Getting a new laptop... don't know much about them

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Pierce

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I'm using an old 2006 PowerBook G4 PowerPC mac at the moment, and it's just too far behind other computers to be useful. I need to buy a new one, but I'm going to get a PC laptop.

I'm looking to buy a laptop that can be used to run games very smoothly and effectively at high settings and surf the net with no lag/pause (good ram?). A big HD is not really necessary, nor is the size of the monitor on the laptop (as I'm planning to hook it up to a ~22" screen, ACER) I'm not too sure what the differences between brands are, but I'd like a reliable one. Long battery life would be a plus, as well as being able to use wireless internet from anywhere.

So, in summary I want a laptop that has the following features (in order):

1) Very good graphics card/whatever else is used to run games very well, as this is the main reason I'd like to get a new computer.
2) Enough processing power (I think that's it?) to be able to open multiple programs or a lot of tabs in my web browser. Right now, my browser freezes when I open a GIF, sometimes force quits, and also lags pretty hard when I try to watch youtube videos (can't ever watch HD youtube vids)
3) I'll be downloading a lot of torrents, so whatever would help that...heh...
4) Good Ram (?)
5) Large HD is a plus but if there's a good model that's cheaper just because the HD size is smaller then whatever, I can just get an external one.

My price range is about $1200, but if there is an amazing laptop that's $1300 or I'm saving a lot on a REALLY good laptop then please don't hesitate to post. I live in Canada and as you can see I am not good with computers at all, so I'm putting complete trust in you guys.

I asked a friend and he recommended
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220696

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for the help, I greatly appreciate it!
 
I bought this one : MSI GX640. Crappy Keyboard but awsome otherwise with the Mobility 5850. $1199.00 (Canadian) 1680x1050 resolution which was important to me.


Next level up would take you to $1399. http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220700

Or go to a Mobility HD 5870 for over $1500 but a nice Quad processor and 8Gigs of RAM.

Good luck.

You friend's recommendation is a good one too. Very nice CPU but the GPU might be a bit underpowered for your needs\monitor.
 
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SpeedyVV said:
Crappy Keyboard but awsome otherwise with the Mobility 5850.
Click to expand...

MSI's been using that keyboard for over a year...I had the standard version in my barebones MSI GX620, and I have the chiclet version of it in my GE600. double sided foam tape on the back of the keyboard works wonders, it has terrible support otherwise.


Otherwise, they're a fine machine.
 
Another GX640 recommendation. When it was my money, that's what I bought. The reasons I picked it in particular:

1) Wanted something in the 15" range. 17" is too large to lug around for me personally.

2) I wanted a 16:10 display, if possible. Hard thing to find these days, but this one has it.

3) 5800 mobility graphics. While they aren't as powerful as the 5800 desktop series (more like the 5700 desktop series) they are still heavy hitters. DX11 features and enough speed to run everything well.

4) Core i5 processor. The i series is much better than the Core 2 in terms of power per watt. Also while an i7 is neat, the mobility ones suffer from low clocks due to heat restrictions. I was more interested in a dual core.

5) Good price. I paid about $1100 for mine all tolled.

I'm very pleased. It is extremely speedy.
 
Thank you very much for the recommendations, does anybody else have any comments or suggestions as well?

It's looking like the GX640 may be the best fit for my needs.
 
Pierce, if you plan on getting the gx640 in canada, there is one problem.

When NCIX gets a batch of them they get sold out very quickly.

When I bought mine, they got 10+ listed just after midnight and I ordered one. In the morning they were sold out.

If I were you I would call them to see when stock is comming.
 
SpeedyVV said:
Pierce, if you plan on getting the gx640 in canada, there is one problem.

When NCIX gets a batch of them they get sold out very quickly.

When I bought mine, they got 10+ listed just after midnight and I ordered one. In the morning they were sold out.

If I were you I would call them to see when stock is comming.
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Alright, I will probably give them a call sometimes this week to see if they have any in stock.

I am probably going to go with this one because you guys seem to think highly of it.

I have a question though, what is over-clocking? And does the GX640 overheat enough to get a cooling pad?
 
I have not tried to OC mine and don't intend to. As a practical matter I don't think you can OC the processor, there's no settings in the BIOS for it. You could probably OC the video card but I do not.

It cools itself just fine, no need for anything else. However, you cannot use it right on your lap or soft surface under load because the intakes for the cooling are underneath. So under load that could cause it to overheat if they get impeded. You need a hard surface, like a hardcover book, to put it on. For web surfing it doesn't generate much heat and you can sit it right on your lap.
 
I am in the market for a similar setup.

  • Good video card - discrete with 1 GB
  • Good processing capability (dual core with hyperthreading) - i3 or i5
  • Good sized screen - around 15 inch
  • Good battery life - 6 hours
  • Plenty of storage
  • Slot load DVD
  • No klunky looks (aka, Toshiba, ASUS)
  • HDMI output

For me, this pointed me to the yet to be released HP (Voodoo) Envy 14.

I do have one recommendation. If you cannot get a Seagate Momentus XT with the system, buy the smallest drive and pick up a 500 GB XT Hybrid drive. Almost as fast as an SSD based device but you get 500 GB for $130. Definitely a good balance. I think Seagate has a winner here.
 
Good Video card and 6 hours battery?

Uhmm, I think that would have to be a Optimus based laptop.

Not sure one exists with all your requirements.
 
Well, my dad doesn't agree with msi because it is a "no name brand" or something...heh.

How do I convince him that it's the best computer for me?

He's saying that for laptops (like Dell or hp laptops) there are places nearby to repair them if anything happens, and that the warranty would be bad if I went with msi because he's never heard of it (Honestly, I haven't either).

I live in Toronto, Ontario and I checked it out and there is a store near me, but since my dad doesn't recognize any of them since they aren't a big name, he's hesitant.

Should we be worried about this or is msi (NCIX) reliable? And how do I convince him it is?
 
Have you considered the newer Apple Macbook Pros? Would you dad be willing to pay for it?

I got my MBP for a little less than $1700 w/ 3 year warranty. (Do you have any student discounts available to you?
 
450 said:
Have you considered the newer Apple Macbook Pros? Would you dad be willing to pay for it?

I got my MBP for a little less than $1700 w/ 3 year warranty. (Do you have any student discounts available to you?
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Apple computers are off the table, sorry. I'm looking for something new, and a lot cheaper than a macbook.
 
Well if warranty is a concern, MSI may not be the best choice. They are a "mail it in, we mail it back" kind of company. I'm ok with that as I've a desktop that I mainly use. However if you need to have fast turn around then someone else may be called for. Dell is a good choice if you need fast warranty service. Look at their Studio XPS 16 perhaps. Not as powerful as the MSI, but it'll do.

MSI is a very big name, Microstar International is their full name. They make motherboards, video cards, etc. They make laptops and netbooks under their own brand and make them for others. They've been around for a long time.

In terms of laptops though, no they aren't that well known. Most people have heard of them for system components.
 
SpeedyVV said:
Good Video card and 6 hours battery?

Uhmm, I think that would have to be a Optimus based laptop.

Not sure one exists with all your requirements.
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It is ATI based and does the same thing. The Envy 14 has the switchable graphics capability, as well. I would expect up 6 hours of battery life without the additional "slice battery" which doubles that number.
 
Pierce, I live in toronto too.

Anyways you Dad is right. Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc are bigger brands..mind you a lot of their components are made by MSI.

If you go through HardOCP (do a search on msi) or HardForums you'll see msi all over the place.

Wikipedia: "MSI is one of the 3 largest mainboard and graphics card manufacturers in the world with over 150 million mainboards and 100 million graphics cards. Its 2009 fiscal year earnings exceeded US$334 million with capital standing at US$2.56 billion revenue."

I have not gone though warranty service with MSI so I cannot vouch for it.

I can for HP, and I was very happy with it.

Oh, but try to find a HP or Dell with a 5850 GPU, i5 CPU and 1680x1050 resolution? Good luck with the price
 
HeavyH20 said:
It is ATI based and does the same thing. The Envy 14 has the switchable graphics capability, as well. I would expect up 6 hours of battery life without the additional "slice battery" which doubles that number.
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Wow, if the Envy 14 has all those specs and decent price, then definately go with that.

When is it available?
 
SpeedyVV said:
Wow, if the Envy 14 has all those specs and decent price, then definately go with that.

When is it available?
Click to expand...

I believe the cheapest Envy 14 is around $1400, out of my price range unfortunately.

I am most likely going to go with the msi.
 
Was the Asus G51 mentioned? Havent searched for a Canadian distributor, but here it is for US.

Fairly comparable to the MSI, but it has a 1920x1080 res monitor. The nVidia GTX 360M is just below the ATi 5850 mobility according to NotebookCheck.
 
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HeavyH20 said:
The Envy 14 is available starting June 27 and the MSRP starts at $999. Envy 17 is $1399.
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Is there an Envy 14 that is equivalent to the msi?

Like, if there was a version of the Envy 14 that was $1,199, would it be/is it better or equal to the msi GX640?

My dad is seriously against the GX640 and since the Envy 14 is made by a bigger company he will probably go for it...
 
Pierce said:
Well, my dad doesn't agree with msi because it is a "no name brand" or something...heh. ...*snip*
Click to expand...
Your best bet is Dell, HP and Toshiba for laptops with good warrenties.


Pierce said:
I believe the cheapest Envy 14 is around $1400, out of my price range unfortunately.

I am most likely going to go with the msi.
Click to expand...
The Envy 14 is yet to be released. I believe the Envy 14 comes out June 27th. Price wise it's been said it will be around the $1000 mark. The price you quoted is for the envy 13.
 
NoNRG said:
Was the Asus G51 mentioned? Havent searched for a Canadian distributor, but here it is for US.

Fairly comparable to the MSI, but it has a 1920x1080 res monitor. The nVidia GTX 360M is just below the ATi 5850 mobility according to NotebookCheck.
Click to expand...

That is a good option. Mind you when I was looking for a laptop if never found that model of the G51.

The cheapest G51 I found was the G51JX-X2 which cost $1349.99 but it came with a i7 Quad.
 
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Hey look at that, the G51JX-X3 is available at amazon.ca

Would your dad like that option?
 
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Pierce said:
Is there an Envy 14 that is equivalent to the msi?

Like, if there was a version of the Envy 14 that was $1,199, would it be/is it better or equal to the msi GX640?

My dad is seriously against the GX640 and since the Envy 14 is made by a bigger company he will probably go for it...
Click to expand...

Sorry for quoting this, but if there's any situation in which the Envy 14 and the msi GX640 are made equivalent in both value and specs, could someone please link it?

If not then that's fine, but this would be the ideal setup for me.
 
Unfortunately, there's no hard specs on the Envy 14 as it doesn't exist yet. They've announced it and given some general info, but there's no "You get this for this price," kind of thing.

Also, if you want to argue with your dad, ask him if he's ever heard of Sysco. Pronounced the same as Cisco, but not at all the same company. Chances are he hasn't. Well they are the biggest foodstuff distributor in all of North America. They own just about every single grain silo and in a very real way control the food supply. They do about $37 Billion dollars in business per year. And you've probably never heard of them.

I find it an interesting way to make the point that just because you've not heard of someone, doesn't mean they aren't big. MSI isn't as big as Sysco, but they are a pretty large company. One of the largest motherboard manufactures in Taiwan.

However, one thing to consider for sure is tech support. If this is going to be your only computer, you may well want to go with a company that does faster tech support. MSI is one where you have to mail it in and they'll mail it back. 3 year warranty, but all through the mail. Means you could be without your system for a couple weeks. At work, my experience with HP's customer support has been abysmal, so I'd not recommend them.

Dell would be a good choice because you can get on site warranty. It costs a bit more, but they'll send a tech out to fix your stuff next day. Can be important if it is your only PC.

I went with MSI because I do computer support for a living and am pretty good at it, and also because I have a desktop that I mostly use so if my laptop is gone for 2 weeks, I'll live.

Just consider that. While you hope you get a laptop with no problems, what happens if you have a problem?

However, something to look at it that MSI laptops are sold by 3rd party vendors, some of whom offer their own warranties. In the event you get one of those maybe it is better service, since they will do cross ship and things like that.

At any rate, consider service as well as features. While MSI has a good rep in terms of fixing things, they are up front about the fact that it is a "You send it to us, we send it back," situation. That doesn't work for everyone.
 
Sycraft said:
Unfortunately, there's no hard specs on the Envy 14 as it doesn't exist yet. They've announced it and given some general info, but there's no "You get this for this price," kind of thing... *snip*
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Actually HP has announced the specs and prices on their site:

From HP said:
HP Envy 14. 14.5-inch screen, 5.25 pounds, Intel Core i3, i5, i7 CPUs, ATI Mobility Radeon 5650 GPU with 1GB GDDR3 RAM and BEATS audio.
Click to expand...

From HP said:
People don't want to spend small fortunes. Sure, I enjoy rolling up hundred dollar bills and lighting them on fire as much as the next guy, but for the most part, I'd prefer to save a couple bucks. The nicest surprise with these Envy machines is that they have reasonable prices -- the Envy 14 starts at $999 while the more powerful big brother, the Envy 17, starts at $1399.
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Problem is that's still general background, not anything firm. They start at $1000, which is around the price of the GX640 (it goes for $1050-1100 online). Ok, but what does it come with at that? If it comes with an i3, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB HDD then it isn't terribly competitive. If it comes with an i7, 8GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD then it's a smoking deal.

As with anything, the details are important with regards to how good a deal it is.
 
Sycraft said:
Problem is that's still general background, not anything firm. They start at $1000, which is around the price of the GX640 (it goes for $1050-1100 online). Ok, but what does it come with at that? If it comes with an i3, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB HDD then it isn't terribly competitive. If it comes with an i7, 8GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD then it's a smoking deal.

As with anything, the details are important with regards to how good a deal it is.
Click to expand...

Ok great points there. Didn't quite think about it like that. My guess is they'll start with a i3, 4GB ram and a 360 or 512GB HDD. Spec wise it's not too bad considering the graphic power behind it.
I'm personally waiting for it to come out before I make my final decision on a laptop.
 
Yeah, if I was on the market for this kind of laptop and did not absolutely need it right away, I would wait.
 
pwrusr said:
Ok great points there. Didn't quite think about it like that. My guess is they'll start with a i3, 4GB ram and a 360 or 512GB HDD. Spec wise it's not too bad considering the graphic power behind it.
I'm personally waiting for it to come out before I make my final decision on a laptop.
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Would the graphic power alone make it a better choice over the GX640? Those specs don't look too great, but it does seem like those will be the specs for the $999 one... Maybe I can upgrade something to bring it up to ~$1200. I think you can do that with Envy, right?

Sycraft said:
Ok, but what does it come with at that? If it comes with an i3, 2GB of RAM and a 160GB HDD then it isn't terribly competitive. If it comes with an i7, 8GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD then it's a smoking deal.

As with anything, the details are important with regards to how good a deal it is.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I meant. Does anyone know when the details are being released? I don't mind waiting.
 
Pierce said:
Would the graphic power alone make it a better choice over the GX640? Those specs don't look too great, but it does seem like those will be the specs for the $999 one... Maybe I can upgrade something to bring it up to ~$1200. I think you can do that with Envy, right?

Yeah, that's what I meant. Does anyone know when the details are being released? I don't mind waiting.
Click to expand...
Quite honestly the MSI IS a nice deal for the hardware that you're getting. see anand's review on it:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3766/msi-gx640-speedy-dx11-laptop

Though having said that the battery life isn't as good on the MSI as it will likely be on the HP envy. Though as has been said above a few times there's no telling how good it will be fire sure until someone gets their hands on it. Keep your eyes out on Engadget for the scoop. They tend to be one of the first places you'll likely see a review on laptops like the envy.

You'll likely hear a good bit more about it (reviews) come the end of this month into early July. If you can wait, just hold off until we have more "set in stone" info and more hands on time with the envy. :cool:
 
NoNRG said:
Was the Asus G51 mentioned? Havent searched for a Canadian distributor, but here it is for US.

Fairly comparable to the MSI, but it has a 1920x1080 res monitor. The nVidia GTX 360M is just below the ATi 5850 mobility according to NotebookCheck.
Click to expand...
It's actually a lot a lot a lot below the 5850. NotebookCheck's numbers are always somewhat dubious and in this case, their 5850 numbers are based on the DDR3 version that originally shipped with an Acer laptop. The DDR5 one that the GX640 and Envy 17 use is much better. The GX640 is known to run hot, but the G51 is even worse.

As for the Envy 14, I'm really having a hard time believing the rated 7 hour batter time. Not only because HP usually overshoots their figures by quite a bit, but also because the Ideapad Y460 and GE600 are both getting 4-5 hours with nearly the same specs. The slice, however, is a definitive advantage for the Envy 14.
 
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pwrusr said:
Your best bet is Dell, HP and Toshiba for laptops with good warrenties.



The Envy 14 is yet to be released. I believe the Envy 14 comes out June 27th. Price wise it's been said it will be around the $1000 mark. The price you quoted is for the envy 13.
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The base set up is $999, I believe.

MSI and Asus actually have the two best warranties. In terms of reliability, HP is actually rated lower than either of those companies.

Lenovo (IBM) makes a very similar laptop to the Envy 14 called the Ideapad Y460.
 
pwrusr said:
Your best bet is Dell, HP and Toshiba for laptops with good warrenties.
Click to expand...

Conversely the companies (or rather, company) to avoid if you dont want serious warranty problems is Acer. They're the absolute worst at finding any reason they can not to honor their warranty.

I bought a Gateway with a Mobillity 5650, 4 gigs of cheap DDR3 and a Core i3 330 for $750 CAD, I love it. It feels economically made, as in it doesn't feel as sturdy as say the macbooks do, but man what I got for $750, I havent bothered to tinker with any of the settings but both AC2 and BFBC2 started and ran looking gorgeous at 50 fps+. Downside to all forms of discrete graphics chips, sans Nvidias Optimus ones, is shortened battery life. In desktop mode with no 3D acceleration I can get about 3 hrs out of this thing, if I do any kind of flash decoding or movie editing that very quickly runs down to 1.5 hrs, meaning just browsing around online and doing physics reports, I can usually get 2.5 hours out of this thing.

I've found that almost always aiming for the lowest end SKU while still getting the high-end chip is the best way to go. In the case of laptops, that means you want the cheapest westmere you can find, which is the core i3 330m, and if your into graphics you want the cheapest madison you can find, which is the Mobillity Radeon 5650. OpenCL 1.0 (which is DX11 inclusive) was a big deal for me, so that meant NV chips were out. But from what I`ve seen anyways you probably dont want to go with an Nvidia mobile solution anyways, either for performance reasons or for heat/power reasons.
 
Pierce said:
Would the graphic power alone make it a better choice over the GX640? Those specs don't look too great, but it does seem like those will be the specs for the $999 one... Maybe I can upgrade something to bring it up to ~$1200. I think you can do that with Envy, right?



Yeah, that's what I meant. Does anyone know when the details are being released? I don't mind waiting.
Click to expand...

The GX640 is a much more powerful machine than the Envy 14 will be. If you're looking for power, the Envy 14 isn't really going to provide it. It's a step down in performance from the Envy 15, but its tradeoff is much better battery life and a couple of upgrades (like the backlit keyboard, DVD drive, better screen, etc.)

Since you haven't listed portability as a concern, I see no reason why you'd consider the Envy 14. Anyways, its rumored to start at an i5 430 (same as all other Envys) and go up to an i7. No one knows if there will be a screen upgrade or not. I'd guess that a decently outfitted one will run $1100-1200, not including the slice, since HP likes to do +$50 upgrades to the most common components.

Anyways, in the 15" range, nothing competes with MSI and Sager/Clevo notebooks (Sager is a boutique shop and while Clevo is huge, if your dad doesn't trust MSI, I'm not sure he'll trust Clevo.)

If you go to 17", you've got a couple more options in that price range. MSI GX740, MSI GT660 (maybe?), Envy 17 with Bing Cashback (does this work in Canada?) and the Bet Buy Asus G73.
 
Thanks for all the tips. Could anyone else here share their experiences with the MX640? I'll be ordering my computer by friday and informing me of anything I should look out for would be appreciated.

Edit: Also, any reccomendations on where to buy it from? I live in Toronto and I'm about to look up some places, but if anyone has any first-hand experience in regards to customer service and warranty then it'd help.
 
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Pierce said:
Thanks for all the tips. Could anyone else here share their experiences with the MX640? I'll be ordering my computer by friday and informing me of anything I should look out for would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Presuming you mean the GX640, what do you want to know about it?
 
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