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Help me pick a laptop.

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S

SatoAilDarko

Member
Final Update

Thanks for all the help GAF. Especially getting an SSD and HP avoidance. I ultimately went with the Dell XPS 12 below.


Update:

Based on suggestions from the thread I'm now looking at these two laptops.

One is a Dell XPS 12 with a third generation Intel Core i5 3337U at 1.8 GHz for $600.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IPQXZ62?cache=e0859c90e57c5aff9e537f241e69277d&pi=SY200_QL40&qid=1412141739&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1


The other is a HP Spectre X2 with a 4th generation Intel Core i5-4202Y 1.60 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.00 GHz for $700.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/HP-Spectre-13-x2-h211nr-Signature-Edition-2-in-1-PC/productID.289653400

The HP is from a newer generation but apparently the processor is low-power for use in tablets. Which would you say is the better processor between the two?

Thanks for any help.

Original no longer useful post:

So I've settled on two laptops.

HP 2 in 1 $549.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i3-4gb-memory-500gb-8gb-hybrid-hard-drive-snow-white-ash-silver/7086006.p;jsessionid=FC9D70E40D86B100EF8BCDF2311359E2.bbolsp-app01-137?id=1219248578884&skuId=7086006&st=hp 2 in 1&cp=1&lp=1

7086006cv9d.jpg;canvasHeight=500;canvasWidth=500


4th Gen Intel® Core™ i3-4012Y processor
Processor speed 1.5GHz
4GB Ram
500GB+8GB Hybrid Hard Drive
Intel® HD Graphics 4200
13.3" Screen
1366 x 768 HD resolution
2 USB 3.0 ports
2-cell Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) 4100 mAh Battery
Wireless-B+G+N
Slate: 2.5 lbs.; base: 1.9 lbs.
Click to expand...

Asus 2 in 1 $699.99
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-black/5827062.p?id=1219163973258&skuId=5827062&st=asus 2 in 1&cp=1&lp=2

5827062cv11d.jpg;canvasHeight=500;canvasWidth=500


4th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-4210U processor
Processor speed 1.7GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.7GHz.
8GB Ram
500GB Hard Drive
Intel® HD Graphics 4400
13.3" Screen
1366 x 768 HD resolution
2 USB 3.0 ports 1 USB 2.0 port
3-cell polymer battery (4430 mAh)
Wireless-AC
3.8 pounds
Click to expand...

My question is if the i5 and twice the ram in the Asus is worth $150 more than the HP? I feel like the detachable design of the HP is better than the folding of the Asus. Though weight wise the Asus is only 50% heavier than the HP's tablet portion. I already have a Note 3 that I'll continue to use as my primary internet browsing and video streaming device. I may play some games like Fallout 3 and New Vegas on low settings. Would the 8GB vs. 4GB make a difference when the intel HD Graphics max out at less than 2GB of ram for video? I also plan to do light video editing. Just editing footage and syncing to an audio track.

So any opinions one way or another?

Also could I use the laptop as a display for a console? Can I get an adapter to get HDMI to usb and play games from my consoles?

Edit:

Here's the thing. I haven't had a laptop in 4 years and I've been fine. The combination of Smart phone, Wii U Internet Browser (really nice) and school computers and sisters' laptops for the occasional written assignment.

The only reason I'm getting a laptop is that I knew I'll eventually need one. I have some actual written assignment and several online ones this semester. I'll also go for a Masters in Mathematics with a specialization in Actuarial Science soon.

After I get this like I said I'll still use my phone primarily. I'll use my Wii U for streaming and larger screen browsing. I'm not a PC gamer I just own some games from the big publisher Humble Bundle's (the ones I care for I own on PS3). The reason I bought the GOTY edition for Fallout is that they run horribly on PS3.

I have more money to spend but I won't. $750 is my hard limit. I really won't use it much. In fact my mom will certainly use it more than me. Aside from school work, video editing, writing and some PC games I want to mess around with, I really don't have much use for it. Resolution doesn't matter either.

So basically which one of the two is better for my needs? I rather not pay more if I have no use for the extra processor and ram of the Asus.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Don't think you can use it as a display unless it has a specific in port for such functionality.

In terms of which... I think both are awful. Low-res screen laptops with no SSD are not going to provide for a good experience. You could get something so much better for just a little more.

Sorry that I'm not being helpful, but I hate to see people save a little money on purchases that will stay with them for years and offer a very subpar experience.
 
T

TrounceX

Member
Oh dear lord. Neither.

You need at least a 1600x900 screen and a hybrid SSD / HDD. Ideally a 1080p screen with a decent sized SSD. Save up a little while longer if you can't afford anything better than this right now. No seriously do not buy either of those because you will be disappointed!

edit: and no you cannot use the screen as an external monitor.
 
S

sometimes i game

Member
I wouldn't recommend anything with a harddrive. It makes the computer slow even with a fast processor, aside from the crashing/moving parts horror stories.

Shopping for a laptop is hell, good luck. I realized a touchscreen Haswell Chromebook was solid for my needs and returned by Yoga 2, but the Yoga 2 SSD/HD hybrid was pretty cool so maybe look at that.
 
P

Pinewood

Member
Why are people constantly recommending 1080p screens on 13.3" laptops?

My dad has a 13" vaio pto with a 1080p display and everythis is so tiny + windows scaling is a blurry mess.
 
A

Awful Falafel

Banned
You seem to have your heart set on a hybrid tablet/laptop design. The XPS 12 is probably the best you'll find of that type, follows all the recommendations of the above posts, and it's the same price as the ASUS. Only downside is that right now it's out of stock at the microsoft store but it might come back in stock soon enough for ya. It is available at Amazon right now but it's over $80 more there.

If it's really not urgent I'd wait for a holiday sale soon rather than buying right now anyway.
 
Wiktor

Wiktor

Member
SpyGuy239 said:
Have to agree with neither.

Invest in a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon.

It will last you for years to come
Click to expand...

Huh? Why? It's a great laptop, but it's pretty niche device. If he wants general purpose laptop Thinkpads T440 or 440s are far better choices than Carbon.
 
S

SatoAilDarko

Member
Awful Falafel said:
You seem to have your heart set on a hybrid tablet/laptop design. The XPS 12 is probably the best you'll find of that type, follows all the recommendations of the above posts, and it's the same price as the ASUS. Only downside is that right now it's out of stock at the microsoft store but it might come back in stock soon enough for ya. It is available at Amazon right now but it's over $80 more there.

If it's really not urgent I'd wait for a holiday sale soon rather than buying right now anyway.
Click to expand...

What about this model?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IPQXZ62/ref=s9_simh_gw_d0_g147_i4?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=mobile-1&pf_rd_r=0P6QVG9XHVH06MZX3HP9&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1824974342&pf_rd_i=mobile
 
DJ_Lae

DJ_Lae

Member
mj1108 said:
I absolutely LOVE my MBA. Best laptop I have ever purchased.
Click to expand...

I mostly like the build quality, but the Air I bought my wife a while back has been a pretty big hit. It also wasn't too badly priced, picked it up immediately after the announcement of the new models as the refurbished models from Apple were reasonably priced.

At 11" it's plenty portable too.

I have a 13" myself that's nice, but I wouldn't want much bigger than that. The 15.6" ones that seem so common these days are annoying to lug around.
 
E

El Topo

Member
Hyperactivity said:
Having a somewhat similar issue here, just aven't really narrowed it down yet

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=132035438#post132035438
Click to expand...

I'm afraid you'll have to narrow it down a bit. What size should the notebook be? What resolution? Do you require a glossy or matte screen? There's all sorts of decisions to make.

From my experience, notebookcheck.com is a rather good site when it comes to testing notebooks. It might be a good place to start, although not all models are available in every country.
 
Crazyorloco

Crazyorloco

Member
Echoing what everyone here said, if you're going to get a laptop, look for one with a SSD. They are less likely to break due to no moving parts. I just got a surface 2. I like it.
 
A

Anjelus_

Junior Member
Yes, listen to these people. I cheaped out a while ago and got something similar to your second chase for business trips. But now I HATE using it on business because of its excruciating slowness compared to my home desktop.

Last night my iPad crashed trying to update to iOS 8.2 and, since I'm on a trip right now, I had to restore with the crappy laptop. Which meant installing iTunes. But I hadn't used the laptop since my last trip over the summer and needed windows updates before iTunes could install.

Oh god. Spmething that could've been done in maybe 10 minutes at home took hours. Hell.

Yea, so, don't get those. Bad idea.
 
J

- J - D -

Member
I don't know if you're buying online or in-store, but make sure to try 'em out first. You never know how you'll feel about them until you use them first. Small things like the distance the keyboard caps go before registering, the rigidity of the hinge, the creakiness of the plastic, etc etc.

In terms of specs, nowadays I wouldn't get a laptop without an SSD, period. Having one over a standard HDD improves numerous aspects of a laptop.
 
S

squallmx

Member
Shogmaster said:
That i3's max clock is 1.5GHz. The i5 goes up to 2.7GHz. That i3 benches not too much better than A8 on new iPhone.
Click to expand...

2.7 Ghz is the turbo boost speed, which is a joke on a tablet/hybrid... my Dell Venue 11 Pro, downclocks to 1.6 GHz (Base speed) and then to 1.2 GHz after a few minutes when doing intensive tasks. So a i3 tablet is not much worse that one using a i5, especially in combo with a SSD.

And no, the A8 is nowhere close to a i3 in terms of raw power.
 
N

NotBacon

Member
Neither.

Whatever you get, these specs are an absolute must:

-SSD. Get a fucking SSD in there.

-Screen res above 1366x768.

-Lenovo, Asus, Sony, or Acer.

Edit: And don't pay attention to clock speed. Unless you're compiling code on the regular, it doesn't matter.
 
S

Shogmaster

Member
D

darkazcura

Member
Entry level Macbook Air is 899 nowadays. Totally worth it for the build quality, trackpad, and support, imo.

I have had my Air for over three years now, and I can't see myself buying a new laptop for at least two or three years. Runs as fast as the day I got it mostly. Nowadays the only thing I'm jealous of in the newest Airs is the amazing battery life. Oh, the other thing that annoys me is the terrible power adapters. Magsafe is a cool concept, but the build quality is terrible. I've owned some kind of Macbook since 2006, and I've had to replace the adapter three times. I'm on the verge of getting another one too..Pretty much have to get a new adapter every two or three years, which stinks. Based on the reviews of the adapter, it seems this isn't even an uncommon occurence. They are ridiculously overpriced too. I don't think this should sway anyone from getting a Macbook, though.
 
S

SatoAilDarko

Member
NotBacon said:
Neither.

Whatever you get, these specs are an absolute must:

-SSD. Get a fucking SSD in there.

-Screen res above 1366x768.

-Lenovo, Asus, Sony, or Acer.

Edit: And don't pay attention to clock speed. Unless you're compiling code on the regular, it doesn't matter.
Click to expand...

Awful Falafel said:
You seem to have your heart set on a hybrid tablet/laptop design. The XPS 12 is probably the best you'll find of that type, follows all the recommendations of the above posts, and it's the same price as the ASUS. Only downside is that right now it's out of stock at the microsoft store but it might come back in stock soon enough for ya. It is available at Amazon right now but it's over $80 more there.

If it's really not urgent I'd wait for a holiday sale soon rather than buying right now anyway.
Click to expand...

Okay if that ever comes back in stock I'll get that. Otherwise I'll take those requirements to heart. I'll get an XPS of some type ultimately.

I'm not getting a Mac. I simply don't care for the ecosystem and the few programs I do want to run are for the PC.
 
K

Keyouta

Junior Member
The 2nd is the better choice of those two in your OP.

Definitely get an SSD in there too. It's an absolute must for any computer, making it quick and snappy, and especially in a laptop where you'd be moving it around. There's no moving parts.
 
B

bennywhatever

Member
I'd get the Asus (which is a very nice laptop btw). The i5 will last you a lot longer, and you can't upgrade a processor in a laptop so you're stuck with it.

Ignore the people that say you can't work on less than 1080p. I've been going just fine on 720 for years and never had any issues wishing i had more clarity.

Also, with the hard drive issue, that is upgradeable. They've made laptop storage so much easier to change out in the last few years. If you ever find you need more speed, just buy a 128gb SSD, and an enclosure for the current hard drive to turn it into an external for storage.
 
T

TheSaddestSort

Member
You're going to get a ton of people telling you to buy a Mac Air or Macbook now OP. Not that that's a bad thing, but that's what always seems to happen in these threads.
 
S

Shogmaster

Member
squallmx said:
That´s the reason I said RAW power, good luck trying to encode Full HD Video using an A8. That been said the Apple A8 is a great mobile processor.
Click to expand...

A8 is a beast for mobile. And i3 is artificially crippled laptop processor, capped to a way low max clock so that it benches like a top end cell phone chip.

Thus, you proclaiming that A8 is no where near i3's raw performance is wrong. A8 benches pretty much like an i3, only held back in multi core tests by lack of RAM bandwidth.
 
S

SatoAilDarko

Member
So for the two computers I'm looking at now (see update in OP) I would welcome some help with knowing which of these processors is better, the Intel Core i5 3337U at 1.8 GHz or Intel Core i5-4202Y 1.60 GHz with Turbo Boost to 2.00 GHz. The former is 3rd generation while the latter is 4th generation but the processor is low-power for use in a tablet. Thanks.
 
Melon Husk

Melon Husk

Member
First, a good website: http://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Spectre-13-h211nr-x2.111761.0.html

Second, see for example the first review on that site: "... consumers can get the Dell XPS 13 that offers better performance, a brighter display and longer battery life in a slimmer, lighter chassis." Laptop Mag

Third, it says "Dell XPS 12-5328CRBFB" on your amazon link, not Dell XPS 13.

This would be the XPS 12

Personally, I would pick the Dell. Of course it's not this year's model, but they're asking half of it's initial price. I skimmed the review of the updated model and you'll miss out on 2-3 hours longer battery life. Haswell does more for less. That's not worth paying double especially when you want to use it as a laptop and not a tablet.
 
V

Via Purifico

Banned
I'd recommend getting the vaio pro 13 if it's still in stores that is, lightest ultrabook on the market and a good alternative to the MBA.
 
chadderbox77

chadderbox77

Member
As a person who repairs a ton of laptops, I would super strongly recommend against ever purchasing anything by HP. Serious over heating issues, always.
 
S

sunnz

Member
In the same boat.

I want something smaller, mainly for surfing the web, twitch and what not.
I want it to be quite small and really like the idea of 2 in 1 tablet computers ( no chromebook)

So far the asus transformer t100 seems to tick the boxes but seems quite... weak.

I don't want to play PC games as I have my desktop for that but wouldn't mind being able to play a few games, even on low settings.
 
N

NotBacon

Member
SatoAilDarko said:
So I'm going to go with the HP Spectre X2.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/HP-Spectre-13-x2-h211nr-Signature-Edition-2-in-1-PC/productID.289653400

Thanks for the suggestions for a SSD and Falafel for pointing out the Microsoft store.
Click to expand...

Eh, specs are nice, but HP is quite prevalent in computer repair shops.....

SatoAilDarko said:
So for the two computers I'm looking at now (see update in OP) I would welcome some help with knowing which of these processors is better, the Intel Core i5 3337U at 1.8 GHz or Intel Core i5-4202Y 1.60 GHz with Turbo Boost to 2.00 GHz. The former is 3rd generation while the latter is 4th generation but the processor is low-power for use in a tablet. Thanks.
Click to expand...

You won't notice the difference. But the 4th gen will have a better GPU if that matters to you. Also look up real-world battery life to see if the low-power proc matters.

sunnz said:
In the same boat.

I want something smaller, mainly for surfing the web, twitch and what not.
I want it to be quite small and really like the idea of 2 in 1 tablet computers ( no chromebook)

So far the asus transformer t100 seems to tick the boxes but seems quite... weak.

I don't want to play PC games as I have my desktop for that but wouldn't mind being able to play a few games, even on low settings.
Click to expand...

Chromebook by far (if you can handle only doing games on your desktop).
Cheap, fast, simple, no BS.
 
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