Portable & performant laptop needed, please share your thoughts.

[v260]

1_What is your budget?
1000 - 1200 (tax incl)

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13-14” max, I'd like a light and portable

3_What screen resolution do you want?
as high as possible in the price range

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
portable not a desktop replacement

5_How much battery life do you need?
decent, but I will plug it almost always

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 games

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing, surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.)
- video editing
- music (cubase, abelton live)
- photoshop occasionally

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
200-300gb

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.
- futureshop, ncix

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2-3 years at least as long as it does the job

11_If you would like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop, post them.
- portable but yet with good performance

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.

HP seems good but specs often aren't as good as you'd like them to be

Dell laptops don't feel solid

Lenovo x series look neat but are they good performance wise for tasks mentioned above?

I am looking at:
LG 14.1" Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 2.0GHz Laptop (R405) - Bilingual - Future Shop Exclusive
with tax and shipping 931$ cad

13_What country do you live in?
canada



Thanks!

 

[frozenlead]

You won't get high resolution options with those screen sizes. You're really constraining yourself for video and picture editing there.

I would go with at least a 15.4" screen for those types of tasks. That way you get good choices for screens, which is a very important part for you.

 

[v260]

You won't get high resolution options with those screen sizes. You're really constraining yourself for video and picture editing there.

I would go with at least a 15.4" screen for those types of tasks. That way you get good choices for screens, which is a very important part for you.

I hear you. I will certainly consider that. What I don't want is to end up with a big laptop then its a pain to carry it around.

Any comment on LG 14.1" Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 2.0GHz Laptop r405 model?
I wonder if it has enough power?

 

[frozenlead]

The screen resolution is still one of the lowest in the widescreen specification. Most people forget to make the distinction between screen size and resolution. All sizes are not created equal.

Most notebooks today will carry plenty of power for the apps...really in the mobile sector you're rather stuck with about the same level of performance until you get to the ultra desktop replacements with quad-cores.

I can't find very much information on that notebook, though - it's not on LG's site. It only carries 1GB of ram from what I can tell, though, which is a no-no. For video editing, you'll need 3+.

 

[v260]

The screen resolution is still one of the lowest in the widescreen specification. Most people forget to make the distinction between screen size and resolution. All sizes are not created equal.

Most notebooks today will carry plenty of power for the apps...really in the mobile sector you're rather stuck with about the same level of performance until you get to the ultra desktop replacements with quad-cores.

I can't find very much information on that notebook, though - it's not on LG's site. It only carries 1GB of ram from what I can tell, though, which is a no-no. For video editing, you'll need 3+.

If I understand correctly most laptops feature 1280x800 resolution. There are high end laptops e.g. mac that go up to 1900.


Here are some specs:


Mfr. Part Number: R405-A.CP06A9

Base Features
Approximate Battery Life Up To 3 Hours
Hard Drive Speed/Capacity 320GB SATA 5400RPM
Optical Drive Super Multi Dual Layer DVD+/-RW
Processor Speed 2.0GHz
Processor Type Intel Core 2 Duo T5750
RAM 4GB DDR2
Screen Size 14.1"


Graphics
Discrete Video Memory No
Expandable Video Memory No

Graphics Chipset ATI Radeon Xpress 1250
Integrated Video Memory Yes
Native Screen Resolution 1280x800
Upgradable Video System No
Video Memory 1GB

http/ca.lge.com/en/products/model/detail/r400series_r405a.cp06a9.jhtml#

 

[frozenlead]

Alright, that notebook is okay, discounting the screen.

Macs aren't the only notebooks that use screens in the HD resolution, and you don't need a high end notebook to get there. I'm just saying it'll be difficult to do work on 10+ MP pictures and application interfaces like Vegas which eat screen space. You'll be scrolling more than working.

 

[v260]

Do you have any models in mind?
fare resolution + good specs

 

[frozenlead]

A Sager NP2096 can be reconfigured around 2.5GHz dual core with a 1680x1050 screen, under $1200. The only con is that it's a 15.4" screen. There isn't much choice in screen below that size. The pixels just get too small.

 

[v260]

I didn't know about Sager, so thanks for that.


Lenovo laptops are cool and rock solid. But man are they expensive, well at least for me.


Lenovo ThinkPad T500 2081 - $1,620.00 CAD before taxes

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo processor P8400 (2.26GHz 1066MHz 3MBL2) 1
Operating system: Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic 1
Operating system Language: Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic - English 1
Display type: 15.4" WSXGA+ TFT 1
System graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon 3650 with 256MB 1
Total memory: 3 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 (2 DIMM) 1
Keyboard Language: US English Keyboard 1
Camera: Integrated Camera Module 1
Hard drive: 250GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm 1
Intel Turbo Memory hard drive cache: Intel Turbo Memory 1.6, 2GB 1
Optical device: CD-RW/DVD-ROM, Ultrabay Slim 1
System expansion slots: Express Card & PC Card Slots 1