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Laptop Replacement/Suggestions Thread: Bring out yer dead laptops!

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  • EvilMonkeyEvilMonkey Registered User regular
    Tommatt wrote: »
    Tommatt wrote: »
    So as of right now I'm very happy with the new laptop. Performs great for the price. Eventually I'll pop out the 2gb ram stick for a 4, and get a faster HD. It really does bottled neck start times and such. So much nicer than my last one though.

    The 720p screen hasnt bothered me. Haven't watched any videos yet though or done heavy surfing. Everything looks good to me, but I dont have anything to compare it to.

    Sound is ok, no bass but gets fairly loud and stays clear.

    I really like the keyboard with its individual keys. And a full number pad.

    I'm pretty happy with the purchase. Has an ivy bridge, and a i7. The 660m seems like a powerful video card, at least for me as the most demanding game I play is diablo 3. At $850 it's a lot of machine, and it seems solid.

    errr, if you purchased the 850$ laptop you linked earlier, it has 6 gigs of ram, 2 3 gig sticks. It's the videocard that has two gigs and you ain't adding to that. The y580 does have an abominably slow boot with the stock install though, if you wipe it and install a clean copy of windows it boots in half the time.

    I'm pretty sure it came with a 4gb stick and a 2gb stick.

    Load times are pretty long thought. I don't have a windows 7 cd though :(. Although I don't know what software disks came with it, I assume a "recovery cd"

    Generally you have to create your own recovery disks, which (I assume) would load up the same problem bloatware that you want to remove. I'm not sure how much control you have over what gets recovered / re-installed.

    Another option would be to sign up for the Windows 8 upgrade program ($15) and hope you have more control over the install. Or you may be interested in the upgrade regardless.

    [PSN: SciencePiggy] [Steam]
  • TommattTommatt Registered User regular
    EvilMonkey wrote: »
    Tommatt wrote: »
    Tommatt wrote: »
    So as of right now I'm very happy with the new laptop. Performs great for the price. Eventually I'll pop out the 2gb ram stick for a 4, and get a faster HD. It really does bottled neck start times and such. So much nicer than my last one though.

    The 720p screen hasnt bothered me. Haven't watched any videos yet though or done heavy surfing. Everything looks good to me, but I dont have anything to compare it to.

    Sound is ok, no bass but gets fairly loud and stays clear.

    I really like the keyboard with its individual keys. And a full number pad.

    I'm pretty happy with the purchase. Has an ivy bridge, and a i7. The 660m seems like a powerful video card, at least for me as the most demanding game I play is diablo 3. At $850 it's a lot of machine, and it seems solid.

    errr, if you purchased the 850$ laptop you linked earlier, it has 6 gigs of ram, 2 3 gig sticks. It's the videocard that has two gigs and you ain't adding to that. The y580 does have an abominably slow boot with the stock install though, if you wipe it and install a clean copy of windows it boots in half the time.

    I'm pretty sure it came with a 4gb stick and a 2gb stick.

    Load times are pretty long thought. I don't have a windows 7 cd though :(. Although I don't know what software disks came with it, I assume a "recovery cd"

    Generally you have to create your own recovery disks, which (I assume) would load up the same problem bloatware that you want to remove. I'm not sure how much control you have over what gets recovered / re-installed.

    Another option would be to sign up for the Windows 8 upgrade program ($15) and hope you have more control over the install. Or you may be interested in the upgrade regardless.

    The only problem with that is I hear bad things about win 8. I believe them too, windows seems to follow the every other pattern.

    I own a license for win7, I mean it's on the pc, you'd think I'd be able to download a windows 7 disk to burn through Microsoft after providing proof of a license. I've never looked into it, but I'm guessing that doesn't exist. At least through "legal" means. I'm sure I could find a copy, and by having a license that might even be legal, but I'm guessing there's be something illegal about that process.

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    MisterM wrote: »
    I'm looking to get a laptop for light gaming (Starcraft2/Diablo3 mainly) and the usual web browsing, work etc.

    How do the GeForce 630M and 640M's hold up?

    630M

    640M

    Game benchmarks are located closer to the bottom. Looks like medium settings for the 630M and high settings for the 640M for both games, but not ultra for either.

    Notebookcheck has mobile video card performance for a large number of games and a gigantic amount of mobile video cards. For laptop gaming this is seriously the only site you'll ever need.

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    After much decision making, say hi to my newest lappy:
    Asus-G55VW.jpg

    ASUS G55VW

  • EvilMonkeyEvilMonkey Registered User regular
    edited August 2012
    I think I picked up your lappy's baby brother yesterday :P
    Q1ZgDv0U0Ul2IntD_500.jpg
    ASUS N56VZ

    I have some buyer's remorse when comparing the price tag with the Dell 15R Special Edition, but that screen is so good. So very good.

    EvilMonkey on
    [PSN: SciencePiggy] [Steam]
  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    Is it the non-reflective HD screen?

    I cannot wait...can not WAIT for this to arrive.

  • EvilMonkeyEvilMonkey Registered User regular
    I got the model wrong (corrected original post)

    http://ca.asus.com/en/Notebooks/Multimedia_Entertainment/N56VZ/#specifications

    Full HD (1920x1080)/Wide View Angle LED Backlight

    [PSN: SciencePiggy] [Steam]
  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    Huh, Amy just bought the ASUS R501V for Uni work, and it seems quite similar to your laptop. Not quite as beastly, but still pretty decent! It came with a bunky little plug-in subwoofer about the size of a coffee mug which will probably never even be taken out of the packaging, though...

  • EvilMonkeyEvilMonkey Registered User regular
    Google seems to say that the R501V is part of the N56 line, which would explain why I couldn't find it on the ASUS website. Mine did come with a little subwoofer and it will probably stay in the box as well.

    [PSN: SciencePiggy] [Steam]
  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    I dunno, it's hard to track and compare laptops.

    Actually, now I look for her specs, I believe they are basically the same laptop except hers has the 630M instead of the 650M.

  • EvilMonkeyEvilMonkey Registered User regular
    Something closer to this then? Or does hers also have an ivy-bridge?

    http://ca.asus.com/en/Notebooks/Multimedia_Entertainment/N56VM/#specifications

    [PSN: SciencePiggy] [Steam]
  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    The MSI was tempting but too many negative reviews about the keyboard. The Lenovo's have chiclet keyboards, so no go. I'm extremely happy with the purchase and this will be my first non-HP lappy. I'm glad to see so many positives about the ASUS machines.

  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    EvilMonkey wrote: »
    Something closer to this then? Or does hers also have an ivy-bridge?

    http://ca.asus.com/en/Notebooks/Multimedia_Entertainment/N56VM/#specifications

    Yeah like that, but hers has an i7-3610QM and 8 gigs of RAM.

  • MisterMMisterM UKRegistered User regular
    MisterM wrote: »
    I'm looking to get a laptop for light gaming (Starcraft2/Diablo3 mainly) and the usual web browsing, work etc.

    How do the GeForce 630M and 640M's hold up?

    630M

    640M

    Game benchmarks are located closer to the bottom. Looks like medium settings for the 630M and high settings for the 640M for both games, but not ultra for either.

    Notebookcheck has mobile video card performance for a large number of games and a gigantic amount of mobile video cards. For laptop gaming this is seriously the only site you'll ever need.

    Thanks! It looks like I'll be going for the 640M, I'd like a 650 but laptops featuring one are just out of my budget.

    SCII-EU: MisterM.868 // LoL-EU-West: MisterM868 // Diablo3: MisterM#2476
    steam_sig.png
  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    MisterM wrote: »
    MisterM wrote: »
    I'm looking to get a laptop for light gaming (Starcraft2/Diablo3 mainly) and the usual web browsing, work etc.

    How do the GeForce 630M and 640M's hold up?

    630M

    640M

    Game benchmarks are located closer to the bottom. Looks like medium settings for the 630M and high settings for the 640M for both games, but not ultra for either.

    Notebookcheck has mobile video card performance for a large number of games and a gigantic amount of mobile video cards. For laptop gaming this is seriously the only site you'll ever need.

    Thanks! It looks like I'll be going for the 640M, I'd like a 650 but laptops featuring one are just out of my budget.

    Also, your 630/640/650/660 are all Kepler-based, as opposed to Fermi, which means you can run those games without melting your laptop.

    There was a tempting MSI laptop with higher performance for $100 less (4 gb additional RAM, 570M, 250gb more HDD space), but the knowledge of how hot the 570M's would run kept me from getting it. Heat killed my old HP, it's killing my current HP, and I want longevity as well as performance. I'm running Diablo 3 on bare minimum settings, for gods sake, and this thing is heating up like a filament wire.

    That and, as nice as the MSI's are, the reviews seem to just go ga-ga over ASUS build quality.

  • EvilMonkeyEvilMonkey Registered User regular
    edited August 2012
    The 630M is Kepler? I had assumed with the 640M LE shenanigans discussed earlier (http://www.anandtech.com/show/5697/nvidias-geforce-600m-series-keplers-and-fermis-and-die-shrinks-oh-my/2) that the "safe bet" was on 640M and up being the new architecture. In that same article they mention two variants of the 630M but from a quick scan didn't see if both variants were Kepler.

    Edit: The notebookcheck link you gave earlier also claims the 630M is Fermi.

    EvilMonkey on
    [PSN: SciencePiggy] [Steam]
  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    EvilMonkey wrote: »
    The 630M is Kepler? I had assumed with the 640M LE shenanigans discussed earlier (http://www.anandtech.com/show/5697/nvidias-geforce-600m-series-keplers-and-fermis-and-die-shrinks-oh-my/2) that the "safe bet" was on 640M and up being the new architecture. In that same article they mention two variants of the 630M but from a quick scan didn't see if both variants were Kepler.

    Edit: The notebookcheck link you gave earlier also claims the 630M is Fermi.

    My bad!

    Either way, Kepler is a safe bet.

  • MisterMMisterM UKRegistered User regular
    That's interesting stuff, even more reason to get the 640 I suppose, less heat is always good.

    SCII-EU: MisterM.868 // LoL-EU-West: MisterM868 // Diablo3: MisterM#2476
    steam_sig.png
  • EvilMonkeyEvilMonkey Registered User regular
    Anyone have any experience with the slim / low-profile / filp-down ethernet ports (or whatever they are called)?

    I plugged my new machine into the router last night to move over my steamapps folder and it took me a frustratingly long amount of time to disconnect the ethernet cable. I ended up mutilating the cable in the process. Fun times.

    [PSN: SciencePiggy] [Steam]
  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    In the wake of not being able to afford the ASUS (unfortunately), I did manage to snag this beauty:

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246628

    ces2012y58000.jpg

    Lenovo Y580. $899 for a GTX 660M and an i7.

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    Oh my god this thing is a beast, especially for the cash paid. It doesn't have 1080p, but every game I run (SCII, DIII, Portal 2, XCOM demo, Civ V so far) is completely maxed out and I'm averaging about 100 fps on them (Except DIII, but it's well above 60).

    Completely totally worth the money.

  • LawndartLawndart Registered User regular
    So, I'm considering ditching my increasingly slow and still tiny netbook and snagging a shiny new ultrabook.

    I'm not concerned at all about gaming performance (and since this is for school, a lack of gaming performance is actually a major plus), so right now I'm looking at the i5/128GB version of this Zenbook Prime.

    I am wondering if there are other options I should be looking at, or if I should wait a short while since it seems like there's a new wave of ultrabook models coming down the pike.

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    I'd wait to see if there are any interesting W8 ultrabooks. If nothing else, the new tech will likely drive prices of the other stuff down.

  • Page-Page- Registered User regular
    My mother has been bugging me to find her a new laptop, since hers is from about 2001 and has been dying on its feet for a long while now. Problem is, I know very little about laptops, so I need some help.

    It will mostly be used for general internet business and some light multimedia stuff. No gaming. A decent battery would be nice (though she's not apposed to buying used if the price is right), and decent hard drive space is a plus. Something under $350 if possible, but she's willing to go higher if she has to. Anyone have a few suggestions?

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  • TommattTommatt Registered User regular
    Oh my god this thing is a beast, especially for the cash paid. It doesn't have 1080p, but every game I run (SCII, DIII, Portal 2, XCOM demo, Civ V so far) is completely maxed out and I'm averaging about 100 fps on them (Except DIII, but it's well above 60).

    Completely totally worth the money.

    Ya I got the same model, only $50 cheaper and no tax from a site located in NY (I live in Cali so newegg apples taxes) and love it. The only game not being at 1080 that has bothered me is LoL. I feel like I don't have enough screen size for all the information on the map to process.

  • durandal4532durandal4532 Registered User regular
    So hey, Halloween sale at NewEgg:

    ASUS A54 Series A54C-NB91 Notebook Intel Pentium B970(2.3GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory 320GB HDD 5400rpm DL DVD+/-RW / CD-RW Intel HD Graphics

    What do we think? Worth it or crappy? It would be a secondary computer, work laptop, so I don't really need it to be all that insane.

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  • BigityBigity Lubbock, TXRegistered User regular
    Anyone know much about Sager laptops?

  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    edited November 2012
    Sager rebrands ODM's, which isn't a bad thing as a lot of the not ridiculously expensive build-to-order notebook makers do the same (all I can think of is Clevo, Compal, and Quanta, but there are other players in ODM); the markup is branding, customer support and warranty. It's usually a good way to get a bigger GPU or some other premium parts without having to pay big OEM markups. A lot of the big OEM's may rebrand, but are just as likely to demand customizations that require the mainboard be changed.

    Djeet on
  • The_SpaniardThe_Spaniard It's never lupines Irvine, CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited November 2012
    Might be going on a 5 week business trip soon in the next couple months. A perfect excuse to replace my 4 year old laptop with a new business expense write off. When's the best time of year to get a new laptop, are there any wild new tech upgrades that I should wait for? For example the i-series came out right after I bought my last laptop. I have a fab home built gaming PC, I'm just looking for a travel desktop replacement and I'm thinking on spending 2 to 2 and a half bills.

    Looking for:
    17"
    i7
    1TB HDD at least
    16gb RAM
    Nvidia 670M at least
    Blu-ray drive
    3D display (I just happen to enjoy it for games that do it well)

    http://www.xoticpc.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=3d One of these looks like a good start. I like Sager, it's what my current laptop is, though I'm not married to it if there is anything better for the price.

    The_Spaniard on
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  • lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    So, I'm looking to help my dad replace his ancient desktop with a laptop. He quite enjoys his iPad so I was thinking a touchscreen and W8 would be called for.

    Anyone know of good laptops with touchscreens? He's looking to spend just about $1K

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  • DjeetDjeet Registered User regular
    All the major OEMs have them, but you may have to look under ultrabook, tablet, or convertible to find them. One thing I dont like is that most have a hybrid storgae system on lower end models coupling a small SSD cache drive with a large mechanical drive. If he doesnt need more than 128-160 GB I would get him something all SSD.

  • lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    We were originally looking at a Lenova Yoga which looks interesting but since he has an iPad I don't really know how much of the tablet like stuff he would ever use. Now we are looking more at just a laptop with a touchscreen like this Sony.

    And my brother has a huge amount of pics/movies of his kids so I think the 128G SSDs that I've seen in a lot of ultrabooks would eventually seem too small. Any kind of hybrid or cached drive would seem super fast compared to his old computer.

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  • WeretacoWeretaco Cubicle Gangster Registered User regular
    edited December 2012
    Weretaco on
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  • OghulkOghulk Tinychat Janitor TinychatRegistered User regular
    My girlfriend is looking into getting a new laptop, her price range is $500 or less, and she pretty much wants it for school next year, word, internet use, dvd player, possibly small or big. Any recommendations?

  • jungleroomxjungleroomx It's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovels Registered User regular
    Oghulk wrote: »
    My girlfriend is looking into getting a new laptop, her price range is $500 or less, and she pretty much wants it for school next year, word, internet use, dvd player, possibly small or big. Any recommendations?

    Newegg.com - ASUS S56CA-WH31 15.6" Ultrabook, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=34-230-599

  • override367override367 ALL minions Registered User regular
    edited December 2012
    I'm tired of my laptop

    it gets garbage battery life and can't play games much because its hardware sucks

    need to get something better like a $400 acer or something, im taking it back to the store today. Seriously ultrabooks are supposed to be good but 90 minutes of FTL kills it dead, 2 hours of youtube videos same thing. It's like spending more money for less power and less battery because it's smaller

    override367 on
  • Donovan PuppyfuckerDonovan Puppyfucker A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered User regular
    I'm tired of my laptop

    it gets garbage battery life and can't play games much because its hardware sucks

    need to get something better like a $400 acer or something, im taking it back to the store today. Seriously ultrabooks are supposed to be good but 90 minutes of FTL kills it dead, 2 hours of youtube videos same thing. It's like spending more money for less power and less battery because it's smaller

    Yes, that is exactly how that works.

  • jgeisjgeis Registered User regular
    edited December 2012
    Laptop thread, what is the best laptop one can buy for up to $2000? I really have no hard requirements, I'd like something with an SSD and dedicated graphics. A touchscreen would also be cool, but it is hardly a requirement.

    jgeis on
  • override367override367 ALL minions Registered User regular
    edited December 2012
    I'm tired of my laptop

    it gets garbage battery life and can't play games much because its hardware sucks

    need to get something better like a $400 acer or something, im taking it back to the store today. Seriously ultrabooks are supposed to be good but 90 minutes of FTL kills it dead, 2 hours of youtube videos same thing. It's like spending more money for less power and less battery because it's smaller

    Yes, that is exactly how that works.

    everyone always tells me ultrabooks get better battery life than 15.6/17 inchers

    blehg

    should just join the collective and buy an ipad
    jgeis wrote: »
    Laptop thread, what is the best laptop one can buy for up to $2000? I really have no hard requirements, I'd like something with an SSD and dedicated graphics. A touchscreen would also be cool, but it is hardly a requirement.


    past $1200 you can get just about anything

    if you're spending $2000 i'd recommend a macbook, simply because they're the most solid computers even if overpriced

    override367 on
  • FoomyFoomy Registered User regular
    edited December 2012
    $2000 will buy you just about anything.
    what you need to decide on are what aspects are important for you among, screen size, weight, gaming power, battery life.
    as the more power or screen size you put into the system the heavier it will get and the less battery you will have. and the smaller you want it, the less power etc.

    I actually wouldn't recommend a macbook anymore, they've removed the dedicated gfx card on them except for 15-inch models, and then your looking at more then $2000, for that price you can get something with much better specs.

    Foomy on
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