Laptop buying Guide

[therussian]

Hey guys, what do you think about this laptop?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+1...&skuId=3823022


i5 2.4 Ghz
4 GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6650M

Would it be able to run Shogun II on medhigh-to-high settings? I'm not really in a big rush to get a new laptop, especially since Rome II is coming out next year. Just wondering if this was a good one for the price, or if I should be looking at something with better specs (is there a huge difference between i5 and i7?)

Thanks

(I haven't played a TW game since RTW. And even then that was on medium settings with lag)

[karamazovmm]

Hey guys, what do you think about this laptop?
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Acer+-+1...&skuId=3823022


i5 2.4 Ghz
4 GB RAM
AMD Radeon HD 6650M

Would it be able to run Shogun II on medhigh-to-high settings? I'm not really in a big rush to get a new laptop, especially since Rome II is coming out next year. Just wondering if this was a good one for the price, or if I should be looking at something with better specs (is there a huge difference between i5 and i7?)

Thanks

(I haven't played a TW game since RTW. And even then that was on medium settings with lag)

you should have the same experience with S2TW that you had with rtw.

the 6650m aint a good gpu at that res. it works on 720p.

Another thing is that I dislike a lot acer build quality, its not enough even for the consumer level.

The inspiron 15 and the dv6t should give you good performance, and with some coupons that are always around you can have good performance for 200 bucks more, with better build quality as well. There is a 450 off coupon for the envy 15, google it

[therussian]

But if I were to hypothetically buy a laptop at this moment, would you recommend the dv6t (dv7t?) or Envy 15?

[karamazovmm]

I would go for the envy 15, since its going to have a better build quality.

But IF I were shopping for a notebook I would go for the retina MBP. Its simply the best overall package. Im actually holding myself to not buy one. And the gpu is clocked higher than the 660m

However depending on the budget you can get a NP9130 or NP9150 from any clevo/sager reseller, like xoticpc, malibal and so forth and get yourself a much more powerful, in terms of gpu, notebook. For 1.5k you can buy a np9150 with a 7970m, I would leave everything else at stock, just upgrade the gpu. This will give you a 7870 in your notebook. The 650m should perform close to a 5770, and the 7750m should perform pretty similarly.

even if you dont go for the 7970m for 1.1k you can buy the NP9130 with a 670m and it should do quite well, the problem here is that the 7970m is more than 100% more powerful than that card, yes the difference is that huge.

[pannonian]

Changed my mind a bit. What kind of dirt cheap laptop can I get for £150? I'm not specifically planning on running anything other than Office on it. Any gaming is incidental.

[karamazovmm]

150? only brazos would suit that budget and I dont believe that much on it

[Makrell]

im looking at laptops and it has a "Intel HD Graphics 4000" graphic processor. And i was wondering if this was a good or bad graphics processor

[karamazovmm]

depends on what are you going to do with it

[Makrell]

well i want to use it as a normal computer. Play games, but not necessarily the new new new games This would be my only computer, and i would be doing more than just office and yooutube

[Holger Danske]

I got one advice. Stay Clear of Dell

[karamazovmm]

well i want to use it as a normal computer. Play games, but not necessarily the new new new games This would be my only computer, and i would be doing more than just office and yooutube

depending on the budget you can get more. The HD 4000 aint shabby, but it aint good. Im currently playing third age tw with high settings at a low res of 1280*800 (which is the res of the mbp 13), and that is with a HD 3000, basically the 4000 is 50% better.

But continuing on the budget thought, around 800 you can get a dell vostro (great support better than consumer build quality, still wont touch the lattitude or precisions), it already comes with Next Business Day support (it means that you call, the next day a guy comes to your house with the parts to fix the pc). In terms of gpu it wont be the most powerful, but it should be good enough from what you describe.

You could take a look at:

Lenovo thinkpad edge, thinkpad (call them and haggle, they always have discounts as well)

HP elitebook (call and haggle I know a lady that bought herself a new, still unlaunched [I do believe her she owns a special effects firm and is a close friend] for 1600, including the dream color display, that aside nec and eizo those are the best that you can get, doesnt matter desktop or notebook), also take a look at the dv6 and envy, there are always coupons

Dell vostro, latitude, xps - those are good, and the support is good, you have to call to haggle.

Now if you want to go all out, you can go for the MBP retina, that is one lovely machine, thinking of buying one myself, maybe this year or the next one. The gpu is going to have a significant difference in terms of power, since the 650m is clocked higher than the 660m is. It can overclock like hell, and yes this is the MBP that you can do that, I imagine what I can get when I repaste this monster, and its portable, even by my standards (I only get less than 2kg and 13'' notebooks)

I got one advice. Stay Clear of Dell

I got one advice, dont give that kind of advice, just because you bought a inspiron, it doesnt mean that precision is garbage, quite the contrary.

[♔hammeredalways♔]

this works

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Sager NP9170 / Clevo P170EM

• Screen: 17.3" 1080p Full HD Matte High Gamut AU Optronics B173HW01 V.5

CPU: Intel Core i7 Quad Core 3920XM 2.9GHZ 8MB Cache

• Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 680M 4.0GB GDDR5 with Optimus switchable graphics
• Thermal Compund: IC DIAMOND / Arctic Silver Thermal Compund on CPU and GPU
• RAM: 32GB DDR3 (1600) Dual Channel 4 x 8GB
• Hard Drive: 480GB Kingston HyperX SSD
• Second HDD: 1TB Scorpio Blue 5400RPM 8MB Cache
• Optical Drive: 6x BLURAY Writer

[Makrell]

ive been looking a bit over in norwegian shops and found this Lenovo ThinkPad S430which seems quite good also this Fujitsu LIFEBOOK UH572 and Toshiba Satellite Z830-11H have anyone heard anythign about these. Im in norway and want to shop in a norwegian shop, but they still have most pcs my budget is max 1300 usd, but the price is a couple 100 more in norway normally as stated

[karamazovmm]

the s430 is a solid option, do check how warranty works for that model, the edge line has the same warranty as the thinkpad line in the americas, it should work up there as well. Basically, NBD + ACD + 5 years of warranty, you buy it off course.

if you are looking for mobility with gaming capability check this thread that I made

http://forum.notebookreview.com/what...ompendium.html

[Makrell]

hmm, im still in the search of a laptop but hgave seen articles dating a few months back saying to wait with buying a new laptop as we are on the bring if a grand leap, have we reached that leap or could it be wise to wait a month or two more

[karamazovmm]

that big leap was the introduction of 28nm gpus. They have been launched already. Another ''great'' leap was ivy, not because of the power increase, but because USB 3 and other power saving features were implemented there.

So yes, its now a good time to buy. Unless you can wait for april next year, when the haswell launches

[SoulBlade]

I got one advice, dont give that kind of advice, just because you bought a inspiron, it doesnt mean that precision is garbage, quite the contrary.

What's so bad about the inspiron line, if it isn't a secret? I'm not pretending to be an expert (I'm not at all) but I took a look at a few and they seem to have quite good hardware.

Also I'm going to post a few specs of laptops I'm thinking of buying in the future, it would be great to have someone who can give sound advice.

[karamazovmm]

Post away your choices, but do please answer the FAQ, it makes things quite easier.

The problem when I mentioned the inspiron line was that people buy one of the consumer lines and figure out the whole range of notebooks that one OEM offers, its like comparing a HP g6 to a elitebook, its not going to work, the g6 is going to pack similar hardware, but the build quality is going to be far superior in the elitebook including support, since you can ram over your notebook with your car, and hp will replace it (their ACD policy is just short of awesome).

The current inspiron line got an upgrade regarding build quality, and its better. However in recent years it was a cheap notebook, that packed some things, when the L501x was launched, the inspiron line got worse in terms of build quality, since the xps line was thrown in the mainstream market, not the higher budget line, it was a line created to compete with the pavillion dv6, not with the envy line, which in this year all things are back to ''normal'' being the xps against the envy, and the inspiron against the pavillion.

Most of the time in the past 2 years, it was better for you to buy a vostro, them to buy a inspiron, better support since its enterprise class hardware, packing similar guts, including the gpu. With similar price in the end. Also the vostro line up has better build quality than the inspiron line. Not on par with the latitudes or precisions, but better than consumer build quality, if you exclude apple.

[Nota']

Read the guide, but since I can't actually custom build a laptop and I know nothing about the laptop market I could do with some help.
I'm buying a laptop for Uni, a 4 years Physics course to be specific. I don't really know what this will require of the laptop so anyone with experience in that area would be helpful. I'm taking my desktop so I won't be putting new games on the laptop, if any games at all. I assume a lot of typing will be involved so a decent keyboard would be appreciated (with enough swearing I can get used to most keyboards...eventually)

General Questions

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

1) What is your budget?
~£350. More if needbe, less is preferable.
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
c. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
d. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.
England (UK/GBR)
4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Don't know anything about laptops sorry.
5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
Yes
6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
See above
7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
I will be taking it around most of the day I assume.
8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
Old games if any.
9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
4 hours+ Probably more seeing as how batteries age.
10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
Online would be fine I think.
11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Win 7

Screen Specifics
12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? Keep in mind screen size in conjunction with resolution will play a large role in overall viewing comfort level. Everyone is different. Some like really small text, while others like their text big and easy to read.
The higher the better, as long as it doesn't push up the price or cost the quality of computer side of the laptop itself. You said 1366X768 was common? That would be fine.
13) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen?
Matte

Build Quality and Design
14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Insides are first priority, looks are a distant second.
15) When are you buying this laptop?
Very soon, less than a month incl delivery time
16) How long do you want this laptop to last?
4 years

Notebook Components
17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
500 Gb+ No SSD unless its rediculously cheap.
18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
CDRW/DVD-ROM

Sorry for the vague answers. Thanks for any help.

[karamazovmm]

well you are going to college, thus I advise to go for the enterprise class level of hardware.

the vostro line from dell should be a perfect fit, although you will probably have to raise your budget a little bit.

I would also look at the elitebook from HP, the thinkpad edge and thinkpad from lenovo, and finally the portege line from toshiba, the latter can usually be found in mortar brick stores for you to take a look. the others not often, if rarely are on display.