New Laptop for my Wife

[toddcan]

1. What is your budget? $800-$900

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

3. What screen resolution do you want? Typical

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

5. How much battery life do you need? Not Important

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)?
StarcraftII (High)
Call of Duty Modern Warfare (Medium-High)

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Video Editing (main reason for this laptop)

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
750GB-1TB

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 yrs
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Standard
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.
Not Mac
13. What country do you live in?
Canada
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Looking for dedicated graphics card, and min 6GB RAM. Windows 7, not 8. She does a lot of windows moview maker type applications for her job - snipping video from other sources, having 3-4 video windows open, etc etc. It bogs down her 3 year old Asus Dual Core right now, which has integrated video and 2GB Ram. I'm really thinking I need the dedicated video card and 6GB ram.

 

[Amartya]

http/h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/ho/WF04a/321957-321957-3329744-64354-64354.html?dnr=1&jumpid=re_r552_ca/en/hho/psg/landing/consumer_notebooks

look at these from hp

 

[Amartya]

A great device from saegar check it out has 8GB RAM and decent 2GB graphics from NVDIA all that you need

 

[azathoth]

Currently there is a special sale on the 1920x1080p version of the Lenovo Y580.
It has a Quad core i7-3610QM processor, and a beefy GTX660m Graphics chip.

As a bonus it comes with a blu-ray Disc reader. All this fits just into your budget at $899.99.

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=AC523278A4F13F27A84F5F5622D1AC7A

You will not find a laptop with better specifications than this without paying upwards of at least $1250.

 

[Amartya]

Currently there is a special sale on the 1920x1080p version of the Lenovo Y580.
It has a Quad core i7-3610QM processor, and a beefy GTX660m Graphics chip.

As a bonus it comes with a blu-ray Disc reader. All this fits just into your budget at $899.99.

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=AC523278A4F13F27A84F5F5622D1AC7A

You will not find a laptop with better specifications than this without paying upwards of at least $1250.

Great find!!!....Really the best device for this price range

 

[toddcan]

Sweet find on those Lenovo's. Quick question: Is the 64GB SSD and better screen resolution worth an extra $200 over that $899 model?

 

[drej983]

The $899 model has the highest screen resolution (1920x1080). I think 32 gb is the biggest ssd you can get through lenovo. You're probably better off buying and installing your own ssd. you can get a 64gb msata ssd for about $75.

http/www.amazon.com/Crucial-mSATA-Solid-State-CT064M4SSD3/dp/B008393M2S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352315558&sr=8-1&keywords=64+gb+msata+ssd

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/builder.workflow:Enter?sb=:000001C9:0000393A:#.UJqz2W_A8yo

 

[toddcan]

Im not at all familiar with the SSD, other than hearing it has blistering speed. But, can I install the card internally after buying the laptop, or is this an extrnal connection (pain in the butt)?

 

[drej983]

The msata ssd is an internal connection, but it's pretty easy to install. All you have to do is remove the back cover and put it in (I think you only need to take out two screws to take the back cover off). Here is a link to a thread that shows you where the msata ssd slot is: http/208.74.204.134/t5/IdeaPad-Y-U-V-Z-and-P-series/Do-all-Y580-s-ship-with-an-mSATA-SSD-slot/td-p/891185.

After installing the card in the slot you will need to screw it in. The screws you need to do so do not come with the msata ssd card, here is the link to the screws you need (you need 2 of them) http/forums.lenovo.com/t5/IdeaPad-Y-U-V-Z-and-P-series/Y580-Screw-size-that-secures-wireless-adapter-and-mSata-SSD/m-p/876913#M64909.

Once you have your msata ssd installed, you will want to put your operating system on your ssd. Here is a link of how to do so (you can ignore the steps that only appy to the y580's that come with the 32gb ssd)
http/forum.notebookreview.com/ideapad-essential/690046-lenovo-y580-clean-install-guide.html

After that you will be able to enjoy the blazing speeds that leave hdd's in the dust. I totally think its worth it myself. Good Luck!