Buying a new labtop

[Kavvy]

Hello All!


I am looking for advice on buying a labtop. First off, I know gaming computers should be PC not labtops, but I want a labtop.

I know Dell are supposedly overpriced but my current laptop has made a case for them.I currently have a Dell Inspiron 9300, which has lasted 6 years, with the only issue being the sound port has gone, so I now have a usb sound card I purchased from memory express for about ~$60. I have reformatted it twice, and while after each reformat it doesn't run like new, it's nearly there. I am very hard on it, and it runs better then most of my friends new PC's that are 1-2 years old. This might be because it's a Dell, or because I reformat once in a while. A six year old laptop that runs well, from what I understand, is a rare thing.

In a world where I do most of my gaming on xbox, and use my computer for Access, word and excel, I only really want a new laptop because of D3 coming out in 2012 and because I feel I earned one. Among my friends I am the guy who everyone would expect to have a new computer all the time because of my love for computers, but I graduated in may 2010 and still don't have one.

Because I can wait a bit, I figured the most bang for my buck would be to wait for boxing day. However, I am flying to San Fran on boxing day, so really only online sales are available to me. I am trying to figure out what I want now, so I can spend maybe an hour boxing day morning buying this labtop. I figure its mostly black and white (2 brands of video cards, couple processers, how much ram/memory do you want, what ports are important, etc).

Does anyone have any comments/tips on this strategy, and brands to stay way from/defiantly check out (for software, hardware or general computer brand)?

Thank you

[MrMastodonFarm]

So you'll be using it for mostly scientific purposes?

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Kavy

Hello All!


I am looking for advice on buying a labtop. First off, I know gaming computers should be PC not labtops, but I want a labtop.

As MMF suggested, can you please tell me what a labtop is? I am serious; as I have heard the term used before and I'm trying to figure out what people mean, or where the term comes from.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

So you'll be using it for mostly scientific purposes?

Well, the items in question are a necessity for any true reasearch environment.

[Kavvy]

i have the worse grammar ever, in fact, I spelled grammar wrong while typing this sentence... google Chrome caught me.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by ken0042

As MMF suggested, can you please tell me what a labtop is?

Urban Dictionary to the rescue!

[simonsays]

[Kybosh]

I know that asbestos is a bit of a no no, but you're really going to want to get labtops made with asbestos below the surface. It's important so you get a flame resistant labtop. Wear a respirator when you install the labtops however.

Or. . . you could get a Macbook. They're nifty.

[kevman]

Minor spelling mistakes aside, I'm a fan of Dell laptops.

I've had good experience with them in the past and find them reliable, well designed and economic. As a bonus, since they're so popular, the one time I had to replace a burnt out optical drive I found it incredibly easy to find a replacement on ebay for practically free.

[CaramonLS]

If you're looking for a good laptop that can be used for games, I couldn't be happier with my Asus G73JW series laptop.

Currently does a great job w/ Skyrim (no problems at all) and I've had no problems with any other games.

I really wanted the 460M graphics card and this one has it. I see the g74s are available at memory express as well, I'd recommend checking those out.

Only issue with it? It's a pretty big laptop to carry around.

Something like this for only 1100$ would probably be up your alley.

I think Hack can give you some recommendations as well.

[Mtt48]

I bought a Lenovo ideapad y570 laptop in August and I have been extremely happy with it.

Lenovo is known for their Thinkpad line of laptops which are for the business types. However, the ideapads are a really great line of consumer products that perform extremely well for their price point. The model I have is not available anymore (which has lower specs than the ones currently for sale), but I can run pretty much any game at decent details settings. I have no question that this laptop will be able to handle Diable 3 with ease.

Currently, there is a very nice sale on the whole Y-series line. Here is the link: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...EC3E976E7F7028

The most expensive one listed there has an SSD drive in it, which will make your comp super responsive. The graphics cards, the Nvidia GT 555m is one of the best mobile graphics cards out there.

I really do highly recommend this laptop. If you are looking for a smaller model, the y470 is a very similar computer to the y570. There is also great deals on the y470 model right now.

Any questions about my experience just ask, I'll be happy to answer them.

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by Mtt48

I bought a Lenovo ideapad y570 laptop in August and I have been extremely happy with it.

Lenovo is known for their Thinkpad line of laptops which are for the business types. However, the ideapads are a really great line of consumer products that perform extremely well for their price point. The model I have is not available anymore (which has lower specs than the ones currently for sale), but I can run pretty much any game at decent details settings. I have no question that this laptop will be able to handle Diable 3 with ease.

Currently, there is a very nice sale on the whole Y-series line. Here is the link: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...EC3E976E7F7028

The most expensive one listed there has an SSD drive in it, which will make your comp super responsive. The graphics cards, the Nvidia GT 555m is one of the best mobile graphics cards out there.

I really do highly recommend this laptop. If you are looking for a smaller model, the y470 is a very similar computer to the y570. There is also great deals on the y470 model right now.

Any questions about my experience just ask, I'll be happy to answer them.

Thank you, and thanks to all others for your comments. I have never even heard of these guys before. I don't mind spending some extra money, as I did with this one, because my crazy theory is they last longer - more durable (may not be true), but stay relevant longer with technology changes. My example would be the fact that my 6-7 year old laptop has a DVI port, which has enabled me to connect to my computer to high def TV's with good quality streaming (obviously, audio supplied from a separate source).

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by Mtt48

The graphics cards, the Nvidia GT 555m is one of the best mobile graphics cards out there.

It is?

[Regulator75]

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

That's awesome.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

It is?

It is not at all close to the more powerful notebook graphics cards, but out of the more common ones that people will see in retail stores, it's on the higher end in terms of power.

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

It is not at all close to the more powerful notebook graphics cards, but out of the more common ones that people will see in retail stores, it's on the higher end in terms of power.

I was in the understanding there was pretty much Radeon and Nivida.... what are you referring to?

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by Kavy

I was in the understanding there was pretty much Radeon and Nivida.... what are you referring to?

580m and 6990m

I don't know where you'll find these besides on an Alienware M17x+.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Kavy

I was in the understanding there was pretty much Radeon and Nivida.... what are you referring to?

Yes, it is pretty much AMD and Nvidia GPUs, but the GT 555M is only a medium-high range GPU.

Here's a list of all the mobile GPUs faster than the GT 555M:

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M SLI

» AMD Radeon HD 6990M Crossfire

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M SLI

» AMD Radeon HD 6970M Crossfire

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470M SLI

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480M SLI

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M SLI

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M

» AMD Radeon HD 6990M

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M SLI

» ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M SLI

» AMD Radeon HD 6970M

» NVIDIA Quadro 5010M

» AMD FirePro M8900

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M SLI

» AMD Radeon HD 6950M

» ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2

» NVIDIA Quadro 4000M

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470M

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480M

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M SLI

» ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870

» NVIDIA Quadro 5000M

» ATI FirePro M7820

» AMD Radeon HD 6870M

» NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX SLI

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M

» NVIDIA Quadro 3000M *

» NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M

» ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M

» NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT SLI

» NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS SLI

» ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2

» NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX SLI

» ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3850 X2

» NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M

» ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4860

» ATI FirePro M7740

» ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4850

» NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M

Source: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-...ist.844.0.html

I personally have a Sager NP8130 which is really a Clevo P150HM with a GTX 460M. I never buy "brand" name laptops like HP, Dell, Alienware, Acer, Apple, Asus, Lenovo, Gateway, etc. I usually buy Compal (my first laptop) or Clevo notebooks geared for enthusiasts that usually have more unique options and have access to more niche hardware (like videocards) you won't find on the mainstream brands. The truth is that most of the "brand" name laptops in the world are all made for them by a small handful of Taiwanese manufacturers called ODMs. 90% of all laptops in the world, nomatter what brand is ultimately on it is manufactured by these ODMS:

Compal
Quanta
Wistron
Inventec
Pegatron
Foxconn
Elitegroup
Clevo

I purchased my Sager/Clevo from www.fortnaxnotebooks.com which is run by a guy in Calgary but the notebooks drop-ship from Sager in California.

[Hack&Lube]

Kavy, tell us what your budget is. That would be the most helpful way to guide any suggestions.