Which laptop?

[meowschwitz]

Originally Posted by Chrisinator

Dell has really good coupons/savings. I personally love my Macbook Pro 13" 8GB (Summer 2012) a lot. Definitely worth the $1200. (I got a $100 off since I am student and $100 iTunes Gift Card).

Can't stand using OS X. I'm all for Windows. However, I do love the build quality of the 13.3" Air, but the price and OS kill it for me.

[A Hill]

I haven't read what anyone has posted but wanted to say what I know.

I love the macbook air. I've been using one for over a year now and it is the best decision I ever made.

With the "retina" display on them now, it is a no brainer and I am considering upgrading in the fall.

You get what you pay for.

-Andrew

[meowschwitz]

Airs don't have retina displays; only 2012 Pros do, right?

[invert1]

I'll be honest, I only stumbled onto this thread because I freaking love your username. Tell me that you know the Archer reference. /sidebar

Airs don't have Retina display yet, maybe in the fall but I'd say I doubt it because the GPU power needed to push those displays would make the Air battery last all of 30 minutes. Given that they had to put a 60% larger battery into the new iPad to allow it to have the same battery life as the previous generation, I'd say the Air either would have to get heavier or impressive leaps in battery tech would need to be made before we see Airs with 'true' Retina DPI. That being said, since Apple intro'd Retina at >300 DPI and then started using the moniker with the MBP at 220 DPI, they may just fudge the numbers a bit more...

[Full disclosure, I am NOT an Apple hater, I have been exclusively Mac since 2004].

[meowschwitz]

Originally Posted by invert1

I'll be honest, I only stumbled onto this thread because I freaking love your username. Tell me that you know the Archer reference. /sidebar

[meowschwitz]

How's about this laptop?

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/...oid=2000035669

Portege R935-ST2N02
$829.99

Intel® Core™ i5-3210M dual-core processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 memory (4GBx2)
750GB 5400 RPM storage
Intel® HD 4000 integrated graphics
DVD Supermulti drive
1366x768 TruBrite® display
Bluetooth® version 4.0
Intel® 802.11b/g/n wireless
HDMI output
Integrated webcam
Li-Ion (66Wh, 6-Cell)
3.2lbs

It's not as thin as an ultrabook, but at 3.2 lbs, it's still relatively light. It's small, portable, and has good battery life (the older 2nd gen Sandy model reportedly got ~7 hours of continous video playback). It has good power with an i5 Ivy Bridge and 8 GB RAM, and the Intel 4000 should be decent for very mild gaming, etc. For what I need, I think I would value the extra storage space over the speed of an SSD. It's within my price range. Good deal or no?

[HolyAngel]

I also work for a pc/Mac repair place and the one thing I can say is: STAY AWAY FROM TOSHIBA. Also, stay away from emachine, gateway, Acer, and Sony, at least, If you want your laptop to last longer than a year or two. I see a good 5 toshiba laptops a day. Most of them are dead, most are just out of their warranty and toshiba won't honor your dead laptop that's a day out of warranty.

I second everyone's recommendation for a dell or an apple. I see maybe 3 MacBook pro's/air's a year, osx does take some serious patience to learn but once you learn how to use it and do everything you want, you can't beat it, period. As for Dell's, I usually see maybe 3 a week or so, and those are almost always either virus/spyware, dead hard drive, or the customer broke the screen. That's it.

I would also recommend staying away from 500gb and larger laptop drives unless your laptop never leaves your desk. You don't need the storage(if your video editing you should be on a desktop or a Mac) and you'd be better off having that space on an external drive that doesn't get moved around so you always have a backup of what you need. BACKUP YOUR STUFF CONSINSTENTLY! If you can afford a 256gb ssd drive, you won't be disappointed. The ability to boot your computer and be on the desktop ready to do whatever you want in ~20seconds tops, and everything you click to open opens immediately, is worth every penny. You also won't get the early drive failure from your laptop being moved around and taken with you everywhere like you would with a standard mechanical drive. I've had some customers go through 5 western digital 500-1tb laptop hard drives a year because they have to take it with them somewhere at least once a day, even though they're still very careful with it.

Please save yourself the headache and empty pockets and buy what's worth the money. If you do decide on a couple, research them before you buy!! Find people's reviews that have had them for months, every brand has a couple models that just don't do that well, but it's a lot harder to find those among dell and apple, less so on hp's, but those are the only brands that I would recommend to anyone whose life I cared about.

[starrlamia]

Acer has improved a lot mine has been running for almost 2 years with no issues but I know people that have had a lot of issues with Dell. I'd recommend a lenovo personally.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

[meowschwitz]

Originally Posted by HolyAngel

I also work for a pc/Mac repair place and the one thing I can say is: STAY AWAY FROM TOSHIBA. Also, stay away from emachine, gateway, Acer, and Sony, at least, If you want your laptop to last longer than a year or two. I see a good 5 toshiba laptops a day. Most of them are dead, most are just out of their warranty and toshiba won't honor your dead laptop that's a day out of warranty.

I second everyone's recommendation for a dell or an apple. I see maybe 3 MacBook pro's/air's a year, osx does take some serious patience to learn but once you learn how to use it and do everything you want, you can't beat it, period. As for Dell's, I usually see maybe 3 a week or so, and those are almost always either virus/spyware, dead hard drive, or the customer broke the screen. That's it.

I would also recommend staying away from 500gb and larger laptop drives unless your laptop never leaves your desk. You don't need the storage(if your video editing you should be on a desktop or a Mac) and you'd be better off having that space on an external drive that doesn't get moved around so you always have a backup of what you need. BACKUP YOUR STUFF CONSINSTENTLY! If you can afford a 256gb ssd drive, you won't be disappointed. The ability to boot your computer and be on the desktop ready to do whatever you want in ~20seconds tops, and everything you click to open opens immediately, is worth every penny. You also won't get the early drive failure from your laptop being moved around and taken with you everywhere like you would with a standard mechanical drive. I've had some customers go through 5 western digital 500-1tb laptop hard drives a year because they have to take it with them somewhere at least once a day, even though they're still very careful with it.

Please save yourself the headache and empty pockets and buy what's worth the money. If you do decide on a couple, research them before you buy!! Find people's reviews that have had them for months, every brand has a couple models that just don't do that well, but it's a lot harder to find those among dell and apple, less so on hp's, but those are the only brands that I would recommend to anyone whose life I cared about.

I have heard bad things about Toshiba, but reviews for the 2nd gen Sandy version of this laptop from Amazon and CNET seem okay. I do worry about the HDD though, since I will be transporting this thing around between home, school, and work. I have a lot of videos that I would appreciate having the ability to bring around with me, so that is one reason why I would like more space. I don't want to have to lug around an external HD as that readily defeats the purpose of having a lightweight, portable computer. And I'm a patient person; I think I can wait a few extra seconds for OS and program startup.

Originally Posted by starrlamia

Acer has improved a lot mine has been running for almost 2 years with no issues but I know people that have had a lot of issues with Dell. I'd recommend a lenovo personally.

Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

Speaking of Lenovo, I was also looking at this:

http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary...5&Code=1080XF7

IdeaPad U300s
$910.36

Refurbished
Intel Core i7-2677M processor (2 cores / 4 threads, 1.80 GHz, 4MB cache)( )
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 - English
Intel® HD Graphics 3000
4GB PC3-10600 DDR3 1333MHz SDRAM SODIMM Memory
13.3" HD WXGA (1366 X 768) TFT color, VibrantView, LED Backlight w/ 1.3MP Camera"
Industry Standard Touchpad
256GB SATA 1.8" Solid State Drive
No Optical Included
4 Cell Lithium Polymer Battery (Up to 8.0 Hours Run Time)
2.9 pounds

This any better?

[T1T4N1UM]

As a owner of the Samsung Series 9 Ivy Bridge, I suggest you wait for the Ivy Bridge Series 5 models to come out. It'll probably have a hybrid drive, and reasonable graphics.

Take a look at the Sandy Bridge Series 5.

Core™ i5 Processor 2467M
6 GB DDR3 System Memory at 1333 MHz (on BD 4 GB + 2 GB x 1)
Radeon™ HD7550M
1 TB S-ATA II Hard Drive (5400 RPM) with ExpressCache 16 GB


http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/o...NP530U4B-S01CA

(Sorry Canadian site... )

[meowschwitz]

Originally Posted by T1T4N1UM

As a owner of the Samsung Series 9 Ivy Bridge, I suggest you wait for the Ivy Bridge Series 5 models to come out. It'll probably have a hybrid drive, and reasonable graphics.

Take a look at the Sandy Bridge Series 5.

Core™ i5 Processor 2467M
6 GB DDR3 System Memory at 1333 MHz (on BD 4 GB + 2 GB x 1)
Radeon™ HD7550M
1 TB S-ATA II Hard Drive (5400 RPM) with ExpressCache 16 GB


http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/o...NP530U4B-S01CA

(Sorry Canadian site... )

That 14" is 4 lbs. That's pushing it a bit when it comes to weight. Anyhow, the Ivy Bridge Series 5s are already out, no? There are several models for sale on Amazon.