p858snake Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 I'm currently/planning to buy my first laptop, and apart from specs what do people look at? good brands? bad brands? Any info would be helpful.
DevilsAdvocate Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 What the trackpad and buttons feel like is a big deal to me. Some of the rubbish i've used over the years has had me raging at how bad they are. So I always make sure I like how it feels to use before I buy.
Guest Guest Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 What the trackpad and buttons feel like is a big deal to me. Some of the rubbish i've used over the years has had me raging at how bad they are. So I always make sure I like how it feels to use before I buy. +1 for this. What good is it having a top of the range laptop if the interface is crap? This is why the only Apple products I would buy is their laptops as the trackpad is simply second to none. Spec - i3/i5/i7 with 3gb ram and a screen with a resolution which suits our needs.
featured_spectre Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 trackpad and keyboard as said, but also if the screen is glossy or if it is matte. spec also has to have Wireless N as a minimum.
pete Posted January 9, 2011 Posted January 9, 2011 Are you buying a business laptop (ProBook, Elitebook, T-Series, X-Series etc) or a consumer laptop? What's your budget? Where are you prepared to compromise? Screen quality: colour reproduction, viewing angles, brightness, matt / not matt, backlight evenness. Weight: Assuming this is a laptop that's going to be used as a laptop - how heavy are you prepared to tolerate? Build quality and robustness: does it squeak or flex in the wrong places? How good are the hinges? Is the screen protected from knocks when closed? Keyboard layout: are buttons where you expect to find them? (Pipe, backslash, ctrl, alt). Is it nice and firm or spongy? Are there drainage holes?
3s-gtech Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Depends on the intended use. Battery life is getting better, especially with new models in the next couple of months. For me, graphics capability is also important - in the past Intel integrated has put me right off, but it's improving, especially with Core i* 2***.
jamesfed Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 DDR3 RAM and a sutibly fast hard drive - avoid 4200rpm, 5400rpm is good for most tasks but if you want fast go 7200rpm (it will chew through battery a bit faster) or get a SSD. Personaly I'd say once you get your PC get ahold of a SSD (if storage capacity isn't a worry) - it will make it fly along.
Hightower Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) spec also has to have Wireless N as a minimum. If wireless N as min, what's the max? @OP: I would stay away from Acer - if it blows up their support is terrible. HP and Dell have good support (in my experience), and Toshiba's are the brand of choice at school - we haven't had many issues with them through the years but they do seem to run very hot for my liking. Other than that, most laptops nowadays have much of a muchness in terms of starting specs (i.e. majority have HDMI out, eSATA port, etc etc). One thing I like on my VAIO is the independant keys on the keyboard - each key has a small gap from the next, and although it's strange at first, typo's are drastically reduced once you get used to it. P.S. My VAIO also has a full keyboard and numberpad as well, which is a godsend. Edited January 10, 2011 by Hightower
3s-gtech Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 "they do seem to run very hot for my liking" - my bad-boy Lenovo x100e is the king of this. It saved me a fortune on central heating during the cold spell! It's quick though
rad Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 I would go and see them in a shop even if you intend buying online. One test I always do is to wiggle the monitor to see how flexible it is when open. Similar to what we do at school when we get a new laptop, will it pass the student test. I also check the touchpad and mouse buttons, afterall you can't change it once you have bought it.
jamesfed Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 "they do seem to run very hot for my liking" - my bad-boy Lenovo x100e is the king of this. It saved me a fortune on central heating during the cold spell! It's quick though My HP dv2 is the same - think we are both running the Athlon Neo processors, running it with Aero off keeps it cool though
3s-gtech Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Hmmm, what about running HL2:dm on it? Yup it's the Turion Neo X2.
mrbios Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Head of IT here took delivery of one of these last week as a xmas present to himself: The i5pro Laptop @ Novatech It's awesome! Tho its lacking SSD
jamesfed Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Hmmm, what about running HL2:dm on it? Yup it's the Turion Neo X2. Oh it works fine gaming (can play Crysis/COD MW2 on it at a resonable level) just gets a little hot.
Duane_Dibbley Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) I like ACER's at the mo. Great battery life and good performance and they feel much higher quality than they used to. I believe the TimelineX series have "chiclet" (mac) style keyboards now which is nice. Overall good value for money. edit: keyboard is not chiclet... Edited January 10, 2011 by Duane_Dibbley
3s-gtech Posted January 10, 2011 Posted January 10, 2011 Yeah - was explaining relative to the heat. Ran the game nicely on medium settings, full screen res, 60fps. Not bad for a 'netbook'. There was a fertility risk if I put it on my lap though. Hoping to get an x120e when it comes out - Bobcat core, 6 hours battery, cool running...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now