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tijag
Aug 6, 2002

Martytoof posted:

I love my white-backlit keyboard. It's saved me from typos many a night. I have nothing against backlights in and of themselves. Just the red lights/keys on the Y410p that I dislike.

Interesting. I didn't think about it at all and it made no impact on my purchase decision for the y510p. Btw, I'm really bummed that the mobile drivers aren't as robust as the desktop drivers.

I want to be able to enable adaptive vysnc for 30fps gaming which is adequate for me. That option doesn't exist in the mobile drivers. Maybe its buried in registry edits.

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OXBALLS DOT COM
Sep 11, 2005

by FactsAreUseless
Young Orc
Honestly red makes a lot of functinal sense for something you're going to be using in low light.

Though personally I think backlit keyboards are silly. The thinklight is ok though and is actually useful for reading papers too.

GrizzlyCow
May 30, 2011

P.N.T.M. posted:

The T440p doesn't look like a great "at home on the couch" model.

Using the B&N Gold :siren: link in the OP, there is an $896.22 T440 which is specced very nicely. It comes with a 1600x900 screen, and HD4400.

I can't find any benchmarks for CK2 or XCOM with the HD4400, but something tells me that both of those games are not as taxing as Skyrim, which the HD4400 can do fine with on low settings. But those game might be more processor heavy...

The price doesn't include the tax.


You can also get an x240, a 13" Thinkpad for $880.62. You just have to not get the Webcam and Fingerprint reader, plus choose the i5-4200 with HD4400 graphics and IPS screen.

1366x768 (~720p) screen, which is absolutely gorgeous no matter what the tiny screen haters say (I own a x230 with the same screen ;) ), and same graphics power as the T440, but the processor is a tad less powerful.


Hope this info helps in your search.

Edit:

I've noticed a little bit of backlight bleed on the lower left side, but otherwise this screen has given me only good things to say. Bright, great colors, excellent viewing angles, all the good stuff.
The HD 4400 should be noticeable faster than my laptop, but my A8-4500M with HD7640G integrated graphics card can play XCOM:EW at max settings at 1366x768 with no apparent slowdowns. I don't know my actual FPS. Anyway, the X240 with i5-4200 and HD4400 is downright overqualified to run XCOM at such a low resolution.

Skunkrocker
Jan 14, 2012

Your favorite furry wrestler.
I have been tasked with finding a laptop computer by my mother on Newegg that costs between 300-400 dollars US that can as it was put to me "run some games, not high tech games I guess" which tells me the most advanced this thing might be running is Farmville or something. I'm going to assume she needs a GPU on it too. Anyway, I guess this is a christmas present for someone not me so I don't really give a poo poo what you recommend! As long as it fits those criteria (on Newegg, 300-400, laptop, GPU, runs "low tech" games) I'm cool with this. No other specs are required supposedly so... what can you recommend so that mom doesn't get COMPLETELY ripped off for buying something so cheap.

QuarkJets
Sep 8, 2008

I leave the backlighting off on my keyboard. I don't really care about it, so leaving it off saves a tiny bit of power

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

Cream_Filling posted:

Though personally I think backlit keyboards are silly. The thinklight is ok though and is actually useful for reading papers too.

The problem I have with my backlit keyboard is that the letters themselves are transparent plastic so... light sort of travels through the key/letters, rather than bouncing light back at your eyes. So you have to backlight the keys to see them in even moderately dark conditions

By comparison in the same lighting the keys on my T400 with actual white (light reflecting) paint are very visible to a much darker extent

GuyIncognito!
Dec 5, 2008

Vinlaen posted:

Anybody have a laptop but only use it at home? (re: couch/casual usage)

I've moved into a new house and unfortunately I don't have an office (like my old house), so my PC is located downstairs in the basement. This isn't a huge problem, but it causes me to not use it as often because I'm usually upstairs with my kids, etc.

So... I'm thinking about getting a MacBook (Air?) to use upstairs. 65% of the time it will be used on the couch (with the trackpad) and the other 35% I'll use it on my dining room table with a mouse.

Does anybody else have a similar situation?

I really don't need the laptop to be portable because it will stay at home most of the time (except maybe using it at work during downtime to play games/watch short movies).

The 11" seems great for the couch, but then really small on the dining room table as a PC replacement.

have you considered something like a surface pro? Seems like the perfect usage scenario for one. I have about the same requirements, either using it on the couch or folding out the keyboard and using a mouse at a table, and I love it. enough power to do useful things, and portable enough to lounge on the couch and use it as a tablet. vOv. I have one of the first models, but from what I hear the sp2 have faaar better battery life.

Evil Vin
Jun 14, 2006

♪ Sing everybody "Deutsche Deutsche"
Vaya con dios amigos! ♪


Fallen Rib

Skunkrocker posted:

I have been tasked with finding a laptop computer by my mother on Newegg that costs between 300-400 dollars US that can as it was put to me "run some games, not high tech games I guess" which tells me the most advanced this thing might be running is Farmville or something. I'm going to assume she needs a GPU on it too. Anyway, I guess this is a christmas present for someone not me so I don't really give a poo poo what you recommend! As long as it fits those criteria (on Newegg, 300-400, laptop, GPU, runs "low tech" games) I'm cool with this. No other specs are required supposedly so... what can you recommend so that mom doesn't get COMPLETELY ripped off for buying something so cheap.

I'm in a similar situation with my girlfriend, except my max is $500.

I've been looking at the Asus Vivobook X202E-DH31T which in pink goes for ~$409. (There also seems to be the ASUS Q200E which seems to be the same computer with a slightly different case for $420) My mom currently has this one its nice and small, but I can't say I've had much time putzing around with it to get a feel if this something my girlfriend could live it.

I'm also looking at the Acer Aspire V5-171-6471. This edges out the last one since it seems to have a better processor and upgradeable ram but it's $499 and doesn't have a touch screen like the Asus. And in my price range is my favorite

Another contender is the Lenovo IdeaPad S400 similarly specs to the Asus but a bigger 14 inch screen and expandable ram. $450

Finally if I want to go even more over my budget there's the Lenovo Ideapad Flex14 which has a haswell processor at the second cheapest level (unlike the previous computers, but at the same time it's an i3 while the Asus was an i5) and if you look around for coupons it comes out to $520 (and if I'm dropping 500 why not throw down another 20 and get something possibly better)

I'm not looking for a big computer since this is going to be a replacement for her netbook, but a tablet really wouldn't work since she's looking for something she can play flash on.
Which is why personally I'm leaning to the Acer. I have Y410p personally I feel like it's too big a laptop to hang out in bed with at 15 inches. So the similarly sized but much smaller 14 inch screen laptops might be too big unless they're better values really.

So opinions? Suggestions? Anything?

Evil Vin fucked around with this message at 10:15 on Dec 13, 2013

Vinlaen
Feb 19, 2008

GuyIncognito! posted:

have you considered something like a surface pro? Seems like the perfect usage scenario for one. I have about the same requirements, either using it on the couch or folding out the keyboard and using a mouse at a table, and I love it. enough power to do useful things, and portable enough to lounge on the couch and use it as a tablet. vOv. I have one of the first models, but from what I hear the sp2 have faaar better battery life.
The Surface Pro is definitely a fantastic machine, but when I tried it a few months ago I had a problem using it on my lap. (i.e. the kickstand doesn't allow me to set a good angle while resting on my lap)

If the Surface Pro had a full hinge that was adjustable it would be perfect :(

AlternateNu
May 5, 2005

ドーナツダメ!
I ordered a Y410 from Lenovo last week and it should be coming in soon. But I realized I never looked into how easy it is to swap out the HD and RAM on this particular model. Is it as easy as it was with my old Y470? (Also, should I expect the 24GB SSD to be a normal sized 3.5" than can be swapped like the rotating HD?)

LuiCypher
Apr 24, 2010

Today I'm... amped up!

My Y510P just came in, and about the only thing I really dislike about it is the trackpad and the fact that the mouse buttons are not distinct/separate and built into the pad. Other than that, it's a beautiful machine and meets all my needs.

QuarkJets
Sep 8, 2008

AlternateNu posted:

I ordered a Y410 from Lenovo last week and it should be coming in soon. But I realized I never looked into how easy it is to swap out the HD and RAM on this particular model. Is it as easy as it was with my old Y470? (Also, should I expect the 24GB SSD to be a normal sized 3.5" than can be swapped like the rotating HD?)

Why didn't you ask these questions before making your purchase? You could have saved some money on the HDD

Replacing the HDD and RAM on the Y410 is extremely easy, you just need a screwdriver. The user manual describes how to do it very well

The 24GB is not an SSD, it's just some cache space attached to the HDD.

P.N.T.M.
Jan 14, 2006

tiny dinosaurs
Fun Shoe
Yeah, the HDD is equipped with a built in 24GB cache space (WE'RE IN THE FUTURE BY THE WAY) that auto allocates space to your most used "programs" (includes the OS) and speeds up their access times.


You will be much better off with a Samsung EVO.

AlternateNu
May 5, 2005

ドーナツダメ!

QuarkJets posted:

Why didn't you ask these questions before making your purchase? You could have saved some money on the HDD

Replacing the HDD and RAM on the Y410 is extremely easy, you just need a screwdriver. The user manual describes how to do it very well

The 24GB is not an SSD, it's just some cache space attached to the HDD.

Nice. So when they advertised it as "1TB + 24GB SSD", I figured it was two separate drives. (I should have realized there would be space issues if that was true, but I R dum.) I assumed the SSD was where the OS was going to be stored and the HDD was just for storage. Well poo poo.

AlternateNu fucked around with this message at 23:17 on Dec 13, 2013

Srebrenica Surprise
Aug 23, 2008

"L-O-V-E's just another word I never learned to pronounce."
The 24GB SSD version is the best deal anyway right now since you get the upgraded wifi card with 5ghz that would cost the same $30 to install aftermarket if not for Lenovo's stupid whitelist. If you paid like $100 for it that sucks but at current prices it's hardly a huge mistake.

QuarkJets
Sep 8, 2008

Srebrenica Surprise posted:

The 24GB SSD version is the best deal anyway right now since you get the upgraded wifi card with 5ghz that would cost the same $30 to install aftermarket if not for Lenovo's stupid whitelist. If you paid like $100 for it that sucks but at current prices it's hardly a huge mistake.

Yeah, even if you didn't get the wifi card, it's not like the $30 or $50 difference or whatever is a huge deal

Tom Guycot
Oct 15, 2008

Chief of Governors


Evil Vin posted:

I'm in a similar situation with my girlfriend, except my max is $500.

I've been looking at the Asus Vivobook X202E-DH31T which in pink goes for ~$409. (There also seems to be the ASUS Q200E which seems to be the same computer with a slightly different case for $420) My mom currently has this one its nice and small, but I can't say I've had much time putzing around with it to get a feel if this something my girlfriend could live it.

I'm also looking at the Acer Aspire V5-171-6471. This edges out the last one since it seems to have a better processor and upgradeable ram but it's $499 and doesn't have a touch screen like the Asus. And in my price range is my favorite

Another contender is the Lenovo IdeaPad S400 similarly specs to the Asus but a bigger 14 inch screen and expandable ram. $450

Finally if I want to go even more over my budget there's the Lenovo Ideapad Flex14 which has a haswell processor at the second cheapest level (unlike the previous computers, but at the same time it's an i3 while the Asus was an i5) and if you look around for coupons it comes out to $520 (and if I'm dropping 500 why not throw down another 20 and get something possibly better)

I'm not looking for a big computer since this is going to be a replacement for her netbook, but a tablet really wouldn't work since she's looking for something she can play flash on.
Which is why personally I'm leaning to the Acer. I have Y410p personally I feel like it's too big a laptop to hang out in bed with at 15 inches. So the similarly sized but much smaller 14 inch screen laptops might be too big unless they're better values really.

So opinions? Suggestions? Anything?

If this is going to replace a netbook for her, maybe you should look at the asus t100? Obviously there's not enough information to go on here, but would she *want* something with a 14" screen and far heavier to replace her netbook? The T100 is a small, light sucessor to the asus netbooks, it gets good battery life, can detach into a tablet if she just wants to lounge on the couch, and the new baytrail processors are at least powerful enough to do any and all basic tasks, and even run games like skyrim (though on dog low settings). On top of that its still a full windows machine so there's no sacrificing things like having to run flash or any old software she might have. As far as cost the 64GB versions are regularly on sale for $350, and you can always throw in micro sd cards to double the space on it.

Of course you know way more than any of us about her wants, but so often I see more technical partners, friends, family, over-buying computers for gifts. Getting way more that that person really wants, or needs.

vty
Nov 8, 2007

oh dott, oh dott!

Cream_Filling posted:

Honestly red makes a lot of functinal sense for something you're going to be using in low light.

Though personally I think backlit keyboards are silly. The thinklight is ok though and is actually useful for reading papers too.

I don't know how you could possibly think a backlit keyboard is silly. At least it's a feature you can disable if it really offends you. I've used them for 3-4 years now after coming from Thinkpad X's w/the hilarious Thinklight (that barely showed half of the keyboard while annoying everyone next to you in public) and I would never, ever go back to not having one. Sure, maybe you don't use it often as you're always in bright light, sitting straight up at a desk, or have your monitor turned up on "blast my eyes out" mode- but it's a damned useful feature and a not having it is a major deterrent for some people when buying laptops.

Whether it's when I'm lying in bed and can't touch type (because I'm sideways, etc) or on a dark train/airplane/bar/coffeshop it's absolutely critical, especially considering all of these laptops have completely deviated from any sort of keyboard standardization nowadays.

I usually leave mine on the lowest setting and it looks like the keys are just white. Except.. it's night time. And I can see that I'm not jabbing the stupidly placed FN keys.

vty fucked around with this message at 18:56 on Dec 14, 2013

Dance The Mutation
Jul 27, 2011
This is kind of silly but I want to buy a laptop for programming mainly. I plan to install Ubuntu on it. I'm a statistics/CS major and I do a lot of data analysis. I'm not like a PhD student so I doubt what I write is really that insane but I use C/C++, R, and Python extensively. Do I need to go for core i7 and cutting edge stuff? I was thinking that integrated graphics, core i5 or i7, and an SSD would be fine for me? It would be cool to have a dedicated GPU for other stuff like watching HD video and/or possibly doing CUDA stuff in the next year. What do you guys think?

OXBALLS DOT COM
Sep 11, 2005

by FactsAreUseless
Young Orc

vty posted:

I don't know how you could possibly think a backlit keyboard is silly. At least it's a feature you can disable if it really offends you. I've used them for 3-4 years now after coming from Thinkpad X's w/the hilarious Thinklight (that barely showed half of the keyboard while annoying everyone next to you in public) and I would never, ever go back to not having one. Sure, maybe you don't use it often as you're always in bright light, sitting straight up at a desk, or have your monitor turned up on "blast my eyes out" mode- but it's a damned useful feature and a not having it is a major deterrent for some people when buying laptops.

Whether it's when I'm lying in bed and can't touch type (because I'm sideways, etc) or on a dark train/airplane/bar/coffeshop it's absolutely critical, especially considering all of these laptops have completely deviated from any sort of keyboard standardization nowadays.

I usually leave mine on the lowest setting and it looks like the keys are just white. Except.. it's night time. And I can see that I'm not jabbing the stupidly placed FN keys.

Or just learn to touch type. The trackpoint is right on the home row, so there's no real excuse for being unable to find it. On the edgiest of edge cases where you want to peck out some weird symbol and don't remember/can't find it by touch, how bad are your eyes that you can't just use the light from the screen and thinklight to find the key? And where are you that the tiny thinklight adds so much light compared to the screen so as to annoy people in public (unless you're using your laptop in a movie theater or something)? It's a better solution for cases like in airplanes where the overhead lighting is easiliy occluded by the laptop if you want to also reference some printed material while you work.

In principle, too, backlights make it harder to see the keys without a backlight even in relatively normal light so it's overall bad for battery life plus adds cost and complexity - i'd rather have another row of keys or separate volume buttons than a backlight. And it's also why they switched to the island style keyboards. So it's not really a feature that you can opt out of.

Go ahead and use it if you like, this isn't some sort of polemic, but having used both I just haven't been convinced of its utility.

QuarkJets
Sep 8, 2008

Dance The Mutation posted:

This is kind of silly but I want to buy a laptop for programming mainly. I plan to install Ubuntu on it. I'm a statistics/CS major and I do a lot of data analysis. I'm not like a PhD student so I doubt what I write is really that insane but I use C/C++, R, and Python extensively. Do I need to go for core i7 and cutting edge stuff? I was thinking that integrated graphics, core i5 or i7, and an SSD would be fine for me? It would be cool to have a dedicated GPU for other stuff like watching HD video and/or possibly doing CUDA stuff in the next year. What do you guys think?

You don't need cutting-edge stuff, you could get a previous-gen laptop and be in a pretty great situation

Hell, you could probably just buy a chromebook (many of which are able to run Ubuntu) and be sitting pretty. If you do need serious computing power for one computing job or another, then port your code to a server on campus and nohup it

some kinda jackal
Feb 25, 2003

 
 
You'll be fine with a good i5 with HD4400 graphics. I can't speak to CUDA, but integrated video has been playing HD video for a while now. No need for a discrete GPU.

Just get something with a 1080p screen. So good for coding. So much room :swoon:

Dance The Mutation
Jul 27, 2011
Thanks guys. I was just looking online at the current gen Intel HD 4600 and they seem pretty powerful. I had no idea that things had gotten that good. My mom is buying this for me as a gift and she wants to buy new rather than used. Is there a way to talk her into buying used? Worried about warranty or eBay headache. I was originally thinking about buying used too.

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

You can swap the Ctrl and Fn keys in the bios in Thinkpads, probably also Lenovo laptops

shrughes
Oct 11, 2008

(call/cc call/cc)

Cream_Filling posted:

And it's also why they switched to the island style keyboards.

Actually, Dell Latitudes have backlit keyboards without island style keys.

P.N.T.M.
Jan 14, 2006

tiny dinosaurs
Fun Shoe

Dance The Mutation posted:

Is there a way to talk her into buying used? Worried about warranty or eBay headache. I was originally thinking about buying used too.

Well, as long as "used" means serviced by the manufacturer and re-insured for a new period of time against flaws and defects, i.e. refurbished, it shouldn't be such a hard pill to swallow. Many companies will have their own Outlet stores for selling such laptops at great discounts. Dell and Lenovo have excellent Outlet stores with new stock added frequently, and the prices are very low for what you get sometimes.

The low price is an incentive for you to buy the laptop, even though it might not be your "perfect match." Or it might be and you can score your perfect laptop at $200 off retail. Either way, it should come with a fresh 1-year warranty to settle your nerves.

Evil Vin
Jun 14, 2006

♪ Sing everybody "Deutsche Deutsche"
Vaya con dios amigos! ♪


Fallen Rib

Tom Guycot posted:

If this is going to replace a netbook for her, maybe you should look at the asus t100? Obviously there's not enough information to go on here, but would she *want* something with a 14" screen and far heavier to replace her netbook? The T100 is a small, light sucessor to the asus netbooks, it gets good battery life, can detach into a tablet if she just wants to lounge on the couch, and the new baytrail processors are at least powerful enough to do any and all basic tasks, and even run games like skyrim (though on dog low settings). On top of that its still a full windows machine so there's no sacrificing things like having to run flash or any old software she might have. As far as cost the 64GB versions are regularly on sale for $350, and you can always throw in micro sd cards to double the space on it.

Of course you know way more than any of us about her wants, but so often I see more technical partners, friends, family, over-buying computers for gifts. Getting way more that that person really wants, or needs.

This is definitely an interesting computer I really didn't know something like this existed. I'm just wary about since was (and still is) hitting the ceiling of what she wanted to do with netbook since at this point even wiped clean it was chugging with watching Youtube and such. That why I'm leaning towards the Acer Aspire V5-171-6471 since it's still netbook size at 11.6 inches but the processor itself is much better and it has a ton of ram to do poo poo with.

Tom Guycot
Oct 15, 2008

Chief of Governors


Evil Vin posted:

This is definitely an interesting computer I really didn't know something like this existed. I'm just wary about since was (and still is) hitting the ceiling of what she wanted to do with netbook since at this point even wiped clean it was chugging with watching Youtube and such. That why I'm leaning towards the Acer Aspire V5-171-6471 since it's still netbook size at 11.6 inches but the processor itself is much better and it has a ton of ram to do poo poo with.

The one thing I'd be really careful about with the Acer Aspire V5-171-6471 is that its using a last gen processor, and the battery life is pretty crummy, around 3-4 hours only. Battery life might not be an issue for her, but its definitely something to keep in mind, if she doesn't need i5 power for the kind of things shes doing. Intel's atom processors have really matured and if she's just web browsing, watching youtube, while facebooking and writing things or whatever, you're not going to find something using a baytrail processor getting bogged down like netbooks of old.

Evil Vin
Jun 14, 2006

♪ Sing everybody "Deutsche Deutsche"
Vaya con dios amigos! ♪


Fallen Rib

Tom Guycot posted:

The one thing I'd be really careful about with the Acer Aspire V5-171-6471 is that its using a last gen processor, and the battery life is pretty crummy, around 3-4 hours only. Battery life might not be an issue for her, but its definitely something to keep in mind, if she doesn't need i5 power for the kind of things shes doing. Intel's atom processors have really matured and if she's just web browsing, watching youtube, while facebooking and writing things or whatever, you're not going to find something using a baytrail processor getting bogged down like netbooks of old.

Battery life I don't think matters much since she's going to be by an outlet most of the time. The last gen processor did kind of irk me in idea, but I feel the i5 outweighs that (and was told by others a similar sentiment). Personally an overpowered computer in my mind keeps her from having problems from flash games that are shittly coded and then coming back to me.

I really like Asus t100, I really want to try the thing now, since it sounds like a great device from reviews. (I kind of uselessly want one for myself now after reading up on the thing and the price is great.)

snoozeallday
Sep 9, 2010

tell him all your problems . . . he's fucking awesome with listening
Anyone have an Acer V7 or p645?? These look very interesting.

Fathis Munk
Feb 23, 2013

??? ?
So the ASUS T100 doesn't get bogged down by normal internet/youtube/office usage ?

I really like the concept but that kind of pushed me away. I have an ASUS netbook I use for work related stuff when I need to move but it gets bogged down so fast, even after a fresh reboot it struggles with Youtube videos,it's really really irritating.

Srebrenica Surprise
Aug 23, 2008

"L-O-V-E's just another word I never learned to pronounce."

snoozeallday posted:

Anyone have an Acer V7 or p645?? These look very interesting.
I'll be getting a V7 pretty soon after a lot of deliberation. To me, the P645, V7 (dGPU version), and y410p appear to be a pretty nice spectrum if you're interested in 14" systems with discrete graphics.

- I haven't done as much research on it since there aren't any reviews, but the P645 appears to have the best build quality, IPS 1080p display, and a touchpad with buttons (wow!). It looks to weigh less, although I don't know how accurate the figures are. Battery life might be slightly higher, not sure if it has a removable battery. However, the dGPU is slightly slower than Iris Pro, and it's pricier than the other two ($1,150+ for the upgraded model, which is all you'd really want). AMD's mobile drivers are pretty bad and I don't hear very good things about Enduro. This is probably the closest thing to what the T440 should have been but wasn't, and the price premium isn't terrible if you really value the SSD. I'd guess a better keyboard than the V7 and tied with the Y410p. If your priorities are "anything but HD4400 in a solid machine", it's not a bad pick, but it really needs GT 730 or something.

- The V7-482PG has solid build quality (for a non-Thinkpad) but doesn't use the materials the P645 does. Same IPS 1080p display. GT 750M is faster (by a good 30%) and probably has a lot less hassles than a AMD discrete solution. No touchpad buttons and no real SSD, but a mSATA slot for the latter, and the 840 EVO mSATA versions are coming soon. Only a 500GB 5400RPM drive. Battery is around 5-7hr depending on settings, it's a big 4-cell and Anand was pretty impressed. $830 or so if Amazon doesn't charge sales tax in your state, MSRP was originally $1300! A little heavy but certainly portable. 10pt multitouch if you care about that. You can take it apart and fiddle around with it and replace the battery, unlike many other "ultrabooks". It's a pretty good balance.

- The Y410p is recommended quite a bit here but I couldn't bring myself to prefer it over the V7. It comes with a quad-core, which is a little overkill. Its 755M is about 10-15% faster just by virtue of having GDDR5 rather than the DDR3 on the 750M, but they're identical otherwise except for a slight clock speed difference. However, the screen is 1600x900 TN, it runs hotter, is thicker (1.3" vs 0.92"), and it's a lot heavier, with pretty bad battery life. 1TB drive by default. Ultrabay is nice for capability to use two standard drives, as mSATA carries a premium. Build quality is up in the air depending on who you talk to, definitely some flex but that may not be a horrible thing. Good keyboard. For $779 B&N and a good chunk of tax, it could be equivalent in price to the V7. You can buy an extra battery, but that adds even more weight. If maximum gaming performance is needed this is probably the way to go though, it's criminal that any midrange dGPU would be hobbled with DDR3.

Srebrenica Surprise fucked around with this message at 16:21 on Dec 15, 2013

Bob Morales
Aug 18, 2006


Just wear the fucking mask, Bob

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

Dance The Mutation posted:

This is kind of silly but I want to buy a laptop for programming mainly. I plan to install Ubuntu on it. I'm a statistics/CS major and I do a lot of data analysis. I'm not like a PhD student so I doubt what I write is really that insane but I use C/C++, R, and Python extensively. Do I need to go for core i7 and cutting edge stuff? I was thinking that integrated graphics, core i5 or i7, and an SSD would be fine for me? It would be cool to have a dedicated GPU for other stuff like watching HD video and/or possibly doing CUDA stuff in the next year. What do you guys think?

Are you planning on carrying it back and forth to school or just leaving it at your desk? You could get a 15" model like a Lenovo T540 and get a quad-core i7, which would be very helpful if you plan on writing lots of multi-threaded stuff.

If you don't care about that and just want something more portable, look for a Dell XPS 13, Lenovo Yoga 2, or Lenovo T440. I wouldn't recommend going any smaller than 13" for programming unless you can get a 1440x900 or higher resolution screen. Many 11" and 12" models only have a 1366x768 screen which is useless for trying to look at a bunch of source code on the screen, not to mention having a chat window or documentation open on the side.

Bob Morales
Aug 18, 2006


Just wear the fucking mask, Bob

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

My buddy sent his Yoga 2 back:

quote:

Did I tell you I sent my Yoga 2 back? The GPU was overheating and causing the system to shut down suddenly whenever I tried to do any 3D gaming on it. I set up an exchange, but I sent it to them around November 19th, they received it just a couple days later, but my replacement is scheduled for delivery December 30th! They keep sending me emails saying their factories can't keep up with the unexpected level of demand. I think they should prioritize me since they sent me a defective laptop that I planned on being able to use a really long time ago.

snoozeallday
Sep 9, 2010

tell him all your problems . . . he's fucking awesome with listening

Srebrenica Surprise posted:

I'll be getting a V7 pretty soon after a lot of deliberation. To me, the P645, V7 (dGPU version), and y410p appear to be a pretty nice spectrum if you're interested in 14" systems with discrete graphics.

Great answer. Pretty much exactly what I thought on all accounts after my research. I wish they'd make the p645 with the 750m. Pretty sure, as of now, I'm going to get the V7. Maybe something else will come out in the mean time, we'll see.

Dance The Mutation
Jul 27, 2011
I'm looking at this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...nZoc64qwAgJrKsA

It is pretty loaded. It's last gen core i7 but it's not a ULV version of the i7, it's still quad core. It has a high resolution, mSATA, 8GB RAM, etc. Some people say the keyboard and track pad suck on it though... I checked and there is Bumblebee support for the discrete GPU/integrated GPU so I can run Linux on it. Do you guys see any glaring flaws with this?

QuarkJets
Sep 8, 2008

Dance The Mutation posted:

I'm looking at this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...nZoc64qwAgJrKsA

It is pretty loaded. It's last gen core i7 but it's not a ULV version of the i7, it's still quad core. It has a high resolution, mSATA, 8GB RAM, etc. Some people say the keyboard and track pad suck on it though... I checked and there is Bumblebee support for the discrete GPU/integrated GPU so I can run Linux on it. Do you guys see any glaring flaws with this?

It's a previous-gen graphics card and processor, so the price is in the right range even if there might be laptops with the same hardware for slightly cheaper. Looks like a reasonable choice overall if you don't mind having the integrated GPU (extra weight and heat)

Dance The Mutation
Jul 27, 2011
I haven't found anything with this resolution in this price range. All 15.6 that I've found with 1080p are over 1000? All of the specs are still quite good for my uses as a CS/Statistics student/research assistant and the 1080p will be quite nice.

QuarkJets
Sep 8, 2008

Dance The Mutation posted:

I haven't found anything with this resolution in this price range. All 15.6 that I've found with 1080p are over 1000? All of the specs are still quite good for my uses as a CS/Statistics student/research assistant and the 1080p will be quite nice.

There are lots of 1080p laptops that are less than $1k, I suspect you're just looking in the wrong places. For example, the Y510p is the gold standard for a Haswell 1080p "gaming" laptop and is less than $800 through the B&N link. The laptop you picked is more than suitable for what you've listed off, if you really want a 1080p laptop screen on a good all-around laptop

If you're just going to be doing CS/statistics/RA work then I'd actually suggest a Chromebook, but if you really want a bigger screen then the laptop you picked is fine.

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Bob Morales
Aug 18, 2006


Just wear the fucking mask, Bob

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

Dance The Mutation posted:

I'm looking at this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...nZoc64qwAgJrKsA

It is pretty loaded. It's last gen core i7 but it's not a ULV version of the i7, it's still quad core. It has a high resolution, mSATA, 8GB RAM, etc. Some people say the keyboard and track pad suck on it though... I checked and there is Bumblebee support for the discrete GPU/integrated GPU so I can run Linux on it. Do you guys see any glaring flaws with this?

Generally speaking, 'good' laptops don't hit the liquidators like Woot/TD for blowout pricing.

Amazon reviews for that model aren't really that great

http://www.amazon.com/VIZIO-CN15-A5-15-6-Inch-Laptop/product-reviews/B009PJHD3Y/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Have you thought about a Dell XPS 15?

Edit: on second thought the reviews on that are poo poo as well

http://www.amazon.com/Dell-XPS15-1105sLV-15-6-Inch-Anodized-Aluminum/product-reviews/B00ANG3UTY/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?showViewpoints=1

Bob Morales fucked around with this message at 00:53 on Dec 16, 2013

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