Laptop buying advice forum: New Laptop.... Quality company & Intel core i5 vs i7

Ok so i have come to a conclusion... I am going to go for a Toshiba laptop with an Intel i5 processor that runs windows 7. And for specs well here they are....

512GB SSD
Bluetooth
wifi
Sound Card - 16-bit
Internet Connection Speed - 300kbps (broadband, such as: DSL, cable modem, T1 or faster)
Screen Resolution - 800x600 or greater
13-inch thin-and-light laptop

ok if there is anything else that i should know please let me know.... like whats new! I DON'T WANT OLD STUFF IN MY NEW LAPTOP IF I AM GOING TO PAY BIG BUCKS! I WANT THE NEWEST IN TECHNOLOGY! feel free to state or write anything you know that's out or is commming out!

so ssd isnt worth it? i mean i can test drive it because i dont have it but from what a read laptops that use ssd are thinner and run smoother because its flash memory and it dosnt take as much time to read. idk id go for your word! do you like it? whats your vote on it? good? bad?

and do you have the new intel i5 or i7?

The problem with SSD is you end up paying a lot of money for a relatively small hard drive. That's not awful if you've got a lot of money to burn, but if you have a limited budget you might spend your money elsewhere. For instance, if you are interested in gaming, you'd get ZERO increase in frames per second from a SSD, but if you put that money into a faster video card the difference would be enormous. U

Also, I'd advise you to consider what you actually plan to do with your laptop before thinking about parts!

If you plan to take your laptop to class everyday, you might want something lightweight and with good battery life. Most of the fastest "enthusiast" laptops offer great performance but are also heavy and have poor battery life. You'll hate lugging it around and the performance will be useless just for taking notes. Of if you are a hardcore gamer you might be better served with an inexpensive lightweight laptop for note-taking and a desktop computer with a big monitor for gaming.

It's a world of compromises, so it's best to decide what your needs are. Otherwise you might regret spending a pile of money on a laptop that you aren't happy with.

I was limping along on Vista for a reason. I had done the 7 RC but knew not to trust companies that told us "trust us, our products are ready for Windows 7." So I waited and picked up a nice enough dv6-1251sb. It's really nice. Today we can get a nice i5 based unit for the same bucks.

I've also using a 228 buck netbook during software demos. I've written about it at http://forums.cnet.com/5208-19680_102-0.html?threadID=380791&tag=forums06;forum-threads

I have it all in 2 nice little packages and I didn't break the bank.
Bob

"wait i didnt understand the video... why is it ssd at its worst? i thought it made the computer faster...?"

That's the problem. SSD does not mean the machine will go faster. I offered that video so you could see almost first hand the problem.

"which netbook do you have?"

We have many at the office. I have 2 for my demos since one is XP and the other is 7. This way I can take the one suitable for the demo. If I know the customer is lagging behind and wants assurances that our apps run on XP, I take that. For those that worry it won't run on 7, I take that one.

Hope this explains it.
Bob

65% school 35% play
any recommendations or do you think i should sit tight and wait for more laptops to come out that better enhance the power of i5 and ssd hard drives?

any brands that yourself and Intel think are Superior to all other! something that stands out for its outstanding performance? that compliments Intel?

Will you carry it with you daily? If so, then you would do well to get a thin-and-light or ultra-portable machine.

If you are looking to spend big bucks, at ThinkPad T400 will be a really solid machine with strong business performance and strong battery life. It also weighs about 4 lbs, so it's pretty darn portable for a laptop with this much power.

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-t400s.aspx


For a cheaper business notebook that is also under 4 lbs and gets good performance (for non-gaming purposes), check out the HP Probook 5310M:

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptop/hp-probook-5310m.aspx?page=1

There are some laptops that offer "switchable graphics", that is, you can swap between low-power embedded graphics and high-power discrete graphics. These machines will give you excellent battery life for normal tasks, plus let you play some games when you want to (by enabling the higher-power discrete graphics. I don't know which machines in the ultraportable category have that option, but it might be worth looking into. That would give you long battery life and the ability to "play" once in a while.

Here's one example (ASUS UL150VF), but it's kind of heavy (5.1 pounds) compared to the two machines mentioned above. Plus I think Lenovo and HP make some good laptops when you are buying from their business-class devices.

http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/asus-ul50vf.aspx

The Sony Series X with extended battery gets you 12 hours, SSD hard drive, carbon fiber case and more.

Seems stylish too.
Bob

Doesn't the Vaio X have a wimpy Intel Atom processor!? And a battery pack that sticks out like a tumor and triples it's thickness? The normal battery only lasts 3 hours. And it's insanely overpriced.

Are we talking about the same laptop? This thing is the same speed as a netbook, which means that normal, 5-year old laptops will be faster than this!

That's terrible advice to give someone who's looking for a system to last him through 4 years of school...

PCWorld only gave it 2.5 stars out of 5:

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/332674/review/vaio_x_series.html

Agreed. This post has been all over map. However, it seems like we've gotten Mike to better elaborate his computing needs and desires:

1) Something work/school oriented
2) fast processor so it will remain speedy for 4yrs
3) good portability + battery life (carry to class daily)
4) He seems to have a good-size budget, but he hasn't given us a target price yet.

Earlier, I offered up two Laptop Magazine Editor's Choice models with links. These were each business machines with good battery life and weighing less than 4 pounds.

ThinkPad T400 ($2000)
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-t400s.aspx


HP Probook 5310M ($900)
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptop/hp-probook-5310m.aspx?page=1


It's hard to make more concrete recommendations without knowing his exact budget, but he would do well with these machines or similar models depending on his price point. At this point he can hopefully use this information to make an educated choice.

you guys got it right on the button with what i want... my price point.... i am trying to keep it below or on the the $1000 mark... i mean school is hard to pay for alone i don't want to be racking up bills hear and there. i would love to pay it off maybe slowly like every month. Do you guys know were i can do that? Ill probably drop like $250 down and pay the rest off.

Does this change anything? Are the laptops you recommended still good for my budget?

And if you are really pushed for price, you can check out the Acer 1410 at $400. The only problem with this machine is that it's a little on the small side for a primary computer (it's got a small 11.6" screen). I'd recommend a minimum of a 13.3" - 14" screen if this is going to be your main computer. Still, this is the cheapest you can get for a machine with decent performance (i.e. not a netbook), long battery life, and good portability.

Acer 1410: http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/acer-aspire-1410.aspx

now that Intel just released there new Intel atom...? is it worth it to go with a nice new netbook?

Yesterday we pulled up Visual Studio 2008, ran an app over USB on some Windows Mobile machine while MobileR was running and more.

Many of the netbook naysayers may not use or own such but will point to articles about how bad these are.

So no, it does not replace a powerful laptop.
Yes, it can get the job done.
Bob