Laptop Megathread: Your laptop doesn't have Haswell? More like Hasbeen~

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Laptop Megathread: Your laptop doesn't have Haswell? More like Hasbeen~

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DrDork: Dec 29, 2003; commanding officer of the Army of Dorkness

Boner Slam posted:

In several "synthetic" benchmarks the NVS5400 runs just barely above HD4400 levels.
But if you go to notebookcheck and look at the game benchmarks, it works surprisingly well. Specifically it is faster than the 710m by a few fps.

And remember, they only tested the 1GB variety.
The T430 has actually the 2GB NVS5400 built in, which was never tested there as far as I know.

At some point, if the price of the T430 continues to drop, it will become an option for people who need a T-series laptop and also some light to medium gaming. Around here the T430 with a 2 gig nvs 5400 now runs below 1000 euros. That certainly is an option to consider if you want a 14" of good quality and gaming capability up to current games which is not an apple.
Comparable Dells und HPs are much more expensive.

Sadly, the 2GB version of the NVS 5400M has long since been discontinued. It appears the 2GB versions were more or less a limited time launch special, so since sometime in June/July 2012 you've only been able to get the 1GB versions (in the US anyhow, unsure if that's the same overseas). As such, it should perform closely to the 710, with the 710 usually getting a small edge. As the NVS 5400M 1GB has been sufficient to power even modern games like Tomb Raider at 1600x900 at minimum settings and stay above 30FPS, a 710M in a U410 with its 1336x768 screen should be fine to play modern titles at somewhere between absolute minimum and low-medium settings. Still, for most people who want "gaming capability up to current games" I'd suggest something with a bit more oompf. For example, the upcoming T440p with 730M is roughly 50% faster than either the 710M or NVS 5400M--though obviously you're not going to find that for $400 at the Outlet.

Also, do not expect the T-series prices to drop much in the lead-up to the TX40 series: Lenovo usually doesn't do any sort of "blow-out" that involves noticeably higher discounts than their usual random sales. They should start popping up as gently used and whatnot, though, which could be a good deal for a lot of people.

# ? Sep 28, 2013 18:52

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# ? May 15, 2024 13:00

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

DrDork posted:

Also, do not expect the T-series prices to drop much in the lead-up to the TX40 series: Lenovo usually doesn't do any sort of "blow-out" that involves noticeably higher discounts than their usual random sales. They should start popping up as gently used and whatnot, though, which could be a good deal for a lot of people.

Truth. Considering that they go for almost a thousand dollars on Amazon, the b&n price is pretty great. When the T440 goes on sale they will continue selling the old T430 at mostly the same prices until they run out. They still have corporate contracts and have to provide the old model until at least the end of the year anyway.

# ? Sep 28, 2013 19:12

Naffer: Oct 26, 2004; Not a good chemist

Boner Slam posted:

In other news, notebookcheck (Germany) has now the review for the Dell 7440 up. This should interest a lot of people:
http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Dell-Latitude-E7440-Notebook.101912.0.html
If you are a person with money and compulsive need for a nipple mouse with real buttons, this could be your new laptop. As usual, don't get the lovely TN display. Mobility is good, keyboard is good, durability is good and battery is good. With the 47WH battery it may even be excellent. Of course a proper SSD is in order as well. Upgradeablity is there and it has all connection options you'll need.

Needing money is right. The 1080p touchscreen is a $200 option over the 1080p matte screen (already an $80 option). I can configure a i5-4300U, 8GB Ram, 128GB SSD, and 1080p nontouchscreen with webcam+intel wireless for $1500, which is pretty steep. The 1080p touchscreen makes that >$1700 and the i7 or larger SSD options push it even higher.
I suppose it does come with a 3 year warranty at least.

# ? Sep 28, 2013 19:25

DrDork: Dec 29, 2003; commanding officer of the Army of Dorkness

Boner Slam posted:

In other news, notebookcheck (Germany) has now the review for the Dell 7440 up. This should interest a lot of people:
http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-Dell-Latitude-E7440-Notebook.101912.0.html
If you are a person with money and compulsive need for a nipple mouse with real buttons, this could be your new laptop. As usual, don't get the lovely TN display. Mobility is good, keyboard is good, durability is good and battery is good. With the 47WH battery it may even be excellent. Of course a proper SSD is in order as well. Upgradeablity is there and it has all connection options you'll need.

Really? From what I got out of that review, the E7440 offers little that the T430s doesn't already do, other than be slightly (3.6lbs vs 3.94lbs) lighter: worse CPU (by default), worse GPU, ok but not-as-good keyboard, nipple-mouse, and trackpad, can't really judge the screens since the reviewed Dell had the shittiest possible one, and it's actually louder. It's big advantage--battery life--will get chopped down noticeably by upgrading the screen (already both the E7440 and T430s only get 1h10m run-time under load, and the 2hr extra under "wifi light use" will probably halve or more jumping up from the tested 1336x768 screen).

And the price? Ouch. Basic model with an i5-4200U is almost $1200. The T430s is about $850 w/1600x900 screen. Sure, you can deck the E7440 out with higher-end stuff, but that prices it out of "reasonable" and into the "there are better laptops for this money" range very quickly.

So yeah, unless you really need that hour or so of extra battery life...man, that's disappointing.

# ? Sep 28, 2013 19:28

fyallm: Feb 27, 2007; College Slice

Will a Dell Inspiron 15r SE be decent for gaming (Dota 2 and whenever GTA comes out on PC) and using to browse the internets:

i7-3632QM, 8 gigs of ram, windows 7 home premium, ATI 7730M 2GB graphics

# ? Sep 28, 2013 20:49

DrDork: Dec 29, 2003; commanding officer of the Army of Dorkness

fyallm posted:

Will a Dell Inspiron 15r SE be decent for gaming (Dota 2 and whenever GTA comes out on PC) and using to browse the internets:

i7-3632QM, 8 gigs of ram, windows 7 home premium, ATI 7730M 2GB graphics

The CPU is almost irrelevant. 8GB of RAM should be fine. OS doesn't matter. The GPU is about 25% slower than a 730M, so you should be fine for either DotA2 or GTA V. It won't be the most amazing experience ever, but you shouldn't have to turn too much down (especially since I believe GTA V internally renders at 1280x720 anyhow).

# ? Sep 28, 2013 22:06

fyallm: Feb 27, 2007; College Slice

DrDork posted:

The CPU is almost irrelevant. 8GB of RAM should be fine. OS doesn't matter. The GPU is about 25% slower than a 730M, so you should be fine for either DotA2 or GTA V. It won't be the most amazing experience ever, but you shouldn't have to turn too much down (especially since I believe GTA V internally renders at 1280x720 anyhow).

Thanks!!

# ? Sep 29, 2013 01:33

Brut: Aug 21, 2007; Can't post for 24 days!

DrDork posted:

The CPU is almost irrelevant. 8GB of RAM should be fine. OS doesn't matter. The GPU is about 25% slower than a 730M, so you should be fine for either DotA2 or GTA V. It won't be the most amazing experience ever, but you shouldn't have to turn too much down (especially since I believe GTA V internally renders at 1280x720 anyhow).

Nobody really knows how good/bad the GTA 5 PC port will even be, since it hasn't been even officially mentioned, much less confirmed. So if they do it right this time and crank up the graphics to make use of new hardware (as well as PS4/XBOne hardware), you might have to turn a bunch of settings down. If they go the GTA 4 route, it will run like poo poo no matter what you do.

# ? Sep 29, 2013 10:25

Gray Matter: Apr 20, 2009; There's something inside your head..

Does anyone have experience playing League of Legends on a mobile core i5 with HD 4000 graphics? I've been looking at some cheap laptops with 3210m or 3230m cpu and wondering if they're sufficient to run LOL on reasonable resolution and settings. That's really the only thing I play so I'm not too worried about modern titles.

# ? Sep 29, 2013 13:40

Doctor Goat: Jan 22, 2005; Where does it hurt?

Gray Matter posted:

Does anyone have experience playing League of Legends on a mobile core i5 with HD 4000 graphics? I've been looking at some cheap laptops with 3210m or 3230m cpu and wondering if they're sufficient to run LOL on reasonable resolution and settings. That's really the only thing I play so I'm not too worried about modern titles.

It depends on the resolution. League of Legends is really easy to run, though.

I used to play the game on a Core 2 Duo/x3100 IGP. :v:

# ? Sep 29, 2013 15:43

booshi: Aug 14, 2004; ||||||||||

Hadlock posted:

Sony

Sony makes excellent laptops with great screens, but are plauged by terrible driver support. Whatever laptop you buy from sony will get driver support for 6 months, after which point you'll be trapped with outdated drivers and no chance for updates.

Sony makes terrible machines and has really bad techs who further break your machine.

I've had my Vaio S since around last Christmas, and everything was great at first. Then, a speaker goes out. They send out a tech, he fixes it, all while leaving a screw in the machine. I found out about the screw when the machine would no longer turn on and I opened it up. Then, had to send it to them for a week (this is my personal and work machine) only to have it come back with the webcam broken. When they fixed the webcam, the optical drive stopped working. Now they are telling me I am out of warranty because it's already been serviced so many times, even though most of the service has been due to their techs breaking my machine. I always baby my machines, but this thing is built like garbage.

So, yeah, I'd take Sony out of the OP.

I'm in the market for a new laptop now, considering this one is dying (the keyboard is starting to go as well). Do the X1 Carbons not have Haswell yet? That's what I'm thinking of getting (and if not, still a Lenovo).

# ? Sep 29, 2013 16:28

WHERE MY HAT IS AT: Jan 7, 2011

On the other hand, I've had a Sony F for going on five years now and the only thing wrong with it is that the battery no longer lasts very long.

# ? Sep 29, 2013 17:30

Naffer: Oct 26, 2004; Not a good chemist

Lenovo updated the Yoga 2 Pro website to include specs: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/yoga/yoga-2-pro/#techspecs

Ideapad Yoga 2 Pro posted:

Processor
�4th Gen Intel� Core� i7-4500U Processor
�4th Gen Intel� Core� i5-4200U Processor
�4th Gen Intel� Core� i3-4010U Processor

Memory
Up to 8GB DDR3L 1600 MHz, 1 SO-DIMM slot (2GB / 4GB / 8GB)

Display/Resolution
�13.3" high-resolution QHD+ (3200 x 1800)
�IPS wide-view display with 10-point multitouch technology

Weight
3.06 lbs

Storage
128GB / 256GB / 512GB SSD

Integrated Communications
802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth� 4.0

The lack of 5GHz wifi is a huge bummer, but not surprising. The single RAM slot likely means that the memory will be single channel and that gaming performance will suffer substantially relative to dual channel Intel HD4400 Haswell laptops.

# ? Sep 29, 2013 17:58

Philip Rivers: Mar 15, 2010

Hog Butcher posted:

It depends on the resolution. League of Legends is really easy to run, though.

I used to play the game on a Core 2 Duo/x3100 IGP.

I play League of Legends on a 2011 Thinkpad X120e.

It's as thoroughly horrible as you would imagine.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 01:50

Inspector_666: Oct 7, 2003; _{benny with the good hair}

Brut posted:

Nobody really knows how good/bad the GTA 5 PC port will even be, since it hasn't been even officially mentioned, much less confirmed. So if they do it right this time and crank up the graphics to make use of new hardware (as well as PS4/XBOne hardware), you might have to turn a bunch of settings down. If they go the GTA 4 route, it will run like poo poo no matter what you do.

I was about to make a post saying that you should never, ever base a PC purchase off of a Rockstar port because it may never happens and even if it does, you'd need most of the NSA's computational power to make it really run well.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 03:39

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

Is there anywhere cheaper than Newegg I can pick up a laptop hard drive? I was gifted an old T400 sans hard drive with 8GB ram I'd like to put to work in a VM farm.

$35 shipped seems to be the cheapest I can find. I just need ~60GB to get WS2012 installed on there...

# ? Sep 30, 2013 05:44

DrDork: Dec 29, 2003; commanding officer of the Army of Dorkness

Amazon has a "generic" 60GB drive for $22: http://www.amazon.com/Generic-60GB-...ptop+hard+drive

There's not a lot out there sub-$30, though; at that point the simple housing, circuitry, and labor to bother putting them together and shipping them out in the first place provide a pretty firm floor.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 06:03

Mr.Radar: Nov 5, 2005; You guys aren't going to believe this, but that guy is our games teacher.

Hadlock posted:

Is there anywhere cheaper than Newegg I can pick up a laptop hard drive? I was gifted an old T400 sans hard drive with 8GB ram I'd like to put to work in a VM farm.

$35 shipped seems to be the cheapest I can find. I just need ~60GB to get WS2012 installed on there...

My local Microcenter sells refurbished drives dirt cheap. If you live near one it may be worth checking out.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 06:17

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

I have a nice 320gb doorstop I bought from the refurb bin at microcenter. Never again...

That $22 "generic" drive is almost worth it just for the comedic value, I may try that out, actually. Thanks!

# ? Sep 30, 2013 06:24

bend it like baked ham: Feb 16, 2009; Fries.

Hadlock posted:

That $22 "generic" drive is almost worth it just for the comedic value, I may try that out, actually. Thanks!

Please post a trip report with some pics if you order it.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 07:02

sleepy gary: Jan 11, 2006

I hope the label on the drive is just black text on white, "HARD DRIVE"

# ? Sep 30, 2013 09:11

Boner Slam: May 9, 2005

DrDork posted:

Sadly, the 2GB version of the NVS 5400M has long since been discontinued. It appears the 2GB versions were more or less a limited time launch special, so since sometime in June/July 2012 you've only been able to get the 1GB versions (in the US anyhow, unsure if that's the same overseas)

Here in Europe they only sell the 2GB NVS 5400 in T430 (as opposed to the 530, where it is the 1GB). Huh.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 12:26

Bob Morales: Aug 18, 2006; ~~Just wear the fucking mask, Bob~~

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

Hadlock posted:

Is there anywhere cheaper than Newegg I can pick up a laptop hard drive? I was gifted an old T400 sans hard drive with 8GB ram I'd like to put to work in a VM farm.

$35 shipped seems to be the cheapest I can find. I just need ~60GB to get WS2012 installed on there...

I can barely give away 160GB drives on CL

# ? Sep 30, 2013 12:54

Proud Christian Mom: Dec 20, 2006; READING COMPREHENSION IS HARD

DNova posted:

I hope the label on the drive is just black text on white, "HARD DRIVE"

DRIVE, HARD
MARK 1
DO NOT EAT

# ? Sep 30, 2013 14:52

Tiny Timbs: Sep 6, 2008

DNova posted:

I hope the label on the drive is just black text on white, "HARD DRIVE"

An SD card surrounded by metal weights.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 15:54

Gray Matter: Apr 20, 2009; There's something inside your head..

Hog Butcher posted:

It depends on the resolution. League of Legends is really easy to run, though.

I used to play the game on a Core 2 Duo/x3100 IGP.

More than likely it will be 1366 unless I splurge for 1920. So core i5 and hd4000 would probably handle League at high settings on 1366 at a frame rate acceptable for playing ranked, you think?

# ? Sep 30, 2013 16:27

Mighty_Ferguson: Mar 29, 2004; AND IT GOES A LITTLE SOMETHING LIKE THIS

Has anyone heard anything about additional flavors of the Ativ Book 9 Plus coming? Ideally one with 8GB RAM, maybe a 256GB SDD? I'd pull the trigger on one if it had those. The Sony Vaio Pro 13 has a model with 8GB/256GB available, but some of the comments in here regarding Sony are putting me off ordering one.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 17:44

WHERE MY HAT IS AT: Jan 7, 2011

The yoga 2 pro which is coming out this month will have those available, as well as the same high res screen as the Ativ Book 9 Plus. That might fit the bill?

# ? Sep 30, 2013 18:05

Naffer: Oct 26, 2004; Not a good chemist

Mighty_Ferguson posted:

Has anyone heard anything about additional flavors of the Ativ Book 9 Plus coming? Ideally one with 8GB RAM, maybe a 256GB SDD? I'd pull the trigger on one if it had those. The Sony Vaio Pro 13 has a model with 8GB/256GB available, but some of the comments in here regarding Sony are putting me off ordering one.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-NP940...tiv+book+9+plus
Currently out of stock, but listed at $1650 with an i7-4500U, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 18:13

chocolateTHUNDER: Jul 19, 2008; GIVE ME ALL YOUR FREE AGENTS

ALL OF THEM

Anybody know if HP gives student discounts? If so, how much?

E: they do, just can't see how much it is because I have to reset my account password. Bleh, I'll do that when I get home from work.

chocolateTHUNDER fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Sep 30, 2013

# ? Sep 30, 2013 20:49

Twerk from Home: Jan 17, 2009; This avatar brought to you by the 'save our dead gay forums' foundation.

Philip Rivers posted:

I play League of Legends on a 2011 Thinkpad X120e.

It's as thoroughly horrible as you would imagine.

I've played League, Dota 2, and Starcraft II on an X120e. Those little guys are champions, the only things it can't handle are tons of zerglings or Rumble's flamethrower, for some reason.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 21:55

Darmvlinder: Jan 14, 2013

I just started a course in interactive multimedia in college. We need Java, C++, Photoshop, Illustrator and the whole nine Adobe yards. Also, I need a laptop. I'm torn between the Asus N56VB-S4066H and the Lenovo ThinkPad E531.

It's kind of hard for me to find out what is better since I'm a total scrub on this sort of thing.

EDIT: I can't get ahold of these spicy black bento ThinkPads in Belgium anymore. And they're quite expensive.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 22:40

Twerk from Home: Jan 17, 2009; This avatar brought to you by the 'save our dead gay forums' foundation.

Darmvlinder posted:

I just started a course in interactive multimedia in college. We need Java, C++, Photoshop, Illustrator and the whole nine Adobe yards.

What sort of license situation are you in? It may end up being better to use the college's machines in labs where you need all this, they will have entirely up-to-date versions of these and it will probably end up saving hundreds of Euro. If you decide not to do Photoshop work on the laptop, then you can get a nice cheap portable laptop and not have to worry too much.

If you do have incredibly discounted software and don't have to pay the normal creative cloud pricing of 61 Euro / month for Adobe software, then you might want to start somewhere like the Y410p if they are affordable there. Depending on what you're doing, Photoshop is one of those cases that still needs plenty of CPU power and really high disk read/write.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 22:55

Darmvlinder: Jan 14, 2013

Weinertron posted:

What sort of license situation are you in? It may end up being better to use the college's machines in labs where you need all this, they will have entirely up-to-date versions of these and it will probably end up saving hundreds of Euro. If you decide not to do Photoshop work on the laptop, then you can get a nice cheap portable laptop and not have to worry too much.

If you do have incredibly discounted software and don't have to pay the normal creative cloud pricing of 61 Euro / month for Adobe software, then you might want to start somewhere like the Y410p if they are affordable there. Depending on what you're doing, Photoshop is one of those cases that still needs plenty of CPU power and really high disk read/write.

We have the school working that out for us. The licences shouldn't be a problem. If I'm not mistaken, the Y410p is a bit more expensive than the two laptops I mentioned. Know this: a T530 costs around 860 euros in Germany, around 980 in the Netherlands and over a 1200 euros in Belgium. But ordering abroad is currently not an option.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 23:12

Hadlock: Nov 9, 2004

Darmvlinder posted:

I just started a course in interactive multimedia in college. We need Java, C++, Photoshop, Illustrator and the whole nine Adobe yards. Also, I need a laptop. I'm torn between the Asus N56VB-S4066H and the Lenovo ThinkPad E531.

The Asus is a better deal for two reasons:
1) 1080p screen (tool bars in Adobe products eat up a ton of room) and
2) Asus has a metal chasis, the E series is overhyped plastic crap with a thinkpad label.

I would check brightness/color gamut on the Asus screen. Especially if you're going to be physically printing in any great amount. Also consider a second ~24" screen.

Also, even in full screen mode 900 vertical pixels is almost :smithicide:

Those extra 180 pixels are important, especially if you have bad eyesight.

# ? Sep 30, 2013 23:54

Gray Matter: Apr 20, 2009; There's something inside your head..

Weinertron posted:

I've played League, Dota 2, and Starcraft II on an X120e. Those little guys are champions, the only things it can't handle are tons of zerglings or Rumble's flamethrower, for some reason.

My current laptop has the same E-350 APU as that Thinkpad and while I've played Diablo 3 and League on it, it was at lowest settings and not what I would consider "acceptable" performance, certainly not for any kind of competetive play. However, notebookcheck.net's mobile GPU benchmark list has the 6310 from that APU at spot #410, while the HD 4000 occupies #264 on the list, so hopefully it would be a considerable improvement.

It's a shame there isn't an easy way to try before you buy short of knowing a friend with the same configuration you're looking at.

# ? Oct 1, 2013 00:18

dpkg chopra: Jun 9, 2007; Fast Food Fight; Grimey Drawer

Anyone have any opinions re: USB hubs? Any recommended ones out there? USB 2.0 is fine.

# ? Oct 1, 2013 01:23

Tiny Timbs: Sep 6, 2008

Have y410ps been shipping lately? My order status is still on "Estimated shipping date 9/30" and I'm starting to think about what I'll have to do when I go on a 2-week trip on 14 Oct.

# ? Oct 1, 2013 01:26

dpkg chopra: Jun 9, 2007; Fast Food Fight; Grimey Drawer

Fallom posted:

Have y410ps been shipping lately? My order status is still on "Estimated shipping date 9/30" and I'm starting to think about what I'll have to do when I go on a 2-week trip on 14 Oct.

FWIW, I ordered mine on Sept. 5 and the estimated shipping date was 9/23, about a week later my shipping estimate jumped up to 12/31. Called Lenovo and they assured me that it was website error and that my shipping date was still 9/23.

Before 9/23 I got hit with two "you shipment is delayed" emails, and Lenovo still assured me that it was on track.

Laptop ended up shipping 9/25, just two days late, and the laptop arrived in two days to my house.

So I guess the answer is: who the gently caress knows? A bunch of goons in the thread ordered around this month and they all seem to have gotten their laptop in or around their original shipping estimate.

# ? Oct 1, 2013 01:37

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# ? May 15, 2024 13:00

Socrates16: Aug 21, 2012; "Mr. Roark, we're alone here. Why don't you tell me what you think of me? In any words you wish. No one will hear us."
"But I don't think of you."

Fallom posted:

Have y410ps been shipping lately? My order status is still on "Estimated shipping date 9/30" and I'm starting to think about what I'll have to do when I go on a 2-week trip on 14 Oct.

My y510p jumped from 9/30 to 10/21 Friday. I ordered the 22nd. We'll see what happens in the next couple of days.

# ? Oct 1, 2013 01:59

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Laptop Megathread: Your laptop doesn't have Haswell? More like Hasbeen~

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