Question:
HGL30 vs S96j
General Questions
1) What is your budget?
1400$
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?
School work, some medium gaming, movies, regular things like browsing etc.
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Yes, I'll be taking it with me to school everyday. And I'll take it on longer journeys, time from time.
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
As far as I know now, HL2 is the most demanding one. I'm not too much into the newest fps games, but who knows what comes out in the future.
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
I narrowed my selection into Asus and Compal
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
3+
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
Not at all.
9) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in?
I'm in the Czech republic and I need to buy it online, probably from the US.
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
Standart, but none of the gaming notebooks in my price range seem to have that.
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
No preferences here.
Standard
a. XGA -1024x768 - Large and easy to read text + graphics icons, but you fit less stuff on the screen.
b. SXGA - 1400x1050 - Compromise resolution between XGA and UXGA.
c. UXGA - 1600x1200 - Very small text and graphics icons, you can fit lots of stuff on the screen.
Widescreen
d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
I don't know. No experience here.
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
No, as far as it's not purple or so :)
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
I'll be buying it in a week or 2 and I want it to last for the next 3-4 years.
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?
80-100GB
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
DVD+-RW
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After reading these forums a lot, I finaly managed to narrow my choises to those two laptops: Asus S96j and Compal HGL30. Both can be customized to fit most of my needs and still be under my budget. The most significant difference is the screen size (14.1" vs 15.4"), the GPU (GF go7600 vs MR x1600) and the weight (5.5 lbs vs 7lbs).
I plan on taking it to school with me everyday to take notes, surf the net, write papers and such. And like 8-10 times a year i'll be taking it somewhere further, where the main purpose of the notebook will be movie watching and gaming.
The games I like to play are mainly older ones, like Starcraft, Warcraft 3, World of Warcraft and Half Life 2. I'm not much into the latest, most demanding games, like FEAR or Oblivion. But some future projects seem interesting (namely STALKER) and I'd like to be able to play such games, should the come out. Not at max settings, but decent enough.
Another thing to consider is, that for the first 6-8 months, this will also be a desktop replacement, as my desktop computer is slowly dying and I won't have money to buy a new one until next year.
Both choises come at approximately the same prize, so the only question is, whether weight and size can beat slightly bigger screen and a bit better performance, given the usage I described. Another thing to persuade me one way or other may be build quality of the two, which I have no idea about.
I have no experince with notebooks, so I can't really tell for myself. Any suggestions?
Answer:
Re: HGL30 vs S96j
The build quality is comparable: very good in both cases. The graphics card in the HGL30 is slightly underclocked, but it can be solved. The S96J is known to have screen issues, those too solvable. Despite the big difference in benchmarks, gaming-wise they will be almost alike. The two machines are really very much alike to begin with.
I had the same doubt (plus the HEL80) and chose the HGL30 as weight is an issue and 7 pounds is way too much for me to carry around on a daily basis. Maybe 5.5 is too, but I still need that much mobility. Try weighing books or whatnot for 7 and 5.5 lbs, put them in a bag, and see what's more tolerable to you. Different people have different thresholds of portability. :)
C.
Answer:
Re: HGL30 vs S96j
^ He brings up very good points. In the end i think you should go with the HGL-30, its more compact and less weight while still being just as powerful as the bigger notebooks.
Answer:
Re: HGL30 vs S96j
Thank you very much, those are some very interesting facts. Especialy the weight test seems like a very good thing to try :)
Size and weight are sure great advantages. But what about screen size? Is the difference between 14.1" and 15.4" noticable in real life, or is it irrelevant?
Answer:
Re: HGL30 vs S96j
That too is subjective im afraid. You will need to see them in person and judge for yourself. I personally think 15.4" is ideal and thats what i got.
Answer:
Re: HGL30 vs S96j
Although I don't consider my 15.4" too big--I also didn't think my old 14" was too small either.
For your particular needs, however, I think the slightly smaller HGL30 may be the better choice. I don't carry my laptop around much at all, but if it were an everday thing and going all over the place, I might have went smaller.
I would suggest you go into a local computer store and get a feel for the 14.1" and 15.4" screens to make the best educated decision.
Answer:
Re: HGL30 vs S96j
definitely consider both the asus a8jm and f3jm, both ith 512 mb 7600s
they both are $100 over your budget but consider what they add for the money.
Answer:
Re: HGL30 vs S96j
The S96J is known to have screen issues, those too solvable.
can you please provide more info
all i heard is that those "alleged" issues are grossly exaggerated. but even if those issues are minor, i would still love to know what's the solution
Answer:
Re: HGL30 vs S96j
Check out the "S96J screen graininess issue" thread in the Asus forum. It's a driver-related issue that seems to affect only a few users. I'd post a link but I'm on a lousy 56k now and it takes ages to load a page... *groans*
C.
Answer:
Re: HGL30 vs S96j
I'd go with the HGL30 if weight is an issue. Even if it wasn't...I would still go with the HGL30