Image ImageImage Image

OT: Looking for a new laptop

Moderators: HomoSapien, Payt10, RedBulls23, coldfish, AshyLarrysDiaper, fleet, kulaz3000, Michael Jackson, Ice Man, dougthonus, Tommy Udo 6 , DASMACKDOWN, GimmeDat

League Circles
RealGM
Posts: 33,206
And1: 9,131
Joined: Dec 04, 2001
       

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#21 » by League Circles » Fri Sep 26, 2014 6:53 pm

I'd think you may jave to compromise some. I had to search long and hard for a 1920 x 1080 17 inch (both monitor size and resolution are very important to me), as regular windows programs look tiny to me in that resolution on a 15 or 13 inch screen.
https://august-shop.com/ - sneakers and streetwear
User avatar
dougthonus
Senior Mod - Bulls
Senior Mod - Bulls
Posts: 55,475
And1: 15,621
Joined: Dec 22, 2004
Contact:
 

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#22 » by dougthonus » Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:02 pm

Surface Pro 3 doesn't work for me because the kick stand doesn't make it very lap friendly for various viewing angles. I considered it pretty hard but turned it down.

I also have no need to use my laptop as a tablet.
http://linktr.ee/bullsbeat - links to the bullsbeat podcast
@doug_thonus on twitter
User avatar
dougthonus
Senior Mod - Bulls
Senior Mod - Bulls
Posts: 55,475
And1: 15,621
Joined: Dec 22, 2004
Contact:
 

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#23 » by dougthonus » Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:03 pm

Gar Paxdorf wrote:I'd think you may jave to compromise some. I had to search long and hard for a 1920 x 1080 17 inch (both monitor size and resolution are very important to me), as regular windows programs look tiny to me in that resolution on a 15 or 13 inch screen.


I tried finding a thin 17 inch laptop, and I couldn't find anything worthwhile. I really wish I could find a 1920x1080 17 inch laptop with all the other things I want which would probably make it a 5lb laptop, but all the 17 inch ones are true desktop replacements that are much bigger/heavier.

Seems like a dying market.
http://linktr.ee/bullsbeat - links to the bullsbeat podcast
@doug_thonus on twitter
ATRAIN53
Head Coach
Posts: 7,461
And1: 2,560
Joined: Dec 14, 2007
Location: Chicago

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#24 » by ATRAIN53 » Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:50 pm

Ben wrote:I have given this issue a LOT of thought over the past year or so. I've always been a PC guy, and I like to use my laptops for 5+ years. Build quality sucks on most of the relatively inexpensive options, and truth be told, nothing in the PC universe even comes close to the customer satisfaction that Apples receive. So I just got a Macbook Pro 13" with all the bells and whistles. I can run Bootcamp on it if I really want the Windows experience. Unlike Doug, however, I don't care about a touch screen. Don't really want one, in fact. And I've heard bad things about Windows 8.

I thought very hard about getting a Surface Pro 3. They're expensive but SO portable, which is a plus for me. In the end, I didn't trust them to be a desktop replacement and not to heat up a lot under heavy load. Plus I like to use my laptop on my lap, as well as lying down, and it's not clear that the keyboard attachment for the Surface Pro 3 can do that particularly well. Nonetheless, they're very appealing.

If I hadn't gotten a Macbook or a Surface Pro 3 I would probably have gotten a Samsung Ativ 9 plus, which Doug mentions. The hangup for me was not the price (less than my Macbook) but the reviews. A lot of people love them, but way more people report problems with the Ativ than with the Macbook. Way more. Maybe the very newest versions do better, but up until a few months ago I would generally find about a 4.1 out of 5.0 for Samsung on Amazon (drawing up a high number of reviews, which hopefully shakes out some of the noise) and more like a 4.7 for the Macbooks. I was afraid of being one of the pissed-off people.

But the few people I've met who have actually HAD the Ativ have loved it. I've held one, played with it a little, and it has seemed to be very high quality. So if you really want a touch screen as well as your other desired features, that's where I would look.

My 2 cents.


He's right on target here.

The only thing I ask people when they want a rec is what is the MAIN thing you plan to do with it?
Movies? Photoshop? Word Processing ? Gaming?

17" laptops are not really 'portable' IMO.

The problem with powering that 17” LCD with at least an i7 processor is that it needs battery power.
A 5+ HR battery for a system like that is what will add the weight beyond the clunky dimensions.

Lennovo are some of the most solid built machines I see then followed by Dells which you could custom build with the SSD. The SSD is the difference between $800 laptops and $1200 ones.

I'm also a PC to Mac convert.
Love my Macbook AIR, it's lighter and faster than the MacBookPRO - but it's not retina and doesn't have a backlit. The 13" MBP with Retina is the best laptop on the market.
transplant
RealGM
Posts: 11,731
And1: 3,407
Joined: Aug 16, 2001
Location: state of perpetual confusion
       

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#25 » by transplant » Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:52 pm

Doug, it's pretty clear that you're price point is way above mine, but I bought a Acer Aspire ES1-511-C59V 15.6-Inch laptop for $250 a couple months ago and am very happy with it. Mind you, it's not my main computer, but for trips and meetings, it's been a champ. Good luck.
Until the actual truth is more important to you than what you believe, you will never recognize the truth.

- Blatantly stolen from truebluefan
BullBearBidness
Pro Prospect
Posts: 764
And1: 379
Joined: Apr 18, 2014

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#26 » by BullBearBidness » Fri Sep 26, 2014 8:54 pm

coldfish wrote:+1 to the people that mentioned asus and Lenovo. Good build quality at reasonable (but not the cheapest) price.


Agreed. I recently bought an Asus (much cheaper model than what you're looking for) and I have no complaints. I had a Lenovo back in high school years back. What I remember is the processor never lagging and no problems with the hardware whatsoever.

Sent from my 831C using RealGM Forums mobile app
User avatar
BrooklynBulls
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 32,733
And1: 2,652
Joined: May 13, 2007
Location: Avidly reading WillPenney.com
Contact:

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#27 » by BrooklynBulls » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:14 pm

User avatar
Ben
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 26,712
And1: 2,843
Joined: Feb 09, 2006

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#28 » by Ben » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:25 pm

ATRAIN53 wrote:
17" laptops are not really 'portable' IMO.

The problem with powering that 17” LCD with at least an i7 processor is that it needs battery power.
A 5+ HR battery for a system like that is what will add the weight beyond the clunky dimensions.

Lennovo are some of the most solid built machines I see then followed by Dells which you could custom build with the SSD. The SSD is the difference between $800 laptops and $1200 ones.

I'm also a PC to Mac convert.
Love my Macbook AIR, it's lighter and faster than the MacBookPRO - but it's not retina and doesn't have a backlit. The 13" MBP with Retina is the best laptop on the market.


Just to flesh this out a bit, there's definitely a trade-off b/w power, size, and battery power.

My MBP is only as fast as it is b/c I got a 1TB SSD and 16gb of RAM. I bought it to be my desktop (when plugged in to peripherals), my office computer, my classroom/presentation computer, and my road warrior for 4-5 years (hopefully). Previously I'd had a Toshiba Portege that *did* hold up for almost 5 years but that started to crack and come apart physically right from the start. It only held up as long as it did b/c I replaced the HDD with a 500gb SSD a year or two ago. Now that computers are being made so that you can't easily upgrade them yourself, I had to go all-in at the outset.

I see people writing good things about Lenovo, but MAN has that company taken a hit reliability-wise since switching over from IBM. They have nothing like the same reputation. I was really into ASUS for a while, but they too have had their share of missteps. Much of the PC success story seems to be about the luck of your dice roll: did you get a good one or a problematic unit? If it's user-upgradeable and you're reasonably computer-savvy you can deal with some of the hassles, but these days more and more of the decent computers are being walled off from consumer upgrades. That's a huge bummer.

When I first bought the MBP I thought that I would almost certainly run Bootcamp on it-- I use some programs that run best on Windows-- but for now I'm trying to go the full Mac route. Better battery life and a great deal of savings re: HD space. We'll see how it works out.

Oh, BTW, the MBP has an amazing keyboard. Vastly superior to my previous 3 laptops (Dell, HP, and Toshiba). It's also a lot more expensive, so I guess you get what you pay for.
Ron Johnson
Bench Warmer
Posts: 1,266
And1: 172
Joined: Sep 15, 2005
Location: Mexico

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#29 » by Ron Johnson » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:27 pm

I have a LeNovo and it's good, but am moving to a Surface Pro 3. I had a Samsung Note tab & really like the Stylus.
Bulls fan in Mexico.
nitetrain8603
RealGM
Posts: 23,862
And1: 1,692
Joined: May 30, 2003
         

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#30 » by nitetrain8603 » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:33 pm

I know you said you turned it down, but I would also suggest a Surface Pro 3. I hold it in my lap with the keyboard and it all works well with enough grip to hang on.
User avatar
Ben
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 26,712
And1: 2,843
Joined: Feb 09, 2006

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#31 » by Ben » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:34 pm

Ron Johnson wrote:I have a LeNovo and it's good, but am moving to a Surface Pro 3. I had a Samsung Note tab & really like the Stylus.


I have a Samsung Note II phone and liked the stylus, too. I say "liked" because the phone stopped working about 2 months ago (although it still functions as a mini-tablet), the victim of an apparently common non-hardware bug that Samsung must know about full well. No one has been able to solve it. So I'm back to using my iPhone 3g until my contract is up (next March). Oh well.

I'm curious to know how you like the Surface Pro 3. Please post an update if this thread is still active.

RE: the rest of this thread: I find it very frustrating that no PC company has been able (or willing) to go all-out and make a Macbook-killer ultrabook. How hard could it be? And the lack of customization on some of these new computers is infuriating. You offer 4GB RAM: I want 8GB or more for the sake of future-proofing. You seal off your computer so I can't get what I want, whether in RAM or SSD. WTF is that about? smdh.
Ron Johnson
Bench Warmer
Posts: 1,266
And1: 172
Joined: Sep 15, 2005
Location: Mexico

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#32 » by Ron Johnson » Fri Sep 26, 2014 9:44 pm

Ben wrote:
Ron Johnson wrote:I have a LeNovo and it's good, but am moving to a Surface Pro 3. I had a Samsung Note tab & really like the Stylus.


I have a Samsung Note II phone and liked the stylus, too. I say "liked" because the phone stopped working about 2 months ago (although it still functions as a mini-tablet), the victim of an apparently common non-hardware bug that Samsung must know about full well. No one has been able to solve it. So I'm back to using my iPhone 3g until my contract is up (next March). Oh well.

I'm curious to know how you like the Surface Pro 3. Please post an update if this thread is still active.

RE: the rest of this thread: I find it very frustrating that no PC company has been able (or willing) to go all-out and make a Macbook-killer ultrabook. How hard could it be? And the lack of customization on some of these new computers is infuriating. You offer 4GB RAM: I want 8GB or more for the sake of future-proofing. You seal off your computer so I can't get what I want, whether in RAM or SSD. WTF is that about? smdh.

Will let you know but am waiting for X-más specials. Never had an issue with Samsung tab. Gave it to granddaughter who started university. It' s great for taking notes & for university teachers like me.
Bulls fan in Mexico.
Ron Johnson
Bench Warmer
Posts: 1,266
And1: 172
Joined: Sep 15, 2005
Location: Mexico

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#33 » by Ron Johnson » Fri Sep 26, 2014 10:05 pm

Ben, Did you try XDA developers? Those guys know everything.
Bulls fan in Mexico.
User avatar
Ben
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 26,712
And1: 2,843
Joined: Feb 09, 2006

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#34 » by Ben » Fri Sep 26, 2014 10:18 pm

Ron Johnson wrote:Ben, Did you try XDA developers? Those guys know everything.


Thanks very much, Ron. I did. When the problem first surfaced I googled a bunch of keywords, and XDA forums came up many, many times. Once in a while someone gets a bright idea --it's because of them that I learned to root my phone for the first time ever, hoping to be able to ditch the newest OS--but the solutions never prove to last. I check every week or so, so maybe someone's come up with something in the past few days, but it's been a frustrating road thus far. I'm going to see whether AT&T will service the phone (which is out of warranty) for a vaguely reasonable price, or will consider breaking my contract to get a new phone elsewhere. I really liked the Note II otherwise. The removable battery and microSD card were great reliefs after Apple's anti-expansion approach.

But I appreciate the suggestion.
bearadonisdna
RealGM
Posts: 19,757
And1: 5,394
Joined: Jul 07, 2012

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#35 » by bearadonisdna » Fri Sep 26, 2014 11:11 pm

Ok i got one, just deposit your money into this account---->

xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

And uh ill ship it to you in no time. ;)
User avatar
Induveca
Head Coach
Posts: 7,379
And1: 724
Joined: Dec 02, 2004
   

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#36 » by Induveca » Fri Sep 26, 2014 11:15 pm

The dell with the 3800x1800 resolution is awesome and amazingly upgradable. I have 2 TB of SSD storage in mine via a standard SSD and micro SSD ports.
User avatar
dougthonus
Senior Mod - Bulls
Senior Mod - Bulls
Posts: 55,475
And1: 15,621
Joined: Dec 22, 2004
Contact:
 

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#37 » by dougthonus » Sat Sep 27, 2014 2:01 pm

nitetrain8603 wrote:I know you said you turned it down, but I would also suggest a Surface Pro 3. I hold it in my lap with the keyboard and it all works well with enough grip to hang on.


I demoed one at work. I don't want one. It's not that it isn't awesome or whatever, but it doesn't work well with how I use my lap top 99% of the time.
http://linktr.ee/bullsbeat - links to the bullsbeat podcast
@doug_thonus on twitter
User avatar
dougthonus
Senior Mod - Bulls
Senior Mod - Bulls
Posts: 55,475
And1: 15,621
Joined: Dec 22, 2004
Contact:
 

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#38 » by dougthonus » Sat Sep 27, 2014 2:05 pm

So after a bunch of research, I've decided that I think I want to get the Lenovo u530 touch. It's 899 for 15 inch screen, 1920x1080 resolution, touch screen, 1TB hd with 16GB SSD built in and went and checked one in the store and it's small enough and light enough that I feel good about it. Definitely not an ultrabook, but my current laptop is probably 11lbs or so, and it's easily less than half the size. Was hoping for a bit better battery life/portability, but I feel better about the 15 inch screen than the 13 inch screen for when I have to remote in on it and work.

Only debating whether I want to buy it now or wait until good deals come out around Thanks giving. I don't want to take my current laptop to india with me in a month though, so I'm leaning towards eating the couple hundred extra books and buying it now.
http://linktr.ee/bullsbeat - links to the bullsbeat podcast
@doug_thonus on twitter
dice
RealGM
Posts: 42,897
And1: 12,494
Joined: Jun 30, 2003
Location: chicago

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#39 » by dice » Sat Sep 27, 2014 7:35 pm

wish i could've contributed, but i couldn't find any pics online of bulls players using a laptop
the donald, always unpopular, did worse in EVERY state in 2020. and by a greater margin in red states! 50 independently-run elections, none of them rigged
User avatar
Future Coach
Assistant Coach
Posts: 4,120
And1: 466
Joined: Jul 07, 2006

Re: OT: Looking for a new laptop 

Post#40 » by Future Coach » Sat Sep 27, 2014 10:23 pm

One thing to consider on the touchscreen vs no touchscreen debate is that the touchscreen drains the battery faster, and you will also get fingerprints and smudges on the screen, meaning you will have to wipe it down before watching videos.

My laptop has a touchscreen, but I dont use it for those reasons. Do you really expect to use the touchscreen a lot?

Return to Chicago Bulls