New Laptop for Home use: which budget/characteristics for this scopes?

[martinsboh]

So guys here we go. In the following weeks I want to buy a new laptop that may replace my current one that is definitely too slow and noisy. Below I copied-pasted-answered the form to orientate better the choice.

Basically I need a new portable pc for the everyday use of Office Suite, streaming Netflix/Sky on a bigger TV screen and sporadically some small programming.
I would need Windows for some applications but I will most probably create a Linux dual boot since 95% of the time I spend over it.

I would like to have it fast and silent, so I really want a SSD disk (is anything else to take in consideration?). I don't care about portability since it will probably stay 90% of the time in the same place, but if it were a bit lighter than my actual one (2.7kg) it would be nice.

gaming: is not a target. I don't usually play videogames and I'm not interested doing on a laptop (I'll may get a console or a PC in the future for this). It would be nice if the laptop could run some old videogames (Halflife2, Cod4, Hitman Blood Money), but it has low priority.

Things that I don't know/need help:
> What could be a suitable budget for this?
> is Amazon a good choice for laptops? I was thinking about trying to find a good offer during the cyber monday period.. otherwise I would stick to some german websites
> Monitor resolution: currently I've got a 1366x768 Monitor.. I don't know if FHD is necessary or not.. does it make such a big difference on a daily use? Movies and videogames will be almost always streamed to my flatscreen TV, I would just sporadically watch netflix over it

Now the full list:

1. What is your budget? Originally I wanted to stick around 450-500€, but If I need I could set it higher. Since I don't use too much the laptop and I don't play videogames, I wasn't really like to spend 1K EUros though

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15" absolutely. At the job we have a 13" and it's way too small for me

3. What screen resolution do you want? currently I've got a 1366x768 Monitor.. I don't know if FHD is necessary or not.. does it make such a big difference on a daily use? Movies and videogames will be almost always streamed to my flatscreen TV, I would just sporadically watch netflix over it

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Portability is not a relevant requirement

5. How much battery life do you need? Is not a relevant requirement, but if 3-4 hours would be nice

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)? This has very low priority. Although if possible Id like to play fluently old games such as HL2/Doom3/Cod4

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? Office and Email. Streaming Netflix/Sky over another flatscreen. Sometimes programming or using gimp as beginner though


8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? SSD, 256gb would be nice

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
maybe amazon.de. otherwise alternate.de or notebookbilliger.de

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? well, my last one is 7 years old.. at least 3 years I would say

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? It would be nice to have a DVD reader, since I still own some DVDs or CD Data

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 really want to avoid ACER for bad past experiences

13. What country do you live in? Germany

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

 

[GreyCatz]

So guys here we go. In the following weeks I want to buy a new laptop that may replace my current one that is definitely too slow and noisy. Below I copied-pasted-answered the form to orientate better the choice.

Basically I need a new portable pc for the everyday use of Office Suite, streaming Netflix/Sky on a bigger TV screen and sporadically some small programming.
I would need Windows for some applications but I will most probably create a Linux dual boot since 95% of the time I spend over it.

I would like to have it fast and silent, so I really want a SSD disk (is anything else to take in consideration?). I don't care about portability since it will probably stay 90% of the time in the same place, but if it were a bit lighter than my actual one (2.7kg) it would be nice.

gaming: is not a target. I don't usually play videogames and I'm not interested doing on a laptop (I'll may get a console or a PC in the future for this). It would be nice if the laptop could run some old videogames (Halflife2, Cod4, Hitman Blood Money), but it has low priority.

Things that I don't know/need help:
> What could be a suitable budget for this?
> is Amazon a good choice for laptops? I was thinking about trying to find a good offer during the cyber monday period.. otherwise I would stick to some german websites
> Monitor resolution: currently I've got a 1366x768 Monitor.. I don't know if FHD is necessary or not.. does it make such a big difference on a daily use? Movies and videogames will be almost always streamed to my flatscreen TV, I would just sporadically watch netflix over it

Now the full list:

1. What is your budget? Originally I wanted to stick around 450-500€, but If I need I could set it higher. Since I don't use too much the laptop and I don't play videogames, I wasn't really like to spend 1K EUros though

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15" absolutely. At the job we have a 13" and it's way too small for me

3. What screen resolution do you want? currently I've got a 1366x768 Monitor.. I don't know if FHD is necessary or not.. does it make such a big difference on a daily use? Movies and videogames will be almost always streamed to my flatscreen TV, I would just sporadically watch netflix over it

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Portability is not a relevant requirement

5. How much battery life do you need? Is not a relevant requirement, but if 3-4 hours would be nice

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)? This has very low priority. Although if possible Id like to play fluently old games such as HL2/Doom3/Cod4

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? Office and Email. Streaming Netflix/Sky over another flatscreen. Sometimes programming or using gimp as beginner though


8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? SSD, 256gb would be nice

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
maybe amazon.de. otherwise alternate.de or notebookbilliger.de

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? well, my last one is 7 years old.. at least 3 years I would say

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? It would be nice to have a DVD reader, since I still own some DVDs or CD Data

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 really want to avoid ACER for bad past experiences

13. What country do you live in? Germany

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

Grüss Gott, Martin:

I'm not too familiar with German web sites so I'm going by Amazon DE.

XMG 15.6" at €600:
https/www.amazon.de/XMG-A516-mkr-ADVANCED-i7-6700HQ-beleuchtet/dp/B01BOS0BV4/ref=sr_1_7?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1479582230&sr=1-7
I have never heard of this brand before, but it does look like the bargain of the year. Check the specs and decide for yourself (quad-core Skylake i7, 16GBs of RAM, a 2GB GTX 965M using GDDR5). Maybe you know more about this company. It's difficult to find another laptop that can match these specs at €600, but if you can live with slightly inferior performance, then take a look at these:

Toshiba Satellite 15.6" at €600:
https/www.amazon.de/Toshiba-Satellite-L50-C-275-Notebook-i5-6200U/dp/B018HW1OFW/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1479583232&sr=1-5
The Satellite offers an i5 Skylake CPU and a dedicated 2GB GTX 930M GPU (using DDR3, though). With a similar price as the XMG, it is inferior in some respects, but less exotic.

ASUS 15.6" at €488:
https/www.amazon.de/Asus-GL550JK-CN391H-Notebook-Blu-ray-schwarz/dp/B00KD4JQNA/ref=sr_1_91?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1479583786&sr=1-91
This ASUS might be something of a hidden gem with its 4GB GTX 850M GPU (again, DDR3). The specs are fine, if a bit 'last-year's-model' - e.g. the 4th generation i7 and Windows 8. But at €488 it certainly is worth considering.

Best of luck,
GreyCatz.

 

[martinsboh]

Grüss Gott, Martin:

I'm not too familiar with German web sites so I'm going by Amazon DE.

XMG 15.6" at €600:
https/www.amazon.de/XMG-A516-mkr-ADVANCED-i7-6700HQ-beleuchtet/dp/B01BOS0BV4/ref=sr_1_7?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1479582230&sr=1-7
I have never heard of this brand before, but it does look like the bargain of the year. Check the specs and decide for yourself (quad-core Skylake i7, 16GBs of RAM, a 2GB GTX 965M using GDDR5). Maybe you know more about this company. It's difficult to find another laptop that can match these specs at €600, but if you can live with slightly inferior performance, then take a look at these:

Toshiba Satellite 15.6" at €600:
https/www.amazon.de/Toshiba-Satellite-L50-C-275-Notebook-i5-6200U/dp/B018HW1OFW/ref=sr_1_5?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1479583232&sr=1-5
The Satellite offers an i5 Skylake CPU and a dedicated 2GB GTX 930M GPU (using DDR3, though). With a similar price as the XMG, it is inferior in some respects, but less exotic.

ASUS 15.6" at €488:
https/www.amazon.de/Asus-GL550JK-CN391H-Notebook-Blu-ray-schwarz/dp/B00KD4JQNA/ref=sr_1_91?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1479583786&sr=1-91
This ASUS might be something of a hidden gem with its 4GB GTX 850M GPU (again, DDR3). The specs are fine, if a bit 'last-year's-model' - e.g. the 4th generation i7 and Windows 8. But at €488 it certainly is worth considering.

Best of luck,
GreyCatz.

Hi GreyCatz,

thank you for your reply. actually, I'd like to go for amazon only in case I find a real deal (I was monitoring these days) over it, otherwise I'd warmly prefer to remain on one of those two websites because of several reasons (they have starting from today 15% discount on all laptops).

I have a question for you: I've seen that the laptop you were suggesting me have all of them a powerful GPU, which is actually not really my target. Would the integrated GPU of this laptop for example (which is btw over my budget) make run the 2-3 videogames I mentioned above? Grafik: Intel HD Graphics 620
https/www.notebooksbilliger.de/dell+vostro+15+5568+business+alugehaeuse+

 

[GreyCatz]

Hello, Martin:

The Dell in your link is a very attractive machine with great specs. Expensive, yes, but hopefully not prohibitively so. The integrated HD 620 is far more powerful than we both can imagine, and judging by tests online it easily compares to a 2GB GTX 940 card. I can't guarantee it will play all your games, but I would be surprised if it didn't.

I know €679 is rather more that you indicated, but unlike the ASUS from Amazon DE, the Dell has the newest and most efficient CPU and only weighs 2 kg.

It's a difficult one...

Cheers,
GreyCatz.