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Old 06-27-2012, 08:43 PM   #1
Balldog
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Macomb, MI
Need new laptop...

Need some help as I am completely out of touch with the laptop scene anymore...

I came home yesterday and found that one of my boys has spilled a cup of water on my laptop and it is fried. Not happy about that but do find it funny that they both blame each other, one is 5 and the other is 3.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a laptop? My main purpose is for FM12, OOTP,
Internet, Microsoft Office, and porn (jk).

I'd like something with reasonable battery life for less than $1k if possible.

Thanks

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Old 06-27-2012, 08:47 PM   #2
Julio Riddols
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Lenovo makes excellent laptops for a good price that aren't really graphics intensive but are very sturdy and reliable.
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Last edited by Julio Riddols : 06-27-2012 at 08:51 PM.
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Old 06-27-2012, 08:47 PM   #3
Scoobz0202
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I'm a big fan of the Lenovo Thinkpad line of laptops. Either the T430 or X230 line (different sizes). Highly recommend if you look this direction to upgrade the 230 to the IPS screen upgrade, and the T430 to it's upgrade (the T430 does not have as nice of a screen as the x230). I can't speak to the other lines, but I will say that I have read about Lenovo's that are not in the Thinkpad line and they are not as good. Just an FYI if you do look that direction

They will not win any awards for looks, but they are solid as hell, the keyboards are some of the best in the business (if not the best), battery life is very good. And since the most demanding thing you will be doing is FM12 and OOTP you won't need anything more than the HD4000 on the new processors.

edit: looks like Julio beat me to it

double edit: oh, and if you do go this direction. Get 4GB installed, then order an addition 4GB from Amazon or Newegg. Don't pay the premium that manufacturers charge you for RAM. Then on top of that, maybe down the road if you couldn't afford it now, I would recommend getting the cheapest hard drive they offer and then sticking a 128GB SSD, or even 256GB (I've seen them as low as $170 lately) and you will never go back. I swear to god. SSD's in a laptop (even in desktops) are the single greatest technology improvement in the past decade if you ask me. It's like high definition television, once you get an SSD you will never go back.

Last edited by Scoobz0202 : 06-27-2012 at 08:52 PM.
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Old 06-27-2012, 08:56 PM   #4
stevew
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There's a bunch of neat ultrabooks coming out these days. Also, if you have a college student around there are some good giveaways right now. There's a free Xbox offer and also a free PS3 or Vita offer from Sony. I'd just make sure to get Ivy Bridge(instead of Sandy Bridge) since it is newer technology
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Old 06-27-2012, 08:56 PM   #5
Scoobz0202
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Just looking over the Lenovo site, the previous generation T420 and X220's are at quite a bargain right now. The biggest difference is they have Sandy Bridge processors and the older keyboards (which are legendary, but from what I understand, Lenovo did the chiclet keyboards right, which are on the T430 and X230). That leaves the processor. The performance in them are very similar, but the HD4000 (onboard graphics) of Ivy Bridge is quite good for onboard graphics. Now, the question is do you need that improved onboard graphics performance? If not, a T420 or x220 would be quite the bargain. If you don't need the HD4000 performance, I don't believe the CPU improvement to be worth it when the others are at the price they are now. Sandy Bridge are pretty damn good processors.

That is, of course, if you consider Lenovo.

Last edited by Scoobz0202 : 06-27-2012 at 08:57 PM.
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Old 06-27-2012, 09:01 PM   #6
Eaglesfan27
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Samsung makes a nice line of laptops that give a lot of value for the money. My laptop died recently and I got a Samsung Chronos 7 for just under 1k and it has specs in line with a much more expensive laptop. They have very nice budget laptops for as little as 500.
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Last edited by Eaglesfan27 : 06-27-2012 at 09:02 PM.
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Old 06-27-2012, 11:16 PM   #7
CU Tiger
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I used Lenovo's and specifically the think pad series for our business laptops and loved them.

The last few months Ive been on a run of kids killing laptops, so when I recently replaced I went ultra cheap.
Lenovo B 570
i3.
4 GB installed.
500GB hard drive
hdmi out
touch pad that does multi function well

All that for $325.
4 months later couldnt be happier
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Old 06-28-2012, 08:26 PM   #8
Balldog
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This can run FM12?

Thanks for the ideas guys. Only having this phone to shop with is making it tough to figure out best fit
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Old 06-28-2012, 08:27 PM   #9
Balldog
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That was for CU Tiger
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Old 06-28-2012, 08:43 PM   #10
Julio Riddols
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CU Tiger View Post
I used Lenovo's and specifically the think pad series for our business laptops and loved them.

The last few months Ive been on a run of kids killing laptops, so when I recently replaced I went ultra cheap.
Lenovo B 570
i3.
4 GB installed.
500GB hard drive
hdmi out
touch pad that does multi function well

All that for $325.
4 months later couldnt be happier

Same exact one I got.
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Old 06-28-2012, 08:56 PM   #11
INDalltheway
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http://forum.notebookreview.com/what...-should-i-buy/
That forum helped me find the laptop I really needed. I just filled out the form that they have stickied and got some good feedback.
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Old 06-30-2012, 02:58 AM   #12
CU Tiger
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Balldog View Post
This can run FM12?

Thanks for the ideas guys. Only having this phone to shop with is making it tough to figure out best fit

Ive never played any of the FM series so no help there, but I cant imagine an i3 and 4gb of ram couldnt handle any sports sim.


Unless its graophic intensive and that is your concern.
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Old 06-30-2012, 02:58 AM   #13
CU Tiger
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Balldog View Post
This can run FM12?

Thanks for the ideas guys. Only having this phone to shop with is making it tough to figure out best fit

Ive never played any of the FM series so no help there, but I cant imagine an i3 and 4gb of ram couldnt handle any sports sim.


Unless its graophic intensive and that is your concern.
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Old 06-30-2012, 09:35 AM   #14
Desnudo
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It doesn't look like FM12 is very graphics intensive.
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Old 07-17-2012, 03:28 PM   #15
RomaGoth
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So I am also looking for a new laptop. I am having a hard time deciding if getting something with the i5 is worth the extra money, since I see that laptops coming with the i3 are much more affordable. I want this laptop to last 3-5 years.

At one time I was really in the know for tech stuff (especially processors/hard drives/video cards/memory), but have since paid little attention to it unless I am in the market; which brings me to this thread. I tried the laptop forum from earlier in this thread but didn't get much response.

Is it worth paying more for the i5 processor? I realize it is an upgrade over the i3, but how much of an upgrade is it? Is the difference in processing speed noticeable?
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Old 07-17-2012, 03:33 PM   #16
Marc Vaughan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Desnudo View Post
It doesn't look like FM12 is very graphics intensive.

Its not hugely so - but can chug a little if you turn up the graphics on the match engine with a high res on some laptops.

The main thing though is processor grunt and if you're addicted to lots of leagues/large database ensure you have a decent amount of memory (laptop hard-drive access is fairly slow compared to a desktop normally).

My MacBook Pro is awesome considering its 5 years old now, I'd definitely recommend one to anyone who listens .... that being said if you're a windows affictionado there are a lot of decent cheap laptops available today - Lenovo has been mentioned already, I like the Sony Viao as well and my new 'work' one is a HP Pavillion which appears to handle everything I throw at it.

Last edited by Marc Vaughan : 07-17-2012 at 03:34 PM.
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Old 07-17-2012, 03:36 PM   #17
sterlingice
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RomaGoth View Post
So I am also looking for a new laptop. I am having a hard time deciding if getting something with the i5 is worth the extra money, since I see that laptops coming with the i3 are much more affordable. I want this laptop to last 3-5 years.

At one time I was really in the know for tech stuff (especially processors/hard drives/video cards/memory), but have since paid little attention to it unless I am in the market; which brings me to this thread. I tried the laptop forum from earlier in this thread but didn't get much response.

Is it worth paying more for the i5 processor? I realize it is an upgrade over the i3, but how much of an upgrade is it? Is the difference in processing speed noticeable?

If you're looking for 3-5 years, I think an i5 is probably the way to go. I didn't see that much of a price difference between the i3s and i5s when I was looking (and then settled on an i7 Ivy Bridge). What price range are you shopping around in? I noticed a couple of different classes of computers and it seemed like if you jumped from i3 to i5, there were also some other improvements in the system (more HDD, mem, maybe better graphics, etc)

SI
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Old 07-17-2012, 03:46 PM   #18
RomaGoth
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Originally Posted by sterlingice View Post
If you're looking for 3-5 years, I think an i5 is probably the way to go. I didn't see that much of a price difference between the i3s and i5s when I was looking (and then settled on an i7 Ivy Bridge). What price range are you shopping around in? I noticed a couple of different classes of computers and it seemed like if you jumped from i3 to i5, there were also some other improvements in the system (more HDD, mem, maybe better graphics, etc)

SI

Well, the problem is my expectations are exceeding what I want to spend. I want something that will run well for a few years without having to worry about processing speed and RAM issues (i.e., upgrades). I don't really care what size hard drive I get but I prefer a 7200rpm versus the 5400rpm versions. Also, I am currently using a used (paid $100 for it) HP with Vista and this thing runs extremely hot all the time. I have a Lenovo for work that runs very cool and the difference between the two is palpable.

As you mentioned, when upgrading to an i5, the other specs tend to increase as well which then brings the price to a point I am not sure I want to reach. I am looking at around $700 maximum but would love to spend less. Unfortunately, the laptops I am seeing with the specs I want are closer to $800-$900. I don't so much care about the video card as I will probably not be playing those types of games much anymore; I am mostly interested in text sims and older games (Civ3/Civ4, AOE2 and 3, Doom 3, etc.).

The ones I came up with that are in my price range are actually the HP configure your own laptop through Costco. I am just nervous about it running hot like the one I am using now.
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Old 07-17-2012, 04:51 PM   #19
britrock88
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One annoying thing to check is that not all i5s are quad-core. Wiki it for a little more info.
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Old 07-17-2012, 08:43 PM   #20
samifan24
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For anyone looking for a new laptop:

I am selling a brand new in box Asus i5 with 8 GB of RAM and a 500 GB HD.

I bought the laptop with 4 GB and the RAM upgrade for 8 GB thinking I needed to replace my Mac but it turned out that Apple swapped it out and I don't need the computer and can't return it beyond 30 days. It's brand new, nothing wrong with it at all. I'd rather sell to an FOFCer than a random eBayer plus I get to keep more of the money.

PM me if interested. I've purchased/sold/swapped with other FOFCers before who can vouch for me if needed.
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