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joshtothemaxx posted:How easy/possible is it to add 2gb of ram to any of the lower tier Chromebooks like the C720? Conversely RAM in a Chromebox is trivial to upgrade. Would definitely suggest lobbing a 4 GB stick in a 2 GB Chromebox for the extra $40ish.
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Aug 27, 2014 19:14
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I'm looking for a system for home and work use. I need something with a dedicated GPU for After Effects, VJ software and real time visualization stuff. Price isn't much of a factor. Specs that I want: 14"-15" preferably Dedicated higher end graphics card Good battery life Durable build quality Ability to add 2 touchscreen monitors Accidental damage warranty Weight: 4.5lbs or less Basically I want a 15" MacBook Pro, except with a touchscreen... or a t440s with a dedicated graphics card and the Lenovo 3 year Accidental Damage warranty service. I was looking at the 14" Razer but I read you can't add two external monitors to it. The 14" Ghost has extremely short battery life, which doesn't work for me either. Is there something I'm missing?
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Aug 27, 2014 22:30
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Unicorn Vomit posted:I'm looking for a system for home and work use. I need something with a dedicated GPU for After Effects, VJ software and real time visualization stuff. Price isn't much of a factor. Can't you add 2 touchscreen monitors to a 15" rMBP? I think that's your best bet. I hate to say it, but if you really need power in a way that only video editing can, have you looked at a desktop for your primary location, and then a compromise laptop like a Y40 for mobile? It would probably be cheaper than the $3k laptop you're describing.
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Aug 27, 2014 23:00
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Maybe the Dell XPS 15/Precision M3800? It has a fast CPU, GT 750M, 16GB of RAM and two video outputs. I've heard it has issues with coil whine (omnipresent, faint, high pitched noise) and some users have reported throttling problems under load, but is otherwise a good machine. If you don't care about getting a QHD/4k display there are probably other machines to look at; I posted a similar request to yours a couple days ago and still haven't decided what I'm going to do.
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Aug 27, 2014 23:01
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I just checked out the XPS15 and it's exactly what I'm looking for - a MacBook Pro clone with a touchscreen. It fulfills everything else on my list, thanks. How is Dell support these days? Are they on par with Lenovo or Apple? Since I'm purchasing a pair of touchscreen monitors I'm also considering building a micro-ATX travel box with a Geforce 760 I already own for more intensive stuff, and then using something like a t440s for lighter stuff. Any idea if the Intel 4400 HD graphics can handle basic After Effects video rendering? Unicorn Vomit fucked around with this message at 04:04 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 01:40
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I have a xps 13 and had some hardware problems and dell was pretty decent at doing their best at getting it fixed.
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Aug 28, 2014 02:00
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Unicorn Vomit posted:I just checked out the XPS15 and it's exactly what I'm looking for - a MacBook Pro clone with a touchscreen. It fulfills everything else on my list, thanks. Fortunately, XPS support is considerably better than run of the mill Dell support and I got a replacement screen for my exactly what you're talking about XPS 15 in a couple days time (dead pixels)
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Aug 28, 2014 03:19
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I'm not really sure if I should be posting here or in the windows tablet thread, but here goes: I'm starting a Ph.D program in a month and need to get some variety of portable computer. What I'd like, in a nutshell, is something that is as light and cheap as possible, since I'll be doing a lot of traveling/commuting with it and I'm almost certainly going to lose/break/have it stolen at some point. All it really has to run is Office and Magic the Gathering Online (which a toaster could run) for my downtime - I looked into chromebooks but google docs just doesn't work with track changes/document comments the way I need it to (and doesn't run MTG:O). Is there anything half-decent with an IPS screen (10-11 inches is fine, I have a gaming desktop with multiple monitors for serious writing), a non-horrid keyboard, and a somewhat decent (5-7 hours) battery life in the sub $400 range? Currently looking at an ASUS transformer book, but the reviews on the keyboard have me worried; I have tiny hands and can cope with cramped keys, doubled keypresses would drive me insane.
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Aug 28, 2014 03:54
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Gnumonic posted:I'm not really sure if I should be posting here or in the windows tablet thread, but here goes: I'm starting a Ph.D program in a month and need to get some variety of portable computer. What I'd like, in a nutshell, is something that is as light and cheap as possible, since I'll be doing a lot of traveling/commuting with it and I'm almost certainly going to lose/break/have it stolen at some point. All it really has to run is Office and Magic the Gathering Online (which a toaster could run) for my downtime - I looked into chromebooks but google docs just doesn't work with track changes/document comments the way I need it to (and doesn't run MTG:O). Is there anything half-decent with an IPS screen (10-11 inches is fine, I have a gaming desktop with multiple monitors for serious writing), a non-horrid keyboard, and a somewhat decent (5-7 hours) battery life in the sub $400 range? Currently looking at an ASUS transformer book, but the reviews on the keyboard have me worried; I have tiny hands and can cope with cramped keys, doubled keypresses would drive me insane. Cletus Van Damme posted:If you are interested in the 64 gb version of the acer switch 10 it is on sale for today at newegg for 350, after you enter the discount code AF826TEN. it gets pretty good reviews for what it is, and the keyboard seems a lot better than the t100
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Aug 28, 2014 09:46
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I've decided it's time to retire my current laptop which seems to be on the verge of death and has been for some time. Since I haven't bought a computer for about 8 years I thought I'd come in search of a little advice. My maximum budget is £800 though something around 700 would be ideal. Portability is my main requirement since I plan on taking it to uni on a daily basis. Being quiet is a plus too since my current laptop fan is so loud that people in lectures tend to turn around and look at me in annoyance whenever it decides to spin up. A dedicated graphics card would also be nice though I'm aware that might be a bit of a stretch on my budget. Any thoughts? edit: The Lenovo IdeaPad U330 looks like a decent bet, only downsides are the 1366x768 display and lack of a pure SSD. Holistic Detective fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Aug 28, 2014 |
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Aug 28, 2014 14:22
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Unicorn Vomit posted:I'm looking for a system for home and work use. I need something with a dedicated GPU for After Effects, VJ software and real time visualization stuff. Price isn't much of a factor. Have you checked out the Lenovo Y50? Touchscreen, i7, GTX860M, 15.6". Lenovo has some decent sales going for Labor Day if you can deal with their long ship times, as well. It kind of lacks on the battery life, but the rMBP is hard to beat on that end.
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Aug 28, 2014 19:03
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I don't know if this is the right thread, but I was looking for a replacement screen for my Lenovo X230, and I noticed there are some weird numberings in the end of the screen models: 2320-39U, 2320-36U, 2320-33U, 2325-88U, 2320-2ZU Do they mean anything? Lenovo part numbers are a mystery to me, but I would like to learn more seeing how Lenovo is quickly turning into like the main PC laptop brand to recommend to folks.
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Aug 28, 2014 23:02
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It seems very odd to me that there's no way to get a T440p without an optical drive, it's otherwise a great system for what she wants but that just seems like needless weight in her case (or at least give me the option to slot a secondary HD in there instead.
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Aug 29, 2014 06:15
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Generalissimo
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The default for the Sager I got was a Blu-ray/DVD-RW combo. I could downgrade it to a DVD-RW and save $25 or replace it with an empty hard drive caddy (what I would rather have done) and save nothing. If it didn't have an msata slot I would've gone for the caddy. Also I'm kind of amused at how quickly everyone stopped caring about Blu-ray. Discs are such a pain and take up too much space.
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Aug 29, 2014 06:45
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Toast posted:It seems very odd to me that there's no way to get a T440p without an optical drive, it's otherwise a great system for what she wants but that just seems like needless weight in her case (or at least give me the option to slot a secondary HD in there instead. You do have that option of replacing the optical drive with a second hard disk - just buy a caddy off ebay or similar.
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Aug 29, 2014 09:13
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I posted this awhile back, but got no response.Sir Pukesalot posted:Laptop goons please help me! So now i need to know witch laptop will fit my purpose the best(gaming  ), the Lenovo previous mentioned, Lenovo Y50-70 (specs further down) or a MSI GP70 2PF-098NE?Anyway here is the specs for the MSI and Y50-70 code:code:
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Aug 29, 2014 09:22
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, and my budget is actually 9000 dkk if that helps). i am currently looking at a Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p with following specs
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I don't think the DDR3 version of the 850M is very fast (that's what I have in my cheap Asus) - the 860M in the Lenovo should be a bit better. Also I think that 'killer' ethernet controller in the MSI is notoriously bad. I'd budget for an SSD for the Y50 though - hybrid drives just don't cut it.
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Aug 29, 2014 09:33
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dissss posted:I don't think the DDR3 version of the 850M is very fast (that's what I have in my cheap Asus) - the 860M in the Lenovo should be a bit better. Also I think that 'killer' ethernet controller in the MSI is notoriously bad. I see, but how is that compared to the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p (15.6 inch 1920*1080p CPU: Intel core i7 4700MQ GPU: 2* nVidia GeForce GT 755M (SLI) 12 GB (1600 GHz) RAM 1000 GB SSHD Intel Centrino Wireless N-2230) from my understanding SLI will normally be faster, but not always containing drivers/profiles for all games, is that correct?
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Aug 29, 2014 11:14
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I'm looking for a new laptop/netbook/something (with a physical keyboard) for my mom- all she does pretty much is browsing/ word with Spotify in the background but she's really poo poo about closing tabs and I don't want it to be complete junk, and at least fairly portable would be good. Is there anything I could get for like ~$250-300? She says she doesn't mind how big the screen is but she always had trouble with the seatback airplane TVs, so I think she might change her mind on that once we actually get it, so not a complete microscreen would be good if that's possible.
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Aug 29, 2014 17:01
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I am looking for the cheapest laptop I can get from amazon for photo editing (90% Lightroom 10% Photoshop). Any suggestions? E: I am looking at this http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3658309&perpage=40 - it is an early 2011 MacBook Pro, 13.whatever screen, 16gb ram, 1tb drive in the optical bay, 700 bucks. I've never had a MacBook Pro and 2011 seems prettied dated, so I'm not sure. rio fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Aug 29, 2014 |
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Aug 29, 2014 17:26
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After learning firsthand that my laptop can't handle the work I do, I'm realizing I need a new one. My requirements: -500 dollars max -A decent processor, most everything I'm going to be using it for will be done in browsers with quite a few tabs open. -A nice keyboard, as I'm gonna be doing almost nothing but typing with it. -Durable construction, I end up breaking every electronic thing I own so it needs to be tough. I currently have a X120e with an AMD processor. It's great to type on and I could elbowdrop it and I'd bounce off. But it just doesn't have the power I need to do much of anything. I'm currently split between nabbing a used X131e with an i3 from Ebay for around 300, or picking up an E540 or an E440 with i3's from the outlet store for about 500. I'm tempted to go with the E540 or E440 due to it's bigger screen and keyboard with a numpad. Would that be a good choice for my needs, is the X131e a better deal, or should I look at something else I've missed?
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Aug 29, 2014 22:25
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A used T420 with 1600x900 would be good (or analogous 15" option), if you can't get a 1600x900 screen on the E440. If I remember correctly, you can get a 1600x900 screen on the E440 though.
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Aug 29, 2014 22:29
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You're not saying what kind of work you're doing, but I got to tell you the 1920x1080 TN panel in the E540 is atrocious. Brightness is ok, but it has got a very low contrast. Really bad. Also has a serious problem doing audio over Bluetooth + 2.4GHz Wifi at the same time. You might not care about that. Had a couple of random instant power offs a few weeks ago, dunno what's up with that. Might just be my machine or config. Apart from a decent-ish keyboard, there's not much to get excited about. Also depending on what you're doing, upgrading the x120e with an SSD could help a lot or not. If that AMD is E-350/E-450 like I think it is.
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Aug 29, 2014 22:58
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Flipperwaldt posted:You're not saying what kind of work you're doing, It's a job as a freelance salesman and most of it is handling chats in a browser. However I usually need to open lots of different ones to look up info and tend to have a lot open at once and need to be able to switch between them all quickly. Schoolwork is usually done in very flash-heavy websites that the x120 can't navigate due to the hardware load. The SSD in the X120 might help, but it's been overheating very quickly lately and I can't reliably take it on and off the charger. It also can't really handle flash video, so I'm thinking it may be wearing down. I'd rather pick up something more powerful. A poor screen would likely be quite a deterrent now that I think about it. I'll be reading a hell of a lot of text on it. I know Lenovo really isn't the best when it comes to screens, but is there some better option around that price range? SSJ Reeko fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Aug 29, 2014 |
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Aug 29, 2014 23:28
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SSJ Reeko posted:It's a job as a freelance salesman and most of it is handling chats in a browser. However I usually need to open lots of different ones to look up info and tend to have a lot open at once and need to be able to switch between them all quickly. Schoolwork is usually done in very flash-heavy websites that the x120 can't navigate due to the hardware load. And yeah the E540 screen... I'm adjusting the angle and the brightness constantly during the day. If you're looking at it straight, it's sort of okay and I can't say it tires my eyes or anything. It's just that even my dad's €400 Toshiba has an amazing screen compared to it (at 720p admittedly).
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Aug 29, 2014 23:48
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I've been thinking about upgrading my laptop and have come down to the following 2 options. I do some light gaming (wow being the most resource intensive), some photoshopping (infrared photography is my hobby and it occasionally includes processing some large batches of raw files), and lots and lots of fairly resource intensive text mining and statistical computations (where the bottleneck is generally hd read speeds). My current options are: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K2O4QQI/?tag=extension-kb-20 and a sager 6658: http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np6658-clevo-w650sj-p-6994.html with 120gb ssd and 1tb hd. I don't care much about size (one is 17 the other 15.6). I travel a lot, but generally use the laptop at a desk, so weight/battery life are entirely secondary. Price lines up so it is mostly a matter of HD and size. Anyone has any experience with the acer and sager models above? Anything beyond the specs?
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Aug 30, 2014 00:35
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dissss posted:You do have that option of replacing the optical drive with a second hard disk - just buy a caddy off ebay or similar. I can't just configure it without the optical though and throw that money into the battery or wifi upgrades which is dumb. Not that it's a ton of money.
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Aug 30, 2014 00:51
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Toast posted:I can't just configure it without the optical though and throw that money into the battery or wifi upgrades which is dumb. Not that it's a ton of money. At work we actually pay slightly more to get our EliteBooks without an optical drive - you aren't necessarily going to save anything.
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Aug 30, 2014 00:58
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dissss posted:At work we actually pay slightly more to get our EliteBooks without an optical drive - you aren't necessarily going to save anything. No, I actually don't even have the option. My point is that it's stupid, especially on a system that's been custom configured already.
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Aug 30, 2014 02:57
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Akion posted:Lenovo has some decent sales going for Labor Day if you can deal with their long ship times, as well. For what it's worth, I ordered my Lenovo Flex 2 on this past Monday and it arrived Friday (yesterday). Initially, it said that it would take them to weeks. I was pleasantly surprised.
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Aug 30, 2014 06:20
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A while back I was deciding between a Macbook and a Thinkpad T440s. I got the T440s on a decent refurbished deal and thought I'd report in now that I've used it a bit. + Keyboard's not as good as my X200s, but it feels better than a Macbook's. + The internals are good; i7 CPU is nice, replaceable storage is a huge plus, it feels really capable. + Replaceable battery makes me happy. + Weight is sufficiently light. + Matte screen. + Good set of ports. USB 3.0 is turning out very useful. + Sturdy build! - An IPS screen with a spotlight effect? It feels like a bad joke. What the hell, Lenovo? - I miss the "forward" and "back" browsing keys. - The clickpad. The biggest turnoff about the machine is definitely the clickpad. It works... mostly, as long as you're using Windows and have the drivers set up properly. Then you only have to worry about wonky behavior once in a while. Unfortunately, I dual-boot with Ubuntu. The linux drivers for the touchpad are not good at eliminating finger jitter while on the upper button areas, so forget about precision clicking. I'm not even gonna go into palm detection. It's no Apple touchpad, that's for sure. Bottom line: a machine with some really nice hardware that I find usable. Unfortunately, the supposedly-IPS screen and weird clickpad stand out so much due to how much I interact with them. Still haven't decided whether to stick with Windows 8.1 or downgrade to 7, but that's another problem entirely. Anaxite fucked around with this message at 08:00 on Aug 30, 2014 |
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Aug 30, 2014 07:58
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Has anyone actually gotten a Y40 or Y50? I keep reading reviews of that the screen is "awful" and "dreadful" to look at, but didn't know if anyone here has actually tried to use it yet.
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Aug 30, 2014 13:08
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Carl Seitan posted:For what it's worth, I ordered my Lenovo Flex 2 on this past Monday and it arrived Friday (yesterday). Initially, it said that it would take them to weeks. I was pleasantly surprised. You mind giving a little review after you haves used it for a bit. The flex 2 is looking like a sweet spot other than the weight.
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Aug 30, 2014 13:52
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Goons, my mother needs your help. I'm currently visiting her and she told me her laptop broke a couple of days ago. I'm leaving tomorrow and I'd love to leave her a functioning computer but I'm not sure which one to choose from the limited choice around here. She uses it mostly as a Facebook machine but I don't want to get something that'll make her Facebook games feel slow. Here's everything I can choose from: https://www.pcfactory.cl/?categoria=425&papa=636 up to page 4 more or less ($400.000 is about 670USD and all we can afford right now). As you can see we are on a third world country so most of the recommendations in the thread don't apply. I'm currently between a Dell Inspiron 14 and a Lenovo Z400 but mostly because they sound familiar and I was able to google the Z400. I'd love any help, I feel a bit lost. Thanks!
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Aug 30, 2014 21:35
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Ordered a T540 and W540 for the office, excited to get my hands on the new batch of Lenovos
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Aug 30, 2014 22:16
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gmq posted:Goons, my mother needs your help. That Dell doesn't come with Windows - definitely something to consider. Aside from that the Dell has a ULV Haswell processor so should have better battery life compared to the Lenovo despite the smaller battery. Also the Lenovo has a touchscreen if you think that may be useful (personally I don't)
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Aug 30, 2014 22:27
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Anaxite posted:A while back I was deciding between a Macbook and a Thinkpad T440s. I got the T440s on a decent refurbished deal and thought I'd report in now that I've used it a bit. I've also been looking at refurbished T440s's lately and have been debating about how significant the IPS screen will be, since it's a somewhat significant price hit. Basically, what I'm taking away from this is that if I am looking for a high quality display, Lenovo just ain't the place to look, IPS or not. Is that a fair assessment? e: Also the clickpad seems like a borderline deal-breaker. I've played with my girlfriend's Macbook a fair bit, and already am not a huge fan of the Macbook touchpad, but it's workable. It sounds like the new Lenovo clickpads are a constant and significant problem. Gregor Samsa fucked around with this message at 23:11 on Aug 30, 2014 |
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Aug 30, 2014 23:08
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Koramei posted:I'm looking for a new laptop/netbook/something (with a physical keyboard) for my mom- all she does pretty much is browsing/ word with Spotify in the background but she's really poo poo about closing tabs and I don't want it to be complete junk, and at least fairly portable would be good. Is there anything I could get for like ~$250-300? Anyone?  How good are the chromebooks? I can't tell what's up to date in the OP and not 'cause some of the links are dead, is the one linked there fine or is there a better option these days?
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Aug 31, 2014 00:48
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Gregor Samsa posted:I've also been looking at refurbished T440s's lately and have been debating about how significant the IPS screen will be, since it's a somewhat significant price hit. Basically, what I'm taking away from this is that if I am looking for a high quality display, Lenovo just ain't the place to look, IPS or not. Is that a fair assessment? If you absolutely need a good screen, the T440s's are a mixed bag. You might be lucky and get one of the good LCD panels (or so I hear) or you might get the one I did. Don't get me wrong, it's usable, but if you want a guaranteed high quality display with no brightness shift you should look elsewhere. The clickpads are in the same category of usable-but-annoying. I'm a fan of the Macbook touchpads, and the clickpad is a downgrade in terms of texture and feel. I enjoy having the large surface, but the buttons are also... eh. If you don't need the sturdiness or expandability of a Thinkpad, another laptop might suit you better. Or you could risk it. I'd find someone with a T440* and see how you can stand it if possible.
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Aug 31, 2014 04:38
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Flipperwaldt warned of the iffy screens in the S440, and shrughes gave an excellent idea about looking at older thinkpads. Going a few years back to the T420 seems like it'll net me a very nice machine for a much lower cost than I'd pay otherwise. I assume that in the realm of flash heavy websites and high res video, the 2nd gen i5 or i7 in the T420 would knock things out of the park? It may not be AS fast as Haswell, but I'm not buying this to edit video and in practice I can't imagine it'll really make that much of a difference. I looked at some pictures of the screen and it seemed better than the S440 for sure, anyone have impressions on that? I'm really not seeing any downside to nabbing an older T420 with a 1600x900 screen outside of making sure I buy a good one from a good source. Anything I should know about it? Either the T420 or the 520 would work, I should specify. I read that the 520s actually got the better screens. Assuming I can nab one, is that a better route to go? I also find that the X120e has a pretty fantastic screen, so if people think that screen is awful too then I'm probably gonna be fine either way. SSJ Reeko fucked around with this message at 08:33 on Aug 31, 2014 |
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Aug 31, 2014 08:02
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