|
eelmonger posted:That's what my girlfriend ended up getting, although yours probably has better specs since she only paid $550 new. It's a great computer for what you said you needed it for. The only issue I've noticed is that the touchpad tends to get fairly hot after extended use. So I got a Core 2 Duo P8600, with a Radeon HD 4570, and 320GB storage. I don't typically use the trackpad much so hopefully that won't be an issue. One thing that worried me in the reviews I read was that the case is a little flimsy, is that true of your gf's laptop?
|
| # ? Jan 6, 2010 01:22 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2013 08:58 |
|
|
Drink and Fight posted:So I got a Core 2 Duo P8600, with a Radeon HD 4570, and 320GB storage. She got T6600, Intel graphics, and 500GB. So yeah, I think you got a pretty good deal. The case seems pretty sturdy, although if you push on the top (like where the Dell logo is) there's a lot of give. You can see it in this video where some dumbass puts a barbell on top of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7KbSNZQuFo. So I guess if you dropped something really heavy on it while it was closed it could be an issue, but I really don't see it as a problem. Everything else feels pretty solid and the keyboard is good.
|
| # ? Jan 6, 2010 04:27 |
|
|
eelmonger posted:She got T6600, Intel graphics, and 500GB. So yeah, I think you got a pretty good deal. Thanks, that's good to know, I was a little worried about the durability after reading reviews.
|
| # ? Jan 6, 2010 04:58 |
|
|
The build quality on my Dell Inspiron I had a couple years ago wasn't the best. It's also not terrible, it just isn't as good as a Thinkpad. Just don't drop it and it will be fine.
|
| # ? Jan 6, 2010 05:05 |
|
|
Hi, Im on the verge of buying a new laptop but I'm torn between 2 options really. Looking to spend about £400 (UK) and I've found these 2 machines: HP G61-110sa Asus X5DIJ Can anyone offer any quick thoughts on which one is the best out of these 2? or if you have any other reccomendations? Won't be doing any gaming on this, or any serious gaming. I heard Asus was top of the list for laptop reliability, and HP was at the bottom. Not really sure what to believe though.
|
| # ? Jan 6, 2010 12:02 |
|
|
Zero VGS posted:Speaking of which, check out what this guy just bought: Looks like I lucked out, I got this in from Ebay and it's in immaculate condition! I just finished cleaning up the base Windows 7 build it shipped with, and I automated the backups. The only hardware feature on it that I don't appreciate is that the whole plastic surface is completely glossy, so fingerprints show and my fingertip practically sticks to the trackpad. I dropped a buck for an iPhone screen protector and I'm going to try putting that over the trackpad to reduce the finger friction, because those are supposed to be slightly matte. I miss the Macbook's multi-touch trackpad scrolling, does anyone know of a way to get a comparable feature on a Window 7 laptop with a Synaptics trackpad? I tried the built in Synaptic software, and this (http://code.google.com/p/two-finger-scroll/), they both do two-finger scrolling but they're both really sloppy about it. If my fingers are too close together it stops working, and I have to lift them to change from vertical to horizontal scrolling, and so on. It would be nice if there was a way to get the bootcamp drivers to function on a non-mac like this, I'm not sure how much is software-side and how much is a trackpad limitation.
|
| # ? Jan 6, 2010 16:44 |
|
|
I'm looking to replace my old HP Pavilion dv9000, since the video card finally broke. Would the Acer Aspire AS4530-6823 or theAcer Aspire AS5536-5142 bea good replacement for it? I don't really need a huge screen or anything. At most I'll be playing Team Fortress 2 on it.
razorscooter fucked around with this message at Jan 6, 2010 around 21:12 |
| # ? Jan 6, 2010 20:22 |
|
|
Kind of a dumb question, but what is the advantage of quad-core processing? To me it looks like the HP dv8t Quad's code:code:That said, I am looking for a gaming rig(International student who would rather not have to check a gaming desktop and have my bag lost/damaged in the airport). I am familiar with HP laptops' heat problems and other woes, but the dv8t looks like it's exactly what I need at the right price. I've done a little looking for equivalents elsewhere, but similar products either don't have a TV tuner/4GB RAM non-upgradable/too small/too pricey. Is there anything I should specifically be worried about with the dv8t? I've already got a cooling pad, and my mother is chipping in for the 3-year accidental coverage warranty plan for me after I told her I didn't think I would need it and won't be buying it. Is the 1.6GHz quad good enough? I'm not looking to play Crysis on maximum, I'd just like to be able to play Dragon Age/Fallout/etc without my system screaming in pain. Upgrading to 1.73GHz for $400 doesn't seem like a good deal, so I don't want to if I don't need to.
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 00:41 |
|
|
If you're looking for a gaming machine, I would go for the HP. I love Macs, but they do have their downfalls and dual booting to Windows to play games is a pain in the rear end. The quad processors are more advanced and should be faster at the expense of lower battery life. HP consumer laptops like the DV8 tend to not have the best build quality, but as long as you have that warranty service it should be good to go. Apple doesn't even offer accidental coverage. That said, you're probably not going to be lugging the HP around for mobile use like in coffee shops or libraries. That is a heavy beast and your shoulders will hate you eventually. Just know its limits of usage, it's closer to a mobile desktop than a real laptop. Mu Zeta fucked around with this message at Jan 7, 2010 around 00:51 |
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 00:48 |
|
|
Awesome, thanks for the quick help!Mu Zeta posted:That said, you're probably not going to be lugging the HP around for mobile use like in coffee shops or libraries. That is a heavy beast and your shoulders will hate you eventually. Just know its limits of usage, it's closer to a mobile desktop than a real laptop. Definitely what I am looking for, already got a netbook that fits in a nice laptop section in my backpack. That worked for the past couple months, but I'm growing sick of not even being able to play Warcraft III haha.
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 00:56 |
|
|
TroubledWaters posted:Kind of a dumb question, but what is the advantage of quad-core processing? Even though normally I'm much more inclined to recommend the MBPs, you'd be better off getting something like a Dell Studio 17 or a Dell Studio XPS 16. Dell builds more reliable machines on the whole compared to HP. You'll have less of a chance of your motherboard crapping out on you in 18 months if you go with Dell. Also, you can buy USB TV tuners so that should alleviate your problem. Yes, the C2D in the MBP is less powerful but it gets a lot better battery life. You are only looking at 90 minutes battery life max with an i7 machine but the i7 laptops are so heavy and bulky that they're going to be more like mobile desktops as Mu Zeta said. The clock speed looks low on the i7 but it has Turbo Mode which overclocks the processor to about 2.5 GHz if I remember with the base i7. The battery life lasts you long enough to find an outlet, so you're fine there.
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 02:21 |
|
|
The XPS doesn't seem to have a full keyboard unfortunately. I know I can just plug one in, but that's what I am doing now and it is somehow very annoying to me. The Studio 17 looks like it is just what I am looking for, but should I be worried about the integrated graphics card if I am looking to game? (Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD)
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 03:03 |
|
|
TroubledWaters posted:The XPS doesn't seem to have a full keyboard unfortunately. I know I can just plug one in, but that's what I am doing now and it is somehow very annoying to me. Go with the variant of the Studio 17 that has the HD 4650. Intel integrated graphics are awful if you want to play any game made within the last 5 years.
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 03:07 |
|
|
Ahhh, that one didn't show up on the company discount page. Oh well, it wasn't much of a discount anyways. This looks pretty great, even if the warranty isn't as extensive. The only question I have left is how much of a difference between Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor @ 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache) and Intel® Core™ i7-820QM Quad Core Processor @ 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache) $350 difference? Or not so much?
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 03:22 |
|
|
drat, buy a PS3 or something with that $350 savings instead. The processor speed isn't really a problem nowadays. The weakest link is now the hard drive. If you want to get fancy you might opt for an SSD drive.
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 03:29 |
|
|
Not worth it for the i7 820. Not by a long shot
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 03:47 |
|
|
TroubledWaters posted:Ahhh, that one didn't show up on the company discount page. Oh well, it wasn't much of a discount anyways. This looks pretty great, even if the warranty isn't as extensive. The only question I have left is how much of a difference between An extra 200 MHz in turbo mode is not worth $350.
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 03:51 |
|
|
Very cool. Thanks! The Studio 17's ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 also benchmarks better than the dv8t's Nvidia GeForce GT 230M, so that makes me happy as well. Probably gonna customize one tonight/tomorrow.
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 04:13 |
|
|
I'm thinking of getting the Dell Studio 14z. Anybody have any experience with it? Ideally I want something a little smaller (around 13") but it still looks like a pretty good laptop. Here's what I'm looking for: -13-15" (Would rather go smaller than bigger) -Decent battery life -Decent gaming capabilities. I don't really play anything now but I plan on getting in on some SC2 and Diablo 3 action in the future. Blizzard's games tend to be playable on a variety of system requirements so I'm hoping something like the 14z would be able to handle it somewhat with the Geforce 9400M. I have a HP tx2500 tablet laptop that I'm going to sell and it handles L4D pretty well on medium settings with an inferior GPU to the Studio 14z. -Max budget around $800
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 08:35 |
|
|
Acer announced a really nice i5 model for $750:quote:The Acer AS5740 has a 15.6 inch screen along with an Intel Core i5-430M processor running at 2.26GHz. The screen is a HD widescreen that’s backlit by LED and can display 1366 x 768 pixels. Other features on the AS5740 include Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit running, 4GB of DDR3 memory running at 1066MHz, a 500GB SATA drive, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 with 1GB of VRAM. Connectivity is 802.11b/g and draft-N (probably just n though as draft left a while back). A 10/100/1000 wired Ethernet port can also be found on the AS5740. Thoughts?
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 17:13 |
|
|
err posted:Acer announced a really nice i5 model for $750: 15.6" with 1366 x 768 pixels. No thanks.
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 17:44 |
|
|
Hi everyone, I'm looking to buy a new laptop, but this is proving to be a pretty difficult task. I'm the kind of consumer that spends loads and loads of time researching before I make a purchase, but I'm at the point where I need some qualified help to move on here. Basically, I want to buy a new laptop within the next month that has these features:
Sadly, I can't find any laptops within a reasonable price tag (up to NOK 14000 / EUR 1700) in Norway that matches these requirements. Any insight in whether there are laptops to be released in the near future that suit my wishes? I have been considering the Dell Studio 17 for some time, and it looks great except for a couple of things: - No blu-ray option - Only 1600x900 resolution I can probably live without blu-ray, but what about the resolution? What are the potential downsides to only 1600x900 as opposed to 1920x1080? I guess the laptop will be able to output a 1080p signal to the TV, but will I regret only having 900p? HP has some models that appeal to me, especially the dv7 30x series, but from what I read you guys really don't like HP. Heating problems and poor build quality? I also think the dv8 looks great, but 18" is a bit too much for me to handle I think  Also, I'm thinking it's better to have two HDDs at 250-300GB each instead of one 500GB unit (or similar sizes). I'd like to put all my pictures and other rarely accessed data on HDD #2, and keep all programs and such on HDD #1, the reasoning being that this would help make the rarely accessed disk less prone to failure. Is this a correct assessment? Any help is greatly appreciated.
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 19:28 |
|
|
Kowalski posted:Hi everyone, The consumer electronics show is going on right now in Las Vegas. If you can wait towards the end of this month to see what new stuff makes it to Norway because all the manufacturers are announcing their new models for the upcoming year.
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 19:57 |
|
|
Kowalski posted:the reasoning being that this would help make the rarely accessed disk less prone to failure. Is this a correct assessment?
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 20:02 |
|
|
Coredump posted:The consumer electronics show is going on right now in Las Vegas. If you can wait towards the end of this month to see what new stuff makes it to Norway because all the manufacturers are announcing their new models for the upcoming year. Still, I'm going to call Dell tomorrow and check up on their current Studio 17 offer. There's a big discount now (€350 or so), and if they can offer options not available through the website directly I'm inclined to go for it. I've read that people have had success getting options that aren't directly visible through the personalization mode, such as replacing the screen for a better one. They obviously have the capability of building Studio 17s with 1080p, and I'm perfectly fine with paying more for that. strwrsxprt posted:Not really. Disk access isn't a significant contributor to failure. Writing to disk could still be a contributing factor, no? I use two different music streaming services, both of which read and write lots of data to the disk obviously. In addition to the swapfile and whatnot, would it still not mean a lot in terms of vulnerability?
|
| # ? Jan 7, 2010 22:03 |
|
|
Drink and Fight posted:So I got a Core 2 Duo P8600, with a Radeon HD 4570, and 320GB storage. In case anyone was curious, the case seems just as sturdy as any other laptop I've ever handled. Reviews mentioned that the hinge seemed weak to them, but that seems fine to me as well.
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 00:16 |
|
|
One last question- How much of a speed difference am I going to be noticing between 6GB and 8GB? $150 worth? Are we going to see games in the next two or three years that will be requiring eight?
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 00:30 |
|
|
Can anyone recommend a laptop well-suited for being a portable media player? Qualities I'm looking for: -Large screen, something big enough for at least two people to comfortably watch. -Ability to smoothly play HD videos with H264 method of MPEG-4, so dual-core is a must I guess. -Win 7 and a large hardrive would also be preferable. -Around $500 or less budget 
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 00:32 |
|
|
Entreri posted:Can anyone recommend a laptop well-suited for being a portable media player? Looking for this as well, but would like a smaller screen and OS doesn't matter because I'm a student and get Win7 dirt cheap. Also no optical drive is better but not a deal breaker, I'll pick up a external Blu-Ray for the rare times I need a disk drive.
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 04:36 |
|
|
Uziel posted:NM, I ended up ordering an ASUS UL80Vt-A1 14" for $823 with free shipping. And while for the same price, the UL80Vt-A1 is a more complete package (disc drive included), the reviews stating knocking it for viewing angle and keyboard "flex" issues have me worried. What do you like/dislike about your laptop? Here's what I've been looking for in a laptop. - 13" to 15.6" screen - Must be able to run programs like Photoshop, Powerpoint, and VSTS 2010 - Can handle some gaming (HL2, TF2, L4D) - LOOOONG Battery Life (6+ hours) - Good LED Screen - Under $1000 Any recommendations? G-III fucked around with this message at Jan 8, 2010 around 07:53 |
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 07:46 |
|
|
I got super lucky on a warranty deal, sent in my laptop, the parts were apparently not available so after a year and a half I got a full refund. I just ordered myself one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16834220603 . I wavered between this and a lenovo with an i7, but I went with the above because it had a more powerful graphics card, and I like to do some gaming and in this instance clock speed would not be as much as an issue. It should be here on Monday so I'll let you guys know how it works out.
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 08:24 |
|
|
As I am going back to university, I'm trying to nut out a laptop that would be suitable for my purpose in lectures for note taking. Primarily would be used only for word processing and internet, though I would love it if it could play video (divx, what not). Games are not important, I've got my main rig for that. I also want the biggest screen and the longest battery life possible. (so LED screen, etc would be preferable in that count I guess) I've been sussing it out and so far the dell Inspiron 15 Fasttrack(pre configured) for $699(AUD) sounds good, but I'd like to spend a little less and honestly have no clue as to what cpu and gfx cards are good. Screen size I'd like 15", but understand pricing will be the issue here so anything equal or greater than 11". Are there any sub $500-600 laptops with SSD's (more than 8gb)?? I was look at the lenovo but am worried a 10" screen might be too small. I can't find any dealers selling the recommended notebooks that are listed in the OP.
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 12:54 |
|
HOWARD YOUTH
|
So still looking for some help on which laptop to buy. Basically I am restricted by budget (aren't we all) so really cannot go above these prices which is capped at £370. On the currys website in the UK have found the following 3, I just cannot decide which. Feedback on any of these would be great, all I care about is gaming, looking towards d3 and sc2. Graphics memory from shared resources for 1+2. 3 Only comes with vista, but I understand I will be able to upgrade to 7 for free?. 1.Toshiba Satellite L450D-11X Processor: AMD Turion X2 RM-74 Dual-Core Mobile Clock Speed: 2.2GHz, 1MB L2 Cache Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium Memory: 4GB DDR2 Hard Drive: 500GB Optical Drive; Super Multi DVD Rewriter Display Screen: 15.6″ Widescreen LCD Display Graphics Chipset: ATI Radeon 3200HD Connectivity: Wireless enabled (WLAN 802.11b/g) Networking: Ethernet port (LAN 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX) http://www.dealgiant.co.uk/toshiba-...-laptop-review/ 2.Toshiba L450D-128 AMD Athlon processor QL64 / (2.1 GHz, 1MB Cache) Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 4GB DDR2 Memory 320GB Hard drive Graphics Chipset: ATI Radeon 3200HD 15.6″ Widescreen LCD Display Wireless enabled (WLAN 802.11b/g) Ethernet port (LAN 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX) http://www.dealgiant.co.uk/toshiba-...op-deals-specs/ 3.HP DV6-1210SA AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core processor QL-65 2.10GHz, 1MB Cache) Genuine Windows Vista (R) Home Premium 3GB Memory Size 250 GB Hard Drive Lightscribe DVD RW Optical Drives 15.6" HD widescreen display ATi Radeon HD4530 Graphics Card 512 mb Graphics Memory http://www.trustedreviews.com/lapto...5-6in-Laptop/p1 Thanks alot! sucka fucked around with this message at Jan 8, 2010 around 15:50 |
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 13:26 |
|
|
Gavin Galt posted:I got super lucky on a warranty deal, sent in my laptop, the parts were apparently not available so after a year and a half I got a full refund. I just ordered myself one of these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16834220603 . I wavered between this and a lenovo with an i7, but I went with the above because it had a more powerful graphics card, and I like to do some gaming and in this instance clock speed would not be as much as an issue. It should be here on Monday so I'll let you guys know how it works out. I don't know anything specifically about that Asus, but waiting for Lenovo to ship the new laptops would be painful. It would probably take a month. Also the i7s suck battery life and it sounds like you don't need the added power/cores.
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 15:37 |
|
|
LaptopGun posted:I don't know anything specifically about that Asus, but waiting for Lenovo to ship the new laptops would be painful. It would probably take a month. Also the i7s suck battery life and it sounds like you don't need the added power/cores. I'm glad someone else agrees, these were pretty much my thoughts exactly.
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 19:40 |
|
|
Gavin Galt posted:I'm glad someone else agrees, these were pretty much my thoughts exactly. Difference between "a better laptop" and "a laptop that's better for you." 
|
| # ? Jan 8, 2010 20:26 |
|
|
Kowalski posted:Still, I'm going to call Dell tomorrow and check up on their current Studio 17 offer. There's a big discount now (€350 or so), and if they can offer options not available through the website directly I'm inclined to go for it. I called Dell today and spoke to a nice gentleman who was pleased to help me. 1080p screen and a blu-ray drive is no problem, you just have to go through another channel than their online laptop builder. Well, not entirely problem-free. They are actually out of stock on the 1080p screen, so I'm going to have to call back in a week or two. That means I'm still looking for a sleek machine with 17" 1080p screen, i7 and HD 4650 or equivalent graphics with a blu-ray drive.
|
| # ? Jan 9, 2010 01:49 |
|
|
Hey all, I'd love a bit of feedback on the laptop (ultraportable) I'm thinking of getting. I'm looking at the Acer Aspire 4810T. 14" - 1366 x 768(720p) LED backlit, Core 2 Solo 1.4ghz, 800mhz fsb. 4gb ddr2. intel integrated 4500mhd gfx, 320gb hdd, bluetooth, wireless. It also claims to have an 8hour batter life, and from reading a stack of reviews online, they say this is fairly accurate for reading or basic typing. I'm only wanting to use this for university (just typing notes in lectures) and work (excel, outlook, word and a propriety database). The ability to watch a movie on it would be nice, and apparently this can do that (reviewers played 720p fine). Not interested in it for gaming. Few of the reviews whinged about it running a bit cluggy with vista but it now comes with Windows 7 so I think that should alleviate those issues. I can get it for $999AUD. I could get a Dell Inspiron thats more powerfull and a 1" larger lcd for $200 less, has about half the battery life (down to 2.5 hours playing a full length divx with max brightness and volume) I cannot decide to go the Acer or the cheaper Dell. hambeet fucked around with this message at Jan 9, 2010 around 05:46 |
| # ? Jan 9, 2010 04:35 |
|
|
That new 11 inch performance laptop from Alienware looks mighty interesting. Sub $1000 price and a GT335M GPU (~70 Cuda cores clocked at 1.2 Ghz with 1 gig of ram. 128-bit bus though...). I just wish it wasn't styled like it was aimed at a 12 year old... There is people out there that need strong GPUs and also need to not look like buffoons when using their laptops...
|
| # ? Jan 9, 2010 09:05 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 20, 2013 08:58 |
|
|
I recently got a HP dm3 1030us, and it's been working great, but I have noticed it can get pretty hot when in heavy use. After hearing a lot of horror stories about HP laptops and their heating problems, I think it would be smart to invest in a cooling pad. My question is should I go with one of the fan cooling pads or an ice pad, and is there any particular brand I should look for/avoid?
|
| # ? Jan 9, 2010 10:00 |
|
