Laptop Search Help, Please.

Yukikaze · Dec 8, 2012, 07:00 PM

My g/f wants to get herself a new laptop and I'm trying to help her out, but there's a lot of ground to cover, so if people could help me out, I'd be grateful. She has the following list of requirements:
1) Weight: < 2kg.
2) Keyboard: With normal-sized arrow buttons (not the half-sized arrow keys often used nowdays).
3) Screen size: ~15"
4) Price: < 1,000USD (That's an estimate, since it will be most likely bought locally and thus cost more, but that's a good ballpark figure).

I'd add to this list:
5) 1080p screen if possible.
6) USB3.0 is a must (not likely any new machines lack it, but just to emphasize).

She says it is likely impossible to find a machine that would do all of the above. Time to prove her wrong, TPU!

Norton · Dec 8, 2012, 07:11 PM

A Dell Inspiron 15z Ultrabook nearly meets those specs (no 1080p though)

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...en&s=dhs&cs=19

AsphyxiA · Dec 8, 2012, 07:24 PM

Lenovo U410 FTW Everything up there but 1080P and a great price on the 'egg. Honestly, I have had this laptop for a few months now and it is pretty rock solid. The SSD is fantastic and it weighs nothing. The only downside really is the optimus nVidia 610m GT and the WiFi. However, I have found that overclocking the card from about 800 mhz to about 1.2 Ghz really breaths new life into it. I have installed a Killer n-1202 and it works great. You will have to whitelist the bios to use the card but I can provide a link to get the bios files to flash over. I get asked all the time why my Macbook looks so funny, or how did I take the Apple logo off of the front

AsphyxiA · Dec 8, 2012, 07:36 PM

Also forgot the link. They are cheaper than when I got mine: lenovo IdeaPad U410 (59351627) Ultrabook Intel Cor... This one comes with an i7 and a big ass hard drive.

Yukikaze · Dec 8, 2012, 07:40 PM

Hmm. The Inspiron 15z looks pretty much like what she's looking for. Problem is that there are no 15z for sale over here, only the 14z is available for now (and that one doesn't meet the keyboard requirements since it has the crappy half-sized arrow keys). Oh well, I guess we'll just wait a bit till they show up in retail.

Ordering direct from Dell or buying from Newegg is not an option over here. Lenovo laptops are only sold with 1yr warranty here, as well, which means they're out of the question...

Keep 'em coming guys, thanks.

Yukikaze · Dec 9, 2012, 02:49 PM

Okay. Update. I knew I forgot SOMETHING. She wants a matte (anti-glare) screen as well, which rules out the Inspiron 15z...

More ideas guys?

Fourstaff · Dec 9, 2012, 02:54 PM

You are going to struggle pretty hard if you want a matte screen. Maybe get one of the matte filters and apply it herself?

Yukikaze · Dec 9, 2012, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fourstaff

You are going to struggle pretty hard if you want a matte screen. Maybe get one of the matte filters and apply it herself?

Yeah. Been giving that thought.

I actually found matte display ultrabooks (by Samsung and Fujitsu to name a couple) a plenty, but they all lack normal sized arrow keys...

Maybe she was right

Frick · Dec 9, 2012, 03:06 PM

The hardest part will be the arrow keys. I think the Zenbook UX32VD have all that, apart from the arrows. The only other one I can find is the Sony Vaio vpc-se2n1e and VPC-SE2V9E.

So yeah the arrows are the hardest part nowadays.

Yukikaze · Dec 9, 2012, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frick

The hardest part will be the arrow keys. I think the Zenbook UX32VD have all that, apart from the arrows. The only other one I can find is the Sony Vaio vpc-se2n1e and VPC-SE2V9E.

The Samsung 9 series is also perfect, except for the keyboard...

Vaios are probably well out of the price range, especially since they are totally friggin' overpriced here

Frick · Dec 9, 2012, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yukikaze

Vaios are probably well out of the price range, especially since they are totally friggin' overpriced here

Really? Those Vaios are the cheapest of what I found here. €799 - €899.

Yukikaze · Dec 9, 2012, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frick

Really? Those Vaios are the cheapest of what I found here. €799 - €899.

It seems like these simply don't exist here and I was basing my pricing info off the Vaios that do exist here....all of which are around the Macbooks for pricing territory

Yukikaze · Dec 26, 2012, 08:57 AM

Update:
Lenovo U510 is too heavy. Lenovo U410 doesn't exist here. We even looked into importing one from the US, but the International Warranty Service by Lenovo doesn't cover the IdeaPad line in Israel, so if we were to get it, then it would have no warranty over here.

The Fujitsu U772 is both expensive (but bearably so) and has an absolutely atrocious keyboard.

Nothing else has a matte display.

Jeez.

Dec 8, 2012, 07:00 PM	#1
Yukikaze Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Jerusalem, Israel Posts: 2,121 (1.25/day) Thanks: 213 Thanked 481 Times in 347 Posts System Specs	Laptop Search Help, Please. My g/f wants to get herself a new laptop and I'm trying to help her out, but there's a lot of ground to cover, so if people could help me out, I'd be grateful. She has the following list of requirements: 1) Weight: < 2kg. 2) Keyboard: With normal-sized arrow buttons (not the half-sized arrow keys often used nowdays). 3) Screen size: ~15" 4) Price: < 1,000USD (That's an estimate, since it will be most likely bought locally and thus cost more, but that's a good ballpark figure). I'd add to this list: 5) 1080p screen if possible. 6) USB3.0 is a must (not likely any new machines lack it, but just to emphasize). She says it is likely impossible to find a machine that would do all of the above. Time to prove her wrong, TPU! __________________ Cameron: Core i7 2600K 4.5Ghz, MCR220, 2xMCR120, MCP655, ASRock P67 Extreme4, 4GB DDR3, 2xOCZ Vertex 30GB RAID0, GTX470, 2xHD5670, Modu82+ 625W, TT Xaser VI. Neuromancer: Core i7 975, DFI DK X58-T3eH6, 12GB DDR3 1333Mhz CL6-6-6-15-1T, 3x9600GSO 384MB, Hiper 880W, TT Xaser VI. Administrator of a 40 core Hadoop cluster.

System Name:	Wintermute
Processor:	Intel Core i7 990X Extreme Edition @ 4.3Ghz
Motherboard:	Asus Rampage III Extreme
Cooling:	Swiftech MCP655, MCR320-QP, MCR220 and MCRES Rev2, EK Supreme HF Cu, Tygon 1/2", Bitspower Fittings.
Memory:	12GB (3x4GB) Corsair Vengeance 2Ghz CL10-10-10-27
Video Card:	Sapphire HD7950 3GB + Palit GeForce GTX470 1280MB Dual Fan + Sapphire HD6570 1GB
Hard Disk:	Intel X-25M 160GB SSD (Win7) + Patriot Torqx2 64GB SSD (Ubuntu) + 3 x Samsung F2 1.5TB RAID5
Optical Drive:	LG x22 DVD-RW
CRT/LCD Model:	2 x Samsung 2333T 23" + Samsung 2333SW 23" + 1 x LG L2000CN 20" + 1 Chimei 19" + 1 Sony 32" TV
Case:	Cooler Master ATCS 840
Sound Card:	Musiland Monitor 02 US + Logitech Z-2300 + Sennheiser PXC350
PSU:	Corsair TX750
Software:	Windows 7 Professional 64-bit + Ubuntu 10.4.2LTS 64-bit

Dec 8, 2012, 07:11 PM	#2
Norton WCG Team Assistant Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Northeast, USA Posts: 5,139 (9.95/day) Thanks: 5,371 Thanked 10,066 Times in 3,170 Posts System Specs	A Dell Inspiron 15z Ultrabook nearly meets those specs (no 1080p though) http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...en&s=dhs&cs=19 __________________ *Why sit on the Bench* when you can get in the game and Crunch!!!- World Community Grid (FTW) CPU crunchers- FX-8350(4.4)/FX-8150(4.0)/FX-6200(4.0)/ PII 1045T/PII 1045T/i7-920/Xeon (6c/12t)....(44 cores/54 threads) GPU crunchers- no WCG GPU work available Folding@Home- 2x GTX 580's WCG-TPU Mothers Day Challenge (5/10 thru 5/19- crunch for our Team, for Mom, for games and prizes )** Last edited by Norton; Dec 8, 2012 at 07:31 PM.

System Name:	My Fortress/Trish (WCG #1)/Julia (WCG #2)/Junior (WCG #3)/Norton3 (WCG #4)/My Niece (WCG #5)/TBA
Processor:	FX-8350/PII 1045T/1045T/FX-6200/FX-8150/Xeon (6c/12t)/i7 920
Motherboard:	ASUS M5A99X Evo/ ASUS M4A79XTD Evo/Biostar A880GZ/Biostar A880GZ/ASUS M5A97 EVO/EVGA X58 SLI 3- x2
Cooling:	Xig Night Hawk/ AMD stock hp/Xig Gaia/Xig Night Hawk/Xig Night Hawk/H70/Phantek
Memory:	2x4GB G.Skill Ares DDR31866/2x4GB DDR3 1600/2x2GB DDR31600/2x2GB DDR31600/2x4GB DDR31600/2x3GB/2x3GB
Video Card:	HD 7870/8400GS/IGP/7770/HD 7870/3x HD 7770's
Hard Disk:	2xWD 640(Blue)/WD 80/WD 160/WD 320 (2.5")/WD 160(2.5")/WD VR 150GB/WD 320
Optical Drive:	DVD/RW (if used)
CRT/LCD Model:	Dell 2208WPF, 2409W / Dell 1907FP (shared)
Case:	Silverstone Fortress FT01B/Source 210/Source 210/Fractal Define Mini/Fractal R4/HAF 932/TBA
Sound Card:	on board (All)
PSU:	Corsair HX850/700w (Rosewill)/Antec HCG-620/CX500 v2/TX850/AX1200/TX550M
Software:	Windows 7 HP 64/Win7 Pro 64/ Vista 64bit/Win7 Pro 64/Win7 Pro 64/Win7 Pro 64/Win7 Pro 64
Benchmarks:	Why sit on the Bench when you can get in the game and Crunch!!!

Dec 8, 2012, 07:24 PM	#3
AsphyxiA Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 559 (0.20/day) Thanks: 57 Thanked 15 Times in 14 Posts	Lenovo U410 FTW Everything up there but 1080P and a great price on the 'egg. Honestly, I have had this laptop for a few months now and it is pretty rock solid. The SSD is fantastic and it weighs nothing. The only downside really is the optimus nVidia 610m GT and the WiFi. However, I have found that overclocking the card from about 800 mhz to about 1.2 Ghz really breaths new life into it. I have installed a Killer n-1202 and it works great. You will have to whitelist the bios to use the card but I can provide a link to get the bios files to flash over. I get asked all the time why my Macbook looks so funny, or how did I take the Apple logo off of the front __________________ Lenovo U410 Core i3 8 GB of RAM 64GB SSD + 1TB HDD nVidia 610m OC -1.2Ghz when plugged in. killer n-1202 wifi

Processor:	AMD Opteron 165 @ Stock
Motherboard:	DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra (pencil modded for SLI)
Cooling:	Zalman CNPS 9500, Arctic Cooling Silencer 5 (rev.2)
Memory:	1GB (512x2) OCZ 4800 Platinum @ stock <--grr
Video Card:	Sapphire X800 pro pci-e @ 540/590.14mhz (pencil modded)
Hard Disk:	Dual WD SE 120GB, Seagate 7200.10 320GB, Seagate 7200.11 1.5TB
Optical Drive:	Samsung DVD-RAM/R/RW IDE
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung 990DF 19in. max 2048x1536
Case:	Modified Thermatake Soprano
Sound Card:	Audigy2 ZS
PSU:	TTGI 550 watt with 14cm fan
Software:	Windows 7 x64 / Windows Vista Buisness x64

Dec 8, 2012, 07:36 PM	#4
AsphyxiA Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Omaha, NE Posts: 559 (0.20/day) Thanks: 57 Thanked 15 Times in 14 Posts	Also forgot the link. They are cheaper than when I got mine: lenovo IdeaPad U410 (59351627) Ultrabook Intel Cor... This one comes with an i7 and a big ass hard drive. __________________ Lenovo U410 Core i3 8 GB of RAM 64GB SSD + 1TB HDD nVidia 610m OC -1.2Ghz when plugged in. killer n-1202 wifi

Dec 8, 2012, 07:40 PM	#5
Yukikaze Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Jerusalem, Israel Posts: 2,121 (1.25/day) Thanks: 213 Thanked 481 Times in 347 Posts System Specs	Hmm. The Inspiron 15z looks pretty much like what she's looking for. Problem is that there are no 15z for sale over here, only the 14z is available for now (and that one doesn't meet the keyboard requirements since it has the crappy half-sized arrow keys). Oh well, I guess we'll just wait a bit till they show up in retail. Ordering direct from Dell or buying from Newegg is not an option over here. Lenovo laptops are only sold with 1yr warranty here, as well, which means they're out of the question... Keep 'em coming guys, thanks. __________________ Cameron: Core i7 2600K 4.5Ghz, MCR220, 2xMCR120, MCP655, ASRock P67 Extreme4, 4GB DDR3, 2xOCZ Vertex 30GB RAID0, GTX470, 2xHD5670, Modu82+ 625W, TT Xaser VI. Neuromancer: Core i7 975, DFI DK X58-T3eH6, 12GB DDR3 1333Mhz CL6-6-6-15-1T, 3x9600GSO 384MB, Hiper 880W, TT Xaser VI. Administrator of a 40 core Hadoop cluster.

Dec 9, 2012, 02:49 PM	#6
Yukikaze Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Jerusalem, Israel Posts: 2,121 (1.25/day) Thanks: 213 Thanked 481 Times in 347 Posts System Specs	Okay. Update. I knew I forgot SOMETHING. She wants a matte (anti-glare) screen as well, which rules out the Inspiron 15z... More ideas guys? __________________ Cameron: Core i7 2600K 4.5Ghz, MCR220, 2xMCR120, MCP655, ASRock P67 Extreme4, 4GB DDR3, 2xOCZ Vertex 30GB RAID0, GTX470, 2xHD5670, Modu82+ 625W, TT Xaser VI. Neuromancer: Core i7 975, DFI DK X58-T3eH6, 12GB DDR3 1333Mhz CL6-6-6-15-1T, 3x9600GSO 384MB, Hiper 880W, TT Xaser VI. Administrator of a 40 core Hadoop cluster.

Dec 9, 2012, 02:54 PM	#7
Fourstaff TPU Janitor Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Science Museum, Londinium Posts: 5,955 (4.70/day) Thanks: 261 Thanked 1,457 Times in 1,208 Posts System Specs	You are going to struggle pretty hard if you want a matte screen. Maybe get one of the matte filters and apply it herself?

System Name:	Asus K50-X5DAB
Processor:	Athlon QL-65 2.2Ghz
Memory:	1x1GB + 1X2GB
Video Card:	Mobility Radeon HD4570 512mb
Hard Disk:	Samsung 840 250Gb
CRT/LCD Model:	15.6" 1366x768

Dec 9, 2012, 03:06 PM	#9
Frick Fishfaced Nincompoop Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Sweden Posts: 7,871 (2.98/day) Thanks: 1,075 Thanked 1,443 Times in 1,149 Posts System Specs	The hardest part will be the arrow keys. I think the Zenbook UX32VD have all that, apart from the arrows. The only other one I can find is the Sony Vaio vpc-se2n1e and VPC-SE2V9E. So yeah the arrows are the hardest part nowadays. __________________ Typemachine: Acer Aspire One D250 \| Atom N280 1.6 Ghz \| 1GB DDR2 \| 160GB SATA \| 10.1' 1024 x 600 \| Lubuntu 12.10 Oldbox: HP D530 \| Pentium 4 2.8 Ghz \| 1GB DDR \| 40GB \| Windows XP "The 'gentle biker' look is overdone. I'm going for 'psycho hillbilly.' "

System Name:	Ongoing scavanging
Processor:	Sempron 140
Motherboard:	MSI 760GM-P23 (FX)
Cooling:	Somesuch
Memory:	2GB DDR3
Video Card:	HD 2400 Pro
Hard Disk:	160GB + 1TB
Optical Drive:	Yes
CRT/LCD Model:	19" 1280 x 1024
Case:	Wossname
Sound Card:	On board
PSU:	Wattchamacallit
Software:	Stuff

Dec 26, 2012, 08:57 AM	#13
Yukikaze Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Jerusalem, Israel Posts: 2,121 (1.25/day) Thanks: 213 Thanked 481 Times in 347 Posts System Specs	Update: Lenovo U510 is too heavy. Lenovo U410 doesn't exist here. We even looked into importing one from the US, but the International Warranty Service by Lenovo doesn't cover the IdeaPad line in Israel, so if we were to get it, then it would have no warranty over here. The Fujitsu U772 is both expensive (but bearably so) and has an absolutely atrocious keyboard. Nothing else has a matte display. Jeez. __________________ Cameron: Core i7 2600K 4.5Ghz, MCR220, 2xMCR120, MCP655, ASRock P67 Extreme4, 4GB DDR3, 2xOCZ Vertex 30GB RAID0, GTX470, 2xHD5670, Modu82+ 625W, TT Xaser VI. Neuromancer: Core i7 975, DFI DK X58-T3eH6, 12GB DDR3 1333Mhz CL6-6-6-15-1T, 3x9600GSO 384MB, Hiper 880W, TT Xaser VI. Administrator of a 40 core Hadoop cluster.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Laptop Drive problem - help please	Mussels	General Hardware	8	Jun 22, 2012 01:54 AM
Buying Gaming Laptop (Help Please?)	Kusimeka	System Builder's Advice	14	May 12, 2011 10:33 PM
Girlfriends laptop issues, please help	stevednmc	General Hardware	11	Feb 3, 2011 04:10 PM
Help Me Please With My Laptop!	iBramley	General Hardware	12	Feb 20, 2010 08:21 PM
Need help on laptop custimization please	Black Panther	General Hardware	34	Jun 30, 2008 02:44 PM