undertheradar
[H]ard|Gawd
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2004
- Messages
- 1,792
Im a desktop guy. Recent circumstances (others who all have laptops) are dictating that It would be a good idea to buy a laptop. Where to start? I have never been into laptops, and never bothered paying attention, so the processors and their terminology is totally foreign to me.
I like small. 17"? No way. 15", Maybe... I realize its a 'hot' size and I might actually pay more for something smaller... so its possible. 14"? Now were talking. I really dont want large... I have a desktop that hauls ass, so this is really a secondary. For a moment, I was even considering a Netbook, but it seems that the cheap ones may not run what I need very well, and the better ones are about $500 (Asus with the 1215n D525 Atom/ion)... in which case, for a couple hundred more I can get alot more in an actual laptop. When I saw the performance stats on the netbooks, I started thinking it might not be the best idea... so then what? Is i3 too gimped? I think i7 is overboard, but is i5 worth it over the i3?
What I need to run:
Spice
ALTERA Quartus ii 9.1
MATLAB
Office/Word/Excel (duh)
(Yes, Electrical Engineering stuff)
Im thinking 4GB ram would be a good thing, and it seems like 250gb HDD is common and thats plenty. I dont need dedicated graphics, but if its one of those new CPU/GPU on one die chips (are those out yet for laptops other than the ions?) I wouldnt complain if I could play some plants vs. zombies or Company of Heroes to pass time it would be cool (okay, that one might be pushing it, I know, I just thought that IF I HAD A LAPTOP, IT MIGHT BE NICE, but Im not going to fire up Call of Duty 6 on it or anything). If it had an optical drive to watch movies when on a plane, that would be cool, but I could use the digital copy version as well if I didn't have it, or put it on a thumb drive, etc... Battery life isnt super important, but I would expect to have at least 2-3 hours on a charge... but for the most part, most places I would use it would have a plug so its not super important. I would really prefer portability and lightness to a brick with a heatgun blowing in my lap. A webcam would be cool so that if I or the next person who gets it (my mother most likely) wants to, we can skype... but its no deal breaker.
Brands? I have no clue... Samsung? Asus? What is good, what is crap?
Processors? Atom/Ion, i5, i3... or I have nothing against AMD here... is the Turion 2 a good bet?
Are there any deals I should look at at newegg? Best Buy? Amazon? Suggesting exact models would be nice.
What are good laptop sites for reviews? I have looked around, but I dont know who to trust.
Thanks in advance... I know, total noob question, but hey, Im a desktop watercooling rig kinda guy... laptops haven't even crossed my radar until recently.
*edit: oh, yeah... price: I would like to keep it in the $600-700ish range, but its not set in stone. If someone sells me on something that is really alot more for just $100 more, I'm not going to be eating Ramen noodles because of it.
What Ive seen that I might like? I dont know if they are good buys though or if they will perform well, just ones that caught my eye...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220805&cm_re=1215n-_-34-220-805-_-Product
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/top-ten-notebooks.aspx?pid=7#axzz13EnKvEXr
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...inum/9973019.p?id=1218202949239&skuId=9973019
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba...Gray/1269043.p?id=1218248182225&skuId=1269043
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115821
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101232
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satel...TF8&coliid=I3H9MR4SMC06BK&colid=32DQWBZRL2KY9
I like small. 17"? No way. 15", Maybe... I realize its a 'hot' size and I might actually pay more for something smaller... so its possible. 14"? Now were talking. I really dont want large... I have a desktop that hauls ass, so this is really a secondary. For a moment, I was even considering a Netbook, but it seems that the cheap ones may not run what I need very well, and the better ones are about $500 (Asus with the 1215n D525 Atom/ion)... in which case, for a couple hundred more I can get alot more in an actual laptop. When I saw the performance stats on the netbooks, I started thinking it might not be the best idea... so then what? Is i3 too gimped? I think i7 is overboard, but is i5 worth it over the i3?
What I need to run:
Spice
ALTERA Quartus ii 9.1
MATLAB
Office/Word/Excel (duh)
(Yes, Electrical Engineering stuff)
Im thinking 4GB ram would be a good thing, and it seems like 250gb HDD is common and thats plenty. I dont need dedicated graphics, but if its one of those new CPU/GPU on one die chips (are those out yet for laptops other than the ions?) I wouldnt complain if I could play some plants vs. zombies or Company of Heroes to pass time it would be cool (okay, that one might be pushing it, I know, I just thought that IF I HAD A LAPTOP, IT MIGHT BE NICE, but Im not going to fire up Call of Duty 6 on it or anything). If it had an optical drive to watch movies when on a plane, that would be cool, but I could use the digital copy version as well if I didn't have it, or put it on a thumb drive, etc... Battery life isnt super important, but I would expect to have at least 2-3 hours on a charge... but for the most part, most places I would use it would have a plug so its not super important. I would really prefer portability and lightness to a brick with a heatgun blowing in my lap. A webcam would be cool so that if I or the next person who gets it (my mother most likely) wants to, we can skype... but its no deal breaker.
Brands? I have no clue... Samsung? Asus? What is good, what is crap?
Processors? Atom/Ion, i5, i3... or I have nothing against AMD here... is the Turion 2 a good bet?
Are there any deals I should look at at newegg? Best Buy? Amazon? Suggesting exact models would be nice.
What are good laptop sites for reviews? I have looked around, but I dont know who to trust.
Thanks in advance... I know, total noob question, but hey, Im a desktop watercooling rig kinda guy... laptops haven't even crossed my radar until recently.
*edit: oh, yeah... price: I would like to keep it in the $600-700ish range, but its not set in stone. If someone sells me on something that is really alot more for just $100 more, I'm not going to be eating Ramen noodles because of it.
What Ive seen that I might like? I dont know if they are good buys though or if they will perform well, just ones that caught my eye...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220805&cm_re=1215n-_-34-220-805-_-Product
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/top-ten-notebooks.aspx?pid=7#axzz13EnKvEXr
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...inum/9973019.p?id=1218202949239&skuId=9973019
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba...Gray/1269043.p?id=1218248182225&skuId=1269043
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115821
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214072
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101232
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satel...TF8&coliid=I3H9MR4SMC06BK&colid=32DQWBZRL2KY9
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