New laptop time
Okay. I aim to get a new laptop every three years, and am already eight months overdue. Considering they get used around 12 – 15 hours a day (are are meant to only be used for one battery life per day), my current one has lasted well – a HP Compaq nc4400.
The current one is very small and light. A 12.1 inch display and weights just under four pounds. That has been useful as I travel so much with it. Having said, that I could go for something larger, as the new iPad means I can leave the laptop behind more and more.
I am what you call a power user. At anyone time I will have half a dozen or more applications open, and a dozen or more webpages. Plus all the background apps such as MSN Messenger, Twitter running. So lots of power and RAM is vital. I routinely handle data bases which are 1 GB or more in size. 4 GB RAM would be the minimum I’d consider and I’d prefer something that would allow me to stick up to 8 GB in.
It has to be a Windows laptop. I know Macs can emulate etc, and how I should use Linux etc etc. Decision has been made that I am staying with Windows. So don’t even bother telling me I am wrong.
What I am after is recommendations (preferably from personal experience) on good grunty laptops. Ideal features are:
- Fast
- Long battery life
- Relatively light
- Quick start up
- Can handle multiple apps open at same time
- Resilient
- 500 GB or more storage
- 4 GB or more RAM
- Not a serious gamer, so doesn’t need to be optimised for that
- Doesn’t freeze when multiple things happening
The operating system will be Windows 7 Ultimate (which I have a copy of).
All feedback appreciated.
September 1st, 2010 at 6:18 pm
David, Little Alice has reflux or is teething or something, but anyway, she’s really having trouble sleeping, poor wee thing. Tonight I shall read your latest post to her. She should be out like a light within seconds.
September 1st, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Doesn’t freeze when multiple things happening
That would denote either a hardware fault, a clogged OS, or that you need to stop trying to multitask on a netbook.
September 1st, 2010 at 6:27 pm
I recently bought a Samsung with the Intel i7 processor (about 2.2ghz from memory), 4gb ram 500gb hdd and a 1gb nvidea graphics card running a 15″ screen. Great computer, has a built in number keypad which would be great if you do a bit of data entry on it, one less thing to carry round. Plus I use a nice MS bluetooth mouse which is wireless without the stupid dongle. It’ll run whatever you can throw at it, I bought the new Starcraft the same day it ran sweet. Now just got to find a use for all that graphics ram…
I’m thinking about putting Windows 7 on the mac it replaced
September 1st, 2010 at 6:32 pm
If you’re interested in light weight and very powerful – I reckon you can’t go past the Sony Vaio Z.
There’s two models – I’ve got the i7 version (so very fast) with 8GB memory, 256GB of ultra-fast SSD (no moving parts) disk drive, high-res 13″ screen, backlit keyboard, etc, etc. Battery life is 4.5 hours with the standard battery, 7.5 with the extended (based on my experience). Best of all, it weighs 1.3kg! (Or about 1.4kg with the larger battery).
The Sony Style centre has them to have a poke at or I can demo mine over a coffee.
September 1st, 2010 at 6:34 pm
im all about ASUS at the moment.
just make sure you get one with an i7 chip and a decent video card. Like a geforce GTS360M with a gig of ddr5 ram.
September 1st, 2010 at 6:36 pm
My work laptop is a Lenovo X200. It is small and light, but the internals are the same as a standard full size – so plenty of grunt. Only downside is no internal optical drive. It’s a corporate class machine, so very durable.
I’d never buy a Vaio again. Sony refuse to use the standards everyone else uses, so when things break they’re hard to replace. The last Vaio I used refused to boot from the cd drive, because they’d used some proprietary bus on it. Although, to be fair, it was quite an old machine. But basically I don’t trust them.
The new ASUS machines look OK. I’d use integrated graphics if I were you – last machine I bought with discrete graphics (a Dell) ran very hot, and cooked itself 3 times. (Fixed under warranty 3 times though). Most integrated graphics can do video fine, so only reason for discrete graphics is gaming I reckon.
September 1st, 2010 at 6:45 pm
MacBook Pro. That’s what all the cool kids at TechEd were using. Yes it runs Win7.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:07 pm
Macbook Pro … install your Windows 7 Ultimate on it in Boot Camp dual boot mode to run windows natively when you want (sounds like most of the time)
September 1st, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Ahhhhh Mactards, you gotta love em! Not only are they too dumb to use a real computer – but they can’t read either.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:21 pm
get a mac.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:23 pm
My ideal, IBM / Lenovo Thinkpad- T410s or X201 as per @PaulL.
The build quality on these is great, and, nothing beats the trackpoint although you do have to set it to high sensitivity to make it snappy.
I like the keyboard so much I even bought a thinkpad external keyboard for my desktop.
I also bought an OCZ Vertex 2 SSD (about $550), and moved the hard drive to the ultrabay. With all my work garbage installed, this boots superfast, so much so, it is faster to reboot than to hibernate.
When you work a lot with a notebook, you appreciate speed and quality – the lenovo oozes both. And, comes with matte screen, not these glarey reflective screens.
Once you’ve tried thinkpad, you’ll never go back ………. anyway, just my opinion, probably there are people that hate lenovo because it does not play games, but that is not it’s prime function.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Avoid Toshiba …had big problems with one of their units. Replaced two months ago with the new ASUS N61JV, running Windows 7 on an i5 processor (better for all round performance than the i7 chip according to most reviews I saw. Graphics card is GEFORCE GT325M 1GB, 4GB ram, 500GB hdd.
It runs like liquid lightning across entire magazine production, from Office, through InDesign, Photoshop, VideoStudio etc…no issues with it. Also carries a USB 3 port which is 10X faster than USB 2.0…and NVIDIA Optimus fires up the chip when extra processing power is needed, and let’s it run at idling speed if not, which means better battery performance.
It also has a quick internet boot up option if that’s all you want, although the main boot is pretty rapid.
I haven’t been able to force it to slow down and hang, whereas I could do that to the Toshiba just by pointing at it.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:26 pm
A few things…
If you are looking for more than 3.5GB of RAM, remember that you are looking for 64-bit windows. Ensure that the machine, plus all the peripheral hardware that you want supports 64-bit.
Ensure that it is expandable to 8GB – remember that 64-bit processes are more hungry than equivalent 32-bit processes because they use 64-bit pointers.
If you don’t want to do 3D gaming, just go with the integrated video card. A high-powered video card really sucks the juice (my nVidia 9300GS uses 11W).
If you really want speed, go for a solid state hard drive (say the Intel X25-M G2 160GB or the Crucial RealSSD 256GB). Unfortunately, they don’t come in 500GB units right now, and cost significantly more. Of course there is always the external 2.5″ HDD if you need it for those video and music files.
Finally, don’t be scared of a battery pack that sticks out the back. I have a 9-cell that protrudes around 2cm out the back and I don’t notice it at all, apart from the extra 50% battery life…
September 1st, 2010 at 7:30 pm
I had to buy a new laptop myself a few months ago. In researching options I found a graph here:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/
which showed results from a survey of repair shops. The 3-year service history of more than 30,000 laptops showed Asus and Toshiba to be most reliable. Least reliable was HP (and Compaq). The HP/Compaq laptops are particularly vulnerable to a design flaw in which solder connections to the video card melt and become erractic. This is what happened to my old laptop. So I bought a Toshiba.
I hope this is of some interest/use.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:30 pm
Ian Wishart left out the reason why his Acer is what it is
Dear God,
Help me log on without fretting
Guide me, as I am interneting
Bless my downloading and uploading
Keep my browser from exploding
May my website be protected?
Let not my password be rejected
Keep my line always connected
And all my inputs be accepted
Please keep my entire program alive
And to remember to back up my hard drive
And protect my computer from crashing drive,
From a virus that would make it nesting hive
Amen
September 1st, 2010 at 7:30 pm
I recently bought a Dell XPS 16. It’s a 15″ screen so its a little bigger than you’re used to, but easy enough to travel with. Its a powerful machine, and right at the bottom end of a gaming desktop replacement type machine, so it’s got the grunt you need without the size that usually goes with that category. It is well made, decent battery life, will run games easily and supports lots of apps. Nice small adapter. And its a good looking machine, methinks. Beautiful screen. Only problem with it is it does run a little hot. Reviews are pretty uniformly positive about it.
- Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 Processor (2.53GHz, 1066FSB, 3MB Cache)
- 4GB of DDR3 1066Mhz memory (upgradeable to 16gb from memory)
- 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
- 15.6 ” 1080p WUXGA (1920×1080) WLED Full HD Display w/ 2MP cam
- 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4670
- Slot Load 8X DVD + /-RW Drive with double layer write capability
- Intel WiFi Link 5100 (802.11a/g/n) Half Mini-card
- 9-Cell (85WHr) Li-Ion Primary Battery
September 1st, 2010 at 7:33 pm
depends on value/price…
Toshiba Satellite Pro L500, $1500.
intel i5 2.4ghz, 4gb ram, 500gb hdd, 1gb dedicated hd video, 15.6″ TFT widescreen, wireless, bluetooth, card reader, camera, 3hr battery, 2.7kg, Win7.
September 1st, 2010 at 7:57 pm
Any Thinkpad from the X or T series, depending on your needs. These are extremely tough and reliable.
September 1st, 2010 at 8:54 pm
David, I am not going to lecture you to buy a macbook pro.
I know you have only had the iPad for a few days but as you get used to it you will realise that your laptop has to be a mac so that you get seamless interaction with the iPad – contacts, diary, spotlight etc etc. You will then also realise you need to get an iPhone.
Buy a windows machine but you have been warned – you have already started the move to a brighter future.
(The last evangelical comment was written especially to pxxx off a few commenters above
)
September 1st, 2010 at 8:55 pm
All pretty good comments so far.
As far as DPF not wanting Linux… I can understand that, but here is my suggested solution.
Install Ubuntu and use this for non-Windows apps (web browsing, email, Messenger equivalent (Pidgin, or Digsby when released), Skype. Install a virtual machine manager such as VirtualBox. Create a virtual machine in there to install one or more versions of Windows. When you shutdown, choose ‘save machine state’ for Windows (the equivalent of Hibernate).
That should give you: Quick start up, multiple apps open at same time, Resilient, doesn’t freeze.
Bonuses are: rarely need restarts after updates, no firewall needed, no antivirus needed, few hacker worries.
September 1st, 2010 at 9:03 pm
what’s your top weight for this laptop?
September 1st, 2010 at 9:11 pm
I know you don’t want to run a Mac, but you could natively boot into Windows on a Macbook Pro.
Why would you want to do this?
Well, the Macbook Pro battery life is pretty impressive, which is something thats of interest for a user like you. A 15″ macbook Pro with the latest intel Core i5 chip would have a 8-9 hour battery life.
Their monocoque chassis thingy means they’re pretty hardy too.
September 1st, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Because Sony and ASUS both make great high performance laptops that would do perfectly for what you need. Even handle image and video editing very well, if you decide to expand your content a bit and go multi-media in a more pronounced way.
September 1st, 2010 at 9:25 pm
For the people saying “run Windows 7 on a Mac”… have Apple finally released good power management drivers for Windows that allows them to get reasonable battery life? My understanding was that they used to be terrible.
Anyway, Apple don’t have anything to compare with the specs of the Sony Vaio Z.
September 1st, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Macbook Pro, with Dual Boot. The hardware is worth it….
September 1st, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Long time listener, first time caller
Another vote for the Sony Vaio Z. Had mine just over a year, travel enough that light and power is what I need – chose the carbon case as a result. It is the mutts low hanging nuts. I frequently run MS Project, Visio, Word and Excel (plus SQL in the background) plus Tweetdeck, Outlook and Skype, with no issues AND Ive yet to upgrade to W7. Clients make mmm noises.
And my 5 year old daughter loves the way the fairy sticker looks on the sleek grey casing
September 1st, 2010 at 9:53 pm
Na, get one of these.
http://www.mystique.net/faq.html
Doesn’t even need power.
BTW, isn’t this just an updated copy of your “I need a new laptop” post you wrote sometime late 2006…?
September 1st, 2010 at 9:59 pm
http://www.asus.co.nz/product.aspx?P_ID=a4GWw0dnTS7NP0nu
At 14 inch I wouldn’t go bigger for something you will actually lug around regularly.
The Core i3 i5 or i7 are all excellent processors, the i3 giving better battery life and lower performance ( but still excellent), the i7 being uber powerful but more power hungry. i5 is perhaps the sweet spot for all round performance.
has both dedicated graphics and onboard (for when running on battery).
as someone said, if you can afford it go for a SSD hard disk as your primary drive.
Go for Windows 7 64bit for making full use of 4GB and more of memory.
September 1st, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Mac Book Pro 15″
Have had just about everything. Ran 150 machines over 11 locations. Windows is much better than ever it was.
Simply seem to have just no issues anymore. NONE.
IT Managers hate Mac because they are so stable and intuitive. As above, I-Phone and I-Pad etc. Time Capsule. Apple TV.
Sony suck, and had loads right up till last year.
September 1st, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Yeah I know – no Linux but I can’t help myself. I avoided having to replace a 2 yr old laptop that had been variously running Vasta and Win 7 by migrating to Linux (openSUSE, 64 bit). Faster. More secure by design. Stable. Beautiful (Win 7 imitates KDE 4 IMHO). I’m booting the OS off a 40 GB SSD. (the OS plus apps is using less than 20 GBs). I’m using VirtualBox to run one Windows-only app.
Don’t get me started about Apple – worse than Microsoft – a closed ecosystem of hardware, software and App stores. Apple have really gout you by the balls.
If you must stick with Windoze, I hope you’ll be walking the talk and using open data standards.
September 1st, 2010 at 10:59 pm
I could never buy an Apple. It’s a brand associated with people who camp out on a footpath for three days so that they can buy a new consumer electronics product at midnight. It’s a brand associated with people who don’t mind Apple having veto rights on what software they can install on their computers. It’s a brand associated with people who say “Macs just work” without noticing that all computers just work these days. It’s a brand associated with people who will pay far too much for an underspecified computer because they love the white box it is shipped in. It’s a brand associated with people who will queue up to buy a phone that has a known and uncorrected fault, even tho Steve Jobs has told them the problem is the fault of the customers for holding it wrong.
If I wanted to join a cult, I think I’d rather join the Scientologists or the Greens. At least that way I might meet John Travolta or get to poke a hippy chick.
September 1st, 2010 at 11:07 pm
Guy Fawkes>IT Managers hate Mac because they are so stable and intuitive.
This IT Manager hates Mac because when he installed a proxy server on his network, 15,000 machines picked up the proxy server settings and used it with no problems. But the only Mac on the network didn’t. “Enter the IP address manually”, I told them. “We can’t, we’d need to install a software update to do that”, they replied, “and we can’t download that because we can’t access the proxy server”. I thought their computers “just worked”, rather than breaking in such a way that they couldn’t surf the web or interface with a standards-based every day item of IT infrastructure?
September 1st, 2010 at 11:22 pm
Once you go Mac, you never go back.
davidp, you are right, it is a bit of a cult and not all is great that is Apple. But after using PCs for 15 years, I gave a Mac a try a couple of years ago. I could not bring myself to buy a Vista machine.
My life has never been so easy. It just works.
September 1st, 2010 at 11:31 pm
MAC. It just works. Join the Cult. It’s lovely in here. Don’t you also think that Lord Jobs is so inspirational and cute?
One thing that I do know about IT Managers is they mainly talk gobble de gook, and breed a lot. IT departments are notorious for being the very biggest budget busters. Headcount growth is exponential.
Any owner of an SME occasionally should do a quick peek at what is hiding under all those layers of open windows.
It is never work related often dubious and quite likely ugly. As for numbers of machines. The more conflicted hardware/software issues the better for the geeks. Microsoft lost all stability after 3.11.
Besides I grew up on a Pick Mainframe running over Linux /Xenix.
Think I will stick to Apple and the way of truth and light.
Amen
September 2nd, 2010 at 12:26 am
Guy Fawkes>The more conflicted hardware/software issues the better for the geeks.
I don’t remember the last time I had a hardware-software conflict. I think I needed to download a new driver to get my Nikon negative scanner running under Win 7, but I’m not 100 percent sure. I doubt if the scanner would work at all attached to a Mac, since I can’t imagine it would be on Steve Jobs’ short list of approved hardware that you’re allowed to use.
And at least I can watch Flash videos. What sort of computer won’t allow you to install Flash? You shouldn’t need the manufacturer’s permission to install software on your own computer, for goodness sake.
September 2nd, 2010 at 12:35 am
@the Mac folks – I had to use a Mac in class for a year of graphic design and was mostly underwhelmed by it. Windows runs the design software, photoshop, indesign, illustrator etc, pretty much identically to the Mac. If you like the Mac’s OS (I don’t particularly) then more power to you, but these days i don’t think using a mac is much advantage.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:02 am
It’s a shame you need 500Gb of storage for if you really want a fast machine SSD harddrives are the only way to go. Unfortunately anything over 120Gb SSD is getting very pricey and you can generally only fit 1 HD in a laptop.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:06 am
Funny how things change. Mac might have been the computer for non-techies 10 years ago but now that has reversed.
Do yourself a favour and ditch Windows now. Don’t be the last.
13″ MacbookPro with 512Gb SSD, 8GB RAM. Rock solid. Boots in 15 seconds, wakes from sleep in 1 second.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:27 am
Can you still get flat screens or do they have to be shiny/reflective?
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:33 am
@labrator – the ibm/lenovo has an ‘ultrabay’. The ultrabay contains the dvd drive, but you can buy an ultrabay adaptor for a 2.5″ drive.
So, replace the main drive with a SSD, and put a secondary 2.5″ drive in the ultrabay. It’s hot swappable with the dvd too, just in case you want to read a disc. I find I rarely use discs now, except to install the OS .
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:36 am
Unfortunately not on the 13″. I still have my old 15″ (flat) but it’s been gathering dust. I just plug a large screen in when at a permanent location (office).
I dislike glossy, but I found on a couple of recent 2-week trips with the 13″ that I didn’t notice any problem with the screen. Windows 7 in a VM for those backward vendor applications stuck in 20th century.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:50 am
@labrator – yes, 2k for a 512GB SSD seems rather pricey. That is until you compare it with business expenses (airfares, accommodation, taxis). It fades into insignificance over the working life of the laptop if it is your main business tool.
But yes, for a home machine big SSD is an expensive luxury item.
September 2nd, 2010 at 6:51 am
I have recently bought an Acer Aspire 5740G
Pros:
All of the i5 processing 4Gb power you need and starts up quickly
Large 15.6 inch wide screen
an ATI mobility radeon graphics setup offloads screen legwork from main processors
DVD and 500Gb hard drive
Well priced
Cons:
A little large for hauling around regularly
Straight battery life isn’t fantastic (large screens and video cards huh)
annoying front screen lid catch is fiddly
glossy screen
I think you’ll struggle to get good battery life with the new power hungry big screen beasts David.
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:01 am
Macs run Flash without a problem, davidp.
I think you may be confusing the iPad and iPhone, which both don’t allow flash.
But on the Mac computers it is not a problem at all.
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:13 am
eszett>I think you may be confusing the iPad and iPhone, which both don’t allow flash.
You’re right… I don’t pay that much attention to the detail, but recall that the Jobs guy who runs the Apple cult had decided that under no circumstances would he allow people to install or run Flash on their computers. It’s like buying a house and then finding out that the builder has veto powers over your furniture or what you cook in your kitchen.
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:20 am
scrubone – Even if DPF asked a similar question in 2006, it is well worth asking. DPF is not the only beneficiary of the discussion – I am faced with a laptop replacement for someone I know within the next 12 months (mind you it is 7-8 years old) or even immediately if the thing croaks.
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:42 am
I hope you bought it retail because you can’t transfer OEM licenses to a different computer
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:44 am
@jim You’re right. It’s funny how many people baulk over the cost of their main business tools sometimes. I went for the 80Gb SSD on my work machine with a 120 Gb secondary. I have no need for those massive harddrives and I’m still not sure what people fill them with other than movies or pron, neither of which belong on a work harddrive. With throw away portables that are miniscule and run straight off of USB, you can pack extra files in your laptop bag. I wouldn’t get a work computer without SSD now.
@wreck1080 That’s pretty cool. Agree about the lack of need for optical drives these days. I’ve gone to Mac book for my work laptop though. I can dual boot or run parallels to get Microsoft apps in the taskbar from the dualboot partition. This was before Win7 came along but I won’t be changing back. I’ve no need to evangelise but all the people that recommended it to me were right.
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:07 am
So just to summarise your summary, you want:
Stability, speed, battery life, quick start up etc?
Get a Mac! (in this case a MacBook pro). And yes it can run Windows 7, and you wont even know its a Mac (unless you want to), except it will be stable, and it wont get slower every month you use it.
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:15 am
DPF, maybe you could do this by popular vote. Put a list of the new laptop options up and people can vote for their favourite.
Then randomly draw a winner from the people that voted for the top option and they get their weight (or maybe your weight) in booze.
This could be huge, it could go viral!
My vote would be for a ‘Oregon Scientific Batman Junior Laptop’ (you can get them from amazon.com), I’m not sure it meets all your technical specs but it would be a real show stopper if you pulled it out during a presentation.
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:28 am
If you can, wait for Intel’s Mobile Sandy Bridge coming in Q1 2011. It will have much better integrated GPU (more than double the current best offering from Intel), and better CPU performance and power consumption.
Also, as someone has said, stay away from i7 unless the apps you run are highly optimised for multithreading. Otherwise, the quad core i5 without hyperthreading is a better choice.
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:51 am
dell latitude l600, windows xp, pentium 1.4 ghz, 1.5GB RAM, 40GB Hard disk. About 6 or so years old, very top end machine once upon a time believe it or not.
I’m scared to upgrade it as it does everything I need it to do with impeccable reliability and I’m sure I’ll lose something if I make a change. I just make sure I back up to cloud based service on a twice daily automated basis.
Will run it till it dies………..
September 2nd, 2010 at 11:33 am
I like Guy Fawkes’ comments…
As a cynical old Commodore man (I still reminisce about the Amiga which I emulate on my laptop sometimes for the old games) I stick with PC’s as they are solid and do the job and are industry standard (i.e. most business/industry have PCs).
For me Mac’s are generally about a fashion statement, if you have a Mac then make sure you use it properly i.e. graphics, desktop publishing, editing (music and video) but as a home computer the draw backs for a Mac is compatability. Macs are ok as they are just that i.e. a good computer, on the other hand I don’t like the Cult of Jobs though… The last time I used a Mac was in November last year when I visited that Cult of Jobs Temple on Fifth Ave in NY again to use the Internet for free…
Windows PCs are like solid Toyotas Corollas and Hiace Vans, there are tonnes of them in NZ and if they break down they are cheap and easy to fix, Mac’s are like exotic European cars i.e. if the gearbox (and God knows what else) breaks it costs a fortune to fix…
Currently I just have a Compaq/HP laptop which I got in 2008 for under $1000 it does all the bells and whistles and hasn’t broken yet (6 more months left on warranty), but will just upgrade to another solid computer and depreciate it in my business…
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:04 pm
It is not easy having been through this myself a few times. A reckon a popular application would be to type in your specs and get some options like they have on a few car websites. Anyhow for what it is worth I, like a few others, do tend to find the hardware is pretty much a commodity. And I have little built in faith when it comes to ‘service repairs’ but what I do want is access to a website that updates drivers and software seamlessly.
My purchases to date have been Dell or HP. I read a lot of bad things about Dell, but actually find their machines have lasted longer and their support exceeded (my low) expectations. Which is a nice surprise. I stay offshore a lot and being able to ‘change’ the country of warranty served me well too, plus they are good with updates and legacy drivers. My last Dell lasted 5 years and is now a running Ubuntu for the kids as a ‘play’ PC. The new Studios XPS look nice too – which is rare for Dell. Latest HP (Pavilion DV5) has been good to date. Can’t complain , NVIDIA graphics card is possibly more than you want unless you get addicted to World of Warcraft. But somehow I think it will be put out to pasture sooner than the Dell was. Finally using pricespy.co.nz you find some massive price variations.
September 2nd, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Toshiba R700 if you want a 13.3″ Machine with plenty of grunt.
Asus K52 if you want a 15″ unit.
September 2nd, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Get an LED illuminated screen (as opposed to the compact fluorescent). They don’t fade, are much brighter, use less power and they come on at full brightness after sleeping.
When I bought my Dell Studio 17 (good) a couple of years ago the WLED screen was an optional extra but it may be standard now on most laptops. Anyway, well worth it. The compact fluorescent can’t be consigned to laptop history soon enough IMHO.
September 2nd, 2010 at 2:57 pm
I’m not a fanboy (mac lover) myself but the hardware running a Macbook is very good, and you can install Windows on it.
Nick Archer – I reminisce about my old Commodore PET sometimes. I think it was far more stylish than any Mac!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_PET
September 3rd, 2010 at 8:51 pm
Lenovo ThinkPad x201 (has all your requirements and would be one of the most durable machines you can buy with a 12″ screen)
http://www.lenovo.com/nz/en/
January 12th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
My answer would be the same as waituna’s and would highly recommend a lenovo laptop. While the X Series is reliable, they are really more suited to users who require high portability. Alternatively I would take a look at Lenovo’s T series and IdeaPad range.
If you wanted to get an idea of what’s out there, you could try CNET’s Notebook Finder (http://reviews.cnet.com/4247-3121_7-6.html), as it has a very impressive range of laptops and helps you quickly narrow down to laptops that meet your specific criteria. The only downside to this notebook finder is it refers you to international suppliers to buy the laptop. This may be a problem as shipping can be very expensive from the US and other countries. However, you could just use the notebook finder to find the laptop you want and find a supplier in New Zealand who sells it.
Googling laptop finder also brought up two others based here in New Zealand which you may also want to check out : http://www.laptop.co.nz/advancedlaptopfinder.asp, http://computerone.co.nz/find/laptops.
Hope this helps
David.