|
Bought a ideapad y470 a couple of years ago and it's been a complete hunk of poo poo. Sent in for repair within the first year, tried to buy extended warranty and 2 months after the 'past' date got a reply that my order was canceled  - but that doesn't stop the plague of awful - plastic breaking off in front of fan/heat sink, having the battery in crashes the computer (no idea...), random shutdowns, etc etc.So I'm looking at a new PC, and am afraid of another lenovo. I'm open to a thinkpad, but they aren't at the top of my list. I have been creeping on the hp probook 400s a bit - but here is what I'm looking for: around/under $700, solid design, 4th gen processor. That is about it. So my question could be: are the 400 probooks decent? If no, which else? or suggestions?
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 16:01
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 01:21 |
|
|
HP elite books are the HP version of Thinkpads. Pro books are a full tier down from elite books. Just to avoid any confusion.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 19:05
|
|
|
Faster posted:I keep going back and forth between these two, anyone have any feedback? Acer is on my personal "avoid, and don't let friends buy" list just for having had truly cheap and horrid laptops before. They might have improved, but I'd need some glowing reviews to reconsider.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 19:37
|
|
|
Computer viking posted:Acer is on my personal "avoid, and don't let friends buy" list just for having had truly cheap and horrid laptops before. They might have improved, but I'd need some glowing reviews to reconsider. Assuming you don't need the power of a dGPU hanging out in your ultrabook, the Yoga 2 Pro is really, really hard to beat. $700 extra for the Zenbook isn't nearly worth the slightly faster CPU and moderately better GPU in it. e; Also RAID-0 128GB SSDs in an ultrabook is pretty silly. DrDork fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Jan 11, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 19:49
|
|
|
Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:I'm also thinking about getting one of these but the big thing for me was battery life. Someone in this thread bought one and said he was going to report back on battery life and never did. Wasn't me but I do have a Thinkpad Yoga. Battery life is super variable depending on how heavily the CPU is being taxed but six hours of good use at a decent brightness seems standard. With any idle/screen-dimmed time it's closer to 8 hours. Batterybar has worked out my average battery capacity as just over 8 hours, if that means anything. Sorry for the very non-scientific review. Other than that I love the drat thing. The only thing that annoys me at all is that the screen has a pretty chunky bezel, to the point that they could have got a 13.3" panel into it. The trackpad is... a little special, but certainly isn't a dealbreaker. Screen is gorgeous, mine has no dead pixels and absolutely even backlighting. Certain other forums were going nuts over a "flickery" screen - I have no idea what they're on about. Happy to answer any other questions anyone might have! NIGARS fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Jan 11, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 20:57
|
|
|
RVProfootballer posted:Yoga 2 Pro is back in stock at Best Buy, where $1200 gets you i7/8/256. For the price relative to those other two, it's a pretty easy decision (I think!). This looks really hard to beat. Are there any downsides? Flimsy? I read the high resolution screen can cause some compatibility issues, but I can live with that. I looked for one at a local store but none were on display to try out.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 22:26
|
|
|
RVProfootballer posted:Yoga 2 Pro is back in stock at Best Buy, where $1200 gets you i7/8/256. For the price relative to those other two, it's a pretty easy decision (I think!).
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 22:36
|
|
|
Vegetable posted:Did this run out of stock within a single day? God damnit. Oh poo poo I thought because the buy button was still there, it was available. Just realized you have to do store pickup and it's unavailable  edit: same price with coupon here (Estimated ship date: 1/16/14), but I've heard less than stellar things about ordering things directly from Lenovo. http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/yoga/yoga-2-pro/#customize Ragehaver fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Jan 11, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 22:42
|
|
|
Ragehaver posted:This looks really hard to beat. Are there any downsides? Flimsy? I read the high resolution screen can cause some compatibility issues, but I can live with that. I looked for one at a local store but none were on display to try out. It doesn't seem flimsy, no. No flex to the keyboard at all. There are some dpi scaling issues. The main one I've run into was mentioned by someone earlier: full screen video sometimes only wants to take up one quarter of the screen. Not sure why some sites have the issue and some don't. It's a pretty simple fix if you're watching something long like a movie, just turn off scaling and watch the movie, but it would be pretty obnoxious if you're watching short clips and browsing in between. Otherwise, some programs are not updated yet for high resolution (Matlab) and some have relatively hard to find toggles to switch (Chrome), but nothing too bad that I've experienced. The only other things that bugged me initially were the smaller right shift key, which I've gotten used to, and the odd home/end/page up/page down arrangement, which I haven't really gotten used to but don't use too frequently anyways. Besides those issues, everything else has been fantastic. Screen is really good. Keyboard is great, minor layout issues aside. Trackpad has been smooth and good. I previously had a Zenbook, and the soft texture of the keyboard and lack of a sharp edge where your wrists rest are much much nicer than the hard aluminum. Vegetable posted:Did this run out of stock within a single day? God damnit. Hah, I guess so! It showed in stock and shipping in 1 day when I posted, plus maybe 5 out of 10 of the nearby stores for me had it available. Now none of the local stores have it. Ragehaver posted:Oh poo poo I thought because the buy button was still there, it was available. Just realized you have to do store pickup and it's unavailable Lenovo seems to still only offer 4GB ram, which is a bit meh. I originally had an order through them for the i5/8/256 they offered in October, but they kept pushing the date back. Once it hit longer than a month past the original estimated ship date, Best Buy got them in stock, so it was an easy choice then. sourdough fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Jan 11, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 22:53
|
|
|
RVProfootballer posted:Lenovo seems to still only offer 4GB ram, which is a bit meh. I originally had an order through them for the i5/8/256 they offered in October, but they kept pushing the date back. Once it hit longer than a month past the original estimated ship date, Best Buy got them in stock, so it was an easy choice then. Ah, good catch. Well, I guess I'll return this Alienware 14 and wait for best buy to get more in stock. I really need the 8gb of ram and I'm not in a rush.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 23:02
|
|
|
Ragehaver posted:Ah, good catch. Well, I guess I'll return this Alienware 14 and wait for best buy to get more in stock. I really need the 8gb of ram and I'm not in a rush.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 23:04
|
|
|
Vegetable posted:Look again. The last two models on Lenovo's website have 8GB of RAM. They ship slightly later (by Jan 20), but you're not in a hurry anyway. I didn't see that "more models" button at the top. Thanks.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2014 23:09
|
|
|
I need a new laptop to replace my 6-year-old Dell Vostro 1500 which is just too frustratingly old to use anymore. I'm studying CS now so will be using it for that, plus I just want a laptop that can play HD videos at greater than 10 frames per second. I'm not that concerned with playing games on it, but basic 2D gaming would be nice. My budget is really between $600-700. There's a Lenovo ThinkPad S431 Ultrabook on sale right now for $629. It seems pretty good, but I want the expert opinion. I think I would upgrade the resolution for $50 to make it easier to work on. What do you guys think?
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 01:11
|
|
|
Cool Dogs Only posted:There's a Lenovo ThinkPad S431 Ultrabook on sale right now for $629. It seems pretty good, but I want the expert opinion. I think I would upgrade the resolution for $50 to make it easier to work on. What do you guys think? That's a mandatory upgrade, do it. Also check the price you get via the Barnes & Noble Gold discount portal (see the link in the OP).
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 01:18
|
|
|
shrughes posted:That's a mandatory upgrade, do it. Also check the price you get via the Barnes & Noble Gold discount portal (see the link in the OP). Thanks, somehow I didn't notice that in the OP and it saved over $50. If nobody else notices any problems with it then I will likely buy it tomorrow.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 01:40
|
|
|
NIGARS posted:Wasn't me but I do have a Thinkpad Yoga. What do you mean about the trackpad being "special?" How sturdy is the keyboard-retracting mechanism -- that seems a little gimmicky to me? Have you tried using it with a Wacom pen? Have you noticed anything especially good/bad about the wifi reception?
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 02:54
|
|
|
So my 1000HE EeePC is refusing to boot, about time I upgrade. It doesn't seem like netbooks are a thing anymore though.  What's the go-to recommendation for affordable and long lasting battery laptop? I'll probably end up using Debian or Windows 7 on it. I don't really care for touchscreens or any of that fancy stuff. Jehde fucked around with this message at 04:20 on Jan 12, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 04:11
|
|
|
Can you put a number dollar amount on "affordable"? If you are going Debian you can frequently find Chromebooks under $225 which have ARM processors, but you won't be able to run Windows on it. Chromebooks are the new Netbooks. If you need Windows dual boot capability, and can get in to the $650 range a modern i3 or i5 processor will knock your socks off.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 04:42
|
|
|
Jehde posted:So my 1000HE EeePC is refusing to boot, about time I upgrade. It doesn't seem like netbooks are a thing anymore though. A netbook-like thing right now would be something like this X200CA with Ubuntu preinstalled (there's a $300 version with Windows 8, too): http://www.amazon.com/Asus-VivoBook-X200CA-DB02-11-6-Notebook/dp/B00CPIF63G/ Allegedly 5 hours of battery life.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 05:01
|
|
|
Jehde posted:So my 1000HE EeePC is refusing to boot, about time I upgrade. It doesn't seem like netbooks are a thing anymore though. Asus Transformer T100, maybe?
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 05:26
|
|
|
Acer C7 is $279 and there are tutorials to get it running Windows
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 05:39
|
|
|
shrughes posted:A netbook-like thing right now would be something like this X200CA with Ubuntu preinstalled (there's a $300 version with Windows 8, too): http://www.amazon.com/Asus-VivoBook-X200CA-DB02-11-6-Notebook/dp/B00CPIF63G/ Allegedly 5 hours of battery life. Huh that's interesting. Apparently if you search for "Celeron 1007U" a plethora of sub-$250 refurbished netbooks pop up. Celeron 1007U seems to be about 4.2x as powerful as an Atom N270. It looks like the Ubuntu model listed above is the... Ubuntu model of the Chromebook model, just a different OS. Intel's Ark page for the 1007U doesn't specify what kind of "Intel HD Graphics" are included. 64 bit support for some of the Atom processor's GPU stuff has been... poor so I'm a little leary of that but otherwise for $300... not bad.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 06:02
|
|
|
Sagebrush posted:What do you mean about the trackpad being "special?" How sturdy is the keyboard-retracting mechanism -- that seems a little gimmicky to me? Have you tried using it with a Wacom pen? Have you noticed anything especially good/bad about the wifi reception? It's the same trackpad as all other recent Thinkpads so the issues have been well discussed. Basically it's just the fact that there aren't any hardware buttons, which I'm not sure I'll ever fully get used to. The 'click' action of the whole pad moving down also just doesn't feel right, but as I usually do a gentle finger tap rather than a full click this one isn't such a big deal. It is louder than I'd like it to be (my last laptop had dead silent clicks, which I really appreciated - I associate clicking noises with cheap, plasticky laptops) but nowhere near as bad as some reports have made it out to be. Those are the only issues - for what it is, it works great. Whether the lack of buttons and the click mechanism is a dealbreaker or not is a personal issue I guess. The keyboard retraction seems really sturdy - there's no play at all to the keys when it's been retracted. I've never used the Yoga 13 or any other convertible so I can't really say how useful it is, but my gut feeling is that it's considerably more comfortable to have a solid (if bumpy) surface on the rear than a wobbly, clicky one. The main problem with the flip mechanism is that the trackpad continues to depress physically (though it's electronically disabled), i.e. I have no criticism whatsoever of the keyboard mechanism. I've messed about with the pen a little bit, but I don't really have a use for it (basically ordered it on a gamble that I'd be able to find one). It seems to work great - very accurate with zero updates or calibration on my part. Handwriting looks gorgeous. The screen input lags behind the pen by a fraction but it's close enough that it wouldn't ever be an issue. The pen itself seems a bit small and cheap, and I imagine if you were going to use this for serious work you'd get a better one. As I've never used another WACOM device I can't give much better feedback than that - sorry! I got the 7260AC wireless card and it's been flawless so far - no drops that I can remember in the three weeks that I've had the laptop. Easily maxes out my rather anemic 150mbps wireless-N router - wireless transfers sit at 6MB/s solid. My house is tiny so I can't comment on range. NIGARS fucked around with this message at 06:26 on Jan 12, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 06:21
|
|
|
I guess ideally I would want something similar to my 1000HE: Around $300 and lasts 8-10 hours. But I probably wouldn't need that much battery realistically (mainly for use in classes), so I'm willing to compromise there. I thought about Chromebooks, but I would feel odd using a Chromebook and likely not even use Chrome.  That $200 VivoBook X200CA-DB02 looks like it might fit the bill, I guess it's just a question of how much battery I really need. Jehde fucked around with this message at 07:11 on Jan 12, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 07:05
|
|
|
So unless I'm missing some good deals it seems pretty difficult in Australia to get a decently built 13.3" machine with 3rd or 4th gen intel and an ssd or even a light weight for less than $1000. If anyone knows any good Australian deals I would be really into it. Right now I'm looking at like http://shopap.lenovo.com/au/en/laptops/thinkpad/edge-series/e330/ which I can't find many/any reviews for. or http://www.kogan.com/au/buy/ux32vd-r3001h/ If those are the best that I can do I'll grab one, but if anyone knows anything I am all ears.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 08:56
|
|
|
I don't know anything about Australian laptops, but you could loosen your search to include HDD laptops and then install the SDD yourself. It's pretty easy to do in anything not made by Apple
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 09:42
|
|
|
shodanjr_gr posted:Some more impressions on the M3800.... I ended up ordering the model with the 1080p screen. I agree with you completely about hiDPI and I figure I'll just use an external for anything that needs higher resolution anyway. I may end up regretting this decision, but hopefully it keeps its value pretty well.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2014 22:18
|
|
|
DrDork posted:An IPS/PVA/MVA or some variant thereof. Most laptops proudly display it if they happen to use one of those technologies, but if it doesn't, one that specifies viewing angles of 178deg will likely be one. Other than that, a 1920x1080 or higher screen will be very helpful for Photoshop, as 1600x900 screens have a lot of their real-estate eaten up by PS's toolbars and crap. 1366x768 is right out. As noted, you don't really NEED a dGPU, though having one won't hurt anything, and may speed up certain PS filters a bit. CPU-wise, unless you're seriously crushing the filters, you can probably get by with one of the lower-specced i5's if money is important. 8GB of RAM is highly suggested, and you should either get a laptop with a SSD or plan on adding one yourself immediately after purchase (it's easy). My Macbook Pro of 5 years finally crapped out and I'm in the market for a new non Mac laptop. I'm using CS5 everyday so graphics and RAM are important to me, but I've been out of the game for so long I don't know where to start looking, or what brands are of good quality. Ideally I'd be spending under $1000. Does anyone have any advice?
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 02:51
|
|
|
I need a notetaker for class, and for writing after class. I found these laptops, and I was wondering if any of them were worth pulling the trigger on. or would it be better to just grab tne cheap towers they offer as well?code:
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 06:28
|
|
|
bushisms.txt posted:I need a notetaker for class, and for writing after class. I found these laptops, and I was wondering if any of them were worth pulling the trigger on. or would it be better to just grab tne cheap towers they offer as well? Acer c720. It's a chromebook, but has 8+ hr battery life and is $199 new. Chromebooks can take notes offline.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 06:48
|
|
|
bushisms.txt posted:I need a notetaker for class, and for writing after class. I found these laptops, and I was wondering if any of them were worth pulling the trigger on. or would it be better to just grab tne cheap towers they offer as well? Since you need it for class, it sounds like you should get a notebook. If new, I can't think of an option besides this: http://www.amazon.com/Asus-VivoBook-X200CA-DB02-11-6-Notebook/dp/B00CPIF63G/ ASUS X200CA-DB02 If you're going to go used, I'd recommend an X200s on eBay. Or the X61s you mentioned. Maybe I found a better deal, here's one with a bigger hard drive and an ultrabase for $150 (not including shipping): http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Lenovo-...=item27dd499fe0 I would still prefer an X200s, it's kind of newer, has a better screen resolution, and is not as dead a product. I do not recommend the T60 laptop. A 15" laptop, especially in the 4:3 form factor, is kind of big, also it's old and its battery life will be bad.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 06:49
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:Intel's Ark page for the 1007U doesn't specify what kind of "Intel HD Graphics" are included. 64 bit support for some of the Atom processor's GPU stuff has been... poor so I'm a little leary of that but otherwise for $300... not bad. The "Intel HD Graphics" is a specific iGPU in this situation. The Intel HD Graphics for Haswell processors should be roughly similar to Ivy Bridge's Intel HD Graphics 3000. You'll also only find this iGPU on Pentiums and Celerons. The Ivy-Bridge version should be roughly equivalent to a Intel HD Graphics 2500.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 07:17
|
|
|
My 2010 1.4ghz Macbook Air is starting to get pretty sluggish so, faced with the possibility of needing to spend another $80 on a third magsafe charger, I decided to impulse buy a $199 C720 Chromebook at best buy. Holy poo poo. This thing could very easily replace my MBA as my main portable to lug around campus and such. General web browsing has been considerably snappier even with 2GB of ram instead of the Macbook's 4. I haven't gotten around to messing with crouton and such yet, although I'm sure I will when I need to throw together a last minute C homework or something and I don't feel like dealing with SSH. I'm really impressed with this thing (especially for the price).
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 07:30
|
|
|
GrizzlyCow posted:The "Intel HD Graphics" is a specific iGPU in this situation. The Intel HD Graphics for Haswell processors should be roughly similar to Ivy Bridge's Intel HD Graphics 3000. You'll also only find this iGPU on Pentiums and Celerons. The Ivy-Bridge version should be roughly equivalent to a Intel HD Graphics 2500. But Ivy Bridge has HD Graphics 4000.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 08:05
|
|
|
My 3.5 year old laptop suddenly decided to stop POSTing, and none of the easily-replaceable parts (RAM, hard drive, battery) appear to be the culprit. I was planning on getting a replacement sometime this year anyway, but I hoped my current one would hold out long enough to take advantage of the deals typical of early summer. This Dell Inspiron showed up in the weekly Microcenter spam at $450. What do you think about it? I don't need anything fancy since my desktop handles the heavy lifting. Laptop usage consists mainly of browsing from the couch, dumping photos/videos while on vacation, and playing less-demanding games like SC2 or League at the occasional LAN party. Does anyone know of anything with similar specs that I can get for less, or is there anything with a higher resolution and/or IPS screen selling for under $600? Are the current generation of Dell Inspirons universally terrible in some way not listed on the spec sheet such as durability, reliability?
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 19:10
|
|
|
I've seen a few Inspiron 15s. They're made of pretty basic plastic so I doubt they're going to be very durable, but they don't feel flimsy or anything. The keyboard's kind of mushy, touchpad buttons are stiff, and the pad tended to swipe in Windows 8 sidebars and stuff when I was just trying to scroll. That last one is probably fixable though. None of that is surprising at the price point though, and you do get better hardware than you're likely to find at similar prices.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 19:22
|
|
|
RVProfootballer posted:Yoga 2 Pro is back in stock at Best Buy, where $1200 gets you i7/8/256. For the price relative to those other two, it's a pretty easy decision (I think!). poo poo...well this changes everything. Now THIS sounds like the best Ultrabook in the $1200-$1900 range. If you had to choose between the Acer or Asus though (since the Yoga 2 is out of stock on Best buy), which would you go with?
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 19:56
|
|
|
gently caress it, I pulled the trigger and bought the Yoga 2 despite complaints I've read about the resolution, the way it displays the color yellow, and its lovely Wifi dropouts. Seems like the good reviews outweighed the bad. Does anyone know how I can connect this to an external display that only uses VGA? The Yoga 2 only has HDMI and USB ports so not sure how to connect that to a VGA-only display.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 21:38
|
|
|
Faster posted:gently caress it, I pulled the trigger and bought the Yoga 2 despite complaints I've read about the resolution, the way it displays the color yellow, and its lovely Wifi dropouts. Seems like the good reviews outweighed the bad. Does anyone know how I can connect this to an external display that only uses VGA? The Yoga 2 only has HDMI and USB ports so not sure how to connect that to a VGA-only display. Adapters are super cheap, like this one. I bought it and it came much more quickly than they estimated, but uhh, I should probably test it because it's pretty clearly cheap and semi-disposable.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 21:43
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 24, 2024 01:21 |
|
|
Do HDMI Out ports on laptops have HDCP?
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2014 21:45
|
|