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My wife's terrible Acer Aspire One finally gave up the ghost. I'm now looking for a laptop that: - has a 10-12" screen - costs $600-800 - has an SSD - won't be dog slow She doesn't game, use CAD, edit 15 hours of video, etc., but I'd like Office and web browsing to be snappy. Any suggestions? My personal reference points are a little skewed: I generally use either: - a Clevo P150EM (3rd-Gen Ivy Bridge Core i7-3740QM, 24GB RAM) or - a Dell Latitude E7240 (Intel Core i7-4600U, 8GB RAM)
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Oct 8, 2014 06:33
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 14:38 |
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How can HP have no laptops < 15.6" with SSDs? Everything below "large" has 5400rpm HDDs. Why would they do that? As a follow-up to my earlier post, I'm currently considering the following laptops. Does anyone have any insights on any of these? Dell XPS 12.5-Inch Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga Lenovo Yoga 2 (same "generation" as the Thinkpad Yoga) ASUS Zenbook UX303LA Toshiba Portege Z30-A1301
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Oct 9, 2014 06:19
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At the risk of getting laughed at, what is the build quality like in the latest generation of Alienware laptops?
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Sep 18, 2015 22:09
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I'm on my third Sager and love them, but would prefer TPM and really like the external graphics adapter. Yes my use cases are not normal, so no a desktop isn't a great choice for me.
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Sep 19, 2015 12:00
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Deuce posted:Isn't a 980 pretty hardcore overkill for 1080p? Clearly you haven't visited the Skyrim modding thread.
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Sep 24, 2015 00:50
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Tsyni posted:What's the verdict on external graphic cards for laptops via expresscard readers or mini-pcie? Not directly answering your question, but Alienware and MSI both have gaming laptops with proprietary external graphics cards docks. This can be nice in some use cases, such as "I'm in college and I only want to have one machine with all of my stuff, and want to use a huge monitor or multiple monitors at home". It's not great for "I'm an IT contractor and want to show up to work with a professional-looking and capable workhorse, and play Skyrim maxed out when I go home". The external adapters are quite large, however, and so don't really act as a laptop accessory so much as a desktop accessory.
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Sep 24, 2015 18:19
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Aphrodite posted:The problem with Killer stuff is their software, not the hardware so you can remove that and use just the drivers. I didn't know that. Indo know that the bandwidth control function messes up gated network connections, such as those at hotels. How do I install just the driver? The only files I can find on their website are full packages.
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Sep 27, 2015 01:37
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This hate against 15" laptops is kind of funny. That used to be a pretty standard size, and with a 4:3 screen ratio no less. Even though netbooks never really took off, they showed what was possible.
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Sep 27, 2015 12:00
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The Iron Rose posted:Right and see on the one hand I get that, but on the other hand they were called out for superfish and there's no evidence to show they do anything remotely like that anymore. This is just garden variety crapware that every OEM ships their computers with and can be trivially uninstalled. So getting all riled up because of crapware? Not really proportional, nor a reason to avoid buying Lenovo laptops. Are you unironically white-knighting a company that knowingly put BIOS-based malware on their laptops, and are then claiming that just because somebody hasn't proven they are doing Bad Things at this very instant, that it is unreasonable to use their prior behavior as a judge of their trustworthiness?  My hubsand isn't loving the babysitter at this instant. I caught him loving the babysitter last week when I got home from the grocery store, but I know he's not loving her this very instant. I therefore trust him completely. Besides, lots of husbands cheat. Right?
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Sep 29, 2015 20:53
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Given that Alienware now has external GPU docks, and the new XPS line is using Thunderbolt, I wonder if we'll see the XPS line get something similar, if only from third-parties. I can't see Dell adding external GPU support to the XPS line--it would compete with their Alienware line--but I can dream.
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Oct 9, 2015 14:22
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I've had Clevos for 9 years now and have loved all of them. Build quality is great. Biggest disadvantage is the lack of TPM, which means you need to type a password to use BitLocker. Keyboard quality may not be as good, though I'm guessing on the quality of the Alienware keyboard.
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Oct 12, 2015 23:30
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HalloKitty posted:This kind of proves that Microsoft needed to do it themselves, because now others are actually trying to compete. Didn't Google basically do the same thing with the Nexus phone and tablet, and then all of a sudden bam! we have good Android phones and tablets?
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Oct 20, 2015 16:27
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ilkhan posted:Is this the right thread to get a price check? Or is just discussion? Probably half of what you would like to get for it. Sager/Clevo makes some great machines, but they're niche enough they don't have great resell. I've owned three and sold the first two. In both cases, I could probably have made more by selling the parts individually.
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Oct 21, 2015 14:26
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Macs are great, but reviewers are horrible at comparing anything to them. The worst I saw was a reviewer first comparing the performance of a first-generation Surface to a full-sized MacBook Pro, but then bitching at the Surface's portability compared to an iPad Mini.
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Oct 22, 2015 16:51
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sarehu posted:Only 17" laptops should be compared to the 15" MBP, because their screen heights are about the same. Clearly the MBP wins because it is so much lighter and has iTunes pre-installed.
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Oct 22, 2015 18:39
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Cybernetic Vermin posted:Sager is, if I am not mistaken, entirely a reseller of white-label generic OEM designed machines, and as such I don't think there is much one can tell about any given Sager machine based on the Sager badge. Not quite. They are the US reseller of Clevo, which is an ODM based in Taiwan. To my knowledge they do not resell any other ODM's laptops. I've had 3 in the past 11 years and have loved each one. I travel for work so they take a fair amount of abuse and are nice for performance without looking like a portable rave. My current one is beginning to overheat after 4 years (thanks Intel for using cheap thermal paste). I'm looking to get something a little less bulky, possibly a Razer Blade 14" when they come out with a 1060. Does anyone have experience with Razer laptops in terms of how they hold up after 3-4 years?
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Aug 24, 2016 05:07
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supermikhail posted:Can anyone advise me if it's worth buying some kind of Acer Aspire laptop (http://www.dns-shop.ru/product/27ca073a497d3330/156-noutbuk-acer-aspire-e5-575g-50az-cernyj/description/ if that helps) for working at home? It says it's a gamer one, but that doesn't help since my work (inhouse app) doesn't rely on graphics. In fact I don't know what my work's bottleneck is and I'm not sure anyone knows. I went to the office and looked at the task manager while working on a project of somewhat high complexity, and there was 3.4/16 Gb memory (of that particular work PC) consumed, and sporadic spikes on all cores of a i7 4770 something, if that says anything. However I'm mainly concerned with the CPU of the Acer Aspire. My current ancient computer has an AMD x2 2300+... apparently that's 1.9 Ghz. The Aspire has a dual core with 2.3 Ghz (Core i5 6200U). Does that make much of a difference? Or maybe it doesn't matter. My current PC has 2 Gb memory, maybe all the performance problems are due to that. Any advice? Does your work involve lots of disk access? Disk is the slowest part of any system, and hard drives (spinning platters) are significantly slower than solid state drives. 2GB RAM is enough to run Windows 10, a couple Office documents, and a browser with a few tabs.
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Aug 24, 2016 19:01
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Can anyone comment on the relative build quality between Asus, Aorus (Gigabyte), Clevo, Sager, and Razer?
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Aug 25, 2016 03:15
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There are 15.6" laptops with 1070's from MSI, Asus, Clevo/Sager, and Aorus.
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Aug 25, 2016 21:19
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Pissingintowind posted:Not at 18mm thick. Closest are the Aorus X5 (23mm - much more expensive), ASUS GL502 (24mm - not quite as high-end of a design, but nicely priced), and Gigabyte P35 (21mm - much more expensive). Other models are much thicker (over 29mm). I went to a Frye's last night and noticed how thin the MSIs were, particularly the screen panel. Does that hurt heat dissipation? Do the screens break easily? Also holy poo poo I wish we had Frye's in New England. It was awesome actually being able to see some of the stuff that shows well online.
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Aug 26, 2016 02:35
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Siva68 posted:Does anyone happen to have an Aorus laptop, I'm curious about their build quality and reliability. I keep reading things about video issues with laptops lately with errors like "video tdr failure nvlddmkm.sys" The Razer system I had had that issue among many other issues, and I've seen Aorus users complain of lots of issues as well, drivers, keyboard flex, etc.. It's just hard to get a good read on these systems, sites will give them rave reviews, then you will see people bitch about them constantly. I was looking at pulling the trigger on the new x5 or x7, but I'm super skeptical now, especially after being burned on a poo poo Razer system I sent back, I just want to avoid that hassle again. Mind sharing your Razer experience? Was it just bad luck, or were there fundamental engineering problems? I'm torn between waiting for a 1060 version and the MSI GS43VR (also 14", though larger framed, with a 1060).
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Aug 31, 2016 04:18
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Laptop Megathread: Acer is making grills
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Sep 1, 2016 02:28
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mobby_6kl posted:^^^ If Apple is doing it, of course it will become A Thing and every other laptop will remain poo poo.
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Sep 1, 2016 21:51
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I've had three Sagers since 2006 and have been happy with the build quality of each. I travel for work, so they take some abuse, though I'm as careful as I can be. They save some money with things like not having TPM, and not having particularly standout keyboards, trackpads, or screens. None of those three are bad, but they're not stand-out and the screens are usually mature panels. The newest Sagers seem to using nicer screens. They also save money on marketing and lack of retail store placement. Finally, Clevo makes money as the ODM for other manufacturers. I don't know if they still do, but they were the ODM for Alienware years ago.
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Sep 2, 2016 15:36
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Well, I had settled on getting the new (new new) Razer Blade 14" with a 1060, and everything about it was what I wanted: 1080 screen, 16GB RAM, 512 SSD (and NVMe to boot), Pascal 1060, and in budget. Pre-orders had a ship date of September 30. Okay, fine. They sold out already. 
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Sep 2, 2016 22:25
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Anyone with experience with Razer have any idea how long they are likely to delay before 1. opening up orders again and 2. actually shipping product? I know I'm being petulant, but I feel like they're selling the idea of a 14" Razer Blade with a 1060 rather than an actual thing.
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Sep 3, 2016 02:30
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Boiled Water posted:This is known as a cooktop. Putting a 45w tdp chip into an ultrabook is essentially committing arson. Eh,they're putting a 100W TDP GPU in the 14" Blade. Maybe that's why it's a soft launch though. 
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Sep 3, 2016 19:45
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sweetmercifulcrap posted:I want: Take a look at Asus--plastic builds but generally good build quality. Clevo/Sager make well-constructed 17" laptops as well, including IPS screens. You probably won't find them in stores, but I've been happy with three I've owned since 2006.
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Sep 14, 2016 15:33
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I'd like to get a Chromebook for my first-grader to do Lexia (a reading program). What's a good Chromebook that is: 1. Less than $500 USD 2. Durable enough that when she inevitably drops it on the floor it won't automatically need to be replaced. (I realize there is no guarantee it won't just land wrong.) 3. Doesn't have too many bells and whistles. Simple is better. Also, is there some way for me as a parent to lock-down or monitor a Chromebook? I'm very familiar with how to do it on Windows, but have zero experience with Chromebooks.
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Sep 14, 2016 16:56
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Ornithology posted:I've got an SSD on it already. It really is a perfectly good laptop still, the main reason I'm considering a need to replace it is the fan issue. It also has some other issues on the motherboard: broken headphone/microphone jacks and usb ports. I'm calling "hoarder" at this point. Holy poo poo just get a chrome book if the only functional parts you need are a portable screen and keyboard.
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Sep 22, 2016 04:55
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Anytime I've looked at Alienware in the past they've always been horribly priced, but the pricing on the new Pascal 15" is actually pretty close to similarly-species machines from Asus and Sager. I rarely like blingy laptops but I actually like the pictures other than that stupid logo.
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Sep 25, 2016 01:54
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foutre posted:Fwiw, I got an Alienware 13 on sale and it actually looked better in person than photos. Does the logo stick out from the surface? Could it be hidden with a laptop skin?
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Sep 25, 2016 03:24
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Heaps of Sheeps posted:Is there a laptop with a good IPS screen, good keyboard, a GTX 1060, and doesn't look like a stupid loving xxxtreme g4m1nG toy? I'd like to do some moderate gaming on the road but I'd also like to bring my laptop to meetings and not look like a loving idiot. Look up Clevo, which is resold is the US as Sager. I've used them for that purpose for years.
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Sep 29, 2016 02:03
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How are internal thermals and fan noise after 15 or 30 minutes of gaming?
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Sep 30, 2016 02:20
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eames posted:Keep an eye out for the updated Gigabyte Aero. It looks fairly restrained with the black display cover and Gigabyte confirmed that the refresh will have a GTX1060 and a 14" 1440p IPS panel. It should be released within the next 2 months. What is the build quality compared to Clevo/Sager? That sounds interesting if they can avoid the thermal issues of the Razer Blade and MSI GS43VR.
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Sep 30, 2016 08:47
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Thanks for the info. I'm debating between sticking with Clevo (on my third in 11 years) or going to Alienware or taking a chance with bad thermals and doing something smaller.
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Sep 30, 2016 09:28
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tminz posted:Those new Razer Blades with a 1060 would be choice if I was in the market. That thing is gorgeous. There are some doomsayers on other forums claiming they'll have thermal issues because a 1060 pulls more watts, and has a smaller surface area. I don't know if it's ~engineering purity~ or a real issue.
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Oct 1, 2016 02:11
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Clevo has a 15" with a 1060 less than 1" thick, and a 1070 around 1.2" thick. I'm waffling between that and an Alienware (of all things). Clevo historically does well with thermals, though my 4-year-old is overheating because Intel was using poorer quality thermal paste a few years ago.
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Oct 9, 2016 15:18
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roomforthetuna posted:I don't know how Alienware were when they were expensive custom things, but I had a Dell Alienware laptop a few years ago and it was loving awful with the thermal control. Maybe they've got better, but I doubt it. As far as I can tell Dell has never shown any interest in improving their airflow considerations. There's an interesting self-review by alienware's staff on YouTube and they spend a lot of time discussing the airflow on the new models, so perhaps this has changed.
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Oct 9, 2016 22:49
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| # ¿ Apr 26, 2024 14:38 |
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The product page for the Alienware 13 with a 1060 is up, though no link to look at configurations.
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Oct 12, 2016 02:18
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