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New Computer

Discussion in 'Tech Support' started by Riley, Dec 11, 2012.

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  1. Riley

    Riley Alchemist DLP Supporter

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    Dec 11, 2012 #1
    So my laptop's doing that thing all computers do...it's dying that is. So my budget is between 400 and 600. I'm looking to you fancy tech geeks to help me out here.

    Where should I be looking and what do you think is a good deal? I've found two so far on Overstock.com. I picked them because they're Lenovo which I was told was who used to make Alienware before Dell took over. I've wanted an Alienware laptop for a long time but on my budget I'm limited. This is what I've found that I think is a pretty good deal but I'm all ears to anyone who has better ideas or thinks this one is a piece of shit.
     
  2. Sauce Bauss

    Sauce Bauss Second Year ~ Prestige ~ DLP Supporter

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    Dec 11, 2012 #2
    Too bad it didn't die 3 weeks ago, since you really missed out on Black Friday. As it is, what do you want to do on your laptop? Is it primarily for light web browsing and office at college, do you want a portable desktop, vidya gaems, etc?

    A quick glance at some benchmarks shows that the laptop you linked has a...less than stellar CPU. It's outdone by Celerons and Core2Duos by a fair margin, and those were a few generations back. If you plan on doing anything like gaming on it, think again. The HDD is depressingly small(if you need that little storage space, just get an SSD), the resolution is sad since I despise 1366x768 as it's only barely big enough to qualify as HD OMG. My phone has almost the same resolution, so that makes it a little more depressing. There are only 2GB of RAM, and 4GB has been the standard in most notebooks for about 2 years now. The battery's only a 4 Cell, which makes me think this is a suped up netbook.

    Basically, you can do better. I like Asus' U series of notebooks, which provide decent bang for your buck though I think it's just out of your price range(mine went for $800). Lenovo's Thinkpads are only good in certain series. T, U and X I think they were? Either way, they've given the 'Thinkpad' name to a lot of laptops that don't live up to the expectations set when IBM owned the brand.

    I don't have any hard recommendations until I know what the primary purpose of the laptop is.
     
  3. Riley

    Riley Alchemist DLP Supporter

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    Dec 11, 2012 #3
    The primary purpose is just general college stuff. For gaming the most I'll play is LoL. The only real concern is that as a film studies major I might need to use it for light video editing. Other wise web browsing, LoL and watching netflix/hbogo.
     
  4. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Dec 12, 2012 #4
    Okay, let's see... as a proud owner of a brand new Thinkpad X230 that is bloody fantastic, I have to take this chance to suggest a Thinkpad! ...but as TheSoundOfSilence said, only a few of the series (it's X, T, and W btw, U is the IdeaPad series of Ultrabooks) are still considered to be "Thinkpad Quality."

    But I'd still suggest you check out the more recent additions to the Thinkpad Edge series. It's the budget series of Thinkpads, true, but in the $400-$600 price range you aren't going to be going for much anyway. They start at around $483 currently, come in 14" and 15" models, and the 15" model can come with AMDs A-series or Intel's Core CPU series. Might be even cheaper if you go through Barnes and Noble Gold thingy (which is easy to register for iirc).

    Looks like you could get an A10 for $535 or so with the Edge 535. The Intel is the better CPU but you're stuck with integrated graphics there. I'm not sure how the integrated graphics HD 4000 (if that's the one offered, HD 3000 sucks) compare to the AMD, so you'd want to look it up.

    There's a site somewhere too that keeps up with the <$400, <$500, <$600, etc laptops at any given time (gets updated reasonably often I think). I've linked to it on DLP before but I'm on the wrong computer to go looking for it myself. If I find it when I get home I'll link you to that so you can see what else might be worth looking up.

    Edited to add some links here and there.
    Gaming Laptops under $600
    Gaming Laptops under $500
    ^ I can't vouch for any of those or the site, but it's something else to check out. Some of them look like really great deals on the surface too -- one of them had an Ivy Bridge processor and discrete graphics for under 600. That's impressive!

    The Thinkpad Edge 13 that you linked in your original post is a few generations old and using what amounts to a netbook processor instead of a full-fledged CPU. I'd avoid it.

    Personally? I'd pick up a new Edge 430 (14" feels so much more portable to me than 15") with a 3rd gen i5 processor (like i5-3210 or i5-3320) and Windows 7. That'll be about $509 without the B&N discount, leaving you room to buy another 4GB stick of RAM from newegg to toss in there if you want. *Unless the point of the purchase was primarily for gaming, in which case I might reconsider*

    It will have Intel HD 4000 graphics. For an idea of how well that will play games, check this out. But keep in mind this is only for the Ivy Bridge (3rd gen) processors, if you get the 2nd gen you get HD 3000 graphics instead which suck in comparison.

    The A10-4600 has beefier graphics but loses by a fair way in the CPU department.

    Hope that helped some.

    ---------- Post automerged 12-12-2012 at 05:20 AM ---------- Previous post was 12-11-2012 at 07:12 PM ----------

    Here's a neat little deal on the Lenovo Outlet:

    IdeaPad Y480 for $571
    Core i7-3610QM
    NVIDIA GeForce® GT 640M LE Graphics
    1032GB (1TB, 5400RPM and 32GB Solid State) Serial ATA Hard Drives
    8GB (2 X 4GB) PC3-12800 DDR3 1600MHz SDRAM SODIMM Memory

    The only bad thing I can see about that is that it's labelled as Scratch and Dent (Refurbished, cosmetic blemishes, no impact to operability).
     
    Last edited: Dec 12, 2012
    Sauce Bauss
  5. Riley

    Riley Alchemist DLP Supporter

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    Dec 12, 2012 #5
    The other series I was looking at was Asus and I found this on bestbuy.

    What do you think Cheddar?
     
  6. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Dec 13, 2012 #6
    $450 for a 3rd gen i5 processors and 4GB RAM is a reasonably good deal - and it's upgradable to 8GB later if you want. I don't find 15.6" to be overly portable but it's a popular size because of a lot of people like it -- especially if it's going to be a primary computer instead of one paired with a desktop.

    This will have the HD 4000 graphics that I mentioned earlier. I'd double check in the store that you're getting the desired processor if you buy it (the way to tell 2nd gen from 3rd gen is the number after the dash, I.e. i5-2550m is 2nd gen, and i5-3210 is 3rd gen).

    Screen resolution isn't super high but in the <$600 market that's going to be standard.

    I know nothing about the quality and "feel" of the laptop. If you can find one locally at Best Buy to check out that'd be great, but otherwise make sure you check out some reviews online to make sure it hasn't got major issues with running hot or breaking.

    What's your current laptop like btw? Are you used to having discrete graphics or ?
     
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2012
  7. Riley

    Riley Alchemist DLP Supporter

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    Dec 13, 2012 #7
    My current laptop is a simple HP Dv4(I think, I'm at work so I can't look right this second) with I think 2 gb ram and 500 gb memory. It had a fairly beefy battery though.

    As for discrete graphics, I actually have no idea what that means.
     
  8. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Dec 13, 2012 #8
    Integrated Graphics come with the processor and are the standard graphics. They usually use some of your installed RAM and resources to run. Some gaming is possible, especially on the newer ones, but you're going to be on Low/Med settings for most new games.

    Discrete graphics is when you have a separate card in your computer just to run your graphics, with its own RAM and whatnot. GeForce cards are an example. This is what gamers are going to be using if they are doing much serious gaming and want to play on High settings.

    ...but frankly this is one of those things that if you need to have it, you know about it. So I'd guess you're fine using HD4000. A quick Youtube search implies that it will run LoL without much issue.
     
    Last edited: Dec 13, 2012
  9. Riley

    Riley Alchemist DLP Supporter

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    Dec 13, 2012 #9
    Awesome, thanks for the help. I think I know which one I'm getting.
     
  10. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Dec 14, 2012 #10
    Well don't leave us in bloody suspense - I'm curious. Will also be curious to find out if you like it after you have it, so be sure to post again then and let us know.
     
  11. Lord Wolfe

    Lord Wolfe Squib

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    Dec 17, 2012 #11
    Figured I might interject, though it'd slightly OT - what's the problem with your current laptop? Coz there's a fair chance of you managing to convert it into something useful; 'headless' backup systems, home servers and so on. If the HD is the problem, the solution might be getting a lightweight OS installed. Lots of freeware out there, some as small as 50-16 MB.

    Alternatively, you could just exploit it's hotspot capabilities to extend the WLAN coverage of a router, but that might not be worth the power supply consumption. Maybe you could just salvage some lone piece of equipment out of it; stand-alone monitors can be really useful, and so can the HD (external backup drive, anyone?), the RAM, the disk drive the graphics card, and - I have no idea whether this is possible, only that I'd love to try it - maybe even the keyboard.

    Well, in summation, you could pretty much salvage anything that still works and either cobble it together, turn it into a specialised one-purpose system, or use the pieces as peripherals.
     
  12. Kurufinwe

    Kurufinwe Groundskeeper

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    Dec 17, 2012 #12
    I myself want to buy notebook.
    Price: 500-600 euro, I have about 700 euro but I want to buy additional warranty and insurance against thief. d
    Components:
    - Processor i3 or i5 3rd generation(I would prefer second one, but I am not sure if I will have cash, is 5 so much better then 3?)
    - At least 4 gb RAM
    - graphic card with 1gb or 2gb
    - 500gb and up hdd
    - 15,6 screen
    - OS: doesn't matter, the best will be without any to safe money
    I was thinking about edge e530 nzq3tpb and HP g6-2260sw W8, I really want this insurance so I have to have money left for it.
     
  13. Lord Wolfe

    Lord Wolfe Squib

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    Dec 17, 2012 #13
    I've got the Lenovo IdeaPad Z580 and it's got pretty similar specs to what you're looking for -
    - Intel Core i5 3210M, 2.50 Ghz
    - 8 Gb RAM
    - NVIDIA GeForce 630M (AFAIK it's 2GB, can't confirm. Far from the best in the 600M series, but it holds up well enough for me at high quality in most games.)
    - 500Gb HDD
    - 15" screen
    - Win7, 64 bit.

    Thing is, I got it for about 535 euros, but it was apparently at a discount so I can't really say what it's gonna cost you - you'll want to check local prices beforehand.
     
  14. Riley

    Riley Alchemist DLP Supporter

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    Dec 17, 2012 #14
    Sorry, I finally went out and got the Asus laptop I linked from Bestbuy and so far for a 450 laptop it's running like a dream. Only thing I could ask for is if the graphics card was upgradable which I asked a friend and he said it might possible but most likely not. In reality though, it does what I need to and it'll allow me to save up for a future razor laptop whenever they release their Razorblade successor. Thanks for all the help guys.
     
    Ched
  15. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Dec 18, 2012 #15
    Good plan! That was a good deal for $450. Remember to get rid of bloatware or do a clean install. And if getting something for $450 lets you save up for something you really want then alls the better. You should be good with what you have for a while.

    I highly doubt the graphics card is upgradable, as you're using integrated graphics only. Have you tried playing your games on it yet? How did they do?
     
  16. Riley

    Riley Alchemist DLP Supporter

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    Dec 18, 2012 #16
    Minecraft runs smooth, haven't tried LoL yet since I want a real mouse first.
     
  17. kingmonkeyd

    kingmonkeyd First Year DLP Supporter

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    Dec 18, 2012 #17
    I don't know if this would be something you'd be interested in, but if you were looking to get better graphics with your laptop, there's been a lot of work done with external graphics cards. Basically it's a setup that uses an expresscard to connect a laptop to a desktop graphics card. The whole thing should be around $250 if you do it yourself, or around $400 if you get a commercial version. If you are interested, this link: DIY eGPU should have all the information to get you started.
     
    Riley
  18. Jamven

    Jamven Headmaster DLP Supporter

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    Dec 18, 2012 #18
    Ditto cleaning the bloatware. A clean install is a better solution though. Way back in the day, I use to use PC Decrapifier to clean out all that junk. Then I bought a mac.

    Another tip would be to back a backup of the laptop once you get rid of the bloatware, that way you dont have to worry about cleaning it out again if something happens and you get a virus or something. Or you tend to reformat often...

    That's... Pretty fucking neat.
     
  19. Kurufinwe

    Kurufinwe Groundskeeper

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    Dec 29, 2012 #19
    Ched
  20. Ched

    Ched Da Trek Moderator DLP Supporter ⭐⭐

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    Dec 29, 2012 #20
    Congrats! You even got a discrete card to go with your Ivy Bridge CPU. Reasonably good price as well from what I recall of exchange rates.
     
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