Laptop for casuals stuff and decent resolution? :3

Dansauce

Honorable
Feb 12, 2012
6
0
10,510
Hi :3 I'm gonna have to get a laptop soon-ish, since my previous one broke and it's kinda of a necessity as using my iPhone for most of my tasks is starting to really get to me. I was gonna keep that laptop will the MBP's refresh their systems with Ivy Bridge processors, or perhaps the refresh after that, so right now, I just need a laptop I can use :<

1. What is your budget?
About 900USD. I wouldn't mind going over the budget if they offer decent enough financing options, then perhaps I miiiight go a teency bit over the 1k mark. Preferably though, I'd like to keep it under 1.3k$ (Singapore dollars)


2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
14-16"

3. What screen resolution do you want?
I don't mind THAT much? But idealy, I'd love something with a resolution I could multi-task well in. So something larger than 1366x768 would be wonderful.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
A middleground of it? I go around a fair bit, and I usually like having my laptop with me.

5. How much battery life do you need?
I'm not picky, but obviously the longer the better, so that there's no rush to find power ports around Singapore. A minimum of 2 and a half, to be reasonable here :L

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)?
Yep. Starcraft 2, League of Legends, thinking of getting GW2 and D3 when they're out. I'm not looking for anything heavy, and I don't mind playing these at Med.
Old laptop had a GT330M, and it sufficed for the above stated bar GW2, which is yet to be determined.


7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
I watch a good bit of movies, and I usually get the highest quality versions of them. Skype, internet browsing and I write, so word processing too :)

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
500? Preferably more, but not entirely necessary.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
I've considered going over my budget slightly for the Dell XPS series laptops, but that's about it, and it's mainly because they have a screen upgrade and a decent enough card. Oooh and a backlit keyboard D: (the ATi HD6630M)

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
After a MBP refresh or two? :3 So... 2 years?

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
A Blu-ray drive would suffice, not a burner. Most likely I'd want to burn DVD's tops and that doesn't happen often, but as for Blu-Ray, it's usually when I rent movies. In the same breath, a Blu-ray drive isn't really necessary.

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.
Now this I'm not too sure of, because everyone's had their own share of bad experiences with companies, it's hard to gauge a decent brand to pick

13. What country do you live in?
Singapore
- Online stores don't really exist here, and if it does, customization is really limited, which I find rather annoying, so my only option is to go to different places and make a lot of calls to get what I want.


14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I have a thing for backlit keyboards. I'm not much of an aesthetically inclined person, but a backlit keyboard sounds nice, not necessary though. For example; the Dell XPS lines, which at the moment I'm considering.

-I'd prefer matte screens, though, question; I've been told that I'd be better off getting a laptop with a nromal one, then instead, investing in a screen protector that has the anti-glare qualities. Is that true?

-Linux or Windows. I'd love if it there's an option of no OS (if it's Windows) like the way Dell offers to install Linux instead. If it shaved a nice bit off the price, sure
Generally though, I alternate between the two.
 

Dansauce

Honorable
Feb 12, 2012
6
0
10,510
Hi there :)
I've noticed :< Though, I could always pump out an hour and 20-ish minutes whilst on World of Warcraft with the older laptop, and about 2-3 hours while doing casual shtuff, so I figured asking for 2 and a half would be reasonable for something that would have entry level GPUs :3
Though, I have heard of graphics switching, usually between the Intel 3000 HD and whichever GPU that's with it. So I suppose achieving that won't be too difficult?

The Lenovo sounds AMAZING. How am I gonna get it to this side of the world? D:
In all honesty, it's something that i'd settle for, instead of it being an ideal choice. I just have a slight aversion to those resolutions with screen sizes larger than 14"


And no, not soon :) I want it much later in the future when IB CPU's are in one, and perhaps a decent graphics card with it :) I wouldn't mind iOS though D:
 

Dansauce

Honorable
Feb 12, 2012
6
0
10,510
They don't unfortunately. The odd thing here is that most of the manufacturers don't sell their stuff online, bar Hp and Dell to my current knowledge, which means most of the laptop's are pre-configured and usually come with stuff I really don't need, like a 3D monitor or things along those lines.
Sure, even certain laptops are unavailable when compared with the site back home in Ireland. So choice wise, I'm gonna have to do a LOT of digging to find something remotely decent.

What do you reckon with going for the XPS 15? The GT 540m seems sufficient, because anything over the GT330M is a nice upgrade for me, and so is the 8GB of RAM coupled along with an i7, a 1920x1080 screen and and and, a backlit keyboard xD. It's gonna cost me around 1.1k USD. Is that reasonabe or could I get something better?