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blue.eyed.ash posted:My old laptop died and I've been looking at ultrabooks since I travel a fair bit. Thanks to this thread, I've been looking at the Best Buy Yoga 2 Pro, but I noticed that it's only got 4GB of onboard RAM. If I'm looking to buy and keep it for 4-5 years, how realistic is 4GB? They also carry a 8/256 model for $1200, which is almost certainly worth it if you're planning on keeping the laptop for 4-5 years.
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Nov 19, 2013 20:40
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My Macbook will turn 7 years old in May next year, so it's about time I replaced it. I can budget about $1100 for a new machine, which means the Apple stuff is just outside of my price range(Not to mention the lack of user-upgradability, the only reason this Macbook's made it so far is because I've added RAM and installed a new HD) I'm basically looking for a machine that will last me for a decent while, preferably has a matte screen and is in the 13-14"(Maybe 15" tops) screen size range. Doesn't have to come with an SSD since I can always add one of those later. I'm looking for something with at least 4GB of RAM(upgradable if need be, I'm handy enough to do it myself), and a good amount of storage space. I have a 1.5TB NAS to store most stuff on, but I'd like to keep some stuff on the machine itself and avoid having to transfer stuff back and forth. I currently get around fairly well with a 320GB HDD and have a spare WD Scorpio Black of that size lying around. I could easily manage with a 256GB SSD, there's a lot of cruft on my current drive that I can offload to the NAS. Thing is, I have a terrible dislike for the 1366x768 screen resolution most laptops seem to come with these days. I've been looking around, but what I've seen so far appears a bit underwhelming. I plan on using it for basic development work(Visual Studio 2010, no massive projects as I'm mainly a hobbyist coder), occasional Photoshop stuff, and it'd be nice to run some games on it as well, doesn't have to be in native resolution or anything like that. I've looked at several ultrabooks in the 13" size range, but the big turnoff tends to be screen resolution and storage space. Doesn't have to be an ultrabook though. Planning to get it late december, so if there's anything of interest coming soon I can wait for it.
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Nov 19, 2013 20:41
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I'm in the market for a new laptop in the 1000-1500$ price range, basically I'm going to be doing my Master's in Computer Science on it, so I need portability. I don't know if my classes / the courses I'll have will require much computing power; I wouldn't think so and if I really need it I can always go for the school computers. I game a bit (a lot), but generally not newer AAA titles and anyway I don't mind having settings on medium. My friend just got a new Macbook Air and it is quite a beautiful machine, I kinda fell in love with it and was ready to get one but then this thread also turned me on to the Yoga Pro 2 and I gotta say I'm impressed by the touchscreen and the portability. I remember seeing a PC with a touchscreen a few years ago and wasn't impressed, but seeing it in action on youtube, it seems to feel pretty nice. What I'm wary of is buying a plastic laptop. I'm on an Asus I've had for 3 years right now, and the thing is pretty beat up, and I don't even use it that hard, it's just pretty flimsy. The screen basically hangs on with 1 hinge now. I intend on carrying that computer to and from school all the time in my backpack and I kinda don't want to repeat the experience. That's why I find the Air appealing; brushed aluminium seems like a much more durable component than plastic. Especially the flipping screen thing to make the Yoga into a tablet; it looks like an awesome feature but also like the kind of gadget that will just fall apart after 2 years. So basically what's turning me off the Yoga Pro right now is processing power (the Mac's CPU seems much faster, however I remember games on mac being pretty lovely) and "ruggedness". Also I could develop apps for iOS. The resolution on the Yoga, however, and the touchscreen, all look amazing. I'd probably install bootcamp if I were to get the Air anyway, how's performance with that? Colonel J fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Nov 19, 2013 |
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Nov 19, 2013 20:43
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I'm trying to find a good laptop for my mom in the $600-$800 price range. She'll be using the computer for office work and browsing the internet and almost anything will be faster than what she's currently on (dell dimension desktop with a pentium 4 or something). I'd like to get her a 14-15.6 inch haswell laptop with a 1600x900 resolution. Do you guys have any suggestions? I've looked at mainly latitudes and the HP elite/probook stuff but they fall out of my price range. I also looked at the T440p but it falls like $80 out of range with the 1600x900 screen and won't be shipping until 12/10 or whenever Lenovo decides to move out a lot of T440ps. MagusDraco fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Nov 19, 2013 |
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Nov 19, 2013 20:57
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Colonel J posted:I'm in the market for a new laptop in the 1000-1500$ price range, basically I'm going to be doing my Master's in Computer Science on it, so I need portability. I don't know if my classes / the courses I'll have will require much computing power; I wouldn't think so and if I really need it I can always go for the school computers. I game a bit (a lot), but generally not newer AAA titles and anyway I don't mind having settings on medium.
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Nov 19, 2013 20:58
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havenwaters posted:I'm trying to find a good laptop for my mom in the $600-$800 price range. She'll be using the computer for office work and browsing the internet and almost anything will be faster than what she's currently on (dell dimension desktop with a pentium 4 or something). If you can get by without Haswell the t430 or 530 is around 700 with the 1600x900 screen.
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Nov 19, 2013 21:00
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Doctor rear end in a top hat posted:How about a T440s/p? Right now the T440s $1206.15 with a touchscreen and $1435.65 if you want to bump it up to an i7, but it's a ULV processor like in the MBA. The T440p is $1286.90 with a quad-core i7 and FHD screen. The p also has discrete graphics but you lose some portability and battery life. That also looks like a very good computer. Since when is Lenovo such a leader in recommendations? I always regarded as a merely ok budget laptop maker
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Nov 19, 2013 21:03
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Colonel J posted:That also looks like a very good computer. Since when is Lenovo such a leader in recommendations? I always regarded as a merely ok budget laptop maker Lenovo's consumer line is a merely ok budget laptop (ideapad, G5xx/7xx series) The Thinkpad T series are generally top of the line business laptops. e: B-Mac posted:If you can get by without Haswell the t430 or 530 is around 700 with the 1600x900 screen. Yeah. I think I'm just hoping for some nice deal on amazon or something for a good haswell laptop during black friday. I'm probably being a bit unrealistic and will get a T430/530. MagusDraco fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Nov 19, 2013 |
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Nov 19, 2013 21:05
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Oh hey get $10 off and an extra M.2 SSD! When you click it, you just get a spinner and nothing happens. Fix your loving site, Lenovo.
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Nov 19, 2013 21:28
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Is this the right place to ask about laptops? My brother wanted to get a new laptop and asked me to run it past other people, since I don't have a clue. It is this thing: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231238 ASUS G46VW-BSI5N06 And his statement: Thats the laptop. The bigger one is gone off the website it looks like so thats not an option anymore. Pretty much I wanna play games like GW2, TSW and ESO when it comes out on like mediumish settings, Im fine with ~30 FPS If this is the wrong place, feel free to yell at me! Synnr fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Nov 20, 2013 |
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Nov 20, 2013 02:49
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singe posted:I'm pretty sure the Yoga 2 Pro wifi issues are real. I've had wifi issues since day 1, mostly through my school's wifi but not at home. I've updated all the drivers (including the one that was released last week). Oddly enough if I use an external wifi adapter everything works fine, so I've been using that temporary fix while Lenovo figures out what's wrong. Man, I just pulled the trigger on this thing. Now you're starting to worry me. 
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Nov 20, 2013 02:58
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I bought a Yoga 2 Pro, got sick of the awful track pad, scaling issues, Win8 ux problems, and bundled crapware. Returned it for a 13" Macbook Pro Retina. Keyboard is better on the Y2P, but that's it. Screen color issues and backlight bleeding coupled with the terrible scaling made the problems outweigh the benefits of the high resolution. Poor battery life too. I'm not a Mac fan, and I really wanted a Windows computer, but man if this MBPr isn't great. Works straight out of the box, solid build quality, great track pad, great screen, great battery life, and plenty good keyboard. I've been looking for the right Windows laptop for months, and as far as I can tell for me (after several trips to the Windows store and Best Buy) it doesn't exist.
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Nov 20, 2013 04:32
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My X240 is got here today. Here's some impressions from the first hour or so. The good: -Build quality is excellent, as should be expected from the thinkpad line. -Keyboard is excellent. -The IPS screen is quite nice. Great color quality, and good viewing angles. I strongly suspect many of you will want to wait for the 1080P option, but I really don't mind the 1366x768 on a machine this size. If the upgrade was available and cheap, I probably would have bought it. -It seems quite fast -- compared to my x120e, its positively lightning, even though I haven't added an SSD yet. The OK: -Surprisingly, I don't hate the new touchpad. Its weird that it is slightly springy, but I never click to click on touchpads, I tap. I've used far, far worse touchpads. -The lack of dedicated buttons is a step down from previous thinkpads, but I hate it less than I thought I would. Having a trackpoint is a plus, and its far from unusable. The bad: -Surprisingly to me, there was more crapware installed than I expected. Norton Security, really? Also some bullshit that replaced the start menu button with something with ads in it. For shame, lenovo. Easy enough to uninstall though. -This is the default desktop. It looks like meth. For those who do, indeed.  I may have some more thoughts after I install a SSD and linux, or after a few more days. Feel free to ask any questions.
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Nov 20, 2013 04:50
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Is there something better new in this price range than this, or something equal but cheaper? http://shopap.lenovo.com/au/en/laptops/essential/b-series/b590/?sb=:000001CB:00021F41: In case the site is region filtered: quote:$499 I haven't been able to find anything else really though prices in australia might be hosed up a bit. I just want something decent without integrated graphics so I can play games from 2007/browse/write/watch stuff in bed.
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Nov 20, 2013 06:16
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You should look at the same priced E431. Slightly better everything, but the screen is 1.5 inches smaller. It has to be said that neither of these laptops has discrete graphics. Any laptop with discrete graphics is going to call for a bigger budget. But you will be able to do what you want with them. HD4000 can easily play games from '07. You should also look at other brands. Lenovo's products are not anything special, and you might find better deals elsewhere. P.N.T.M. fucked around with this message at 07:50 on Nov 20, 2013 |
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Nov 20, 2013 07:39
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havenwaters posted:I'm trying to find a good laptop for my mom in the $600-$800 price range. She'll be using the computer for office work and browsing the internet and almost anything will be faster than what she's currently on (dell dimension desktop with a pentium 4 or something). Lenovo L440 should fit your bill. edit: after you customize it to your liking of course... a bit cheaper than a T440 with a similar config. Spatule fucked around with this message at 10:28 on Nov 20, 2013 |
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Nov 20, 2013 09:11
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P.N.T.M. posted:You should look at the same priced E431. Slightly better everything, but the screen is 1.5 inches smaller. It has to be said that neither of these laptops has discrete graphics. Any laptop with discrete graphics is going to call for a bigger budget. But you will be able to do what you want with them. HD4000 can easily play games from '07. Ah I thought the numbered intel gpu's were discrete. Either way they sound pretty decent, I just don't want to be stuck with "Intel HD graphics." I've checked practically every site I know in AU, along with about 150 pages of ebay listings, and I just haven't been able to find anything much better for the price. Really uneasy about buying refurbished from sellers who refuse to provide pictures of the actual product itself rather than stock photos they found on google.
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Nov 20, 2013 16:14
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Spatule posted:Lenovo L440 should fit your bill. Yeah that looks like it'll work. Thanks.
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Nov 20, 2013 16:19
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Just an FYI, on the advice of this thread I put together and ordered a T430 for a Christmas present. When I ordered it on Monday it had an expected ship date of early December. I checked this morning and the ship date had moved to mid January. I called up Lenovo and they said that there were 12 separate components of the order on backorder. They did let me cancel the order though. If you are hoping to get a T430 for anybody for Christmas, or just for yourself and need it in less than two months, you probably want to look elsewhere.
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Nov 20, 2013 17:37
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The thinkpad yoga is out on lenovo's site, but for some reason its stuck at 4GB of memory (and the implication on the customization page is that its non replaceable / upgradeable by the user). Does anyone know if the newegg version has the digitizer / pen support?
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Nov 20, 2013 19:08
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AriTheDog posted:I bought a Yoga 2 Pro, got sick of the awful track pad, scaling issues, Win8 ux problems, and bundled crapware. Returned it for a 13" Macbook Pro Retina. Keyboard is better on the Y2P, but that's it. Screen color issues and backlight bleeding coupled with the terrible scaling made the problems outweigh the benefits of the high resolution. Poor battery life too. How does non-retina content look on the MBPr? Also, I heard that effective resolution is only 1280x800 which seems awfully small... Does playing games or other content at lower resolutions look blurry?
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Nov 20, 2013 20:00
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A Yolo Wizard posted:The thinkpad yoga is out on lenovo's site, but for some reason its stuck at 4GB of memory (and the implication on the customization page is that its non replaceable / upgradeable by the user). Does anyone know if the newegg version has the digitizer / pen support? You're in the same boat I am, I see. I'd pull the trigger on the NewEgg one right this moment if I could get confirmation it includes the pen. There is a user question outstanding on it, but no one seems to know for sure. Both versions on the Lenovo site at 12.5" include it, so you'd expect it's the same package, but I'm not going to risk over a grand to find out for sure!
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Nov 20, 2013 20:08
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Which ThinkPad Yoga are you talking about? I'm also considering a Lenovo (instead of the MacBook Pro w/Retina) because my "ideal" laptop is a convertible with a touchscreen and the ThinkPad/IdeaPads look really nice. Are you talking about the Yoga 11S? (I'm guessing not since you said 12.5 screen...)
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Nov 20, 2013 20:31
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Vinlaen posted:Which ThinkPad Yoga are you talking about? No. The Thinkpad Yoga http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/yoga-series/yoga/
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Nov 20, 2013 20:38
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I need a small laptop to do some work while on the road, and I'm looking to spend under $400. I've read the first post, but I honestly can't spare more than that. I saw these two Open Box deals earlier and was wondering if you guys could weigh in on them. Asus: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-op...82.323654&rd=25 Acer: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-op...82.323654&rd=25 Thanks! Gaspy Conana fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Nov 20, 2013 |
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Nov 20, 2013 20:38
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Vinlaen posted:Hmmm... I've been debating about a MBPr for a while now and I even tried an Macbook Air (2013, 13" model) and loved everything about it except for the TN screen. Everything so far looks fine. You can also adjust the scaling up and down to show more or less on screen. Seems to work fine for everything. I thought the convertible with touchscreen thing sounded awesome, but I realized I was only using touch as a crutch for the lovely trackpad, and the tablet mode while cool is just too drat big and heavy to use in a comfortable way. I still think the model with digitizer is appealing for art or notes, but I'd rather have a dedicated tablet that's lightweight with good battery for that. That said, if you want an extremely HD screen, the cheapest Y2P is a good price.
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Nov 20, 2013 20:47
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I was surprised to see you hated the touchpad on the Yoga 2 Pro so much, but then I remembered I fiddled with it immediately so out of the box it might be quite a bit worse. I turned off palm detection thanks to advice I saw here, then ended up installing a recent touchpad driver for the original Yoga because I hate the reverse scrolling direction and couldn't toggle it in the standard Yoga 2 Pro drivers. With those changes, at least, I've found the touchpad quite good. Easily better than the Zenbook Prime I had previously, though it was solid too. No jumping cursor, smooth movements, multi finger gestures have worked every time. No complaints 
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Nov 20, 2013 21:00
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AriTheDog posted:Everything so far looks fine. You can also adjust the scaling up and down to show more or less on screen. Seems to work fine for everything. Conversely, I have no problems whatsoever with the trackpad. The keyboard isn't great by Lenovo standards, but every other aspect of build quality is up to par with my rMBP, with better battery life, less weight, and less scaling problems (unless you have real issues with pentile). Everyone should wipe their Yogas to get rid of the crapware and tweak the synaptics options, but these are things you expect to do in a windows machine anyway. I don't think the touchscreen, tablet mode, tent mode, or whatever the other mode is are useful at at all, but it's a better Macbook than macbooks assuming your criteria are: weight, battery life, and resolution, and I don't really give a drat about anything else.
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Nov 20, 2013 21:01
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Is the difference between the ULV processors and the full speed ones not very much? It seems like everything new and nice is an ultrabook. Should I not worry? Only tasks I really will be doing is visual studio 2012 and maybe some light gaming like indie games and source games, sc2, etc.
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Nov 20, 2013 21:53
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snoozeallday posted:Is the difference between the ULV processors and the full speed ones not very much? It seems like everything new and nice is an ultrabook. Should I not worry? Only tasks I really will be doing is visual studio 2012 and maybe some light gaming like indie games and source games, sc2, etc. Don't worry about it.
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Nov 20, 2013 22:13
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So I saw the thing in the OP about $500 laptops being poo poo, but I saw this: http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-3537/pd?oc=dnpcc204h&model_id=inspiron-15-3537 And it seems to be everything I'm in the market for at right about that magic price, right down to 4th gen I5 core. Am I missing something here, because this seems like a quality machine. I'd use it for Office stuff, Internet stuff, and moderate gaming (nothing too elaborate...I currently have an Intel 4000 graphic chip and have never encountered a situation where that was a problem, and this guy has a 4400).
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Nov 20, 2013 22:22
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Looking at the specs it's typical for a $500 laptop. Bad screen, slow hard drive, tiny battery.
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Nov 20, 2013 22:27
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Build quality on every Inspiron I've ever seen has also been dreadful.
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Nov 20, 2013 22:52
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Anybody have thoughts on a good USB CD rom? I bought one from NewEgg once upon a time and it died pretty quickly so I'd like a recomendation from somebody who's used one. I guess my mom wants to rip a bunch of CDs in iTunes but I'm getting her a laptop without a drive, so she'll be needing one.
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Nov 20, 2013 23:21
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GokieKS posted:Build quality on every Inspiron I've ever seen has also been dreadful. That never used to be quite true; back in the day (what, early 2000s or so) the Inspirons were just rebranded Latitudes that were just rebranded Precisions. Sometimes you were a BIOS flash away to some artificially locked out feature, like lower RAM speed.
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Nov 20, 2013 23:35
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FISHMANPET posted:Anybody have thoughts on a good USB CD rom? I bought one from NewEgg once upon a time and it died pretty quickly so I'd like a recomendation from somebody who's used one. I have this Samsung model which I've used for about a year, it probably has 150 hrs of netflix DVD watching on it. It needs two USB ports to power it but hey at least you don't need a dedicated power supply. Case is pretty springy to avoid damage with impacts and seems to have no problems bouncing around in my bag. Mine is sky blue but they all seem to be about the same. They run about $27-35 depending on how you visit the site (one of those dynamically priced items).
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Nov 20, 2013 23:45
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HalloKitty posted:That never used to be quite true; back in the day (what, early 2000s or so) the Inspirons were just rebranded Latitudes that were just rebranded Precisions. Sometimes you were a BIOS flash away to some artificially locked out feature, like lower RAM speed. Fine, every Inspiron I can remember. Certainly all the ones I've come across in the last 5 to 8 years have been dreadful.
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Nov 21, 2013 00:24
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A Yolo Wizard posted:The thinkpad yoga is out on lenovo's site, but for some reason its stuck at 4GB of memory (and the implication on the customization page is that its non replaceable / upgradeable by the user). Does anyone know if the newegg version has the digitizer / pen support? For what it's worth, the Aussie site let me order 8gb.
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Nov 21, 2013 00:45
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Seems like you have to upgrade the CPU to the i5 option to be able to upgrade the RAM.
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Nov 21, 2013 01:17
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Yeah, as someone who has to look at that stupid Lenovo desktop on every machine I deploy to clients I can safely say that that desktop background is truly boring slash terrible.
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Nov 21, 2013 02:38
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