Which one of the following laptops would you recommend?

[roni]

Hello guys,

I'm trying to choose a laptop to have during the MFE program. I'm not taking my desktop with me, so the laptop is going to be my only computer.

HP ENVY 14 customizable Notebook PC - $870.99 (after a $200 discount coupon)

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-740QM Quad Core processor (1.73GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.93 GHz

1GB DDR3 ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 graphics - For Quad Core Processors

6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)

500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive

14.5" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView Infinity LED Display (1366x768)

Xplorer X6-9400 Gaming Notebook - $1,121.55

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM Mobile Processor 2.00 GHz 6M Intel Smart Cache, Max Turbo Freq. 2.90 GHz

HDD: 500GB 7200RPM SATA300 Hard Drive

MEMORY: 4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-1333 SODIMM Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)

Intel HM67 Express Chipset Mainboard

NVIDIA GTX 460M 1.5GB PCIe Video

15.6" FHD LED-Backlit 1920x1080 LED Display

Xplorer X6-7300 Gaming Notebook - $898.00

This one is an older model of the second one and the reviews say that it overheats pretty fast and the keyboard feels to be real soft, but I don't know :\

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM Mobile Processor 2.00 GHz 6M Intel Smart Cache, Max Turbo Freq. 2.90 GHz

500GB 7200RPM SATA300 Hard Drive

8GB (4GBx2) DDR3-1333 SODIMM Memory

Intel HM65 Express Chipset Mainboard

NVIDIA GT 540M 1GB PCIe Video

15.6" HD LED-Backlit 1600x900

I was thinking to get the second one, but don't know if the extra $250 is worth it...

Thanks,

 

[SYau]

Ask MRoss!

And stay away from HP. Many of us bought Lenovo's Thinkpads. I have the x220 (tablet).

 

[roni]

Ask MRoss!

And stay away from HP. Many of us bought Lenovo's Thinkpads. I have the x220 (tablet).

Who's @MRoss ?
Lenovo's Thinkpads seem too be nice, will do some research.
And, why buy a tablet? they are just more expensive, aren't they?... or you also use it for notes taking?

Thanks.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Who's @MRoss ?

This guy
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/threads/mac-or-windows-laptop-for-mfe-students.6441/page-7#post-61166

And, why buy a tablet? they are just more expensive, aren't they?... or you also use it for notes taking?

And still the same guy
http://www.quantnet.com/forum/threads/pen-paper-19th-century-wacom-tablets-future.6796/

 

[MRoss]

Nice to see I have such a fan base !

Hi there Roni.

You are missing out on many great options such as the Toshiba R700 and the Sony Vaio VPC-Z series.

I do not know what your primary needs are so I cannot advise you. I do know more or less every laptop that has been on the market over the past 10 years so if you are a little more descriptive I will hopefully be able to help.

Before I tell you anything a word of caution: I have owned almost 10 HP tablets and 3 ENVYS. I have had bad experiences with all of them. The ENVYs look awesome and make you feel really cool... but they actually run really hot and have awful battery life. As a general rule I never buy from HP anymore.

Reply to this with the following information:

1) What screen size is optimal for you
2) Do you care about weight? (If yes how much)
3) How important is battery life for you?
4) What are the three main purposes you will be using this laptop for?
5)How much do you want to spend and whats the highest you will go?
6)Do you want a convertible tablet laptop? (very useful for note taking but usually more expensive)
7)Any other specific features I missed

ALSO - After you list these please tell me the 3 most important features you would like
{example: 1)MOST IMPORTANT = Weight < 4lbs 2) SECOND MOST IMPORTANT = Screen size <14' 3) Speed >3Ghz}

Hopefully with all of this information I will be able to give you some nice options. I am not particulary fond of any of the options you mentioned.

Enjoy!

 

[roni]

Nice to see I have such a fan base !

Hi there Roni.

You are missing out on many great options such as the Toshiba R700 and the Sony Vaio VPC-Z series.

I do not know what your primary needs are so I cannot advise you. I do know more or less every laptop that has been on the market over the past 10 years so if you are a little more descriptive I will hopefully be able to help.

Before I tell you anything a word of caution: I have owned almost 10 HP tablets and 3 ENVYS. I have had bad experiences with all of them. The ENVYs look awesome and make you feel really cool... but they actually run really hot and have awful battery life. As a general rule I never buy from HP anymore.

Reply to this with the following information:

1) What screen size is optimal for you
2) Do you care about weight? (If yes how much)
3) How important is battery life for you?
4) What are the three main purposes you will be using this laptop for?
5)How much do you want to spend and whats the highest you will go?
6)Do you want a convertible tablet laptop? (very useful for note taking but usually more expensive)
7)Any other specific features I missed

ALSO - After you list these please tell me the 3 most important features you would like
{example: 1)MOST IMPORTANT = Weight < 4lbs 2) SECOND MOST IMPORTANT = Screen size <14' 3) Speed >3Ghz}

Hopefully with all of this information I will be able to give you some nice options. I am not particulary fond of any of the options you mentioned.

Enjoy!

Hello MRoss,

Thanks very much for the reply.
1) I prefer it to be 15 inch but 14 inch will also work
2) Not really but to having it around 6-8lbs would be nice
3) An average battery life will do it
4) Programming, movies, internet and it would be nice if it could run a few games (e.g. COD, NBA, FIFA) but this one is not a must.
5) I want to spend around $1000, and the highest I want to go is $1200 all in.
6) No, I have used an HP tablet in the past and it's not very comfortable to read notes on a computer screen, so I would rather get a regular laptop.
7) I would like it to have a dedicated graphic card (the integrated graphic cards seem to suck).
8) I would like the keyboard to be style MacBook's keyboard, I don't want the keys to be attached to each others.

The most important features:
1)Core i5<= CPU <= Core i7
2) A MacBook style keyboard
3) A dedicated graphic card

I looked at the website B&H, they have nice laptops but they seem to be more expensive if I am to compare them with the 2nd laptop I provided here.
Btw, I might be willing to buy a refurbished laptop if you know of any...

 

[MRoss]

OK. Do yourself a favor and stay away from the above options. Here are my suggestions:

--Before my suggestions read this---
Your most important feature was an i processor. From my personal experience an SSD drive will boost performance significantly more than the processor type. I have an i5 Vaio with an SSD and my boot time is 15 seconds! (more than 3X faster than average boot time!)
I suggest you buying one of the laptop I mention and then separately purchasing an SSD drive. The upgrade is very simple and if you want I would gladly help you with that.

Best Option) Lenovo Thinkpad T510 http://cgi.ebay.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad...tops_Nov05&hash=item2eb485b289#ht_10601wt_942

Note: NOT AN ISLAND KEYBOARD..... better. If you know anyone with an IBM you will know that they make the best laptop keyboards out there.

1) Dedicated graphics
2) HD resolution
3) i7 3.33Ghz
4) 15.6" Screen

If you purchase this and upgrade to an SSD you will have a faster laptop then anyone you know! This is $880 + a $200 SSD = $1,1080 for a laptop that would have gone for over $2,000 just a year ago. This particular auction still includes a 1 year warranty.

Option 2) Dell M4500 (This is not a regular Dell. It is their premium top-of-the-line model. They put extra care into it.
I have owned this laptop (an SSD version) and can tell you that this is big and bulky but is easily one of the most powerful laptops in the world today! I was stunned by the performance.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Precision-...ptops_Nov05&hash=item1e63fc2b96#ht_809wt_1135

This is a best offer auction. I suggest offering $1,100 and settling on $1,150.

1) 15.6" Screen
2) NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800M Graphics 1GB Graphics
3) Weight: 6.2 LBS
4) Battery: 9-Cell
5) Processor Class: Core i7-940XM Quad Core Processor

This particular auction has a 3 YEAR NEXT DAY warranty! That alone is worth over $300!

The ONLY downside I can think of for this laptop is the price given their is no SSD installed. I would personally shell out an extra $200 to make this thing faster then most desktops.

--One more thing you should know: The keyboard is not an island styled keyboard but has excellent raised keys. I found it very easy to type on. MY one gripe was that stupid pointer mouse smack in middle of the keys. It annoyed me a bit.

Option 3)

Sony Vaio VPC-EB46FX/BJ (or similar model)
*First of all, yes, brand name does count by laptops (not really so with desktops as much)*
Here are the features of this unit: (No dedicated graphics but for your needs this will work perfectly - I've tried it!)
1)15.5" screen
2)6 lbs
3)island-stlye keyboard
4)i5 ( i7 is not worth the extra $$)

-I would suggest buying the model with the smallest HD since you will be upgrading to an SSD-

This is an excellent laptop. I know someone who recently purchased one and is very pleased with it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-VAIO-VPC-E...ptops_Nov05&hash=item25643b1e0b#ht_1743wt_901

This particular one is the more advanced one with the 2.66Ghz and 640GB HD. It is an open-box with Sony Warranty. Great buy at < $800.

I would purchase any of these three over your options above. They will be stronger preformers, last longer, and overall be better buys.

Good luck!

Meshulam Ross

P.S. Let me know if you need help with an SSD install.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Thinkpad keyboard is known as one of the best, if not the best laptop keyboard. Once you use the Trackpoint, there is no going back. Talk about a well thought out feature that make you much more productive.

 

[SYau]

I love the trackpoint.

 

[MRoss]

Thinkpad keyboard is known as one of the best, if not the best laptop keyboard. Once you use the Trackpoint, there is no going back. Talk about a well thought out feature that make you much more productive.

Good point!

My dad has been using Thinkpads since his first laptop - I beleive it was a whopping 66Mhz!

Anyhow, Dell tried copying IBM by having a trackpoint on their Precision M series. IMHO it is a disaster! They made the trackpoint to wide so I often would aim for keys and end up hitting the trackpoint instead.

Besides for that I have two reasons why I stay clear of trackpoints:

1) They are slower than pads
2) I have not yet owned a trackpoint laptop that after a while of heavy use the trackpoint did not get a mind of its own and begin "wandering". It gets very annoying.

 

[roni]

Hey Ross,

Thanks a bunch for the recommendations. I didn't know there were so many good refurbished laptops on eBay .
I probably will take one of the ones that you mentioned. But, how many GB will I get for a $200 SSD?
I think 250GB costs like $500 :| so $200 is for 128GB? I don't think it's enough nowadays . Can I install 2 HD on 1 laptop?

Thanks.

 

[MRoss]

Common practice is to actually purchase a 64GB HD for <$100 and a larger RPM drive in the second bay. The purpose of this is installing the OS on the SSD so that your computer's boot and overall preformance is faster. Additionally, you can install any rigorous programs on that OS but programs like Office on the RPM. I'm in class now and am trying to do HW at the same time so I cannot check but if you go to the company website it should mention whether their is a second bay or not.

Yes, get a 128Gb. You can probably get one for cloase to $150 if you look hard enough.

Whatever you do DO NOT purchase a refurbished SSD. SSDs are unlike RPM drives in that they do have a limited amount of writes. You don't have to be concerned about this while purchasing a new one though - chances are your laptop will expire before you use up the writes.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

There is no need to put your data on SSD and it's a good practice to separate your OS and data in two different drives. Like MRoss said, you can put OS on SSD and have everything else on a 7200rpm SATA drive.
If you reboot your computer once a month like myself, you are not likely to benefit much from a reduced boost time provided by SSD.

I contemplated boosting my old T60 with SSD but decided against it as the benefits do not outweighs the downtime and interruption cost.

 

[Devdeep]

@MRoss... Any comment on T420? How does it compare with T510? (apart from the larger screen)

Your insight is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[MRoss]

Hey Dev!

I confess that I am not familiar with those models but I can tell you this:

I am pretty certain that when Lenovo upgraded to the 20s they upgraded to Sandy Bridges processors. They are said to be faster, cooler, and significantly better for graphics.This is a very strong reason why the 420 would be the better contender.

My question is: Why the 420 and 510? Why not include the 410 and the 520?

Also, it does depend on what you are going to be using this laptop for. If it is primarily for programming, web surfing, and word processing, then I would probably opt for the cheaper model whichever that is.

If you are looking for strong graphics/speed I would suggest going with the new Sandy Bridges models. (Not to mention they got a face lift )