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Heya. I know everyone loves these! So, help me choose a laptop because I'm not too knowledgeable in that area. Things I'm looking to do with it:
- Type a lot - I'm a wannabe programmer so I type a lot. Good keyboard layout.
- Carry it around. I intend taking it to my classes.
- At least a few hours or battery life
- 15 inch monitor. Anything less is bleh.
- Be able to play starcraft 2 and diablo 3 when those come out.
- Dell or lenovo brands preferably (don't ask).
I'm willing to spend up to ~1,1k$. I was looking around at stuff on a few websites, and I loved this one, but then I noticed it doesn't have a dedicated video card. Grrrr. Something like it would be perfect, if it had that video card.
So yeh, suggestions?
 
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United States22883 Posts
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Lenovo X200 - Hacker's dream machine. Small though
Lenovo T500
see my blog. Great machine. Good screen.
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Are we talking about 1k euro? you should be able to get a T series for that amount.
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check how easy you can access the CPU/FAN, because if this is easyly accessible you can often remove the "dust-carpet" that builds arround the FAN which makes the notebook hot and noisy. My first laptop (hp pavillion dv 4115EA) had a cover extra for the CPU/FAN so I just needed to remove 1 screw to remove that fucking "dust-carpet". With the laptop I have right now I need to remove the Keyboard first and its a real hustle to get out this bitch of FAN.
The last time I did this (2 weeks ago) it gave me a temperature drop of 10-12°C (over 60°C to under 50°C) and a significant drop in noise.
I consider the interfaces placement (USB, Ethernet) important to, because this is what is pissing me off the most in everyday life that my RJ45 is placed on the backside (i'd rather have it where my mouse is plugged in).
I wouldn't get a too high resolution, as your screen will be very small (15-17'' ). If the resolution is to big everything is very small and that sucks hard. (I prefered my old 1280x800 @ 14.1'' over my actual 1680x1050 @ 15'' )
On December 29 2009 21:14 IMlemon wrote:
- Carry it around. I intend taking it to my classes.
- 15 inch monitor. Anything less is bleh.
thats a bit contradicting. why should anything less than 15'' be "bleh" ? as you plan on taking it to your classes a smaller device is preferable. 14'' uses only about 2/3 the area a 17'' laptop uses (~800cm^2 to ~1200cm^2). This is significant if you carry your notebook along with some books and sheets in your backpack, if its to big it maybe wont even fit in there.
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Lenovo T500 is the standard choice. However, if you want to play SC2 and D3 with decency then I recommend looking at Clevo (Sager) or Asus for their gaming notebooks.
edit: Also, consider waiting for Intel Core i5, which is expected sometime soon and will likely be a top performer for the price.
edit2: Jan 7 is the expected date for i5 on laptops, I believe.
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well, 15 inch and constant carrying? gl with that
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is it that bad? I thought it's about 2,5KG, doesn't seem bad at all. Hmpfh.
T500 seems nice, but seems well out of my price range (its 1k EUR, not 1k$ like im willing to spend). I'll take a look at ASUS computers.
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13/14 inch would be preferable for carrying to class/lectures. Im stuck with a 15inch one =.=. The tables used at lectures are so puny.....
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It's really not hard for you to look around yourself if you're limiting yourself to like 3 brands.
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Dell XPS series are so fucking expensive... and have terrible battery life. If you're not going for amazing graphics, the T500 is the obvious choice (like said above).
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United States22883 Posts
Enough with the T500 talk. There's absolutely no reason anyone should buy a 2 year old laptop. You want 15" and a good discrete video card. Half the laptops on the first page of Newegg meet that requirement. Now start doing some research on your own.
Sheesh.
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2.5kg maybe seems light on paper but carry something more than 2kg around is pain in the ass.
I have a 17'' laptop myself weigh around 2.7kg. And carry it to class library is very troublesome, its big and feel very heavy.
I suggest you try something less then or just a little bit over 2kg if you want to carry it to class.
You can just buy some 14'' Laptop with strong dedicated graphic card and buy a 20+LCD monitor to play games on it when you are in the dorm. 24 LCD monitor is dirt cheap rightnow . You dont plan to play games in classes, do you
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15 inch monitor and playing SC2  Don't rape the game man!
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also you must consider that gaming laptop is hard to cool, so expect loud noises from cooler
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Lenovo Y500 thinkpad is the best computer I've ever owned. Fast, portable, and they pack enough power to play any PC game with high graphics and decent frame-rate. Oh, and they're cheap too.
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i7 laptops are coming in soon so you should be able to get something cheap.
People dismiss thinkpads too easily. If you ever owned one you would know, they are build like tanks. Absolutely beauty.
Get some thing cheap and wait for it to heat up and buzz like a bee. (HP <--)
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If you're going to get a Thinkpad T500 or W500 (I recommend, despite the below), know that the keyboard quality seems to be suspect in the recent models. More specifically, many of the keyboards flex noticeably on one side, whereas previously Thinkpads had a reputation for having great keyboards. This is because they redesigned the keyboards to make them lighter. You can read about it online I'm sure. That said, if it bothers you, you can order an easy drop-in replacement keyboard (for example, one made for an older model like the T60) for like $50.
If you order from Lenovo, make sure to use a coupon code for a discount. Check here for legit deals, maybe 15% or 20% off. That would put it in your price range.
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i called lenovo support and they sent me a non-flex keyboard for free lol.
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i'm actually typing this on my dad's old t60 right now. why is the x200 "hacker's dream machine"? why not the x300?
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Awesome battery life + lightness + no trackpad, no dvd...
lol... saying it's a hacker's dream was a bit overboard (even from a thinkpad fan like me)
but it is one of the best supported thinkpads for linux folks on the market, the other being t61.
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x300 is underpowered and it's fugly + it's about 50% more expensive.
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EPT
