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Yeah you aren't going to enjoy Netflix on any T420/T430 - even the better screen is awful for video (or anything else that needs dark colours)
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Apr 17, 2016 00:52
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dissss posted:Yeah you aren't going to enjoy Netflix on any T420/T430 - even the better screen is awful for video (or anything else that needs dark colours) Agreed, I have the better screen on my work T430 and it is decidedly blah. On the other hand I finally got a hands on with an XPS 13 at best buy and even though It was only a 1080p model it was really, really nice. The palm rest was great especially and it felt very well put together. Thinking about going for the i7/256GB/16GB/QHD+ model.
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Apr 17, 2016 01:23
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which would be the better buy the high end ZENBOOK or a rMBP? I know the Macbook is due for a refresh bit that will be budget bussing to the extreme to wait.
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Apr 17, 2016 04:20
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I can't think of a single thing the Zenbooks do better than the Retina Pro. Maybe some video games.
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Apr 17, 2016 04:23
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Generally Apple is going to be perceived as a higher end buy due to build quality. I've had good experience with ASUS devices personally but they are a lot more concerned with cost cutting than Apple is.
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Apr 17, 2016 05:27
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hotsauce posted:Both are fantastic, top-tier machines. I have the top config'd XPS 15 w/4k display. This a fact: the 4k touch, 100% rgb panel Dell uses handily smokes the rMBP's panel. The XPS hardware itself is great, trackpad is as good as it gets for a non Mac. Overall the XPS is a well rounded machine and I really like it over the rMBP. The internet is filled with horror stories about this thing self-destructing (bricked blue screen, up and dying randomly, etc) but I'm pretty sure I got a good unit. Zero issues after I did a clean Win10 install and slowly updated Dell's drivers (using the beta Intel graphic drivers and updated Nvidia ones). Smooth sailing so far. Battery isn't stellar at around 5 hrs, but I'm not one of those "I need a 48 hr battery full stop" kind of people. I don't know, there's always a plug around. If not, I'm probably hiking or something and, well, don't need a laptop. YMMV. I will second this opinion on the XPS15. I have had mine for several months now and it is fantastic. That said, there have been enough people on the internet talking about their poor experiences that I acknowledge that there may still be some quality control issues. However, if you get a good one as I have, I think this is the best all around windows laptop on the market today, and this is coming from a long time Thinkpad fan.
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Apr 17, 2016 06:02
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rizuhbull posted:What's your guys' opinions on used vs refurbished? I'm looking to buy a budget laptop for netflix and light gaming (mmos, hearthstone, gba emulator). Eyeing the Lenovo T420 thinkpad that Newegg has used for $200 shipped, but they also have some $160 refurbished. Thoughts? If you want to do gaming, save your pennies and get the T430, the HD4000 is vastly superior to the HD3000 in the T420. See my last post for additional details.
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Apr 17, 2016 09:03
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deathrat posted:I'm looking for something to do coding on that won't be hugely painful while compiling, here's some of the things I'm looking for: I have a Dell E6440 at work that was 699, it's not my personal 13" rMBP but it has a nice 1080p screen and its upgradeable with standard RAM/SSD.
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Apr 17, 2016 15:29
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So I've noticed that the XPS 13 i7 comes with the 6500U or the 6560U. Major difference I can see is the 6560U comes with the Iris 540 vs HD 520. Base CPU clock is a little lower but it turbos about the same. The 6560u model is what costco(.ca) carries so the warranty is good like the MS store.. Is the iris 540 worth bothering over?
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Apr 17, 2016 16:26
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A bit of searching indicates that the 540 is perhaps around 50% faster than the 520 due to the inclusion of eDRAM. How much more expensive is it and how much do you care about gaming?
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Apr 17, 2016 18:46
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Eletriarnation posted:A bit of searching indicates that the 540 is perhaps around 50% faster than the 520 due to the inclusion of eDRAM. How much more expensive is it and how much do you care about gaming? It's actually about the same price, the MS store being $100 less but only due to a coupon promotion. Gaming won't be a huge thing but that's an impressive difference. All I could find was that the 520 had more shaders but I wasn't able to find any benchmark comparisons, my google fu is weak.
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Apr 17, 2016 19:05
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50% increase still means something like 12fps or 18fps when playing Diablo 3.
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Apr 17, 2016 19:26
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Yeah gaming won't be a thing on it anyway so it really doesn't matter. Eyeballing thunderbolt docks now to go with it.. E: actually they are the exact same cost ($2300 cad) so there's no reason to not just go for the iris 540 at costco, includes a free warranty boost to 2 years too vs $129 for the ms store upgrade. priznat fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Apr 17, 2016 |
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Apr 17, 2016 20:12
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Work gives me $250 to spend on things for my classroom. I have no computers in my class, so I've decided to maybe go for a Chromebook. I don't mind spending a little out of pocket so something in the $300 range is fine as well. Just browsing BB website, I'm coming up with these that seem decent based on reviews. Toshiba and Samsung seem the go to's? Thoughts/suggestions? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba...8&skuId=8790147 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung...5&skuId=3114035 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung...0&skuId=5008800
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Apr 17, 2016 21:57
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In third grade our teacher talked one of the local engineering offices in to donating a bunch of old TRS-80s (the Mac LC II was still considered a modern PC at the time) to the classroom. Her total out of pocket cost was gas money to pick them up and line them up along one wall of the back of the classroom. We got a ton of use out of them, I probably spent almost 100 hours learning the ins and outs of BASIC. I think if you call up local offices, you should be able to scrounge together a couple of free, last gen PCs for whatever purposes. If you really want to run the Chromebook OS you have some options. Anyways, what I'm trying to get at, is as a school teacher, you should never ever have to pay for computers for your classroom, and whatever is donated, will probably outclass your Chromebook.
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Apr 17, 2016 23:03
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Krime posted:Work gives me $250 to spend on things for my classroom. I have no computers in my class, so I've decided to maybe go for a Chromebook. The government more then likely has a program to provide computers to you school if you ask if its anything like the Canadian one
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Apr 17, 2016 23:54
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My roommate is in the market for a laptop. He's will to go up to 600, but leaning towards 500. He really just wants something he could use to mess around in Photoshop on the go and not have it chug. So I guess something in the 14" range. Doesn't seem to care about an SSD since he'd prefer to have 1TB hard drive. He gets deals through work for Lenovos, Dells, and HPs. We also got a Microcenter pretty close so we could head there if needed. Any suggestions?
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Apr 18, 2016 00:46
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Evil Vin posted:My roommate is in the market for a laptop. He's will to go up to 600, but leaning towards 500. See if he can find the W530 with the 1080p display and the built in screen color calibration hardware unit. Should be about $450 on eBay
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Apr 18, 2016 00:56
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I really prefer a touchpad that has two buttons on the bottom, where the thumb rests. So this seems to completely rule out the lenovo laptops. What brands besides dell should I consider?
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Apr 18, 2016 16:24
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My junky Acer laptop I've had for a few years now is kicking the bucket and I'm looking to replace it. I don't want to spend more than three or four hundred bucks, and was looking at that Lenovo refurbished laptops page I saw in the OP. Not really sure which one of these is the best for that price range though, they have a few different options at more or less the same price. I don't expect to be gaming or anything, just watching videos and running IRC and light stuff like that.
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Apr 19, 2016 01:43
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DONT CARE BUTTON posted:I really prefer a touchpad that has two buttons on the bottom, where the thumb rests. So this seems to completely rule out the lenovo laptops. What brands besides dell should I consider? Actually some laptops use concealed click-in buttons at the bottom of the touchpad rather than touch zones, so you might want to go poke some in-person.
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Apr 19, 2016 02:59
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I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get an alienware 17 980m with an SSD, but does anyone know here have experience with Xotic PC? They look like my best bet for getting exactly what I want for just under 2k, but the wide range of reviews makes me leery. Should I just look to chains to provide me with what I'm looking for?
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Apr 19, 2016 05:09
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Mischievous Mink posted:My junky Acer laptop I've had for a few years now is kicking the bucket and I'm looking to replace it. I don't want to spend more than three or four hundred bucks, and was looking at that Lenovo refurbished laptops page I saw in the OP. Not really sure which one of these is the best for that price range though, they have a few different options at more or less the same price. I don't expect to be gaming or anything, just watching videos and running IRC and light stuff like that. The first number in the model name refers to the size - 2/4/5 are 12/14/15" and the second is the generation, higher being newer. Decide which size you prefer and get the newest one you can afford. Screens below 1080p are functional but kind of ugly for video stuff. Otherwise they'll all handle what you want.
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Apr 19, 2016 10:09
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rojazz posted:Best Buy is currently doing $300 off the 12" Retina Macbooks, likely due to a very soon to come refresh. Is it worth getting the 8gb/512gb model for $1299? I should I hold out for the Skylake model? Due to the lack of upgradability, I thinking that the model with a 512gb SSD is quite a deal. They're also selling the 8gb/256gb for $999, which is also very enticing. Recommendations? FYI Apple released updated 12" Retina Macbooks today. Mostly minor spec bumps. quote:Apple today announced that it has released new 12-inch MacBook models with the latest sixth-generation Skylake dual-core Intel Core M processors up to 1.3 GHz, new Intel HD Graphics 515 that deliver up to 25% faster performance, faster PCIe-based flash storage, an additional hour of battery life, and faster 1866 MHz memory.
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Apr 19, 2016 16:47
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Mu Zeta posted:FYI Apple released updated 12" Retina Macbooks today. Mostly minor spec bumps. Rose Gold is much more than a minor spec bump tyvm
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Apr 19, 2016 18:05
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Are the Vaio Z (and flip) the only two notebooks that have the i7-6567u? I'm debating on whether I want to gamble on Iris 550 integrated graphics or hold off for Q3's Kaby Lake notebooks. Wish the clamshell Z had a 16GB RAM config. Been wanting to pick up an ultrabook lately but it seems like it would be worth waiting to see if the difference between SL and KL is as big as Broadwell to Skylake. Not looking to do any crazy gaming, of course, but it would be nice to play 2013 and older games at 30+ FPS without a dedicated GPU.
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Apr 19, 2016 19:22
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I'm currently looking for a bridge-gap laptop to take away with me on vacations. Basically I'm looking for cheapness (so I don't worry too much about losing it) and being able to watch some HD videos. I have a x120e from 2011 that I've used but its getting slugish. I'm look at the Nextbook 9 or 10. $89 or $160. I know this is equivalent to a netbook but is its Intel Atom Quad-Core / 1.8GHz faster than that E350 AMD Fusion chip the X120e has? Edit: looks like it is significantly faster. Strong Sauce fucked around with this message at 00:01 on Apr 20, 2016 |
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Apr 19, 2016 21:27
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Ubuntu 16 LTS (aka Xylophone Xenu) comes out on Thursday if anyone is on the fence about getting a newer machine for
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Apr 20, 2016 05:21
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Strong Sauce posted:I'm currently looking for a bridge-gap laptop to take away with me on vacations. Basically I'm looking for cheapness (so I don't worry too much about losing it) and being able to watch some HD videos. Any reason you just don't get a chromebook?
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Apr 20, 2016 16:05
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Klawr Kat posted:I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get an alienware 17 980m with an SSD, but does anyone know here have experience with Xotic PC? They look like my best bet for getting exactly what I want for just under 2k, but the wide range of reviews makes me leery. Should I just look to chains to provide me with what I'm looking for? Just got my second laptop from XoticPC, I highly recommend them.
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Apr 20, 2016 17:26
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I cant decide between the yoga pad and the xps13. Dell has a 10% off that expires tomorrow but otherwise theres not much difference between the price and specs. Is the yoga really as good as people say? Im worried about the build quality and trackpad vs the dell
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Apr 20, 2016 18:31
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I read universal praise for the XPS 13. Haven't seen a single thing about the Yoga.
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Apr 20, 2016 19:44
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Unless you're buying a Thinkpad I have not seen a real reason to trust Lenovo's build quality at all. There's just a lot more than can go wrong with those hinges, and depending on which model you're probably looking at cheap plastic vs. aluminum & carbon fiber. I'd go with an XPS every time if that's in your price range.
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Apr 20, 2016 20:38
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My roommate needs to buy a new laptop and asked me for help. 5 years ago I kind of knew my poo poo but I've stopped keeping up with everything so I was wondering if someone could double check my suggestion to her. She's upgrading from some ancient machine which is falling apart so practically anything would be an improvement. I would suggest she get a Chromebook, except that she uses Photoshop extensively for her job. However, she does pixel art, not like movie posters or anything, so she really doesn't need anything particularly beefy (hell, she'd keep using her current computer with 3GB of RAM except something she uses is dropping support for XP). She says PS is occasionally a little sluggish but otherwise works fine on what she's using now. Anyway after reading this thread and poking around a bit I suggested she get a refurbished ThinkPad X240. There are models with an i5 3GHz and 8 GB RAM--which should easily run PS better than her current computer, because I'm pretty sure RAM is her problem anyway--that fit very comfortably into her price range. She's willing to spend $1,000 but would really, really prefer to spend less, and I've found x240s in the $600-$700 range without even looking for a deal or anything. Anyway, if someone could let me know if I'm an idiot I'd appreciate it.
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Apr 21, 2016 01:18
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Mu Zeta posted:I read universal praise for the XPS 13. The Yoga 13 is a great laptop from the convertible Ultrabook era. Nothing wrong with it, it's a fantastic laptop for the price. It's probably the best non-Thinkpad laptop Lenovo makes.
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Apr 21, 2016 05:53
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ItBurns posted:Ubuntu 16 LTS (aka Xylophone Xenu) comes out on Thursday if anyone is on the fence about getting a newer machine for Which wifi card do you have? The lovely Dell one or the Intel one that works on drat near everything?
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Apr 21, 2016 07:55
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I just got a MacBook Pro from UGAmazing in SAMart and I was wondering the best place to buy a reliable RAM upgrade for it? It's my first Mac and I'm not sure if there's anything special about trying to get "Apple Certified" Ram or anything like that. I know this is mostly a Windows laptop thread but I just wanted to see if anyone could point me in the right direction. Thanks to anyone who can help  Edit: Adding MacBook details. It is the MD101LL/A MacBook Pro, 2012, 13" Non Retina edition. The RAM's specs should be 1600MHz / PC12800. Instruction Manuel fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Apr 21, 2016 |
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Apr 21, 2016 16:15
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Hey, Struggling to find an upgrade to my Clevo p170hm which I got back in 2011. This thing has given me years of joy but my work is slowly requiring a more powerful machine. I work in cinema, and part of my job is overseeing the wrangling of raw footage from camera to external storage, normally you'd use a Macbook Pro for this but I'm adverse to spending an extra $1k for a logo of an apple, plus I like to game and need a windows system for that. For this reason I'm trying to go for something at the $2kAUD mark. My requirements are 17" screen, FHD is fine, higher gamut is good. 2x USB 3.0 ports At least one Thunderbolt port. This is the real tripping point, Metabox (Aus custom builder for Clevo) does some laptops with thunderbolt but they're designed for 3d artists and begin at 2.7k 16gb Ram Decent CPU Decent GPU for gaming and colour grading (CUDA cores pls) Battery life can be poor. Weight is a non-issue. Honestly I'd buy a desktop but the necessity of being able to take it to set outweighs all else. If anyone can point me in a direction of a clevo alternative I'd be really grateful.
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Apr 21, 2016 16:19
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Wamdoodle posted:I just got a MacBook Pro from UGAmazing in SAMart and I was wondering the best place to buy a reliable RAM upgrade for it? It's my first Mac and I'm not sure if there's anything special about trying to get "Apple Certified" Ram or anything like that. I know this is mostly a Windows laptop thread but I just wanted to see if anyone could point me in the right direction. I'm also gonna ask in the PC upgrading thread. Thanks to anyone who can help Corsair and Crucial sell Mac specific kits, but any RAM that meets the spec should work. You can put up to 16GB in those.
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Apr 21, 2016 16:23
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Bob Morales posted:Corsair and Crucial sell Mac specific kits, but any RAM that meets the spec should work. You can put up to 16GB in those. I had read that the max was 8GB but it can go up to 16GB with up to spec memory. That's mostly what I was asking about. I don't know how or if Macs are finicky about what hardware goes in them.
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Apr 21, 2016 16:56
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