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Why do laptop manufacturers do this?

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A friend brought his Toshiba Satellite C55 for a memory upgrade and before opening it up, I checked with CPU-Z and found that one memory slot was free for another 4GB, or so I thought.
That's just cheap and nasty not adding the actual memory slot, so now we have to buy an 8GB module.
toshiba.jpeg
 
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Why? $$$$

That's how they force people to buy more expensive models.

Also: did you check the other side of the MB?
 
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A typical case of 'every little helps'... however little.

One of the few dozen reasons I stay away from laptops unless its absolutely necessary or free (as in work). Corners are cut... and laptops have a LOT of corners.
 
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I have mixed feelings about this. For starters, I agree with Vayra86 and it is just another reason to stick with self-built PCs - devices that conform to the ATX Form Factor standard. A standard that allows us consumers to buy a nearly unlimited assortment of parts from almost the same limitless number of manufacturers. This as opposed to notebooks which tend to be very proprietary with little to no upgrade options.

But who are you blaming on this? I note the Toshiba C55 came in several variations. And some were marketed and sold as having only one slot. If the buyer wanted a model with more memory capacity, they had the option to pay more for a model that supported more.

The way I see it here, the fault lies with CPU-Z for falsely reporting two slots available.

Now if you have the full and exact C55 model number and the official Toshiba specs for that exact model number report 2 slots, then the blame goes to Toshiba - who doesn't make laptops anymore.
 
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Check out the ROG notebooks, i was seriously impressed after owning a so called upgradable MSI G70, that gave loads of issues updating the gpu.

I much prefer the asus method of creating small form factor boards. Their latest method creates the motherboard around the gpu socket. Everything but the GPU is upgradable in their models. I have an I7 7700x and a GTX1080 in mine and it plays everything i throw at it. Almost identical specs to their 1660model.
 
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Everything but the GPU is upgradable in their models.
Ummm, not even! For a notebook, it may be more upgradeable than most. But upgrade are options are still extremely limited in scope and in particular, brands.

Can you swap out the monitor for a bigger (or smaller) one? Nope.
What about a different brand monitor? Nope.
Can you swap out the motherboard? Nope.
Keyboard? Nope.
What about the case itself? Definitely nope.

There just is no comparison when it comes to PCs.
 

Frick

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One of the few dozen reasons I stay away from laptops unless its absolutely necessary or free (as in work). Corners are cut... and laptops have a LOT of corners.

OTOH laptops have a dozen upsides to desktops.

But yeah this is pretty shitty but not uncommon. One of the reasons I prefer my laptops to be old "professional" systems (Latitudes/Elitebooks/whathaveyou).
 
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Sure there's not another slot combined with the one we see? Pop the DIMM out to look for another slot
 
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Sure there's not another slot combined with the one we see? Pop the DIMM out to look for another slot
What you're seeing is it. That laptop is pushing for a thin form factor. The space for another slot under the existing slot wouldn't work going by the space occupied for the 2.5" HDD.
 
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OTOH laptops have a dozen upsides to desktops.
Dozens? Beyond being portable, that's about it. They cost more to buy. They cost more to repair. They are harder to maintain. They have very limited upgrade options. I will give up my full sized keyboard, mouse, surround sound speakers and two 24" monitors when I'm dead, and not before.
 
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This is the reason I hate laptops. There's no standardization. Manufacturers are too powerful to pick and choose. Not to mention, unless reviewed by thorough reviewers good luck finding minute details. Some examples:

1) Soldered RAM.
2) Single Channel memory slot like this.
3) Brand specific higher/lower power limit/budget for CPU.
4) Touchpad might/might not have Windows precision driver support.

Not to mention if only one part fails, the whole thing becomes an inevitable e-waste.
 
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Let's face it, most people who buy laptops aren't savvy about systems and they're surely not going to ask about how many memory slots a laptop has. Yes, I would, but the majority wouldn't.
There's definitely not another memory slot on the underside (top under keyboard) so I'll just pop an 8GB stick in there and be done with it. My mate who owns it know zero about tech and cares even less about learning about it, which is fair enough.
I don't mind working on laptops in general, but feel much more comfortable with desktops because I immediately know my way around them.
 

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Dozens? Beyond being portable, that's about it. They cost more to buy. They cost more to repair. They are harder to maintain. They have very limited upgrade options. I will give up my full sized keyboard, mouse, surround sound speakers and two 24" monitors when I'm dead, and not before.

I said "a dozen" and I agree most of the upsides are about being portable but no one said I couldn't be very granular. I'm using the laptop in sig more than the desktop. I can't sit and write in the comfy chair under the tree (yes, I have a tree in the apartment) with the desktop.

EDIT: The point is, laptops have their place.
 
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Six laptops from a local school came in last week for checking out and three of them are dead/beyond economic repair, so it's sad to have to report that info to the customer.
laptops.jpg
And they do have their place, especially in this pandemic where many schools are sharing resources. I am personally delivering laptops from place to place for the schools because they can't afford to replace them. (I run a motorcycle courier service)
I have one laptop that I only use for travelling and diagnostics/home visits.
 

SL2

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I've skimmed through hundreds of laptop reviews looking at pictures of the board. This is not common at all.
Soldered RAM, soldered RAM + one RAM slot, or one/two/four RAM slots are the most common ones. Also I often see connectors missing, like SATA or network, just not an actual RAM slot. Now tell me that I'm wrong, please, in a classic TPU forum manner.

Also the whole vs laptop discussion, talk about kicking a dead horse here.
 
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Now tell me that I'm wrong, please, in a classic TPU forum manner.

Also the whole vs laptop discussion, talk about kicking a dead horse here.
Nah, not my style and this isn't about 'vs laptops', but why they skimp on hardware specs. Of course it's about economics, but Windows 10 on 4Gb RAM?
Only the other day I upgraded a customer's Lenovo AIO, which is a kind of laptop, for which he'd paid a small fortune for a device with only 4Gb and a spinner.
Talk about sluggish, but then all I can do is give them my opinion and if they don't take any notice...
 
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EDIT: The point is, laptops have their place.

Yeah, the shredder :D Its a bit like cheap printers. Great if they work, but don't count on it - and if you think you've built experience with printers because you've already had five, rest assured, you won't fix the issue anyway.

No but you're right, they do. Portability is a thing. Still glad I could vent some laptop frustration. Been building for years. Raah
 

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A typical case of 'every little helps'... however little.

One of the few dozen reasons I stay away from laptops unless its absolutely necessary or free (as in work). Corners are cut... and laptops have a LOT of corners.

Laptops do indeed have piles of corners...

If you can stay without a laptop, better focus on a desktop PC - you will save a lot of nerves and times of slow and disappointing performance.

Why? $$$$

That's how they force people to buy more expensive models.

Also: did you check the other side of the MB?


I don't think it would have cost them beyond a few dollar cents to mount that empty slot back there.
It's either greed or ignorance.
 
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They are out for $$$$$$


My last one was a Acer with external Battery, 2x SO DIMM Slots, CPU on a Socket (Sandy Bridge) I3 changed to i7, 2x HDD Bay, 1 ODD Drive
It dies after 7 years and i never bought a new one cause there are so many out where its soldered and glued like hell.


If i look by us, there is no Notebook for Consumer with my Filters:
2x DRAM Slot, ODD, IPS, external Battery :laugh:

Only 5 Business and they start at 1500$
 

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My Acer Nitro 5's hinges began to open and in the process to try to open the whole screen so I can see what's inside it - so much with the build quality... :kookoo:
 
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This is the reason I fucking hate laptops. There's no standardization. Manufacturers are too powerful to pick and choose. Not to mention, unless reviewed by thorough reviewers good luck finding minute details. Some examples:

1) Soldered RAM.
2) Single Channel memory slot like this.
3) Brand specific higher/lower power limit/budget for CPU.
4) Touchpad might/might not have Windows precision driver support.

Not to mention if only one part fails, the whole thing becomes an inevitable e-waste.

agree, hate the things, don’t/ won’t have one. A good smartphone is enough for portable browsing now.
 
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agree, hate the things, don’t/ won’t have one. A good smartphone is enough for portable browsing now.
The strange is a few Laptops are slower with a few tabs like browsing, downloading, messaging, streaming than a fu**ing Phone for about 100$.

I had a Laptop for a few days to install a new OS (Linux anyway) it had:
Core I3u
4GB 1066 (533 MHz) soldered DDR3 RAM single channel,
120GB eMMC Internal with read 60 MB/s write 30 MB/s,
locked Bootup only with tricks i got a Linux distributation on it.

the Price of this Great Laptop was for about 300$ :laugh:
 
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I said "a dozen"
Sorry. I knew you said dozen and not dozens. My fingers don't always do as they are told. In any case, a dozen is a lot more than 1 - with mobility being it. But to that, I fully understand and totally accept that mobility is often the only reason needed to justify buying a laptop over a PC. What I don't understand is those who buy a laptop, take it home, put it on their desk and never use it as a mobile device. And there are lot of people who do that. :confused: I suppose if you lived in one of those tiny houses or an RV and and every square inch of space came at a premium, it would make sense. But I'm not talking about those folks.
EDIT: The point is, laptops have their place.
Oh absolutely. I've had at least one for years, in addition to PCs because I needed a mobile computer I could lug around the world. If you need a mobile computer, one with a keyboard and pointing device, you really cannot beat a laptop.
Let's face it, most people who buy laptops aren't savvy about systems
Not sure that is a fair statement even though it is probably true. I would argue most people who buy PCs aren't savvy about systems either. If they were tech savvy, they (or most) would probably build their own.

Typically, the most important criteria for true "road warriors" is NOT performance. It is about weight, thickness, battery run times, disk space, connectivity. Performance is important but it is down the list.
 
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Why ? because they can .... most laptops are chosen by looking a picture and 2 or 3 components ... the rest is a mystery until it arrives.

1. The majority of forum members here have custom built desktops where they selected each and every component. When buying a laptop, there's no reason not do to the same. You basically select a screen size, chassis and MoBo and then with that decision made, you move on to the rest. When doing a build list for one of our users for a 17" model....

MoBo / CPU ... choice is between mobile options and equivalent desktop options, some examples:

- 10875H w/ HM470 Chipset
- 10875H w/ HM470s Chipset
- 10900 K / w Z490 Chipset MoBo (10600k and 10700K also an option)

TIM:
Standard
IC Diamond
Thermal Grizzly

Screen:
- 17.3" Thin Bezel Full HD 120Hz, Wide View Angle, Matte Display
- 17.3” Full HD (1920×1080) 120Hz, Wide View Angle Display, Matte Finish
- 17.3” Full HD (1920×1080) 144Hz, Wide View Angle, 72% NTSC Display with G-Sync Technology, Matte Finished
- 17.3” 4K UHD (3840×2160) Display with G-Sync Technology, Matte Finished
- Options for screen calbration and no dead pixel warrantees
- OLED 240 / 360 Hz model in production

GFX:
Options for 2060S, 2070S, 2080S, 1650, 1660 Ti ... 3070, 3080 and 3090 coming
In thew past, we have purchased Lappies with Quadro card and even SLI

OS:
You pick Windoze version ... none is an option

Memory:
1 x 8 GB
2 x 8GB
1 x 16 GB
2 x 16GB
2 x 32GB
4 x 32GB

RAID:
0, 1, Both

SSDs:
NVME / SATA Options to 4 TB

Wireless:
Multiple Intel or Killer options

HD:
1 to 2 TB choices or none

Cooling:
All copper large heatsinks ...

2. Yes there are a lot of advantages to owning a laptop.... I could not be every productive w/o one

I can use it on the jobsite ... sometimes 3 different ones a day
I can take it on vacation
I can use it in the car while powered.
I can use it on planes and airports
I used it for driving directions ... back in the early 90s.
I can can use it for a time during a power outage
I can use it to to look for troubleshooting tips when desktop is down
I can take it to other locations to troubleshoot others PCs
I can take it on long term job assignments
I can go downstairs and sit in he lazy boy to watch movie or play a game when my butt is sore
I refuse to exhange e-mails and files via a smartphone, I am 3-4 times as productive on a 17" screen with (almost) full size keyboard

3. I am less concerned with upgrade ability as I am with having to spec out each and every part with what I want for my own use or our users in the 1st place. In 28 years of PC building ...
- Have upgraded RAM 4 times / 1 time on a lappie
- Have added storage maybe a dozen times / 3 times in a lappie
- Have upgraded GFX cards maybe a dozen times / never in a lappie
- Have upgraded CPUs 2 times both on Desktop MoBo failures
- Have upgraded OS's 0 times
- Have upgraded PSUs 0 times, replaced mayb 5 or 6 as warranty replacements

4. Cost wise, the difference is now marginal ... if you know where to buy ... custom laptops are no more than comparable equipped big brand names.

5. It's great entertainment reading forum arguments as to which brands are better ... other than MSI, no store brand you'd recognize actually "makes" a laptop. Often both brands are built on the same pro9duction lines from the same parts with the same labor.

Quanta sells to (among others) HP, Lenovo, Apple, Acer, Dell, NEC, and Fujitsu
Compal sells to (among others) Acer, Dell, Lenovo and HP
Wistron (former manufacturing & design division of Acer) sells to Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP
Inventec sells to HP, Dell and Lenovo;
Pegatron (in 2010, Asus spun off Pegatron) sells to Asus, Apple, Dell, Acer and Microsoft
Foxconn sells to Asus, Dell, HP and Apple
Flextronics (former Arima Computer Corporation notebook division) sells to HP

6. For me the question is not "Why to laptop manufacturers do this ? The nswer is obvious ... more profit and they know that most purchases focus more on style over subsrance. And many of those as we see frequently here. want a "Thin and light laptop with great performance and 10 hour batter life". Thin and light and Great performance / cooling are mutually exclusive. For me, the question is

Why do laptop purchasers not research their purchasers ? Before Dell purchased it, Alienware was a Clevo distributor. Clevo has been ranked as fourth among Taiwanese exporters, marketing its products in over 50 countries. We have not purchased or recommended anything else in this millenium. The model I am currently using I have had since 2013 ... I use it at home, at the office, on the road, and it gets plenty of abuse on construction jobsites. No I don't attempt to play the latest games, but the MMO I have been playing since 2004 is > 60 fps.

As for costs .... I always check the major brands before procuring a new laptop, and we have never not been able to obtain a custom built lappie cheaper than a comparably equipped Dell, Asus or MSI model. Clevo resellers are not permitted to advertise prices below a set price, but they are free to negotiate any discount you can bargain for.... (usually $50 - $150) in past experience and it scales by price.


In Argentina, they are sold here: (at least used to be)

Not gonna say everyone should go this route as most US resellers don't much don't cater to the < $800 market ... but at lease worth taking a look if you have concerns about what you are getting
 
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