# Entry Level - Performance Laptop - INR 60-65K - mostly editing



## 123hero (Jul 31, 2020)

*1) What is your budget? *(INR or USD)
_Around INR 60-65K_

*2) What size & weight consideration (if any) would you prefer?*

 _Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen._
_Weight : Not much of an issue since traveling will be minimal_
*3) What are the primary tasks you will be performing with this notebook? *

_Primarily used for the following purposes.

1. Video Editing ~ mostly 1080p videos - - 60% of time (Adobe Premiere Pro / After Effects)
2. Watching movies - 30 % of time
3. Light Gaming - 10 % of time  - (I dont play much AAA games)_

*5) Any typical configuration in your mind you're eying for ?*

_Processor : i5 - 9th / 10th Gen or any similar spec chipset from AMD Ryzen 5 or 7 series
Storage : Min 256GB SSD 
GPU : Min GTX 1650
RAM : Min 8GB RAM - provision for expansion as well.
Screen : Best available Iat the price point - FHD is okay- Crisp and Punchier Colors.  Need to cover atleast 70% RGB Gamut._

*4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?*
Need to see laptop in store before buying
Also if list of approved retailers from onlines stores that are genuine.

*6) Anything else you would like to say?*


Screen resolution *( *1080p (*Full HD*) *)*
Battery back up *(* normal (*3-4hrs*) 
Purchase place *(* Online and Offline *)*
Should be able to last a minimum  and should not be under powered for the next 4-5 years.

Hope one of the below will suffice the requirements.

1. ASUS TUF Fx505 DT - currently 65K  - - *www.amazon.in/FX505DT-Graphics-5-3550H-Windows-FX505DT-AL106T/dp/B07RTYFS9S/
2. Acer Nitro 7 -currently 68K  - - *www.amazon.in/Acer-i5-9300H-Proces...omputers&sprefix=acer+ni,computers,304&sr=1-3
3. Lenovo Legion Y540 - currently out of stock but available in store for 65K --  i5 9th GEN / 256GB SSD + 1 TB HDD, 8GB RAM + GTX 1650 ~4 GB


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## whitestar_999 (Jul 31, 2020)

@omega44-xt @SaiyanGoku Do you think ryzen 4xxx laptops availability improving any time soon.


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## dissel (Jul 31, 2020)

_



			1. Video Editing ~ mostly 1080p videos - - 60% of time (Adobe Premiere Pro / After Effects)
		
Click to expand...


At least 16GB RAM (and Hexa Core if 4K) needed if you run both at the same time and create Dynamic Link - After Effects start become heavier once you start adding layer/component, Stick to Nvidia as both will benefit from that.

Premiere Pro will also benefit from increased  RAM if you are into pre-formatted Transition and Graphics/Titles. _


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## SaiyanGoku (Jul 31, 2020)

Target Ryzen 5 4600H and GTX 1650 for nvenc support on Premiere. Of course, you'll have to use an external monitor because of low color accuracy and color gamut coverage on performance laptops in this budget.


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## 123hero (Jul 31, 2020)

dissel said:


> _At least 16GB RAM (and Hexa Core if 4K) needed if you run both at the same time and create Dynamic Link - After Effects start become heavier once you start adding layer/component, Stick to Nvidia as both will benefit from that.
> 
> Premiere Pro will also benefit from increased  RAM if you are into pre-formatted Transition and Graphics/Titles. _



Wont be running both simultaneously.

16GB is a wish but unfortunately 16GB models are north of 80K and money is tight. I was planning to put not more than 40K but understand the laptops in that price bracket may not be much suitable for editing  

Will upgrade possibly after this COVID thing is over.


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## 123hero (Jul 31, 2020)

SaiyanGoku said:


> Target Ryzen 5 4600H and GTX 1650 for nvenc support on Premiere. Of course, you'll have to use an external monitor because of low color accuracy and color gamut coverage on performance laptops in this budget.



Any laptops in the Ryzen 5 4600H that can be purchased immediately (in the next 10-15 days)

Monitor is defintely out of question till Jan 2021 and will have to manage with whatever best is available.


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## omega44-xt (Aug 1, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> @omega44-xt @SaiyanGoku Do you think ryzen 4xxx laptops availability improving any time soon.


One can only hope.


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## omega44-xt (Aug 1, 2020)

123hero said:


> Any laptops in the Ryzen 5 4600H that can be purchased immediately (in the next 10-15 days)
> 
> Monitor is defintely out of question till Jan 2021 and will have to manage with whatever best is available.


Look during the upcoming Amazon & maybe FK sales.

Models to look for:

Asus TUF A15 for ~62k (Its thermal system isn't good for R7 + 1660Ti, but fine for R5 + even 1650Ti)
HP Pavilion Gaming for under 60k
Both have R5 4600H + GTX 1650. If you can't find them in stock, get Lenovo Y540. Try to get 8GB RAM model with maybe 512GB SSD pre-installed. Add a 1TB HDD/SSD & additional 8GB RAM later.


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## Neo (Aug 1, 2020)

HP omen? Idk its price though


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## 123hero (Aug 1, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> Look during the upcoming Amazon & maybe FK sales.
> 
> Models to look for:
> 
> ...



Thanks a lot @omega44-xt for the recommendations.

ASUS TUF A15 (Ryzen 5 4600H  models retailing at north of 75K) - - Buy ASUS TUF Gaming A15 Laptop 15.6" FHD 144Hz, Ryzen 5 4600H, GTX 1650Ti 4GB Graphics (8GB RAM/512GB NVMe SSD/Windows 10/Fortress Gray/2.30 Kg), FA566II-HN228T Online at Low Prices in India - Amazon.in

HP Pavilion Gaming  (Ryzen 5 4600H Model also 70K plus)-- Buy HP Pavilion Gaming 15.6-inch FHD Gaming Laptop (Ryzen 5-4600H/8GB/512GB SSD/Windows 10/144Hz/NVIDIA GTX 1650ti 4GB/Shadow Black), 15-ec1051AX Online at Low Prices in India - Amazon.in

Legion Y540 - 128GB SSD + 1 TB HDD - at 67K on Lenovo website.

1. Are the i5 models of ASUS TUF and HP Pavilion Gaming not worth considering since they are similar to Y540 ?
2. Can we expect some reduction in prices online during the Independence Day Sale (will there even be a sale or not).
3. What can be good bargain price for Legion Y540 in the retail store / MBO like Vijay Sales - The nearest Vijay Sales near my place has the 128 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD model for 70K. This is considering that even laptops in the range of 35-40K are now selling at 50K.
4. Any specifc difference between GTX 1650 and GTX 1650 Ti (Asus and HP laptops have mentioned GTX 1650 Ti where as Lenovo one mentions only 1650.


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## omega44-xt (Aug 1, 2020)

123hero said:


> Thanks a lot @omega44-xt for the recommendations.
> 
> ASUS TUF A15 (Ryzen 5 4600H  models retailing at north of 75K) - - Buy ASUS TUF Gaming A15 Laptop 15.6" FHD 144Hz, Ryzen 5 4600H, GTX 1650Ti 4GB Graphics (8GB RAM/512GB NVMe SSD/Windows 10/Fortress Gray/2.30 Kg), FA566II-HN228T Online at Low Prices in India - Amazon.in
> 
> ...


I said, look for R5 4600H  + GTX 1650 models, which are out of stock right now. Maybe they will get in stock during sales, if you see one, just grab it. A15 was 62k from what I remember & Pavilion was listed at 50k in FK but never went on sale (for HDD only model).

1. R5 4600H = i7 10750H > i5 10300H/9300H, so R5 4600H is just a much better performer
2. I can't predict, these are uncertain times. But generally, that was the case.
3. Y540 with i5, 1650, 512GB SSD & 8GB RAM has been on sale for 60k online. So that's a good price now considering prices have gone up & Y540 is kind of old now.
4. 1650Ti is 10% better, not huge, but a difference nonetheless.

If you thinking of going to 75k, get this:
Buy HP Omen 15.6-inch FHD Gaming Laptop (Ryzen 5-4600H/8GB/512GB SSD/Windows 10/NVIDIA GTX 1650ti 4GB/Shadow Black/2.36 kg), 15-en0001AX Online at Low Prices in India - Amazon.in


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## dissel (Aug 2, 2020)

Just some ques to the Experts,

(1) Hp OMEN is better than Asus TUF A15 in the thermal department?
(2) HP OMEN with R5 4600H + 1660 Ti 6GB (15-en0002AX) superior than HP OMEN R7 4800H + 1650 Ti 4GB (15-en0004AX) ?
(3) People are preferring a Hexa Core over Octa-Core just for GPU - why?


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## omega44-xt (Aug 2, 2020)

dissel said:


> Just some ques to the Experts,
> 
> (1) Hp OMEN is better than Asus TUF A15 in the thermal department?
> (2) HP OMEN with R5 4600H + 1660 Ti 6GB (15-en0002AX) superior than HP OMEN R7 4800H + 1650 Ti 4GB (15-en0004AX) ?
> (3) People are preferring a Hexa Core over Octa-Core just for GPU - why?


1. Yes
2. Yes for gaming but no for CPU intensive tasks like video editing.
3. Better GPU directly translates to better gaming performance unless its getting CPU bottlenecked, like R7 3750H + RTX2060 will perform inferior to R5 4600H + 1660Ti because of CPU bottleneck. Also, 1660Ti is like 35-40% better than GTX 1650Ti, maybe, which is very huge. R7 4800H is ~25% better than R5 4600H, but most games will hit GPU limit before being able to utilize that 8 core CPU.


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## 123hero (Aug 2, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> I said, look for R5 4600H  + GTX 1650 models, which are out of stock right now. Maybe they will get in stock during sales, if you see one, just grab it. A15 was 62k from what I remember & Pavilion was listed at 50k in FK but never went on sale (for HDD only model).
> 
> 1. R5 4600H = i7 10750H > i5 10300H/9300H, so R5 4600H is just a much better performer
> 2. I can't predict, these are uncertain times. But generally, that was the case.
> ...



Thanks a lot @omega44-xt  for the details. Much appreciated to narrow down the choices. 

**update**

Went to some shops today for a general inquiry and primary visual observation of the screens and overall look of laptop.

1. No ASUS showroom in this part of Mumbai. But ASUS TUF A15 with R5 4600H retailing around 78K mark.
2. HP Pavilion with R5 4600H - No one even heard of this system, not even the authorised distributor. He has on offer i5 9300H - around 70K
3. Went to Lenovo Showroom - Got the shock !!! Y540 with i5 8300H  price quoted at 78K. 
         I told him price is way off. Even the  i5 9300H / 128GB SSD + 1 TB HDD is available at 67K on website.  Had a look at the laptop and the           design seems really nice. The only downside being the screen which looked a bit dull (Bright Showroom lights could have caused this) - Planning to visit again tomorrow / 2 days later and bargain for the 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD model for 58K  - lets see what best deal can be got. 
4.  The Vijay Sales outlet which is the only ASUS dealer in the area was closed. Again will visit tomorrow to see some other 1080p panel laptops + secure a good deal for Legion Y540. Hope fully in the 58K range.
5. Online prices are simply not dropping - in fact some are charging exorbitant rates online - probably due to COVID. 


*Overall showroom sellers are ignorant of specs and configurations*.

1. Unless specified - they wont show the better option model (Lenovo showroon guy said the company did not have a 128GB SSD + 1 TB HDD model. I had to open the website and show him the same.
2. AMD bias is very much visible. Almost all of them preferring the intel ones over AMD ones.
3. Most customers have almost zero knowledge about laptops and processors - hence very easy to misguide them.

Lets see whats up for tomorrow. Kinda sad that RYZEN 4600H are not available in the open market.


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## whitestar_999 (Aug 2, 2020)

123hero said:


> 2. AMD bias is very much visible. Almost all of them preferring the intel ones over AMD ones.


This is most likely because of higher commission they get on selling intel models compared to amd models.


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## 123hero (Aug 2, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> This is most likely because of higher commission they get on selling intel models compared to amd models.



How is it that retailers are able to obtain better commissions on Intel chipset laptops than AMD ones ?

This is considering that almost all major laptop companies baring DELL have both Intel and AMD chip laptops on offer are more or less similar price points depending on the processing power.


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## whitestar_999 (Aug 2, 2020)

123hero said:


> How is it that retailers are able to obtain better commissions on Intel chipset laptops than AMD ones ?
> 
> This is considering that almost all major laptop companies baring DELL have both Intel and AMD chip laptops on offer are more or less similar price points depending on the processing power.


That is why AMD alleged Intel of abusing its dominant position in the past. Intel can afford to pay more commission because it has more money courtesy of its long monopoly in the past.


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## omega44-xt (Aug 2, 2020)

123hero said:


> Thanks a lot @omega44-xt  for the details. Much appreciated to narrow down the choices.
> 
> **update**
> 
> ...


Shopkeepers lie blatantly, like without hesitation. There should be laws against it & should be implemented.

Laptop manufacturers are themselves having Intel bias, not sure what they are doing. I agree that more people know of Intel than AMD, but manufacturers should try to offer both options, at least in US & EU where laptops will sell a lot. India is a relatively poor country, so not fair to ask them to experiment here.

Check Asus G15 (AMD) vs Asus M15 (Intel), both have same chassis with CPU difference majorly. G15 has bottom vents blocked, whereas its open in M15. For Asus A15 they claim that VRM temps are higher if they open bottom vents, which was found to be true when Hardware Unboxed tested it. But even they said that Asus should have improved VRM cooling that blocking vents to make even CPU & GPU hotter. There are no laptops with new AMD Ryzen CPU & RTX 2070 MQ or higher. A cheap R5 4600H performs similar to Intel's i7 says how much Intel is lagging now.


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## dissel (Aug 3, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> 1. Yes
> 2. Yes for gaming but no for CPU intensive tasks like video editing.
> 3. Better GPU directly translates to better gaming performance unless its getting CPU bottlenecked, like R7 3750H + RTX2060 will perform inferior to R5 4600H + 1660Ti because of CPU bottleneck. Also, 1660Ti is like 35-40% better than GTX 1650Ti, maybe, which is very huge. R7 4800H is ~25% better than R5 4600H, but most games will hit GPU limit before being able to utilize that 8 core CPU.



Thank you for the reply and detail explanation.
Found out HP Omen 4600H + 1660 Ti comes with 6 Cell battery (70Wh) Battery but the other two models come only 3 Cell battery i,e 4800H / 4600H + 1650 Ti....There is no  4800H + 1660 Ti for India which comes with 144hz Display.


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## 123hero (Aug 3, 2020)

**update*

Found out this model for 62500.

*www.reliancedigital.in/asus-fa566i...MI7OCBjqr_6gIVUiUrCh0SDQMFEAQYASABEgILuvD_BwE

Would like to know the below.

1. How is Reliance Digital as a place for buying ? Are they reliable or very bad?
2. Is this model an Indian model since companies may not cover the warranty for some models which arent there in India.
3. Is 63K a good price for the same. ?

Request  an early response so that i can buy it before it goes out of stock


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## omega44-xt (Aug 3, 2020)

123hero said:


> **update*
> 
> Found out this model for 62500.
> 
> ...


1. Its a big chain, nothing to worry IMO
2. Yes, similar model was available for 62k in amazon. Just register warranty & check warranty duration online post purchase to see warranty end date.
3. Yeah, its fine. It has a 144Hz display as well, although same 60-70% sRGB display like other 60Hz panels (higher end laptops have 100% sRGB panel).


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## 123hero (Aug 3, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> 1. Its a big chain, nothing to worry IMO
> 2. Yes, similar model was available for 62k in amazon. Just register warranty & check warranty duration online post purchase to see warranty end date.
> 3. Yeah, its fine. It has a 144Hz display as well, although same 60-70% sRGB display like other 60Hz panels (higher end laptops have 100% sRGB panel).



Thanks for the inputs.  Just some final thoughts before zeroing on this one.

1. Hope RAM and storage is upgradable on this model
2. Cant find this specific model on Asus website. Hence worried about the same. Last thing i want is to end up with buying something that has no warranty.
3. Saw a video wherein someone purchased this but mentioned that this one had a 60Hz panel. 
4. Seeing many posts that say "Dont but Asus TUF Ryzen  4000 series" due to thermal throttling issues. I remember you mentioning about it being okay for 4600H and bad for Ryzen 7 4800H.


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## omega44-xt (Aug 3, 2020)

I think I said earlier as well, R7 4800H + 1660Ti has bad thermals, R5 + 1650 (Ti) are fine (surely not good thermals).


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## 123hero (Aug 5, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> I think I said earlier as well, R7 4800H + 1660Ti has bad thermals, R5 + 1650 (Ti) are fine (surely not good thermals).



***update***

Finally after lots of disappointments due to OUT OF STOCKS - _finally managed to book the ASUS TUF A15-FA566IH-BQ169T for INR 59.5K_

Will share snaps and reviews of the same over here once I get it delivered.

Link -- > Asus FA566IH-BQ169T TUF Gaming A15 Laptop (AMD Ryzen 5 4600H/8 GB/512 GB SSD/Nvidia GTX 1650 Graphics/Windows 10/FHD), 39.62 cm (15.6 inch)

HP Pavilion Gaming with Ryzen  5 4600H  - (only HDD, no SSD) model available at HP website 
( Link - HP Pavilion - 15-ec1021ax  )  is also available for a good buy.

Special thanks to @omega44-xt and @whitestar_999 for their valuable inputs. My previous HP Pavilion G6 2301 AX was bought after suggestions from Digit forum and it managed very well for 7 years(not considering the horrifying HP service)

Regards


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## whitestar_999 (Aug 5, 2020)

123hero said:


> Finally after lots of disappointments due to OUT OF STOCKS - _finally managed to book the ASUS TUF A15-FA566IH-BQ169T for INR 59.5K_
> 
> Will share snaps and reviews of the same over here once I get it delivered.


Nice! Will wait for the review. Btw which card you used to get discount to bring price down to 59.5k.


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## 123hero (Aug 5, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Nice! Will wait for the review. Btw which card you used to get discount to bring price down to 59.5k.



There is flat INR 3000 discount which brings down the price from 62499 to 59499. In between I got a 6000 discount but unfortunately it went out of stock by then.

This particular model is available only on Reliance Digital. Amazon had an exact spec model - with a different model no. which went on sale early July for around 63K. I have no clue what is the difference between the two though. I read online that the one on Reliance Digital comes with a 60Hz panel whereas the one on the Amazon was with 144Hz, I also happen to read that all models available in India are the 144hz ones only. Will need to wait and see for finally what exactly are the specifications.


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## 123hero (Aug 5, 2020)

123hero said:


> There is flat INR 3000 discount which brings down the price from 62499 to 59499. In between I got a 6000 discount but unfortunately it went out of stock by then.
> 
> This particular model is available only on Reliance Digital. Amazon had an exact spec model - with a different model no. which went on sale early July for around 63K. I have no clue what is the difference between the two though. I read online that the one on Reliance Digital comes with a 60Hz panel whereas the one on the Amazon was with 144Hz, I also happen to read that all models available in India are the 144hz ones only. Will need to wait and see for finally what exactly are the specifications.



I have my old HP Pavilion g6 2301 AX lying with me. ( 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3  +  500 GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD)

Can any part from it be salvaged and used with the ASUS TUF A15. Asus does bundle a SATA connect cable with the laptop. is it possible to use the HDD for  strictly storage purpose and ensure it wont void the warranty.


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## omega44-xt (Aug 5, 2020)

123hero said:


> ***update***
> 
> Finally after lots of disappointments due to OUT OF STOCKS - _finally managed to book the ASUS TUF A15-FA566IH-BQ169T for INR 59.5K_
> 
> ...


Great, enjoy


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## whitestar_999 (Aug 5, 2020)

123hero said:


> I have my old HP Pavilion g6 2301 AX lying with me. ( 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3  +  500 GB 5400 rpm SATA HDD)
> 
> Can any part from it be salvaged and used with the ASUS TUF A15. Asus does bundle a SATA connect cable with the laptop. is it possible to use the HDD for  strictly storage purpose and ensure it wont void the warranty.


*www.amazon.in/External-Portable-USB3-0-2139U3-CR-Transparent/dp/B01N07NBLA


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## 123hero (Aug 7, 2020)

123hero said:


> ***update***
> 
> Finally after lots of disappointments due to OUT OF STOCKS - _finally managed to book the ASUS TUF A15-FA566IH-BQ169T for INR 59.5K_
> 
> ...



**Update**

BAD NEWS

Apparently Reliance Digital has decided that they don't have stock after confirming my order and they have cancelled it , so most probably I won't be able to get this one.

Which means that the only option left is the HP Pavilion Gaming - R5 4600H | 8 GB RAM | 1 TB HDD | 4GB GTX 1650. 

No SSD though.

*www.amazon.in/HP-Pavilion-15-6-inc...top&qid=1596766844&sprefix=ryzen+4600&sr=8-13

Would like to know the below

1. Does this variant have a slot to put SSD along with the 1 TB HDD ?
2. Will the installing SSD be a violation of warranty ?
3. How do I transfer my Windows 10 + All preloaded software from HDD to SSD.
4. Wil I need to take it to a service center in order to get the SSD installed.
5. Please share some links of 512GB SSD and 8GB single stick RAM to upgrade this one.

Reg


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## omega44-xt (Aug 7, 2020)

123hero said:


> **Update**
> 
> BAD NEWS
> 
> ...


1. Yes, M.2 port is kind of standard these days: 




2. Ask HP India in forum as chat & phone guys will lie. But they didn't have this policy. Its like if you do it w/o damaging anything, no issues.

3. Cloning, check Macrium Reflect, lots of guides online. I still recommend resetting OS after cloning.

4. Ask HP

5.  *www.amazon.in/dp/B07VXCFNVS/ref=gbdp_vlo_516b94fb_B07VXCFNVS?_encoding=UTF8&smid=A14CZOWI0VEHLG (5.5k Prime offer)
I'm not finding 8GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM sticks for laptop. 2666MHz will work but 3200MHz has some performance advantage.


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## whitestar_999 (Aug 7, 2020)

123hero said:


> 3. How do I transfer my Windows 10 + All preloaded software from HDD to SSD.


See this:
*geek.digit.in/community/threads/time-to-give-up-or-can-this-be-saved.208633/post-2387596
Btw I was not that surprised as I have read similar stories of people's orders getting cancelled on flipkart/amazon too for certain rare laptop models nowadays.


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## 123hero (Aug 7, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> 1. Yes, M.2 port is kind of standard these days:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for the inputs. I have posted the query on HP Forums. 
Link  : Upgrade and Warranty Terms


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## 123hero (Aug 7, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> See this:
> *geek.digit.in/community/threads/time-to-give-up-or-can-this-be-saved.208633/post-2387596



Thanks for the links.



whitestar_999 said:


> Btw I was not that surprised as I have read similar stories of people's orders getting cancelled on flipkart/amazon too for certain rare laptop models nowadays.



ASUS is out of stock everywhere and HP model has only HDD. Cannot buy the HP Pavillion Gaming HDD only model if I dont have the option of upgrading to SSD / it voids the warranty.

Kinda sad that my order got cancelled since there is nothing in the market which can offer this level of performance at this price.  The next immediate available options are Legion Y540 and Acer Nitro 5 with i5-9300H which is way too lesser than what the R5 4600H could offer. 

Was a golden chance unfortunately didnt materialise.


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## 123hero (Aug 7, 2020)

123hero said:


> Thanks for the inputs. I have posted the query on HP Forums.
> Link  : Upgrade and Warranty Terms



@omega44-xt 

There is a thread regarding the upgradability. Not sure the replies are genuine or not.

*h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Har...ade-Option/m-p/7721709/highlight/true#M588968


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## whitestar_999 (Aug 7, 2020)

As far as I know all major laptop manufacturers allow upgrade of ram & ssd(especially if it is m2 & there is an empty m2 slot) with only question being whether it is allowed for user to upgrade on their own or take it to authorized service centre(must in case of acer for anything & for others if it requires opening the entire back panel).


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## omega44-xt (Aug 8, 2020)

123hero said:


> Thanks for the inputs. I have posted the query on HP Forums.
> Link  : Upgrade and Warranty Terms





whitestar_999 said:


> As far as I know all major laptop manufacturers allow upgrade of ram & ssd(especially if it is m2 & there is an empty m2 slot) with only question being whether it is allowed for user to upgrade on their own or take it to authorized service centre(must in case of acer for anything & for others if it requires opening the entire back panel).


Only exceptions I know are Acer India & MSI, others have no issue with user upgrading those.

For Acer India, I know that its ₹500 for service centre visit to do the upgrade. Acer US doesn't have this policy which helped them gain market share. MSI puts stickers there as well even though they have right to repair law.


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## 123hero (Aug 8, 2020)

I guess will need to wait for the Independence Day Sales to start, though I dont expect the ASUS TUF A15 Ryzen 4600H Base Variant to be on sale anywhere since it is stocked out everywhere.

I have asked HP Forums  + HP India on twitter on the upgradability but have no response on the same.  HP website mentions that HP Pavilion Gaming (AMD)  series are upgradable, but doesnt not specify what exactly is upgradable, whether it is SSD or RAM

Guess will need to wait for a long time or wait for the Acer Nitro with the Ryzen 4600H but dont expect that below 70K

What to do ?? This is getting frustrating since everything else is either too less value for money or  is being blatantly overpriced or is out of stock


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## dissel (Aug 8, 2020)

How is the thermal of HP Pavilion Gaming 4600H ? This is thin and light category with H Processor 1.98 KG according to Amazon Description. Didn't find the Hardware Guide manual of the same, Some HP Estonia site got all the drivers but no hardware manual guide.


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## omega44-xt (Aug 8, 2020)

123hero said:


> I guess will need to wait for the Independence Day Sales to start, though I dont expect the ASUS TUF A15 Ryzen 4600H Base Variant to be on sale anywhere since it is stocked out everywhere.
> 
> I have asked HP Forums  + HP India on twitter on the upgradability but have no response on the same.  HP website mentions that HP Pavilion Gaming (AMD)  series are upgradable, but doesnt not specify what exactly is upgradable, whether it is SSD or RAM
> 
> ...


For upgradability, just check videos & see what slots are available & what are free, that's it.

I agree that good options are OOS or overpriced now.


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## omega44-xt (Aug 8, 2020)

dissel said:


> How is the thermal of HP Pavilion Gaming 4600H ? This is thin and light category with H Processor 1.98 KG according to Amazon Description. Didn't find the Hardware Guide manual of the same, Some HP Estonia site got all the drivers but no hardware manual guide.


Should be ok-ish for R5 + 1650, definitely bad for 1660Ti.


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## 123hero (Aug 8, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> For upgradability, just check videos & see what slots are available & what are free, that's it.
> 
> I agree that good options are OOS or overpriced now.


I asked HP India directly. They don't have an answer to it. They wanted me to share the product serial code without which they cannot state any information about the laptop. Pretty strange.

However they did mention that the upgrade will need to be done at a store.

They weren't clear about the warranty aspect of the same.

Actually, there are no review of these specific models of 1 TB HDD only (ec-1024AX and ec-1021AX) online since most of the online review s are of the 512GB SSD model or the topmost model with R5 4800H + 2060.

Also, there seem to be lot of variation wrt to the models.
For eg. The models in India ship with the 60Hz screen whereas the same model in US is with the 120/144Hz screen. I have no clue why they would want to intentionally create a confusion.

The pricing other similar options is so obscure that I can go to Dubai pick up a laptop , bring to India and still be cheaper than buying it in India.

God help us.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 8, 2020)

123hero said:


> I asked HP India directly. They don't have an answer to it. They wanted me to share the product serial code without which they cannot state any information about the laptop. Pretty strange.
> 
> However they did mention that the upgrade will need to be done at a store.
> 
> ...


This is nothing, a friend told me he was told by a guy who contacted hp customer care for query about their pavilion gaming laptop with ryzen 3550H on flipkart & hp customer care told him this model is years old & discontinued.
*www.flipkart.com/hp-pavilion-gamin...zuw20w0000001596873605485&qH=39ca5ec7d64fb5ffWhat's even the point in paying extra for HP brand name when this is their state of customer care, at least Dell justifies its huge premium by giving the best after sales support among all laptop manufacturers.


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 8, 2020)

123hero said:


> I asked HP India directly. They don't have an answer to it. They wanted me to share the product serial code without which they cannot state any information about the laptop. Pretty strange.
> 
> However they did mention that the upgrade will need to be done at a store.
> 
> ...


I did say that they will lie or twist facts during email or phone or chat interaction, even store interaction.

Forum is open to public, so they won't. As I said, last time I checked, HP has no issues with user upgrades.

Not sure what the confusion is, but India gets cheaper products, always has been the case. India also has a lot of govt. tax.


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 8, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> This is nothing, a friend told me he was told by a guy who contacted hp customer care for query about their pavilion gaming laptop with ryzen 3550H on flipkart & hp customer care told him this model is years old & discontinued.
> *www.flipkart.com/hp-pavilion-gamin...zuw20w0000001596873605485&qH=39ca5ec7d64fb5ffWhat's even the point in paying extra for HP brand name when this is their state of customer care, at least Dell justifies its huge premium by giving the best after sales support among all laptop manufacturers.


R5 3550H


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 8, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> R5 3550H


Yes it has 3550H & still they talk like it is some year old discontinued model whereas online search suggests this model is launched in last 4-5 weeks only(still correct me if I am wrong).


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 9, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Yes it has 3550H & still they talk like it is some year old discontinued model whereas online search suggests this model is launched in last 4-5 weeks only(still correct me if I am wrong).


I have seen that model months ago for a higher price, with 1050 being the entry-level model. Not sure if they changed model number & re-released it with some changes.

That one would have been good for 55k or lower.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 9, 2020)

From whatever I am able to see online these days, I have following options left in front of me.

Wait for the laptops to be on sale again at around 60-65K range for the R5 4600H variants till Aug end or else
1.  Settle for a lower specced laptops. Are Ryzen Quad Core laptops better (RYZEN 5 3550H /3750H variants from ASUS /HP) better than the i5-9300H variants (kinda likes of Legion Y540 / Acer Nitro 5). Would it make sense going for these laptops.

2. Bump up the budget by atleast 15K for this Dell variant since its retailing currently at 75K -- > Dell G5 15 SE Ryzen 5 Hexa Core - (8 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home/6 GB Graphics/AMD Radeon RX 5600M) Inspiron 15-5505 Gaming Laptop Rs.83752  Price in India - Buy Dell G5 15 SE Ryzen 5 Hexa Core - (8 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home/6 GB Graphics/AMD Radeon RX 5600M) Inspiron 15-5505 Gaming Laptop Silver Online - Dell : Flipkart.com

or are there any other offering from HP / ASUS around the 75K mark.


----------



## dissel (Aug 9, 2020)

123hero said:


> 2. Bump up the budget by atleast 15K for this Dell variant since its retailing currently at 75K -- > Dell G5 15 SE Ryzen 5 Hexa Core - (8 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home/6 GB Graphics/AMD Radeon RX 5600M) Inspiron 15-5505 Gaming Laptop Rs.83752  Price in India - Buy Dell G5 15 SE Ryzen 5 Hexa Core - (8 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home/6 GB Graphics/AMD Radeon RX 5600M) Inspiron 15-5505 Gaming Laptop Silver Online - Dell : Flipkart.com
> 
> or are there any other offering from HP / ASUS around the 75K mark.



Do not buy the above - That got some serious problem - I can't remember where but I read somewhere.

Go for this below similar pricing with Dell.

HP Omen Ryzen 5 Hexa Core - (8 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics/NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 Ti) 15-en0001AX Gaming Laptop Rs.87716  Price in India - Buy HP Omen Ryzen 5 Hexa Core - (8 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics/NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 Ti) 15-en0001AX Gaming Laptop Mica Silver Online - HP : Flipkart.com

If you are into gaming then go for this below

HP Omen Ryzen 5 Hexa Core - (8 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home/6 GB Graphics/NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1660 Ti) 15-en0002AX Gaming Laptop Rs.99412  Price in India - Buy HP Omen Ryzen 5 Hexa Core - (8 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home/6 GB Graphics/NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1660 Ti) 15-en0002AX Gaming Laptop Mica Silver Online - HP : Flipkart.com

If you are a creator then go for this below, perfect for running Adobe Pr / Ae / Ai / Ps and Au - ultimate production (External Monitor Required)

HP Omen Ryzen 7 Octa Core - (8 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics/NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 Ti) 15-en0004AX Gaming Laptop Rs.87989  Price in India - Buy HP Omen Ryzen 7 Octa Core - (8 GB/512 GB SSD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics/NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 Ti) 15-en0004AX Gaming Laptop Mica Silver Online - HP : Flipkart.com

If you don't plan to travel much with these laptops @ Backpack you will be fine and it will serve you well,

I strongly suggest watching this video for the build quality


----------



## 123hero (Aug 9, 2020)

dissel said:


> Do not buy the above - That got some serious problem - I can't remember where but I read somewhere.
> 
> Go for this below similar pricing with Dell model i mentioned above
> 
> ...



At 85K , these laptop are way above my budget.
@omega44-xt @whitestar_999 @SaiyanGoku 

What exactly is the issue with Dell

At 75 i am already overshooting my budget, but I have no other go since nothing else is available at the moment.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 9, 2020)

123hero said:


> At 75 i am already overshooting my budget, but I have no other go since nothing else is available at the moment.


You can get 5% unlimited cashback from sbi yono(need sbi savings acc) but it is a bit risky as you need to do every step correct & even then some chances of not receiving cashback+2.5% unlimited cashback in terms of reward points by using sbi simplyclick card+1500 sbi card discount. For a 85k laptop that means final price will be 77237.


----------



## dissel (Aug 9, 2020)

123hero said:


> At 85K , these laptop are way above my budget.
> 
> What exactly is the issue with Dell
> 
> At 75 i am already overshooting my budget, but I have no other go since nothing else is available at the moment.



I suggest waiting is the name of the game for AMD 4000 Series laptop - who knows there may be more competition around the corner.

About Dell - Check these


----------



## 123hero (Aug 9, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> You can get 5% unlimited cashback from sbi yono(need sbi savings acc) but it is a bit risky as you need to do every step correct & even then some chances of not receiving cashback+2.5% unlimited cashback in terms of reward points by using sbi simplyclick card+1500 sbi card discount. For a 85k laptop that means final price will be 77237.



I dont have an SBI Card so that is out of option as well.

Best Option Now is either the Dell laptop with Radeon RX5600M  or the OMEN with 1650Ti - Buy HP Omen 15.6-inch FHD Gaming Laptop (Ryzen 5-4600H/8GB/512GB SSD/Windows 10/NVIDIA GTX 1650ti 4GB/Shadow Black/2.36 kg), 15-en0001AX Online at Low Prices in India - Amazon.in

The Dell laptop seems to have an issue of the Free Sync though a BIOS and Driver issue may fix the same. But everyone online does caution about it.

I checked the local HP store the, HDD only model is very not available with most of the retailers and he quoted me 69K and was probably the only guy who was aware of the R5 4600H laptops and how it was better than i5. But again i cant bargain here and an addition of the SSD will make it closer the HP OMEN model I listed above.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 9, 2020)

dissel said:


> I suggest waiting is the name of the game for AMD 4000 Series laptop - who knows there may be more competition around the corner.
> 
> About Dell - Check these



I can wait for some more time but the only next manufacturer touted to release laptops with the R5 4xxx H series is ACER with the Nitro series gaming laptops and I believe they would be definitely lauching it north of 70K.

The only (*unrealistic hope *) would be a reduction in the pricing of i5-10300H or i7-10750H based laptops to the lower end of the 60-70K range, but even that looks highly unlikely considering the current scenario where 90% of the regular public has no idea about the new gen Ryzen 5 chipsets from AMD.

Another great option could be  getting something from the US or Middle East with an international warranty, but nothing can happen in this regard for at least til mid of 2021 given the COVID issue.


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 9, 2020)

123hero said:


> From whatever I am able to see online these days, I have following options left in front of me.
> 
> Wait for the laptops to be on sale again at around 60-65K range for the R5 4600H variants till Aug end or else
> 1.  Settle for a lower specced laptops. Are Ryzen Quad Core laptops better (RYZEN 5 3550H /3750H variants from ASUS /HP) better than the i5-9300H variants (kinda likes of Legion Y540 / Acer Nitro 5). Would it make sense going for these laptops.
> ...


I would say, avoid it. Check Jarrod's review posted earlier. It is a hot mess. Avoid any & all Dell/Alienware laptops as all of them are very hot. I'd recommend the 76k Ome, even if its inferior in performance because longevity.

Also don't trust Dave Lee's thermal tests.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 9, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> I would say, avoid it. Check Jarrod's review posted earlier. It is a hot mess. Avoid any & all Dell/Alienware laptops as all of them are very hot. I'd recommend the 76k Ome, even if its inferior in performance because longevity.
> 
> Also don't trust Dave Lee's thermal tests.



Thanks for the response. Dell one has been dropped for sure.

What would be difference between the HP OMEN and HP Pavilion Gaming series laptops, especially the 4600H variants apart from the GPU. Omen ones have the 1650Ti whereas the Pavilion ones have the regular 1650 and some minor design changes.

Hope the thermals are different with the OMEN.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 9, 2020)

123hero said:


> I dont have an SBI Card so that is out of option as well.


Not even sbi debit card? Yono 5% cashback works with both sbi debit & credit cards & in Oct sale of amazon also both sbi debit & credit cards works.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 9, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Not even sbi debit card? Yono 5% cashback works with both sbi debit & credit cards & in Oct sale of amazon also both sbi debit & credit cards works.


Unfortunately I have only 3 ATM cum debit cards 1 with a pvt bank and 2 with PSU and don't use credit cards.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 9, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> I'd recommend the 76k Ome, even if its inferior in performance because longevity.


Is the HP Omen - 4600H/8GB RAM/512 GB SSD/4GB 1650Ti good for 76K or will there be any decrease


Acer says they will launch Ryzen 5 4xxxx series jn Ang end, will be worth the wait.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 10, 2020)

123hero said:


> Unfortunately I have only 3 ATM cum debit cards 1 with a pvt bank and 2 with PSU and don't use credit cards.


You are missing a lot, using credit cards wisely especially nowadays can even make up for current all time low savings acc interest rates.e.g.on my simplyclick card I earned ~1.5k worth amazon vouchers & 2k cleartrip voucher on spending 1 lakh which means effectively 3.5% interest rate on amount on which I would have gotten less than 2% return had I only used debit cards & cash.


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 10, 2020)

123hero said:


> Thanks for the response. Dell one has been dropped for sure.
> 
> What would be difference between the HP OMEN and HP Pavilion Gaming series laptops, especially the 4600H variants apart from the GPU. Omen ones have the 1650Ti whereas the Pavilion ones have the regular 1650 and some minor design changes.
> 
> Hope the thermals are different with the OMEN.


Omen is the superior line-up, thus built better, looks better IMO & has better thermal solution. 1650Ti is 10% better than 1650. 

The RX5600M of Dell is surely more powerful, but heat is the only issue. People say Asus A15 with 1660Ti/2060 is hot, this is worse.


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 10, 2020)

123hero said:


> Is the HP Omen - 4600H/8GB RAM/512 GB SSD/4GB 1650Ti good for 76K or will there be any decrease
> 
> 
> Acer says they will launch Ryzen 5 4xxxx series jn Ang end, will be worth the wait.


Its a bit overpriced, but is the best option at that price. Next best option is Omen with 1660Ti at 86k, that is a better deal for sure because 1660Ti is like 30-40% better than 1650Ti. But if you can't spend that much 1650Ti Omen is good.

If you can get a HP Pavilion or Asus A15 with R5 4600H + GTX 1650 for 60-63k, that's good as you are not losing much performance compared to 1650Ti Omen, surely the laptop's build is worse.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 10, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> Its a bit overpriced, but is the best option at that price. Next best option is Omen with 1660Ti at 86k, that is a better deal for sure because 1660Ti is like 30-40% better than 1650Ti. But if you can't spend that much 1650Ti Omen is good.
> 
> If you can get a HP Pavilion or Asus A15 with R5 4600H + GTX 1650 for 60-63k, that's good as you are not losing much performance compared to 1650Ti Omen, surely the laptop's build is worse.



Will wait for some more time in case the ASUS A15 / HP Pavilion base models are available in the 60-65 range though I have come to believe that these both are definitely being used as anchors to push the slightly higher spec laptops are around 20-25% price hike.

I am not a gamer hence I dont expect to have a significant advantage with the 1660 Ti eventhough it is current the best VFM right now considering that its competitors with the i5-10300H / i7-10750H with 1650 Ti are priced higher.

Otherwise will have to settle on the OMEN base variant eventhough I feel it doesnt warrrant the additional 15K price over the other ASUS/HP base models.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 11, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> 1. Yes, M.2 port is kind of standard these days:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



@omega44-xt

My queries to the SSD upgradation has been replied to in affirmative on the HP forums. + an additional thread is also present concerning the same query.  Links posted

My Query : Upgrade and Warranty Terms
Additional Thread : Which SSD is actually compatible with my HP laptop?


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 11, 2020)

123hero said:


> @omega44-xt
> 
> My queries to the SSD upgradation has been replied to in affirmative on the HP forums. + an additional thread is also present concerning the same query.  Links posted
> 
> ...


So their policy is still the same. I'm not sure why you were asking if SSD can be installed when you can just download the manual or see the video I linked to be sure.

Again, cloning Win10 has a lot of guides online, use Macrium Reflect free. Just google it.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 11, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> So their policy is still the same. I'm not sure why you were asking if SSD can be installed when you can just download the manual or see the video I linked to be sure.
> 
> Again, cloning Win10 has a lot of guides online, use Macrium Reflect free. Just google it.



Just needed to be double sure on the that. Also this is what the HP Manual mentions.  What exactly is this would be Dual Storage Configuration
Screen shot :







How is using Macrium Reflect different from a cloning software provided by SSD provider  like Samsung/ WD/Kingston/SeaGate ?


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 11, 2020)

123hero said:


> Just needed to be double sure on the that. Also this is what the HP Manual mentions.  What exactly is this would be Dual Storage Configuration
> Screen shot :
> 
> View attachment 19383
> ...


NVMe is always in M.2 & HDD is in 2.5" form factor. So dual storage just means that 2 storage devices can be installed, an M.2 SSD & a 2.5" HDD/SSD.

Macrium Reflect is good free software. Samsung one is good actually but I didn't get a software with my Intel & HP SSDs, so used Macrium, many recommend it. There are other options as well.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 11, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> NVMe is always in M.2 & HDD is in 2.5" form factor. So dual storage just means that 2 storage devices can be installed, an M.2 SSD & a 2.5" HDD/SSD.
> 
> Macrium Reflect is good free software. Samsung one is good actually but I didn't get a software with my Intel & HP SSDs, so used Macrium, many recommend it. There are other options as well.


 
Thanks for the details. I checked some videos online and the process seems fairly simple.

As per above screen shot it shows dual storage 
128GB + 1 TB SATA HDD 5400 RPM


Is this the max config possible


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 11, 2020)

123hero said:


> Is this the max config possible


Well it is practically impossible to buy 2tb laptop hdd at reasonable price in India but you should certainly be able to buy & add 1 TB ssd so no this is not the max config technically possible.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 11, 2020)

123hero said:


> How is using Macrium Reflect different from a cloning software provided by SSD provider like Samsung/ WD/Kingston/SeaGate ?


Except samsung, all other ssd manufacturers just use acronis/similar disk cloning software rebranded as their own.

Also see this:
*geek.digit.in/community/threads/time-to-give-up-or-can-this-be-saved.208633/post-2387596


----------



## 123hero (Aug 11, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Well it is practically impossible to buy 2tb laptop hdd at reasonable price in India but you should certainly be able to buy & add 1 TB ssd so no this is not the max config technically possible.



So this is what I can make out from the manual

I can use as below

128GB PCIe NVMe SSD (boot drive) + 1 TB HDD 5400 RPM (storage)

or

upto 1 TB of  NVMe SSD (boot drive) and cannot use the HDD (sounds ridiculous though)

one a different note when can we expect the Acer to launch the Ryzen 5 series. They keep claiming to have a launch in mid Aug 

Reg


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 11, 2020)

123hero said:


> So this is what I can make out from the manual
> 
> I can use as below
> 
> ...


So I finally figured out why they say so, they could have said it in much simpler way but instead chose a vague way to describe a purely technical limit which can confuse even knowledgeable people.










It has to do with available pcie/sata lanes in mobo & it seems such laptops have only 4 pcie/sata lanes so if you use a 4x NVMe ssd then all 4 lanes will be used by NVMe ssd leaving nothing for the sata port hence no hdd will work but if you use 2x NVMe ssd then 2 out of 4 lanes will be available for sata port so hdd will work.
@omega44-xt @SaiyanGoku


----------



## SaiyanGoku (Aug 11, 2020)

^ I don't think it makes sense to give PCIe lanes to sata drives in laptops. Its different in full sized mobos as they have plenty of sata ports.


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 11, 2020)

123hero said:


> Thanks for the details. I checked some videos online and the process seems fairly simple.
> 
> As per above screen shot it shows dual storage
> 128GB + 1 TB SATA HDD 5400 RPM
> ...


Those are configs which HP sells. You can put a 2TB NVMe as well along with 2TB 2.5" HDD. It is possible that HP made some corner cuttings with PCIe lanes & stuff, not sure about those but surely never heard of that stuff. Either companies put a 2 lane NVMe slot or a 4 lane one.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 11, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> Those are configs which HP sells. You can put a 2TB NVMe as well along with 2TB 2.5" HDD. It is possible that HP made some corner cuttings with PCIe lanes & stuff, not sure about those but surely never heard of that stuff. Either companies put a 2 lane NVMe slot or a 4 lane one.



So what's the highest possible configuration i can use along with the HDD ? 

I think I can use max of 1 TB SSD M.2 NVMe 3x 4 as my primary boot drive and use the 1 TB HDD as storage.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 11, 2020)

SaiyanGoku said:


> ^ I don't think it makes sense to give PCIe lanes to sata drives in laptops. Its different in full sized mobos as they have plenty of sata ports.


Maybe, I just thought there is some possibility that this max config of HP has some technical basis & not some random marketing stuff.


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 12, 2020)

123hero said:


> So what's the highest possible configuration i can use along with the HDD ?
> 
> I think I can use max of 1 TB SSD M.2 NVMe 3x 4 as my primary boot drive and use the 1 TB HDD as storage.


IMO, you can put as big of a storage as you can find, unless HP actually did that PCIe lane sharing stuff (which IMO is something I never heard in laptops but happens in desktop).


----------



## 123hero (Aug 12, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> IMO, you can put as big of a storage as you can find, unless HP actually did that PCIe lane sharing stuff (which IMO is something I never heard in laptops but happens in desktop).



So I think it's like this.
If the SSD will use all 4 lanes of NVMe then the SATA ports won't work.

So in order to use the dual storage i need to use a SSD that uses 2 lanes of NVMe leaving the other 2 for SATA.

Do we get SSD of 2280 with 2 lane usage up to atleast 512 GB ?


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 12, 2020)

123hero said:


> So I think it's like this.
> If the SSD will use all 4 lanes of NVMe then the SATA ports won't work.
> 
> So in order to use the dual storage i need to use a SSD that uses 2 lanes of NVMe leaving the other 2 for SATA.
> ...


Better clarify it at HP official forum, you now at least have a clear technical query about whether using pcie x4 NVMe ssd disables the sata port in some HP laptops.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 12, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Better clarify it at HP official forum, you now at least have a clear technical query about whether using pcie x4 NVMe ssd disables the sata port in some HP laptops.



Thanks and raised the query at the HP Forums.


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 12, 2020)

123hero said:


> So I think it's like this.
> If the SSD will use all 4 lanes of NVMe then the SATA ports won't work.
> 
> So in order to use the dual storage i need to use a SSD that uses 2 lanes of NVMe leaving the other 2 for SATA.
> ...


IMO that shouldn't be the case, but do wait for a reply in HP forums. Maybe put something like if a 2TB Samsung 970 Evo + 2TB 2.5" HDD work together w/o issues.

Some laptops have M.2 port with just 2 lanes of PCIe, so it would be stupid to put a system to confuse people. Better to just limit M.2 to 2 lanes so that people can add a 2.5" drive.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 12, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> IMO that shouldn't be the case, but do wait for a reply in HP forums. Maybe put something like if a 2TB Samsung 970 Evo + 2TB 2.5" HDD work together w/o issues.
> 
> Some laptops have M.2 port with just 2 lanes of PCIe, so it would be stupid to put a system to confuse people. Better to just limit M.2 to 2 lanes so that people can add a 2.5" drive.



I have tried to be as clear and specific as possible here Upgrade and Warranty Terms

However in case anything else need to be asked please let me know.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 13, 2020)

[QUOTE[/QUOTE]


123hero said:


> I have tried to be as clear and specific as possible here Upgrade and Warranty Terms
> 
> However in case anything else need to be asked please let me know.



I got a reply as below but it is inconsequential and does not address my query. It seems like even they arent aware of this hence declining to comment on the same.

**QUOTE**
*You can only use one SSD and one SATA HDD as Dual Configuration*
**UNQUOTE**

However my gut feeling tells me that HP laptop MoBo does have shared lanes between SATA and M.2 NVMe, which, apparently seems visible from a similar thread at HP forums. Here also, the user is not able to view the company installed HDD alongwith an SSD. I think the user also is confused whether his laptop shipped with HDD or SSD out of the box.

*h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Har...-HDD-HP-Laptop-Model-17-by0083cl/td-p/7725017
Further if the same was possible, they would end up competing with the HP OMEN series laptops since it is slightly higher priced with slightly better GPU performance.

So I guess, under dual storage, 256GB is what is max supported. If the user upgrades to a higher capacity SSD, then the onboard HDD wont function (will have to remove it from MoBo and use as an external HDD)

Reg


----------



## 123hero (Aug 13, 2020)

*www.flipkart.com/hp-pavilion-gamin...5njo1l5tthq81597305079636&qH=cd5d63606958905b
I think I should finalise on this and end the thread. I think this is best bet at 72K - (256 GB SSD + 144 Hz screen + 1 TB HDD @ 7200 RPM


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 13, 2020)

You can always use sata hdd with an enclosure like this:
*www.amazon.in/External-Portable-US...G5FKR88XE58&psc=1&refRID=W1867FE7AG5FKR88XE58
As for laptop itself wait for others but the largest Oct sales are only 2 months away so if you can afford to wait then that would be best.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 13, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> You can always use sata hdd with an enclosure like this:
> *www.amazon.in/External-Portable-US...G5FKR88XE58&psc=1&refRID=W1867FE7AG5FKR88XE58
> As for laptop itself wait for others but the largest Oct sales are only 2 months away so if you can afford to wait then that would be best.



Are prices expected to fall below the 65K for Ryzen 5 4000 laptops.

Any new launches expected - Acer says they are launching the Ryzen 5 4000 series in mid Aug, any launches expected from Dell or Lenovo with the R5 4600 Chips ??


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 13, 2020)

123hero said:


> Are prices expected to fall below the 65K for Ryzen 5 4000 laptops.
> 
> Any new launches expected - Acer says they are launching the Ryzen 5 4000 series in mid Aug, any launches expected from Dell or Lenovo with the R5 4600 Chips ??


No idea about this but dell is always overpriced & I think lenovo low end gaming series laptops are also not good.
@omega44-xt @SaiyanGoku


----------



## omega44-xt (Aug 14, 2020)

123hero said:


> Are prices expected to fall below the 65K for Ryzen 5 4000 laptops.
> 
> Any new launches expected - Acer says they are launching the Ryzen 5 4000 series in mid Aug, any launches expected from Dell or Lenovo with the R5 4600 Chips ??


Lenovo Legion 3i was priced at 70k for i5 + 1650Ti during last sale in FK. Legion 5 might start at 65k or so with R5 +1650Ti but I'm just speculating.

In terms of gaming line ups, Legion 5 is better than Acer's Nitro 5 in terms of build, both plastic though. I don't think Dell has any other Ryzen gaming laptops, G5 SE has been launched, has poor thermals so not recommended.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 15, 2020)

123hero said:


> I got a reply as below but it is inconsequential and does not address my query. It seems like even they arent aware of this hence declining to comment on the same.
> 
> **QUOTE**
> *You can only use one SSD and one SATA HDD as Dual Configuration*
> ...



The reply from HP isnt promising as expected to turn out. They have just said using the 1 TB SSD is possible along with 1 TB HDD without any technical basis for the strange mention on manual.


 ‎08-14-2020 11:39 AM

@RahulWarrior I've already responded to your question, in my original post, and incase you missed it, here's the exact line I used:

Click here to identify parts tested and approved by HP to work on your device (It looks like you can use 1TB HDD with 1TB SSD or 512GB SSD as well)


I think I will have to take a risk here and go in for the base HP variant which is at 61K and add an SSD.

Please recommend some reasonably priced SSD (considering what they mentioned in the manual) for upgrade since the out of the box 5400RPM HDD is really not going to be much helpful


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 15, 2020)

123hero said:


> Please recommend some reasonably priced SSD (considering what they mentioned in the manual) for upgrade since the out of the box 5400RPM HDD is really not going to be much helpful


Currently ssd prices are inflated so assuming you just want to replace hdd with 2.5" sata ssd then best option was/is Crucial MX500(& samsung 860 evo which is best in budget segment but it used to be costlier than MX500) but at least wait till Oct as at that time you might be able to get it(MX500 or 860 evo, whichever is cheaper) at usual old price in flipkart/amazon sale.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 15, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Currently ssd prices are inflated so assuming you just want to replace hdd with 2.5" sata ssd then best option was/is Crucial MX500(& samsung 860 evo which is best in budget segment but it used to be costlier than MX500) but at least wait till Oct as at that time you might be able to get it(MX500 or 860 evo, whichever is cheaper) at usual old price in flipkart/amazon sale.



I would be adding an NVMe SSD in the M.2 NVMe slot. I would ideally want the HDD to be installed as  storage


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 15, 2020)

123hero said:


> I would be adding an NVMe SSD in the M.2 NVMe slot. I would ideally want the HDD to be installed as  storage


In that case Kingston A2000 & WD Blue SN550 are the best options.
*www.onlyssd.com/buy/kingston-a2000-250gb-m-2-2280-nvme-pcie-ssd-sa2000m8-250g/
*www.onlyssd.com/buy/wd-blue-sn550-250gb-m-2-pci-express-3-0-x4-nvme-ssd-wds250g2b0c/
*www.onlyssd.com/buy/kingston-a2000-500gb-m-2-2280-nvme-pcie-ssd-sa2000m8-500g/


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## 123hero (Aug 15, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> In that case Kingston A2000 & WD Blue SN550 are the best options.
> *www.onlyssd.com/buy/kingston-a2000-250gb-m-2-2280-nvme-pcie-ssd-sa2000m8-250g/
> *www.onlyssd.com/buy/wd-blue-sn550-250gb-m-2-pci-express-3-0-x4-nvme-ssd-wds250g2b0c/
> *www.onlyssd.com/buy/kingston-a2000-500gb-m-2-2280-nvme-pcie-ssd-sa2000m8-500g/


  Thanks for the valuable input.
Are 3-0 x 2 NVMe SSD slower than 3-0 x 4 NVMe SSD ?


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 15, 2020)

123hero said:


> Thanks for the valuable input.
> Are 3-0 x 2 NVMe SSD slower than 3-0 x 4 NVMe SSD ?


Theoretically yes but practically you won't see difference unless using very specific workload. However all good NVMe ssd nowadays are x4 only so no choice anyway.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 15, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Theoretically yes but practically you won't see difference unless using very specific workload. However all good NVMe ssd nowadays are x4 only so no choice anyway.


 Thanks a lot. 

I asked that since I am still not 100% sure whether I can use a PCIe 3-0× 4 SSD with the HP Pavilion ec-1024AX and HP support has NOT reverted with a correct answer.

*www.amazon.in/HP-Pavilion-15-6-inc...s=ryzen+5+4600h+laptops&qid=1597464207&sr=8-3
This Appario is a genuine seller on Amazon ??


Is the onlyssd website reliable since I never heard of it before.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 15, 2020)

123hero said:


> Thanks a lot.
> 
> I asked that since I am still not 100% sure whether I can use a PCIe 3-0× 4 SSD with the HP Pavilion ec-1024AX and HP support has NOT reverted with a correct answer.
> 
> ...


Check this review, it says samsung 970 evo plus worked fine & it is a x4 NVMe & nothing said about hdd not working so I assume it should be fine.
*www.amazon.in/gp/customer-reviews/RYMUV418W7848/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B08CZ2KNS4
Appario Retail & Cloudtail(note the exact spelling) are amazon's own seller(basically they are joint ventures of amazon with Patni group & Narayan Murthy(infosys founder) family respectively).

Onlysd is ssd selling division of primeabgb who have the biggest pc components selling shop in Mumbai & are also official distributors of many pc components brands in India. Similar other sites/shops are mdcomputers & vedantcomputers in Kolkata & theitdepot in Chennai. All of them are trusted sellers as they own biggest pc component shops in their city & are also official distributors of many pc component brands.

*www.primeabgb.com/
*mdcomputers.in/
*www.vedantcomputers.com/
*www.theitdepot.com/


----------



## 123hero (Aug 15, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Check this review, it says samsung 970 evo plus worked fine & it is a x4 NVMe & nothing said about hdd not working so I assume it should be fine.
> *www.amazon.in/gp/customer-reviews/RYMUV418W7848/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B08CZ2KNS4
> Appario Retail & Cloudtail(note the exact spelling) are amazon's own seller(basically they are joint ventures of amazon with Patni group & Narayan Murthy(infosys founder) family respectively).
> 
> ...



Thanks for reply

The Amazon link mentions  "Sold by Appario Retail Private Ltd and Fulfilled by Amazon. " i think this must be genuine.

So I think will order this HDD only version. Anyways nothing else is available at the moment. ASUS and Acer are woefully silent on their 4600H models' stock and launch. ASUS has poor thermals and Acer is not interested in launching this until anytime soon.

As for the SSD - let me see - if the HDD doesn't work in dual storage - i will remove it from the MoBo and use as external HDD. (or not until warranty expires). Worse case- will take to HP store incase I am not able to do the upgrade.

In ideal case - the SSD should show up as storage after i insert it on the MoBo and then do a data cloning or do i need to buy an adapter (NVMe to USB) , clone everything from HDD to SSD and then insert the SSD to boot up (pls correct me if I am wrong)



Wish me luck


----------



## dissel (Aug 15, 2020)

123hero said:


> Wish me luck



Wish you Good luck  & Congrats in advaced, ✌

let us know your impression once you got it delivered.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 15, 2020)

123hero said:


> As for the SSD - let me see - if the HDD doesn't work in dual storage - i will remove it from the MoBo and use as external HDD. (or not until warranty expires). Worse case- will take to HP store incase I am not able to do the upgrade.
> 
> In ideal case - the SSD should show up as storage after i insert it on the MoBo and then do a data cloning or do i need to buy an adapter (NVMe to USB) , clone everything from HDD to SSD and then insert the SSD to boot up (pls correct me if I am wrong)


Better install fresh win 10 on ssd as HP pre-loaded win 10 will be coming with a lot of bloatware so no need to clone it.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 15, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Better install fresh win 10 on ssd as HP pre-loaded win 10 will be coming with a lot of bloatware so need to clone it.



Let me see, if there is too many bloatware.
Some unwanted software does come out of the box ( McAfee AV, HP Omen Command, Drop Box) which can be got rid of.


----------



## 123hero (Aug 17, 2020)

** update**

FIRST POST from the HP ec-1024AX and huge thanks to members here, especially @omega44-xt and @whitestar_999

Initial Impressions

1. Keyboard lighting and layout - more conducive to typing than a gaming laptop. Keys have good travel. Very less keyboard flex. takes a while getting used to.
2. Screen Brightness - perfectly usable indoors - max brightness will hurt the eyes. Ideal brightness is around 40-50% when consuming content. AMOLED fan boys will like it probably. But not bad as i thought it would be.
3. Color Accuracy is way off and default setting is on the warmer side. Though the overall viewing experience is not troublesome, people looking for color grading during editing should head elsewhere or buy an additional monitor.
4. Screen wobbles even under the fan. I guess the same is true for screens with central hinge.
5. Havent installed any softwares except - Mozilla FF and Acrobat Reader.  Will install others only after installing the SSD which i plan on doing the next week or so. Depending on SSD availability.
6. Laptop is pretty fast compared to my office laptop with i5-7200U -8GB RAM (Lenovo Thinkpad L 470)
7. Webcam is horrible as expected. I have no use for it though.
8. It is very light - 1.9 kgs or so. unlike some other gaming laptops
9. In built speakers are pretty bad - as I expected. Dont listen to any Rock / Metal on this unless you want to kill yourselves.

But overall it's pleasant to use and view


Will  the NVIDIA latest studio drivers improve performance during editing ?
Do I need to manually update the drivers or is it auto.


----------



## dissel (Aug 17, 2020)

Congarts for the forum fisrt AMD 4000 CPU.


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## omega44-xt (Aug 17, 2020)

Congrats

I use GeForce Experience to download & install updates, no idea about Studio drivers.

Maybe run some heavy games & use HWinfo to take CPU & GPU temps, something like this (need to collapse a few readings & scroll a bit, use <-> button at bottom left to expand):


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## 123hero (Aug 19, 2020)

**update**

No hassles observed as of date. Slightly sluggish -maybe due to 5400 RPM HDD. but barely noticeable.

played ETS 2 - ultra high settings - didnt break a sweat - fans didnt even turn on (guess this was a pretty easy game for the system)

will start Premiere tomorrow and see how it functions. 

Any good 512GB SSD which is avbl in below INR 5000 - pls suggest


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## whitestar_999 (Aug 19, 2020)

123hero said:


> Any good 512GB SSD which is avbl in below INR 5000 - pls suggest


*www.onlyssd.com/buy/kingston-a2000-500gb-m-2-2280-nvme-pcie-ssd-sa2000m8-500g/


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## omega44-xt (Aug 20, 2020)

123hero said:


> **update**
> 
> No hassles observed as of date. Slightly sluggish -maybe due to 5400 RPM HDD. but barely noticeable.
> 
> ...


Prices have increased & tough to get one under 5k, even SATA but the one whitestar linked is a great SSD for the price.

ETS2 ain't intensive. Run something intensive like Far Cry 5, new Assassin's creed games, Horizon Zero Dawn, etc.


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## 123hero (Aug 25, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> *www.onlyssd.com/buy/kingston-a2000-500gb-m-2-2280-nvme-pcie-ssd-sa2000m8-500g/



Will I need to purchase an NVME to USB adapter cable to migrate data to SSD using Kingstons software or other third party software like Macrium.

Please suggest some decent adapter cable.  I've seen some box type adapter as well (makes the SSD look like an enlarged pen drive). Can possible an a portable drive later upto 1 TB


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 25, 2020)

123hero said:


> Will I need to purchase an NVME to USB adapter cable to migrate data to SSD using Kingstons software or other third party software like Macrium.
> 
> Please suggest some decent adapter cable.  I've seen some box type adapter as well (makes the SSD look like an enlarged pen drive). Can possible an a portable drive later upto 1 TB


Not necessarily if you follow the instructions correctly. The software should copy all the required data to make NVMe drive a clone of your current windows drive & then on next reboot you can disconnect the primary/original hdd/ssd for extra precaution to let system boot successfully for the first time with cloned NVMe drive. After that you can connect the primary hdd/ssd & later you just need to set the boot device order in laptop uefi bios. Btw if it is not absolutely needed I suggest doing a fresh install of win 10 on NVMe(& let original win 10 install on primary hdd/ssd as a backup os).


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## 123hero (Aug 25, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Not necessarily if you follow the instructions correctly. The software should copy all the required data to make NVMe drive a clone of your current windows drive & then on next reboot you can disconnect the primary/original hdd/ssd for extra precaution to let system boot successfully for the first time with cloned NVMe drive. After that you can connect the primary hdd/ssd & later you just need to set the boot device order in laptop uefi bios. Btw if it is not absolutely needed I suggest doing a fresh install of win 10 on NVMe(& let original win 10 install on primary hdd/ssd as a backup os).



Thanks for the suggestion

I normally don't tinker around with the BIOS for fear of doing something wrong and landing up in trouble (though don't mind doing this time  )

Couple of questions though I don't plan on doing a fresh install since I have barely done anything yet + removed some bloatware software like some VPN provider and some other shit software. 

1. How do I do a fresh install of WIN 10 on to the SSD ?
2. Will i lose data saved on HDD ~ some photos and similar stuff
3. Why is it recommended to do a fresh install.
4. How to retain the license


----------



## whitestar_999 (Aug 26, 2020)

123hero said:


> Thanks for the suggestion
> 
> I normally don't tinker around with the BIOS for fear of doing something wrong and landing up in trouble (though don't mind doing this time  )
> 
> ...


Nothing much to tinker, setting boot device priority is one of the easiest & safest option possible to tinker in uefi bios.

1. Just download the win 10 setup from microsoft site, create a bootable usb & boot from it to start the install.
2. You will only lose data if you decide to format your current C drive/hdd/ssd already having windows.
3. Fresh install is like starting with no past issues, no chance of some older issue becoming more complicated with some latest win update etc.
4. Nowadays win 10 activation info is saved on microsoft own servers so as long as you reinstall/fresh install same version of win 10 on same pc hardware(aka mother board remians same) on which it was activated before then it will be automatically reactivated after connecting to net.


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## pkkumarcool (Aug 28, 2020)

@whitestar_999 which is the best software to clone 1TB hdd to 250 gb ssd.I have two partitions both around 450GB.Can i clone it to ssd.What would be the best option for me?


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## whitestar_999 (Aug 28, 2020)

pkkumarcool said:


> @whitestar_999 which is the best software to clone 1TB hdd to 250 gb ssd.I have two partitions both around 450GB.Can i clone it to ssd.What would be the best option for me?


*www.windowscentral.com/how-clone-your-pcs-hard-drive-macrium-reflect
Still I will suggest a fresh install on ssd when moving from a hdd(especially if it is win 7 as nowadays it is not recommended to use it) unless you are really using a lot of software & customization.


----------



## pkkumarcool (Aug 29, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> *www.windowscentral.com/how-clone-your-pcs-hard-drive-macrium-reflect
> Still I will suggest a fresh install on ssd when moving from a hdd(especially if it is win 7 as nowadays it is not recommended to use it) unless you are really using a lot of software & customization.


i am currently on Windows 10 Home 64bit.
One more thing How does cloning bigger hdd partion to smaller ssd partition works.Does it clone only OS and not files in it?
Obviously we cannot put 1TB data in 256 GB ssd.




I didnt get it how can anyone put bigger hdd size to smaller hdd.

Edit: Got it disk usage on hdd should be smaller than hdd i guess.


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## whitestar_999 (Aug 29, 2020)

pkkumarcool said:


> I didnt get it how can anyone put bigger hdd size to smaller hdd.
> 
> Edit: Got it disk usage on hdd should be smaller than hdd i guess.


The info is there in the link, you need to resize partition on smaller target disk so that it still fits on smaller disk & big enough to hold all the data from source disk. In C drive other than windows & installed programs there is also default location of documents, downloads, pictures, music, videos folders which you can move to create more empty space in C drive.


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## kg11sgbg (Aug 29, 2020)

@SaiyanGoku , any idea what is the price of *Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA*??? In INR obviously?


----------



## dissel (Aug 29, 2020)

kg11sgbg said:


> @SaiyanGoku , any idea what is the price of *Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TM420IA*??? In INR obviously?



Here 

*geek.digit.in/community/threads/all-laptop-related-queries-here.10761/post-2389319


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## 123hero (Sep 3, 2020)

Finally the SSD arrived and put it inside the MoBo - it did show up on the device manager.

But tried to download the Kingston Cloning Software - it got downloaded but isnt getting installed. (Tried restarting + Run as Administrator) doesnt work.

Tried to install Macrium Reflect - Says software is not compatible.

Why does the issue of softwares not installing crop up ??


----------



## 123hero (Sep 3, 2020)

@whitestar_999 @omega44-xt 

Request help on this. I am using macrium reflect

My source disk : 1 TB HDD
My Destination disk : 500GB HDD

Which drives are to be cloned from GPT Disk 1 since I cannot directly clone a 1TB HDD onto a 500GB SSD


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## 123hero (Sep 3, 2020)

123hero said:


> @whitestar_999 @omega44-xt
> 
> Request help on this. I am using macrium reflect
> 
> ...



Here is what I did now.

I partitioned the HDD to a 200GB + 700GB combination and cloned the 200GB portion to the SSD.

Cloning was successful as per Macrium. And a new drive created as Drive E

Now I can't find the correct settings in BIOS to make the SSD as the boot drive


----------



## 123hero (Sep 3, 2020)

123hero said:


> Here is what I did now.
> 
> I partitioned the HDD to a 200GB + 700GB combination and cloned the 200GB portion to the SSD.
> 
> ...


 Boot device not visible in bios


----------



## whitestar_999 (Sep 3, 2020)

It doesn't look like you cloned the hdd properly. It is not just the C drive that needs to be there on ssd but also the system partitions(those 2 small no name partitions). Check my post#112 above, it also mentions the procedure for cloning from larger to smaller disk. If it is done correctly then you should see 2 windows boot manager entries, one on hdd & one on ssd.


----------



## omega44-xt (Sep 4, 2020)

123hero said:


> Here is what I did now.
> 
> I partitioned the HDD to a 200GB + 700GB combination and cloned the 200GB portion to the SSD.
> 
> ...


Shrinking bigger drive then cloning is the way to do it.

If everything was cloned correctly, like you selected all partitions except the 700GB one to be cloned, then cloning should have been successful. Now since both your drives have Win10, your laptop is likely trying to boot from first priority one (usually HDD slot). So, just disconnect your internal HDD & try to boot it. You might go into Windows repair & it should repair boot entries of SSD. 

After Win10 from SSD has booted, shut down your laptop, reconnect HDD & see if its booting again with SSD with both drives connected. If yes, you are good to go, just format the HDD.

If no, HDD is still booting, then in a way you know that SSD alone does boot into Win10. So, get into Windows StartUp repair:
How to use the Window Startup Repair Tool

Then choose Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt (follow initial steps from this article):
How To Repair and Restore Windows 10

Use command prompt command "diskpart" to format your HDD (not SSD):
How to Format a Hard Drive Using the Command Prompt (Follow from step 2 to 5, you can create new partition later as well using Disk Management of Win10)

With UEFI, Win10 cloning is a mess at times. There's no simple option to select the boot priority "drive".


----------



## whitestar_999 (Sep 4, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> With UEFI, Win10 cloning is a mess at times. There's no simple option to select the boot priority "drive".


Now we have "UEFI boot manager" which need not be on the same drive as C/windows drive hence the irrelevance of "boot device priority".


----------



## 123hero (Sep 7, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> It doesn't look like you cloned the hdd properly. It is not just the C drive that needs to be there on ssd but also the system partitions(those 2 small no name partitions). Check my post#112 above, it also mentions the procedure for cloning from larger to smaller disk. If it is done correctly then you should see 2 windows boot manager entries, one on hdd & one on ssd.


Ok here is what I did

I re-expanded the original C drive of around 930GB and Macrium shows it as below

1- SYSTEM FAT 32 LBA Primary - 260MB
2-None (Unformatted Primary)- 16MB
3- Windows C  -930 GB
4- Windows RE tools - 510 MB

Now it I select every thing, then obviously it would show insufficient space. So I did drag and drop of the first 3 partitions - resized the 3rd one to manage around 510 MB space left and then dragged and dropped the 4th partition.

SSD partitions as below

1- SYSTEM FAT 32 LBA Primary - 260MB
2-None (Unformatted Primary)- 16MB
3- Windows E- 468 GB
4- Windows RE tools - 510 MB

I did the cloning and Macrium showed it as successful

Then I restarted the PC - went into BIOS - but can see only the HDD in the OS Boot Manager - which is where I am finding an issue since the SSD should show up on the BIOS.

I cant manually disconnect the HDD at the moment since I dont have the extremely small screw drivers - I got it from an acquaintance and it could be 1-2 days before I can have it back as well.

Other softwares like Acronis does have a feature called "proportionate cloning" where in the cloning is done proportionately. Looks like Macrium (free version) does not have this feature.  The dumbass computer not allowing to install the Acronis software - have no clue why. I have only the Windows Defender installed. I click on the .exe file - then nothing happens. I tried running as administrator - still no effect


----------



## omega44-xt (Sep 7, 2020)

123hero said:


> I cant manually disconnect the HDD at the moment since I dont have the extremely small screw drivers - I got it from an acquaintance and it could be 1-2 days before I can have it back as well.
> 
> Other softwares like Acronis does have a feature called "proportionate cloning" where in the cloning is done proportionately. Looks like Macrium (free version) does not have this feature.  The dumbass computer not allowing to install the Acronis software - have no clue why. I have only the Windows Defender installed. I click on the .exe file - then nothing happens. I tried running as administrator - still no effect


Removing cable will do, no need to remove HDD physically. I have used Macrium Reflect free with my current laptop, many recommend it as well. So if cloning was done properly, just disconnect HDD cable & follow steps I mentioned, when you can. Do update us.


----------



## pkkumarcool (Sep 7, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> Removing cable will do, no need to remove HDD physically. I have used Macrium Reflect free with my current laptop, many recommend it as well. So if cloning was done properly, just disconnect HDD cable & follow steps I mentioned, when you can. Do update us.


but he will have to open the laptop to disconnect the cable and he said he dont have correct screw driver for screws.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Sep 8, 2020)

123hero said:


> Other softwares like Acronis does have a feature called "proportionate cloning" where in the cloning is done proportionately. Looks like Macrium (free version) does not have this feature. The dumbass computer not allowing to install the Acronis software - have no clue why. I have only the Windows Defender installed. I click on the .exe file - then nothing happens. I tried running as administrator - still no effect


Ok try this then, you have nothing to lose anyway.
*geek.digit.in/community/threads/time-to-give-up-or-can-this-be-saved.208633/post-2387596


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## Æsoteric Positron (Sep 16, 2020)

Well, cannot you just do a fresh install?


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## 123hero (Sep 29, 2020)

The macrium software could not do a correct cloning. I used the Kingston's Acronis Tool and it works perfectly fine.

and Blazing fast as well. 

@whitestar_999 : You may close the thread since query is addressed, laptop is bought ,  done and dusted.

Thanks a lot for support especially @whitestar_999 and @omega44-xt


----------



## whitestar_999 (Sep 29, 2020)

123hero said:


> The macrium software could not do a correct cloning. I used the Kingston's Acronis Tool and it works perfectly fine.
> 
> and Blazing fast as well.
> 
> ...


Good to know. Where did you get the key for kingston's acronis oem tool though?


----------



## kg11sgbg (Sep 29, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Good to know. Where did you get the key for kingston's acronis oem tool though?


Keen to know that too.


----------



## 123hero (Oct 1, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> Good to know. Where did you get the key for kingston's acronis oem tool though?



It came along with the Kingston SSD


----------



## whitestar_999 (Oct 1, 2020)

123hero said:


> It came along with the Kingston SSD


You mean it came within the box as printed on some manual or was it printed on the box itself, asking as printed key on box itself has higher chances of being leaked during packaging etc.


----------



## omega44-xt (Oct 1, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> You mean it came within the box as printed on some manual or was it printed on the box itself, asking as printed key on box itself has higher chances of being leaked during packaging etc.


I remember using Samsung Magician or something when I bought my old Evo 840 years ago. I think it worked by authenticating if you have a Samsung SSD. Maybe same way for Kingston.


----------



## whitestar_999 (Oct 1, 2020)

omega44-xt said:


> I remember using Samsung Magician or something when I bought my old Evo 840 years ago. I think it worked by authenticating if you have a Samsung SSD. Maybe same way for Kingston.


Samsung magician is developed by samsung for its ssd & comes as standard. Kingston etc give oem version of acronis(WD & seagate also give it with their hdd) with their higher end ssd(not available with A400 etc series) by providing a serial no. to activate the oem version.


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## 123hero (Oct 2, 2020)

whitestar_999 said:


> You mean it came within the box as printed on some manual or was it printed on the box itself, asking as printed key on box itself has higher chances of being leaked during packaging etc.



It was a small label, about the size of a Wrigley's Chewing Gum strip.

Nothing was mentioned on the SSD box. I had first watched a tutorial for Samsung EVO data cloning and they had used Samsung's proprietary software. I thought if Samsung has its own software, so should Kingston. Thats how I realised Kingston gave a license for Acronis alongwith the SSD and discreetly did not think it was necessary to mention it anywhere on the packaging or anywhere else on the product.

Unaware folks would have thrown it away thinking of it as some serial number that had no purpose.

Further as @omega44-xt  said, it would work on a dual mode of authentication - First it would check whether the device actually has a Kingston SSD or not, secondly-  they would check whether the key has been linked to a verified email account, to prevent re-use of the same.


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## whitestar_999 (Oct 2, 2020)

123hero said:


> It was a small label, about the size of a Wrigley's Chewing Gum strip.
> 
> Nothing was mentioned on the SSD box. I had first watched a tutorial for Samsung EVO data cloning and they had used Samsung's proprietary software. I thought if Samsung has its own software, so should Kingston. Thats how I realised Kingston gave a license for Acronis alongwith the SSD and discreetly did not think it was necessary to mention it anywhere on the packaging or anywhere else on the product.
> 
> ...


Yeah I was also surprised to know Kingston giving cloning software with their higher end ssd & NVMe drives & not just packaging or manual, they don't mention it clearly even on their own site.


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