Solved! Please Help Me Find A Laptop for Xmas 2010

[jaiizxvi]

1) What is your budget? $1000 Max

2) What size notebook would you prefer? 16" screen

3) What country are you buying this in? United States

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like? I abhor Dell and Hp's, I like Asus.

5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook? Everything! Gaming, Adobe Photoshop, graphic designing

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk? Yes, different places

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games? Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Black Ops

8) How many hours of battery life do you need? 9 hours the more the better please

9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person? I don’t mind, but being able to see a similar model in person would be really nice.

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows 7 or Vista im going to put Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit anyways

Screen Specifics

11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer? Full HD.

12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non glossy screen? matte/non glossy

Build Quality and Design

13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? No Pink, please Im a dude

14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last? Would love to buy ASAP, but could be convinced to wait if the new SSDs are worth waiting for. I want this to last as long as possible, so being able to upgrade RAM, etc is kind of important.

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you want? 1TB 7200rpm

16) Do you need an optical drive? yes

17) What speed CPU/Processor would you like? i7 or anything is super fast out there for laptops and less heat, faster tha amd desktop quadcores black edition




8GB RAM DDR3 good GPU

 

[Maziar]

First of all,with your usage,you won't find a notebook with 9hrs of battery life.(You can find 3-4hrs max)
Lenovo Y560 is a good choice
http/promotions.newegg.com/Lenovo/011510Y560/index.html?cm_sp=Subcat_Laptops-Notebooks-_-LenovoY560011510-_-http%3a%2f%2fpromotions.newegg.com%2fLenovo%2f011510Y560%2f478x88.jpg

 

[jaiizxvi]

Thanks for taking the time and replying back, 'ppreciate it. I'll check into the Lenovo Ideapad but so far they don't have them in 16" and the hard drives is 5400rpm and not 7200rpm...

it looks nice but I want a 7200 rpm hardrive in a 16", 15.6 is too small to graphic designing for me, my sis has a 15.6 and i dont like it, is too small for me im a big guy and 17 is too big and bulky, i want to carry it out

 

[Guest]

There's been a lot of talk about the Asus G53 model in this forum. It has an awesome GTX 460M GPU. It may be over budget, but i reckon it's a good longterm investment.

Brandwise, you can check Dell's XPS15 and Vaio EB and F-series. Both can be configured according to your taste.



________________________________________________________________
Laptop advice: http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qE5IQ9tyAE

 

[jaiizxvi]

ouch, that machine is about $3,000 after I custmized it! Should I wait for the Sandy Bridge Intels? I want an i7 but i heard a lot of complaints and the benchmark is not that great

 

[Guest]

i7-740QM + 8GB RAM + GTX 460M 1.5GB DDR5 + 750GB + DVDRW = $1429.87

That GPU is the real prize here.

Core-i CPUs didn't impress me much (well, better than AMD), they felt like some Intel re-branding exercise and Intel not mentioning how the GHz race has really stagnated. Only Core i7 is a quad-core and Core-2-duo were renamed i3 and i5. Great!

 

[Klosteral]

Jaii, you will *never* find a gaming laptop that can run BLACKOPS for <$1000. Also, you will rarely find a a 16" screen; 15.4" or 15.6" is common. Furthermore, no laptop that you can use for gaming will have a battery life of more than 2 hours, even on powersaving mode (unless you go with MSI).

You have to make the following choices:
15" or 17"
Battery life or Graphics Quality
Fast or Cheap?

If you are in the US of A, have a look at the laptops here:
http/www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-15416-laptops-ct-95_51_149.html

For quality performance and a 16" screen see the ASUS N61JQ-B1
or
For really good battery life and less weight, see the ASUS U53JC-A1

Both are on the 3rd row down from the top.

Hope this helps,
-Klosteral

 

[Maziar]

Thanks for taking the time and replying back, 'ppreciate it. I'll check into the Lenovo Ideapad but so far they don't have them in 16" and the hard drives is 5400rpm and not 7200rpm...

it looks nice but I want a 7200 rpm hardrive in a 16", 15.6 is too small to graphic designing for me, my sis has a 15.6 and i dont like it, is too small for me im a big guy and 17 is too big and bulky, i want to carry it out

Within your budget,the best laptop you can find is Lenovo Y560 or similarly spec'd laptops.
If you need something better,then you have to raise your budget.
Also,you can upgrade the HDD to 7200RPM later one

 

[Guest]

Umm... how about this ASUS N53JF $958.74: 15.6" (1366x768), i5-460M (2.53-2.8GHz), 500GB (7200rpm), 4GB DDR3 RAM, Nvidia GT425M (1GB)

 

[Klosteral]

Thats fine but I doubt you will be able to run Black Ops on it. My desktop is a 2.8GHz dual core, 4GB RAM, 1GB nVidea 9600GT and a 22" 1920 x 1080 screen and I am still having lag problems with the multiplayer...

That said, I can run MW2 on max graphics and the Black Ops single player is (almost) flawless so I think if that is what you wanted then the N53JF.

Do not be afraid to search around for many different dealers to get the best price or specifications. I have been searching for weeks to find a solid laptop under $2000 and eventually I found one (ASUS G53) online for $1860. After more searching and some very helpful friends, I found one at a local retailer for $1700 and the store owners say they *may* reduce the price (basically that haggling is accepted).
http/www.austin.net.au/ProductList/ProductDetail/tabid/104/ProductCode/NBASG53JW-HD-S/Default.aspx

That is a great discount. Keep your eyes open and don't expect to find something overnight.

 

[Guest]

Thats fine but I doubt you will be able to run Black Ops on it. My desktop is a 2.8GHz dual core, 4GB RAM, 1GB nVidea 9600GT and a 22" 1920 x 1080 screen and I am still having lag problems with the multiplayer...

Yeah but his budget is $1000 max and that's gonna be tight. Most gaming laptop I've seen (in the reasonable range) are between $1200-1600.

 

[raza715]

go with lenovo y560 with either i7 720qm(850$) or 740qm(900$) both on newegg and both have ati 5730 which is enough for med/high graphics settings gaming.

 

[Klosteral]

Have a look at this website, it shows the rankings and performance of all MOBILE graphics units. You will see that the above ATI 5730M does not do too badly, ranking in at about 50th place. That is a fairly solid ranking but there are still other cards in other computers that you will find do better. However, for under $1000 you will find fewer computers with better cards.
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

 

[raza715]

Mr Klosteral simplified my previous post. Just go with lenovo y560 with 5730 + either 720qm or 740qm.
And 5730 is comparable to nvidia GT435 which you wont find in any laptop under 1k$ price tag