Hey people’s. I have recently moved to a community which after a fire has only limited solar systems for power. So no chance of running my gaming pc, as such I’m looking to get a laptop, nothing too powerful, as it’ll be used mostly for browsing the Web, and watching the occasional movie.
The thing is the house I’m living in has no inverter, so I’m wondering if it’d be possible to get one that’s able to charge off a 12v system.
The other alternative of course is to get a tablet, but I would like the greater storage option.
Is anyone got any suggestions, oh yeah I’m based in New Zealand and looking to spend 1k 1.2k at a stretch.
I’m not sure if there are weird import issues in NZ, but it’s almost certainly cheaper to just buy an inverter and then use a standard laptop. They make small ones designed for electroniics gear while camping, and they shouldn’t be hard to find at a decent price.
I’ve been eyeballing the HP Envy x360. It’s a nice, basic system at a good price point, but won’t commit seppuku over some moderate gaming.
With only limited power available, I would recommend the chromebook route like @TheIdiotYouYellat suggested.
Those 12V will be a problem. Most notebooks charge off 19V. So you either need a step up DC/DC converter (there are lots as 12V is normal voltage in cars, but you running out of warranty) or you need to get an inverter.
Most tablets (including most convertibles & 2-in-1s accept micro sd cards, so no problem there. The other advantage is that you can simply use car USB chargers to charge the tablet up again (cars are 12V).
TL;DR
DIY some DC/DC step up setup or get a notebook/tablet that can carge from USB and use a car USB charger.
From within Chrome OS you can run a Linux distribution, I believe. @Eden probably knows more about this then me.
You could also look into video game steaming services, so you would not need a powerful laptop. I forgot what service it was, but you could stream games from the chrome browser on chrome os.
Specfics in games? Because I did mention web browsing and watching movies. Not really sure what games exactly realise they would need to be fairly low requirements.
I think from using chromebooks in the past I’d rather run Linux, also they seem to have fairly small storage capacity.
12v @ what amperage? How long would you being using a system daily (approx of course)? A chromebook is great for low power and such, but you can spend less, much less on a second hand laptop, if you’re not going to be using it for too many hours during the day to fecover the “charge”.
If you need more storage, you can add a wireless hard drive to it.
It’s portable, very low power, long battery life (especially when watching video), charges off a USB battery bank, etc.
You can get one for just over 1/3 of your budget, and at doing the web browsing/movie thing in a limited electricity environment, it will be superior to anything in that budget.
Honestly? Used macbook air that is in good condition. Though if you can find something to the equivelant of that in a thinkpad or something like an asus laptop you’ll be golden I think. But I’d do something along the line of a MBA.
However, IMHO the ipad offers the best “tablet” experience. MS Surface in this use case is junk imho. And i’ve gone through 4 surface Pros (2x 3, 2x 4). The apps aren’t there, the app store itself is a dumpster fire, battery life is crap and you’ve still got all the brain damage that comes along with Windows maintenance.
It’s sounds like you already have your heart set on something. You need it for browsing and video but don’t want a Chromebook because you want Linux but light go for a tablet even though you can’t put Linux on it… honestly forget Linux, it doesn’t sound like you really need it.
Any option here is fine for what you need. Get a Chromebook, tablet (iPad not any android junk), Surface Go might be a good option if you want a surface, or second hand macbook, or any reasonable laptop with windows
