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B-Mac posted:Everything I've read shows that DA:I won't run on anything below 4 cores. Probably be difficult finding a laptop quad core under $600. I've found a bunch, but I just don't know anything about the graphic cards.
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Nov 24, 2014 02:21
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Turtlicious posted:I've found a bunch, but I just don't know anything about the graphic cards. Your best bet would probably be the lenovo Y50 but that's gonna be closer to $1000... might be worth trying to find a used one? or perhaps even a used Y410p/Y510p... Dunno if the 755m/760m GPUs would run DA:I though. You might be SOL there on that budget. Your desktop you're building in the PC building thread might, but it's worth noting that even the 860m in the lenovo Y50 is a fair bit less powerful than the 750ti.
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Nov 24, 2014 02:33
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Cat Army 
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damastas posted:Thanks goon. Just sniped and won the first laptop that you linked, it was my first time ever actually bidding on something instead of Buy It Now and it was kind of exhilarating. Awesome, was watching that item as the bid closed out. Congrats on beating the rest of the snipers to the punch. I was considering trying to get that listing but ended up backing out for now, please give us a trip report on how it looks when you get it. I can tolerate scuff marks on everything but my screen. ---- Hadlock posted:If you're willing to go to $500 (and it's a worthwhile investment given your chosen occupation) you should be looking at Lenovo outlet or eBay, you can find high res T series all day long for $450 there. As long as you get at least a T410 you're getting a "modern" i5 although your battery life will suffer slightly (think 3 hours real world) Has the battery life/screen quality improved much in the more recent T-series models? Considering I am still an undergrad in CS I don't see the difference in CPU power from the sandy bridge 420 to the ivy bridge 430 to be a huge deal. Also I'm hearing that the keyboard/trackpad quality is a lot better in the 420. Unless the 430 makes some serious improvements to the screen or the battery it seems I'd be better off going with a cheaper 420.
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Nov 24, 2014 02:47
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Will this work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toshiba-L75...=item23423d3338
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Nov 24, 2014 02:57
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Friends don't' let friend buy AMD cpus or 17" laptops.
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Nov 24, 2014 03:05
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Hey guys, looking for advice on a laptop. My boyfriend's broke pretty bad (screen cracked, wireless connectivity problems, etc.), and I'm looking to get him a Christmas surprise present. I have no clue where to start looking because money is pretty tight, and he likes to game. It has to be a laptop, unfortunately, because our apartment can't hold more than one gaming desktop in terms of size, and he likes to bring his laptop everywhere. His general use requirements: he has multiple web browsers with multiple tabs open all the time. He also has multiple PDFs open (he's a big war gamer and pen-and-paper RPG player, so he has all these ref books), and to have his computer not be bottle-necked by all this would be good. So, his gaming requirements. He has a console, so in terms of major releases, he will tend to buy them on there, unless they're FPS (but he doesn't really play many FPS...Bioshock: Infinite was the last one). Types of games he usually plays on his laptop are things like Skyrim, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Shadowrun Returns, Divinity: Original Sin, then a bunch of indie games and turn-based strategy or RTS games. I'd like him to get at least 30fps on these games. I guess my real question here is: can I go sub-$500 to get what he requires? If so, which computer should I be looking at? If not....which computer should I be looking at? Can I go Intel Integrated or should I be looking for a dedicated graphics card? i5 or i7? ferndavant fucked around with this message at 03:32 on Nov 24, 2014 |
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Nov 24, 2014 03:28
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Any consensus for a couple models that are generally seen as the best ultrabooks without spending unlimited $$$? I want something relatively future-proof that won't break the bank, and it seems that's difficult to find. I'm finding unimpressive heavy laptops with 2+ year old CPU architectures for close to $1000, obviously I'm doing something wrong. If I'm getting something for $1k, I want it to be an ultrabook. Also, a stupid question: How come some i7s, such at i7-4500U, are dual-core? I thought everything was supposed to be quad-core these days? I like the i7 Dell XPS 12 (currently $1200), but it has an i7-4500U. Michael Scott fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Nov 24, 2014 |
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Nov 24, 2014 03:56
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Michael Scott posted:Any consensus for a couple models that are generally seen as the best ultrabooks without spending unlimited $$$? I want something relatively future-proof that won't break the bank, and it seems that's difficult to find. Mobile CPUs are different than desktop ones. For the lower power mobile CPUs, the i3, i5 and i7 are all dual core and just operate at different speeds for the most part. They do have hyperthreading which helps. There are quad core i7 mobile CPUs available but they tend to only come in the more expensive workstation or  laptops.
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Nov 24, 2014 04:14
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Antignition posted:Has the battery life/screen quality improved much in the more recent T-series models? Considering I am still an undergrad in CS I don't see the difference in CPU power from the sandy bridge 420 to the ivy bridge 430 to be a huge deal. Also I'm hearing that the keyboard/trackpad quality is a lot better in the 420. Unless the 430 makes some serious improvements to the screen or the battery it seems I'd be better off going with a cheaper 420. The trackpads in the 420 and 430 are the same (from what I know), the keyboards are different. I think the main objective difference between them was layout, because the T420's keys aren't really that good either (in comparison to the T400's). The T440p or better yet the T440s or T440 will have better battery life because they have Haswell processors. If you ran some CPU benchmark they'd have very similar battery life though (or less because they have a smaller battery, or more because the CPU has a lower frequency, or ...). Also it depends on which battery you choose to have. Screen quality has improved greatly in the 14" models thanks to 1080p IPS options. In the 15" models you could get this super-nice 1080p TN panel, it's really better than most IPS panels out there. Now you could get an IPS super-high-res option but I don't think there's a very good 1080p option. So arguably the screens got worse in the T540.
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Nov 24, 2014 04:16
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Antignition posted:Has the battery life/screen quality improved much in the more recent T-series models? Considering I am still an undergrad in CS I don't see the difference in CPU power from the sandy bridge 420 to the ivy bridge 430 to be a huge deal. Also I'm hearing that the keyboard/trackpad quality is a lot better in the 420. Keyboard is a matter of preference, I have a T400 (old keyboard) and a X230 (new keyboard) and honestly I prefer the X230. Both are class leading keyboards and I think you'll find complaints about the "new keyboard" (now almost 2.5 years old) are all dated from the introduction of the new keyboard. T430 did have a 10-15% jump in battery life, but you can always buy a bigger battery. I have some monstrosity 9 or 11 cell battery that sticks out the back on the T400 and an uprated battery on the X230 B-Mac posted:Everything I've read shows that DA:I won't run on anything below 4 cores. Probably be difficult finding a laptop quad core under $600. Do you need 4 cores or 4 threads? The i5 is dual core with 4 threads, which is about 30%+ of the laptop market.
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Nov 24, 2014 04:23
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The Iron Rose posted:Your best bet would probably be the lenovo Y50 but that's gonna be closer to $1000... might be worth trying to find a used one? or perhaps even a used Y410p/Y510p... I ended up getting a Y410p for 425$ by sniping a bid, so we'll see how that is.
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Nov 24, 2014 04:36
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Hadlock posted:Do you need 4 cores or 4 threads? The i5 is dual core with 4 threads, which is about 30%+ of the laptop market. Dude said 4 cores, hyperthreading doesn't double your performance.
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Nov 24, 2014 05:29
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sarehu posted:Dude said 4 cores, hyperthreading doesn't double your performance. Thanks for clarifying, sir
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Nov 24, 2014 08:02
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I'm looking at getting a new laptop, as my current one can't play Heroes of Might and Magic III (1999) without significant stuttering. My use case is mainly work/studies with a little bit of gaming on the side. I've been looking at the Asus UX32LN-R4092H, as it's 13 inches, seems to be well built, and actually has a non-integrated GPU. The model seems to only exist in Scandinavia, but the specs should be possible to glean from here: http://www.prisguide.no/produkt/asus-ux32ln-r4092h-219488#anchor-specifications if you press "vis alle detaljer". From what I can tell the models of the UX32LN-line has been getting pretty good reviews, but all the other models has an SSD instead of the 500gb HDD in the one I'm looking at. Additionally, there's only 6GB RAM compared to 8GB in the other models. Now, I know that this will limit performance to some degree, but I'm wondering if I should consider this a deal breaker? Keep in mind that I'm in Norway so there's a limited number of other models to choose from in this price range. The other models in the UX32LN-line are sadly a bit too expensive for me. The only other alternative with a GPU in the same size/price-range is a HP Envy 14-k110 i5-4200U, which looks a bit crap build-quality wise. Would going for a non-GPU model be better if the other specs are superior? This turned out a bit rambling, but I suppose what I'm looking for is confirmation that I'm not making a huge mistake if I go for this model. My computer knowledge is about 10 years out of date, so the tradeoffs regarding GPUs/hard drive/RAM are a bit difficult to analyze.
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Nov 24, 2014 13:53
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damastas posted:Thanks goon. Just sniped and won the first laptop that you linked, it was my first time ever actually bidding on something instead of Buy It Now and it was kind of exhilarating. I can see how people can get addicted to that stuff. All I need to do now is buy a SSD and a ultrabay battery for it. Any good sources for where to find one? All of my amazon and ebay foo is finding ultrabay batteries for T420s and i's that say specifically not compatible with T420's. Get the 9 cell. The 6 cell won't actually last that long unless it's new and you really baby it.
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Nov 24, 2014 15:38
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Old T-series stuff:
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Nov 24, 2014 19:27
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I'm considering getting the Surface Pro 3 i5 128gb as my main, non-desktop productivity device. It'll be replacing a Feb 2009 MacBook Air: my Air is still in great condition but can't handle HD video and the OS is so outdated I can't update flash / my browser so the Internet looks janky as hell. I've chosen it mostly for its great capacity in these areas:
I'd like to mention that I absolutely love my Air -- it's over 5 years old and it's still chugging, happily figuratively and sadly literally. I'd get another Mac product except for two things: this will be an 80% tablet 20% laptop, and while the Air is a great laptop, I mostly want a tablet. My one concern is that the Surface Pro 4 will be coming out in the next five months. I kinda doubt that (SP3 came out in June). I just want the better HD5000 graphics of the i7 model without paying 50% more for a 10% bump in processing power... Alas.
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Nov 24, 2014 19:52
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DNK posted:I'm considering getting the Surface Pro 3 i5 128gb as my main, non-desktop productivity device. I'm sort of in the same boat about deciding between the i5 and the i7. The graphics jump from HD4400 to HD5000 is attractive and I would probably spring for it if the i7 didn't seem to have so many issues with overheating.
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Nov 24, 2014 21:50
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Looking for recommendations for a laptop for my wife for professional graphic design work. Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, all of which might need to run simultaneously. Here's what I'm pretty sure I need: i7 CPU Lots of memory Here's what she prefers: Windows based High resolution >15" screen Here are the things I'm unsure of: SSD? Good GPU? Not too worried about price. What's the best out there?
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Nov 24, 2014 22:04
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Sir Pukesalot posted:I have one, and the build quality seems pretty solid, even compared to my hp elitebook 2570p (also referred to by one of my friends as a "brick with an OS"). The keyboard has a bit of flexing (not bad at all) and it tends to get a bit hot in the left side of the keyboard (wasd area) but that can be fixed with a cooling pad (I recommend the cooler master NotePal X2, it fixed it completely for me). (re: the Lenovo Y50-70) Thanks, do you have the UHD display? I've read reviews saying the viewing angles and colours on the standard screen are absolute poo poo, so I want to know if it's worth the extra money to spring for Ultra.
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Nov 25, 2014 03:09
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Turtlicious posted:I ended up getting a Y410p for 425$ by sniping a bid, so we'll see how that is. I have a a 410p and it runs DA:I at 1600x900 on low at 40fps, medium 30fps.
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Nov 25, 2014 06:55
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caiman posted:Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, all of which might need to run simultaneously. The Thinkpad W series comes with a color calibration unit built in and will eat up to 32GB of RAM, has a 1080p IPS screen. Weighs a ton though. But that's expected with a 15" laptop.
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Nov 25, 2014 07:07
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The W540 doesn't have a 1080p IPS screen.
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Nov 25, 2014 07:11
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So just received a new Thinkpad 440p and god it has a lot of weird poo poo installed, do most people delete all this crap with no problems?
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Nov 25, 2014 08:52
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by.a.teammate posted:So just received a new Thinkpad 440p and god it has a lot of weird poo poo installed, do most people delete all this crap with no problems? ♫ Fdisk, format, reinstall, doo-dah, doo-dah ♫ Take it down to bare metal, reinstall Windows, install the bare minimum drivers and Thinkpad support apps (shortcut keys etc.), and you'll be much happier.
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Nov 25, 2014 09:06
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sarehu posted:The W540 doesn't have a 1080p IPS screen. You're right, thanks for that super-informative, well written, high content post. The IPS screen on the W series is 2880 x 1620 The 1080p panel is TN
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Nov 25, 2014 10:39
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by.a.teammate posted:So just received a new Thinkpad 440p and god it has a lot of weird poo poo installed, do most people delete all this crap with no problems? I bought a Thinkpad two years ago and thought, "Lenovo is a serious company that makes quality products. Surely their computer programs will be helpful!" [One month later] - I uninstall all of them because they prove to be garbage.
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Nov 25, 2014 12:46
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DNK posted:I'd like to mention that I absolutely love my Air -- it's over 5 years old and it's still chugging, happily figuratively and sadly literally. I'd get another Mac product except for two things: this will be an 80% tablet 20% laptop, and while the Air is a great laptop, I mostly want a tablet. Do you want a 'draw on with a stylus and use windows apps tablet' or do you want a 'sit on the couch and surf the web' tablet?
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Nov 25, 2014 14:39
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Bob Morales posted:Do you want a 'draw on with a stylus and use windows apps tablet' or do you want a 'sit on the couch and surf the web' tablet? Both..? This is something that I would like to use at: in my bed, on my couch, at a friends house, desk at work, in meetings, coffee shop, traveling, etc. It'll be for Windows applications primarily and "tablet stuff" secondarily. The benefit of what I'm looking for is the ability to run Windows applications in a tablet GUI/form factor. The other bonus is that it could natively run a lot of heavy processing (games! I don't game a ton but when I do it'd be nice to be able to do it proficiently.) If it's any consolation, I think I'm going to avoid this generation and just stick with my derpy Air. I'm hoping the next generation of laplets (in 6-9 months) will manage heat slightly better. Since I'm planning on a "next 5 years" purchase, I'm gonna wait till I'm sure.
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Nov 25, 2014 16:08
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I need a new laptop This laptop will be a work laptop that I will also use to play WoW. It needs to do basic Office (Word) and browser things. 99% of the time it will be on my desk. I don't plan to lug it around much at all. I would like to spend $1,000.00 or so. (It's a business expense!)
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Nov 25, 2014 16:48
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caiman posted:Looking for recommendations for a laptop for my wife for professional graphic design work. Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, all of which might need to run simultaneously. The best out there is most likely a decked out 15" Macbook Pro. On the windows front Dell Precision M3800 or M4800 are solid choices. You could also go with a Thinkpad, just make sure you get an IPS screen. Get a 256GB(or bigger) SSD and then go buy a USB3 external drive to save all those uncompressed images and videos on. I would also consider a external IPS monitor if she doesn't already have one.
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Nov 25, 2014 17:02
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Is there any reason to not get the Acer C720 for 180 on amazon right now? I feel like I might be screwing myself with black Friday coming up but that seems like a pretty good deal?
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Nov 25, 2014 18:08
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Quite A Tool posted:Is there any reason to not get the Acer C720 for 180 on amazon right now? I feel like I might be screwing myself with black Friday coming up but that seems like a pretty good deal? Which model is it? You really shouldn't settle for 2GB of RAM. If it's the 4GB model, I say go for it. I'm pretty sure it's not going to be (significantly) cheaper on BF.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:13
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Unfortunately it's just the 2gig. I think I'd probably have just jumped on it if it were the 4gig. Im in this weird spot where it's be nice to have a full featured laptop, but I really don't need more than a note-taking/paper writing device and something to access my school's services with. I'm in the early stages of an engineering degree so I don't really need the computing power now, but itd be nice in the future, however I imagine I'd just end up getting a newer laptop/building a desktop when that time comes.
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Nov 25, 2014 18:49
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That is kind of my situation as well. I don't really need a full-featured laptop other than to tinker with Linux on it, all I really need is something with good battery life for browsing and email stuff. I've been looking at the C720 as well, but right now I'm waiting to see what's coming up on Black Friday. Doesn't make a lot of sense why Danish stores would have a huge sale the day after Thanksgiving, but I'm not complaining.
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Nov 25, 2014 19:51
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Antignition posted:Awesome, was watching that item as the bid closed out. Congrats on beating the rest of the snipers to the punch. So I just got my T420 delivered to my doorstep. Won the auction on Sunday, delivered today. Wow fast shipping. I can't believe I was considering a T440 or T440s for $1000+. This refurbed T420 has a few minor scratched (like, barely noticable) and the touchpad is discolored in areas that it has been used. Already swapped a cloned SSD into it, cold start time with an SSD and 8 gb of RAM is about 10 seconds. I paid $270 for this. It even came with a 9 cell battery, windows reports 6 hours of run time with 70% remaining. I'm really glad I checked out this thread when that woot sale was going on, otherwise I would have never even considered a T420. Pretty impressed, many thanks to the goons that helped me with this decision.
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Nov 26, 2014 00:05
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damastas posted:So I just got my T420 delivered to my doorstep. Won the auction on Sunday, delivered today. Wow fast shipping. How is the screen and the touchpad? I want one (rather then spend a trillion dollars on something new) but I'm so spoiled by 1080p screens and gesture touchpads. 
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Nov 26, 2014 00:30
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damastas posted:So I just got my T420 delivered to my doorstep. Won the auction on Sunday, delivered today. Wow fast shipping. You're welcome. I got one myself for a portable work PC and I've found it does exactly what I need as an IT contractor who's going to be in different places all of the time fixing random routers and desktops and whatever. I can burn dvds, I can turn the wireless off and on with the side switch, and most importantly I can have it out of my bag and running the programs I need to use in under a minute (with a SSD). 1600x900 and 8gb of ram are also useful because I do a little programming on it. I'm hoping it lasts 5+ years even though it's already 2 years old.
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Nov 26, 2014 00:51
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Right now I am looking at a T420s with 4GB of ram - everything else is the same as damastas machine (pre SSD upgrade). It's trending at $230 right now with 10 minutes left on the bid. 1. Is the lesser battery a huge detriment to this machine over the standard T420? 2. First time ever owning a laptop, would upgrading the ram be relatively easy/cheap? EDIT: Didn't do enough research on the T420s to make the jump on it. Did I miss out on a killer deal? http://www.ebay.com/itm/390980873216?autorefresh=true Antignition fucked around with this message at 02:01 on Nov 26, 2014 |
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Nov 26, 2014 01:51
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1) As far as I can tell it only takes a 6-cell and it's 44 vs 57 Wh, whether it's a huge detriment is up to you 2) Trivial, you'll just need a screwdriver 3) This seems to be roughly the market price for these, so you'll probably be able to find a similar deal soon.
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Nov 26, 2014 02:16
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