SRL Archive - General

So…I'm heading for College and I needed a new laptop (portable, good battery ratio, good RAM and CPU)

The one I have right now is the HP Pavilion dv9500

System Model: HP Pavilion dv9500 Notebook PC
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T7700 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
Display Memory: 1011 MB
Dedicated Memory: 243 MB
Shared Memory: 767 MB
Current Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)

And now I wanted a new laptop for college, with a good ratio of quality/price, portable, with a good RAM, CPU, battery ratio and so on…
Not much to gaming, but it would be nice if it could handle some

I liked the HP Pavilion dv7, but I can't seem to find the specific model of the image with the specs on the HP website (8GB and 1TB storage)
http://laptops-reviews-online.com/hp-pavilion-dv7t-review.html

and the Acer Aspire S3 http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2394696,00.asp is kinda nice too, but I prefer the HP one, the Acer is lighter, but way less powerfull, half the performance and smaller, 13.3-inch

Besides this two, or from this two, which laptop should I buy for college and occasional Photoshop work or Gaming?

im not sure where your going with this but, if your asking for a gaming laptop - iv never seen many around with a good battery life. how much would you be willing to spend?

From: pur3b100d
im not sure where your going with this but, if your asking for a gaming laptop - iv never seen many around with a good battery life. how much would you be willing to spend?

I don't want a gaming laptop, I want a new laptop for college that allows me to do some occasional Photoshop work or some gaming

I don't know…maybe 800 euros (970.72 U.S. dollars) but it would be able to go up, depending on the laptop

The AcerAspire S3 is an ultrabook. Basically, they look like macbooks but depending on the price you pay determines how it feels and specs of course. Anything less than $1000 will probably feel cheap. I found an ultrabook with almost all of your specs other than the cpu power and 1tb hd, but you won't find high specs in ultrabooks due to lack of space (unless you go into the $1000s range). They are still very cool though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215401

Up to 8 hour battery life and a decent gpu in an ultrabook? Sounds good to me.
One thing I could gripe about the ultrabook is that the max resolution is not 720p hd. It is 1366 x 768.

From: uz3
The AcerAspire S3 is an ultrabook. Basically, they look like macbooks but depending on the price you pay determines how it feels and specs of course. Anything less than $1000 will probably feel cheap. I found an ultrabook with almost all of your specs other than the cpu power and 1tb hd, but you won't find high specs in ultrabooks due to lack of space (unless you go into the $1000s range). They are still very cool though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215401

Up to 8 hour battery life and a decent gpu in an ultrabook? Sounds good to me.
One thing I could gripe about the ultrabook is that the max resolution is not 720p hd. It is 1366 x 768.

Looks awesome, but the CPU seems kinda weak, 1.7GHz…with 6GB of RAM, idk
I never had an Acer, don't know if they're good investment or not

in the OP you did say it would be nice if it could handle games. anyways, i'd recommend investing in a Sony VAIO, they are good all round but very pricey, another option you could look at would be dell, they have pretty cheap 3rd gen i7's not sure about the speed but they seem to do the job as they all tend to come with a decent sized RAM. however they feel extremely cheap. my dell is about 1-2 years old and its pretty much running like the day i got it. but i can also tell you that everytime i open my laptop the cheapness hits me.

Sony has poor experience on laptops, Sony's are just portable, not great hardware and performance

MacBook pro!

Dell XPS 13, 15, or 17 in screen. Get the extended warranty and don't worry about breaking your laptop for the next three years or 4 years.

Im just personally a Dell fan.

Try looking into a XPS or ZenBook. That will be my next laptop when my MBP dies

The Zenbook seems to have a weak CPU, and seems to be All design and lack of performance, is that true?

Don't get Dells, they're just horrible. I haven't heard too many good things out of hp these days either.

Personally, I'd recommend a lenovo.

From: sahibjs
Personally, I'd recommend a lenovo.

I heard that lenovos are great ultrabooks

I loved this one
IdeaPad U400 Laptop - 09932HU - Graphite Gray
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=457&Code=09932HU&category-id=0F9E19F03A401BCD9A011DBACE824526

Part number: 09932HU
2nd generation Intel Core i7-2620M Processor( 2.70GHz 1333MHz 4MB)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64
AMD Radeon HD 6470M 1GB
8.0GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333 MHz
14.0" HD Glossy with integrated camera 1366x768
Industry Standard Multi-touch 2 button touchpad
750GB 5400 rpm
DVD Recordable
4 Cell Li-Polymer
Intel 1030 BGN+BT Wireless
No Fingerprint Reader
One year
Notebook
Integrated 1.3MP Camera
HDMI (Out)

Oh I responded in another topic that you posted apparantly.

I would go for a 15.6" laptop, because it is still portable but you can also get good specs with those. Ultrabooks have no dedicated graphics, only the intel 3000/4000 graphics which won't allow you to game. The processor is usually also some sort of u version of intel which runs under 2 Ghz but gives you a long battery life.

I bought a new laptop a week ago for university next year. After looking through loads of laptops and specs it turned out that a Asus N56vz laptop would be the best choice for me :P

http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Multimedia_Entertainment/N56VZ/
i7 3610QM Processor (2,3 Ghz - 3,3 Ghz)
GT 650m videocard (2 gb)
8 gb 1600 RAM
Full HD screen is what I went with for programming and it has been a great choice.

The sound quality is very nice aswell, nearly as good as my desktop speakers which is impressive for a laptop.

Other laptops I went through:
MSI Ge60
GIGABYTE P2542G
Lenovo Y580
Dell Inspiron 15R SE €900
Dell Xps 15 2012
Dell Xps 14 2012
Asus N56VM

MSI Ge60 has the GDDR5 version of the GT 650m which is definately an impressive graphics card :P I haven't done any gaming on my laptop yet with the GDDR3 version, but that one should be nice for a laptop aswell.

From: J J
I bought a new laptop a week ago for university next year. After looking through loads of laptops and specs it turned out that a Asus N56vz laptop would be the best choice for me :P

http://www.asus.com/Notebooks/Multimedia_Entertainment/N56VZ/
i7 3610QM Processor (2,3 Ghz - 3,3 Ghz)
GT 650m videocard (2 gb)
8 gb 1600 RAM
Full HD screen is what I went with for programming and it has been a great choice.

It's very similar to the Lenovo I'm keen to purchase, but I prefer the design of the Lenovo, I loved the design and specs of the Lenovo I posted

My advice here:

For school, I highly suggest going ultra-portable. I started my undergrad with a 15.6" Asus laptop, loved it, but couldn't take it to class. This was my setup for two years.

My now current, and much better setup, is:

1) Desktop: http://villavu.com/forum/showthread.php?t=59986 (Harddrive is actually this: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=22-136-284, and mouse is this: http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_CA/pd/productID.169414800/categoryId.35208800, and I did end up getting an SSD eventually)
2) Macbook Air: http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC965LL/A

I love this setup. It gives me excellent portability and I can do all my power computing on my desktop (I tend to ssh into it), and then I do work on the go on my macbook. It's an awesome setup.

If you are lighter on cash, swap out the macbook for a netbook or tablet!

Just my suggestion from someone in their fourth year of an undergraduate degree.

E: Oh, and for laptops, Mac's are great quality, but for windows definitely go Asus if you can.

I suggest a Mac-book Pro, however if it is too expensive for you (Is for most) then get some Lenovo laptop.

DO NOT BE TRICKED BY ALIENWARE!!!

Macbook Pro are for rich people who have nothing to do with cash, they have great design such as ideapads of Lenovo and have lacks of hardware, the only good thing is the design and the screen, the rest is robbish
Macbook Pro Retina is like 2,144.99$ and for the hardware on it I can purchase 2 or 3 great laptops

I haven't had any problems with Dell costumer service, so I still suggest that.

I'm personally strongly against HP, and Dell. Bad experiences from friends and myself….

I'm also against Macs mostly from a price standpoint, I'm typically an AMD guy, but in terms of laptops I've never gone wrong with Toshiba.

This particular one is an intel, but looks like a pretty solid package to me.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214870

Brand: TOSHIBA
Series: Satellite
Model: L855-S5255
Part#: PSKACU-03W012

General
Color: Mercury Silver
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
CPU Type: Intel Core i5-2450M 2.5GHz
Screen: 15.6"
Memory Size: 4GB DDR3
Hard Disk: 640GB
Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 7670M
Video Memory: 1GB
Communication: Gigabit LAN and WLAN
Dimensions: 14.96" x 9.53" x 1.14"-1.31"
Weight: 5.5 lbs.

CPU
CPU Type: Intel Core i5
CPU Speed: 2450M(2.50GHz)
CPU Support: 3MB L3 Cache
3.1 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology 2.0

Chipset
Chipset: Intel HM76

Display
Screen Size: 15.6"
Wide Screen Support: Yes
Resolution: 1366 x 768

Operating Systems
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Graphics
GPU/VPU: AMD Radeon HD 7670M
Video Memory: Dedicated 1GB
Graphic Type: Dedicated Card

Hard Drive
HDD: 640GB
HDD RPM: 5400rpm
HDD Interface: SATA

Memory
Memory: 4GB
Memory Speed: DDR3 1333
Memory Slot (Total): 2
Memory Slot (Available): 1
Max Memory Supported: 16GB

Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type: DVD Super Multi
Optical Drive Spec: Maximum speed and compatibility: CD-ROM (24x), CD-R (24x), CD-RW (24x), DVD-ROM (8x), DVD-R (8x), DVD-R DL (6x), DVD-RW (6x), DVD+R (8x), DVD+R DL (6x), DVD+RW (8x), DVD-RAM (5x).

Communications
LAN: 10/100Mbps
WLAN: 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN

Ports
USB: 1 x USB 2.0, 2 x USB 3.0
Video Port: 1 x VGA
HDMI: 1 x HDMI
Audio Ports: 1 x Microphone jack; 1 x Headphone jack

Audio
Audio: SRS Premium Sound HD
Speaker: Built-in stereo speakers

Input Device
Touchpad: Touch pad pointing device with multi-touch control
Keyboard: Premium Keyboard with 10-key (black)

Supplemental Drive
Card Reader: Secure Digital, SDHC, SDXC, miniSD, microSD, Multi Media Card
Webcam: Yes

Power
AC Adapter: 75-watt AC adapter
Battery: 6 cell/48Wh Lithium Ion battery pack
Battery Life: Up to 4 hours, 38 minutes

Physical Specifications
Dimensions: 14.96" x 9.53" x 1.14"-1.31"
Weight: 5.5 lbs.

Decent battery life and great performance. Seems like a winner to me.

NO NO NO…
You must get a lenovo…Or atleast an HP.

GL

How does the Warranty service of Lenovo works? Since I live in Europe (Portugal), if the warranty is applied, the laptop needs to be shipped to the US?

I'm currently staying at Lisbon, Portugal (Europe) and I'm interested on buying an IdeaPad U400 Laptop - 09932HU - Graphite Gray with the Weekly Deal of BACK2SCHOOL, on the final amount of $963.35 (with the eCoupon) = 782,13 EURO (EUR).
Since I live in Lisbon - Portugal, I wanted to know if I could buy it from the Lenovo website with a VISA Credit Card and if is there any problem with the Shipment due to USA-Europe shipment.

On the other side, I wanted to know if in case the Lenovo laptop suffers any misfortune or damage, if I could go to the Warranty Service Provider here in Lisbon:
BASE2 - LDA (BASE2)
Av. Joao Crisostomo 4A
Lisboa 1000-178
Tel: 351217804100
www.base2.pt

And that they could provide me with the standard Warranty Services, not having the need to ship the laptop back to the US or such matters.

Try looking for Asus laptops, they are best ones!

~Home

And what ASUS is similar to this Lenovo?

Part number: 09932HU
2nd generation Intel Core i7-2620M Processor( 2.70GHz 1333MHz 4MB)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64
AMD Radeon HD 6470M 1GB
8.0GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333 MHz
14.0" HD Glossy with integrated camera 1366x768
Industry Standard Multi-touch 2 button touchpad
750GB 5400 rpm
DVD Recordable
4 Cell Li-Polymer
Intel 1030 BGN+BT Wireless
No Fingerprint Reader
One year
Notebook
Integrated 1.3MP Camera
HDMI (Out)