Laptops

[sascha 17]

My laptop shat itself the other day, so it's time for a long overdue update.

I've been looking around, and I'm after opinions from all the "in the know" people.

I want it to be fast (obviously), don't need huge storage, anything over 500gb is sweet. I'll be using it for mainly microsoft word and excel, MATLAB, photoshop, lightroom and the internet.

MATLAB, Photoshop and Lightroom all need a relatively fast computer as far as I'm aware (they're the main programs that give me grief on my old laptop). The photo work will be working with RAW files and multiple layers.

Budget is only around $1000 at this stage.

To me this laptop here looks like a great deal, the specs are well and truly above any others around that price range.

Is there a catch? Am I missing something? Like I say I don't know much about computers, feel free to school me!

Should I be looking at computers with an SSD?

Also put up any links to laptops you think I should have a look at.

I should mention that aside from the performance a good screen would be good for the photo editing, good battery life would be also be a plus.

Thanks guys

[hybrid 1042]

Best thing you can go for for bang vs buck is a something with a new school i5 processor, fast frontside bus and a 256GB SSD drive and 8GB mem with windows 7 64bit.

Am running this and it hauls ass. For extra space I have a 4TB storage array over eSata connected to a docking station which holds all the big stuff.

[liyi_92 37]

Hybrid knows his stuff.

Personally I stay away from apple products in all cases for personal reasons. The laptop you linked seems to be a good deal.

Although,

If you want speed, QUAD CORE i7 is the way to go. i5 seems a better at balancing between battery life and performance.

A good for price laptop I would recommend a HP DV6 but thats a bit higher for ur budget.

Also keep in mind ASUS makes quite good laptops

[yng_750 247]

hopefully this thread sticks around

im in the same boat looking for something new in the next few weeks

gotta go quad core probably i7

hoping to run solidworks without too much lag

i also have to have a number pad cant stand laptops without them

what do people think of toshiba vs acer

those are the main tow brands that keep popping up with all my needs covered

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2122]

coming from a length of life point of view (i work in the ewaste/remarketing industry), the Toshibas are better than the Acers.. we get a lot of late model Acers maybe 2 years old that are already broken for one reason or another (hardware faults not neglect-type issues). You can't really go past Toshiba, would be what i would have if i wasnt an Apple guy. Dell isn't bad these last 6 7 years either, they have got rid of thier quality control issues they used to have. Skip anything Sony Viao or Asus. the former is expensive to get parts for if needed, and the Asus laptops are just crap all round. HP arent bad, but quality has gone downhill in the last 5 years from what we see.

As far as specs you need, i cant really comment as i have macs which although still i5 i7 processors etc, totally different OS demands etc. the last windows latop i brought was a Dell back when vista had just come out, probably what converted me to apple lol.

Hope this helps

[my_e36 43]

Pick something with an i5 and 64-bit OS in it and pimp it out with as much RAM as it can take.

For storage, consider a Seagate Momentus XT 750GB + 8GB SSD hybrid drive. I had the older 500+4 version and it's VERY fast for a laptop drive.

If $1000 is a strict budget, that means your base laptop would be around $700-800 mark.

[RvT 9]

This Trademe guy (not me) is selling some new gear cheaply ... a friend is bidding on one hence why I looked at his listings ...

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Members/Listings....?member=3602103

[liyi_92 37]

coming from a length of life point of view (i work in the ewaste/remarketing industry), the Toshibas are better than the Acers.. we get a lot of late model Acers maybe 2 years old that are already broken for one reason or another (hardware faults not neglect-type issues). You can't really go past Toshiba, would be what i would have if i wasnt an Apple guy. Dell isn't bad these last 6 7 years either, they have got rid of thier quality control issues they used to have. Skip anything Sony Viao or Asus. the former is expensive to get parts for if needed, and the Asus laptops are just crap all round. HP arent bad, but quality has gone downhill in the last 5 years from what we see.

As far as specs you need, i cant really comment as i have macs which although still i5 i7 processors etc, totally different OS demands etc. the last windows latop i brought was a Dell back when vista had just come out, probably what converted me to apple lol.

Hope this helps

Why are ASUS crap all around? Assuming we aren't talking about the $300 - $400 ee pcs.

[5amchris 45]

I just got a MSI Gt60 but thats a beast gaming laptop but in your case $1000 for a good Lapop isnt easy.

If i was in your shoes i would go with http://www.dicksmith.co.nz/product/XC8186/...50-0c9-notebook

i7 3rd gen = Very good for your photoshop and light works.

Yes only 4GB of ram but you can add 4GB more later on when you have the money (round $100)

2GB video card that is running pretty good speeds for a consumer laptop, Again for photoshop.

750GB HDD.

Brand wise, My pick would be Asus but re getting a litle harder to get in NZ. Toshiba would be my next pick.

Hope this helps.

Edit - Up to 25% off Toshiba at DSE atm.

Also just saw a new model we have and is more in your price range atm.

http://www.dicksmith.co.nz/product/XC8191/...50-03d-notebook

Pretty much the same unit but only a 2nd gen i5,

Same video card, HDD. little slower ram speed.

So you will lose a little in render times in photoshop and light works but same speeds for everyday things,

Been gen 2 it uses a little more power but we are talking 20 odd mins battery life.

Edited August 18, 2012 by 5amchris

[kiwi535 538]

just go down and go to every laptop place you can find the one you want and then haggle

[antil33t 90]

Find the cheapest one with the most screen resolution.

Nothing is more horrible than 1366x768 on a 15+" Display

Brandwise and I have some experience with laptops

Avoid most sh*t that Harveys, dse or Whatever sells and go for

HP (Business only, no envy, no presario sh*t)

Asus - Some even have a 24month worldwide warranty!

Toshiba - even though most fanboys will tell you differently.

Worst thing is everyone has had some bad experience with one brand... so you'll get different stories from everyone.

[polley 916]

Worst thing is everyone has had some bad experience with one brand... so you'll get different stories from everyone.

Pretty much, and most the time they have no idea what they are talking about.

[5amchris 45]

Worst thing is everyone has had some bad experience with one brand... so you'll get different stories from everyone.

100% Agree.

[deeveus 81]

Worst thing is everyone has had some bad experience with one brand... so you'll get different stories from everyone.

So my advice would be listen to people who repair laptops, not necessarily people who sell them. I base my sales on the reliability of laptops.

For 1k, go a entry level business class Toshiba C850. Reasoning: Toshiba are reliable, HP are too but you won't get a decent HP for 1k, Presario's and consumer based HP's are sh*t, Acer are unreliable and have seriously useless turn around times for parts. I doubt you are going to find a laptop with a SSD for $1000. Agree with Hybrid, 2nd gen i5 CPU wise, don't go for AMD because in laptops they are generally sh*t and run hot compared to Intel.

Samsung: bahahahaha, no.

Sony: ROFL - no Apple tryhards with expensive parts and slow turn around times for parts

I sell HP and Toshiba for a living, the only other brand I'd consider is Asus but you won't buy a decent Asus for 1k

If you have a PB Tech up your way, use them, in my experience I wouldn't recommend any consumer based laptop, business class machines tend to be more reliable.

Edited August 19, 2012 by The Diesel Guy

[Greg111 13]

I have a sony vaio, it's over 3 years old and still trucking, I could read out all the stickers that are still attached.

It's white and grey.

[tmase 19]

I bought an HP Dv6 just under 12 months ago. Second gen Core i7, 1GB Radeon 6700 series graphics, 4 GB Ram. Doubled the RAM for under a $100. Great specc'd machine and reasonable price and it performs well in CS5 and encoding videos, gaming etc, paid under $1500 at the time. Not overly impressed with HP build quality though, the keyboard was properly seated in, and still pops loose occasionally. HP driver support is woeful, 3rd party components, like the graphics card, are given driver updates via HP. If you try to go direct to AMD for a driver update, they refer you to HP and HP's drivers are normally serveral versions old. The HP switchable graphics (allows you to switch off the graphics card and run the graphics via the onboard Intel graphics adapter) is very good at saving battery life but was really unstable using HPs shitty drivers. I complained and managed to get them to send me drivers direct from AMD and can now update without going through HP, and this has really improved things.

Prior to this I had two Asus laptops, paid around $2700 for them. The first one, bought in 2005 was fantastic, rock solid construction, worked great. The second (2009) wasn't quite as good, overpriced for what I got (though this was my own fault as I didn't do enough research prior) and build quality had slipped as well, but still an okay machine and still serves as a media centre connected to my TV.

As the others has said, I found Asus laptops a bit thin on the ground when I looked to change up last time so I went with HP. Acer had some good deals as well but the horror stories I had heard about warranty work, build quality, and the amount of bloatware installed on them put me off them.

Do plenty of research prior to buying. I found these sites really helpful -

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/

http://www.notebookreview.com/

http://www.priceme.co.nz/Laptops/c-7.aspx

http://apcmag.com/notebookhunter/index.htm

HP for instance do models that are Australia/NZ specific so sometimes it can be hard to find reviews or information due to the smaller market - something to think about.

Hope this helps

[antil33t 90]

I have a sony vaio, it's over 3 years old and still trucking, I could read out all the stickers that are still attached.

It's white and grey.

I always found them to be good units, until something breaks.. But you can say that all day about anything.

Biggest issue I had with some, is they have special drivers which then Decide that the machine is not a Vaio, so in turn you cannot install the Vaio shitware that somebody seems to actually wanted.. Not that it would concern most people anyway.

[yng_750 247]

sony = mercedes

Toshiba = BMW

[sascha 17]

Thanks for all the responses!

Josh - would you recommend getting just an SSD over a smaller SSD alongside a HDD? I read somewhere that SSD drives can only be re-written a finite number of times, so if you're constantly rewriting information on them after some time they become read only. Can't remember where I read it, maybe someone can confirm?

Can someone please explain what's better about an i7 processor over an i5?

My current/ex laptop is Asus. I was never too stoked with it, but it has lasted me over 4 years now, with one warrenty repair along the way.

Clinton - Yep got a PBtech close by, will drop in and see what they can do for me I think.

What kind size ram should I be looking at? Is it going to be worth getting more than 8gb? I do a lot of multi tasking on my computer and I like to leave things open to come back to while I work on other things.

[deeveus 81]

I bought an HP Dv6 just under 12 months ago. Second gen Core i7, 1GB Radeon 6700 series graphics, 4 GB Ram. with

Good processor but a DV6 is classed as a consumer based machine, I've always found ProBook upwards, Elitebook if you can justify it are far more solid and far better built.

I've got this Elitebook here but has had a 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM installed. Runs very well, ultra stable and durable. I bought this 12" laptop because I actually wanted a laptop, I find the 15.6" laptops too big to have on your lap, and prefer the extra portability of a 12"

Clinton - Yep got a PBtech close by, will drop in and see what they can do for me I think.

Just don't get them or order anything, only buy what they have in stock as that's where most of the complaints come from with PB, they take yonks for things to arrive. As I said, if it's $1000 you're spending, get a Toshiba with an Intel Processor, might be able to squeeze a i5 CPU for that dosh. You'll only get 4GB for that price, but for an extra 60-70 dollars you should be upgraded to 8GB.

Edited August 20, 2012 by The Diesel Guy

[5amchris 45]

Thanks for all the responses!

Josh - would you recommend getting just an SSD over a smaller SSD alongside a HDD? I read somewhere that SSD drives can only be re-written a finite number of times, so if you're constantly rewriting information on them after some time they become read only. Can't remember where I read it, maybe someone can confirm?

Can someone please explain what's better about an i7 processor over an i5?

My current/ex laptop is Asus. I was never too stoked with it, but it has lasted me over 4 years now, with one warrenty repair along the way.

Clinton - Yep got a PBtech close by, will drop in and see what they can do for me I think.

What kind size ram should I be looking at? Is it going to be worth getting more than 8gb? I do a lot of multi tasking on my computer and I like to leave things open to come back to while I work on other things.

A SSD is pretty much out of that $1000 budget but they are pretty much used to running your OS and higher end programs. You don't really wanna use one for a storage drive cus of what you said, Its you can only write to them so many times before segments start to drop off.

As for i5 - i7, Your i5 is a very good everyday chip, runs at a fast speed that also offers turbo boost and hyper threading. Only duel core.

The i7 you normally you get the same clock speeds so programs are going to run the same between the two chips, i7 offers the turbo boost and hyper threading to. But most i7 chips are quad core, Meaning that programs designed to work off 4 or even 8 cores will run smother and a little faster. So things like photoshop are made to use all 8 cores to make render times faster. The i7 is not a need for the every day user only for the few using it for design work.

Numbers always make people buy, i7 been the better of the two most people will buy it but will NEVER get the performance advantage.

Ram you wont need more then 8GB just simple.

Hope this helps

[polley 916]

. You don't really wanna use one for a storage drive cus of what you said, Its you can only write to them so many times before segments start to drop off.

Its really not a problem, most people would of bought a new machine (or something else has failed )before the SSD fails because of too many writes.

[5amchris 45]

agreed but to be safe.

[deeveus 81]

Ram you wont need more then 8GB just simple.

I just love the Harvey Abnormal ads where they advertise an i5 laptop with a 500GB HDD (not SSD) with 16GB RAM - it just makes no sense.

[sascha 17]

I've got this Elitebook

Just don't get them or order anything

Link's broken. Yeah actually come to think of it, my current laptop was from there and they took forever to have it repaired!

A SSD is pretty much out of that $1000 budget but they are pretty much used to running your OS and higher end programs. You don't really wanna use one for a storage drive cus of what you said, Its you can only write to them so many times before segments start to drop off.

The i7 you normally you get the same clock speeds so programs are going to run the same between the two chips, i7 offers the turbo boost and hyper threading to. But most i7 chips are quad core, Meaning that programs designed to work off 4 or even 8 cores will run smother and a little faster. So things like photoshop are made to use all 8 cores to make render times faster. The i7 is not a need for the every day user only for the few using it for design work.

Thank's for clarifying that. I should mention that my budget is not strictly limited to $1000, I am willing to spend more for a good machine, but no more than say $1500 for now. I would prefer something around $1000.

I just love the Harvey Abnormal ads where they advertise an i5 laptop with a 500GB HDD (not SSD) with 16GB RAM - it just makes no sense.

So having said that, does that mean the link I posted in my original post is not a good choice? That was roughly of the same spec you just said.

Is an SSD going to give me real performance increases? Or is it just going to be faster to start up the computer, load saved files and save new files?