2012 Laptop advice

[TSXCman]

Hey guys,

The old laptop thread seems to be buried away and I am looking for some personal suggestions from you guys for a replacement laptop.

I recently had my 14inch ACER TimelineX (i3 2310, 540GT gpu, 9hr batt, 750gb HD) stolen, along with all of my university notes, labs, assignments, etc. It has been a tough situation that I have finally moved on to the replacement stage.

I picked up a 13.3 inch ASUS zenbook (i5, SSD) for ~$1200. after almost 2 weeks of light use I am planning on returning the machine back to BB. I enjoy the SSD (1st experience with one), but I find that the price tag will not match my usage.

I know this is a bad time to be buying, since we are coming up to the Intel ivey bridge release but I need an operating machine to finish up school with.

Do you guys have any recommendations for a 14ish inch, long battery life, $1000ish laptop? I have been hunting on RFD for 2 weeks and nothing popping up so far for myself. I usually like to have some research time to have some machines in mind and time it out with a deal, but this may not be possible in the timeframe.

Any help is appreciated,

Cman

***** UPDATE *****

Returned the Zenbook, I will just try to use local computer labs for the time being. I think I am going to wait for the next Gen of Intel to come out, then make my decision.

Thanks guys

[-TC-]

Have you looked at the new Dell XPS13?

That's probably the way I'm going next

[Finner]

Lenovo X220? Excellent build quality and battery life, plus an IPS screen which is fantastic. Plus Lenovos are well known for having fantastic keyboards which might help if you take a fair amount of notes.

[PsnaP]

Any particular reason you are going with a PC? I made the switch to Mac about 6 years and wont ever go back. Apple has some great deals in their refurbed section too. Thats where Ive gotten mine. Might be worth a look.

http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

[TSXCman]

Originally Posted by PsnaP

Any particular reason you are going with a PC? I made the switch to Mac about 6 years and wont ever go back. Apple has some great deals in their refurbed section too. Thats where Ive gotten mine. Might be worth a look.

http://store.apple.com/ca/browse/home/specialdeals/mac

I like PCs; I grew up with them and find that I am pretty tech savvy. I kinda turn my nose up at apple computers due to the fact that for the equivalent performance I can get a PC at ~half the cost.

My Acer that got stolen for instance was $505 after tax.. that had $1000+ worth of components in it and the quality of Acer is not as bad as I hear people rant about.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

I like PCs; I grew up with them and find that I am pretty tech savvy. I kinda turn my nose up at apple computers due to the fact that for the equivalent performance I can get a PC at ~half the cost.

My Acer that got stolen for instance was $505 after tax.. that had $1000+ worth of components in it and the quality of Acer is not as bad as I hear people rant about.

If you are spending $1000 on a 13.3" Windows PC, the comparable Mac listed there is $1100. It is probably better in a few ways, like a good battery life, than the Windows PC and worse in some others, including your ability to use it effectively. You are talking about needing a computer to finish school, that's not something I would want to do while learning a new OS.

That said, you probably don't need a computer that is capable of what the Mac is, so getting a slightly upgraded entry level computer would not be a bad idea.

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

Hey guys,

The old laptop thread seems to be buried away and I am looking for some personal suggestions from you guys for a replacement laptop.

I recently had my 14inch ACER TimelineX (i3 2310, 540GT gpu, 9hr batt, 750gb HD) stolen, along with all of my university notes, labs, assignments, etc. It has been a tough situation that I have finally moved on to the replacement stage.

I picked up a 13.3 inch ASUS zenbook (i5, SSD) for ~$1200. after almost 2 weeks of light use I am planning on returning the machine back to BB. I enjoy the SSD (1st experience with one), but I find that the price tag will not match my usage.

I know this is a bad time to be buying, since we are coming up to the Intel ivey bridge release but I need an operating machine to finish up school with.

Do you guys have any recommendations for a 14ish inch, long battery life, $1000ish laptop? I have been hunting on RFD for 2 weeks and nothing popping up so far for myself. I usually like to have some research time to have some machines in mind and time it out with a deal, but this may not be possible in the timeframe.

Any help is appreciated,

Cman

I've got an XPS 15z I'd let go 700 if you're interested at all.

[Hack&Lube]

A year ago I bought a Sager NP8130. It's actually a model made by Clevo which is one of the OEMs who manufacture the laptops for many of the well known brands.

I don't regret this decision one bit because its one of the platforms that can be upgraded like a normal computer.

This year I will likely be replacing the motherboard, getting a new GPU, LCD panel, and getting Optimus support and a backlit keyboard which my original model didn't have.

[Lt.Spears]

Anything but HP.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

the quality of Acer is not as bad as I hear people rant about.

Of _your_ Acer. I've worked the retail procurement side and know what the return and repair rates on Acer are in real-world usage. Not that some other brands fare much better (HP comes to mind).

[NuclearPizzaMan]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

Hey guys,

The old laptop thread seems to be buried away and I am looking for some personal suggestions from you guys for a replacement laptop.

I recently had my 14inch ACER TimelineX (i3 2310, 540GT gpu, 9hr batt, 750gb HD) stolen, along with all of my university notes, labs, assignments, etc. It has been a tough situation that I have finally moved on to the replacement stage.

I picked up a 13.3 inch ASUS zenbook (i5, SSD) for ~$1200. after almost 2 weeks of light use I am planning on returning the machine back to BB. I enjoy the SSD (1st experience with one), but I find that the price tag will not match my usage.

I know this is a bad time to be buying, since we are coming up to the Intel ivey bridge release but I need an operating machine to finish up school with.

Do you guys have any recommendations for a 14ish inch, long battery life, $1000ish laptop? I have been hunting on RFD for 2 weeks and nothing popping up so far for myself. I usually like to have some research time to have some machines in mind and time it out with a deal, but this may not be possible in the timeframe.

Any help is appreciated,

Cman

***** UPDATE *****

Returned the Zenbook, I will just try to use local computer labs for the time being. I think I am going to wait for the next Gen of Intel to come out, then make my decision.

Thanks guys

Announcements on availability/timing for the new ivy bridge laptops should happen this monday if you can wait that long.

[freedogger]

I'm holding out for a new ivy bridge MBP. 13 inch, hoping for retina, dual video out 16GB+ ram. My needs are ridiculous though - vm's, multiple IDE's etc.