choosing between Samsung NP350v5x-s02 and ideapad Z580

[Mohamed Ali01]

Hello tech gurus
for a few weeks, I've been planning to get a new Laptop that will fit my budget and my usage at the same time. after searching the market around I've limited to choice between 3 notebooks
1- Samsung NP305V5X -S02 Detailed specs are in this link
https/www.jumia.com.eg/Series-3-NP350V5X-S02-%E2%80%93-4-GB-Ram-%E2%80%93-750-GB-%E2%80%93-DOS-%E2%80%93-15.6%E2%80%9D-92581.html?lang=en_EG
2- Lenovo IdeaPad Z580
with almost the same specs
Core i5-3210 M
4GB RAM
1 TB HDD (Larger)
15.6" Screen
DOS
Specs are almost a tie for me, but the ideapad is 10% more expensive

going up a little bit I can find the HP ProBook 4540 with 6GB of ram, 750 GB HDD and AMD 7670 graphics card for 25% increase in price.
can you help me choose please, I worked with both IdeaPad and Probook before, however, but such competitive price made me consider Samsung as well, what do you think?

 

[lunyone]

Okay here is what I think:

Things I look at, within my budget:
* CPU - I look for i5 or i7, which ever fits my budget and needs (i5 for budget reasons and i7 for needs reasons)
* Screen - I look for which size of screen will work for my needs (11-15" for portability and 17" or greater for desktop replacement needs)
* I then look at the screen resolution needs (1366 x 768 for budget needs, then 1600 x 900 for compromise, and then 1920 x 1080 for desktop needs and/or personal requirements)
* I then look at the GPU needs (integrated GPU for battery life or not much gaming needs, then dedicated GPU for gaming needs and also making sure the dGPU matches up with the screen resolution too)
* Next I look at the ports offered on the laptop (USB 3.0 ports and HDMI for me, your interests may differ)
* I then look at the RAM and HD options/needs. Having 4 gb's of RAM is my minimum these days and at least 320 gb's of HD space (I usually replace the HD with a faster HD anyways down the road, so it isn't too important to me)
* Finally I look at the battery life that I would expect to get out of the laptop, when unplugged.

After narrowing down those options, I then:
* I look at each brand/model and check out the reviews (once I narrow down the options in my price range).
* The warranty is also something to consider too. I'm pretty sure Asus has a 2 yr warranty in most countries and the other brands usually have only 1 yr (unless you pay more for extending the warranty).

After all of that information, I'm seeing that the Samsung looks decent w/7670m GPU w/a screen resolution of 1366 x 768. So if it's about 10% cheaper and it looks good to you (I don't know much about the warranties in your country) than I'd buy it.

 

[Mohamed Ali01]

Thanks lunyone for your quick reply, I've already gone through all the steps you were talking about, hope for I7 but I5 will do kind of thinking
I'm not really a heavy gamer, I mostly would use it for coding in Visual Studio or Jave that's why 15.6" is essential for me.
regarding warranty, I don't know about Samsung warranty, but I've dealt with lenovo people and they are pretty decent people.
I searched for that Samsung reviews online but I couldn't find it anywhere but on samsung website India, which is nowhere near where I live with no reviews at all, however I've reached a review for series 3 Samsung notebooks (in Australia) it claims that it's touchpad doesn't have multitouch capability which is a very bad thing especially if I decided to upgrade to windows 8. but I'm not sure if that is applicable to that specific model of Samsung!
bottom line is I would like to go with the Samsung but there are a few points that make me uncertain.

 

[lunyone]

Thanks lunyone for your quick reply, I've already gone through all the steps you were talking about, hope for I7 but I5 will do kind of thinking
I'm not really a heavy gamer, I mostly would use it for coding in Visual Studio or Jave that's why 15.6" is essential for me.
regarding warranty, I don't know about Samsung warranty, but I've dealt with lenovo people and they are pretty decent people.
I searched for that Samsung reviews online but I couldn't find it anywhere but on samsung website India, which is nowhere near where I live with no reviews at all, however I've reached a review for series 3 Samsung notebooks (in Australia) it claims that it's touchpad doesn't have multitouch capability which is a very bad thing especially if I decided to upgrade to windows 8. but I'm not sure if that is applicable to that specific model of Samsung!
bottom line is I would like to go with the Samsung but there are a few points that make me uncertain.

I had figured that you had already gone through the steps, but I just wanted you to know what I do to make an informed decision, when I purchase a laptop.
As far as the touch pad issue, I usually only use the touch pad when I'm doing non-productive tasks (web surfing, watching movies, etc.). When I want to get down to business, I just use a mouse, but you might have other concerns. All of the touch pads that I've used in my life have all been pretty good, in general. I have had to install some updated drivers in the past, but that is usually all that I've had to do. My experience with laptops have been centered around Dell, HP, Acer, Toshiba, & Sony. I haven't had much love for HP (all were lower end ones), but the others have been pretty good to me.

 

[Mohamed Ali01]

Finally I took the decision and ordered the samsung, I hope it works up to the expectations!
Thanks so much

 

[lunyone]

Glad I could help. I would check all of the options out when you get your laptop, as the best you can. This way if you have an issue you can send it back to whomever you ordered it from.

 

[Mohamed Ali01]

I think I'll do a full benchmark for it, and will post the results here, however I don't have the proper equipment to measure temperature distribution across the chaises, I don't think that will be necessary after all it's all about getting really hot or not

 

[lunyone]

I think I'll do a full benchmark for it, and will post the results here, however I don't have the proper equipment to measure temperature distribution across the chaises, I don't think that will be necessary after all it's all about getting really hot or not

Sounds good. How do you like the laptop?

 

[Mohamed Ali01]

I've ordered it online two days ago , didn't get it yet :| they say it will take from 3 to 5 workdays

 

[lunyone]

Okay, let me know how you like it when you get it (I'm curious to hear how the Samsung laptops are)?

 

[Mohamed Ali01]

Here I'm back and I've done something I really don't like to do.
I've cancelled the Samsung order and went to computershop store and purchased a brand new Lenovo ideaPad Z580 as they gave me windows 7 Home Premium OEM extra with it.
in fact that wasn't the main reason (but it was a good one ) the main reason was that I didn't find that model online on local samsung website, while it was available only at that website I was buying from, meaning if anything wrong happens to it I'm screwed since Samsung middle east doesn't have that model!
as for the Z580, it's a typical Z580 with 4 GB DDR3 RAM, 1 TB HDD, HD LED monitor and Nvidia Geforce GT630M graphics card.
pretty standard!

 

[Mohamed Ali01]

as for the Z580, it's a typical Z580 with 4 GB DDR3 RAM, 1 TB HDD, HD LED monitor and Nvidia Geforce GT630M graphics card.
pretty standard!

 

[lunyone]

Okay, so how do you like the laptop?

 

[Mohamed Ali01]

I didn't put it in real action yet, however I'm familiar with lenovo in general, I've purchased several units for my colleagues and friends before an I used to have a ThinkPad T500 as my work laptop.
Although it came with free DOS pre-installed, there were about 30 GB lost in 3 OEM and recovery partitions that prevented me from installing my partitions the way I like (one 120 GB for system and programs and the rest for data) without converting the drive into GPT so after I installed windows first time, I used windows setup again to delete all partitions, create only two (the windows created its 100 MB partition) now I have the entire HDD space available. this whole operation took around 15 minutes including the windows setup.
in a nice gesture the drivers DVD came along with the computer and surprisingly other than the Nvidia drivers, the rest of them were up to date, that really eased the driver installation process.
the metal finish is sleek and nice, it doesn't pick fingerprints or gives this small electrical feeling as it is with the Y500
internet connectivity was easy and stable (will test the actual N Speed when I get back home).
didn't feel any excessive heat during system install.
couldn't create a recovery point for the one key recovery system even when the recovery partitions were there.
will give you more feedback when I use it a bit more.