Right, scouting out the Laptop market

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Rykon Zero

Rykon Zero

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RykonZero
Okay, so a bit of information so you know the kind of history I've got and the sort of necessities I possess.

I've owned two computers in my life, both laptops. First one I got new years upon years ago when the damn things came out, a Toshiba R15-S829. Reliable piece of hardware, but seeing as it's running on a decade old, it's really slow. I've pretty much dedicated it to... Various activities I don't want to show up on the main workhorse.

The second computer I have is an ASUS Eee PC 900 HA. I've had it for close to four years now, and I've not really had a problem with it. It runs great, works magnificently for a number of games I never expected a netbook to handle, and it's my faithful internet surfboard.

But you see, my absolutely beloved ASUS is beginning to suffer from old age. The trackpad's mouse buttons stopped working long, long ago, which isn't a problem because I use a mouse. The real problem showed up a few months ago, in a noted increase of fan noise. It's culminated in waking up this morning to a horrible sounding computer fan that sounds like I'm feeding gravel through it. Not so much a problem, until it begins to play on the axle and make a sound like a tiny cordless drill with an air output of an asthmatic after running the Boston Marathon breathing at me through a garden hose. The fan's dying, and that, I hear, is a pretty important part of a computer.

So, because I don't know what the breaking point of this computer will be, I decided I'd check out what's around and ask about a few opinions so I can know what to do when the time comesOH GOD ITS DOING IT AGAINto put this faithful steed to rest.

Well then, now to what I'd like out of it, in order of importance.

1. Reliability

I'm not made of money. I'd like the computer to last me at least four years so I can continue the cycle, hopefully with a healthy trunk of money to get a nice one. What this means is both hardware, I'd like it to be sturdy enough to take a few knocks here and there without much worry, and to last for quite some time.

2. Price

I'm not made of money. I've got back home literally no money to spare, but here on exchange, I get a monthly stipend of essentially $100 to be silly. other exchange students burn through their money like water, but I'm not a hard person to keep happy, I've spent very little of my money. That said, I've got various things that I need to make sure I have money for in the year, so I'm not going to spend all of it until I go home.

3. Performance

The primary constituent of my bodily mass and makeup does not consist of trading tender based upon the promise of receiving equivalent goods or service. I'm not expecting to detonate my brain with incredible graphics output, that's what the desktop is for. I would, however, like to be able to buy a game off the shelf with some reasonable guarantee that I'd be able to play it. Graphics do not bother me, playability does. If it runs, say, Fallout: New Vegas at minimum graphics, but at a comfortable 30 FPS, I'm down with that. If I've got to get a graphics boost from the Commodore 64 in my grandmother's closet to run pong, I'm not going to be so pleased.

Now then, as for what I've seen, and my personal opinion:

I'm partial to both Toshiba and ASUS, due to them both lasting me, as my main computer, about four years. I'm not so sure nowadays with Toshiba, my brother and grandmother both own Toshibas, but they seem too expensive. What I am very partial to is ASUS, which I love for no reason other than the awesome little PC I'm currently writing to you on. I've heard that ASUS is one of the best choices to go for computers, but I've not spent much time on that.

Now then, what I've looked at: This one's looking pretty tasty to me. It's got six times the memory I'm running with, four times the disk space (which I've used 60GB of on this) an i5 with just shy of twice the power, and a graphics card that I assume isn't made of sticks and mud. I've seen that ASUS evidently enjoys bloatware, but that's more than manageable if it can be removed.

So opinions or suggestions on a comparable priced laptop?
 
Asus software is removable through the Microsoft "Programs and Features" in the Control Panel. For some decent graphics at a fair price point, look at the AMD A series and E series(if you are really tight on money) equipped laptops. This APU(APU means "Accelerated Processing Units") chip has the graphics onboard with the CPU and that reduces the price on a laptop. Since you are combining the two you save on more battery life than an regular laptop. I know "Submerged" here on GTP owns a Thinkpad laptop with an AMD A8 APU and "Korza493" owns a laptop with an AMD E-450 APU(last time I talked to Korza he said that his laptop ran cool and had 4 hours of battery life while playing minecraft. He told me he got 30fps in minecraft while playing).

That Asus laptop looks good and the onboard graphics will play some games alright but it's not something you would call a gaming laptop.
 
I'm honestly not gearing up for a gaming laptop, I've got a desktop for cutting-edge games. A few games that I'd be happy to have would be Saints Row 3, F:NV, maybe Borderlands. And even then, I could care less about graphics, I usually jack them all the way down unless it changes how the game works.

EDIT: what.

I've got this problem believing it's an upgrade when I somehow manage to step down processor speed when upgrading from a NETBOOK. Am I missing some important part of what this processor can offer?
 
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I looked up Saints Row 3 and it can't run on the integrated graphics to what I've read online(according to http://www.game-debate.com). This laptop for example will be able to play that game since it requires a fairly decent graphics and the APU is a quad core with the graphics needed to run it.
 
Hmm, okay then. That looks like a really good laptop then, but I simply can't figure out how that processor works. Any insight?
 
This will give you a good idea behind an APU:


That was against an i7 mobile version with the Intel onboard graphics(The same graphics as the Asus you posted). You can easily see the difference against the Intel offering compared to the AMD APU. What was shown there was an AMD Quad core APU enginnering sample which would be similar to the AMD APU QUAD core models out there. Kind of like the AMD A6 Asus laptop I posted.
 
Well, if reliability is your first priority, I would look at Lenovo's Thinkpad lineup. No frills, but everyone I have put into service or owned myself has been a business grade Sherman Tank. Nick's got some good info up there as well even though I prefer the Intel and dedicated graphics.

:cheers:
 
Rykon Zero
a graphics card that I assume isn't made of sticks and mud
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Intel HD Graphics = sticks and mud

If you want to be able to play anything that's not a Flash game you will need a dedicated graphics chip and not an integrated one. To play FONV and Borderlands in particular you'll need a decent (for a laptop) chip - Borderlands is a very lazy console port and Fallout games are always poorly optimised, so they both need more grunt than comparable titles. As I know little about mobile architecture I'll let someone more qualified offer suggestions for chips to look for, but under no circumstance should you get a machine with Intel's integrated graphics if you plan on running a game on it.
 
Also remember that Ivy Bridge mobile chips will be out over the next few months which by all accounts will give a great performance increase on the GPU side of things, and lower power consumption on the CPU side....
 
First of all. Lower "speed" CPU's are not a bad thing. You're more than likely going from a single core Intel Atom processor to a dual/quad core. You INSTANTLY have more power there. Secondly.. You need to give us a budget, seriously. I can't recommend anything at the moment because I don't know what you have to spend, or are at the very most willing to spend. Once I have that. I could throw numerous choices at you.

My dad did however make this purchase recently from an old dying Toshiba, it may be worth looking into.. Maybe. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220943
 
Sharky.
Intel HD Graphics = sticks and mud

If you want to be able to play anything that's not a Flash game you will need a dedicated graphics chip and not an integrated one. To play FONV and Borderlands in particular you'll need a decent (for a laptop) chip - Borderlands is a very lazy console port and Fallout games are always poorly optimised, so they both need more grunt than comparable titles. As I know little about mobile architecture I'll let someone more qualified offer suggestions for chips to look for, but under no circumstance should you get a machine with Intel's integrated graphics if you plan on running a game on it.
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I was aware of Fallout, but not of Borderlands. I'll definitely take the bit about Intel's integrated graphics to heart.

Casio
Also remember that Ivy Bridge mobile chips will be out over the next few months which by all accounts will give a great performance increase on the GPU side of things, and lower power consumption on the CPU side....
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I'd have to see when it comes out. Not planning on buying a laptop for a while, not for about five or six months.

bergauk
First of all. Lower "speed" CPU's are not a bad thing. You're more than likely going from a single core Intel Atom processor to a dual/quad core. You INSTANTLY have more power there. Secondly.. You need to give us a budget, seriously. I can't recommend anything at the moment because I don't know what you have to spend, or are at the very most willing to spend. Once I have that. I could throw numerous choices at you.

My dad did however make this purchase recently from an old dying Toshiba, it may be worth looking into.. Maybe. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220943
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Right now, I've got almost $600 set aside, and that's going to continue increasing. Those two laptops that have been linked are comfortable in my opinion, but I'd say I'd like to go no more than $800. If I hear that something that's slightly above that is ungodly worth it, I can see about chipping in a bit more work for money.

And that link appears to have been nuked.
 
It's an ASUS Eee PC 1016PT-BU27-BK if that helps. The link works fine on my end. My dad likes his though, not exactly a gaming beast or anything but its a slightly more powerful netbook for around the 500$ mark. There are however, as Nick said a bunch of great AMD APU laptops out there. This link should be able to help you pick some out in the German Market. http://www.amd.com/de/vision/shop/h...lid=Help_Me_Choose_A_PC&lpos=HP_bottom_bucket

What sort of websites are you able to use in Germany? Are there any things similar to Newegg/TigerDirect?
 
That's why I'm waiting five/six months, I'm going back to America. That's why my budget is around $600, I'm fairly certain I'm able to get more out of my money if I wait and buy it in America.
 
With regards to the AMD A8 processor (or any AMD A series), the focus is more towards the GPU rather than outright clock speed on the CPU side. It does go between 1.4/1.6Ghz and then can be boosted to 2.4Ghz or more under load. I actually understand AMD's plan as the clock speed is fast enough to run most things smoothly and quite well with all the software while still running Flash, HD film and some games really well for such a small GPU. It is simply a different way of using the CPU and GPU.

However it is more for battery saving. With my laptop currently (Lenovo Thinkpad Edge E525 with A8-3500 and 6GB RAM) I can have it fully charged and depending what I need it to do, it will last quite a while before needing another charge again. Even if I'm Skyping on battery power, it still takes a while before I have to consider charging it up even if the meter is practically running down quickly!

If you want to go integrated chipsets only, then AMD is the only real way to go.

However at a price point of 600 to 800 dollars, I'm guessing you can easily go for a dedicated graphics card choice with an Intel chip. The only trouble I find is that Intel chips and dedicated graphics cards (Nvidia and Radeons) can be quite hard to compare and contrast at times as you have to keep checking the stock codes and actually double check whether they are within your performance boundaries.

It is good practice to scope out the marketplace now and wait till you get back to America and be very well informed on your purchase.

For reliability, you will need to just read reviews of people who have had them. Business editions of Thinkpads are very well known for being rather rugged. The old style IBM Thinkpad T40's range were literally solid, even though they were pretty blocky. But you knew from the look and the feel of them that they would last. Including being hit with a hammer once... (worked in a decommissioning centre for IT equipment).
 
I'm trying to keep the cost down, and while I can't see 800 being too far out of contention, I'd rather stick a bit lower. I'm not too keen on Lenovo, but it seems fine from what I can tell. I'll add that, though I'm liking the idea of the AMD chips more that I see them.

However I don't know much about laptops myself, if someone more knowledgeable could point me into the direction of non-integrated chipsets, that'd be cool.
 
Not keen because Lenovo is from China?

The weird thing is, almost all laptops are made in China and Taiwan. So it doesn't matter which company you get the laptops from, they're still coming from the same place.

Now, if you were talking about materials, then yes, each company would be slightly different in the use of their materials and their processes.

With a 600 dollars budget, I am sure you can have a combo of a normal CPU and a dedicated GPU, although as its the American market that you are interested in, I am not quite sure what exactly is available.

Actually, do you like shiny shiny stuff, or more matte products?
 
Submerged
Not keen because Lenovo is from China?

The weird thing is, almost all laptops are made in China and Taiwan. So it doesn't matter which company you get the laptops from, they're still coming from the same place.

Now, if you were talking about materials, then yes, each company would be slightly different in the use of their materials and their processes.
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Where the laptop comes from is no problem, it's the brand that worries me. ASUS is Taiwanese which doesn't bother me in the slightest, it's that I have no experience with Lenovo nor does anyone I personally know. I don't like to gamble with such a high price item.

With a 600 dollars budget, I am sure you can have a combo of a normal CPU and a dedicated GPU, although as its the American market that you are interested in, I am not quite sure what exactly is available.
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I'm interested in the American market simply because it'll be easier for me to get things, and I feel cheaper as well. If there's a different one that would be better, I'd be glad to hear it.

Actually, do you like shiny shiny stuff, or more matte products?
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My Toshiba is silver and matte, the ASUS is black and shiny. Personally, I'd like matte black, but I'm not against shiny or silver. Shiny just makes it more annoying to deal with.
 
Rykon Zero
I'm not too keen on Lenovo,
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I cannot recommend Lenovo enough, for the pricepoint you get excellent build quality, reliability and specs whatever level of model you buy.

There seems to be this total misconception that because Lenovo is chinese its not good, thats absolutely not true. Its still IBM in its design philosophy and continues to dominate the business sector because of its quality.

I've owned ThinkPad's and IdeaPad's over the years and havent had any hardware issues (the occasional software issue totaly due to windows!).

Lenovo's are definitely worth considering.

Robin.
 
My old Lenovo had a solid metal palm rest surrounding the whole entire keyboard. It was rather nice. I'd recommend Lenovo any day of the week, along with Gateway because they really do not skimp on parts whatsoever. They also seem to have the best APU offerings of any company so far.
 
Again, I've got nothing against Lenovo, I just have absolutely no experience. If multiple people insist on the integrity of what they offer, then that moves it dramatically up the list. Depending on what I can spend at the end, I might go for either.

So, any feedback on some good non-integrated chipsets? From what I can tell, I'm liable to go for something with an AMD A6 or A8, but what else would be good to think about?
 
I am the IT manger and controller for a small $20 million company. In the past 5 years, I have put 17 different Lenovo Thinkpad's into operations. The battery has been the only part that has been replaced on any of them. The ones that have had their batteries replaced also use docking stations so their battery is constantly on charge all day which I attribute to the short life of those batteries. The other laptops are in the field. We are an agriculture company so the laptops are being subject to some pretty harsh environments.

It's not like the Panasonic Tuff Books, but they are, as I said, a commercial grade product even if they aren't as pretty as the HP's or some of the other glossy consumer lines of laptops out there.

Anyways, good luck on your purchase. It is always exciting and somewhat tiring looking for a new machine.

:cheers:
 
This laptop has an i5 and an GeForce GT 540M graphics with 1GB of dedicated memory.This laptop has an i7 and GeForce GT 550M graphics with 2GB of dedicated memory. The last laptop is a little above your $800 budget but the performance is possible for a little bit more money.
 
My other half got a Lenovo E450 laptop, and it's built like a brick s:censored:house. Not that heavy, but it doesn't creak or squeak like other laptops. I've actually managed to get 6.5 hours out of a single charge. Deeply impressive, very well specced for the price, I'd happily them and in fact I have reccomended to three other people who are more than happy with theirs.
 
Instead of making another thread ill post here if thats ok.

There are different versions of the Asus G74, and im wanting to know if this one is the better deal. link
 
HE1RO
Instead of making another thread ill post here if thats ok.

There are different versions of the Asus G74, and im wanting to know if this one is the better deal. link
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1200$ for a computer capable of displaying HD resolution and being stuck with a 1600x900 display? No. That thing is awful.
 
DG_Silva
My other half got a Lenovo E450 laptop, and it's built like a brick s:censored:house. Not that heavy, but it doesn't creak or squeak like other laptops. I've actually managed to get 6.5 hours out of a single charge. Deeply impressive, very well specced for the price, I'd happily them and in fact I have reccomended to three other people who are more than happy with theirs.
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I have an E-450 in my laptop and I can squeeze 10 hours out of it, or can get 3 hours from the battery while gaming.
 
Yeah, defernatly stick with the AMD APU side of things. I've used a few systems with the A4 and I was astonished at how well they performed. Let along the A6 and A8 with significantly better graphics chips. I'll do some research and get back to you.
 

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