|
SSJ Reeko posted: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? So long as you're aware the screen is awful probably not a lot. Note that a lot of these systems have had fairly hard lives and while they for the most part hold up okay a lot of them will have cosmetic damage and cracked casings if that matters to you
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 08:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 08:12 |
|
|
SSJ Reeko posted:Flipperwaldt warned of the iffy screens in the S440 Doesn't change much about the rest of your post though.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 11:30
|
|
|
Koramei posted:Anyone? Chromebooks work well if you are comfortable using google docs/sheets/etc instead of office. The chromebook you linked is old, you get something newer and better for a similar price. Chromebooks with intel processors perform better than ARM processors. Acer C720 and HP chromebook 11 are popular but an 11" screen might be a little small for your mom. HP also has a 14" chromebook, Asus has 13" chromebook and Samsung has a 1080p 13" chromebook.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 15:47
|
|
|
SSJ Reeko posted: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. The 520's have fantastic 1920x1080 screens and good 1600x900 screens. Also, 2nd gen CPUs easily hold up today, imagine a 15% penalty on their clock speed. The X120e does not have a fantastic screen in the same sense. It's a usable screen like the T420's.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 16:55
|
|
|
I went into Bestbuy and found a Y50. They had a ROG 17inch beside the Y50. My wife and I watched the WoD cinematic on both and the difference is night and day. Greens look like dull yellow. Black, browns, and greys all mix together and you can't use the laptop unless on max brightness. Guess I'll wait for something else or hope to find a Y510P on discount.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 22:32
|
|
|
So I won a 1000$ best buy gift card from a raffle at work. I do a lot of video editing for friends/on the side so I was looking for a laptop with a decent GPU. Is there anything the thread could recommend on the side of around 1k?
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 22:35
|
|
|
shrughes posted:The 520's have fantastic 1920x1080 screens and good 1600x900 screens. Also, 2nd gen CPUs easily hold up today, imagine a 15% penalty on their clock speed. Any word on how the 1366*768 screen is on the T520? I know that res on a 15.6 inch screen isn't ideal, but that model seems to be the most plentiful second hand.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 22:37
|
|
|
Fat_Cow posted:So I won a 1000$ best buy gift card from a raffle at work. I do a lot of video editing for friends/on the side so I was looking for a laptop with a decent GPU. Is there anything the thread could recommend on the side of around 1k? They have a Lenovo IdeaPad for $899 with a GPU and an Asus for $999 with a better one and more solid build quality. Not sure what they're priced at this week.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 22:47
|
|
|
Pyroxene Stigma posted:They have a Lenovo IdeaPad for $899 with a GPU and an Asus for $999 with a better one and more solid build quality. Not sure what they're priced at this week. Do you know if they will allow me to turn it into Amazon credit buy just mass buying gift cards?
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 22:54
|
|
|
Fat_Cow posted:Do you know if they will allow me to turn it into Amazon credit buy just mass buying gift cards? Nope. :/
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2014 23:03
|
|
|
My girlfriend wants to buy a laptop for school and hearthstone. any recommendations for 800 or under?
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 00:01
|
|
|
SSJ Reeko posted:Any word on how the 1366*768 screen is on the T520? I know that res on a 15.6 inch screen isn't ideal, but that model seems to be the most plentiful second hand. That's just a horrible idea in general.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 03:23
|
|
|
SSJ Reeko posted:Any word on how the 1366*768 screen is on the T520? I know that res on a 15.6 inch screen isn't ideal, but that model seems to be the most plentiful second hand. I take it you haven't looked at ebay at all? T420s are plentiful in the sub-$200 range with Win7 Pro preinstalled and 4gb ram.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 07:26
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:I take it you haven't looked at ebay at all? T420s are plentiful in the sub-$200 range with Win7 Pro preinstalled and 4gb ram. I've spent far too many hours specifically looking up T420s and T520s on ebay within the fast few days actually. I was hoping for a 502 with a 1600x900 screen rahter than the popular T420 with the 1366x768 as most all of them seem to be. Yeah, there does seem to be some T420s on now for around 200 with some issues and 300 in good condition. Screen issues have me apprehensive to pull the trigger on that one though. SSJ Reeko fucked around with this message at 16:55 on Sep 1, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 15:14
|
|
|
Anyone have a T440s case recommendation?
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 16:29
|
|
|
I guess I should just ask for a recommendation rather than ask questions about specific laptops. I'm a grad student, and the most computing-intensive thing I'll use the machine for is comparatively light work in Mathematica (or light coding in Python or whatever). Mostly dissertation writing, reading papers, and Netflix type stuff. I am the first to admit that I am someone who will get caught up and excited and buy more laptop than I need, so...help me, thread. Help me. e: I should say that usability and a decent display are thing I would like. Hence concerns about the Lenovos (e.g. lovely clickpad), which is a shame cuz that's what I started out dead set on.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 18:36
|
|
|
As I wade through possible laptops, I've started to see a lop more 15 inch laptops with 4k screens. Is 4k on a 15 inch monitor even noticeable?
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 19:01
|
|
|
joepinetree posted:As I wade through possible laptops, I've started to see a lop more 15 inch laptops with 4k screens. Is 4k on a 15 inch monitor even noticeable? If the screen is 30 cm away from your eyes, then each pixel will be slightly wider than the diffraction limit for green light (500 nm) and a fairly narrow pupil (2 mm). So very unlikely in bright light, but possibly (barely) if you dim the screen.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 19:24
|
|
|
joepinetree posted:As I wade through possible laptops, I've started to see a lop more 15 inch laptops with 4k screens. Is 4k on a 15 inch monitor even noticeable? Yes its noticeable because it isn't usable at 100% scaling and a lot of apps still don't scale to other levels very well.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 20:15
|
|
|
dissss posted:Yes its noticeable because it isn't usable at 100% scaling and a lot of apps still don't scale to other levels very well. Is there some threshold or something, where if you go to %200+ scaling everything goes to hell? Or are there super common programs bad at this that I just don't use? Steam or Chrome or something? It's always "a lot of apps" and no one ever mentions any examples.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 20:32
|
|
|
Flipperwaldt posted:I've been wondering about this for a while now. I've been using Win 7 for like four years now and have had it set to 110%-125% scaling all this time. I've come across one program where the installer was hosed up visually and one where I lost a tiny sliver of text. And all other programs were fine. A lot of programs go "No Windows let me handle DPI scaling" and then they gently caress it up. edit: and by a lot of programs it's just parts of some like adobe's acrobat's icons and other things.
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 20:34
|
|
|
dissss posted:Yes its noticeable because it isn't usable at 100% scaling and a lot of apps still don't scale to other levels very well. Unless I misunderstood you, wouldn't this be a negative for 4k, given that 1080 still is the standard?
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 21:18
|
|
|
Peachtree handles scaling like 
|
|
#
?
Sep 1, 2014 21:23
|
|
|
I think that a dual-core laptop is probably not enough these days. My Acer Aspire struggles to hold up 60 fps in CounterStrike: GO, and that's not even that new of an FPS video game..
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 00:55
|
|
|
Just pulled the trigger on an Acer C720P Chromebook (got the touchscreen since Android app compatibility is slated for "fall") for light grad school tasks. Gonna be using it primarily for the following: - word processing (notes/outlines) - spreadsheets (statistic XLS/CSVs, tabled notes) - heavy PDF reading (mostly scans from OneDrive, sometimes Dropbox) - cloud storage access I won't have the machine in hand until Thursday, so I have no opinion yet on the file manager, etc., but are there any essential/quasi-essential QoL apps or extensions that I should know about? My current list of things to include is below (Picasa is for JPEG uploads if I'm shooting my DSLR on campus). TIA.  e: updated SALR to Redux, thanks prompt!
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 01:47
|
|
|
havenwaters posted:A lot of programs go "No Windows let me handle DPI scaling" and then they gently caress it up. Well, in a single day I noticed: Photoshop Steam Skype Google Chrome (sort of) Photoshop is completely unusable.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 07:38
|
|
|
Captain Pike posted:Well, in a single day I noticed: Steam & Chrome dev are perfectly fine on my Yoga2Pro at 3200x1800. Some Steam games, not so much.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 08:05
|
|
|
Notebookcheck has a review of the Portege R30 with FHD screen. Turns out the screen is good. Unfortunately they reviewed the dual core and not the quad core model. The T440p's probably a better portable quad core option even though the screen is worse, because the keyboard is better.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 08:45
|
|
|
Captain Pike posted:Well, in a single day I noticed: Are the symptoms for the others the same or do they gently caress up in different ways?
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 12:07
|
|
|
havenwaters posted:A lot of programs go "No Windows let me handle DPI scaling" and then they gently caress it up. Don't even get me started on how terrible most enterprise software is on a 14" 1080 screen. Windows Forms apps need to die.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 13:51
|
|
|
A3th3r posted:I think that a dual-core laptop is probably not enough these days. My Acer Aspire struggles to hold up 60 fps in CounterStrike: GO, and that's not even that new of an FPS video game.. This isn't because it's a dual core. I would bet that your GPU is the bottleneck, and even if it is the CPU it's sure not because of number of cores. I have a dual-core desktop with a $60 CPU (at 4.7GHz) that has no trouble pulling 120+ FPS constantly at max settings in CS: GO.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 15:20
|
|
|
Rexxed posted:I'm thinking about getting one of those for work to replace my 2005 acer which amazingly still works fine (but is a WinXP machine with a turion and 1gb of ram), so I'd like to hear how it works out for you. I got this Lenovo t420 off eBay for $280 shipped: Processor: Intel Core i5-2520M 2.5 GHz Dual Core Memory: 4 GB DDR3 Hard Drive: 320 GB 7200 RPM Display: 14.1" Video Card: Nvidia Quadro NVS 4200M with 256MB RAM , Resolution: 1600 X 900 Optical Drive: DVD/CD-RW Battery: Included WiFi: Included, 802.11n Bluetooth: Included Ports : 4 USB 2.0, 1 eSATA, 1 DisplayPort, 1 Gigabit Ethernet PCMCIA : 1 + Express VGA : 1 Audio : On Board Webcam : Included Got lucky and they actually threw in 8 gb of ram! Honestly I got this model to be nostalgic for the last standard layout keyboard + track point thinkpad. Ill probably throw in a ssd around Black Friday because why not. Criticism is justified against screen quality-- you will need to adjust your viewing angle using this screen. Nonetheless, it's really a great little machine. I can see this satisfying my productivity and my mobile gaming needs (essentially only LoL) for another ~3-4 years because the build quality just feels that good. Overall I'm very happy with the purchase. The biggest concern I've mentioned (primarily viewing angle) has really easy workaround in the home like chromecast, or an external display. Lastly, in the age of tablets you *will* notice a device weighting >4 lbs versus that of a tablet. Shouldn't be a big deal for most folks but tablet capacities are quickly converging on equally priced laptops.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 15:20
|
|
|
You got lucky, I just picked up a refurbed i5 x230 and when it arrived it only had 2gb of ram instead of 4  Hoping they'll send out what's missing. (Edit: We're very sorry it's in the post please close the ebay-case as it's locked all the money!!)Apart from the fact it runs out of ram with just Chrome open, it's lovely, great to have a screen I don't have to prop up on a cushion! V Mine said 5-10 days and it arrived next morning, you never know! Nettle Soup fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Sep 2, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 15:31
|
|
|
Dr. Video Games 0150 posted:I got this Lenovo t420 off eBay for $280 shipped: That sounds pretty good for what I need. I actually went ahead and ordered a T420 with similar specs (8 gigs of ram and 1600x900 screen) on ebay on Friday. It mostly needs to run IDEs, Chrome and MS Office with reliability being more important than weight or screen quality so I'm hoping for the best. Doing IT I also need to be able to burn discs and use a physical ethernet jack but that seems to be the standard still unless you're buying an ultrabook. I have an Intel 530 SSD waiting for it to get here. It's B grade from Arrow who do a lot of reselling of off-lease equipment so it could be better or worse than they say, but I'll find out when it gets here. Unfortunately the estimated shipping time has it showing up in 7-12 days from now, but ebay is like that.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 16:28
|
|
|
Heya goons, Wanted to ask what would be a step up from the Y50 if I wanted to do some heavy gaming? Wanted something that I can use at work. Transportability is not an issue. Price range is $1000-2000. edit: Is the Alienware line still garbage? Etrips fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Sep 2, 2014 |
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 18:51
|
|
|
Etrips posted:Heya goons, xoticpc.com I recommend Sager/Clevo
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 19:39
|
|
|
Don't use XoticPC. They don't really warn you if their item's are out of stock, and then you're stuck waiting for weeks because instead of saying they don't know when it'll come they lead you by the nose saying "Oh it should be here next week." It took me 2 or 3 weeks to get them to fess up that our computer wasn't coming and they don't know when it would, and by then my girlfriend almost didn't have a laptop for school. Not only that once I called the customer service line and it never got picked up, when I called the sales line it did get picked up. By the same guy who was working the customer service desk that day.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 20:31
|
|
|
My laptop (HP G62) recently crapped out and it looks like I'm in the market for a new one. I basically need a system capable of running engineering software (think CAD or NX) and possibly Matlab. I don't really do a whole lot of gaming so I definitely don't need top of the line, but I'm wondering what level of processor I'd need (i3, i5, etc.) I'd like to keep it under $1000, but there is some wiggle room on that. Looking through the thread I've seen people suggest just using computer lab software and getting a Chromebook, which I understand, but I live a ways away from the engineering campus so it would be way more convenient to get something that can run Windows software. I have the option of renting a computer for $150 per semester, but I'm wondering if it doesn't make more sense to just buy one. From the OP I gathered that a Thinkpad would be a good way to go since they've got a reputation of being a solid computer. The x240 seems okay, but there are a lot of mixed reviews on it. I'm sure I'm missing a bunch of other options/brands so if anyone has a suggestion I'd appreciate it. Also, are refurbished computers generally the same quality as new ones? I'm talking performance, I don't really care about scratches and such.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 20:40
|
|
|
Monocular posted:Looking through the thread I've seen people suggest just using computer lab software and getting a Chromebook, which I understand, but I live a ways away from the engineering campus so it would be way more convenient to get something that can run Windows software. I have the option of renting a computer for $150 per semester, but I'm wondering if it doesn't make more sense to just buy one. From the OP I gathered that a Thinkpad would be a good way to go since they've got a reputation of being a solid computer. The x240 seems okay, but there are a lot of mixed reviews on it. I'm sure I'm missing a bunch of other options/brands so if anyone has a suggestion I'd appreciate it. Renting a computer for $150/semester could be a good deal if they are renting out nice computers, like Dell M3800s or Lenovo W540. If they are renting out lovely consumer laptops, definitely buy your own. A refurbished current-gen computer is the same performance as a new current-gen computer. An X240 would be a good fit if you are OK with garbage trackpads and bad screens. If you have something that can use OpenCL GPU acceleration, maybe look at a Y40.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 20:47
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 08:12 |
|
|
Captain Pike posted:Photoshop is completely unusable.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2014 20:52
|
|
