Ideas for new laptop

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StellenboschStudent

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I am in the market for a new laptop (well, I have been in the market for a new PC for almost 2 years now and I just cannot decide). I decided I want a laptop, so I am getting closer to a final decision. I waited for the new range of Ivy Bridge laptops to launch and it seems most comanies now has a couple in the market.

I do some casual gaming, nothing big... Will play Diablo III, Civilization and some other games that are not too resource intensive (if I want to play "big" games I have a PS3).
For the most part I use the laptop for internet, movies, streaming movies to Apple TV and some word editing...

So the question now is, what to get? My brother is going to the States later this year, so he is going to bring me back something, budget $1000 - $1200.
At this stage I am concidering MacBook Air 13" (low-end spec) or something like a Alienware M14x... But I just don't know...
Any ideas?

13" - 15" screen, would love SSD but not a must...
 
Ivy Bridge is just about good enough for light gaming. The 13" Macbook Air is an outstanding general purpose laptop, perfect for everything except demanding games. The screen, battery life, design, trackpad etc: It would have to be my personal recommendation.
 
Synaesthesia said:
Ivy Bridge is just about good enough for light gaming. The 13" Macbook Air is an outstanding general purpose laptop, perfect for everything except demanding games. The screen, battery life, design, trackpad etc: It would have to be my personal recommendation.
Click to expand...

I see you can run soemthing like Diablo III on it, I guess at low settings, but that is fine...
 
lol@macbook.

The alienware is a decent model, but small screen for gaming. I would personally recommend the MSI GT683. I'm don't game on lappies at all, but from what I have heard and read, this is perfect in your pricerange. Retails for $1300. Don't buy it in SA though, some places are charging R18 000+

http://www.msi.com/product/nb/GT683.html
 
Yeah, don't bother with the Mac.
Got my setup for around R12k a year ago -bought locally with 2yr warranty. To this day I game everything on max settings (with the exception of maybe BF3 and stuff like that) -playing D3/Skyrim on max, no problem though. ;)

EDIT: Cool thing is I can still replace the processor, gpu and add more ram, if I so desire. Ie. Totally upgradeable...if I so choose.
 
Sl8er said:
Yeah, don't bother with the Mac.
Got my setup for around R12k a year ago -bought locally with 2yr warranty. To this day I game everything on max settings (with the exception of maybe BF3 and stuff like that) -playing D3/Skyrim on max, no problem though. ;)

EDIT: Cool thing is I can still replace the processor, gpu and add more ram, if I so desire. Ie. Totally upgradeable...if I so choose.
Click to expand...

Well, I don't need out and out gaming performance, I also do casual gaming...
What do you have? MSI?
 
StellenboschStudent said:
Well, I don't need out and out gaming performance, I also do casual gaming...
What do you have? MSI?
Click to expand...

Yeah I get that, but the performance is there -whether it's gaming, video editing, whatever. :)

It's a Clevo. (In the US re-branded as Sager. In SA re-branded as, believe it or not, Mecer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Aw6VszNkmw

Let me just add, this is probably not something you're going to want to lugg around with you on a daily basis. It's big and heavy. It is a desktop replacement, after all. :)

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6242&review=sager+np8170+clevo+p170hm+xotic+pc
 
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I would say throw in another $100 and get the Asus G55VW-DS71 - awesome machine, plus you benefit from the 2 year global warranty.
 
Check out the just released Dell Inspiron N5520. 15" Full HD LED, Ivy Bridge Quad Core i7, think 2.2Ghz, 1TB HDD, 8GB DDR3, Radeon HD7670 1GB. For under R10 000, with 3 year on site warranty.

This is the one I'm going to be getting, seen it on a few of the online stores in SA. It launched like 2 weeks ago.
 
I have a Asus g73jw and while I cannot complain, owning a gaming laptop has some drawbacks...

Dont expect this to be a light piece of equipment. You will be jugging around a "heavy" laptop.
The ability to clean the fans is a must, they will clog up very quickly.This will cause your laptop to even shoot up 30C. Now thats not bad with a Desktop in a laptop that heat is now cooking your other parts.

There is no quick fix solution with a laptop. If the sound card breaks and you still have a good warranty you will need to send in the whole thing and let me tell you in africa it takes weeks to get things resolved.

That being said. Get a laptop with a good screen. Having a screen with high Frequency is a godsend.
Having rear lit chiclet keys are a bonus.

But most importantly READUP.
I don't mean technical information etc, I mean got to Notebookreview.com and go to the forums and read what people think about their laptop and their dislikes. These are people that can tell you that the drivers suck or you have manually solder parts.
 
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