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  1. #1
    Catfish linsjean's Avatar
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    Can't decide on whiat new laptop to buy

    Hi,

    I am now ready to buy a brand new computer, another laptop. I am not that big into gaming or huge video editing. There are some things that I know I want like the following:

    - Windows 7 (I do not want to transition from Vista to Windows 8)
    - 64 bit version
    - at least 4 gigs of RAM
    - At least 500 GB HD
    - willing to spend $900 to $1,000 for a laptop
    - prefer an HP, but ok with a Dell
    - at least 3 USB ports that are 3.0 in power and an additional one that could be 2.0
    - built in webcam
    - i5 processor
    - straight keyboard (not interested in the ergo type slanted KB)
    - DVD player, DVD writer, DVD burner
    - backlit keyboard

    I was speaking to an HP sale rep today via live chat and at one point she said this, ""It comes with SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support. However, since this is customizable, you can choose to have either Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner or Blu-ray writer & SuperMulti DVD burner" I'm not familiar with some of these terms, so not sure was double layer support or the other stuff means. Before I buy, I must learn the lingo, lol

    I know I am leaving important facts out, but I am hoping to gather some opinions from many and then make my decision. I have spent hours looking at reviews and still confused.

    thanks!
    HP Envy, Windows 10

  2. #2
    Catfish
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    Hi,

    You missed the major things to mention :

    1- Size of LCD ... 11 inch ? 12? 13?14?15?17?

    2- Type of LCD , TN? MVA ? IPS (the best viewing angle)

    3- Resolution of LCD ... 1366x768? 1600x900 ? 1920x1080?

    4- light and slim or heavy and powerful , or in the middle of this and that?

    5- battery life important or not? battery removable or not (for carrying extra battery) ?

    6- do you want dedicated VGA that can switch with HD4000 for battery life or not ?

    7- GO windows 8 on laptops it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE especially with touch screen !

    8- Lenovo Thinkpad are better than anything from HP and DELL ... you will never regret using a Thinkpad !

    9- GO SSD , it is CHEAP today ! and within your 1000$ budget .

    10- do you want ultra low voltage i5 ? or normal i5 ?

    11- why do you need 3x usb3 ? you will miss alot of good notebooks if you insist on 3 usb3 ports .. most have 2 usb3

    Please reply fast

    Edit:

    check those , are the best IMO

    1- Lenovo Thinkpad T430/T530 series

    http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...ef-id=products

    2- Lenovo thinkpad Twist series

    http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...1EC325&redir=y

    you will never regret using a Thinkpad !!!

    as for harddisk and SSD , you can get a 256G SSD cheap today and replace the mechanical drive ..
    Last edited by PCVSNotebook; 02-20-2013 at 02:15 AM.

  3. #3
    Great White Shark
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    I can second a Lenovo T430. I have the T420, and I'm kind of sad I didn't wait for the refresh to USB 3.0 ports.

    That being said, my only complaint with 14" laptops is the subpar panels in them. Even lenovo's "premium" 14" panel is 1600x900 TN display with god-awful viewing angles. With a 15" display, you have more of a chance of finding a replacement screen/upgrade that is IPS and you can actually use without having it at a very specific spot in front of you. I recently tried to use my T420 on the airplane. It was too close, and thus I couldn't see anything on the screen because of a too-sharp viewing angle. Irked me to no end.

    *Edit: I got a fairly basic T420, was around $700. When I added in my own 240GB SSD (Mushkin Chronos Deluxe) and 16GB of RAM, it was right at $1000 total price.
    Last edited by James; 02-20-2013 at 06:59 AM.

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  4. #4
    Catfish linsjean's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PCVSNotebook View Post
    Hi,

    You missed the major things to mention :

    1- Size of LCD ... 11 inch ? 12? 13?14?15?17?

    2- Type of LCD , TN? MVA ? IPS (the best viewing angle)

    3- Resolution of LCD ... 1366x768? 1600x900 ? 1920x1080?

    4- light and slim or heavy and powerful , or in the middle of this and that?

    5- battery life important or not? battery removable or not (for carrying extra battery) ?

    6- do you want dedicated VGA that can switch with HD4000 for battery life or not ?

    7- GO windows 8 on laptops it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE especially with touch screen !

    8- Lenovo Thinkpad are better than anything from HP and DELL ... you will never regret using a Thinkpad !

    9- GO SSD , it is CHEAP today ! and within your 1000$ budget .

    10- do you want ultra low voltage i5 ? or normal i5 ?

    11- why do you need 3x usb3 ? you will miss alot of good notebooks if you insist on 3 usb3 ports .. most have 2 usb3

    Please reply fast

    Edit:

    check those , are the best IMO

    1- Lenovo Thinkpad T430/T530 series

    http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...ef-id=products

    2- Lenovo thinkpad Twist series

    http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...1EC325&redir=y

    you will never regret using a Thinkpad !!!

    as for harddisk and SSD , you can get a 256G SSD cheap today and replace the mechanical drive ..
    I should have said this in the beginning. At home, I use my laptop almost like a regular desktop computer with external KB, external speakers, external mouse. I have so many things to plug in that I use a hub. I only take it with me to work sometimes so I like the portability and like bringing it to places where they have WiFi once in a while, but since this is a big investment for me, I would like to get the best for my buck. I also have an external HD.

    1. LCD - I guess 15 "
    2. TYpe of LCD - IPS
    3. Resolution of LCD - whatever is best
    4- light and slim or heavy and powerful , or in the middle of this and that? - Middle
    5. battery life important or not? battery removable or not (for carrying extra battery) ? - I want the battery to be removable. Battery life up to 4 hours or better
    6- do you want dedicated VGA that can switch with HD4000 for battery life or not ? - Yes, but it doesn't have it, it's not a deal breaker
    7- GO windows 8 on laptops it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE especially with touch screen ! - OK, but I hope someone can teach me how to use it straight from the box
    8- Lenovo Thinkpad are better than anything from HP and DELL ... you will never regret using a Thinkpad ! - Wondering why they called it a Thinkpad, lol. but ok
    9- GO SSD , it is CHEAP today ! and within your 1000$ budget. - OK
    10- do you want ultra low voltage i5 ? or normal i5 ? - I guess normal. I want better performance. I have had to do two complete recoveries with this Vista laptop!
    11- why do you need 3x usb3 ? you will miss alot of good notebooks if you insist on 3 usb3 ports .. most have 2 usb3. - OK, 2 usb3. Just thinking of how I can plug in everything I have, including a printer. And sometimes I get "Your device may work better using higher USB." I have just the 2.0's.

    So, does the T430 have all these options? The one for $799? I would hate to lose my Office Suite on my current laptop, but I'm thinking of keeping my laptop, but it would be a hassle to keep switching. I would like a wireless mouse and wireless kb, but can get those things anywhere.

    James, thanks for your input.

    So, whatcha think?

    (edited for spelling errors)
    Last edited by linsjean; 02-20-2013 at 02:22 PM.
    HP Envy, Windows 10

  5. #5
    Great White Shark
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    Quote Originally Posted by linsjean View Post
    1. LCD - I guess 15 "
    2. TYpe of LCD - IPS
    Sadly your answer to number 2 means that you will not be getting a Lenovo. They no longer make anything with IPS panels*. Which is very sad and troubling.


    *Edit: Except for the X220, which is a 12" 4:3 format system that other than the screen, is very subpar in my opinion.

    **Edit2: What devices are you using that are complaining about USB2.0 being too slow? (curiosity question)
    Last edited by James; 02-20-2013 at 06:48 PM.

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  6. #6
    Catfish linsjean's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by James View Post
    Sadly your answer to number 2 means that you will not be getting a Lenovo. They no longer make anything with IPS panels*. Which is very sad and troubling.


    *Edit: Except for the X220, which is a 12" 4:3 format system that other than the screen, is very subpar in my opinion.

    **Edit2: What devices are you using that are complaining about USB2.0 being too slow? (curiosity question)
    What do you think about this laptop? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+ENV...47#tab=reviews

    To answer your questiion, whenever I plug in my external Logitech webam, I get that message of being too slow, or my mouse or my keyboard, everything. tell me how I can get to my specs to show you what I have now on this Vista laptop?
    HP Envy, Windows 10

  7. #7
    Great White Shark
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    Quote Originally Posted by linsjean View Post
    What do you think about this laptop? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+ENV...47#tab=reviews

    To answer your questiion, whenever I plug in my external Logitech webam, I get that message of being too slow, or my mouse or my keyboard, everything. tell me how I can get to my specs to show you what I have now on this Vista laptop?
    Your keyboard and mouse should never complain about USB 2.0 being too slow. Free program called CPU-Z, or you could just right click on My Computer/Computer and select Properties.

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  8. #8
    Catfish linsjean's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by James View Post
    Your keyboard and mouse should never complain about USB 2.0 being too slow. Free program called CPU-Z, or you could just right click on My Computer/Computer and select Properties.
    I did a right click on my computer gives very basic information. Like 32 bit, etc. How about this:

    OS Version: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium, Service Pack 2, 32 bit
    Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual CPU T3400 @ 2.16GHz, x64 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 13
    Processor Count: 2
    RAM: 3002 Mb
    Graphics Card: Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family, 1308 Mb
    Hard Drives: C: Total - 227288 MB, Free - 143796 MB; D: Total - 11182 MB, Free - 1874 MB; G: Total - 305242 MB, Free - 263339 MB;
    Motherboard: Wistron, 3612
    Antivirus: avast! Antivirus, Updated and Enabled
    HP Envy, Windows 10

  9. #9
    Catfish linsjean's Avatar
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    I tink my USB ports might be 1x I can't find where my total specs are!
    HP Envy, Windows 10

  10. #10
    Great White Shark
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    Intel 4 Series Express Chipset datasheet

    The 4 Series chipset supports 12x USB2.0 ports natively, so I doubt you have 1.0 ports on your laptop.

    Crusader for the 64-bit Era.
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  11. #11
    Hammerhead Shark
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    Quote Originally Posted by linsjean View Post
    I tink my USB ports might be 1x I can't find where my total specs are!
    I use SIW (System Internals for Windows). I find it super helpful. It tells me everything about my computer (What hardware - brand, type, specs), what software I'm running, temps, alerts. A/V scans it as a virus but after scanning with multiple different ones, they all come up clean. You can get your specs in HTML or txt format.

    I would recommend DELL just because for your money, they allow you to customize the best. I found that Compaq comes in second in terms of getting what YOU want for your money. I recall IBM had really solid laptops but this was 10 years ago. I hated how they limited your ability to customize the hardware. I think Dell's ultrabooks are still using windows 7 (or you can customize it for that) but all their other stuff is using Win 8.

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  12. #12
    Catfish
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    Quote Originally Posted by linsjean View Post
    What do you think about this laptop? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+ENV...47#tab=reviews

    To answer your questiion, whenever I plug in my external Logitech webam, I get that message of being too slow, or my mouse or my keyboard, everything. tell me how I can get to my specs to show you what I have now on this Vista laptop?
    thats no IPS ... I will look for one for you within your specs .. but I am afraid for what you have asked, will reach 1200$ price point.

    edit : Get the Lenovo T530

    Here are the specs

    http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/te...t-series/t530/


    Here is the Shopping link

    http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...FB&action=init

    Choose the 799$ one , then Customize , BE SURE to CHANGE THE SCREEN TO 1920x1080 for 250$ more ... this has FULL COLOR GAMUT , UNIQUE among notebooks !


    Thats 1050$ as is and is GREAT , you can add SSD later on !

    you can change the specs as you see fit as well.

    This note book BEATS anything in the market ! for its Price and durability ... you CAN spill hot coffee on it and then a glass of water to clean the coffee and leave it to dry ! and it will be as new !
    Last edited by PCVSNotebook; 02-21-2013 at 06:16 AM.

  13. #13
    Catfish
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    Quote Originally Posted by James View Post
    Sadly your answer to number 2 means that you will not be getting a Lenovo. They no longer make anything with IPS panels*. Which is very sad and troubling.


    *Edit: Except for the X220, which is a 12" 4:3 format system that other than the screen, is very subpar in my opinion.

    **Edit2: What devices are you using that are complaining about USB2.0 being too slow? (curiosity question)
    The T530 has a full color gamut option , I assume thats an IPS ...

    Check the specs here

    http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/te...t-series/t530/
    Last edited by PCVSNotebook; 02-21-2013 at 06:06 AM.

  14. #14
    Great White Shark
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    Quote Originally Posted by PCVSNotebook View Post
    The T530 has a full color gamut option , I assume thats an IPS ...
    Full Color Gamut != IPS

    You assume incorrectly unfortunately. Full color gamut TN panels are popular on "premium" laptops. But they are still TN panels. Go off-axis, and your colors wash out and eventually invert. Most laptop providers tout their horizontal viewing angles, which are nearly pointless in a laptop setting. Vertical viewing angles are much more vital, and the weakest point for TN panels. Full color is great, but if you can only see it while sitting directly in front of the screen within a very small viewing angle, it doesn't do much for you.


    *Edit: In reality I might be much too harsh about this. It comes down to what you can deal with personally.
    Last edited by James; 02-21-2013 at 08:39 AM.

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  15. #15
    Catfish
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    Quote Originally Posted by James View Post
    Full Color Gamut != IPS

    You assume incorrectly unfortunately. Full color gamut TN panels are popular on "premium" laptops. But they are still TN panels. Go off-axis, and your colors wash out and eventually invert. Most laptop providers tout their horizontal viewing angles, which are nearly pointless in a laptop setting. Vertical viewing angles are much more vital, and the weakest point for TN panels. Full color is great, but if you can only see it while sitting directly in front of the screen within a very small viewing angle, it doesn't do much for you.


    *Edit: In reality I might be much too harsh about this. It comes down to what you can deal with personally.
    I said I ASSUME .. this means , call them and ask .

    besides how did you know I assumed incorrectly? there is still a possibility of it being IPS right ?

    I didnt know TN could reach full color Gamut , never seen it in my life on a TN panel.

    anyways .. it is the best option for him ... he wont find 15 inch IPS noetbook for 1000$ .. and I still think it is an IPS panel , from the price 250$ or maybe PLS from Samsung better call them and ask ...

    Edit :



    ok it is a TN Panel , BUT , one of the best , has VERY GOOD VIEWING ANGLES for a TN !!!

    check the review of the T520 here

    http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-...k.53220.0.html

    and look at the viewing Angels image below

    very very good for TN Panel

    Last edited by PCVSNotebook; 02-21-2013 at 08:59 AM.

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