Help me find a laptop that's right for me!

[jkmatrix77]

1. What is your budget? 800-1100

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 14"

3. What screen resolution do you want? At least 1366x768 but higher would be nice.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Replacement but would like something that isn't ridculously bulky or heavy.

5. How much battery life do you need? Don't care too much- at least 3-4 hours.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) Photoshop, video editing

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? Min 250

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 2 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. I've had bad experiences with HP and machines overheating so maybe not them unless you think they've cleaned up their act with your particular reccommendation.

13. What country do you live in? Canada

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. I need something powerful (that can run photoshop without struggling, that falls in my budgetg for something with dedicated grahpics, NVIDIA or other. 1GB at least, but 2 would be awesome.

Thanks!

 

[AntiZig]

Hello, my first question is your budget in CA or USD? I'll assume CAD for now (although the difference is minimal, heh).

One thing I'd like to add that it's harder to judge GPU performance by Photoshop program, unless you go with professional model like nVidia Quadro, but those are too expensive.

So here goes, I'll sort them by processor first, then by GPU

MSI X460 - 14", i5-2410M, nVidia GT 540M, 6Gb RAM and 500Gb HDD @ 7200rpm, 4.3lbs. I think this is the best of all by performance.
Toshiba Satellite M645 - 14", i5-2410M, nVidia GT525M, 6Gb RAM, 640Gb HDD @5400rpm, 5.4lbs. This GPU is a little slower, but still should give you great performance, the HDD is slightly bigger too and has a Blueray player, which is why it's more expensive than first one.
MSI FX420 - 14", i5-2410, ATi HD 6470, 500 Gb HDD, 4.8lbs. This GPU is even slower than 525, but I believe it should run quite nicely still. This one is a bit heavier than the first one too, strangely.

next we dip into slightly slower i3 processors
MSI X460 - this is exactly the same as the first MSI, but the processor is i3-2310, instead of i5.

Overall as you can see the best specs laptop (the first MSI) is at the lower end of your budget, because 14" laptops are typically no more than $1k, and even out of those that do hit $999 price tag could be either needlessly overpriced or offering features you might not need.

One concern I have about the MSI laptops is that brand is generally regarded as gaming laptops, so the battery power might not be too awesome on it, unless you configure it to use Optimus properly. Other than that, quality wise MSI are among the top with Asus and Sager.

Hope that gives you some variety, I know I've only used one website, you might be able to find similar hardware for better prices elsewhere and by different manufacturers.

 

[jkmatrix77]

Thanks guys, this is some quality info. The problem on my old laptop is that when I moved videos from my video-camera to edit I could never actually watch them. It would stutter every few seconds so I'm looking for something with more power. I've been looking at the lenovos but I wanted to see what else might be out there for cheaper or better in the same range.

 

[jkmatrix77]

Best answer selected by jkmatrix77.

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

How about this Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 Laptop (085525U), 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM (2.00GHz), 14.0" HD Display, 8GB DDR3, $899.00?
http/www.dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?type=id&q=d277660&ru=28907652
Seems nice choice. It might serve your needs well. Good luck for u.

This is a FOURTH time I see you advertising this laptop in completely inappropriate places. Moderators, please take note.

 

[AntiZig]

How about this Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 Laptop (085525U), 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM (2.00GHz), 14.0" HD Display, 8GB DDR3, $899.00?
http/www.dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?type=id&q=d277660&ru=28907652
Seems nice choice. It might serve your needs well. Good luck for u.

Hmm that one is even better, for only $50 more you get i7 and GT550M + 2GbRAM. That's a great deal!

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Hmm that one is even better, for only $50 more you get i7 and GT550M + 2GbRAM. That's a great deal!

Thing is, he spams that link everywhere. He suggested it to someone who's been looking for Ultra/High settings in Crysis on a gaming laptop (other people were more sensible, suggesting Asus ROG or MSI gaming series), mind you...

 

[AntiZig]

so in your opinion 550M cannot handle crysis on high? or is it because it's not a "gaming" class laptop? if it's the latter, then you are a fool, sir.

if it's the first part, then



I'm more than sure those benchies were run on more than 1366x768, so the suggested laptop would be able to handle crysis on high at 30fps easily. The only difference those gaming laptops have over lenovo is a better gpu in the realm of GTX.

So, maybe before you go jumping at people, you should look at what they are saying...

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

so in your opinion 550M cannot handle crysis on high? or is it because it's not a "gaming" class laptop? if it's the latter, then you are a fool, sir.

if it's the first part, then

[url]http/img822.imageshack.us/img822/7466/unledlvn.png[/URL]

I'm more than sure those benchies were run on more than 1366x768, so the suggested laptop would be able to handle crysis on high at 30fps easily. The only difference those gaming laptops have over lenovo is a better gpu in the realm of GTX.

So, maybe before you go jumping at people, you should look at what they are saying...

Facepalm. I know what I'm talking about; even a 5870M has troubles with Crysis on high settings. That, and in that thread I mentioned the OP clearly asked for something more, if you read his post...

Take a look at his messages list: he's been spamming Lenovo from dealstudio everywhere and his messages look somewhat autogenerated... if he'd at least post back and explain himself, I'd easily GTFO.

 

[AntiZig]

Well maybe he has some affiliation with the dealstudio website then. Idk, if you feel that his posting isn't help there's a Report button on every post where you can type your reasoning for reporting...

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

Well maybe he has some affiliation with the dealstudio website then. Idk, if you feel that his posting isn't help there's a Report button on every post where you can type your reasoning for reporting...

I know that, but I REALLY want to know his motives first =) Maybe he meant no evil?