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Turtlicious posted:What this means is she wants to play games on it for probably the next 5 or 6 years. Her budgets is upwards of $900. That said, you can quite handily play Minecraft and a lot of similar indy games on the HD4x00 iGPUs these days, and you don't need more than maybe a GF 840/850 to play Civ V, so if that's the level of game she's looking at, there's no real reason to think that she'll need a real "gaming" laptop to begin with--though of course she'll fall further behind the power curve as time goes on. The best bang-for-your-buck is probably the y510p. It still won't play games 6 years from now, but it'll be the best balance between power and being not-a-poo poo-box laptop that you can find for under a grand.
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May 14, 2014 22:17
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Civ 5 isn't exactly demanding - works fine at 1600x900 on my machine with an NVS5200 (which is slower than even a 710m)
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May 14, 2014 22:19
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I can play it at 1920x1080 on my HD 4400.
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May 14, 2014 22:20
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My Lenovo L440 is coming in the next couple of days. I'll be upgrading the RAM myself. It comes with a DDR3L DIMM. Is there any issue mixing it with a regular DDR3 stick?
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May 14, 2014 23:36
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So the T440p does indeed come with a half-height M.2 slot (it's for the optional WWAN card). Trying to find a decent, appropriately sized SSD to go there is proving impossible, however.spidoman posted:My Lenovo L440 is coming in the next couple of days. I'll be upgrading the RAM myself. It comes with a DDR3L DIMM. Is there any issue mixing it with a regular DDR3 stick? The L is for low voltage, which all the Haswells use. You'll need another DDR3L stick.
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May 15, 2014 00:03
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Turtlicious posted:a "gaming" laptop out for her. What this means is she wants to play games on it for probably the next 5 or 6 years. Her budgets is upwards of $900. As mentioned, set her sights to "realistic", she might get three good years out of a y510. A giant floppy gaming laptop is not going to survive four years of college and then the two after that. Is she planning on using this to take notes in class as well?... (  )
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May 15, 2014 01:18
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I would absolutely lug around and take notes on my V7, even though it's slightly heavier than I'd prefer for a "college laptop" at almost 4.5lb, but it will play all those games fine. I would not take notes on a Y510p or want to carry it anywhere. Portability and weight/size should definitely take precedence over games and longevity.
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May 15, 2014 01:41
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Srebrenica Surprise posted:Portability and weight/size should definitely take precedence over games and longevity. This. Get a chromebook or refurbished windows 7 laptop for notes and use something else for heavy lifting. You really don't want to be carrying a higher end machine around... anywhere.
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May 15, 2014 02:11
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Srebrenica Surprise posted:I would absolutely lug around and take notes on my V7, even though it's slightly heavier than I'd prefer for a "college laptop" at almost 4.5lb, but it will play all those games fine. If you want portable + reasonably powerful, look at 14" models and there's a bunch of good options. Chromebooks, as noted, are also a great option for note-taking (though you probably shouldn't be taking notes on a computer to begin with, as new research is showing what basically any graduate could already tell you: you learn better by actually writing poo poo down rather than typing), and you will likely be able to pick up used ones for <$200.
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May 15, 2014 02:34
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I'll definitely try to go more realistic, but I just know no matter how much I try to sell it she's not going to go for something that doesn't seem "powerful" it looks like the y510 is the best choice. E: This laptop will also be for home use so she can bring it down stairs where the air conditioner works. Turtlicious fucked around with this message at 02:40 on May 15, 2014 |
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May 15, 2014 02:37
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Turtlicious posted:I'll definitely try to go more realistic, but I just know no matter how much I try to sell it she's not going to go for something that doesn't seem "powerful" it looks like the y510 is the best choice. Would she be willing to stretch her budget a bit for something like This? I imagine the more modern GTX850 will be viable longer than the GT755. Ideally she should just buy a Chromebook and let your build her a PC for 700 dollars.
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May 15, 2014 02:46
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DrDork posted:The V7 is also a 15.6" 1366x768 screen, which is terrible. It has basically nothing to recommend itself over many other laptops, especially at its price ($900). It's about a half-pound lighter than a bunch of other 15" laptops, but it pays for that with underwhelming specs and being an Acer, which is a huge downside to begin with. e: the G550JK looks pretty good too, but I'm still suspicious of 15.6" systems' practicality. 14" is, at least to me, already loving enormous. there may be other refresh systems around $900-$1k with something like a lower-end 8xx part matching the 750m, IPS screen, and that's reasonably portable, but I'm not the one shopping for a new laptop e2: oh the W230ST refresh came out. this is kind of a ridiculous deal Srebrenica Surprise fucked around with this message at 02:58 on May 15, 2014 |
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May 15, 2014 02:48
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So I'm looking for an OK laptop that is reasonably sturdy and is able to do some light gaming. Is this HP Envy any good? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834257847 The specs look great for that price and I'm not too scared of the refurb (although I may hawk up the extra $$ to get ths year warranty). Anyone have advice? The lack of discussion about HPs in glancing at this thread is troubling.
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May 15, 2014 07:25
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A Good Dog posted:So I'm looking for an OK laptop that is reasonably sturdy and is able to do some light gaming. Is this HP Envy any good? Depends on what you define 'light' gaming as but for a sub-700$ laptop that looks half decent. Resolution is acceptable. Fifteen inches is going to be a pain in the rear end though.
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May 15, 2014 07:40
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Cat Army 
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Light as in I am OK with cranking down the settings to minimum if I reaally need to play that title. I think I have a grasp on the limitations of those specs, I suppose I am looking for any red flags about that line or particular machine... a cursory glance at reviews makes me more inclined to pull the trigger.
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May 15, 2014 07:50
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I wouldn't buy any system that doesn't have an SSD (or have an easy way of switching the system drive to one) - it really is that dramatic of a difference, far more so than a quad core processor, or adding large amounts of RAM.
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May 15, 2014 08:06
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Can't I swap the this HDD for an SSD if I wanted? I don't see myself doing it immediately (cost-prohibited) but maybe down the road. I guess I don't have any experience modifying laptops so I don't know.
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May 15, 2014 08:22
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A Good Dog posted:So I'm looking for an OK laptop that is reasonably sturdy That machine will likely handle all your computing needs quite well, but it's HP. That model especially is plasticky garbage, find a computer store and give the keyboard a little push. If you need sturdy, there's a reason this thread is full of ASUS and Lenovo, among other brands mentioned I have less experience with.
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May 15, 2014 08:29
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Hrm that's what I was afraid of. Maybe I'll hold off until a good deal comes along on something more reliable. I'm pretty good with treating electronics gently but I'd rather something that will last... ugh I might still get it just because I'd rather have one sooner rather than later.
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May 15, 2014 08:40
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I WAS just looking at a similarly priced Thinkpad with worse specs... I guess that's the tradeoff, innit?
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May 15, 2014 08:43
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-Blackadder- posted:So what's good these days for the following: Mu Zeta posted:http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_air/13 sports posted:I don't think you need the performance standard met by the current MacBook Air, so I'd recommend the HP 15" Chromebook, or if you sacrifice the screen for better all around quality go with the Acer C720. Sorry, I should've specified that I'm looking for a windows machine. Are there any laptops with windows that fit what I'm looking for?
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May 15, 2014 09:07
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A Good Dog posted:I WAS just looking at a similarly priced Thinkpad with worse specs... I guess that's the tradeoff, innit? Modern laptops are so fast that the average consumer can't tell them apart. Especially if they have an SSD.
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May 15, 2014 09:43
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-Blackadder- posted:Sorry, I should've specified that I'm looking for a windows machine. How about a yoga 2 pro/yoga 2 13"/11"?
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May 15, 2014 13:20
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I notice some Lenovo outlet laptops have switchable HD4xxx and a 730m gpus, what controls which one is used? Is that an option if I want a cheaper laptop with some form of non-intel gpu? The benchmarks put it higher than the 260m I use now
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May 15, 2014 15:11
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So this Thinkpad Edge http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834317106 would be more durable? No SSD unfortunately, and it's i5 instead of i7 and 4gb RAM instead of 12 (although that's upgradable of course). Honestly I kind of like the larger screen on the HP and (although I know it's probably a bit of a gimmick) the Beats Audio speakers/woofer, since I don't have a TV and use my laptop as my media player. Again though I would probably just invest in some decent speakers if the Thinkpad's are garbage. Another plus is that it comes with a year warranty (which I would have had to pay for on the HP) and an option for a 3yr one. I'm starting to lean towards that Lenovo...
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May 15, 2014 17:56
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A Good Dog posted:So this Thinkpad Edge it's i5 instead of i7 and 4gb RAM instead of 12 Unless you're in grad school for engineering or science I don't think you'll need the quad core i7. You're venturing in to supercomputer territory at that point. Over in the spaceflight megathread one guy is using his laptop's i7 to model rocket engine exhaust at supersonic speeds overnight. Modern physics sandbox games can't really take advantage of that kind of horsepower.
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May 15, 2014 18:21
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Oh wait, the HP doesn't have a larger screen. Yeah I just read up about it over in the PC building thread. I actually AM going to grad school for physics in a year or two haha but I don't think I will be doing that kind of research. Reading up on the Thinkpad Edge though makes me dubious; it sounds like a lot of people bought it thinking it was going to be a Thinkpad and were disappointed at the lower quality. If it's not really more durable than the HP Envy I might just go with that. I'm still shopping around to see if I can't get a good deal on a somewhat comparable proper Thinkpad, though.
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May 15, 2014 18:42
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A Good Dog posted:So this Thinkpad Edge http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834317106 would be more durable? No SSD unfortunately, and it's i5 instead of i7 and 4gb RAM instead of 12 (although that's upgradable of course). I have no access to the B&N configurator, but on the plain Lenovo site, you can configure the E540 with a 1920x1080 screen for $120 more than what you'd pay on Newegg. Which I'd really recommend, coming from three years of 1366x768. It's aggravating for anything but the most basic tasks. 15" at 1080p is about right. i5 is also okay. Adding more memory yourself shouldn't be much of a problem and probably cheaper than the minimum $80 you'd pay Lenovo for the upgrade to 8GB. I was assured in this thread that the Edge series is decent enough, although the trackpad is a joke. I'll find out later tonight when I go pick it up, if you can wait that long for first impressions. And I came as close as possible to fairly comparing Beats and Non-Beats Audio laptops with my DM1-3xxx and my sister's DM1-4xxx. Both are built completely on the same framework, with the same innards as far as audio is concerned. Beats audio was just differently branded driver software and the logo printed on top. Conclusion was that the Beats Audio one sounded noticably worse out of the box. It's a marketing gimmick. There are also indications that switching off Beats Audio intentionally turns down the bass to look better in comparison (!) I can't tell you which speakers are better, but please don't conclude anything based on that label.
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May 15, 2014 18:59
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I have a piece of poo poo HP Pavilion G4 that I bought from a friend 2 years ago, and the battery is basically dead. Like, I get 10 minutes off the plug sort of dead. I really hate everything about the computer, and have a winfall of about $800 unexpected dollars that I'm considering putting towards a laptop. There are a few complicating factors: >My gaming rig is getting on in years. I know it's a bad idea to buy a gaming laptop, and don't plan to, but could I get something within $800 that would comfortably run Dark Souls 2 and wouldn't be an absolute beast to carry around? >Apart from potentially wanting to play a few games, my demands are pretty light. Mostly word processing, and maybe occasionally graphic design work on Photoshop. The most important factors otherwise are battery lie and (silly as it sounds) a satisfying keyboard. >What's a fair price to sell my POS HP for? Since the battery is dead, and I paid 300 dollars for it, I'm considering asking $100 and making clear that it's coming with a dead battery that would need to be replaced.
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May 15, 2014 19:07
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If you want an email box and a way to play Dark Souls 2 you could buy a PS3, Dark Souls 2, a chromebook, and have a couple hundo leftover. You could also build a gaming PC for $600 and maybe play Beast Souls on it. Gaming laptops are really meant for people that do a lot of traveling and need gaming for their sanity. Otherwise they're pretty much losing propositions and/or for people that don't want to be told they can't game everywhere.
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May 15, 2014 19:19
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Let me know what you think. I'll probably do more research over the weekend before I actually buy one. I'm hope to get one that will last a bit longer than the year and a half life of my old garbage Toshiba Satellite that was a graduation gift. Anyone have any thoughts on the Lenovo Z series? There's a drat good deal on the B&N site for a Z510 and it's pretty tempting.
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May 15, 2014 19:24
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blowingupcasinos posted:If you want an email box and a way to play Dark Souls 2 you could buy a PS3, Dark Souls 2, a chromebook, and have a couple hundo leftover. You could also build a gaming PC for $600 and maybe play Beast Souls on it. Gaming laptops are really meant for people that do a lot of traveling and need gaming for their sanity. Otherwise they're pretty much losing propositions and/or for people that don't want to be told they can't game everywhere. I understand that. That's why I said I don't want a gaming laptop. However, my question was if I could get a general purpose productivity laptop that can run stuff around Photoshop (hence, no Chromebook) if necessary, which is about the maximum of my requirements, and also handle some modern games on low settings. I guess I should also specify that I have no interest in anything apart from Windows, since I'm so used to it.
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May 15, 2014 19:29
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Also, any opinions on this: http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-59385901-15-6-Inch-Touchscreen/dp/B00F0RC024 There's a deal on it at a local Office store for a little bit under $500. I'd be willing to sacrifice on the ability to run games for a huge reduction in the price of other machines I've been looking at.
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May 15, 2014 21:30
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How does the price of that laptop compare to what's on the  B&N gold link?You may be very disappointed in a bottom of the barrel screen on a midrange laptop with the lowest resolution available, especially on such a large screen, on that laptop. There are better laptops out there.
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May 15, 2014 22:14
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Does anyone have a suggestion for a laptop capable of playing some of the current generation of games while remaining under $900?
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May 15, 2014 23:53
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I'm about to start a four month project with work out of town. I just got the Heroes of the Storm alpha and I'm kind of hooked... Would like to be able to play that at the hotel (company doesn't like when you install software that's not approved on their machines). I looked at the Yoga 2 and it looks decent enough, but my friends are urging me to the Y510P. I want portability, and don't really give a poo poo if the game 'looks good.' I just want it to run, and then I want the machine to be ok to sit on my lap and send emails and just dick around on the internet, while not breaking the bank. Was hoping to get something that would last me a few years as well. So basically, low end graphical capabilities (DotA 2, D3, Heroes of the Storm) lightweight, sturdy are what I'm looking for. I think I get a slightly better discount on Lenovo through my company than the B&N link, and I also get like a 5% discount on Macs, but I would much rather stick on Windows than grab a macbook air. I have a 13.3 inch monitor for work, but I'm not entirely convinced that's big enough, though I may not need something bigger. SO MANY DECISIONs 
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May 16, 2014 02:10
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Finally got my Sager 8268-S! This thing is slick. Let me know if you guys have any questions about it or want pics etc
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May 16, 2014 03:23
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I'm looking into buying a new laptop for general use, basically as a semi-mobile desktop. I'm looking to spend $600-$800, and have been looking at the T440p. All of the reviews say the trackpad is really awful though, and while I plan on using a mouse most of the time I don't really want to spend money on something that has a bad trackpad. Does anyone have experience with the current gen of these? How bad is it?
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May 16, 2014 20:30
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I have had my T440p for two days now. The 1080 IPS screen is pretty amazing, it looks almost as good as my dell ultrasharps. I had some problems with the machine not waking up from sleep but those went away after finishing all the system updates. I don't understand all the trackpad hate, unless you are serious trackpoint user then I would miss the physical buttons. The trackpad feels accurate and 2 finger click gesture for right click is actually really nice. Keyboard is +A as usual with thinkpads, blacklight is nice, as it the small red LEDs for fn and mutes keys. The battery life was when installing applications and updates was floated between 3 to 4 hours total. Intel's Wifi connection has been pretty solid.
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May 16, 2014 21:29
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Calidus posted:The trackpad feels accurate and 2 finger click gesture for right click is actually really nice.
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May 16, 2014 21:37
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