Laptop for college

[chili dude96]

I'm not in a position to argue anything in this thread... I just wanted to say that was one of the most professional debates I've seen in a long time.

Yes I have to admit Sushi and Snipeye are going at it quite well and backing up their opinions with solid evidence.

One of the biggest things I hate about macs are those self-declared tech gurus at my school who will rant all day about how much better macs are for artists or something ridiculous like that even though they can't tell me what a cpu is.:cursing::facewall: Sushi is not one of those.

The bottom line for me is that the majority of the time you pay a lot more for the same level of hardware from a mac due to the brand name. I also personally don't like Mac OS and I also hate the lie that Mac OS is easier than Windows. That was true 10-15 years ago.

Also guys the lenovo has a lot of bad reviews and I'm not digging the 14 inch. Any 15.6 inch suggestions?

 

[Wizekraker]

Yes I have to admit Sushi and Snipeye are going at it quite well and backing up their opinions with solid evidence.

One of the biggest things I hate about macs are those self-declared tech gurus at my school who will rant all day about how much better macs are for artists or something ridiculous like that even though they can't tell me what a cpu is.:cursing::facewall: Sushi is not one of those.

The bottom line for me is that the majority of the time you pay a lot more for the same level of hardware from a mac due to the brand name. I also personally don't like Mac OS and I also hate the lie that Mac OS is easier than Windows. That was true 10-15 years ago.

Also guys the lenovo has a lot of bad reviews and I'm not digging the 14 inch. Any 15.6 inch suggestions?

I have the last years Y510p 15.6 model, no issues except the track pad is not the best.

 

[chili dude96]

Ok so as much as the 410p sounds like a great deal it seems to have a lot of quality control issues and only about 3 hours of battery life so I'm thinking I really shouldn't buy it. All sorts of issues have been reported on it. (just do a quick google.)

Any other recommendations for a 14 inch laptop? Considering Intel HD 4000-type cards can run Dayz, Counter Strike, ect., I really don't need a "gaming" laptop.

 

[chili dude96]

One question about resolution.

As a chem major I will want to be able to have an excel sheet on one half of the screen and a lab report on the other half. Some have suggested 1366x768 is too low of a resolution on a 14 inch for this purpose and I should go for 1600X900 or 1920x1080 or just go for a 15.6 inch to avoid this problem altogether.

Thoughts?

 

[_Sushi]

One question about resolution.

As a chem major I will want to be able to have an excel sheet on one half of the screen and a lab report on the other half. Some have suggested 1366x768 is too low of a resolution on a 14 inch for this purpose and I should go for 1600X900 or 1920x1080 or just go for a 15.6 inch to avoid this problem altogether.

Thoughts?

When it comes to usable space, the issue is the resolution, not the screen size. A higher resolution will shrink all the objects on the screen giving you more usable space, but there is a point where the objects are small enough to become difficult or an annoyance to use. A 1920x1080 resolution will give you the same usable screen space whether on a 13" screen, 15" screen, or 27" screen. However, the objects will annoyingly small on a 13" screen.

I would consider buying a monitor that you can put in your dorm/living space if you want to enjoy a high resolution. If you want the 1080p on your laptop I would suggest at least getting a 15.3" screen and then turning off Windows DPI scaling immediately.

Windows DPI scaling which means that Windows will try to have give you less usable space by making objects bigger, compensating for high resolution small screens. Don't do it on windows because UI elements and icons will look bloated.

 

[Cloakedsphere]

http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_info&model_name=NP7358

I would still stand behind sager as being a very viable option here. They make great gaming laptops and you can easily use one for school work too. They arent terribly heavy and the back to school discount might be the way to go.

If you dont like that then I suggest the lenovo route.

 

[chili dude96]

When it comes to usable space, the issue is the resolution, not the screen size. A higher resolution will shrink all the objects on the screen giving you more usable space, but there is a point where the objects are small enough to become difficult or an annoyance to use. A 1920x1080 resolution will give you the same usable screen space whether on a 13" screen, 15" screen, or 27" screen. However, the objects will annoyingly small on a 13" screen.

I would consider buying a monitor that you can put in your dorm/living space if you want to enjoy a high resolution. If you want the 1080p on your laptop I would suggest at least getting a 15.3" screen and then turning off Windows DPI scaling immediately.

Windows DPI scaling which means that Windows will try to have give you less usable space by making objects bigger, compensating for high resolution small screens. Don't do it on windows because UI elements and icons will look bloated.

Yes I understand. That is why I asked if1366x768 is too low of a resolution on a 14 inch and I should go for 1600X900 or 1920x1080

I also suggested that if it is too hard to find the higher resolutions on the 14 inch I could get a 15.6inch with 1080p, which is easy to find.

Do you think 1366x768 is too low for my purposes?

 

[chili dude96]

Ok so I have narrowed my options down. What I didn't tell people is that I am actually buying 2 laptops, one for me and one for my brother. We both have the same requirements. He wants a 15.6 inch and I want a 14 inch so please tell me which 14 and which 15.6 I should buy!

14 inch
Lenovo y40 http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y40/
i7-4510U Processor 2.0ghz, dual core
14.0" FHD LED AntiGlare Backlight (1920x1080)
AMD Radeon R9 M275 4GB
8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz
Intel? Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160
4.9lbs 5 hours battery

With a Hybrid 500GB 5400 RPM+8GB SSHD for $780
Or
with a 256GB SSD for $880

Acer Aspire V7
$780 [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Acer-V7-482PG-5842-14-Inch-Touchscreen-Ultrabook/dp/B00K2O4UMS[/ame]

Intel Core i5-4200U 1.6 GHz (3 MB Cache)
8 GB DDR3L SDRAM
500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
16gb ssd
14-Inch Screen, NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 4gb
Windows 8.1, 8-hour battery life
4.41lbs

15 inch
Acer Aspire V7
$858 [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Acer-V7-582PG-6479-15-6-Inch-Touchscreen-Ultrabook/dp/B00H7WF21G[/ame]

Intel Core i5-4200U 1.6 GHz Processor (3 MB Cache)
8 GB DDR3L SDRAM
500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
16gb ssd
15.6-Inch Touchscreen, NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M 4gb
Windows 8.1, 6.5-hour battery life
4.85lbs


Acer Aspire V7
$1047 [ame]http://www.amazon.com/Acer-V7-582PG-7657-15-6-Inch-Touchscreen-Ultrabook/dp/B00K2O4QPY/[/ame]

Intel Core i7-4510U 2.0 GHz (4 MB Cache)
8 GB DDR3L SDRAM
500 GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
16gb ssd
15.6-Inch Screen, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M 4gb
Windows 8.1, 6.5-hour battery life
4.85lbs

Lenovo Y50http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50/
$1089
i7-4710HQ Processor (2.50GHz quad
Windows 8.1 64
15.6" FHD LED AntiGlare Backlight (1920x1080)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M 2GB
8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz
Hybrid 1TB 5400 RPM+8GB SSHD
Intel? Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160
5.3 lbs 5 hours battery

The Lenovos win with the wireless AC but the Acers take battery life and weight. Also the Acers have IPS displays.

The y40's R9 M275 is about on par with the Acer's 750m right?

 

[chili dude96]

Budget has been changed to $1200 if anyone knows of a better laptop in that price range please let me know.

 

[_Sushi]

Budget has been changed to $1200 if anyone knows of a better laptop in that price range please let me know.

You are always going to be able to get a better laptop for more money. It just makes sense. Once your budget goes to $1200 you start looking ultraportables- there's no point in looking at gaming laptops further than the Y40/Y50 because they just become bricks.

 

[chili dude96]

You are always going to be able to get a better laptop for more money. It just makes sense. Once your budget goes to $1200 you start looking ultraportables- there's no point in looking at gaming laptops further than the Y40/Y50 because they just become bricks.

I've done all my research and it looks like those acers and lenovos are it. So sad. Acer is supposed to release a 14 inch with an updated 850m just like the 15.6 inch but it hasn't come out yet.

 

[Cloakedsphere]

I am still unsure of why sager would be out of the question...

 

[chili dude96]

I am still unsure of why sager would be out of the question...

Which one?

 

[chili dude96]

Purchased the 15.6 inch acer

 

[Cloakedsphere]

Which one?

I was pretty positive 2 sager laptops were linked here. Including if you just go to their website you can actually find back to school deals on their laptops.

Not saying your choices are bad but I would put sager along side an ASUS gaming laptop or Lenovo any day. They are great laptops and should've been taken a look at before making a decision. Good luck with your acer though!