Help Choose a Laptop That Fits My Needs (Updated)

[ktrainhurricane]

SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT THE FOLLOWING MODELS:


Refurbisehd T430
i7-3520 (4M Cache, 2.9GHz w/ Turbo Boost to 3.60GHz)
1600x900 Resolution
720p HD Camera with Mic
UltraNav Keyboard (Backlit) w/ Fingerprint Reader
8 GB DDR3
500 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Bluetooth
9-cell battery
Full 1-year Lenovo warranty (until Aug 2014)
for $800

IdeaPad Y410P
i7-4700MQ (2.4GHz 1600MHz 6MB)
1600x900 Resolution
720p HD Camera with Mic
Premium JBL speakers
AccuType Keyboard (Backlit)
8 GB DDR3L
1 TB Hard Disk Drive, 5400 + 24GB SSD
Bluetooth
6-cell battery
$850

E431
i7-3632QM (6M Cache, 2.20 GHz)
Windows 8
14W HD Antiglare Display (768 matte I believe, but not specified)
8 GB DDR3L – 1600MHz (2 DIMM)
Fingerprint Reader
720p HD Camera with Microphone
500GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
Micro Hard Drive: 24 GB NGFF SSD
6 cell Li-Ion Battery 62WH – 75+
$805.56

^And I can get the same configuration but with no SSD and 1 TB Hard Disk Drive @ 5400rpm instead for $847.56
*(HOW DO THEY COMPARE?)*


Edit: Found this, and figure it would be good for me to post it...

What is your budget?
$1000

What country will you be buying this in?
U.S.A

What size notebook do you prefer?
14-inch screen

What brands do you like or dislike?
Like: ASUS, Lenovo
Dislike: Acer, HP, Mac

Would you consider a refurbished laptop?
Yes

What are the primary tasks you need this notebook for?
Web Surfing; Office and Productivity Software; Listening to, downloading, and uploading music (often all at the same time); Movie Streaming, Downloading, Uploading and Viewing; Live streaming with friends via Skype, etc.; Storing all my entertainment files (songs, video, etc...not interested in external hard drive, but will keep only very important files on flash drive).

What games will you be playing?
Solitare

Where will you be using this laptop?
Primarily docked at home, but will also take to school often (4-5 times per week); occasionally on airplanes.

How many hours of battery life do you need?
Around 4 hours would make me happy

Will you be buying online or in store?
online or in store

Which OS do you prefer?
Windows 7, but open to Windows 8

List the screen resolutions that interest you:
High Resolution (1600 x 900)

Do you prefer a glossy or matte screen?
Glossy or Matte is fine

Is the laptops design important to you?
Yes

Approximately what date will you be buying this laptop?
Around 18 August 2013

How long do you want this laptop to last?
3-5 years

How much storage capacity do you need?
Absolute minimum 500 GB

Are you interested in SSD for storage?
No

Do you want a built-in optical drive, what type?
I don't even know what this is

I am in the market for a new laptop, and wanted some input on what will fit my needs. I go to school full time and will transport this to/from class in a backpack.

As far as performance, I often have several things running at once - multiple Youtube videos playing/loading, internet browsing, downloading movies/music via programs like Frostwire, loading those files into my Itunes, all while talking to someone on Skype and doing my homework in Powerpoint or Word.

Because of this, I have been looking around at products with i7, at least 8 GB of memory and at least 500 GB of hard drive space. I'm not sure if any of those specs are overkill or not, but that of course is why I am asking here!

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[ktrainhurricane]

Also looking into the Lenovo IdeaPad Y580. I read that the ThinkPads are great computers, and have a very strong inner chassis which I value...but how are the IdeaPads? This one has everything I like - 8 GB memory, 1 TB hard disk drive, i7 and best of all Windows 7 (read too many negative things about Windows 8)

 

[guanyu210379]

Ideapad Y580, one of my colleagues in the office already got one, it is also good...but...Unfortunately, the special international warranty and all...well..as far as I know, they are only valid for the Thinkpads, not for the Ideapad.

About Win8, do not worry too much, you will get used to it. I have been using Win8 since 8 months.

Do not worry much about ASUS too, I have currently S56CM since about 5 months. I have not a single problem with it.
My 5 years old Lenovo T400 (used mainly by my brother) is still alive and kicking, my 4 years old Toshiba Satellite L550 (used mainly by my sister) is also still active.
I sold last Christmas (2012) my sh*t heavy HP Elitebook 8560w since it was too heavy for me and I do not really need that kind of performance anyway from a portable system. The Elitebook showed also not a single sign of problems.
Perhaps, I was just lucky that all of them are not causing a single problem until now.

Note:
I am planning to ditch my S56CM and go for Sony Vaio Duo 13 perhaps next year. This one is extremely sexy.

 

[ktrainhurricane]

Thanks for all your help so far guanyu


Any others want to input on Asus G55 vs. Lenovo Y580 vs. Toshiba S55?

 

[ktrainhurricane]

Updated my first post with the "questionnaire" I found on several other threads!

I also went shopping around today and played with the Asus G46vw and the Lenovo ThinkPad Edge and T430. The T430 was really nice, but the most expensive of the group. One of the stores I went to said they had a single Alienware M14x left and it was priced at $850 for in-store purchase only. I didn't have enough time for him to go get it and take it out of the box for me, but I am going back tomorrow.

I can get the Lenovo through a "Corporate Perks" program at a discounted price, around $900. Because it would be coming straight from Lenovo, I get the 1-year warranty.

The Alienware, according to what I researched online, is heavily discounted at the store that was offering it for $850. Because this is brand new, I get the 1-year warranty.

The Asus seems hard to find at discounted prices (because it's too new maybe?). Therefore, the only ones I found in my price range were refurbished, and consequently would only provide a 90-day warranty.

PLEASE SHARE YOUR OPINIONS!

 

[ktrainhurricane]

For what you want I'd go for the E531 http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CW7MKSY/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CW7MKSY&linkCode=as2&tag=b0b929-20

I am looking for a 14" laptop, which is why I listed the E431. Is there much difference between the E431 and E531? To my knowledge they are the same except for screen size...

 

[ktrainhurricane]

Oh, sorry I read that you wanted the E531. The only difference would be the screen size. You could get this E431 http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CXVMQ9M/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CXVMQ9M&linkCode=as2&tag=b0b929-20 as a great option.

Re-edited the first post (I did in fact put E531 by mistake).

Care to share why you think this is the best fit for me?

 

[ktrainhurricane]

Oh, sorry I read that you wanted the E531. The only difference would be the screen size. You could get this E431 http/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CXVMQ9M/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00CXVMQ9M&linkCode=as2&tag=b0b929-20 as a great option.

Re-edited the first post (I did in fact put E531 by mistake).

Care to share why you think this is the best fit for me?

Sure, Lenovo is a great brand, according to what you want the laptop for the specs are perfect, the battery life should be quite good, and without a discrete GPU I'd always go with an i7 at least which this has.

Why would you go with at least an i7? I spoke to sales associate at the local TigerDirect today and he was telling me that I don't need the i7, and furthermore that the dual core i5 available with the Lenovo is actually faster than the dual core i7 that is available...

And is there any specific reason you suggest the E430 over the T430? Isn't the T-Series supposed to be more of their "flagship" line, while the E-Series is more of a low-end ThinkPad?

 

[ktrainhurricane]

Well I "knew" I had narrowed my choice down to the two ThinkPads, but I stopped into a different TigerDirect today to see if they had anything different than the one near my house which I had been going to, and I found the Asus Q400A. Here are the specs on it:

Asus Q400A
i7-3632QM (6M Cache, 2.2GHz w/ Turbo Boost to 3.2GHz)
768p Screen Resolution
720p HD Camera with Mic
Backlit Keyboard
8 GB DDR3
750 GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm
$600

This seems to beat the ThinkPads in every category basically. Obviously the T430 is available with a 900p screen, and they both offer superior build quality, but this one has a bigger hard drive and a quad-core processor and is cheaper. I'm now confused more than ever!!

 

[guanyu210379]

I would pick the Thinkpad without hesitation.
Lenovo Thinkpads has excellent international customer support (warranty).

My T400 monitor was broken once after about 3 years of usage (about 2 weeks before warranty should end) in Indonesia and it was bought in Germany. The warranty process was fast, unbelieveable easy, and it cost no extra cent. I even received a free extra 1 year warranty after the repair.
That is what I called customer service!
My Thinkpad is now already almost 6 years old and is never broken again.

The downside of all Thinkpads is that they are more expensive compared to other laptops with the same specs.

 

[ktrainhurricane]

UPDATED AGAIN!

I guess I will go ahead and be difficult again, and throw the IdeaPad Y410P into the mix (the more research I do, the more options I discover!). It seems to have all the features I want (quad-core i7 processor, HD+ screen, 1 TB hard disk drive + 24 GB cache), and is in the same ballpark price as the other two...I can get this for $850 brand new.

Seems like I would just be sacrificing the "ThinkPad quality" for everything else...worth it?

 

[ktrainhurricane]

I think I am going to go with the ThinkPad Edge E431, because it seems to literally be a "happy medium" between the T-Series ThinkPad and the IdeaPad Y410P.

Any last-minute thoughts, opinions, or suggestions before I pull the trigger?

 

[ktrainhurricane]

Just placed my order for a T430 through the Lenovo Outlet. I was lucky enough that they had one with everything I was specifically looking for, and then some - i7, 8GB memory, 500GB hard drive with 16GB cache, 1600x900 screen - and it ended up costing only $800, which was even little less than I was about to spend on the E431.

This ended up being the same price as the refurbished T430 I had previously found online, but the one I ordered through Lenovo Outlet had the Cache drive, which the other didn't. I am now just worried on the arrival date since I need this for school (read a few negative reviews about Lenovo taking forever to deliver the computer), but I am sure the patience will pay off in the end...I know I would have regretted going with any other option than this one.

Thanks to everyone for all the help!!!