Is there a better laptop for me?

triad

Honorable
May 22, 2013
5
0
10,510
I currently would like to update my 2005 laptop, Windows XP (I know I'm ancient as hell right now).

I have looked around on my own and have come to the conclusion that this laptop would be the best: The Lenovo ideapad y500.

Lenovo Ideapad y500

Should I get this laptop, or do you recommend something better than this.

1. What is your budget? Prefer under 1500 can go up to 2000

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?15"+ preferred

3. What screen resolution do you want? FHD 1080p, (I believe its the 1980xsomething for the highest one correct?)

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? probably going to be a Portable laptop replacement (replacing 2006 laptop)

5. How much battery life do you need? Best I can get but I'd say 90% of the time would be on charger

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)?

Minecraft, Gamecube Emulator Dolphin, basically anything avalable through steam download, gmod, half-life,conter-strike. HIGH settings would be wonderful if able.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop?

General Purpose (Internet,Work/School Work,etc) Adobe Suite ie: Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, Fireworks etc,Sony Vegas, Music, Video,etc

Generally the laptop will be mostly for multimedia/internet and playing games when able. Being able to play games on good graphics/settings would be HUGE bonus.


8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? I'd prefer 1TB with some sort of SSD

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. I would prefer from a manufacture website rather then an outside one.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? As long as possible

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? CD/DVD Read/Burner (unsure if correct technical term).....Bluray would be nice for potential possible fun projects but in no way needed, Like the lenovo it has the ultrabay option so something like that would be nice to be able to switch out a fan or extra storage and an optical drive.

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 only have personal experience with HP and Toshiba so I'm not bias but would prefer a brand that specializes at multimedia/gaming laptops (similar to the Lenovo shown above)

13. What country do you live in? United States

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. Also I'm not sure about windows 8 if I really want to deal with it, if a possible downgrade to Windows 7 is possible that would be great




ADDITIONAL QUESTION:
1. Can I do better for this price?
2. Is there anything that compares to it?

 
Solution


For about the same price you can get the Clevo P151EM/Sager NP9130. It has a better graphics card, and can be upgraded from the 670M to the 670MX depending on where you buy (although Sager has discontinued their NP9130, it's still supported and you can still find the P151EM).

The drawback is that it has less RAM than the Lenovo (8 GB vs 16 GB) and no ultrabay for SLI. Also, it may not come with Windows unless you purchase that separately. Other than that, the specs are comparable. That's the closest I see as far as performance and value, but the lack of Windows on the Clevo would bump up the price if you needed/wanted to purchase a...

RaisingTheBarHD

Honorable
May 8, 2013
35
0
10,590
Hello,

I have been trying to find a laptop that would work with your requirements, so i looked and for the Fang III on Cyberpower pc which you can upgrade some more and you would still be under the $2000 mark. With this you should be able to play Crysis 3 on Medium/High, Bf3 on High/Ultra. Most of the games you are saying you will play wont require a high GPU so this should work well.

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Fang_III_-_Taipan_Gaming_Notebook/

-Jason
 

Potato13

Honorable
May 30, 2012
7
0
10,510
I was buying a laptop 3 months ago and I picked up something that was not an Ultrabook because it had a GT 640M LE that could be flashed to 650M speeds but was still a very light laptop. I returned it because it was loud while gaming and it was a lot thicker than other 13" laptops. The Ultrabook next to it just felt so much better with it's 1080p display and super light weight. I am going to buy a laptop when integrated graphics are stronger. Also, the new android powered $200 laptops will probably bring down prices of the higher spec'd laptops too. So wait till that happens and Haswell comes out.

TLDR; Wait. Prices will definitely drop and touchscreen will become mainstream and the options will be much better.
 
Check out Sager/Clevo units and MSI laptops. Asus makes some good gaming systems as well, and although they're not as good as far as 'bang for the buck' ratios go compared to the Sager/Clevo and MSI systems, they tend to run quieter and the aesthetics are really nice.

Even with that, the Lenovo Y - series is a great value right now.
 

triad

Honorable
May 22, 2013
5
0
10,510
See I like the options that you guys are throwing at me. But compared to the lenovo that I'm comparing all these too, is it generally better, or would I expect the same things from different models, for what I'm asking for?
 


The edge that the Lenovo has right now is a new 750M GPU in it. It's not top tier graphics, but it's definitely good and better than many of the 6xxM cards. Otherwise, you'll be getting comparable performance and build quality. Of course, everyone has their preference though.
 

triad

Honorable
May 22, 2013
5
0
10,510
Honestly when it comes to performance its a big deal and not. I would like my laptop to have the capability to play battlefield or call of duty, but I just want that to be a standard of whether the laptop is good or not. Is there anything around the price of the lenovo that gives better performance for this much?
 


For about the same price you can get the Clevo P151EM/Sager NP9130. It has a better graphics card, and can be upgraded from the 670M to the 670MX depending on where you buy (although Sager has discontinued their NP9130, it's still supported and you can still find the P151EM).

The drawback is that it has less RAM than the Lenovo (8 GB vs 16 GB) and no ultrabay for SLI. Also, it may not come with Windows unless you purchase that separately. Other than that, the specs are comparable. That's the closest I see as far as performance and value, but the lack of Windows on the Clevo would bump up the price if you needed/wanted to purchase a copy, whereas it's included in the Lenovo's price.
 
Solution