Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, David, mac_h8r1, Nelliesboo
Krogoth wrote:Care to enlightenment me?
Madman wrote:I would say, buy the cheapest $200ish laptop you can find, without Intel Extremely Awful Graphics, and put a brand new SSD in.
Laptop is not a gaming machine, and even crappy laptop is more than good enough for everything else. There really is no reason to go overboard.
Madman wrote:After two years, battery for your ultra-book will cost more than new, stronger laptop.
Krogoth wrote:Care to enlightenment me?
grantmeaname wrote:Madman wrote:I would say, buy the cheapest $200ish laptop you can find, without Intel Extremely Awful Graphics, and put a brand new SSD in.
Laptop is not a gaming machine, and even crappy laptop is more than good enough for everything else. There really is no reason to go overboard.
That's an interesting perspective. But for office/general use the screen, keyboard, weight, and build quality will matter.
grantmeaname wrote:Madman wrote:After two years, battery for your ultra-book will cost more than new, stronger laptop.
False. Really false.
Madman wrote:Laptop is not a gaming machine, and even crappy laptop is more than good enough for everything else. There really is no reason to go overboard.
tpaulsen wrote:I will be casual gaming (steam arcade games, low GPU demand, GTX660 is a good card) and outputting through HDMI at 1920x1080. I really would like that resolution on the screen.
Madman wrote:Not really, when I compare the keyboard/touchpad on the old IBM vs new super cheap ASUS, I feel no difference. Even the sturdy IBM cracked over the 5+ years of use, and it actually caught fire. The insulation on the charger wire came loose near the screen, and the body of the laptop started burning after a few sparks, I was really lucky that I was nearby to extinguish it. Not to mention that after 2 years of use I could feel that IBM was just so old and slow, it was painful to use. The display on the cheap laptop is better as well. Cheap laptop - a good upgrade, maybe you can even resell the old one.
Madman wrote:So, catch-a-fire aftermarket replacement costs half of a new laptop? Not really cheap or economically viable, given that you get the CPU/GPU/RAM/HDD and screen updates within those other 100$.
And, by the way, if the initial budget is around 1200USD, then you're set with a new laptop every year, for 6 years straight. I really doubt that the 1200USD laptop of today is stronger and more energy efficient than 200USD laptop that will be produced after 2 years.
Krogoth wrote:Care to enlightenment me?
grantmeaname wrote:Madman wrote:Not really, when I compare the keyboard/touchpad on the old IBM vs new super cheap ASUS, I feel no difference. Even the sturdy IBM cracked over the 5+ years of use, and it actually caught fire. The insulation on the charger wire came loose near the screen, and the body of the laptop started burning after a few sparks, I was really lucky that I was nearby to extinguish it. Not to mention that after 2 years of use I could feel that IBM was just so old and slow, it was painful to use. The display on the cheap laptop is better as well. Cheap laptop - a good upgrade, maybe you can even resell the old one.
So you're saying that any 5 year old laptop will catch on fire? I don't think that's a fair assessment.
Also, I don't know where you're getting this notion of $200 laptops from. The only laptops on newegg remotely close to that price are refurbished and years old.
From personal experience, 5 out of 5 laptops older than 2 years had their power cords worn out, with insulator failures. Mine caught fire, another fried the charging circuits. Remaining 3 still see regular soldering and have taped connectors.
grantmeaname wrote:Madman wrote:So, catch-a-fire aftermarket replacement costs half of a new laptop? Not really cheap or economically viable, given that you get the CPU/GPU/RAM/HDD and screen updates within those other 100$.
And, by the way, if the initial budget is around 1200USD, then you're set with a new laptop every year, for 6 years straight. I really doubt that the 1200USD laptop of today is stronger and more energy efficient than 200USD laptop that will be produced after 2 years.
Again, there aren't $200 laptops. Even if there were, what you said was that it's cheaper to get a new laptop than replace the battery. I demonstrated that it's not. Way to move the goalposts. Also, you're totally obsessed with pyrotechnic laptops today, have you noticed that?
Finally, the budget is $200CAD, not $200USD.
Krogoth wrote:Care to enlightenment me?
tpaulsen wrote:I was looking for a 15.6" display so that i get a mix of good size and not too bulky. I will be casual gaming (steam arcade games, low GPU demand, GTX660 is a good card) and outputting through HDMI at 1920x1080. I really would like that resolution on the screen.
I like the price of that Lenovo quite a bit, but the MSI G series is much more visually pleasing. I was also looking at a low end alienware, but ive heard reports of their lack of performance since dell aquired them.
Krogoth wrote:Care to enlightenment me?
grantmeaname wrote:Nope, $325US is the price floor here for the really **** Toshibas and Acers with AMD chips, and $400 is usually around where the intel solutions start (like the lowest-end dell inspirons and things).
grantmeaname wrote:Incredible specs for a good price. Have you seen the side view, though? It's a freaking monster! That's 1.7" thick!
Madman wrote:grantmeaname wrote:Nope, $325US is the price floor here for the really **** Toshibas and Acers with AMD chips, and $400 is usually around where the intel solutions start (like the lowest-end dell inspirons and things).
I'm on all AMD offering right now, really nothing to complain about. Not the fastest CPU/GPU, but I can't imagine playing Crysis 2 or something like that on a laptop anyway with all the heat issues, and clumsy keyboards. An it's multiple times faster than almost 1500+USD IBM I had. Not to mention 32GB HDD vs 320GB.
And concerning Intel, the thing what's pissed me the most about them, is that they always looked great in numbers, but as soon as some advanced feature comes into play, there is no support. OpenGL is still 2.0 or something. I don't think they have PureVideo or something like that as Nvidia and AMD, control panels are awful. So I have zero trust in Intel GPU. I have been using one for 5 years, I know what they are like.
Airmantharp wrote:If you're using a five year old Intel GPU, I know what you mean. Have you used HD2000+? They're a dream for integrated graphics, considering what you get for free and the performance of the CPUs attached. My HD3000 laptop does Source games, MMOs and RTSs (even Starcraft II above minimum settings!) at 1366x768, and I'd expect HD4000 to do that at 1920x1080- and if not, you can always drop the resolution a little.
Madman wrote:Airmantharp wrote:If you're using a five year old Intel GPU, I know what you mean. Have you used HD2000+? They're a dream for integrated graphics, considering what you get for free and the performance of the CPUs attached. My HD3000 laptop does Source games, MMOs and RTSs (even Starcraft II above minimum settings!) at 1366x768, and I'd expect HD4000 to do that at 1920x1080- and if not, you can always drop the resolution a little.
Then you switch to some OpenGL app, and it stops working, because the support level is that of a year 2004, or before... This is what's wrong with Intel!
Airmantharp wrote:This MSI is a little less shipped with the 660m and only two memory slots, but they'll sell you the 128GB Crucial mSATA drive for $159, which you can't find in retail, and is otherwise very similar to the Clevo above. Well, except for the 'eye-catching' race-car trim. I don't want my laptop to be 'eye-catching'. I want people to think that it's just some other POS, and go after the Apple users .
Airmantharp wrote:Check this thing out.
$1284 shipped, when configured with:
Stock matte screen
i7-3610QM Ivy quad
GTX670m (a lower end version of the desktop GTX560)
8GB DDR3-1600 in two slots, with two additional free slots
750GB 7200RPM HDD
DVD drive, Blu-ray for +$80
PCIe SD/etc reader
Intel 6300 450Mbps dual-band wireless (+$35 inc. above)
Windows 7 HP installed, Pro is +$60 above that
Add your own mSATA drive, theirs are too expensive- Newegg has a couple in the $140-$150 range for ~120GB
While I think MSI/ASUS make decent stuff, I really like Clevo's business-only look, and I despise Alienware's 'spaceship' look; and they're also over-priced if you need to upgrade anything.
ludi wrote:Clevo is an ODM/OEM notebook manufacturer. A lot of their high-performance designs are bought and rebadged by Sager, Alienware, Falcon Northwest, etc.
credible wrote:Picked this one up for the wifey, she was tired of a desk top, it plays Diablo 3 flawlessly, she also plays Skyrim at 1920 x 1080 at high settings and no issues at all.
Seeing as you are in Canada as I am, we picked this up at Canada Computers and got them to drop $100 bucks off, so $1199.
Definitively well built as well.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_577_371&item_id=044131
JustAnEngineer wrote:I'm using an Asus Zenbook UX32VD at the moment.
Airmantharp wrote:credible wrote:Picked this one up for the wifey, she was tired of a desk top, it plays Diablo 3 flawlessly, she also plays Skyrim at 1920 x 1080 at high settings and no issues at all.
Seeing as you are in Canada as I am, we picked this up at Canada Computers and got them to drop $100 bucks off, so $1199.
Definitively well built as well.
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_577_371&item_id=044131
Good specs, but a little dated for the price (Sandy, GTX570). You should be able to get more for less, MSI or otherwise.