Buying a new laptop

[AJP]

I need a new laptop and after doing a bit of research I've been thinking about buying a Toshiba Satellite U845-S406, but I'm still searching for the right device.. Any thoughts?

- I don't want a mac
- something light
- no bigger than 13-15 inches
- mainly for college use
- preferably an ultrabook
- purchasing from the U.S.
- want to stay under $700 (and that's shooting high)

[ankit]

Acer TimelineU M5-481T-6642 - Around 500$
Intel Core_i5_3317U Processor 2.6GHz (3MB Cache)
4 GB SDRAM RAM
500GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
14-Inch Screen, Intel HD Graphics 3000



and if you want Toshiba.  Then Toshiba Satellite U845-S402 - Around 600$
Intel core_i3_2377m Processor 1.5GHz
4 GB SO-DIMM RAM
500GB 5400rpm Hard Drive, 16 GB Solid-State Drive
14-Inch Screen

ASUS VivoBook S400CA-DH51T - Around 600-650$
Intel Core i5 3317U 1.7 GHz Processor
4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz SD-RAM
500GB 5400RPM Hybrid Hard Drive with integrated 24GB Solid-State Drive
14" 16:9 HD (1366x768) LED backlight glare panel


Lenovo ThinkPad Twist S230u - Around 700$
This one got 12.5 inch display because of screen twister.
Intel Core i5 3317U 1.7 GHz (3 MB Cache)
4 GB DIMM
500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
12.5-Inch Screen, Intel HD 4000 Graphics

[SKY]

I feel like this forum changed into a online help service. Anways on topic, seems like a good laptop just make sure it wont fail on you since your taking it to college.

[Fuse]

just make sure it wont fail on you since your taking it to college.

"DONT FAIL ME, COMPUTER!"

[EnzoMortelli]

just make sure it wont fail on you since your taking it to college.

"DONT FAIL ME, COMPUTER!"

[Devilboy665]

I need a new laptop.

Oke.

[EnzoMortelli]

Maybe i can throw in some field experiences here:

The Acer seems nice, i also use an Acer netbook on my own. It still runs very well after 2 and a half years, works quite fast with any pdf-reading, text editing, coding, browsing web and data, etc.. Also still runs multimedia quite well, diashows, movies up to 1080p, even renders .mp4 movies in 1080p (All processes closed, two extra fans against overheating, ram at 100% load, but it renders).
In the beginning it would even run Battlefield 2 on full (netbook!). Not any more, but really suffices for college work.

Acers however tend to overheat after like a half or one year, they need to be opened and blown through regularly. No big deal, and they are pretty good besides that. Parts have a good compatibility, and can be easily exchanged or upgraded if needed. (Not the graphics card and processor sadly, but the other parts)

Speaking of reliability, i don't quite remember how often my Acer fell off the desk, also i once tripped on an icey stairway and fell right on it. It still works.

I would definitely recommend using an multicore (are there still single core processors anyway?), and everything with over 2.0GHz usually handles everything ever needed. To be honest, the last 1.6GHz single core i had in hands ran windows 8 very well and fast, but you see the difference once you open more than 5-6 browser tabs.

Furthermore, most of the professors here use either Macs, or they use Thinkpads. I don't really like Thinkpads, neither Lenovo, some of the older Lenovo modells i saw had much oem software installed, that used to slow them down pretty good. However thinkpads suffice for working, but i still wouldn't await any high definition multimedia results with them.

I neither know about the Asus nor the Toshiba, so no info on that.

Solid state drives - i'm still sceptic to those, but a fellow tried it out, and he said they'd really make a noticable difference in speed, so it might be an idea to run the system on those and still pack the data safe on the normal HDs (at least i would do so)

[Fuse]

Solid state drives - i'm still sceptic to those, but a fellow tried it out, and he said they'd really make a noticable difference in speed, so it might be an idea to run the system on those and still pack the data safe on the normal HDs (at least i would do so)

Got to throw in a comment here:

Since i bought my new pc (about twice as good in terms of performance as my old one) it feels like it's SLOWER.
I never bought an SSD for my new computer but i did for my old, and that's the explanation: SSD's do alot of difference!
But if you buy an ssd, make sure to download the latest firmware to it AND make sure it's known to be reliable.
The 2 reliable brands i know of are Intel & Crucial

SSD's are perfect for laptops, they're much harder to break than regular HDD's (like if you drop the computer or throw it)
Found this video after some searching
SSD Durability Basketball Test at Intel's Folsom Campus Linus Tech Tips

[AJP]

Acer TimelineU M5-481T-6642 - Around 500$
Intel Core_i5_3317U Processor 2.6GHz (3MB Cache)
4 GB SDRAM RAM
500GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
14-Inch Screen, Intel HD Graphics 3000

and if you want Toshiba.  Then Toshiba Satellite U845-S402 - Around 600$
Intel core_i3_2377m Processor 1.5GHz
4 GB SO-DIMM RAM
500GB 5400rpm Hard Drive, 16 GB Solid-State Drive
14-Inch Screen

ASUS VivoBook S400CA-DH51T - Around 600-650$
Intel Core i5 3317U 1.7 GHz Processor
4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz SD-RAM
500GB 5400RPM Hybrid Hard Drive with integrated 24GB Solid-State Drive
14" 16:9 HD (1366x768) LED backlight glare panel

Lenovo ThinkPad Twist S230u - Around 700$
This one got 12.5 inch display because of screen twister.
Intel Core i5 3317U 1.7 GHz (3 MB Cache)
4 GB DIMM
500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
12.5-Inch Screen, Intel HD 4000 Graphics

This was very helpful. I've done some more research and discarded the Toshiba that was my original preference and amongst my top choices is the ASUS Vivobook. I'm hesitant with Acer, had products from that company before and they really do tend to overheat a lot over time. I like the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist but it's too much going on, too much movement and it's really not the kind of product I am looking for every day use. At this point I'm probably going with an HP Spectre or the ASUS VivoBook but I still have to look into my other options. Thanks for your post

[Simon]

Acer TimelineU M5-481T-6642 - Around 500$
Intel Core_i5_3317U Processor 2.6GHz (3MB Cache)
4 GB SDRAM RAM
500GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
14-Inch Screen, Intel HD Graphics 3000

and if you want Toshiba.  Then Toshiba Satellite U845-S402 - Around 600$
Intel core_i3_2377m Processor 1.5GHz
4 GB SO-DIMM RAM
500GB 5400rpm Hard Drive, 16 GB Solid-State Drive
14-Inch Screen

ASUS VivoBook S400CA-DH51T - Around 600-650$
Intel Core i5 3317U 1.7 GHz Processor
4 GB DDR3 1600 MHz SD-RAM
500GB 5400RPM Hybrid Hard Drive with integrated 24GB Solid-State Drive
14" 16:9 HD (1366x768) LED backlight glare panel

Lenovo ThinkPad Twist S230u - Around 700$
This one got 12.5 inch display because of screen twister.
Intel Core i5 3317U 1.7 GHz (3 MB Cache)
4 GB DIMM
500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
12.5-Inch Screen, Intel HD 4000 Graphics

This was very helpful. I've done some more research and discarded the Toshiba that was my original preference and amongst my top choices is the ASUS Vivobook. I'm hesitant with Acer, had products from that company before and they really do tend to overheat a lot over time. I like the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist but it's too much going on, too much movement and it's really not the kind of product I am looking for every day use. At this point I'm probably going with an HP Spectre or the ASUS VivoBook but I still have to look into my other options. Thanks for your post

I've only ever had bad experiences with HP. These experiences were with 2-3 year old laptops so they may have gotten better over the years. They've always had fans which activate too often (very worrying)

I don't have much in terms of specs, brands and kit. Hopefully my experience will help you consider a laptop that does what YOU need-- remember that a silver bullet is not always possible so get something that does what you need:

At the moment I own an ASUS K55VD (Core i5 model) laptop running Windows 8 and replaced the 750GB hybrid-SSD drive with a 128GB SSD. The startup difference is night and day even between a hybrid-SSD and a normal SSD. The storage feels limiting from time to time, but I have a desktop for my "heavy-duty" work and media storage. My machine is for getting shit done on the go without losing battery life in standby and without waiting for the laptop to boot (which usually causes a lot of battery drain). Battery life is approximately 3-4 hours in use. It has a few days of standby and charges quite fast. It has a nice finish as well. Make sure that anything you get contains a multi-touch, gesture trackpad-- Windows 8 is hard to navigate without it and it does wonders to productivity.

Ultrabooks tend to hike the price up considerably and have weaker specs due to their size. Most modern laptops are becoming thinner and thinner anyways, so consider going into a store and feeling one up

[[eVo]PvtBenny]

Get this one, they never fail!

[AJP]

Yea Simon that laptop you mentioned seems about right but it's way on the heavy side for me. Plus the screen is a little too big too. I'm looking for anything between 11 and 14 inches. 13 is ideal.