but I would upgrade to 16gb, since the incremental cost isn't prohibitive and helps with future proofing. Storage space is up to how you manage your file systems
I think brand helps with the external packaging, but after service is also important. All of our laptops are Dell, and it's purely for the service. The service has been spot on whenever we've had issues with the laptops, which I'll add is not a common thing.
Jun
Hi all,
Thank you for all your feedback and recommendations - hard to find business use reviews online!
I currently have a Dell and I agree on the customer service side. Just stumbled across this one and am very close to pulling the trigger especially seeing it's in stock and ready to ship tomorrow- does anyone have any thoughts on the specs? They look good to me, specially at $2,400!
https://www.dell.com/en-au/work/shop/business-laptops-ultrabooks-and-tab...
Thanks
T
Hey Tarjei,
It's pretty powerful. A couple considerations to think about are portability and heat management. First thing is whether you want the laptop for portability. The graphics card is pretty power hungry and will eat up voltage quick fast when not plugged in.
Also, the card isn't particularly helpful for spreadsheet usage, at least at the moment... Usually I'd be concerned about heat management, but I assume if you aren't going to be gaming or 3d rendering it will be fine.
Otherwise price is quite good for the 8 cores, 16gb and 1tb of nvme!
Jun
Thanks Jun, very good points.
I don't need it to be portable for more than a couple of hours, so not too concerned about that part.
From the reviews I've seen online it does get very hot as the fans are at the back and screen flips down behind the laptop and in front of the fans (which sounds like a design flaw). I don't do any gaming or 3D rendering so hopefully it won't be an issue. If I decide to get it....:-)
T