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The laptop I have is like a 2007 Sony Vaio. I would never gently caress with that ever again. I am thinking about getting a new laptop. We just got a camper and I want to be able to do stuff for work (make lesson plans, use the internet, nothing too hardcore, mostly web-based stuff) and play some games. I'd like to be able to play simple stuff like Rimworld and other less graphics-intense games, but also have the option to do some higher requirement stuff Warframe or something like that. I've heard lenovo is great. I'd like to keep it under $1,000.00 and I'm also thinking that ultrabooks are really sweet because of the touchscreen. Is what I'm after possible, or is it outside of my price range?
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Jun 30, 2017 17:04
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vandalism posted:'d like to be able to play simple stuff like Rimworld and other less graphics-intense games, but also have the option to do some higher requirement stuff Warframe or something like that. I've heard lenovo is great. I'd like to keep it under $1,000.00 and I'm also thinking that ultrabooks are really sweet because of the touchscreen. Is what I'm after possible, or is it outside of my price range? Ultrabooks almost exclusively come with iGPUs, which limits significantly what sort of gaming you can do. Indy games like Rimworld would be just fine, but Warframe is probably going to be disappointing. There are some almost-ultrabooks that pack a dGPU (like the Aero 14), but you're gonna pay $1500+ for one. Touchscreens are a bit of a personal preference, but I've had one for a year+ on my Pixel and frankly I almost never use it.
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Jun 30, 2017 17:51
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DrDork posted:Ultrabooks almost exclusively come with iGPUs, which limits significantly what sort of gaming you can do. Indy games like Rimworld would be just fine, but Warframe is probably going to be disappointing. There are some almost-ultrabooks that pack a dGPU (like the Aero 14), but you're gonna pay $1500+ for one. Thank you for clarifying. Upon reflection, what I'd like is a standard laptop that can run some games alright. I don't really need the fancy poo poo that an ultrabook entails. I just really want it to have an SSD instead of HDD.
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Jun 30, 2017 18:28
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vandalism posted:Thank you for clarifying. Upon reflection, what I'd like is a standard laptop that can run some games alright. I don't really need the fancy poo poo that an ultrabook entails. I just really want it to have an SSD instead of HDD. You're probably best off getting that ~$800 Dell Inspiron Gaming laptop with a GTX 1050 or 1050 Ti, tons of GPU power and the battery life isn't awful. Great value for the power it has. As seen here: http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-7567-laptop/fncwf514s
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Jun 30, 2017 18:32
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I think those have ips panels now and the old TN panel is the only complaint I have about mine. That and the microphone sucks on it but whatever.
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Jun 30, 2017 18:39
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I've got a friend looking to buy a windows laptop for productivity and dating sims and a handful of other Steam stuff. Price ceiling of $500. I know the OP starts at $650 for good all-rounders, but I'm wondering what, if anything, is a little weaker on power but still a solid screen and can run non-graphic intensive games and without making GBS threads itself.
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Jul 1, 2017 02:00
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The big reason for the $650 cutoff is the build quality suffers greatly to meet that $500 price point. If they can't buy a new full price laptop they should look at buying last year's model instead for $400. Some rando laptop with the 940 MX will probably meet their needs. You might find a refurb T450 or T460 with dedicated GPU for under $500.
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Jul 1, 2017 02:53
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Posting from my new Acer laptop and I'm disappointed with it. The touchpad is finicky, the display seems dim and just...off, and the sound quality is really lacking. The latter two are very much lacking compared to my old HP. Am I asking too much for good quality sound in a laptop? I would assume something that could handle some gaming would have better-than-tinny speakers. I really like how the system runs, but how it looks and feels might be too much to overcome. e: not to mention the speakers are on the bottom of the laptop. So using it in my lap (imagine that) hurts the sound quality further. Dango Bango fucked around with this message at 05:34 on Jul 1, 2017 |
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Jul 1, 2017 05:13
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How much was it?
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Jul 1, 2017 05:50
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Mu Zeta posted:How much was it? I posted it a few pages ago:
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Jul 1, 2017 06:15
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Dango Bango posted:I posted it a few pages ago: Yeeesh, I'd return it if possible. That 950m is essentially wasted and a POS card to begin with. The screen doesn't say it's IPS which means its TN and a piece of poo poo. It only has a 128gb SSD. Just get an ultrabook, honestly. I'd buy that for $400, maybe, at most. $700 is overpaying a lot.
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Jul 1, 2017 07:28
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Cat Army 
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vandalism posted:The laptop I have is like a 2007 Sony Vaio. I would never gently caress with that ever again. I am thinking about getting a new laptop. We just got a camper and I want to be able to do stuff for work (make lesson plans, use the internet, nothing too hardcore, mostly web-based stuff) and play some games. I'd like to be able to play simple stuff like Rimworld and other less graphics-intense games, but also have the option to do some higher requirement stuff Warframe or something like that. I've heard lenovo is great. I'd like to keep it under $1,000.00 and I'm also thinking that ultrabooks are really sweet because of the touchscreen. Is what I'm after possible, or is it outside of my price range? mango sentinel posted:I've got a friend looking to buy a windows laptop for productivity and dating sims and a handful of other Steam stuff. Price ceiling of $500. To both of the above posters: If one of the aforementioned 1050 Ti laptops is too much at ~$800 to start, something like this is what I recommend for a gaming-capable laptop; the 940MX is very entry-level, but surprisingly functional. Note that Acer has many, many variants of each laptop, the E15 included. You can look around to find a model with the 940MX that suits your price point; you can generally find one with a HDD around the $500 mark, especially used/refurb'd and/or on eBay. This one for example is perfectly reasonable, in terms of the CPU & RAM, although I'd add a cheap $50 SSD for the boot drive. Dango Bango posted:Posting from my new Acer laptop and I'm disappointed with it. The touchpad is finicky, the display seems dim and just...off, and the sound quality is really lacking. The latter two are very much lacking compared to my old HP. This is a common complaint. Audio from laptop speakers is generally unremarkable at best. A few devices are lucky to have clear audio that usually lacks bass (e.g. Chromebook Pixel,) but it's very common to find laptops with mediocre-to-poor speakers. There's only so much space for them to fit in speakers, so your best bet is going to be to add headphones or nice external speakers.
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Jul 1, 2017 07:58
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Hello helpful SA community; Would you please tell me the best laptop to purchase with the intent to play massive amounts of World of Warcraft? I am on a budget so would like to spend no more than $750 if that is possible. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
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Jul 1, 2017 08:59
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dwebb posted:Hello helpful SA community; Hi, let me quote myself: Atomizer posted:...something like this is what I recommend for a gaming-capable laptop; the 940MX is very entry-level, but surprisingly functional. Note that Acer has many, many variants of each laptop, the E15 included. You can look around to find a model with the 940MX that suits your price point; you can generally find one with a HDD around the $500 mark, especially used/refurb'd and/or on eBay. This one for example is perfectly reasonable, in terms of the CPU & RAM, although I'd add a cheap $50 SSD for the boot drive. So this one plus a SATA m.2 SSD of your choice, perhaps something like this 128 GB one for $50. That should be good for ~60 FPS at FHD for well under $600.
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Jul 1, 2017 10:26
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If you aren't in hurry though: The 1030's are rolling out, and will be a great sweet spot for that kind of gaming. I think you'll realistically have to wait two months before the options become clear though. The 940mx is indeed the answer otherwise, the 1050 is a way better product, but you are immediately in a tier where the laptop then has to be designed around gpu thermals, where the 940mx and 1030 is often just slipped into rather normal machines (with better pricing as a result). Cybernetic Vermin fucked around with this message at 12:51 on Jul 1, 2017 |
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Jul 1, 2017 12:49
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Have we even seen a notebook with a 1040 in it yet? If the Xiaomi Air 13 got the 1040 over the 940mx that'd actually be quite intriguing if you play the esports games only.
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Jul 1, 2017 17:00
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Depending on the rest of the laptop setup, you may not even need a dGPU for a esports games like DOTA, where an Intel 620 can already hold 50ish FPS at 1336x768. More ultrabooks sporting the 640/650 would be nice, since those on their own are quite capable of most esports-type games at 1080p in the 50FPS range if you're willing to accept High vs Ultra settings.
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Jul 1, 2017 17:12
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Real ESPORTS players run everything on very low just like they've been doing since they were 10
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Jul 1, 2017 17:19
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My mom uses facebook, plays flash games and spends a bit of time editing and printing pictures she takes with a 6-7 year old 12 megapixel camera. She also watches videos and streams regularly. She runs it on wifi, she seldom takes it off her desk and definitely never leaves the house with it. She says she has 5500kr, which is according to this currency converter a little short of $850, and she's concerned about it lasting 5 years "with the growth of programs", which she says is a must. She's not exactly a wealthy lady so I think blowing $850 on a laptop when she doesn't do any professional media editing or gaming is ridiculous, can you recommend me a laptop for her that'd help her save some money she can use on like, y'know, a new kettle or something?
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Jul 1, 2017 18:07
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Trier posted:She runs it on wifi, she seldom takes it off her desk and definitely never leaves the house with it. Does she really need/want a laptop, then? I ask because you can get pretty excellent deals on refurb/off-lease "mini" desktop systems for <$200 that would have better performance than a laptop, and even after you toss $150-200 in for a nice monitor and another $50 for a generic keyboard/mouse, you're at 1/2 of her budget. Something to consider.
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Jul 1, 2017 18:16
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DrDork posted:Does she really need/want a laptop, then? I ask because you can get pretty excellent deals on refurb/off-lease "mini" desktop systems for <$200 that would have better performance than a laptop, and even after you toss $150-200 in for a nice monitor and another $50 for a generic keyboard/mouse, you're at 1/2 of her budget. Something to consider. I've thought about this but I think she wants the ability to place it on her table chair and write with her friends on facebook while watching TV. I don't know how often this actually happens, but I think she likes the freedom to do so. I'll check with her later and see what she thinks, thanks for the suggestion.
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Jul 1, 2017 18:19
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vandalism posted:Thank you for clarifying. Upon reflection, what I'd like is a standard laptop that can run some games alright. I don't really need the fancy poo poo that an ultrabook entails. I just really want it to have an SSD instead of HDD. Igpus will play most games that aren't bleeding edge. I'm still playing games on my 5 year old X series with the HD4000, from 2012, playing games like Cities Skylines, Prison Architect and generally anything under the $15 bin on Steam. Skyrim will even play just fine if you're willing to turn down the quality settings. I can only imagine what games you can play on a new laptop in 2017. It's not going to play games very well like Battlefield 1 and the very newest Grand Theft Auto but there's compromises you have to make with an Ultrabook. But 80% of new games will play just fine
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Jul 1, 2017 20:05
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My GF is looking for a very cheap laptop for basic day-to-day stuff; a lot of typing, Office, web, some videos, listening to music. She sometimes checks out a tiny little 11-12" laptop (some HP or Dell thing I think) for when she's working from home, & is quite enamoured with it in terms of size & usability; it's basically a netbook that interfaces to her work desktop VM. She's on maternity now so doesn't have access to that, so she needs something that'll run Windows (so no Chromebook) with Office, is easy to lug around with a baby on one arm, and can survive the baby. She wants to spend as little money as poss (it's not like she'll be gaming on it), & has said she'd be happy enough with a refurb. My main question here is whether something like an X220 is still a viable purchase in 2017. Specs-wise, apart from the graphics, it still seems to blow any similarly-priced (£2-300) modern cheap laptop out of the water, but it's a 6-year-old computer.
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Jul 1, 2017 21:47
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I had a 2012 Dell XPS 13 which had the power socket go and would no longer charge And now my 2014 Dell XPS 13 has...had the power socket go and not only doesn't charge, it doesn't even do the 'power connected, not charging' thing either. I think it's time to dump dell for my next lightweight/ultrabook and go elsewhere. Shame because the form factor, other than the lousy webcam location, is just so very nice.
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Jul 1, 2017 22:36
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Dango Bango posted:Posting from my new Acer laptop and I'm disappointed with it Yes. You can't break the laws of physics. Apple has been working on this problem for over a decade and the Macbook Pro is the product of millions of dollars of research on the topic and they've been using generally the same chassis for years; putting that kind of investment in to a lower volume laptop with worse margins doesn't make sense. The problem is solved with larger speakers but then you need a thicker laptop.
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Jul 1, 2017 23:08
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Hadlock posted:Yes. You can't break the laws of physics. Apple has been working on this problem for over a decade and the Macbook Pro is the product of millions of dollars of research on the topic and they've been using generally the same chassis for years; putting that kind of investment in to a lower volume laptop with worse margins doesn't make sense. Here's the thing though - both of my last laptops had great sound (relative to a laptop obviously). And that argument doesn't hold up when my phone's speaker is better than that Acer's.
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Jul 2, 2017 00:23
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RobertKerans posted:She wants to spend as little money as poss (it's not like she'll be gaming on it), & has said she'd be happy enough with a refurb. My main question here is whether something like an X220 is still a viable purchase in 2017. Specs-wise, apart from the graphics, it still seems to blow any similarly-priced (£2-300) modern cheap laptop out of the water, but it's a 6-year-old computer. You could consider the HP and Dell equivalents too. My workplace just got rid of a bunch of older HP stuff and I managed to snag a 2570p that had never left its dock (perfect cosmetic condition) with a couple of spare batteries. It's a little brick of a machine with an awful screen (unlike the Lenovo there was no IPS option) but I've never seen one fail and people beat the poo poo out of their work gear. Another bonus of the corporate stuff is it's trivial to swap the disk, ram, wifi/3G cards etc - on the HPs the entire bottom slides off without the need for any tools - and replacement parts are easy to get
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Jul 2, 2017 00:33
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RobertKerans posted:My GF is looking for a very cheap laptop for basic day-to-day stuff; a lot of typing, Office, web, some videos, listening to music. She sometimes checks out a tiny little 11-12" laptop (some HP or Dell thing I think) for when she's working from home, & is quite enamoured with it in terms of size & usability; it's basically a netbook that interfaces to her work desktop VM. She's on maternity now so doesn't have access to that, so she needs something that'll run Windows (so no Chromebook) with Office, is easy to lug around with a baby on one arm, and can survive the baby. You could go to an X230,240,250... depending on how much you want to spend but they are pretty cheap
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Jul 2, 2017 01:43
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PST posted:I had a 2012 Dell XPS 13 which had the power socket go and would no longer charge Ultrabooks are more of a pain to work on than a bigger laptop (like a thinkpad) but here's a service manual that might be for the correct year (at least google thinks it is) which has a section on replacing the power adapter port (pg 70-72 but you need the earlier sections to see how to take it all apart): http://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/xps-13-9350-laptop_Service%20Manual_en-us.pdf There's also picture guides for teardowns on ifixit.com
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Jul 2, 2017 02:09
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Dango Bango posted:Here's the thing though - both of my last laptops had great sound (relative to a laptop obviously). And that argument doesn't hold up when my phone's speaker is better than that Acer's. I'm willing to hear more on this argument but without side by side evidence I suspect that you'll find phone's audio to be worse
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Jul 2, 2017 05:16
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Shrimp or Shrimps posted:Have we even seen a notebook with a 1040 in it yet? If the Xiaomi Air 13 got the 1040 over the 940mx that'd actually be quite intriguing if you play the esports games only. There hasn't been a GPU released under the 1040 designation yet. The 940MX is decent enough for eSports as it is, so the new Air 13 with the MX150/1030 will be a further improvement. Beyond that there's nothing between those dGPUs and the 1050 at around $800 and up (although the XiaoMi Air isn't the best example of a budget gamer because it carries a price premium as an Ultrabook.) Hadlock posted:I'm willing to hear more on this argument but without side by side evidence I suspect that you'll find phone's audio to be worse Yeah, this. I'm sure you can find a phone with "decent" audio, and plenty of laptops with poor audio, but as long as you're not using bottom-of-the-barrel equipment you can always get better audio in a larger device like a laptop than you can accomplish with any phone. You simply can't get around the size and power output limitations of a smartphone.
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Jul 2, 2017 07:18
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Hadlock posted:I'm willing to hear more on this argument but without side by side evidence I suspect that you'll find phone's audio to be worse Just head to bestbuy and listen to the audio from some of the lower end asus or acer laptops. Their sound can be summed up with "pure tin". While they do get a lot louder than my s7 edge, they are noticeable in the terrible sound quality. The s7 speakers have some serious shortfalls because of the water proofing on them but its decent quality overall and pretty much what i would consider the worst quality i would be willing to deal with. Could just be a lottery though with each speaker.
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Jul 2, 2017 08:42
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grimcreaper posted:Just head to bestbuy and listen to the audio from some of the lower end asus or acer laptops. Their sound can be summed up with "pure tin". While they do get a lot louder than my s7 edge, they are noticeable in the terrible sound quality. The s7 speakers have some serious shortfalls because of the water proofing on them but its decent quality overall and pretty much what i would consider the worst quality i would be willing to deal with. This is what I was getting at. Same phone too. The phone audio isn't powerful or rich, but there's at least some depth to its sound.
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Jul 2, 2017 13:53
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RobertKerans posted:My GF is looking for a very cheap laptop for basic day-to-day stuff; a lot of typing, Office, web, some videos, listening to music. She sometimes checks out a tiny little 11-12" laptop (some HP or Dell thing I think) for when she's working from home, & is quite enamoured with it in terms of size & usability; it's basically a netbook that interfaces to her work desktop VM. She's on maternity now so doesn't have access to that, so she needs something that'll run Windows (so no Chromebook) with Office, is easy to lug around with a baby on one arm, and can survive the baby. Sitting here typing this on a X230, it's still totally fine for basically everything apart from if you wanted to play games on it. I do quite often think about replacing it with something new but ultimately it would be just because I wanted to rather than any actual need. It's built super solidly and way better to type on than my Dell work computer which is an e7250 - their equivalent machine. I think the x230 got an improvement in battery life over the 220 which was again increased with the 240 etc. I would definitely recommend one.
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Jul 2, 2017 15:15
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When I threw a stripped to the bones Arch install onto my x230 last year it really started to sing as a platform. Even Win7 was kinda chuggy on it by then, but now it's  fast and has ridiculous battery life for being six years old.The plastic is starting to break everywhere, I imagine the casing will fall apart long before it ceases to be useful as a portable.
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Jul 2, 2017 18:21
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Rime posted:When I threw a stripped to the bones Arch install onto my x230 last year it really started to sing as a platform. Even Win7 was kinda chuggy on it by then, but now it's The plastics are toast on my T430s too - years of boring chucked in a backpack will crack the corners, especially the front ones at the palm rest. The 2570p on the other had is all magnesium and aluminium- they dent, scratch and bend but generally hold up better (at the cost of being more hefty)
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Jul 2, 2017 20:08
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dissss posted:The 2570p on the other had is all magnesium and aluminium- they dent, scratch and bend but generally hold up better (at the cost of being more hefty) True, but I always hated their keyboards. That alone drove me into the waiting arms of the T-series. (and at ~3.6lbs, the 2570p is actually lighter than the T430)
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Jul 2, 2017 20:11
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DrDork posted:(and at ~3.6lbs, the 2570p is actually lighter than the T430) It had better be, it only has a 12.5" screen
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Jul 2, 2017 23:51
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Alright, so I am looking for a new machine. I've been researching but would still like to ask here. This is what I'm looking for. Budget: under $600 Needs: good battery life, lightweight, comfortable keyboard Wants: would like a stylus which works with the touchscreen but not necessary Basically I need a portable, comfortable Windows machine to do basic stuff while I'm either home or touring with my band. I don't need any crazy programs, just everyday browsing, Excel sheets, listening to music, etc. I have wrist issues so the keyboard needs to be light and comfy (for reference, the Surface Pro type cover is comfortable for me and my current TP440 keyboard is not). I am leaning towards a Surface Pro 3 with a 4 Type Cover but even that seems like a high price to pay. I feel like I can get something similar for less money. Am I wrong?
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Jul 3, 2017 19:12
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You'd probably be fine with a Chromebook.
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Jul 3, 2017 19:14
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