|
A new battery + shipping is going to set you back $35 Just buy her a $200 chromebook, Acer has theirs refurbished on Ebay for $150 right now
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 19:45
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 23, 2024 19:02 |
|
|
The processor on my buddy's computer is twice as fast as the C7's, it can game a lot better, it has 4 gigs of ram rather than 2, the screen is 3 inches bigger and the resolution is higher at 1600x900.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 20:36
|
|
|
obstipator posted:Also, does anyone happen to know how I'd be able to get rid of the backlight on the keyboard, the fingerprint reader, and the default DVD drive in the optical bay? I don't want any of them, and my brother tells me you used to be able to mess with the web interface to remove them, but right now they are radio buttons defaulted to checked, so I think they fixed that. But getting rid of them would be nice and would probably save me $150. I believe Lenovo cut down on customizability to decrease shipping speed and costs.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 20:41
|
|
|
Socrates16 posted:The processor on my buddy's computer is twice as fast as the C7's, it can game a lot better, it has 4 gigs of ram rather than 2, the screen is 3 inches bigger and the resolution is higher at 1600x900. This isn't how the technology works. That laptop has a PENTIUM processor. So at least four generations old. You can't just say "Durp bigger Hz number", and haven't been able to for at least 5 years. "3 inches bigger and higher resolution" actually puts pixel density / picture quality LOWER than the Acer's. Don't buy that poo poo man, it's laughably dated. VV  VV also hey I thought it was going to be a wife computer, does wife need gaming and not "just facebook and video"?
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 20:42
|
|
|
Socrates16 posted:The processor on my buddy's computer is twice as fast as the C7's, it can game a lot better, it has 4 gigs of ram rather than 2, the screen is 3 inches bigger and the resolution is higher at 1600x900. You're comparing a Sandy Bridge CPU to a Merom, the C7's CPU is at least as fast as 2007 Pentium-branded laptop mobile CPU despite clock differences. 15.6" is waaay bigger than most people want a laptop to be. If you really want a 15.6" bulky, cheap plastic laptop look for clearance Dell Inspiron 15r models. My mother picked up a Core i3 packing Inspiron for $330 two months ago. Don't buy that poo poo. It's a terrible deal.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 20:43
|
|
|
Socrates16 posted:The processor on my buddy's computer is twice as fast as the C7's, it can game a lot better, it has 4 gigs of ram rather than 2, the screen is 3 inches bigger and the resolution is higher at 1600x900. Didn't you just say all she wants to do with it is youtube and fb?
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 20:48
|
|
|
Socrates16 posted:The processor on my buddy's computer is twice as fast as the C7's, it can game a lot better, it has 4 gigs of ram rather than 2, the screen is 3 inches bigger and the resolution is higher at 1600x900. That computer is worth like $70 If you're in the $150 range look for a T400 that takes DDR3 etc
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 20:49
|
|
|
I shouldn't have put that last bit in their about the wife. I may use it from time to time. How the eff are you supposed to judge processor speeds if not by ghz?
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 20:55
|
|
|
Socrates16 posted:I shouldn't have put that last bit in their about the wife. I may use it from time to time. How the eff are you supposed to judge processor speeds if not by ghz? Ghz was king until multiple cores happened. Anyway now you're looking for what revision, whether it is an i3, i5, or i7 and the letters at the end of the processor name) So an i7-4200u is a low voltage i7 haswell processor, an i5-3320m is a regular voltage ivy bridge processor (faster than the i7 but your battery life suffers both because it is not haswell and also because it isn't low voltage), etc. i7-4700mq or so is a quad core regular voltage haswell i7. For something like web browsing and excel/youtube a low voltage i5 or i7 is more then anough. Quad core laptop processors aren't really needed unless you're doing processor intensive things like compiling code/running simulations. There aren't many regular voltage i3, i5, or i7 haswell processors around yet. There are plenty of regular voltage ivy bridge (3xxx series) processors though, but the improvement in battery life with haswell is very nice.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 21:05
|
|
|
Thanks guys. I should have jumped on the acer when it was on sale for 130. I really just need a stop-gap until I can justify getting a nice laptop a year or so from now. The problem I had with the c7 is that the cnet review said it didn't play video smoothly, I guess because the processor is so slow. Anyone know otherwise?
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 21:11
|
|
|
For gaming you want a bare minimum of an HD3000 (HD4000+ preferred) or a discrete GPU, that will push you over $350 easily. HD3000 is too slow for anything made after 2004 though. It will kind of sort of play kerbal space program, but don't bet on it.Bob Morales posted:That computer is worth like $70 The T410 runs about $300 these days and has a first gen i5, it's not super fast but it's at least on the cusp of being "modern technology". T400 is going to be a Core 2 Duo which is the tail end of the 2007-2009 era laptops.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 21:44
|
|
|
havenwaters posted:Ghz was king until multiple cores happened. While the timing is basically correct, it's not a useful thing to tell him because it suggests that more cores = better. More cores also doesn't mean better (because a lot of code doesn't multithread well) and that's why an AMD 8 core chip can be dogshit compared to an i3. Ghz was king until they hit a wall, at which point structural innovations became the way to improve power instead of just boosting the frequency. Single-core benchmarking is pretty key for most tasks.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 21:51
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:The T410 runs about $300 these days and has a first gen i5, it's not super fast but it's at least on the cusp of being "modern technology". T400 is going to be a Core 2 Duo which is the tail end of the 2007-2009 era laptops. It's also double the price.  I'd assume that T400 is a 2.4GHz model but you can go up to a 2.93GHz which should be far off of an i5 540 or whatever model they were.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 21:52
|
|
|
evilweasel posted:I believe Lenovo cut down on customizability to decrease shipping speed and costs. when I ordered my y410p I literally couldn't customize any of the internal components at all, it was incredibly disappointing I have to say.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 21:58
|
|
Cat Army 
|
I hope this is the right place to post this, so my MSI after a little over a year and a half as completely died out I have returned it six times previously for the same issue dc jack burning out and occasionally taking out the motherboard. Warranty expired it crashed again independent repair shop said it was no point to repair it cause MSI hosed with the laptop so badly it would be pointless. Back to the topic at hand, is this is a good lap top to get? [url] http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_577_371&item_id=061249 [/url] Independent film maker, the laptop needs to handle footage, editing, some other post production trickery. Also are Asus known for their build quality, I don't want to get into another kerfuffle after the MSI debacle. Any help would be appreciated.
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 22:18
|
|
|
So my ebayed t420 came in today. Right now it has Windows 8 Pro but only supports less than 4gb of RAM. If I want get a 64bit copy of windows on here I need to buy a whole new license right? Would the OEM copy on amazon work? I can't buy an upgrade from 32 to 64 can I? As far as SSDs go, would I run into any trouble installing anything that has come out recently?
|
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 22:44
|
|
|
Optiquest posted:So my ebayed t420 came in today. Right now it has Windows 8 Pro but only supports less than 4gb of RAM. If I want get a 64bit copy of windows on here I need to buy a whole new license right? Would the OEM copy on amazon work? I can't buy an upgrade from 32 to 64 can I? As far as SSDs go, would I run into any trouble installing anything that has come out recently? Windows licenses for 32bit and 64 bit are interchangeable and have been since 7 or vista. EDIT: In other words, if your ebayed laptop actually came with a legitimate copy of Windows 8, feel free to install the 64 bit version with the same key. Brut fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Aug 27, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 27, 2013 22:50
|
|
|
I need a cheap laptop. I'll only be using it to surf the web and mainly to type MS office reports in a vehicle. Should I be looking at used older thinkpads? Something with WinXP would be fine.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 02:43
|
|
|
Older ThinkPads and Chromebooks should fit the bill, yeah.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 03:34
|
|
|
What's the lifespan considered to be on a good laptop? I mean with moore's law what it is, if I buy a nice ultrabook how long should I expect it to last before I really need an upgrade to keep up with general computing standards? Is it like 4 years or so?
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 03:57
|
|
|
You can expect to get about 4 years out of a Thinkpad if you travel a lot and keep it in a sleeve A $400 best buy laptop that lives on your dorm room desk 9 months out of the year and your bedroom desk during the summer and winter breaks will last you at least that long* An ultrabook should last somewhere in-between. To get your laptop a thin as a ballpoint pen they had to make a lot of sacrifices here and there to make it pretty, slim and also under $999. Quality varies wildly from manufacturer to mfg, model to model and sometimes even different production runs of the same model. There was an issue with last winter's T430's waking from sleep due to the Intel Ultimate-N wifi interfering with the lid sensor. Screen quality varies a lot too. *this claim is void if the words "cheetos dust" means anything to you
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 04:05
|
|
|
Yeah, I have a almost 7 year old e1505 and it's still in more or less mint condition. I'm on my second, going on 3rd battery, but everything about it functions just fine. Still absolutely fine for web, email, and YouTube.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 04:31
|
|
|
My Toshiba L755d-s5218 was about 500 and has deteriorated pretty quickly. At about a year and ten months, I've had to replace the battery, charger(twice, but the second one was from an off-brand), keyboard, and the left click button no longer works, so I usually have to use a mouse. I wasn't into tech when I bought it, and it really pisses me off that I'm stuck with this POS. As much as I try to justify a new laptop, I just can't for less than two years with this one, considering it still works for the most part. The next one I buy drat sure needs to be durable, because I freaking hate dealing with the hassle. I think after the 3 year mark I'll feel better about buying a new one.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 04:44
|
|
|
I bought an overpriced Atom netbook during their peak (~$500) thinking the build quality and battery life would be generally superior to the EEE stuff coming out, and unwilling to buy a Best Buy 15" craptop as I had gone through school with a huge, clunky piece of poo poo. Despite the resolution, it was a great machine, light, 6hr battery life, fast enough for me with 2GB ram in Win7, could play 720p video with CoreAVC, and could surprisingly play some 3D games at lowest settings. Wonderful near-full size keyboard, too. Despite this, the hinges and frame broke which affected the LCD cable, and either the DC jack or charger went out soon after - surprisingly, I think I got about three years out of it. I've learned from that that I'm willing to lower my standards on raw power in favor of portability and durability and so it was a good mistake to make, in the long run.
Srebrenica Surprise fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Aug 28, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 05:32
|
|
|
Srebrenica Surprise posted:I bought an overpriced Atom netbook during their peak (~$500) thinking the build quality and battery life would be generally superior to the EEE stuff coming out, and unwilling to buy a Best Buy 15" craptop as I had gone through school with a huge, clunky piece of poo poo. Despite the resolution, it was a great machine, light, 6hr battery life, fast enough for me with 2GB ram in Win7, could play 720p video with CoreAVC, and could surprisingly play some 3D games at lowest settings. Wonderful near-full size keyboard, too. Despite this, the hinges and frame broke which affected the LCD cable, and either the DC jack or charger went out soon after - surprisingly, I think I got about three years out of it. I've learned from that that I'm willing to lower my standards on raw power in favor of portability and durability and so it was a good mistake to make, in the long run. I did the same thing. I bought a Eee 1005HA when they came out and that thing has been my reliable little laptop for a good five years now. Going from that to any laptop is a performance increase but one thing I refuse to give up is good battery life. Five hours isn't much compared to new Haswell machines but damned if I'm going backwards. So I'm sitting and waiting for the next slew of ultrabooks. I'm only in the market for a new laptop because my Eee has a borked keyboard and trackpad, and it'd cost more to replace than it's worth.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 09:19
|
|
|
Whale Cancer posted:I need a cheap laptop. I'll only be using it to surf the web and mainly to type MS office reports in a vehicle. Should I be looking at used older thinkpads? Something with WinXP would be fine. Get one of the $150 refurbished chromebooks. Don't get anything more expensive than that, you don't need it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 10:22
|
|
|
I'm looking for a laptop to work while travelling overseas, problem is, my work is video editing. Budget is about $1000US, give or take a bit Can you happily edit HD footage on a T440? Otherwise I'm thinking of y510p. I'd prefer the better battery, and lighter body of the T440 but if it can't handle video editing then it's out. Is there anyone else in the thread who uses their laptop for editing?
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 10:53
|
|
|
bull3964 posted:Dell announced their new latitude line yesterday. Clamshell/lockable lid is also gone from these. Are these the ultrabook consumer lines or are all Dells now without these features? I just don't understand why they would do away with it. It has no impact of usability or size and makes the laptop that much more robust. Sigh. Otherwise I like the design and specs. I wonder how the E6540 fits into this, which is not even released yet: It's Haswell but the old design. Hadlock posted:You can expect to get about 4 years out of a Thinkpad if you travel a lot and keep it in a sleeve My T400 is over 4.5 years and it still works. I have done ridiculous poo poo to it including: - 4-5 times dropping it at a height over 1m on stone, requiring two new hard drives and one new dvd drive - Literally throwing it around - Coffee and water over the keyboard, several times - Dust/Sand etc. - In general I can not take care of electronic devices for poo poo (new cellphone each year, that's me) Which is also why I am sad that they are taking away some of these rugged features like the clamshell lid: The old Thinkpad design was really, really resiliant Boner Slam fucked around with this message at 11:32 on Aug 28, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 11:24
|
|
|
Boner Slam posted:My T400 is over 4.5 years and it still works. I have done ridiculous poo poo to it including: Yeah my buddy bought a T400 at launch and I've personally seen it bounce off the floor of his sailboat at least twice when we tacked. It has lived in a saltwater marine environment 24/7 and gets dragged to the coffee shop a couple times a week in his pannier bag on his bike. 4 years is what you should expect out of it though, some people are stupidly reckless with their laptops. I can squeeze six years out of a consumer grade laptop but most people are animals when it comes to handling their electronics. If you've only dropped yours five times in four years* one might argue that you're babying it  *note to those reading this, don't drop your laptop for any reason
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 15:28
|
|
|
Robustness isn't as important, laptops are cheaper nowadays. Latches are bad for durability anyway, if the lid is too weak, because they mostly help the lid absorb shocks applied to the base, and if the lid is too weak, it'll just get its screen damaged instead. With a weak lid the goal is to have the base absorb the shock. With no DVD drive and less weight this is more doable than before. The Thinkpad latches were especially bad because of how much space they took up and how complicated they were, since there are two latches connected by a rod. They definitely impact usability too, they make the case harder to open.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 16:08
|
|
|
Well, main reason I was asking wasn't so much about the physical build quality of a laptop, more how long you should expect the laptop to be I guess what I'd say somewhat competitive from a specs point of view. In any case just pulled the trigger on a XPS12 with 4 years of accident protection since the consensus is 4 years and I tend to be pretty rough with my stuff. From what I've read it's considered a good piece of equipment. Thanks thread.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 16:16
|
|
|
signalnoise posted:Well, main reason I was asking wasn't so much about the physical build quality of a laptop, more how long you should expect the laptop to be I guess what I'd say somewhat competitive from a specs point of view. Depending on your needs, a 2009-era Core 2 Duo laptop that's been upgraded with an SSD is still pretty usable these days. But, you'll be on your 2nd or 3rd battery by now, if it's DDR2 instead of DDR3 you're looking at nearly $200 for a pair of 4GB RAM chips, you might not have things like Wireless-N, you won't have USB 3.0, etc.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 16:45
|
|
|
Are the $150 refurbished Acer Chromebooks still available? All the eBay links are dead for me.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 17:32
|
|
|
shrughes posted:Robustness isn't as important, laptops are cheaper nowadays. Btw. you can't imagine how quickly I can break stuff. I need a base level of ruggedness. shrughes posted:Latches are bad for durability anyway, if the lid is too weak, because they mostly help the lid absorb shocks applied to the base, and if the lid is too weak, it'll just get its screen damaged instead. Latches are excellent for durability, if your laptop isn't poo poo. And so is the clamshell. You can see in the Lenovo IdeaThinkpad from above that there is a clear separation of lid and base even when closed. This is crap. I would immediately have stuff/dust/sand between screen and keyboard if I put it in my bag. If I spill something over my closed laptop then at least that part is sealed. If it doesn't hit the fan intake then you can clean it off and that's that. An open laptop is then most likely broken. In fact most people with laptops without clamshells have to use these strange sleeves all the time. I mean why is that`? Also: Separated lid and base without clamshell/latches and some object in the bag like cellphone or a book = open laptop, if the hinges aren't up to snuff. It's just worse for durability, hands down. shrughes posted:With a weak lid the goal is to have the base absorb the shock. With no DVD drive and less weight this is more doable than before. The Thinkpad latches were especially bad because of how much space they took up and how complicated they were, since there are two latches connected by a rod. They definitely impact usability too, they make the case harder to open. I am willing to specifically argue against this. My closed and locked thinkpad absorbs any shock from dropping vastly better than if it were open and the base unit would somehow absorb the impact (?). If it is closed, it is a solid block with no moving parts whatsoever. Throwing an open laptop around would be a disaster. The only parts I have ever broke by dropping the laptop were the ones with moving parts - hard drive, dvd drive and such. The lid has minor scratches where it hit the floor but it didn't even deform one bit. The screen is still perfect. Additionally, I can say for myself that the T400, latches and all, is probably the most robust and money worth consumer product I have EVER bought, out of all things. Considering how I go through electronic devices otherwise, me having this thing for 4,5 years is a loving wonder. I may be lucky, but it is a tough motherfucker thanks to all those little features which saved it in the end. The only reason why they should do away with any of those features is if they are demonstrateably better. The T440 is not going to be immensely thinner or lighter, it is still going to be a full featured laptop. Only with the new hinge design and without either a clamshell or hinges. After a while the hinges will tire and it will tend to open all the time. This will add to the stress on those parts of downright damage it in some situations. If it falls down, it will still fall on the lid and the lid still has to take the abuse. You still need some sort of physical protection to keep it from flopping around if you are moving about with the thing and don't want to put it into these stupid sleeves all the drat time. Which brings me to Dell http://www.notebookcheck.com/Dell-neue-Business-Notebooks-Latitude-3000-5000-und-7000-vorgestellt.100261.0.html The German page of Notebookcheck has some in depth previews of the new Dell Models. Built quality of the 3000 (Vostro) and 5000 newcomers is apparently worse than their predecessors, even though the hardware is good and the designs are arguably better looking. 3000 still has the Vostro keyboard. I have used it, it is poo poo. Sadly, the 7000 series is also not up to snuff when it comes to built quality. This is apparently due to the placement of the battery so it might not change. It has a docking port ability and a removable battery. The keyboard is good. It has a good IPS display - if you get the Touch version. Lots of pictures and specs in the article. Well at least the 6000 series stays the way it is, which is apparently better in terms of built quality than the 7000 series. Then again the design and the off-centered keyboard... ugh. Well let's see how the T440 turns out. Boner Slam fucked around with this message at 18:42 on Aug 28, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 18:19
|
|
|
shrughes posted:Robustness isn't as important, laptops are cheaper nowadays. Latches are bad for durability anyway, if the lid is too weak, because they mostly help the lid absorb shocks applied to the base, and if the lid is too weak, it'll just get its screen damaged instead. With a weak lid the goal is to have the base absorb the shock. With no DVD drive and less weight this is more doable than before. The Thinkpad latches were especially bad because of how much space they took up and how complicated they were, since there are two latches connected by a rod. They definitely impact usability too, they make the case harder to open. The point of latches is to reduce the forces exerted on the hinges from impacts, many of which will be magnified due to the leverage supplied by the lid. Hinges are usually an extremely vulnerable part of the laptop. It also combines the two halves of the laptop into a single, thicker, and stiffer unit, versus allowing them to flex on their own while transmitting force to each other through just a single point. They also make the laptop easier to open in that you don't need the initial opening force of the hinge to be as high, since the latch provides a positive closure instead of the hinge itself providing the force necessary to hold the lid closed.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 18:46
|
|
|
Boner Slam posted:Which brings me to Dell The IPS touchscreen on the 7440 looks fantastic. I think I might pick this one up when it becomes available on my premier page. I'm a little sad that the page up and page down buttons are now near the arrowkeys, but at least they didn't do the mini-arrow keys like Apple and Sony have been doing lately.
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 19:35
|
|
|
EugeneJ posted:Are the $150 refurbished Acer Chromebooks still available? All the eBay links are dead for me. The sale ended. YOU WAITED TOO LONG The new ones are only marginally more expensive. They're $200
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 20:04
|
|
|
R.I.P. Cheapest marginally usable laptops ever (even if they were technically refurbished) Woot on the rare occasion has some of the lesser quality ThinkPads, like the Edge and L series. And for one shining moment, the x120e. It's a real shame they charge an arm and a leg for the x130e, and how ugly it is. $400 for an x140e with an i3 in it would siphon too many sales away from the x440 an T440 though... Hadlock fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Aug 28, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2013 23:23
|
|
|
Brut posted:Windows licenses for 32bit and 64 bit are interchangeable and have been since 7 or vista. Theres a Windows 7 Home premium key under the battery, and the Windows 8 looks legit as far as I can tell (although it was a clean install when I received it). Should I try to get a Win 7 disk and then do an upgrade to get a 64 bit version, or would a Win 8 OEM disk work? e: Nevermind and I'm dumb. It was 64 bit the entire time  e2: What about reinstalling on a SSD? The Win8 Pro key doesn't match the Win7 key under the battery. Optiquest fucked around with this message at 01:35 on Aug 29, 2013 |
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 01:15
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 23, 2024 19:02 |
|
|
Thanks for the help on my questions. I really appreciate it! 
|
|
#
?
Aug 29, 2013 01:44
|
|
