Another Laptop Thread - First Timer

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remus786

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Hi Guys,

Im looking for any suggestions on a sub R15000 notebook.

Requirments are:

• Powerful (Core2duo, i5, i7, 4gigs ram, etc)
• Stylish (even though its for business it has to look good in meetings)
• Portable (will travel alot so size and build quality are important)
• Built in 3G
• Budget R15000 incl

I know its asking alot but even if a laptop satifies a few of the above mentioned i will look at it. The work done on the machine isnt demanding but the person using it wont tolerate a slow machine. Not too sure on the speed of the CULV units currently available but they seem sluggish specwise. any suggestions will be highly appreciated :)

Thanks
 
Sony do a rather nice range of ~13" ultra-portables which should be just what you're looking for. They'll probably require all of your budget as well, unfortunately.
 
Thanks for the quick response guys.. I was offered a HP 6540b for R11 000ish. Sounds like it has the power but not sure about the looks though.
 
I'm also looking for one.

I had decided on this Gigabyte one which looks good and has all the specs and more that I need.:
http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/laptop_specifications.php?laptop=31252

and now I've added MSI to my collection:
http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/laptops__msi.php?os=TVMgV2luZG93cyA3IFByb2Zlc3Npb25hbCBFZGl0aW9u

I like this one alot: MSI EX723-086ZA R 9,389 includes VAT

MSI EX723-086ZA Entertainment Series EX723 Notebook, ©2010 LaptopDirect, Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 2.2GHz 2MB 800Mhz FSB, 4096MB DDR2-667 SO-Dimm Memory (2x2048), 320GB SATA 5400rpm Hard Drive, 17" WXGA+ ACR Amazing Crystal Vision (1440x900 resolution) TFT LCD Display, nvidia Geforce G110m with 512MB dedicated graphics, DVD Super Multi Writer optical drive, 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN, 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN, 2MP Webcam, 3.2 Kg, 6 cell battery, Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Edition, 1 Year Carry in Warranty

But only a one year warranty.
 
Hmmm... tough choice between those two. Personally, I'd go for the Gigabyte to be honest. People have been moaning a lot about the build quality on MSI machines. The Gigabyte doesn't have the screen resolution though... Depends on how important having a machine that lasts is to you, I guess.
 
Warranty on Laptops is quite important, just to give you an idea of costs. A replacement 15" LCD screen costs over R2700, DVD-RW drive costs R700+

On certain Lenovo models you can purchase a 3 years carry in with Accidental Damage Protection, price ranging from about R1000 to R1500. On the ThinkPad SL & R Series you can purchase 4 years with Protection ON site next Business Day at around R2900, and the ThinkPad T, X & W Series being slightly cheaper.

Guess it depends if you're willing to take the chance or not and how quickly you want to be back up and running.
 
I purchased Gigabyte machines before and they wore terribly.. MSI have decent netbooks but if the quality sounds dodgy i might give it a miss. I need to get my hands on a Lenovo before i make a decision. To give you an idea even the Dell Vostro 1520 was found lacking by my guys quality wise so with this purchase im stumped.
 
remus786 said:
I purchased Gigabyte machines before and they wore terribly.. MSI have decent netbooks but if the quality sounds dodgy i might give it a miss. I need to get my hands on a Lenovo before i make a decision. To give you an idea even the Dell Vostro 1520 was found lacking by my guys quality wise so with this purchase im stumped.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I read about the MSI build quality on a few reviews.
One I was looking at has great specs. Stuck between that MSI one and the gigabyte 1580.
Lenova / IBM ones cost a lot more for similar specs.

Also saw a nice Asus one with Altec lansing speakers.
 
alf101 said:
What does that mean?

And are these ASUS' any good? Haven't found much i9n the line of reviews yet.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they're pretty good machines which is why I've been keeping an eye on them. They have different model numbers elsewhere, which is probably throwing your search.
 
Once thing with laptops I look for always is up to which resolutions are supported. You get 17 inch screens that can't go up as high a resolution as some 15 inches.

I got a Lenovo T500 last year. Has 3G built in, webcam Supports 1680,1024 resolution, nice dual speakers, great for business and sturdy but looks like an average no frills business laptop.
Only crap thing is getting the free upgrade to Windows 7 you have to order from US but it came with XP if you want to downgrade from Vista.
Compared to other laptops it doesn't have esata or rca but has hdmi.
 
Messugga said:
Yeah, they're pretty good machines which is why I've been keeping an eye on them. They have different model numbers elsewhere, which is probably throwing your search.
Click to expand...

With better specs.

That last link is one with the 64bit version of Windows 7 professional, was released in January as far as I can tell.
Other notebooks in SA seem to have only the 32 bit version.
 
that Asus looks nice.. they do tend to be bulky but the specs are near perfect.. the Dell XPS range looks tempting but the XPS16 is pricey. Any idea when Dell's gonna ship i5/i7 XPS's to SA?
 
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