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Thinking of buying a laptop, need sugestions

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 5:07 pm
by vbironchef
I have never had or used a laptop computer before because I never needed one before. I have two I-Pads for me and Natasha so don't jump your guns and say that's what I should get.

I had mentioned that Natasha's company that she worked for went belly up a few months ago. Anyway, she is just starting to work with her old boss again. He is starting his own company and asked Natasha to do some consulting work. It won't be full time yet since he is just getting started, but I feel that the work will become full time soon.

I just thought I would buy her a laptop computer that would just as fast as the desktop she has now that I put together.

Well let's just say that I built her a awesome computer a couple of years ago that she is finally starting to appreciate. The cpu is one of those I7 980X things with 16 gigs of memory I think and massive amounts of cooling because I used it for F@H.

So my question is: Should I wait til next year for a laptop when the new Intel cpus come out or really it won't make a difference. She needs something that can handle visual studios without a hiccup.

Edit: What I am looking for is a 17 inch screen, ssd's, the fastest processor, lot's of memory and that thunderbolt or whatever it's called these days.

Re: Thinking of buying a laptop, need sugestions

Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:08 pm
by Apoptosis
I wouldn't suggest a 17" unless it's a desktop replacement... I love the 11-13" range for travel. I just bought my g/f a 15.4" tablet this fall and boy it's big! lol

When it comes to notebooks be sure you like the keyboard and most importantly the trackpad. Some people like the trackpad directly in front of the mouse bar and some laptops are offset, so your thumb always hits it and makes typing fun. Some laptops have trackpads you can't turn off, which is also a PITA. Some laptops have trackads with multi-touch gestures and others don't.

This means you really need to head to the store and try some models out and see what you like. I highly advise trying to type something in notepad or something at Bestbuy, MicroCenter, Frys or where ever to get a feel for it.

As for waiting for Haswell... you'll be waiting 4-5 more months if you do. Graphics will be much improved, but on the CPU side it won't be anything massive from what I have seen.

Re: Thinking of buying a laptop, need sugestions

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 6:49 am
by KnightRid
17" will be a bit heavy but doable if she uses a backpack or shoulder bag to carry it. I usually stick with the 15.6-16" laptops because the smaller ones, like Nate said about, are just too close to a tablet (a real tablet, not these 7" e-readers) to make them worthwhile if you already have a tablet.

Lightweight with ssd, powerful cpu, etc, I would look at the ultrabooks. Massively overpriced IMHO but if you want to keep the weight down, they will do just that.

I would also suggest a laptop with 2 drive bays in it so you can have the ssd for booting and some apps while you could have a standard HD for storing any data she would need to keep, pictures, videos, etc.

The screen size is going to be the biggest kicker in how many options you have as 17" screens are less prevalent than in the 15-16" range, mainly due to weight.

How many people think computer users are a bunch of wussies? LOL If you look at a laptop and say, "WOW, that thing weighs 5 pounds" and think that is heavy, we need to get you on an exercise program ROFLMAO I know carrying them in your arms all day does get heavy but that is why they make backpacks and shoulder bags (cross shoulder bags are the bees knees)

Re: Thinking of buying a laptop, need sugestions

Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 1:24 pm
by vbironchef
Ok, no 17" screen. What I am having a problem finding is windows 7 pro os. Also 2 hard drives, one SSD, and one storage drive.

Re: Thinking of buying a laptop, need sugestions

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 5:49 am
by KnightRid
vbironchef wrote:What I am having a problem finding is windows 7 pro os.
Yea, good luck. Microsoft has all the builders by the balls to use the newest OS even though it is crap. You may have to buy Windows 7 to put on.

Re: Thinking of buying a laptop, need sugestions

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 9:48 am
by Comparisim
Check out Dell's XPS range for serious power and stunning beauty! but they dont come cheap. For starters check out the one below - it's got Windows 8 OS with 8GB RAM and a core i7 chipset: http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-15-l521x/p ... 5600820560