Looking for a laptop under US$ 1100

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smilingbird

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I've searched the forum, but I could not find the exact same thing (most of them are unresolved).. I'm looking for a new laptop, and here's my criteria:

m in the market for a new mainstream laptop.

1) Budget: below $1100

2) Size: 15" - 16" screen

3) Screen: prefer non-glossy, must be full HD (not 1366x768), confused about LED and LCD

4) Portability: I don't lug my laptop around so much, but I'm not sure if I want something like ASUS G55. Just way to heavy for me if I do have to carry my laptop around (plus it has a very short battery life).

5) Battery life: Like I said, this new laptop will probably spend most of its time on my desk, but I think 3-4 hours on full charge is desired (standard usage, MS office, browsing, NOT gaming).

6) Games: sometimes (Assassin's creed, witcher 2, civilization 5,etc.), doesn't have to be High. Medium is what I usually go with

7) Tasks: mainly for school, but like I said, I game sometimes

8) Storage capacity: at least 500 GB (I think that's enough for me)

9) considerations:

ASUS N56VZ-RB71 -> http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0394503

Lenovo Y580 -> https://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=457&Code=209945U&category_id=AC523278A4F13F27A84F5F5622D1AC7A

MSI GE60 -> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152339

10) Laptop life: at least 5 years. I intend to keep it forever :p

11) Optical drive: don't really use it

12) Brand preference: I heard ASUS has the best build quality (the reason why I'm leaning more towards the ASUS laptop). However, I've received mixed reviews on Lenovo and MSI. Some say the IdeaPad line doesn't have a good build quality (only the ThinkPad does). and I'm not experienced with MSI quality.

13) Country: United States (USA)

14) Other considerations:
I also put a special emphasis on build quality. I don't want to deal with customer service, and I don't think I can spend the time (with school and stuff). I don't abuse my electronics (other than gaming), so I wish this new laptop would last for as long as possible (forever , at least 5 years).

I'm not in a hurry, so you could suggest me to wait for a better deal (if you think that's going to happen, a price drop).


what would you recommend?
 

smilingbird

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Thank you for the suggestion, but I think the one (Y580) they have on Lenovo.com provides a much better spec at a comparable price. 1920x1080 instead of 1366 x 768 (the one on newegg).

and do you think it's a good deal to sacrifice overall HDD speed for SSD (750GB HDD @ 5400 rpm +64GB SSD instead of 500GB @ 7200 rpm)? I don't mind not having the addition 250 GB, but not sure if the SSD is actually worth it.

also how long do you think the Y580 will last compared to the other I mentioned? do you have any personal experience with the IdeaPad (or the other brands, ASUS & MSI)?

Thanks a lot for helping ^_^
 

smilingbird

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Well, for 1100$ you can get the NP9130 with GTX 670M and this is the highest performance you'll get:
http://www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/gaming-laptops-models/sager-np9130-p151em1-15-6-gaming-laptop-gtx-670m/
GTX 670M+FullHD+I5-3210M+16GB (free upgrade)+Hybrid HDD

I don't know what are its flaws as there is no in-depth review yet, but I guess it might something like higher heat and noise than the GTX 660M solutions and also higher than the higher end Sagers (NP9150/70)

For 1200$ you can even get the GTX 580M with MSI barebone, but the MSI barebone is of a lesser quaity


Yeah, I stumbled upon the Sager/Clevo in my research, but I never heard of it before, so I shied away from their laptops. what do you think of them?

budget constraint.. hate it! :lol:
 

hpfreak

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I'd certainly choose the SSD option.

Yes, there will be a significant performance increase if you use an SSD. If you need storage over performance, then go with the regular HDD. But you'll be getting a little more juice out of everything.. including the frame rate on games if you go with an SSD.
 

smilingbird

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I see.. I guess you learn something new every day. haha.. but could you define what you mean by the 'best'? do you mean that in every aspect relative to the other brands? how long does a sager laptop usually last??
 

smilingbird

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1. I think that's a better offer:
http://www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/lenovo-ideapad-y580-15-6-gaming-laptop-209945u-i7-3610qm-cpu-gtx-660m-2gb-gddr5-gpu-8gb-ddr3-1600mhz-500gb-hdd-fullhd-display-999-lenovo-site/

FullHD screen, in my opinion, has higher value in that case.
You can buy yourself a 50-60GB mSSD and install it.

yes. that's what I saw on the lenovo site..

---

so you get more performance from SSD. I thought SSD only gives you significant boost on initial boot, not the overall performance like gaming.. care to enlighten me? :D (like an article I can read)
 

smilingbird

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wow! now, that's what I've been looking for.. any suggestion on where to buy (I found xoticpc, or something like that) and which model to buy (if it's customizable, which spec or upgrade should I get)?
 

smilingbird

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where did I write 'best'? they just have very good offers for high end gaming. They have the best performance per price ration.

About your SSD question: it won't help to your games' performance almost at all as the games usually use the RAM. However, the OS operations and other application will be much faster. The OS uses many small files and the SSD is perfect for it so besides booting faster, it also doing everything else which is file-based faster


oh I was referring to hpfreak, sorry for that. do you agree with hpfreak though that sager will last me long enough?

I really appreciate the explanation.. :)
 

smilingbird

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We can't predict. If you are not gentle, it might get problems, you know. Also, there are things like heat and staff. You should buy some kind of cooler

so I checked out sager models. I guess they are just out of my budget. the junky77 mentioned above is without OS. I'd like to have windows as my OS, and all-in would cost more than 1100.. T_T
I think this is another reason I didn't consider them in the first place..

oh I already have a cooler. I guess partially it's what have kept my current laptop alive, and I never abused it intentionally..
 

computernewb

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i just bought a sager 6165 with a i7 upgrade for about 1100$ and its awesome. 1920 x 1080 and i play sc2 and diablo 3 on high settings. sc2 actually recommended that i set all settings on ultra. and this is with a gt 650m. I play battlefield 3 on med- high settings as well. no dead pixels, very sturdy and doesnt feel cheap. came within 3 days of order (but i live pretty close to them) and free shipping in the US.

The only odd thing about the 6165 is that the speakers are on the bottom of the laptop. However it doesnt really affect the quality of the sound because the laptop is slightly elevated by half inch stubs on the bottom.

overall its a great laptop
 

smilingbird

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oh really?? but then, if I use a cooler, the sound will get weird, right??

besides i7 upgrade, what else did you get? can you confirm the weight and the battery life (browsing, non-gaming use)?
 

computernewb

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yea a cooler might be a problem. not sure cause i dont use one. The speakers are on the bottom corners, so i dont know if the fans will be near them. I also got a free hard drive upgrade. 4gb ssd 500 gb hard drive hybrid. Everything else was standard.

The weight is 6 lbs and i havent completely drained the battery. But i was watching streaming videos and browsing the web for about 2 and a half hours and the battery was around half. So the full battery is probably double that.
 

smilingbird

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Is the display glossy or matte? did you take advantage of the 3% discount?
 

smilingbird

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I see. thanks a lot! oh, and I think if you buy from xoticpc, you can get 3% discount.. I tried configuring the np6165, and it came out well below 1100 with the specs I want (matte display, i7). the only thing that concerns me is the speaker though.. I wonder what's their consideration to set it that way..
 

smilingbird

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I would prefer to spend money on the screen than on the I7. The I5 is fast enough according to benchmarks and it has 2 HT cores too.

I'd also prefer to spend money on some nice speakers than I7


3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i5-3210M (2.5-3.1GHz, 3MB Intel® Smart Cache, 35W Max TDP)

3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3610QM (2.3GHz - 3.3GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP)

what is the Smart Cache for??

any recommendation for a great speaker for 70 bucks? :)
 

smilingbird

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a smart cache is cache that has at least one degree in one from the life science schools. He is smarter and more aware of some aspects other caches are not and he could advise you in important matters that may come up in life.

maybe JBL creature III? don't know, it's long time I haven't updated myself in this section

:lol:
JBL has a purty good review on amazon.. I might check that out later..

I just realized that for Sager NP6165 the vent is on the side. how can I use a cooler for this model?
 
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