**NB** Laptop Advice/recommendations

[Rocco1]

Hi guys,

Need some advice...

Any recommendations.

I need a new laptop for part time classes on campus from Monday (old laptop stolen last year).

So it should be:
1) be relatively light
2) have decent battery life
3) good for typing

not sure if that means it should be
A) 13.3-14", though form factor for typing is not certain,
B) have a low power CPU
C) not sure about keyboard quality and screen per manufacturer
D) bonus mSSD for fast awake

I can spend more on a laptop but would prefer the R7,000 - R8,000 range

It would be a bonus to be able to play games:
I) Seems though minimum GPU is probably a GT640M for casual gaming (DOTA2, CS:GO, CIV5)
II) Low power versus Normal CPU tradeoff
III) lower battery life, as most gaming laptops expected to be plugged in
IV) keyboard and trackpad normally not as good on a budget gamer


I don't mind spending more for a better, more powerful laptop (but might defeat aims A-D)
All are cheap LCD's 1366x768, 15.6", no mSATA.
Accept that probably going to get 4hours battery, and plug in (can live with that)

>> Lenovo Y500 (i7 3630, GT650M) (R9600) 2.7kg
>> MSI CX61 (i7 3630, GT645M) (R8300) 2.4kg
>> Gigabyte Q1542N (i7 3630, GT640M) (R8300) 2.6kg
>> Gigabyte Q1542N (i5 3210, GT640M) (R7300) 2.6kg
>> Acer Aspire V3-571G (i7 3610, GT640M) (R8600) 2.6kg
>> Acer Aspire V3-571G (i5 3210, GT630M) (R7300) 2.6kg


NOTE: Haswell is just around the corner (June 2013) and will offer much better battery life (and perhaps decent integrated graphics), though can't wait for it.

I need the laptop now, but not sure if should go big, or just get the bare minimum - a light, good typing laptop with good battery power. Do want a laptop with a LAN port (45J)


>> Asus S400 i5-3317U 14" NoCD+24mSATA (R8000) 1.8kg
>> HP Envy 4 i5-3317U 14" NoCD+32mSATA (R7000) 1.8kg
>> Lenovo U310 i5-3317U 13.3" NoCD (R7500) 1.7kg


Probably some more in this form factor that I'm missing... (Samsung etc)

Other:
>> Acer Aspire M5 i5-3317U GT640M 15.6"+20mSATA (R9600) 2.2kg


Thanks for your assistance
K

 

[Wong]

Please note that the asus S400 is a touch screen windows 8 only laptop , im not a fan of windows 8 however on that touch screen laptop its rather nice , and you will be able to play dota easily with the hd4000 , not sure about csgo and civ though you might have issues

Why not just get a cheapo netbook till the "Haswell" laptops come out ?

 

[CataclysmZA]

Pretty much the only laptop that ticks all the boxes you specify and meets your ideas A-D is the U2442:

Gigabyte U2442 14" HD @ R12,173

R12k might seem a bit much until you look at the screen, the SSD and the regular-spec Core i5 with Optimus tech. It really doesn't get better than that for a 14" chassis. For 15.6", the Y500 is a great choice, as is MSI's GE70, which I actually prefer now that I know it has a mSATA SSD slot open. The GE70 doesn't have Optimuis, though, so battery life will be down compared to other brands which do feature Optimus.