Question:
Advice needed !!!
I have decided to buy a new laptop after months of grappling with my Acer Aspire 1662 which has after a year of faithful service started giving problems. It started overheating which would cause it to just reboot after half an hour of intense computation. Got it cleaned up which reduced the problem somewhat but after a few months it resurfaced.
With some very important work up ahead have decided to get another laptop. Any help is appreciated.. Here goes !!
General Questions
1) What is your budget?
$1000-$1500
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Mainly 3D graphics with opengl, mathematical simulations, moderate to low gaming and the run of the mill office and net applications. Need a powerful CPU and a pretty decent dedicated graphics card.
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Taking it to a lot of places .. Portability is a big issue especially after the beast that is the Aspire 1662.
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
Not much of a gaming person, at max a few of the titles from EA Sports.
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
As long as they have decent 3 yr warranty.. Paid the price for not extending the warranty on the current model.
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
4-5 hrs.
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
Dont mind
9) What country are you buying this in?
USA
Screen Specifics
10) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
d. WXGA = Widescreen eXtended Graphics Array; 1280x768 or 1280x800; This resolution offers the same as XGA except that there is more horizontal real estate; 1280 versus 1024. Popular for movie viewing due to support for widescreen.
11) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Non-glossy
Build Quality and Design
12) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Nope as long as they are not outright ugly. :D
13) How long do you want this laptop to last?
3 yrs atleast
Notebook Components
14) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?
60-80GB
15) Do you need a DVD, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-R drive?
DVD-CD/RW or DVD-R
Just to recap the most imp considerations are a decent dedicated graphics card that wont drain the battery (4-5 hrs), powerful CPU which can be underclocked when not required and isnt too heavy.
Have been looking at the Inspiron 6400 and some of the Acer's but having been burned with this Acer am a little apprehensive about them.
Answer:
Re: Advice needed !!!
4-5 hours for a notebook with a decent gpu...i think only the dell e1505 has that. you might want to check out the asus s96j though....has a very good gpu and better build quality than dell. you can find it at geared2play.com or gentechpc.com among others
Answer:
Re: Advice needed !!!
how about the Quanta KN1-PM from www.istnc.com ???
its pretty cheap with good graphics and good CPU???
Answer:
Re: Advice needed !!!
Thanks a ton guys .. checked out all of them.. one quick question .. is there a way to verify the battery time on the ASUS systems. Do I call them and give them the configurations and how reliable are these vendors when it comes to warranty ..
Well with Dell.. they are DELL having worked as a hardware support person I know how many of these systems fail but they do have good on site support which is good..
Any thoughts on this?? Thanks again.
Answer:
Re: Advice needed !!!
I know from my experience, dell has shakey support. They will transfer you all around the world, and refuse to give you honest help because they are afriad of liability. Given, they do make a decent computer at a pretty good price. Its a roll of the dice. I am a sales manager for a large retailer, and from my experience, the best support is HP's. they are top shelf. If you do buy retail, i would suggest going with an ESP and using their support. They are quite good too and give you 2 opinions.
Answer:
Re: Advice needed !!!
I'll second the Asus S96J:
http://geared2play.com/store/product.../s96j/s96j.htm
For a 15.4", the X1600 is as fast as it gets. At the price point of the S96J, there are no competitors to it.
Answer:
Re: Advice needed !!!
Thanks again !!!
Got the info regarding the weight and battery after visiting the other site.. I think I am leaning towards the Asus s96j as well.
Answer:
Re: Advice needed !!!
ya, cant beat that asus. it just reached the market and its priced to undercut.
Answer:
Re: Advice needed !!!
One final question (hopefully) ... I am getting variable information regarding battery time on the Asus s96j. It seems to be 2 hrs at max brightness.. anyone knows what the battery time is with low brightness and power settings appropriately set.
What is the word on the Inspiron 1505. This gives 2 hrs 30 at max brightness. However the reviewed model had integrated video which would reduce power consumption by quite a bit. Any data on battery life with on the e1505 with dedicated graphics with the 9 cell and also the fact that the Inspiron has the X1400 while the s96j has the X1600. How much of an effect on battery and heat does that have. If the performance difference isnt much between the two, I wouldnt mind going with the one that contributes to more battery life and less heat.
Answer:
Re: Advice needed !!!
According to my battery meter, I should get over four hours of battery life, at max brightness, with wifi on, and listening to streaming music through the speakers, while doing regular browsing and such. That's with the 9-cell battery. I was mulling between an Acer and this Dell during my research. What ended up selling me on the Dell was their Complete Care warranty coverage. I guess theoretically I could chop this thing in half with an axe and get it replaced...