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laptop buying diary

Blogs > NB
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NB
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Netherlands12045 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-12 12:46:02
March 10 2011 08:34 GMT
#1
March 10:
so i have been living without a laptop for almost 2 weeks till now. Have never experience this in the last 3 years.... Lack of internet seem less painful than this.

I just recently raise my limit of spending on a new laptop from $800 CND into $1k5 CND (tax applied) and hoping to find a good one ASAP!!!

There are few rules im using in my selection:
1/ Must be i5 and above:
I think anyone below i5 will not be able to run new softwares that coming out in the next couple years so i5 is a must. Since i just raise my money to 1k5, trying to get my hand on a Sandy bridge but its so hard to find one in canada since new stock just came out in US.

2/ Must have graphic card, not "intel integrated graphic":
well this should apply to all gamer.

3/ 99% no online purchase:
I would prefer to use cash over anything else atm. I dont have any sort of creditcards and dont wana borrow people i know's. Also I cant stand shipping, Im currently living almost without computer and i want to get my hands on 1 ASAP. Shipping will only make the situation worse.

I have asked some software maniac i know and currently nailing my choices to this
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewpost.php?post_id=8224289

But then i realized how cheap sandy bridge is.... 800 bucks for a sandy i7 with 6gb ram and 1 gb graphic.... i was like WTF ZOMG... and after 30 mins doing some google search, i realized "its a tarp".

Most of the i7 laptop models on the market right now has no cooling capacity to support a full spec running system. They mostly counting on normal user who wont touch anything "over clock" related which is the power of the sandy bridge technology. The models that actually providing cooling solution are WAYYY too overpriced like 2k+ USD. And all of those are only for the CPU, we are not counting the graphic chipset heat....

I recall using my roomate laptop a few day ago: HP duo core. All i did was turning on magicka on the lowest setting and my hand (which was located on the left side of the laptop) was suprised with the ammount of heat the laptop actually produced. For those of you having a macbook pro out there, you should be able to understand what i mean. The entire cover of macbook pro is made by metal. When you try to run some heavy duty program like sc2 or just trying to bootcamp, the entire bottom cover is burned up and could cause some serious skin issue if its on your lap and u are not wearing pants....

THIS is what i call sufficient cooling:
[image loading]
+ Show Spoiler +
http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=3016


I think i will delay my laptop purchase until the end of next week to do a little more study on sandy bridge but most likely i will have to pass on that for now. It's power is way too powerful for a laptop at a right price to handle atm.

Will update this entry often until i get a new laptop :<





part 2
part3

*
Im daed. Follow me @TL_NB
blabber
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States4448 Posts
March 10 2011 08:39 GMT
#2
all gaming laptops are gonna get hot... there's no way around it. Most people don't play games with the laptop on their lap anyway.
blabberrrrr
T.O.P. *
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Hong Kong4685 Posts
March 10 2011 08:41 GMT
#3
You can overclock a laptop bro. The heat produced by the laptop depends on it's internal components. No matter what, it has to find some way to dissipate heat. Some laptops dissipate heat more through the fans, some laptops dissipate heat through the cover. HP laptops are fine if you put a fan underneath it.

I use a Cooler Master NotePal U2. You can adjust the fan placement on this notebook cooler. I put the fan right underneath hp's fan so that there's increased air intake. No overheating issues if you do that.
Oracle comes in, Scvs go down, never a miscommunication.
NeonFox
Profile Joined January 2011
2373 Posts
March 10 2011 10:16 GMT
#4
+ Show Spoiler +
On March 10 2011 17:41 T.O.P. wrote:
You can overclock a laptop bro. The heat produced by the laptop depends on it's internal components. No matter what, it has to find some way to dissipate heat. Some laptops dissipate heat more through the fans, some laptops dissipate heat through the cover. HP laptops are fine if you put a fan underneath it.

I use a Cooler Master NotePal U2. You can adjust the fan placement on this notebook cooler. I put the fan right underneath hp's fan so that there's increased air intake. No overheating issues if you do that.


That Cooler Master looks very intersting, my HP dv7 heats so much when I play that I have to put rubbers underneath it to raise it and allow air to flow more. But even with that it gets way too hot.

What's your experience with this cooler, how noisy is it?
T.O.P. *
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
Hong Kong4685 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-10 10:55:05
March 10 2011 10:47 GMT
#5
On March 10 2011 19:16 NeonFox wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
On March 10 2011 17:41 T.O.P. wrote:
You can overclock a laptop bro. The heat produced by the laptop depends on it's internal components. No matter what, it has to find some way to dissipate heat. Some laptops dissipate heat more through the fans, some laptops dissipate heat through the cover. HP laptops are fine if you put a fan underneath it.

I use a Cooler Master NotePal U2. You can adjust the fan placement on this notebook cooler. I put the fan right underneath hp's fan so that there's increased air intake. No overheating issues if you do that.


That Cooler Master looks very intersting, my HP dv7 heats so much when I play that I have to put rubbers underneath it to raise it and allow air to flow more. But even with that it gets way too hot.

What's your experience with this cooler, how noisy is it?

It's pretty quiet. It's a high quality product. But it tilts your laptop. Perhaps there's a model that doesn't tilt the laptop. But it's by far the best cooler for hp laptops.

After getting the cooler I went from 100C while playing SC2 and getting throttled because of that. To 75C in SC2 after overclocking the GPU from 500/1250/400 to 640/1600/470

It went from burning to cool under normal circumstances and slight warm to body temperature playing SC2.
Oracle comes in, Scvs go down, never a miscommunication.
NB
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Netherlands12045 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-10 10:56:34
March 10 2011 10:52 GMT
#6
i do own a cooler but HP laptop overall is just not enough... this is one of the reason why i choose macbook pro in the past: metal case + 2 fans => super coller and i still have a external laptop cooler....

i mean take a look at asus G73JW-A1, i believe even though it is a BRICK, the design actually gona help a tons for cooling

THIS is what i call sufficient cooling:
[image loading]
Im daed. Follow me @TL_NB
NB
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Netherlands12045 Posts
March 11 2011 01:45 GMT
#7
update March 11:
Im really desperate now. Lots of people complaining about the Asus G line battery life so i guess DELL is the only choice i have left.

Tried to find direct store of DELL around ontario and couldnt find any. All i got is a bogus address in missisauga and a whole bunch of link into a do not exist dell website... It seems like DELL has given up for the direct sale system in North America not long ago and replace all of them using online sale instead.

So i tried retail store: Futureshop, Bestbuy and wallmart. All of them have the shittiest brand of dell laptop (still at pentium P) and the best thing i could get is i3... else i need to pay 1k7 for an i7 alienware... fuck that.

So the current target is to find a place that sell Dell XPS new generation in Ontario for the next 7 days. I swear to god when i pass out this morning, all i dreamed about is playing sc2... Life is a misery when you have no book, no laptop/pc and no ipod mp3... Not even TV.... Everyday radio while washing dishes + cooking >.<....

If anyone living in the Missisauga Ontario area, could you confirm if there is a DELL direct store in square ONE? T__T...
Im daed. Follow me @TL_NB
Dalguno
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States2446 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-03-11 02:08:54
March 11 2011 02:04 GMT
#8
I own the Asus G73, and it cools extremely well. It's a beast. But the battery life really is crappy. I use it constantly plugged in. It's about 8 pounds or so, but that's no big deal to me.
"I'm gonna keep making drones cause I'm a baller, and ballers make drones." -Snute
Xyik
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
Canada728 Posts
March 11 2011 02:09 GMT
#9
Purchasing a laptop online is the easiest way, otherwise I would guess look for specialized computer stores if you want to get something high-end instead of the typical hp / acer / toshiba crap sold at futureshop / bestbuy. Almost all laptops will overheat at some point, so buy a fan to go with it.

I don't know about Dells, I for one think they're a mediocre choice. Good specs for the price they offer, but the build quality is as low as any other cheap laptop you'd buy from futureshop.
Zlasher
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
United States9129 Posts
March 11 2011 02:59 GMT
#10
I actually just bought mine yesterday, came with an i5-480M, 4gb ram (which i may upgrade to 6 or 8gb), geforce 540M, 500 gb hard drive, all for 700 bucks.

Online seriously blows store deals out of the water, and you get such a wider selection

I know you don't want to have to bug other people or whatever but trust me it'll save you a lot more money, or you can just go get a prepaid card, load it onto paypal or something and buy off newegg using that.
Follow me: www.twitter.com/zlasher
NB
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Netherlands12045 Posts
March 11 2011 03:06 GMT
#11
On March 11 2011 11:59 ZlaSHeR wrote:
I actually just bought mine yesterday, came with an i5-480M, 4gb ram (which i may upgrade to 6 or 8gb), geforce 540M, 500 gb hard drive, all for 700 bucks.

Online seriously blows store deals out of the water, and you get such a wider selection

I know you don't want to have to bug other people or whatever but trust me it'll save you a lot more money, or you can just go get a prepaid card, load it onto paypal or something and buy off newegg using that.

i just doesnt work like that:
assuming i have ton of cash right now, making a credit card cost me at least 1 week + most of the website are shipping on 30 march... I NEED A LAPTOP RIGHT NOW!
I rather go build a desktop in 1 day than buy online atm.
Also borrowing credit card is no longer a viable option... its 1k+ we are talking about, too much to just 'borrow' from people (and yeah, no family talk here).

i do understand the beneficial of buying stuff online but it does not work like that this case. Noticed im working/staying at school's pc lab almost 15 hours a day now... Personal comuter FTW T_T
Im daed. Follow me @TL_NB
writer22816
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States5775 Posts
March 11 2011 12:34 GMT
#12
If you only have a dedicated graphics card, battery life is always going to suck. You need to get switchable graphics (look for NVIDIA Optimus) if you want to have the best of both worlds.
8/4/12 never forget, never forgive.
Versita
Profile Joined February 2010
Canada1032 Posts
March 11 2011 13:45 GMT
#13
On March 11 2011 21:34 writer22816 wrote:
If you only have a dedicated graphics card, battery life is always going to suck. You need to get switchable graphics (look for NVIDIA Optimus) if you want to have the best of both worlds.


Any idea how much more battery life on average one could get if they switched to integrated graphics rather than a dedicated graphics card? I've got my eyes set on a laptop, but reviews are telling me that the battery life is like 1.5~2 hours on the dedicated graphics card under a low load (surfing websites, etc) and up to 200 minutes idle+wifi disabled, but with the dedicated GPU.
Antimage
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Canada1293 Posts
March 11 2011 16:08 GMT
#14
Lol if you had asked me and paid me cash/cheque up front I could buy with my credit card =P Reward points FTW.

BTW do you really need i7 with Sandy Bridge? Like honestly what are you going to do with it?

My 13.3" ultraportable i3 laptop runs sc2 on low and XSplit Broadcaster which is pretty much the most intense thing I'm ever going to do on it - it really depends on your specific needs...

Dell is a hit or miss. I had problems with my Dell and they had to switch out the LCD screen, the harddrive, and the fan makes a clicky noise that they wouldn't fix.

My brother's first Dell just totally stopped working after 2 years but his 2nd has had no problems for 4 years and it's running well.

Just hope you get lucky b/c though they have great warranty, do you really want to send your computer in every few months?
NB
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Netherlands12045 Posts
March 12 2011 12:45 GMT
#15
@antimage: thanks lots! i guess ima ask you for help next time >.<... having apointment today with CIBC on banking =__=...

Well so i pretty much gave up on sandy bridge since i just open up my broken old 2008 macbookpro and realize that peice of metal is only Core 2 duo with 256 graphic xD... 1Gb ram i think. Ran sc2 on low smooth enough for me to get into master 3k... guess im ok without sandy. Next sat ima head up to Toronto filtech to get the Asus laptop if notthing change.

Was also considering building a desktop after SkyR from the laptop resources thread pointed out how MUCH POWER i could obtain under 1k dollars. Will keep look into that and make a final decision on friday but so far there are quite few holes:
+ cant bring a desktop to LAN
+ that shit is freaking hard to ship oversea at least twice a year
+ moving between cities with a mid tower and a 23" monitor = no space for clothings =__=
+ have to go to scaborough to get hardware without car... => bus WTF??? we are talking about a DESKTOP's parts... EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM... fml.

But the pros are quite plenty:
+ Large display (23")
+ Powerful with sandy bridge and 8gb ram
+ Cheap (MUCH MUCH MORE)
+ Freedom on overclock
+ Easy to upgrade in the future, potential to last longer.
+ Powerful with sandy bridge and 8gb ram


Grrr... Temptation is always a bad thing but missing a job opoturnity in California just bc you dont have a computer to code the solution for a high school CS problem is just a SHAME!!!! FUCKING LIFE!!! Ima FUCKING KILL MYSELF once im done with sc2.... GRRRRRR!!!
Im daed. Follow me @TL_NB
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