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Regarding Sony, I have a ~three year old Sony Vaio Z which I got very cheaply (apparently it went for $2,000+), and it's a mess. Issues with heat (had to remount the heatsink and buy some pads from Sony for $40 to mount the GPU properly), the obvious issues with drivers, and it is falling apart with a big crack on the underside of the case. One of the hinges is broken, the power cable falls out half of the time, and it's generally in bad shape despite treating it well overall. It's a "nice" machine when it works, but before I fixed the heat issues I had to lock it at half its rated speed and even then it'd overheat and shutdown. If the build quality were better and it didn't have the issues it has with driver support, it'd be a lot better of a machine, but I don't plan on buying another Sony machine after this one. Meltycat fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Jun 6, 2013 |
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Jun 6, 2013 01:40
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 09:55 |
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My Sony Vaio Z finally gave up the ghost, and so I'm looking for another laptop, new or used. Here's what I would like:
1) Buy a Haswell system with a decent ("retina quality"+) screen, or wait until one comes out. 2) Buy a ~$300 old used laptop with a decent screen (>1920x1080, so probably 1920x1200), put 4GB+ RAM in it and an 80GB SSD, and use for a year or two until it is no longer usable. After that, there should be plenty of higher-resolution laptops to choose from at reasonable prices  For 1), I've thought about buying a Haswell rMBP and liked the screen I saw in the store on the current models, but I'm not sold on Linux support for them, really dislike clickpads and soldered components, don't really like the keyboard layout, and have zero interest in running OS X. (I have used OS X for ~twelve months in the past). I've also thought about picking up a Chromebook Pixel, and probably would have if the memory/storage were upgradable and it didn't have such a tiny amount of local storage for the price. I've barely seen anything about prices for upcoming Haswell systems with decent screens, but imagine that they will likely be really expensive and have seen rumored prices floating around $2kish for "base" models. Is there anything I'm missing here? A new laptop would be nice because it'd make it easier to debug/run code locally in addition to playing some undemanding games/watching HD videos/HD YouTube while I'm on the go, but I feel like I'm going to be forced into paying a huge premium for a nice screen if I go this route. I also wonder if there are going to even be any new laptops which come with physical trackpad buttons, as even Lenovo seems to be moving away from them -- I imagine this is something I will probably just have to live with. I'm really leaning towards 2), buying an older laptop with a decent screen, but aren't sure what the best choice would be here. I've heard that T61s laptops have 1920x1200 displays, which is the minimum I'd like to consider. Are there any other laptops I should be looking at? If I could pick up a laptop with a nice 4:3 screen, that would be great too. I just don't know how old is "too old" with regards to being able to use a modern Linux distribution/read documents/browse the web/watch fullscreen YouTube without sluggishness being a problem. The coding/writing shouldn't be much of an issue as I use terminal-based programs for that, and with 4GB of RAM testing code should still be doable even if it's a bit slow. 2GB or 3GB might be workable too, but 4GB would be preferred. I may be working with protected data in the future and would like to have full-disk encryption in that case, so AES instruction set support would be nice too with an older machine to help with speed, but not a requirement. I just don't want to spend more than like $300 if I go this route, because this would be a stopgap solution with the intention of buying another laptop within a year or two. Thanks for any advice! Meltycat fucked around with this message at 08:57 on Jul 25, 2013 |
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Jul 25, 2013 08:55
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That Ativ Q looks pretty nice, apart from the 4GB of RAM. Apparently the Android dual OS feature can use up to 1.5GB of RAM by default, leaving you with 2.5GB for Windows+programs, which seems like it could get kind of iffy. I'm in Linux 99% of the time, but I like the idea of having a convertible laptop so that I could take/distribute handwritten notes+figures. I've known people with Lenovo's convertible laptops, and it generally took quite a while for them to be supported properly in Linux without a ton of tweaking/hacking. Does anyone know how well VirtualBox handles that kind of thing, i.e. if I ran Windows 8 as the host with a Linux client, are the VirtualBox drivers good enough to act as an intermediary to have tablet functionality working in Linux out-of-the-box? Of course, doing that means that there would be three operating systems running in 4GB of RAM, which might not be the smartest course of action... Does anyone have a "regular" tablet with an active digitizer that they use for notetaking in tandem with a more traditional laptop? It'd be nice to have everything in one device, but it might be worth it having a separate tablet in order to have a wider selection of laptops to choose from. I'm guessing you could save all of your notes to Dropbox or something on the tablet so that they would sync up with your laptop easily? Has anyone gone from one mode to another (using tablet+laptop to just a convertible laptop) and have any advice?
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Jul 28, 2013 10:02
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Speaking of high-res screens, does anyone know of up-and-coming user-serviceable laptops with high-res screens (2560x1440+) that -aren't- ultrabooks? So far I know of the Dell m3800 http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/04/campaigns/precision-m3800-workstation and the Apple rMBP. Everything else seems to be in the ultrabook category, complete with soldered components. I'd like to be able to upgrade to 16GB RAM, as one of the applications I'm working with eats around 7.2GB on its own easily. I also want to be able to put my own storage into the machine, and fix other components if needed. I'm under the impression that most if not all of these ultrabooks solder components directly into the machine, with even the new Lenovos having one of the two DIMM slots soldered. One more question -- I bought an old Lenovo T61P laptop to hold me over, but the battery's dead. I bought a replacement on Amazon but it doesn't fit well, and my laptop turns off/loses power if I bump it wrong. Anyone know of a good site to buy replacement batteries that work? Meltycat fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Aug 31, 2013 |
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Aug 31, 2013 21:16
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For those curious, it appears that the W540 will have the same http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/w-series/w540 I was hoping that they'd decide to at least keep the trackpoint buttons, but no luck. I don't understand why companies don't see their rush to clone the Macbook Pro/Air look as free advertising for their competitors... the Lenovo isn't as blatant as say, some systems from HP, but it looks like they are slowly edging their way there. Honestly, I don't care about the color, but if they remove what made the Thinkpads special (great trackpoint, keyboard with tons of function keys, "sturdiness" features like the hinge/latch, little niceties like the indicator lights) while falling behind in other areas (still no Retina-quality displays), I don't see any reason not to get a Macbook Air or a (Retina) Macbook Pro other than maybe saving a few dollars on price (which could probably be made up by the Mac's better resale value). Meltycat fucked around with this message at 11:57 on Sep 4, 2013 |
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Sep 4, 2013 11:44
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Dell m4800 (15") was released: http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/precision-m4800-workstation/fs Currently you can't change the processor/RAM/etc on any of the pre-built models (I called dell and was told you'd be able to customize more "soon"), but $2k gets you a 3200x1800 screen with a 2.4base/3.7ghz "turbo" i7 and a 2GB K2100M. Apparently, the battery/RAM/storage are user-replaceable. You also get a pointing stick with two sets of physical buttons. Dell also has a 3-year accidental damage warranty for $120 -- has anyone used it? The other high-res non-Ultrabook Haswell-based competition seems to be the Zbook 15: http://shopping1.hp.com/is-bin/INTE...t8AAAFAINpn4emG which starts at $2k with a 1080P screen and no option online to configure the higher-res screens (yet). The Dreamcolor 1080P upgrade is $400, but I have no idea if that has any bearing as to how much they will want to charge for the 3200x1800 screen. There's also the W540, which I refuse to buy unless they decide to bring back the trackpoint buttons (they won't) or make it substantially cheaper than either of the other options. I thought about a rMBP, but it lacks a trackpoint at all, has everything soldered in, and the Haswell refresh might not come with dedicated graphics. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing or how the performance would be compared to the workstation-class cards. Magic Underwear: What distro are you running? I had heard the rMBPs were bad for Linux, as in you need to set a ton of specialized stuff up. Regarding the tiny text, I have a 1920x1200 15" laptop, and a combination of a default zoom Firefox plugin, changing my terminal fonts, and some GTK tool I forgot the name of has everything nicely scaled up for me, though I'm not sure how well it would work since I'm still at like half your resolution. Not sure if the GTK thing would be useful to you or not, but you might want to look into it if you use GTK-based apps. Meltycat fucked around with this message at 14:32 on Sep 12, 2013 |
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Sep 12, 2013 13:55
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I asked a salesperson about the lack of customization, and was told that since it's a brand-new model, they're still in the process of getting things up and will have more customization options soon. I think it might be the same with the HP Zbook 15 -- it doesn't even let you pick a QHD screen right now for whatever reason.
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Sep 12, 2013 14:31
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Magic Underwear posted:I don't know why you're so insistent on Haswell, I don't think the gains are that great for actually using it, just when it's idle. Honestly your chances of getting something with Haswell are slim if you need it by the end of this month. I don't actually use my MBP at 2880x1800, but you could if you really wanted all the space. Isn't OSX basically a Linux (or unix?). I think you're mixing me up with somebody else... I don't need a machine by the end of this month  The sooner the better, but I could probably wait until next spring/summer if I really needed.I really want a QHD+ display (>1080P) in a user-serviceable chassis, and most of those machines are planned Haswell releases. If I settled for 1080P, then yeah, I'd probably pick up a W530 (thanks for the recommendation!). I figure the QHD should be nice for where I need it (visualization + viewing detailed figures, and a huge amount of reading text which looks much nicer on Retina-style displays), so I'm being somewhat stubborn about it. Regarding the Retina Macs, OSX is BSD-based, but we work with and deploy Linux-based software where there are enough incompatibilities that I'd like to just run Linux natively. Even if the compatibility wasn't an issue, I still don't really like the OSX interface. If they come out with really nice hardware for this gen which is substantially nicer than the Dells/HPs/etc, I'll give them a look though. Over the summer one of my machines broke and getting an Ubuntu install on an (oldish) loaner Macbook was a pain and I've heard the newer ones are worse, but I'll ask in the Mac thread about it if it comes to that. Meltycat fucked around with this message at 19:05 on Sep 12, 2013 |
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Sep 12, 2013 19:01
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waitwhatno posted:My laptop went to laptop heaven a couple of days ago and I absolutely don't have the money to buy a proper replacement. I had the idea to buy a refurbished cheap Core2duo-Thinkpad of ebay for 100€ (~140$), to tide me over, while I save up for a real laptop over the next months. (...) My laptop died unexpectedly too, and I picked up an old T61p. You definitely want to get one generation newer for the cheaper DDR3 RAM, and to avoid the defective NVidia chipset in this generation of Thinkpads. Currently I have 4GB of RAM with a Lubuntu install on an old SSD and it's "OK". The only thing that really gives me any trouble is videoconferencing with Google Hangouts, which really stresses the machine. The nice thing about getting older Thinkpads is that they come with higher resolution screens -- I picked up a machine with 1200P. On another topic, does anyone know why the Dell M4800s are taking so long to be configurable? I'm probably going to pick one up (QHD display, trackpoint with physical buttons, user-replaceable components), but am curious as to how much cheaper I'd be able to buy one by getting barebones RAM/storage while keeping a quad-core CPU + QHD screen. Also, the three cards which come with the system are: Nvidia K1100M Nvidia K2100M AMD Firepro M5100 I can't find much online about the Firepro -- anyone know if it's worth considering over the Nvidia options? I won't be doing any CAD work so this would just be for light gaming.
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Oct 30, 2013 17:51
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Anyone have any thoughts regarding glossy vs. matte screens? It appears that most notebooks now are glossy (even the Dell m3800 "portable workstation" machine). My old notebook was glossy and I didn't like it at all, it was a TFT and I don't think it was super bright (~200 nits?). The notebooks I'm looking at now have IPS QHD panels at ~300 nits -- is that enough of a difference to "power through" reflections, or will they still be an issue? Are the aftermarket matte screen overlays you can buy helpful? I'm being insistent on getting a QHD panel, so if that makes a difference I'd be curious to know. If the glossiness is still an issue, then I might stick with my T61p for a while longer, and maybe upgrade the processor from a T7300@2.0ghz to a T9300@2.5ghz. I checked out passmark for CPU benchmarks and the T9300 seems to be about 50% faster. The main reason I'm interested is because my current laptop can -almost- manage Google Hangouts and maxes out my CPU in the process, so I'm thinking of upgrading this machine for ~$50 to see if I can wait another 6-12 months before picking up a new laptop. Has anyone done a similar upgrade and were you happy with the performance?
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Nov 21, 2013 15:52
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 09:55 |
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shrughes posted:I got an Anker battery, I think because somebody mentioned them a couple pages back, and.. it works, its main problem is that it was hard to remove from the laptop because the size was just a tad too big, or something, but not in a worrisome way. The Lenovo will have better capacity and maybe be better quality overall but I don't expect this one to explode. I have an extended Anker battery, and have used it in a T61p and a T500. It "worked" in the T61p, but it was super easy to bump the laptop and have the battery disconnect, to the point where I would shut the laptop around when I had to carry it around. It works better in the T500, but bumps can still disconnect it. In both laptops, the battery will sometimes randomly return "unknown" as the charge status, and the battery light will often blink amber. I also had an issue where my CPU would refuse to clock to full speed, but managed to fix it: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_CPU_frequency_scaling Anyways, the Anker battery was like $30, and I think the official Lenovo batteries were about $150-$180. For that price, I'd go with the Anker again for the T500, but seriously reconsider for the T61p since I often move my laptop. It might just be a case of build variations between laptops/batteries. When I had the T61p I wrote them and they offered an exchange, but then I upgraded to the T500 and didn't bother to send it back since it worked better in the T500. Edit: I bought the battery about 3-6 months ago, and: Battery 0: Unknown, 56% Battery 0: design capacity 6421 mAh, last full capacity 5944 mAh = 92% So, it appears to be holding the charge OK.
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Jan 10, 2014 02:08
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