laptop advice

**wupwup** · May 12, 2011, 04:29 PM

hi guys. ive never liked laptops but i think i need one for uni next year. my birthday is coming up and im looking at getting one, but i have no idea what to get. i built my own desktop 2 years ago i know about computers, but i havnt paid attention to anything new since then so i dont know anything about the new i3 processors or whatever.

i will only need it for the basics, work, internet and music. but i would like a good one. i hate all of the laptops ive used but i think thats because most have been cheap. is there a difference with good ones? im just used to my lovely big desktop with its 24" HD screen, keyboard and mouse, and the fact it dosnt crash all the time. im not sure what kind of price range i have. maybe £600. but i am going to try and get something nice under the argument i need it for uni. so any advice? thanks

**karamazovmm** · May 12, 2011, 04:33 PM

Yeah raise the budget. 600 is not going to buy something that you can game at the uni, and since I think that you are not going to take your desktop to uni, them well...

There is the e420s from lenovo, its a great laptop, not heavy, and with good battery life. And it cost in the UK about 700-800 quids.

**Bolkonsky** · May 12, 2011, 04:48 PM

What about a dv6/7?

**karamazovmm** · May 12, 2011, 06:43 PM

Originally Posted by Bolkonsky

What about a dv6/7?

the dv6 is good too, although I would not buy a 15'' laptop, since for me its not a so mobile format. 14'' less is where the preference lays.

There is the vaio CA with the same gpu, it can be found for 700ish quids

**wupwup** · May 12, 2011, 05:12 PM

ok cool. i could take my desktop, but i probably wont be able to fit it in my room :/ im not thinking of gaming much on it, but i realy get pissed off when they start slowing up on me when im not doing anything. i meen how long can it take to open word? but thanks, i will have a look.

**Omnipotent-Q** · May 12, 2011, 09:31 PM

Originally Posted by wupwup

hi guys. ive never liked laptops but i think i need one for uni next year. my birthday is coming up and im looking at getting one, but i have no idea what to get. i built my own desktop 2 years ago i know about computers, but i havnt paid attention to anything new since then so i dont know anything about the new i3 processors or whatever.

i will only need it for the basics, work, internet and music. but i would like a good one. i hate all of the laptops ive used but i think thats because most have been cheap. is there a difference with good ones? im just used to my lovely big desktop with its 24" HD screen, keyboard and mouse, and the fact it dosnt crash all the time. im not sure what kind of price range i have. maybe £600. but i am going to try and get something nice under the argument i need it for uni. so any advice? thanks

I felt the same before I went to University and splashed out a good £1500 on a laptop. I pretty much always regretted it - you get the nice honeymoon period where it's the bee's knees, but then Laptops quickly become defunct, and there's so easy to damage at Uni when you're moving in-and-out of digs, or moving houses fairly often year on year.

If you wanted to be cunning, you could always get a laptop, take the 24" HD screen you've got too, and plug the laptop into the screen whenever you feel the need for a sick screen! If you can bring yourself to use them, Dell actually have a few not-so-bad deals on laptops with a reasonable spec at the moment.

**Ataegina** · May 12, 2011, 10:41 PM

Originally Posted by Bolkonsky

What about a dv6/7?

They're nice and offers good performance but....................... they've overheating issues (dv6) i've one and on the first week i had sparks and smoke

happily it stills working but just warning

**karamazovmm** · May 12, 2011, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by Ataegina

They're nice and offers good performance but....................... they've overheating issues (dv6) i've one and on the first week i had sparks and smoke

happily it stills working but just warning

is this from the current series or from the past? Im not a defender of HP, but I heard only good things about this one.

Originally Posted by Omnipotent-Q

I felt the same before I went to University and splashed out a good £1500 on a laptop. I pretty much always regretted it - you get the nice honeymoon period where it's the bee's knees, but then Laptops quickly become defunct, and there's so easy to damage at Uni when you're moving in-and-out of digs, or moving houses fairly often year on year.

If you wanted to be cunning, you could always get a laptop, take the 24" HD screen you've got too, and plug the laptop into the screen whenever you feel the need for a sick screen! If you can bring yourself to use them, Dell actually have a few not-so-bad deals on laptops with a reasonable spec at the moment.

A fair assessment, however you just have to have a decent notebook. I had a lenovo that got me through most of my first degree (3 years), now I have a MSI, thats going to make me only start the new degree in CS, (I have had it for 2 years). And I do take my notebook with me always, everyday to go to uni I battle for my life in the subway of Sao Paolo, its a 30min ride, some say that pictures are more than a bunch of words

Although I dont use that line, I cross it, and relief floods me when I cross, since 50% of the passengers leave, so I get to be in the middle of the car when the other 50% enter again.

**Bolkonsky** · May 13, 2011, 07:20 AM

Originally Posted by Ataegina

They're nice and offers good performance but....................... they've overheating issues (dv6) i've one and on the first week i had sparks and smoke

happily it stills working but just warning

I have a new dv6 and it doesn't do that.

Anyways, yeah, mine (if I can find the model number) has two GPUs - one dedicated (DX11) for gaming, it can play Bad Company 2 on high, and one integrated which can still play Assassin's Creed 2, but takes up far less power and isn't as good.

**eisenkopf** · May 13, 2011, 02:52 AM

Originally Posted by wupwup

hi guys. ive never liked laptops but i think i need one for uni next year. my birthday is coming up and im looking at getting one, but i have no idea what to get. i built my own desktop 2 years ago i know about computers, but i havnt paid attention to anything new since then so i dont know anything about the new i3 processors or whatever.

i will only need it for the basics, work, internet and music. but i would like a good one. i hate all of the laptops ive used but i think thats because most have been cheap. is there a difference with good ones? im just used to my lovely big desktop with its 24" HD screen, keyboard and mouse, and the fact it dosnt crash all the time. im not sure what kind of price range i have. maybe £600. but i am going to try and get something nice under the argument i need it for uni. so any advice? thanks

Some general thoughts I found useful when deciding for a laptop:

- an integrated graphics adapter might be the right thing for you. It usually extends battery life, and you can't play the newest games with it. If you want to study, this might be of an advantage :-)

- smaller screen (13" or 14") usually means less weight to carry around. if you want to bring it along to uni and carry it all day long, every ounce of weight you save makes a difference, believe me.

- solid build. otherwise, the daily wear of carrying it around will quickly show.

- good keyboard and non-glossy display!!! two killer criteria for serious work. for me, that little knob in the middle of keyboard used to move the mouse is another criterium. with it, I don't have to take my fingers of the standard writing position to move the mouse. Otherwise, if you write a lot and have to use the touchpad in-between, it can be a real hassle to switch between them.

- long battery life, at least 6 hours. it should take you through a whole day, so that you can take your laptop with you without having to carry the A/C adapter. Otherwise, it does not matter whether it can run 3 or 4 or 5 hours, you will need you A/C adapter anyway.

- the more RAM, the better, if you want your laptop to not slow down.

- windows 7 or the latest Ubuntu with long term support as OS.

**wupwup** · May 13, 2011, 11:10 AM

ok brilliant guys. i think id like to go for a large one to help aleviate some of the annoyance of keyboard / mouse / screen inadequacies but i like the sound of one with an integrated graphics adapter. im doing a history degree so i wont need any taxing software on it. i just want something simple and fast that wont drive me insane with daily use. presumably i can upgrade ram myself? how hard is it to upgrade CPU's in laptops? i might get a cheap one with a mother board that supports a brilliant processor and splash out on that and ram.

as for taking the screen i think i will take a screen, keyboard, mouse and speaker system and just leave it set up in my room. how hard will a laptop with an intergrated graphics card find it to display stuff on a screen in 1900x1200 with a hdmi cable? thanks

**karamazovmm** · May 13, 2011, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by wupwup

ok brilliant guys. i think id like to go for a large one to help aleviate some of the annoyance of keyboard / mouse / screen inadequacies but i like the sound of one with an integrated graphics adapter. im doing a history degree so i wont need any taxing software on it. i just want something simple and fast that wont drive me insane with daily use. presumably i can upgrade ram myself? how hard is it to upgrade CPU's in laptops? i might get a cheap one with a mother board that supports a brilliant processor and splash out on that and ram.

as for taking the screen i think i will take a screen, keyboard, mouse and speaker system and just leave it set up in my room. how hard will a laptop with an intergrated graphics card find it to display stuff on a screen in 1900x1200 with a hdmi cable? thanks

I would still get one with a dedicated gpu. You are a member of this forum after all.

I would also advise against large laptops. The thinkpad edge e420 or e420s (14'') are a good option, both have a 6630m (if you are in the US, those 2 dont pack the dedicated gpu).

There is the upcoming thinkpad X1 (13''), its going to pack a full blown processor while being a bit bigger than the macbook air and the samsung 9.

The Vaio SB is a good one too, since it packs the same guts of the e420/s in a 13'' chassis.

The Z (13'') is my favorite, its going to pack a full voltage processor, like the X1, however in a separate add on (it looks like a external ODD) there is the gpu, a 6770m the same as the dv6( pretty good card), and the Blu ray drive. The screen is going to be FHD or 1600*900, so you are going to have the same real state (I prefer the 1600*900).

And always remember to get one with good build quality, you are going to need it.

The intel HD 3000 can reproduce 1080p on monitor, so you are good with it.

Yes you can upgrade the RAM (depends on the models, like the vaio SB has already 4g soldered to the mobo, and there is only 1 ram slot, most notebooks use 2)

And the HDD usually can be as simple as, unscrew, pull the lid, place the drive and you are done.

The cpu is another matter, some ultraportables like the x220, have the CPU soldered to the motherboard, yes I know pure evil!

However the price of the processors hardly justifies, they usually retail around 200-300 range, for the xqm editions (Extreme Quad Core Mobile) its 500 to 1k.

Remember buy the notebook as you want, with the conscious that upgrading it is not going to bring good value. For one, the GPU usually cant be upgraded, only in select models like the NP8150 (usually only the high end models like AW)

**eisenkopf** · May 13, 2011, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by wupwup

ok brilliant guys. i think id like to go for a large one to help aleviate some of the annoyance of keyboard / mouse / screen inadequacies but i like the sound of one with an integrated graphics adapter. im doing a history degree so i wont need any taxing software on it. i just want something simple and fast that wont drive me insane with daily use. presumably i can upgrade ram myself? how hard is it to upgrade CPU's in laptops? i might get a cheap one with a mother board that supports a brilliant processor and splash out on that and ram.

as for taking the screen i think i will take a screen, keyboard, mouse and speaker system and just leave it set up in my room. how hard will a laptop with an intergrated graphics card find it to display stuff on a screen in 1900x1200 with a hdmi cable? thanks

Forget about upgrading cpu or gpu. They are always part of the mainboard. Changing them would also mess up thecooling system. I have had good experience with the acer travelmate series and would consider a look at the current travelmate timelineX models.

**karamazovmm** · May 13, 2011, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by eisenkopf

Forget about upgrading cpu or gpu. They are always part of the mainboard. Changing them would also mess up thecooling system. I have had good experience with the acer travelmate series and would consider a look at the current travelmate timelineX models.

the new ones are throttling the 3830, 4830 and 5830