College/General Usage Laptop

[smark22]

I currently own a Lenovo IdeaPad y560 laptop.
Specs:
15.6" Screen, 1366 x 768 720p
i7 quad-core 1.73 ghz (turbo to 2.8 ghz)
8 gb ddr3 ram
Ati mobility radeon 5730
500 gb HDD
Battery Life ~2.5 hours on low settings

I've had this laptop since the end of summer, and so far I absolutely love it...when it works. To put it concisely, it blue screens constantly, never wakes up from sleep mode (I have to manually shut down and restart it), and I feel as though the build quality isn't exactly up to par (the screen is fairly wobbly, not the biggest deal, but irritating at times). I've tried to deal with their customer care, and they are fairly worthless. When I called, I first got their software division. After explaining my problem, I was told it was a hardware issue and was transfered over. They disagreed, and transfered me back over to software. Eventually they said they'd just send me a box to ship it to them for a diagnosis, 2 months later and still nothing. To put it simply, I'm really fed up with them.
I'm going to college within the next few months, and I need a stable, fast laptop. I do have a pretty decent warranty on my laptop, so I could get it fixed, but I don't really want to go through their annoying customer service again. I'm considering, although it's allegedly difficult, calling and complaining to manager after manager until they give me a refund, then just going and buying a new laptop. What do you guys recommend? Although I love my laptop's power, it's sort of overkill, as the most powerful thing I do it on regularly is play the Sims 3. =P
If I were to return it and purchase a new one, I'd be downgrading the graphics, ram, and processor just a little bit and instead getting one with a decent battery life, probably aluminum casing (I love the build quality of aluminum laptops), and a backlight keyboard if possible, but isn't necessary.
One that I'm looking at
Asus U43Jc-X1
Specs:
14" Screen, 1366x768 720p
i5 dual core 2.26 Ghz (turbo to 2.53 ghz)
4 ddr3 ram
Intel HD Integrated/Nvidia GeForce 310M(1GBddr3 dedicated)
500-640 gb hdd
Battery life Claimed to be 10 hours, realistically more like 6, but still, pretty good
Sorry for the long post, but thanks for reading it =)

 

[WR2]

What is your budget?

 

[smark22]

Not the biggest deal, less than $1,200 if possible.

 

[WR2]

Look over the options @ XoticPC. They do custom Asus/MSI/Sager laptops where you can select your options to match your budget and laptop goals.

For comparison give the new Dell XPS 15 a look too. Aluminum casing & backlit keyboard. And a few other things as well.

 

[smark22]

Thank you for the great suggestions! For my other question though, does anybody here have any experience dealing with lenovo, or any other brand, and getting a return? I am just really disappointed in both their product and their customer service and really just want my money back.

 

[WR2]

I think they (as would every other company, including Apple) try to avoid giving you a refund. A return & refund beyond the first 30 days needs to agreed to by Lenovo.
But I also think you should at least make a serious attempt.

 

[smark22]

Well thank you for all of your help, I will have to call them and, hopefully, persuade them to refund my money. Now, just one last question. While shopping for my new laptop, I really can't decide between Intel i5 dual core or i7 quad core processsor. I want to be able to achieve a fairly decent battery life( around 5 or 6 hours would be great), but, at the same time I don't want my laptop to be any slower. My Lenovo, when it actually did function, was incredibly fast, and I don't want to lose much of that speed. Granted, I'll only be playing the Sims 3 or some flash games, browsing the web, and typing up essays. Is the quad core really worth it for this, or will I hardly even notice a difference between that and dual? Is it possible to get an i7 quad and still maintain around 5-6 hours?

 

[drake123]

Well thank you for all of your help, I will have to call them and, hopefully, persuade them to refund my money. Now, just one last question. While shopping for my new laptop, I really can't decide between Intel i5 dual core or i7 quad core processsor. I want to be able to achieve a fairly decent battery life( around 5 or 6 hours would be great), but, at the same time I don't want my laptop to be any slower. My Lenovo, when it actually did function, was incredibly fast, and I don't want to lose much of that speed. Granted, I'll only be playing the Sims 3 or some flash games, browsing the web, and typing up essays. Is the quad core really worth it for this, or will I hardly even notice a difference between that and dual? Is it possible to get an i7 quad and still maintain around 5-6 hours?

Check out the Sager NP5160 at xoticpc.com
OR
Dell XPS 15 @ dell.com

 

[WR2]

5-6 hrs is overly optimistic for any high power CPU laptop. i5 or i7.
It's possible but actually while doing anywork?
You'd better plan 3.5hrs with standard battery.

i5 vs i7 choice becomes easier if you can pick up one of the new Sandy Bridge mobile CPUs. Nice bump up in performance over the i5 4xx/5xx CPUs.

Good luck. Let us know how you make out.

 

[WR2]

Review Dell XPS 15 FHD Notebook

Dell XPS 15 Review

 

[smark22]

Best answer selected by smark22.