Support NeoGAF

[stetiger]

I have found the computer that i will buy and insure. Does anybody have any advice the computer is in the link below

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834227055R

 

[Rnr1224]

Hello LaptopGAF! Currently, i am stuck with a mid-2010 Macbook pro with Bootcamp. I'm curious that if i upgrade my RAM from 4 GB to 8 GB, will i see a noticeable difference in gaming performance at all? i figure that wont be the case as most games that i play don't require more than 4 GB. Thanks for any help!

 

[AstroNut325]

Hi Everybody. My inquiry below isn't gaming related but I could use all the advice I can get. I'm in need of a laptop or a mobile device to do the following:

1. Record The Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy on a daily basis.
2. View the recorded episodes (don't need to retain more than a week's worth of episodes)

Currently I'm thinking it's probably cheaper to record the shows on my desktop by getting a cheap TV tuner card. And then doing a daily transfer to the laptop. Or is it better to do it all on the laptop?

Also looking for laptop recommendations for this specific use case. I need something light. Lack of power/muscle is OK but I would like to stay under $500 if possible. If my budget was higher I would get the MacBook Air in a heartbeat but right I have other expenses so I'm trying to see if I can get away with something more cost effective for a year or two.

Fundamentally the reason I'm asking for this advice is because I'm trying to cheer up my dad. He had a stroke and a heart attack last year. He is now in a nursing home and he's slowly drifting into depression. He had asked if it was possible to see his favorite TV game shows again so I'm trying to find a solution. There is no WIFI at the nursing home and streaming the stuff from the websites would eat bandwidth like crazy. So I'm trying to find a way to record the footage and show it to my dad every day.

Any advice or help is appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[K.Jack]

I have found the computer that i will buy and insure. Does anybody have any advice the computer is in the link below

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834227055R

That's a rebranded MSI. For the price of the laptop + aftermarket warranty, you should just buy the GT70 on Amazon, while it's $1,879.99 + a $100 mail in rebate, which includes 2 years of warranty and 1 year of accidental. Then drop what you would've on warranty on an SSD.

Hello LaptopGAF! Currently, i am stuck with a mid-2010 Macbook pro with Bootcamp. I'm curious that if i upgrade my RAM from 4 GB to 8 GB, will i see a noticeable difference in gaming performance at all? i figure that wont be the case as most games that i play don't require more than 4 GB. Thanks for any help!

RAM will do nothing for you.

Hi Everybody. My inquiry below isn't gaming related but I could use all the advice I can get. I'm in need of a laptop or a mobile device to do the following:

1. Record The Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy on a daily basis.
2. View the recorded episodes (don't need to retain more than a week's worth of episodes)

Currently I'm thinking it's probably cheaper to record the shows on my desktop by getting a cheap TV tuner card. And then doing a daily transfer to the laptop. Or is it better to do it all on the laptop?

Also looking for laptop recommendations for this specific use case. I need something light. Lack of power/muscle is OK but I would like to stay under $500 if possible. If my budget was higher I would get the MacBook Air in a heartbeat but right I have other expenses so I'm trying to see if I can get away with something more cost effective for a year or two.

Fundamentally the reason I'm asking for this advice is because I'm trying to cheer up my dad. He had a stroke and a heart attack last year. He is now in a nursing home and he's slowly drifting into depression. He had asked if it was possible to see his favorite TV game shows again so I'm trying to find a solution. There is no WIFI at the nursing home and streaming the stuff from the websites would eat bandwidth like crazy. So I'm trying to find a way to record the footage and show it to my dad every day.

Any advice or help is appreciated.

Thank you.

I don't know much about recording TV on computers, but doing the recording directly to the laptop would save you a lot of transfer time, depending on how many GB the episodes end up as.

I can't say I have a particular recommendation. How does this Dell Inspiron 17 look?

 

[Giard]

So I fnally opened up my overheating laptop... cleaned up the old thermal paste (there was way too much) and put on some Artic Silver, and removed dust from fans.

GPU temp went down 40c
CPU temp went down 25c

I should've done this sooner.

 

[terrisus]

Hey all, just me again. Well, my plans from the beginning of the year to get a new awesome laptop have gone by the wayside as I've had to deal with some medical issues. However, my current 4-year-old laptop is having some serious issues (hinge is cracking being the main issue. Also some keys have come off the keyboard, but I know those aren't too expensive to replace. Still, it's about to hit the end of the road).

One possibility my wife tossed out is that I could have her laptop which she got last year, and she could get a new laptop. So, wanted to have some opinions on her laptop - obviously it's an upgrade over mine (and isn't falling apart), but just curious how much.

So, my current laptop is this one:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01896913&product=4041797

With the following changes made to it:
120GB Intel 320 SSD put in as boot drive, with the stock 500GB drive moved to the second drive slot
RAM upgraded from 6GB to 8GB

Her laptop, which I'm not currently able to find a full spec page for (but maybe someone will have better luck than me), is:
Dell Inspiron i17RSE-3589BK

In particular, it's a 3rd-gen i7, with a geForce GT 650M 2GB, and 8GB RAM. I would, however, make the following changes:
Add in a SSD as the boot drive (I assume it has 2 hard drive slots, can anyone confirm? I suppose I could just open it up and look, but if anyone can find out)
Install Windows 7 as opposed to the Windows 8 it came with (I assume the drivers are available for Windows 7 on that?)

Well, I just wanted to add in the disappointing end (at least for now) to my year-long saga of hoping to get a new laptop

My current laptop, as I mentioned above, is about at the end of its life as far as physically being together. The crack on the hingle is getting worse and worse, every time I move I can hear it breaking more, the top part is sagging back and forth, etc. I mean, it's had a good life - it's over 4 years old now - but, if not for the physical issues, I definitely would have held off and gotten something I really liked later.

But, as I said above, the end result is, we got my wife a cheap little $350 Toshiba, and I'm going to take her current laptop as mentioned above. She'll use that Toshiba for a couple of months until she gets her financial aid refund from school, and then get herself another laptop with that (hey, it is a school expense after all), and give that Toshiba to her parents.

So, ah, not exactly what I was hoping for (and, when I get a chance, I am going to want to get a SSD for it and reload it with Windows 7), but, for now it will work alright. And maybe one of these days I'll be able to get something like the MSI mentioned here.

Thanks very much K.Jack for your help over the past year+ with questions about laptops, parts, specs, and various other questions, I've really appreciated it. And I'm sure I'll be back in here when I do finally end up buying something for myself.

 

[K.Jack]

So I fnally opened up my overheating laptop... cleaned up the old thermal paste (there was way too much) and put on some Artic Silver, and removed dust from fans.

GPU temp went down 40c
CPU temp went down 25c

I should've done this sooner.

Don't be embarrassed, because I made that same mistake with my Sager. I struggled with 90C+ temps for months, looking to all types of exotic solutions, and all I needed to do was open the thing up and clean it. It's a mind expanding lesson to learn.

I'm glad that was the issue, and not something more serious.

Thanks very much K.Jack for your help over the past year+ with questions about laptops, parts, specs, and various other questions, I've really appreciated it. And I'm sure I'll be back in here when I do finally end up buying something for myself.

In the end, you at least have a legit gaming class GPU which has GDDR5 (GAF loves some GDDR5 atm), so you came out way ahead in my view.

Thanks for the kind words. And now it just hit me that I need to start prepping for a 2014 update.

 

[DedValve]

Ok so I'm looking at a few of Lenovo Yoga Ideapads and I'm trying to figure out which one is the best for me (US, New Yorker here)

For a preface a little on why I want the yoga (feel free to put up any alternatives you think might fit)

13' is about the perfect size for something portable, especially since I really like the Yogas gimmick of folding into a tablet and having a touchscreen. Makes it super duper portable.

I'll mostly use this thing for running multiple apps, internet, photoshop, multiple browsers at a time (with even more tabs) so something that is FAST is high priority.

Also used to play lots of dolphin on my old laptop but my new (more expensive) one can't run shit. Paper Mario gets at best 15 FPS, REmake is worse and Wii games is....ugh. Also use PCSX2 (which no computer I ever owned could run properly, I'd still play the original resident evil outbreak on my PS2 if I didn't have to constantly unplug my ps3 to do so). This is pretty high priority.

So anything that can play emulators at a decent speed is a +++. I also want to start building my steam library (don't care much for uber high end graphics, I basically just want PC multiplats for the awesome mods) but thats a lower priority.

The one I was looking at was Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro which has stunning specs but a staggering price of $1,200.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/yoga/yoga-2-pro/ (oh shit the prices changed since yesterday? $999 now?)

The screen resolution in particular looks fantastic and all the specs (bare with me I'm a massive noob) look great.

Does anyone have one? Any other alternatives that can do what I want for a cheaper price? Am I making a good decision? So many questions!!

Also any sites to be on the lookout for good laptop deals, especially since Black Friday is so close? I'm not going to make my purchase until then, just to make sure I get the best deal.

 

[terrisus]

In the end, you at least have a legit gaming class GPU which has GDDR5 (GAF loves some GDDR5 atm), so you came out way ahead in my view.

Thanks for the kind words. And now it just hit me that I need to start prepping for a 2014 update.

It makes me really happy in retrospect that her computer was like that. I mean, she just wanted a 17.3" screen with an i7. The 650m was literally no consideration whatsoever, it just happened that the computer she settled on had it, since she would have gotten it even if it just had integrated video. So, all things considered, it certainly could have been much worse, and I'm pretty happy.

And, indeed, 2014 is almost here. Seems like just yesterday that things were transitioning over from the previous thread.

 

[NaviLink]

I'm having a bit of a dilemma. Last year I bought a GE60 from MSI and I'm pretty happy about it. I can't play all games with max settings but I can play pretty much everything with some tweaking.

I saw the 2013 replacement recently and I kinda want it. Here's the closest one to the one I have.

Basically this new version has backlit keyboard, I7 Haswell and 7XX GPU series.
- Is the upgrade worth the trouble or not in your opinion?
- If yes for how much my current laptop could sell? I still have a year of warranty on it.
- Should I go for a GT60 which has 770M and a bigger battery?
- Any better laptops than the MSI ones I can get in Euroland?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help guys.

 

[K.Jack]

Ok so I'm looking at a few of Lenovo Yoga Ideapads and I'm trying to figure out which one is the best for me (US, New Yorker here)

For a preface a little on why I want the yoga (feel free to put up any alternatives you think might fit)

13' is about the perfect size for something portable, especially since I really like the Yogas gimmick of folding into a tablet and having a touchscreen. Makes it super duper portable.

I'll mostly use this thing for running multiple apps, internet, photoshop, multiple browsers at a time (with even more tabs) so something that is FAST is high priority.

Also used to play lots of dolphin on my old laptop but my new (more expensive) one can't run shit. Paper Mario gets at best 15 FPS, REmake is worse and Wii games is....ugh. Also use PCSX2 (which no computer I ever owned could run properly, I'd still play the original resident evil outbreak on my PS2 if I didn't have to constantly unplug my ps3 to do so). This is pretty high priority.

So anything that can play emulators at a decent speed is a +++. I also want to start building my steam library (don't care much for uber high end graphics, I basically just want PC multiplats for the awesome mods) but thats a lower priority.

The one I was looking at was Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro which has stunning specs but a staggering price of $1,200.

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/yoga/yoga-2-pro/ (oh shit the prices changed since yesterday? $999 now?)

The screen resolution in particular looks fantastic and all the specs (bare with me I'm a massive noob) look great.

Does anyone have one? Any other alternatives that can do what I want for a cheaper price? Am I making a good decision? So many questions!!

Also any sites to be on the lookout for good laptop deals, especially since Black Friday is so close? I'm not going to make my purchase until then, just to make sure I get the best deal.

What model and specs are of this "new, more expensive" laptop you already have?

I see the Yoga being crappy for emulation. The Core i3-4010U is an ultra-low voltage CPU, with two cores running at 1.7Ghz, and no Turbo Boost.

It makes me really happy in retrospect that her computer was like that. I mean, she just wanted a 17.3" screen with an i7. The 650m was literally no consideration whatsoever, it just happened that the computer she settled on had it, since she would have gotten it even if it just had integrated video. So, all things considered, it certainly could have been much worse, and I'm pretty happy.

And, indeed, 2014 is almost here. Seems like just yesterday that things were transitioning over from the previous thread.

I don't believe in coincidences.

 

[K.Jack]

I'm having a bit of a dilemma. Last year I bought a GE60 from MSI and I'm pretty happy about it. I can't play all games with max settings but I can play pretty much everything with some tweaking.

I saw the 2013 replacement recently and I kinda want it. Here's the closest one to the one I have.

Basically this new version has backlit keyboard, I7 Haswell and 7XX GPU series.
- Is the upgrade worth the trouble or not in your opinion?
- If yes for how much my current laptop could sell? I still have a year of warranty on it.
- Should I go for a GT60 which has 770M and a bigger battery?
- Any better laptops than the MSI ones I can get in Euroland?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help guys.

So yours has the GTX 660M? At 1080p and Ultra settings, the GTX 765M will be 20-40% faster than the GTX 660M, according to NotebokkCheck's gaming benchmarks (scroll down). The sites benches also tell the tale, that the GTX 770M of the GT60 is about 25-30% faster than the GTX 765M.

I'd say, if you can afford it, go for the GT60 w/ GTX 770M, just because the next-gen consoles are coming, and having the most horsepower is top priority.

You could probably list your laptop for €850.

 

[DedValve]

K.Jack

It's an HP Pavilion G6 Notebook
Intel Core i3-2350M
CPU @ 2.30GHz
4GB ram
64 bit

Also I wonder how much I can sell this for? I bought it at $700 9 months ago so I'm at least hoping for $350-400...

Is that reasonable with these specs?

 

[madmackem]

Will i be able to run any latest games with these settings?.

Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ processor
6Gb DDR3 RAM
1Tb hard driveand 8Gb Solid State Drive
15.6 inch full HD display (1386 x 786)
DVD-RW dual layer drive
Dedicated 1Gb NVidia® GT740M graphics

 

[NaviLink]

So yours has the GTX 660M? At 1080p and Ultra settings, the GTX 765M will be 20-40% faster than the GTX 660M, according to NotebokkCheck's gaming benchmarks (scroll down). The sites benches also tell the tale, that the GTX 770M of the GT60 is about 25-30% faster than the GTX 765M.

I'd say, if you can afford it, go for the GT60 w/ GTX 770M, just because the next-gen consoles are coming, and having the most horsepower is top priority.

You could probably list your laptop for €850.

Thanks K.J, very helpful info as usual. Have a cookie on me.

 

[NEO0MJ]

Will i be able to run any latest games with these settings?.

Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ processor
6Gb DDR3 RAM
1Tb hard driveand 8Gb Solid State Drive
15.6 inch full HD display (1386 x 786)
DVD-RW dual layer drive
Dedicated 1Gb NVidia® GT740M graphics

Nope. Still, it will handle most indie games and a good number of current gen games just fine.

 

[K.Jack]

K.Jack

It's an HP Pavilion G6 Notebook
Intel Core i3-2350M
CPU @ 2.30GHz
4GB ram
64 bit

Also I wonder how much I can sell this for? I bought it at $700 9 months ago so I'm at least hoping for $350-400...

Is that reasonable with these specs?

I don't know man. Anything is possible.

Also, have you considered a 13" gaming laptop, like the Sager 7330?

Will i be able to run any latest games with these settings?.

Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ processor
6Gb DDR3 RAM
1Tb hard driveand 8Gb Solid State Drive
15.6 inch full HD display (1386 x 786)
DVD-RW dual layer drive
Dedicated 1Gb NVidia® GT740M graphics

How much does this machine cost? The only i7-4700MQ + 740M combos I see on Newegg are $900 or more..

 

[Haden]

I have an i7 quad core running at 2.4ghz apparently this cannot run AC4 at min spec?

I also have 8gb ram and GTX 765M am I screwed for running something like AC4 even on a low resolution?

Thanks for any advice

Sorry I know this isn't a specs thread. I asked for advice about a laptop in this thread and brought a Clevo a mere two months ago. I knew it wasn't top of the range but I can't believe I am unable to play games already!

 

[braves01]

So, Lenovo's finally started selling the 750m ultrabay accessories (for use with a y510p) and as a pc noob I'm wondering if the increased performance going from 750m to a 750m SLI setup is worth the $220 they want for the card or is that outrageously overpriced.

 

[K.Jack]

I have an i7 quad core running at 2.4ghz apparently this cannot run AC4 at min spec?

I also have 8gb ram and GTX 765M am I screwed for running something like AC4 even on a low resolution?

Thanks for any advice

What gave you the idea that the GTX 765M can't run AC4? Are you saying that you have the game, and it's unplayable? I find that hard to believe.

So, Lenovo's finally started selling the 750m ultrabay accessories (for use with a y510p) and as a pc noob I'm wondering if the increased performance going from 750m to a 750m SLI setup is worth the $220 they want for the card or is that outrageously overpriced.

Oh it's definitely worth the price. The 750Ms seem to scale almost perfectly, and the addition of the 2nd card gives you the power in the range of the GTX 770M, a $495 card. Just $220 for that is a no contest good buy.

 

[Haden]

What gave you the idea that the GTX 765M can't run AC4? Are you saying that you have the game, and it's unplayable? I find that hard to believe.

The processor speed bit was what I was worried about it said this
Processor: Intel Core2Quad Q8400 @ 2.6 GHz

 

[K.Jack]

The processor speed bit was what I was worried about it said this
Processor: Intel Core2Quad Q8400 @ 2.6 GHz

Sir, the i7-4700MQ is way faster than the Q8400, even if the numbers look lower.

 

[Haden]

Sir, the i7-4700MQ is way faster than the Q8400, even if the numbers look lower.

Ah ok sorry I have been out of the PC game for a while, back when I was playing it was much easier to track processor progressions.

For future reference what am I looking for with requirements? If something says i5 do I just ignore it because I have an i7 and only worry if for example it said i7 2.6GHZ?

Sorry to take attention away from laptop questions your help is very much appreciated.

 

[K.Jack]

Ah ok sorry I have been out of the PC game for a while, back when I was playing it was much easier to track processor progressions.

For future reference what am I looking for with requirements? If something says i5 do I just ignore it because I have an i7 and only worry if for example it said i7 2.6GHZ?

Sorry to take attention away from laptop questions your help is very much appreciated.

The latest gen of Intel CPU, Haswell, has Turvbo Boost, meaning the cores speed up when under use, as long as the thermal limits are kept in check. Your i7-4700MQ probably runs @ 3Ghz on all four cores, while under load(I say this because mine does). That's enough to never bottleneck the GTX 765M.

 

[Haden]

The latest gen of Intel CPU, Haswell, has Turvbo Boost, meaning the cores speed up when under use, as long as the thermal limits are kept in check. Your i7-4700MQ probably runs @ 3Ghz on all four cores, while under load(I say this because mine does). That's enough to never bottleneck the GTX 765M.

Ah ok thank you very much that was really helpful

 

[Repgnar]

I got a quick question. I'm going to be in California after Christmas for around a year for school. I'm planning on picking up a laptop around $1,000 close to Christmas when I go back to my parent's house. I'm trying to find out if I can use a laptop screen to play a console. From what I remember I would need an hdmi in port right? If that's correct do laptops even have those? I'm not entirely sure yet but my dorm is going to have limited space so having a laptop screen work as a monitor would be great otherwise I'll just end up buying a computer monitor.

 

[K.Jack]

I got a quick question. I'm going to be in California after Christmas for around a year for school. I'm planning on picking up a laptop around $1,000 close to Christmas when I go back to my parent's house. I'm trying to find out if I can use a laptop screen to play a console. From what I remember I would need an hdmi in port right? If that's correct do laptops even have those? I'm not entirely sure yet but my dorm is going to have limited space so having a laptop screen work as a monitor would be great otherwise I'll just end up buying a computer monitor.

To game on your screen you'd need to buy a video capture card, and follow instructions like these.

 

[zsswimmer]

Man the GT70 from msi is sweet. Runs Battlefield 4 - 1080p at ultra settings with AA on

 

[NEO0MJ]

To game on your screen you'd need to buy a video capture card, and follow instructions like these.

Don't these have a lot of lag? At least that's how I felt when I tried this with my old laptop a couple of years ago.

 

[Adam Blade]

How's my machine going to handle X Rebirth, KJ?

 

[tomei]

Thinking of buy this but don't know if the 780m can handle the 3k resolution. I could play games at a lower res but I want a graphics card that can play at native resolution.

GT60 3k Screen

 

[K.Jack]

Don't these have a lot of lag? At least that's how I felt when I tried this with my old laptop a couple of years ago.

Some do, yes. I have heard the more expensive ones have minimal lag.

How's my machine going to handle X Rebirth, KJ?

Uh, recommended asks for a GT 500 series card. You should do 1080p/60fps easily.

Thinking of buy this but don't know if the 780m can handle the 3k resolution. I could play games at a lower res but I want a graphics card that can play at native resolution.

GT60 3k Screen

2880x1620 is ridiculously high. Even if you use a custom VBIOS, to run the 780M at GTX 680 specs, 2560x1440 is really the highest res the desktop card was built to run. Of course, the lesser demanding games won't be an issue, and there will be many exceptions. If you're okay with 1620p and significantly lowering settings, that opens the possibilities quite a bit.

There's also the possibility that, having such a high pixel density on a 15" screen would lower the negative impact of lowering the res below native. That is highly likely, actually.

 

[K.Jack]

Battlefield 4 running at 2880x1620 on the MSI GT60 3K Edition, w/ GTX 780M.

 

[OmegaTreeFish]

Getting my gaming laptop soon as a birthday gift. Went for an i7 with 8 gig of ram and GTX765m 2gig ddr5.

Got for £780 I thought was pretty good deal. Should last me a few years especially since I have never been fussed about putting everything on ultra. My desktop gaming pc is collecting dust in the loft so this will be a massive step up from my current laptop 1st gen i5 intel hd graphics. Basically playing LOL, TF2 and FTL till the 25th lol.

 

[Adam Blade]

Some do, yes. I have heard the more expensive ones have minimal lag.


Uh, recommended asks for a GT 500 series card. You should do 1080p/60fps easily.



2880x1620 is ridiculously high. Even if you use a custom VBIOS, to run the 780M at GTX 680 specs, 2560x1440 is really the highest res the desktop card was built to run. Of course, the lesser demanding games won't be an issue, and there will be many exceptions. If you're okay with 1620p and significantly lowering settings, that opens the possibilities quite a bit.

There's also the possibility that, having such a high pixel density on a 15" screen would lower the negative impact of lowering the res below native. That is highly likely, actually.

Thank you kindly, good sir.

 

[MrXee]

I would like it if someone with a msi g60 3k do a post on the overall experience with this huge screen resolution. I'm a game programmer and I'm thinking that a higher resolution would be perfect for working on many things at the same time but I'm having a hard time imagining if text is easy to read with such a high pixel density...

I just want to make sure this isn't just a gimmick and making the resolution any higher than 1080 will only make things slower/unreadable.

 

[tomei]

Only one that I know of uses it for photo/design editing. You might want to ask there.

GT60 3K Edition First Impressions

He says windows 8.1 greatly improved dpi scaling and plays native resolution with high settings on most games.

Both work and gaming in one so I am leaning on getting this laptop.

 

[jwtsonga]

anything good come up in terms of thin (up to 1 inch) and light 14-15 inch???
(apart from gigabyte p35/34)

was hoping the ativ book 8 would be refreshed this year...

 

[Kyleripman]

I have been thinking of looking at laptops, and this is a really nice thread. It looks like the Lenovo Y410p is a good choice for a relatively inexpensive (going for 750 at the moment) but decent gaming solution. If I'm not too fussed about running everything in a super high resolution, though, does anyone have any suggestions for something closer to the 500 USD mark?

Country: USA
Budget: $500-700
Size: Doesn't matter
Usage: Dark Souls & Dark Souls 2, some other random multiplats, Dolphin

Thanks for a great thread, which has already been helpful.

 

[usea]

Hi laptop gaf.

I want a non-gaming laptop. This seems like the place for laptops on gaf! I've never owned a laptop. I don't even know how to fill out the thing in the OP because I don't know what I need.

Country: US
Budget: I don't have a strict budget. I want to spend as little as possible, but doesn't everybody?
Size: No idea.
Planned usage: Programming, web browsing, streaming video. Low-end gaming (2d games, indie games, etc). The gaming is not that important.
Misc: I'd guess that the most important things are a good keyboard and screen. I mostly plan on bringing it to programming events and programming on my bed when I don't feel like sitting at my desk. Occasionally watching twitch/netflix, and playing low-end games. I guess I don't want it to weigh a lot either? I dunno.

Also I may run linux on it. I haven't decided yet. It would be really cool if I could run linux in a VM, but I'm betting it would be expensive to get a laptop that can do virtualization well.

Many programmers just get macbooks, but I would rather not. I've considered a chromebook, but I don't like the OS and the desk space is too small. I don't really know what to do, and I've kind of reached the end of my rope as far as independent research goes.

 

[K.Jack]

anything good come up in terms of thin (up to 1 inch) and light 14-15 inch???
(apart from gigabyte p35/34)

Nope

I have been thinking of looking at laptops, and this is a really nice thread. It looks like the Lenovo Y410p is a good choice for a relatively inexpensive (going for 750 at the moment) but decent gaming solution. If I'm not too fussed about running everything in a super high resolution, though, does anyone have any suggestions for something closer to the 500 USD mark?

Country: USA
Budget: $500-700
Size: Doesn't matter
Usage: Dark Souls & Dark Souls 2, some other random multiplats, Dolphin

Thanks for a great thread, which has already been helpful.

Nothing near $500 will play either Dark Souls worth a dang. I say go with the Y410p, while it's that cheap.

Hi laptop gaf.

I want a non-gaming laptop. This seems like the place for laptops on gaf! I've never owned a laptop. I don't even know how to fill out the thing in the OP because I don't know what I need.

Country: US
Budget: I don't have a strict budget. I want to spend as little as possible, but doesn't everybody?
Size: No idea.
Planned usage: Programming, web browsing, streaming video. Low-end gaming (2d games, indie games, etc). The gaming is not that important.
Misc: I'd guess that the most important things are a good keyboard and screen. I mostly plan on bringing it to programming events and programming on my bed when I don't feel like sitting at my desk. Occasionally watching twitch/netflix, and playing low-end games. I guess I don't want it to weigh a lot either? I dunno.

Also I may run linux on it. I haven't decided yet. It would be really cool if I could run linux in a VM, but I'm betting it would be expensive to get a laptop that can do virtualization well.

Many programmers just get macbooks, but I would rather not. I've considered a chromebook, but I don't like the OS and the desk space is too small. I don't really know what to do, and I've kind of reached the end of my rope as far as independent research goes.

So you'll go with whatever I recommend. Do I have that correctly? Just making sure before I think too deeply.

 

[usea]

So you'll go with whatever I recommend. Do I have that correctly? Just making sure before I think too deeply.

I'm not sure if this is snark or not. It sounds like you're upset that I'm not a laptop expert. I don't know what to do about that. It's the reason I'm here.

There is a good chance I will just end up buying what you recommend. But I'm not going to do so blindly, no.

How do I know what size I want? I don't know what sizes the other laptops I've used have been. My ex had a huge one, which was too big and heavy. I've used a macbook (air?) that was tiny. I don't know the dimensions of either one.

What about this? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/satelli...oshiba p55-a5312&cp=1&lp=1#tab=specifications

 

[Persona7]

Should I go for the 1080p Lenovo Yoga or the 1600x900 version ?

As far as I can tell they both offer the exact same hardware except the 1080p y510p has a 15.6 inch screen and the 1600x900 y410p has a 14 inch screen. The price is also the same.

I see that the ecoupon expires on november 20th though. I hope they have another one after that.

 

[K.Jack]

I'm not sure if this is snark or not. It sounds like you're upset that I'm not a laptop expert. I don't know what to do about that. It's the reason I'm here.

There is a good chance I will just end up buying what you recommend. But I'm not going to do so blindly, no.

How do I know what size I want? I don't know what sizes the other laptops I've used have been. My ex had a huge one, which was too big and heavy. I've used a macbook (air?) that was tiny. I don't know the dimensions of either one.

What about this? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/satelli...oshiba p55-a5312&cp=1&lp=1#tab=specifications

No, I'm not being an asshole. That was a genuine question. Asked in a different way, it goes: Once I recommend a random laptop, what factor(s) would make you reject it? But forget that. Does programming require a certain level of hardware? That's a better question.

I will say this. Good keyboard is somewhat subjective, but all 1366x768 screens are mediocre to fully crap. If you want a very good screen, you need a 1080p panel. The laptop you linked has that. If you don't require more powerful hardware, I don't see any reason to push you away from the Toshiba. Since it's at Best Buy, you may want to take the trip, to actually put your hands on the machine.

Should I go for the 1080p Lenovo Yoga or the 1600x900 version ?

As far as I can tell they both offer the exact same hardware except the 1080p y510p has a 15.6 inch screen and the 1600x900 y410p has a 14 inch screen. The price is also the same.

I see that the ecoupon expires on november 20th though. I hope they have another one after that.

1080p screens tend to be of higher quality. Most 14" 900p LCDs are mediocre.

Lenovo coupons tend to cycle back around pretty frequently.

 

[paperboywriter]

Hey guys,

my gf (she lives in Seoul, South Korea) wants a new laptop. she told me those things are important to her:

- should be relatively light (bluray/dvd not required)
- 13inch screen (or maybe 14inch but not much bigger)
- she wants to play a game from time to time, but mainly for university (she plays civ5 at the moment)
- around 600-800€

could you recommend me one?

thanks!

 

[dampflokfreund]

I play some games like Crysis 3, BF4 and some MMORPGS, they are running very fine on my Acer Ultrabook V5 552g AMD A8 5557m+8750m priced at just 499!

 

[Persona7]

No, I'm not being an asshole. That was a genuine question. Asked in a different way, it goes: Once I recommend a random laptop, what factor(s) would make you reject it? But forget that. Does programming require a certain level of hardware? That's a better question.

I will say this. Good keyboard is somewhat subjective, but all 1366x768 screens are mediocre to fully crap. If you want a very good screen, you need a 1080p panel. The laptop you linked has that. If you don't require more powerful hardware, I don't see any reason to push you away from the Toshiba. Since it's at Best Buy, you may want to take the trip, to actually put your hands on the machine.


1080p screens tend to be of higher quality. Most 14" 900p LCDs are mediocre.

Lenovo coupons tend to cycle back around pretty frequently.

Ok, I'll go for the 1080p model then. Thanks. I see that Lenovo is also going to have black friday deals starting in a few days, hopefully the same coupon or a better one will come back. http://shop.lenovo.com/us/special-offers/black-friday

 

[Kyleripman]

Nothing near $500 will play either Dark Souls worth a dang. I say go with the Y410p, while it's that cheap.

Cool, thanks.

 

[OverHeat]

K.Jack are your running your 780m at default clock?

 

[usea]

No, I'm not being an asshole. That was a genuine question. Asked in a different way, it goes: Once I recommend a random laptop, what factor(s) would make you reject it? But forget that. Does programming require a certain level of hardware? That's a better question.

I will say this. Good keyboard is somewhat subjective, but all 1366x768 screens are mediocre to fully crap. If you want a very good screen, you need a 1080p panel. The laptop you linked has that. If you don't require more powerful hardware, I don't see any reason to push you away from the Toshiba. Since it's at Best Buy, you may want to take the trip, to actually put your hands on the machine.

Ok cool, sorry about that.

Most of the time programming is just text editing, so no special hardware required. Other than making sure the OS is snappy and hitting keyboard shortcuts isn't a pain. Although presumably if I run a virtual machine, then the cpu and ram requirements go up a bit. I do that on my desktop, but I don't know how practical it is on a laptop.

I guess I'd reject a laptop if, after looking around, it didn't seem to be worth the price. Or if it has a touchscreen. Or if it's made by apple. Or if it only has 2gb or ram, or a terrible/old cpu (early i3 or celeron?). Or if I go and look at it and it weighs a million pounds or something.

Somebody linked slickdeals computer/laptop page. I also saw that there will be a bunch of sales next week. I guess I should wait until then?