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So I need to get a laptop for school. My school's IT department recommends the dell latitude 3330 (13 in), E6430 (14 in), and E6530 (15.6 in), but the thread makes dell products sound like cheap plastic crap. I plan to use it for stuff like web browsing, word processing, watching videos and occasionally art programs like Sai painter and photoshop elements with a tablet. I'll be majoring in biology so I don't think I'll have to work with any special programs. Should I just get one of these dell notebooks or get something else with i5? As much as I would like to get something with Haswell I don't know how long it'll take for more to come out, or even if I really need it.
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Jul 11, 2013 22:22
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Lovely Carnitas posted:So I need to get a laptop for school. My school's IT department recommends the dell latitude 3330 (13 in), E6430 (14 in), and E6530 (15.6 in), but the thread makes dell products sound like cheap plastic crap. I plan to use it for stuff like web browsing, word processing, watching videos and occasionally art programs like Sai painter and photoshop elements with a tablet. I'll be majoring in biology so I don't think I'll have to work with any special programs. The Latitudes are alright computers. All but the E5000 series, which is still plastic and mostly crap. Personally I prefer the Thinkpad line but they are in the same class, along with HP's Elitebooks and all are alright so long as the price is right. Either that or a Mac. I'd check prices on yoru school discount vs. the B&N deal, etc. How much do you think you will be carrying it? Personally I favor a 12-13" laptop with an external monitor for reading at home if have to lug it around. Especially if you want to do arty stuff you can't beat a good desktop monitor for color work.
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Jul 11, 2013 22:29
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Lovely Carnitas posted:So I need to get a laptop for school. My school's IT department recommends the dell latitude 3330 (13 in), E6430 (14 in), and E6530 (15.6 in), but the thread makes dell products sound like cheap plastic crap. I plan to use it for stuff like web browsing, word processing, watching videos and occasionally art programs like Sai painter and photoshop elements with a tablet. I'll be majoring in biology so I don't think I'll have to work with any special programs. The major benefit of Haswell is battery life. Unfortunately, it'll probably take until after school's back in session for those to be widely available; I'd got with the 13" option, personally.
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Jul 11, 2013 22:51
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I EVER SPENT
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Lovely Carnitas posted:So I need to get a laptop for school. My school's IT department recommends the dell latitude 3330 (13 in), E6430 (14 in), and E6530 (15.6 in), but the thread makes dell products sound like cheap plastic crap. The E6xxx laptops are really nice. I'd compare Dell Education Discount to the best you can do on a Thinkpad and buy whichever is cheaper or you like the looks of more between an E6430 and T430.
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Jul 11, 2013 22:55
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Not sure if this has been linked but here's the T440s hardware maintenance manual. Looks like mSATA is out in favor of NGFF/M.2 and there's one memory slot. No aftermarket NGFF SSDs have made it to market, right?
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Jul 11, 2013 23:30
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Cream_Filling posted:The Latitudes are alright computers. All but the E5000 series, which is still plastic and mostly crap. Personally I prefer the Thinkpad line but they are in the same class, along with HP's Elitebooks and all are alright so long as the price is right. Either that or a Mac. I'd check prices on yoru school discount vs. the B&N deal, etc. Alright, I'll go check out some thinkpads and elitebooks  . A Mac sounds good too, but I've never really worked with one before, so I think I'll stay with the others for now. I'll probably take it with me to the library, so a small size and an external monitor sounds good to me.Weinertron posted:The E6xxx laptops are really nice. I'd compare Dell Education Discount to the best you can do on a Thinkpad and buy whichever is cheaper or you like the looks of more between an E6430 and T430. InstantInfidel posted:The major benefit of Haswell is battery life. Unfortunately, it'll probably take until after school's back in session for those to be widely available; I'd got with the 13" option, personally. All right, so it's basically all down to what prices will work for me. Thanks for the advice
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Jul 11, 2013 23:44
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MeaningOfLife posted:I'm so scared about doing any upgrades myself so I think I'll just pay them for the RAM and SSD upgrade. If you can change a light bulb you can change RAM in a computer. The drive too but aside from the physical part of it you'd have to copy over the windows installation or install it from scratch on it, although that's dirt easy these days too.
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Jul 11, 2013 23:55
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I've been doing some searching, trying to see what rumours I could about the T440 release date, and this seems to imply that there isn't going to be a vanilla T440. I haven't found anything else to help confirm or refute this, but has anyone else?
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Jul 11, 2013 23:56
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unpronounceable posted:I've been doing some searching, trying to see what rumours I could about the T440 release date, and this seems to imply that there isn't going to be a vanilla T440. I haven't found anything else to help confirm or refute this, but has anyone else? Srebrenica Surprise posted:Not sure if this has been linked but here's the T440s hardware maintenance manual. Looks like mSATA is out in favor of NGFF/M.2 and there's one memory slot. No aftermarket NGFF SSDs have made it to market, right?
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Jul 12, 2013 02:18
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DrDork posted:the new head of the ThinkPad division is somewhat known for model vomiting. And he's a motherfucker for it, too.
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Jul 12, 2013 02:26
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I am going to be taking a week vacation to the beach in September and I was hoping to catch up on my steam backlog while there. What is the current recommendation on haswell ultrabooks in the 13ish - 14ish inch range? I know there arent many out at the moment. Are there some coming I could get before Sept that I should maybe wait on? Mostly going to be playing things like CIV5, but I also want to do some Skyrim. Id like a display that runs 1080p so I can hit my plex server back home and watch flicks.
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Jul 12, 2013 02:33
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I'm trying to understand the Lenovo site, what is the lightest laptop they offer? Does adding a touch screen add a lot of weight? The X230 says "starting at 2.96 lbs / .75" thin", while the X230T is "Starting at 3.70 lbs / 1.23" thin". Is that just from the touchscreen?
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Jul 12, 2013 03:31
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CharlesM posted:I'm trying to understand the Lenovo site, what is the lightest laptop they offer? The x230t is a convertible, the extra weight is because of the hinge, digitizer, and extended battery. Why do you want a touch screen?
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Jul 12, 2013 03:34
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My mom likes it with Windows 8
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Jul 12, 2013 03:37
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Syano posted:I am going to be taking a week vacation to the beach in September and I was hoping to catch up on my steam backlog while there.
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Jul 12, 2013 03:38
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CharlesM posted:I'm trying to understand the Lenovo site, what is the lightest laptop they offer? The design is different -- it has a slot for the pen in the base, a different kind of hinge, deeper body. I think the minimum battery option is larger too.
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Jul 12, 2013 03:38
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CharlesM posted:I'm trying to understand the Lenovo site Whoah right there. Start over, with the assumption that black is white, cars are fish, and 2 plus 2 equals the square root of negative pi. And then go reset your router three times before realizing that the site becomes sleepy at 11pm and stops worrying about every little user request, instead flashing this gif with the message, "DOING OUR BUSINESS IS WHAT COMPUTERS ARE FOR!".  Seriously though the Lenovo order site is an upper-division course in Dadaism.
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Jul 12, 2013 05:15
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The Lenovo site is difficult just to weed out the non-true believers and dickbag Mac users 
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Jul 12, 2013 05:24
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Hey guys, I'm in the market for a new laptop. A little history. My last computer gear purchases were five years ago (For my desktop) and four years ago for my netbooks. Even despite the age I wasn't really thinking about replacing them because I don't really play cutting edge games or anything that requires massive performance any more. However I was getting a bit fed up with my netbook performance. Specifically they were ASUS Eee PC 1000HA and 1005HA. But they did the trick (I only used one, the other was a family spare) and more importantly got good battery life. However, they're both basically dead. The 1000 has some sort of mainboard power issue and the 1005 has a keyboard that only sometimes works (No "C", "." or CTRL keys for example) and wireless that likes to drop out. I was thinking about getting them repaired but they'd cost basically as much as I paid for them originally. So I'm looking for a new laptop because I figure I might as well upgrade. Originally I was hoping to just grab a new Eee PC but it looks like they've been out of production for a while. My requirements are basically: - Light, as I'll be carrying it around all day and I am a sissy girly man who gets sore shoulders easily. - SSD, because I'd like to just be able to hit power on and get to work for once. - Good battery life. I'm going to be using it away from reliable power for a good five or more hours occasionally so more battery life is better. - Pretty because I'm vain (Not a set-in-stone requirement) - AU$1400 or less. I could possibly stretch to AU$1500 if I really needed it. These requirements lead me to think that I'm looking at an ultrabook, probably 13.3" because of the extra battery. I was originally going to grab a Zenbook (After playing with a bunch of laptops) but then I head about the Haswell refresh and I figured 50% extra life would be a nice boon. Problem is that there seem to be two Haswell laptops. The Sony VAIO Pro 13 or the MacBook Air. I really don't want to switch to Mac because as nice as it is, after using one for a day or so I just don't want to go and relearn a whole system, especially when I'll be jumping back to Windows machines all the time. And the Sony has mixed reviews. 6.5-9 hours battery sounds great but I've heard eh things about support and drivers. Ideally I'll just wait for the UX31LA to come out but I've heard absolutely nothing about that release date. I don't want a super high-res Infinity. But the issue is university is starting up very soon and it looks like nothing new is coming out. I could probably hold out with my half-working netbook until some time next month but honestly the sooner the better. Sorry for the wall of words. Short version is: Will good ultrabooks (Specifically the new Zenbook) be out soon next month or should I just get a Sony VAIO Pro 13? Thanks guys.
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Jul 12, 2013 05:57
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Did you consider running Windows 7 on the MBA ? Although this is based on the previous generation CPU's it's still relevavnt: http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/10/2787484/macbook-air-with-windows-7-review-the-ultrabook-to-rule-them-all The Vaio Pro is a great machine though however if you're a heavy typist you might find the flex due to the carbon fibre too much to handle, when I tried one it was completely unnoticeable to me in use. As far as I know their issue with driver support are a thing of the past and they are much better now. The Dell XPS 12 is also available now (shipping in a week or two) with Haswell so that could be another option. Sendo fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 06:11
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How are the ThinkPad Edges? Specifically the E430? I'm looking for a laptop for when I'm abroad for school in the coming year and I'd like something that I can (relatively) manhandle and won't look too flashy or anything. I'm not going to be doing anything harder than word processing, Internet, and games from 5 years ago, so I'm not too concerned with power or anything, I just need a reliable computer that hopefully won't attract any undue attention. Newegg has one for $650, which is pretty much the center of my budget. I get the impression that ThinkPads are the way to go for a hardy computer, and its got a fingerprint reader which I imagine would be nifty, but I also know nothing about laptops.
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Jul 12, 2013 07:21
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Sendo posted:Did you consider running Windows 7 on the MBA ? As long as Sony requires that you use their drivers and actively prevents you from using drivers of your choice, the driver issue will persist. They're still poo poo. Also, the original XPS12 looked flimsy as hell and this one does too, I'm interested to see what review sites make of it.
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Jul 12, 2013 07:37
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syntaxfunction posted:Hey guys, I'm in the market for a new laptop. A little history. My last computer gear purchases were five years ago (For my desktop) and four years ago for my netbooks. Even despite the age I wasn't really thinking about replacing them because I don't really play cutting edge games or anything that requires massive performance any more. However I was getting a bit fed up with my netbook performance. Specifically they were ASUS Eee PC 1000HA and 1005HA. But they did the trick (I only used one, the other was a family spare) and more importantly got good battery life. Relearning isn't tough on OSX. It's a pretty healthy thing considering that most devices are unix/linux based for the foreseeable future. I don't know what kind of computing you do, but most people have to stay in Microsoft because of HAM radio or some unbreakable love of cmd.exe, not because they are familiar with the interface. Windows 7 to Windows 8 was way more of a shock to me interface-wise than Windows 7 to OSX.
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Jul 12, 2013 07:55
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Srebrenica Surprise posted:Not sure if this has been linked but here's the T440s hardware maintenance manual. Looks like mSATA is out in favor of NGFF/M.2 and there's one memory slot. No aftermarket NGFF SSDs have made it to market, right? Interesting. Looks a lot like the T431s    
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Jul 12, 2013 07:56
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Opentarget posted:How are the ThinkPad Edges? Specifically the E430? I'm looking for a laptop for when I'm abroad for school in the coming year and I'd like something that I can (relatively) manhandle and won't look too flashy or anything. I'm not going to be doing anything harder than word processing, Internet, and games from 5 years ago, so I'm not too concerned with power or anything, I just need a reliable computer that hopefully won't attract any undue attention. For $650 you could buy a 'real' Thinkpad off of Lenovo's website with the coupon code in the OP. The Edges are alright but I don't think they're as good as the T or X series, and they're also I believe cheaper with that code anyway.
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Jul 12, 2013 08:18
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Is there any reason why I shouldn't buy this Dell for my wife to stream/output video, browse, travel from time to time etc. It's a bit big but not too fussed about that. Also it says nothing about graphics, will ti come with HD 4000 on board?
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Jul 12, 2013 13:33
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^-- That link doesn't work. In fact, it made me lose video and flicker for a few seconds, what the hell?InstantInfidel posted:Also, the original XPS12 looked flimsy as hell and this one does too, I'm interested to see what review sites make of it. How so? I played with it at Best Buy, and it seemed to be pretty strong. The body has a good build to it, and the convertible hinges were withstanding the damage they're sure to get for a system that lives at a Best Buy. And from my research from reading what owners have to say, I've never heard complaints of flimsiness.
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Jul 12, 2013 13:35
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Revol posted:^-- That link doesn't work. In fact, it made me lose video and flicker for a few seconds, what the hell? Sorry bout that, think it might have gone. There was nothing dodgy behind it apart from a Dell website. Anyway this one is broadly similar http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&puid=70e57894. Particularly wondering what 4GB of ram is like with windows 8. Edit: One I was looking at reappeared http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&puid=70fe1ac3. Zalakwe fucked around with this message at 13:58 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 13:54
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Zalakwe posted:Sorry bout that, think it might have gone. There was nothing dodgy behind it apart from a Dell website. Anyway this one is broadly similar http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&puid=70e57894. Particularly wondering what 4GB of ram is like with windows 8. You can't link directly to a computer on the dell outlet site.
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Jul 12, 2013 14:03
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Zalakwe posted:Sorry bout that, think it might have gone. There was nothing dodgy behind it apart from a Dell website. Anyway this one is broadly similar http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/SecondaryInventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&puid=70e57894. Particularly wondering what 4GB of ram is like with windows 8. I can't tell for sure because I'm too lazy to figure out how to let me access the euro outlet specifically, but I'm pretty sure your links keep breaking because you're just linking the search result page, which, well, you can't do that. Try simply copy and pasting the model, specs and price next time. As for 4GB of RAM, there's nothing about Windows 8 that would cause a problem with that, it mostly depends on what else you're going to run; You mentioned Streaming video and browsing [the internet], and that should be fine. I don't know if you're linking something with soldered on RAM but if it's just a regular laptop (which I'm guessing it is, judging by your requirements), you should be able to add on RAM later if needed, and at a reduced price compared to getting it from the laptop manufacturer.
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Jul 12, 2013 14:04
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Brut posted:I can't tell for sure because I'm too lazy to figure out how to let me access the euro outlet specifically. Crap, sorry about that, and thanks for the tip on RAM as well. Main thing I want to do is decide whether this something like this is worth the £200 extra over the one below it, given that the main things she will probably do is watch movies etc. She probably doesn't need the graphics so I'm wodering trying to work out how much quicker the processor will seem and if the higher resolution is worth it. Is the build quaility that much better? XPS 15 - L521x •XPS 15 - L521x •Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-3210M (2.50 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.10 GHz) (1GB Graphics and TPM) •Windows® 8 •4 GB DDR3 Dual Channel 1600MHz SDRAM Memory (1 DIMM) •32GB mSATA3 SSD for Minicard Slots •500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM) •8X DVD+/-RW Drive Slot Load •Display : 15.6 Inch Full High Definition (1080p) True Life WLED Display and Skype-Certified Hi-Def Webcam •Back Up Media Not Included •Windows® 8 64bit (Englilsh) •Wireless : Dell Wireless 1901 802.11a/b/g/n + Bluetooth v4.0 •Battery : Primary 9-cell 65W/HR •Internal Backlit Keyboard •Palmrest •Inspiron 15z - 5523 Ultrabook •Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-3317U (1.70 GHz, 3MB cache) •Windows® 8 •6 GB DDR3 Dual Channel 1600MHz (2 DIMMs) •32 GB mSATA SSD •500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) •8X DVD+/- RW Drive •Display : 15.6" High Definition (720p) LED Display with Truelife •Back Up Media Not Included •Windows® 8 64bit (Englilsh) •Wireless : Dell Wireless 1703 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0+LE •LCD Back Cover : Moon Silver •Battery : Primary 6-cell 44W/HR LI-ION •Internal Qwerty Backlit Keyboard
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Jul 12, 2013 14:24
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Zalakwe posted:Crap, sorry about that, and thanks for the tip on RAM as well. If she is going to travel, you want something a little more sturdy. That would eliminate the Inspiron. But the XPS isn't all that travel-friendly, weighing in at almost six pounds. Maybe take a look at an XPS 13 instead?
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Jul 12, 2013 15:02
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Revol posted:If she is going to travel, you want something a little more sturdy. That would eliminate the Inspiron. But the XPS isn't all that travel-friendly, weighing in at almost six pounds. Maybe take a look at an XPS 13 instead? Are Inspirons pretty flimsy? She quite likes having an optical drive, I was thinking about a 14z although the processor is pretty crummy. Might just opt for the 13 and insist she gets a usb optical. Edit: vvvv Fair enough, think XPs is probably the best bet, thanks for all your help. Zalakwe fucked around with this message at 16:06 on Jul 12, 2013 |
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Jul 12, 2013 15:56
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Zalakwe posted:Are Inspiron's pretty flimsy? She quite likes having an optical drive, I was thinking about a 14z although the processor is pretty crummy. Might just opt for the 13 and insist she gets a usb optical. I wouldn't go out and say it's flimsy, but... let's look at it for what it is. It is Dell's basic line. The bottom. They're made for people who buy laptops at Best Buy or Walmart. XPS is (usually) going to be better.
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Jul 12, 2013 16:04
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Here is a document (.doc) with both the T440 and T440s listed as separate models, so doesn't look like any reason to fear the latter supplanting the former. I don't see a T540, just a T540p.
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Jul 12, 2013 21:53
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Srebrenica Surprise posted:I don't see a T540, just a T540p.
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Jul 13, 2013 01:20
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The wife is looking for a desktop replacement laptop she can take overseas to her grad school. Basically she needs a tank of a laptop that can take a beating. I see that the recommended laptops for being hardy beasts are the Lenovo T series, specifically being the T430 and T530. On Lenovos website the starting price for a T430 vs a T530 seems pretty similar, with the T530 being a larger laptop but starting out slightly cheaper, why would this be, what is the better model? Looking for a price point of close to 650 but that is negotiable. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Jul 13, 2013 01:45
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The T430 has a 14" screen. Get it with a 1600x900 resolution The T530 has a 15" screen. Only get this if you have the cash to upgrade to the 1080p option. THey charge an arm and a leg for this for some reason. Mu Zeta fucked around with this message at 01:52 on Jul 13, 2013 |
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Jul 13, 2013 01:48
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Srebrenica Surprise posted:Here is a document (.doc) with both the T440 and T440s listed as separate models, so doesn't look like any reason to fear the latter supplanting the former. I'm probably just an idiot, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what the letters after various ThinkPad models mean. I'm pretty sure "u" means Ultrabook, "s" means a smaller/lighter version, and "t" means either touchscreen or tablet, but what does "p" and "e" mean?
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Jul 13, 2013 01:51
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Goodpancakes posted:On Lenovos website the starting price for a T430 vs a T530 seems pretty similar, with the T530 being a larger laptop but starting out slightly cheaper, why would this be, what is the better model? Looking for a price point of close to 650 but that is negotiable. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Jul 13, 2013 02:06
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