Hardware Need help choosing a laptop

[Nimbus]

@Nimbus yeah I can't really justify buying any sort of Mac at the moment even if I did have the money, they over price just so you can get the logo. That Toshiba I'm looking at has 6gb ram and 640 gb hdd and a dedicated graphics card. So I should avoid HP then?

Yeah, I'd actually go with the Toshiba if you have the money for it. Dedicated graphics cards are always nice, and 6GB RAM+640GB HDD is *****ing to say the least. If it's within your price range I'd say jump on it.

Better yet, post the link so I can take a look at it.

 

[R4Liam]

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-np-s...785367-pdt.html

But apparently it will only use 3gb of ram because it is running the 32bit windows 7. According to originality (top of this page)

 

[Nimbus]

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-np-s...785367-pdt.html

But apparently it will only use 3gb of ram because it is running the 32bit windows 7. According to originality (top of this page)

Wait...

WHY ON GODS GREEN EARTH IS IT RUNNING A 32-BIT VERSION OF ANYTHING!? *Rage*

If it had only a 32-bit processor, it wouldn't even accept more than 4GB of ram to begin with, and would be able to only use 2.9GB or so.

This thing has to have a 64-bit processor, I'm sure of it, so why is it running 32-bit W7!? Why!?

Oh...sorry had to rant there. Seemed so stupid for it to be using a 32-bit OS on what I suspect to be a 64-bit processor. The only way that would ever work out is if it supported Physical Address Extension/PAE (Good luck getting that going in Windows btw)

You could always patch that up by getting a 64-bit version of W7.

If you can squeeze and manage to get a core i5, then that will be even better, but otherwise it's not a bad deal for $499+tax. Just need to find out for sure if it has a 64-bit processor before you go out and get a 64-bit version of W7.

Oh and Samsung laptops are good too, I have alot of classmates in college who use them, most of which have only ever had to replace little things such as the HDD, which for the most part has been only when they've been upgrading them or whatnot.

 

[Originality]

@Nimbus, you probably mis-remembered your statistic from me. ALL laptops (from EVERY manufacturer) have a 15-25% failure rate within three years of purchase (depending on manufacturer). Even the over-hyped Macbooks are at around 20-22% (depending on who you read it from). The actual failure rate in the first year (IIRC - I don't usually pay attention to the less fun stats) is around 4-5%. Rydian would probably quote at this point that manufacturers don't actually manufacture their laptops, they assemble them, so there's not actually any significant difference between them aside from their own personal touches (Samsung's preference for Red, HP's trend of using fancy decals and including wireless remotes, Sony's irritating choice of keyboards, Toshiba's fetish for various shades of grey, etc).

Re: Samsung and Windows: The "sign" that they don't include 64-bit Windows is the lack of "64-bit" added after Windows. Compare sample A and sample B. It also happens that I've been aware of Samsung not using 64-bit Windows for a long time (nobody knows why).

...I just noticed, I've been doing the "Re:" thing a lot today... I'm being strangely influenced by FAST >.>

EDIT: @R4Liam below, it's roughly $1.62 per £1. £500 would be around $810.
EDIT2: Also, I've already mentioned that you can get Windows cheaply if you've got an academic email account (ends in .ac.uk or .ac.com), or just getting it from Amazon (~£60).

 

[R4Liam]

@Nimbus I don't know for sure if it is running on 32 bit W7 I mean it doesn't say that on the specs does it? I'm just going by what Originality said. It is £499 not $499 I don't know what the conversion is in dollars but I assume it is a great price still. There has to be ways of getting W7 64 bit cheap.

Either way this laptop still remains my number one choice at the moment anyway. I'll continue to scour the internet...

It's really strange:

This: http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/acer-aspire-5...933587-pdt.html laptop has similar specs to the Samsung but runs W7 64bit

Whereas the Samsung http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-np-s3...785367-pdt.html Doesn't specify 64/32bit does that mean it is likely to run the 32bit version?

Which laptop is better after looking at the stats? The Acer doesn't have dedicated memory as far as I can tell and, well, It's Acer

Okay I think I have found another beast http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Notebook-i5-4...amp;s=computers

 

[Nimbus]

@Nimbus, you probably mis-remembered your statistic from me. ALL laptops (from EVERY manufacturer) have a 15-25% failure rate within three years of purchase (depending on manufacturer). Even the over-hyped Macbooks are at around 20-22% (depending on who you read it from). The actual failure rate in the first year (IIRC - I don't usually pay attention to the less fun stats) is around 4-5%. Rydian would probably quote at this point that manufacturers don't actually manufacture their laptops, they assemble them, so there's not actually any significant difference between them aside from their own personal touches (Samsung's preference for Red, HP's trend of using fancy decals and including wireless remotes, Sony's irritating choice of keyboards, Toshiba's fetish for various shades of grey, etc).

Re: Samsung and Windows: The "sign" that they don't include 64-bit Windows is the lack of "64-bit" added after Windows. Compare sample A and sample B. It also happens that I've been aware of Samsung not using 64-bit Windows for a long time (nobody knows why).

...I just noticed, I've been doing the "Re:" thing a lot today... I'm being strangely influenced by FAST >.>

EDIT: @R4Liam below, it's roughly $1.62 per £1. £500 would be around $810.
EDIT2: Also, I've already mentioned that you can get Windows cheaply if you've got an academic email account (ends in .ac.uk or .ac.com), or just getting it from Amazon (~£60).

I'm aware of this, my Macbook has had it's major failure at least a year after I got it (Dead logic board), I got it repaired so quickly it wasn't even funny (2 days without it, yeah! Thank god for the Applecare plan). I'm aware that must every laptop has issues within the first year at that rate. It still doesn't explain why all the toshiba's I've seen people use don't have issues at all within the first year.

Now my brothers old HP Craptop, yeah bad ram less than a year, 3/4 of a year to be exact. Not ok at all, kinda when I stopped buying them. No matter though, the Samsung is good aside from it running 32-bit Win...Winb....Winderz.

 

[Originality]

The Acer 5750 you linked is in a slightly different situation from the other laptops in this thread. It comes with a Sandy Bridge core i3-2310 and Intel HD 3000 graphics, which can play CoD games at mid-graphics. It should prolly work pretty well with any of the basic graphics software and any games you might want to play.

Now Acer laptops have mixed reviews because they do cut back on build quality to keep costs down. Personally my dad's Acer 5740 is built pretty well and our only complaint is how easily the power cord slips out, but that's a safety measure to prevent the tip breaking off inside the socket. We've never had any problems with it. Other people with other Acer laptops have had problems, but the same can be said about any laptop manufacturer (it just happens that HP, DELL, Acer and Apple have the worst reputations).

Toshiba take a more simple approach. They just make laptops. They do nothing for looks, don't try to make their laptops special, they just make laptops. That also makes them reliable. I just wish they came in blue like Acer.

And again, ALL Samsung laptops are likely to only come with 32bit Windows, unless they specify 64bit in the specs. Nobody knows why, stop asking. All you can do is ask the providers (PC world, dixons, curries digital, etc) if they can provide a free 64bit upgrade. Sometimes they do that, sometimes they don't. Worth asking before either trying to chase up the Microsoft Ultimate Steal deal or get the cheap copies in Amazon.

 

[R4Liam]

@Originality Okay I think I have found the greatest laptop yet http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Notebook-i5-4...amp;s=computers

What do you think? In terms of gaming I'm only interested in playing Minecraft really so this should do the job. I'm not sure about the Graphics card I don't think it is dedicated but with that much power would it be a problem?

whereas this one http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Notebook-i...I/ref=de_a_smtd

Is the i3 processor as opposed to i5, however I think it has dedicated memory I'm not sure though.

This is what it says in the list of technical details:

Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 315M (Ext. Graphic)
Graphic Memory: 1GB DDR3 (Ext. Graphic)

Does that mean it has 1gb of dedicated memory?

BTW By Microsoft Ultimate steal do you mean downloading it free? haha I'm running that version on my PC at the moment perfectly and I downloaded it free!

 

[Originality]

A Core i5-480M is only slightly weaker stronger than a Core i3-2310M according to PassMark (i5-480 scored 2747 compared to the 2603 of the i3-2310). Amazon doesn't mention anything about what graphics it has, so it's a safe bet that it has integrated graphics which means either Intel GMA HD or Intel GMA 4500HD. Both are significantly inferior to the Intel HD 3000 that comes with the Core i3-2310M, and what you need for a graphics course is, naturally, graphical power. That last Samsung you linked has a Core i3-380 which is weaker than the other two, but comes with GT315 and (supposedly) 1GB of VRAM. According to notebookcheck, the GT 315M is actually weaker than the 310M and the Intel HD 3000.

What you must realize is the difference between the two generations. Core i3-3xx or Core i5-4xx are the older generation, whilst Core i3/i5-2xxx is the new generation, and all Sandy Bridge (new generation) laptop CPUs comes with Intel HD 3000 graphics built in.

In other words, the Sandy Bridge laptop is the best one mentioned so far in this thread.

EDIT: Also, the Microsoft Ultimate Steal deal is an actual deal MS make to anybody who has a student email address. Originally it was Windows Vista Ultimate for £30 and Office 2007 Ultimate for £40, but now it's Windows 7 (Home and Pro) for £30 (originally, now it's showing different depending on where you look) and Office 2010 (can't remember that price - google it). This service is provided by DigitalRiver, who are based in Ireland (which is also where the UK's retail copies of Windows comes from).

EDIT: corrected a stupid mistake.

 

[R4Liam]

@Originality

... you have just made me completely confused. I thought i5 is better than i3!!! How is this not the case? The product features for the Samsung says "Graphics Dedicated (NVIDIA® GeForce® 315M with 1GB DDR Dedicated Memory)". This has to be better than the 'Sandy Bridge laptop' (why do you call it that?) which hasn't.

So by generations do you mean the i5 480m is a lower generation than the other ones despite it being i5 and not i3?

Is it like saying a 16gb Ipod touch 2g is better than an 8gb ipod touch 4g?

 

[Berthenk]

@Originality

... you have just made me completely confused. I thought i5 is better than i3!!! How is this not the case? The product features for the Samsung says "Graphics Dedicated (NVIDIA® GeForce® 315M with 1GB DDR Dedicated Memory)". This has to be better than the 'Sandy Bridge laptop' (why do you call it that?) which hasn't.

So by generations do you mean the i5 480m is a lower generation than the other ones despite it being i5 and not i3?

The i3 he mentioned is a Sandy Bridge; its IGP is superior to any other IGP on the market (save for maybe Brazos, but I don't know much about that, so don't take my word for it...).

The i5 is as far as I know not a Sandy CPU, and therefore, is from an older generation.

 

[R4Liam]

What is Sandy Bridge?!!!! Why do you keep saying that it says nothing about that in the title or anywhere in the specs!

What does IGP mean?

 

[Berthenk]

What is Sandy Bridge?!!!! Why do you keep saying that it says nothing about that in the title or anywhere in the specs!

What does IGP mean?

Sandy Bridge is the code name of the new Core i3; i5 and i7 processors made by Intel. Google the processor name/model and you'll find out if it's a Sandy Bitch.

IGP, short for Integrated graphics processor, is either integrated into the motherboard, or integrated into the processor itself (like most Sandy Bridge (I'm saying most here, don't really know) processors).
It's like a normal graphics card, but cannot be compared to them.

 

[R4Liam]

Ok so

This one http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/acer-aspire-5...933587-pdt.html

is better than than http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-Notebook-i...amp;s=computers

Because it has a better processor, the dedicated memory in the Samsung one doesn't make a difference?

 

[Berthenk]

Again, without having the full specs list, we can't really say anything about it.

 

[R4Liam]

@Berthenk The specs list is on both those pages but you have to click the tab

How about this one? http://www.dixons.co.uk/gbuk/packard-bell-...862707-pdt.html (I have a feeling it is miles worse)

Scrap that I don't think it is any good.

 

[pistone]

@FAST6191 What is the principle? Thanks for all the other tips though about having a secondary monitor and you are right, I can do the more serious stuff on the provided computers at the uni.

@I2aven's_Sage I know that I passed my foundation graphics course using only photoshop and premier so I agree that 3D rendering may not be a necessary part in the course if it's even there. However I hate slow computers and if there is a need for the dedicated graphics for the course or, I don't know say gaming

would this laptop be ideal? http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-np-s...785367-pdt.html (click on product details for the specs)

See I could get this laptop today but my mom isn't willing to give me an extra £99 to get it but it does have dedicated memory and seems pretty decent. Is Samsung a good make for laptops or is it one to be avoided?

@master00d, Originality: Check out the link and give me your opinion

well i have to say i always love samsung
they have top nochs laptops (a hight quality build
so for quality build the tops for me would be
apple
asus
samsung/toshiba)
but the last time i checked they weren't cheap........ so i must say i really like this one
you should keep a eye on this as one of your first choices

 

[Originality]

Ok, I apologise for the confusion. I've edited my last post because I made a stupid mistake. To make things clearer, I'll reiterate in this post.

In order of score (according to PassMark, which was the first result I got on google when I actually checked for stats to confirm what I thought):
Core i5-2410M (2nd gen Core i series, codename Sandy Bridge) - 3336
Core i5-480M (1st gen Core i series) - 2747
Core i3-2310M (2nd gen Core i series, codename Sandy Bridge) - 2603
Core i3-380M (1st gen Core i series) - 2333

To add, Intel HD 3000 graphics (only present with a Sandy Bridge CPU like the Core i3-2310M) is slightly stronger than the nVidia GT 315M overall. Apparently, the HD 3000 can play Crysis 2 (in low settings) at playable framerates (27-33fps), which says something. Still, the Intel HD 3000 is best compared to either AMD 5450 (budget range desktop graphics card) or a GT 310 (the 315 is a downclocked version that saves more power than the 310). It does well for being integrated into the CPU.

@Berthenk, ALL Sandy Bridge CPUs have Intel HD 3000 (or at least every one I've seen so far). Only non-K edition desktop Sandy Bridge CPUs have Intel HD 2000 built in.

@R4Liam, that PB laptop you linked is the most powerful one so far in this thread (I feel like I'm saying that a lot, but then again I'm not the one looking). It has a Core i5-2410M (notice the bolded 2? that's how you tell it's second gen, AKA Sandy Bridge) and Intel HD 3000 graphics. Now all we need to find out is if your graphics software (or at least the software used by your college/university) is able to run on Intel HD 3000 graphics. EDIT: And be we, I mean you. Once you find out, the choice should be much easier.

 

[R4Liam]

I thank you for going into more detail (I actually understand now) but all I'm after is a laptop that can run 2 programs like Photoshop and say Microsoft Word as well as Firefox and iTunes all at the same time and with no trouble.

In terms of gaming I only see myself playing Minecraft but at it's best setting (Rendering distance far) with no lag. Maybe even something like CoD but I would be happy with lower quality settings.

The PB only has 4GB RAM compared to the 6GB RAM on the other laptops and it also has no dedicated memory like on the other laptops but because of the more powerful processor does that make the PB still the better choice?

It also has 500GB of HDD compared to 640GB HDD.

Its such a hard choice

 

[OmegaVesko]

From your description, anything over 2GB RAM will be more than enough.