Laptop Shopping.

[Bluearrowll]

Well seeing how helpful these threads have been in the past, it's come for my beloved post.

My program used to supply me with a laptop but have since revoked the laptop lease, which means this Dell laptop that I type to you guys on today must be returned by early May. Having said that, that puts me in the need for a laptop.

I am looking for a laptop that is powerful enough to handle my needs and also is not an apple product or have a very reflective screen. Preferrably 14 - 15.6" in length, I don't want something too big because of weight, and I don't want something too small.

However instead of asking you guys to search for a laptop, I have already asked a few people who have shown me some laptops that might be worth considering. My budget is $500-800, but with taxes and accessories I'm willing to go up to $999.99 CAD. I prefer to stay away from Apple & Acer.

What I do on average on a laptop is this:
-FFR, SM
-Real Time Strategy games such as Age of Empires II.
-Work with SQL Server, Spreadsheets, ERwin modelling systems.
-Work with IBM Rational Rose, microsoft office.
-Often have 20+ tabs open in the internet at the same time.
-Stream hockey games
-Stream videos
-Possibility of some FPS gaming in the future?
-Can use in excess of 120 processes at a time with misc. items

Because of this, I prefer something with a large amount of RAM so that I don't experience as bad a slowdown. A great CPU is also on a want list. Hard drive space isn't as big an issue, as I have a 500GB hard drive and a 1 TB hard drive, both external that I mainly save things into.

This laptop is a laptop that I hope to use for years and not have to worry about again until at least after I graduate from university in 2015. I do not care if the laptop has a webcam or not.

Here are the specs of this laptop that I am returning in a couple weeks:

Operating System: Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit (6.1, Build 7600)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Latitude E6410
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: n/a
Memory: 3072MB RAM
Page file: 3820MB used, 2173MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Display Name: Intel(R) HD Graphics
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip Type: Intel(R) HD Graphics (Core i5)
DAC Type: Internal
Approx. Total Memory: 1306 MB
Current Display Mode: 1280 x 800 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Drivers:
Main Driver: igdumdx32.dll, igd10umd32.dll
Version: 8.15.10.2104

I am quite pleased with how the Dell has handled how I use a laptop. The keyboard and screen are great. Slowdowns began bugging me after I hit 115ish processes though. Yes, it's a large number but most of them are chrome tabs lol. One final preference is that I do not want refurbished laptops. I am aware a couple of the below options are refurbished, and you can consider them out of my short list in this thread.

These are 9 options that have been presented to me (the bolded one is my favourite so far, but I'm wondering if the FFR community agrees with me):

ASUS AMD Quad Core, 8 GB RAM, 640 GB HDD $599

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1459322&CatId=4938

ASUS Intel I5, 6 GB RAM, 750 GB HDD, BluRay $699

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1753839&CatId=4938

DELL Inspiron 15R , Intel I7, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, 1GB Graphics - $799 (regular $1378; on sale, also gives free backpack)

http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=ni15r2_f_5e&c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&model_id=inspiron-15r-n5110

More details:

PROCESSOR 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM processor (2.20GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.10GHz)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64-Bit, English
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
HARD DRIVE 1TB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
MEMORY 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
GRAPHICS CARD NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M (128-bit) 1GB (Quad)
Included Targus Curve Backpack - Fits Laptops with Screen Sizes Up to 16-inch - Black/Platinum
Monitor 15.6" High Definition (720p) LED Display with Truelife™
SYSTEM COLOUR Switch by Design Studio - Diamond Black
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card
Adobe Reader Adobe Acrobat X Reader
Sound HD Audio 2.0 Support SRS™ Premium Sound
Wireless Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1030, 1x2 bgn + Bluetooth
Webcam Integrated 1.0 mega pixel widescreen HD Webcam
Regional Base Components DAO English Regional Base Components
BATTERY 48 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

lenovo IdeaPad Z570 (1024DMU) Notebook Intel Core i5 2450M(2.50GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M, $639.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246327

lenovo IdeaPad Z570 (1024ASU) Notebook Intel Core i5 2450M(2.50GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory DDR3 1333 750GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo Intel HD Graphics 3000, $679.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246318

SAMSUNG Series 3 305V5A-A04 Notebook AMD A-Series A8-3510MX(1.8GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 640GB HDD 5400rpm DVD SMDL (S-ATA) AMD Radeon HD 6620G, $679.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131183

SAMSUNG NP-RC512-A01US Refurbished Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory 750GB HDD Intel HD Graphics, $719.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834131271

Future Shop: Dell 15.6" Intel Core i7-2670M Laptop w/500GB HD, 8GB RAM, GeForce 525M $629.99
http://www.redflagdeals.com/in/toron...ce-525m-62999/

ASUS A53 Series A53Z-TH61 Notebook AMD A-Series A6-3400M(1.4GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory DDR3 1333 640GB HDD 5400rpm Supermulti Dual Layer DVD-RW AMD Radeon HD 6520G $589.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...16834230375CVF

[UserNameGoesHere]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

Read this as "laptop shooting" .. was reminded of the guy who shot up his daughter's laptop, thinking it was more of the same.

Anyway, go with what you want, first off. But I wouldn't base my decision on whether they include a bag, backpack, or whatever with it.

I say Lenovo is pretty solid. Can't really go wrong with it. Really though any of those should be fine.

I wouldn't recommend refurbished laptops (or desktops for that matter) either, unless you're really strapped for cash although a couple others are going to chime in that they're okay or better than non-refurbished/etc/etc... (No, they're not).

I wouldn't recommend Asus because I've had a bad experience with an Asus motherboard (but this was Desktop, not Laptop, and was a few years back, so one of the laptops of today may be fine -- I dunno).

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

Read this as "laptop shooting" .. was reminded of the guy who shot up his daughter's laptop, thinking it was more of the same.

Anyway, go with what you want, first off. But I wouldn't base my decision on whether they include a bag, backpack, or whatever with it.

I say Lenovo is pretty solid. Can't really go wrong with it. Really though any of those should be fine.

I wouldn't recommend refurbished laptops (or desktops for that matter) either, unless you're really strapped for cash although a couple others are going to chime in that they're okay or better than non-refurbished/etc/etc... (No, they're not).

I wouldn't recommend Asus because I've had a bad experience with an Asus motherboard (but this was Desktop, not Laptop, and was a few years back, so one of the laptops of today may be fine -- I dunno).

Lol laptop shooting. Well it's not because of the backpack that I like the offer. The laptop meets all criteria I've listed and more, plus i've built a bit of a trust with the performance of this Dell.

I've heard neat things about lenovo, but that's interesting because I've typically heard good things about Asus.

[Reincarnate]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

I just bought an ASUS and it pwns

[UserNameGoesHere]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

I have an ASUS motherboard with bad capacitors, a bad heatsink bracket (rotted and broke all on its own over time), and proprietary cables which won't work with non-ASUS motherboards. Again, your mileage may vary. I do know there were a number of machines from a large number of companies that got hit with the bad capacitor thing but there's really no excuse for the lousy heatsink bracket or forcing proprietary cables.

This was from a few years ago and is a Desktop. Also if you look up capacitor plague on wikipedia you'll see a very prominent display from a certain ASUS motherboard (It's not mine though). But again, many manufacturers were hit with that, not just ASUS.

[supermousie]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

I just bought an ASUS and it pwns

Ditto.

https://www.jbhifionline.com.au/comp...otebook/662521

edit: It's a tad over your budget, but I negotiated the price down to $950. It's worth a shot.

[UserNameGoesHere]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

My ASUS looks somewhat like some of the worst (but not yet exploded) pictures of bad capacitor motherboards in addition to having a broken heatsink bracket. Pretty easy to find examples of what bad capacitors look like. Broken heatsink bracket might be a bit harder picture to find.

Why they couldn't have just made the thing out of friggin' metal (that'd last about forever) instead of cheap plastic (which may rot in a few years, as mine did) I'll never know. Because we all like when the heatsink gets loose all on its own right right ???

--edit--

If y'all want pictures I might take some and upload. Don't really want to hijack this thread though so that'd be another thread.

[Helixia]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

I just bought an ASUS and it pwns

Totally agreed. I have a Asus laptop for more than 2 years. It works still fast and good and my laptop isn't getting too hot (when i work with it it has end 50 celcius and when i'm game on it begin/mid 60 celcius).

The minor problem are the wires behind my screen they are loose or something. Which cause sometimes that my laptopscreen si doing grazy and need smash/punch the screen to work again right XD.

[Izzy]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

I have an acer netbook and I can't imagine what would be wrong with them as a company. It's worked like new for 3 years.

[Poison-]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

I have an acer netbook and I can't imagine what would be wrong with them as a company. It's worked like new for 3 years.

Acer's customer support is complete shit.

[Helixia]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

Acer's customer support is complete shit.

Indeed. That's why i hate Acer.

[UserNameGoesHere]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

Acer's customer support is complete shit.

Actually I'm okay with that, as long as the computer works and continues to work correctly hardware-wise.

Not saying this is the case here, but I'd rather buy from a reliable company with bad support than an unreliable company with good support. Reliable in this case meaning how reliable the hardware itself is.

[fido123]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

lenovo IdeaPad Z570 (1024DMU) Notebook Intel Core i5 2450M(2.50GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M, $639.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246327

I'd go with specs relative to this or even downgrade to an i3 but you'll want ~6GB of RAM. That video card will also make your laptop not utter garbage at playing the vidja. Lenovo is also pretty good IMO. Dealt with their customer support, was good, and it seems they prefer things working properly and not falling apart than looking nice although some of their laptops do look pretty sick.

EDIT: Also in the future please place all threads like this in Bits & Bytes.

[Bluearrowll]

Re: Laptop Shopping.

lenovo IdeaPad Z570 (1024DMU) Notebook Intel Core i5 2450M(2.50GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M, $639.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246327

I'd go with specs relative to this or even downgrade to an i3 but you'll want ~6GB of RAM. That video card will also make your laptop not utter garbage at playing the vidja. Lenovo is also pretty good IMO. Dealt with their customer support, was good, and it seems they prefer things working properly and not falling apart than looking nice although some of their laptops do look pretty sick.

EDIT: Also in the future please place all threads like this in Bits & Bytes.

The main differences between this 639 lenovo and the 679 lenovo are that:
This one has 6GB of RAM over 8.
This one has the NVIDIA graphics card, the 679 has integrated graphics.
This one lacks the Blu-Ray Player (which I really don't care about).
This one has a 500GB hard drive, instead of a 750GB Hard drive.

Seeing how i'm running on 3GB of RAM right now, i'll be fine with 6GB. I don't necessarily want to downgrade to an i3. The graphics card is attractive over integrated graphics if I decide to do graphic intensive activities down the road (which I very well might). I don't care about the Blu-Ray Player so that's a plus. I can accept the 250GB drop because I have 1.5 TB in external hard drive storage. It's good that lenovo prefers a working product.

I think you've convinced me that the cheaper of the two laptops is the better of the two for my uses fido. thanks! That model was also the laptop I was looking at closely other than the Dell Inspiron 15r. The lenovo has a glossy screen over a matte screen though.. which is a downside of the laptop.

I will remember the bits & bytes forum for later.