In the Market for a Laptop - Down to 3

Pyroflea

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Mar 18, 2007
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Within the next month or so, I'm looking to purchase a laptop. I've had quite extensive experience with desktops, but this will be my first laptop. I'm heading off to University as of September, so I figure it'd be nice to have a computer that I can bring with me :)

Anyways, I've searched quite a bit, and narrowed it down to 3 that fit my criteria. I just can't seem to narrow it down further, so I'm looking for some advice.

1) ASUS K52F-A1
2) MSI CR620-033US
3) MSI CR620-031US

The first criteria I had was price; it had to be under $800 before taxes and whatnot. All three of these fit that. Next, it had to be moderately powerful. These are all running dual cores, and 4gb of DDR3.

As you can see, these are very similar, hence my problems deciding on a model. The CR620-033US appeals to me because of the BluRay Drive, but having a PS3, I'm not sure how much I'd use that. The K52F-A1 has the highest processor speed, but the CR620-031US has the Core i5 430m, which has the turbo feature, allowing it to clock from 2.26GHz to 2.53GHz.

Honestly, I just don't know where to go from here, and I'm just looking for some input. I'm wanting to get it from NCIX as I will be living in Vancouver, which is where NCIX is situated, so any warranty issues should they arise can easily be taken care of.

Thanks,


- Jesse
 
Just be aware that NCIX won't be handling any warranty work after the first 30 days. (check the details at the bottom of each NCIX page.

You'll want to double check and see if the MSI laptops do indeed have a 3 year warranty vs 1 yr for the Asus as the NCIX site appears to claim.

 
Look under the FAQs. They list the test and rating criterias. When they use external reviews they use some subjective license to try and apply consistency across the board.
It's never perfect of course and someone's 70% might be another's 90%.
 

Pyroflea

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Alright, I'll be sure to check that out. From what I've gathered on other websites, the bloatware included can slow it down by as much as 60% compared to a clean install, so I'm assuming that plays a HUGE role in their ratings. I'd most likely just do a clean install anyways, as bloatware is evil :)

Thanks,


- Jesse
 
Actually I'd be hugely surprised if the bloatware slows it down even 10%.

Sure, bloatware IS evil, but its not half the problem a lot of people try and make it out to be. I think it would be wrong to assume that any bloatware issues play ANY role in what ratings a laptop gets during a review. Most reviewers know you can just shut down any running bloatware and clean up that possibility of 10% performance hit. It's not even necessary to un-install the bloatware, just so its not running and taking up system resources.

I'd suggest its a lot better idea to just un-install the bloatware vs taking the time, trouble (and a chance of a botched re-install) than going through a clean install. Still not convinced? Partition the hard drive and do a clean install to the new partition and have a dual boot setup. Now do a performance test between the two versions and see what the difference, if any, is between just having the bloatware shut down and never have been installed.