New laptop for B-school

[salvachn]

Hi,

I am about to go to B school, and I need a laptop for my courses there. I want one that has a backlit keyboard and decent performance.

1. What is your budget?
Rs. 60,000 max

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13 - 14 inches

3. What screen resolution do you want?
1366x768

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable

5. How much battery life do you need?
The higher the better. Min 6 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)?
No.

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

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
320 GB should suffice

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

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3 years at least

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DVD Writer (but BD-ROM would also be nice within my budget :-D)

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.
Prefer Dell/Lenovo. Have had battery issues with HP (battery goes kaput within a year or so)

13. What country do you live in?
India

 

[WR2]

Hello salvachn;

@ Dell/India Dell XPS 14 Laptop Rs.45,400 before options
Core i3-380M 2.53GHz CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HDD, 14" 1366x768 LCD w/ Nvidia Geforce GT 420M / Optimus graphics.

The Dell Backlit Keyboard with Touchpad is an option for an extra Rs.838

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Dell XPS review

 

[WR2]

5. How much battery life do you need?
The higher the better. Min 6 hours

4 hours is more realistic with the standard battery.
If you need six hours you'll want the heavier 9 cell battery or a spare 6 cell battery.

 

[salvachn]

WR2: Will it be light enough to carry around? Also I'd prefer a rugged one. My classmate (in undergraduation) had an XPS, but the screen hinge broke off within a month :-(

 

[WR2]

Yes; it will be light enough to carry around. About 5.35lbs or 2.43 kg

For something more rugged? For that you want to look at the business class models.
You'll lose the backlit keyboard option.
Vostro 3400 Laptop 2.16kg/4.76lb with 6-cell battery. About the same as the Dell XPS 14 with the higher capacity 9 cell battery. You can save a bit of weight by getting an 'Air Bay' that lets you take out the DVD drive when not needed.

 

[sync_nine]

If you want a loooong battery life, go for atom based laptops. You can't run games on it at all, but its more than good enough for college work. My girl friend has one and it lasts 5-6 hours on normal operation.
Its best for portability and price is about Rs.30,000
http/www.acer.co.in/ac/en/IN/content/series/aspireoned255
Acer is a good brand. There are a lot of service centers in India and parts are not very expensive. I have been using an Acer for about 2 years now. I've had no problems.

Guideline. If you are buying in India, go for only 3 brands. Dell, Toshiba or Acer. Don't go for HP, their configurations are *** and they have a lot of heat issues. Also not Compaq.

 

[salvachn]

How about Sony? More specifically SB16FG shown here: http/www.sony.co.in/product/vpcsb16fg

 

[WR2]

The Sony SB series (small business) would be a good choice. I'd put them in the same category as Dell Latitude or Lenovo Thinkpad.
That model is nicely equipped with Core i5-2410M Sandy Bridge CPU & even HD 6470M graphics card (switchable to save battery life). USB 3.0, HDMI and Bluetooth too.
Lightweight @ 1.7kg. Battery life spec is 6hrs which probably means about 4hrs being used with WiFi on and websurfing.

 

[jsrudd]

Have you thought about a Thinkpad Edge?

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/products/professional-grade/thinkpad/thinkpad-edge/index.html

If you want something more rugged then you can go with the T-Series, but make sure you actually need things like a roll cage and continuous hard-drive monitoring.

 

[WR2]

I found a review of the Sony VAIO SB Series (VPC SB16FG) 2nd Generation Intel Core laptop down @ http/www.pcworld.idg.com.au
It got a very good review by the website Expert Rating and a PCWorld Best Buy recommendation.
But the reviews by actual owners were less kind - knocking off a few star. You can read their comments.

 

[salvachn]

I found a review of the Sony VAIO SB Series (VPC SB16FG) 2nd Generation Intel Core laptop down @ http/www.pcworld.idg.com.au
It got a very good review by the website Expert Rating and a PCWorld Best Buy recommendation.
But the reviews by actual owners were less kind - knocking off a few star. You can read their comments.

Went to a Sony store tonight, saw the design makes the laptop really hot - the vents for air are at the bottom rather than the sides (as is normal). Struck off my list. Does the MacBook Pro 13 run Windows 7 properly with an USB mouse? That laptop is my last resort - in fact my dad insists on my buying that.

 

[salvachn]

Best answer selected by salvachn.

 

[salvachn]

Thank you all, I got a Sony SB16 today for Rs. 57000 (US$1275) at a Sony store. Need to use it for a fortnight, then I'll get a coolpad if it is really hot. Tried some media encoding + GIMP work + audio playing in the BG for about 2 hours. Was not hot enough to worry about. Is getting Sony's two year extended cover a good idea?

 

[Yrrejfelarca2011]

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