New Laptop Advice

[Kavvy]

Sorry to annoy, looking at the laptops mentioned in this thread, could anyone confirm that pretty much this laptop

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX42081

Is better and cheaper in everyway except for weight when compared to this one:

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ.../10227115.aspx


Am I missing something?

Thank you!

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by Kavy

Sorry to annoy, looking at the laptops mentioned in this thread, could anyone confirm that pretty much this laptop

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX42081

Is better and cheaper in everyway except for weight when compared to this one:

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ.../10227115.aspx


Am I missing something?

Thank you!

1st: Much more powerful, much larger storage size, and more ports (2x 2.0 and 3.0 USB with full HDMI and VGA)
2nd: Lighter, better screen, quicker file read and wake/boot speeds (SSD), most likely better battery life

Is what I can think of off the top of my head.

[photon]

The screen on the Lenovo also has quite a bit lower resolution (1366x768 vs 1600x900), and the Lenovo only has a regular HDD and not an SSD.

The HDD vs SSD cannot be understated; for general usage (i.e. not pure processing like video conversion) I would bet the Samsung would feel faster despite the Lenovo having a distinct CPU advantage (4 cores vs 2, 2.4GHz vs 1.7GHz).

Two pretty different laptops IMO though, the Samsung is intended to be a premium laptop that's as thin and light as possible, the Lenovo is more a workhorse.

I guess the question is what's more important? Portability (i.e. will it be carried around and/or traveled with lots) or is it more a desktop replacement? Will it have an external monitor on it 90% of the time?

[PsYcNeT]

To also weigh on the SSD debate, you could easily install http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX43375 for a +15$ difference into the y580.

[Leon]

I chimed in on the Windows 8 thread to talk about my laptop situation - but I'll add my two cents here as well. It is very worth it to get an SSD of some capacity in your next laptop purchase. It's a remarkable difference and I can't say how happy I've been with performance since switching out old ball bearing hard drives for SSD's in both my desktop and laptop. Sometimes fiddly and temperamental (first desktop SSD was defective, second one needed firmware rolled back to work), but worth it once installed. My latest laptop switch worked flawlessly.

[Kavvy]

Thank you all for you replies

I missed the SSD. This is not a workhorse laptop, even though she doesn't admit it, she wants pretty much a tablet but with the capability to install applications which are not from the APP store, and with a key bored.

The hybrid laptops already suggested seem to give us less bang for the buck and it didn't really excite her like it did for me ha!

Originally Posted by photon

The HDD vs SSD cannot be understated; for general usage (i.e. not pure processing like video conversion) I would bet the Samsung would feel faster despite the Lenovo having a distinct CPU advantage (4 cores vs 2, 2.4GHz vs 1.7GHz).

What would make you say this, just a vibe? Should I be worried about the lower quality CPU? This is not a gaming laptop, but HD video possible (no editing).

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

To also weigh on the SSD debate, you could easily install http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX43375 for a +15$ difference into the y580.

This is priced at $80 on the website, am I missing something?

Thank you all, it looks like I am spending more than I planned, but thats how it goes. I guess to repeat one last question, anyone have a cheaper better laptop then the Samsung one?

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ.../10227115.aspx

EDIT: one last question - if the Samsung isn't a touchscreen, and it's Windows 8 - should I run away? From the Windows 8 thread I have heard this is the case. Futureshop says it isn't but according to the web... it might be (I can of course find this out b4 purchase)

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by Kavy

Thank you all for you replies

This is priced at $80 on the website, am I missing something?

I meant +15$ over the sale price of the Futureshop PC. 870+75=945 vs 930.

[Anduril]

If you weren't planning on it, you can price match the Samsung laptop at Bestbuy just to save another $7, hah...

[photon]

Originally Posted by Kavy

What would make you say this, just a vibe? Should I be worried about the lower quality CPU? This is not a gaming laptop, but HD video possible (no editing).

Personal experience, reviews, and basic way a computer works; an SSD is a hundred times faster at finding a file, which for finding the music file you want to listen to isn't a big deal, but when an application or operating system involves loading and accessing hundreds if not thousands of individual small files this adds up very quickly.

I've put SSDs into a couple of older laptops and they've become like new to the user, fast and a joy to use.

And reviews always show that in general usage benchmarks like PCMark SSDs are many times faster than a regular hard drive.

I think buying a laptop without an SSD (unless one totally requires 750GB of storage and needs to travel with it, and even then I'd probably recommend an external drive) shouldn't even be an option nowadays.

Originally Posted by Kavy

EDIT: one last question - if the Samsung isn't a touchscreen, and it's Windows 8 - should I run away? From the Windows 8 thread I have heard this is the case. Futureshop says it isn't but according to the web... it might be (I can of course find this out b4 purchase)

I'm almost positive the Samsung isn't a touchscreen. I wouldn't run away, it's fine, and if for some reason the metro interface becomes a huge problem $5 and Start8 will make it just like Windows 7.

Why not a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet?

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by photon

Why not a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet?

She wants the full operating system to install things at her leisure, despite the fact I think a tablet is better suited for her.

EDIT: Surface pro is the full operating system I see. However, it seems to give less bang for the buck then the Samsung for pretty much the same price, with the extra $130 for the keybored.

It also appears like it may be hard to type on, and with the 1 USB port, if you wanted a mouse, you couldn't have anything else attached, unless I am mistake.

Thank you for the idea, I think I may have her try one at a store to see if she likes it as

[Anduril]

Originally Posted by Kavy

She wants the full operating system to install things at her leisure, despite the fact I think a tablet is better suited for her.

EDIT: Surface pro is the full operating system I see. However, it seems to give less bang for the buck then the Samsung for pretty much the same price, with the extra $130 for the keybored.

It also appears like it may be hard to type on, and with the 1 USB port, if you wanted a mouse, you couldn't have anything else attached, unless I am mistake.

Thank you for the idea, I think I may have her try one at a store to see if she likes it as

Get a basic bluetooth keyboard. Might not be as nice in the sense that you don't get a case cover but is a lot cheaper and still works well.

[comrade]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

I've recommended it before, and I'll keep recommending it:

y580 - $870

Has a great processor, and a 660M video card.

I believe it was you who recommended in the Sim City forum to wait on a laptop a while back. I saw that NVidia unveiled their 700 line the other day and Intel is doing something soon, I guess I'm asking when we could reasonably see new laptops with the new components (or price reduced old ones) in stores?

[Kavvy]

Originally Posted by comrade

I believe it was you who recommended in the Sim City forum to wait on a laptop a while back. I saw that NVidia unveiled their 700 line the other day and Intel is doing something soon, I guess I'm asking when we could reasonably see new laptops with the new components (or price reduced old ones) in stores?

One thing which might affect this is the Haswell chips which will succeed the Ivory Bridge chips, rumored to be out in June 2013. These chips will be smaller, and create less heat, meaning the hybrid laptop tablets may get much better specs and things may come down in price.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell...oarchitecture)


Thank you all for your help. If anyone has any energy left to help me, I would love to hear what people think of the comparison between these two notebooks

My Samsung top runner:

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ.../10227115.aspx

One the people at memory express mentioned when I contacted them:

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX42060

They seem to be the same notebook almost, Samsung looks more sleek, Asus is lighter, better screen resolution and smaller screen.

Don't know battery consumption comparison.

Thoughts?

Thanks again for any comments!

EDIT: Apperntly the Asus is a IPS screen, whatever that is and the Samsung is a FS, whatever that is. I think neither are touchscreens.

[Kavvy]

Ahh I am going in circles, I just discovered the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13, which seems to have everything the above laptops have, with a touch screen, more portability, and an extra slot for an additional SSD.

It has great reviews, but memory express and FutureShop have different models, basically one is an I3 processor and one is an I5.

I know jack about processors, other than Ivy Bridge is smaller and cooler then Sandy Bridge and these are both Ivy. What do you guys think?


http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX44988

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ.../10223586.aspx

Sorry for any run around and thanks for any comments.

Kavy

[photon]

i5 for sure I think, it turbos up to 2.6GHz, vs fixed 1.9GHz for the i3, probably worth the $100.

That looks like a cool unit, gives both worlds.

And the Asus in the previous post is a nice unit as well, when I was looking the Zenbooks were also high on my list, I was looking for something with 8GB RAM though (for work).

EDIT: Plus FS has a return policy, so you can try it out and return it if you end up not liking it.

[SuperMatt18]

I also believe that one of the IdeaPad Yoga's runs Windows 8 RT and one runs Windows 8 Pro so take that into consideration.

[photon]

Windows 8 RT runs on ARM processors, so an i3 couldn't run Windows RT.

[photon]

The FS one has 8GB of RAM too to start with, definitely worth the $100 extra.

[sa226]

Holy crap I shouldn't have come into this thread, That Yoga 13 looks incredible.

[comrade]

Originally Posted by Kavy

One thing which might affect this is the Haswell chips which will succeed the Ivory Bridge chips, rumored to be out in June 2013. These chips will be smaller, and create less heat, meaning the hybrid laptop tablets may get much better specs and things may come down in price.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell...oarchitecture)

That's what it was, thanks. So if Intel will likely be launching the Haswell chips in June, I'm wondering when laptops with the new CPUs and GPUs will be hitting the market if anyone cares to venture their opinion.

Nvidia launched the bottom half of their GeForce 700 Series at the beginning of April (with the top half in May, it looks like) but I've yet to see any laptops sporting the new GPUs, so there must be some delay between chip launch and laptops for sale. Unless laptop makers are just sitting on their hands until the Haswell chips come out.

If I can expect new laptops shortly after Intel's launch then I can wait but if I have to wait until August then I'd buy something now.