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Need to find laptop - recommendations please

post #1 of 8

6/28/12 at 3:15pm

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wedge
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Location: Toronto, Ontario
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I've got some specific requirements for a new laptop. And I'm having a real hard time finding anything. So any suggestions you can make would be extremely helpful.
I need it to be small/lightweight with good battery life. In other words, I need it to be mobile. So that means screen size must be LESS than 17". But at the same time, I need it to be productive. Which means my preferred resolution is 1600x900 (or higher, but that's unlikely at that screen size). Processor should be AMD A6 or A8 or better. GPU Radeon 6500 or 6600 (preferred) or better.
Only dealbreakers for me are the screen size and resolution.
Budget is up to $1000

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD FX-8350	Asus Crosshair V Formula	XFX Radeon HD7970 Double D	Patriot Mamba Black 16GB 1866MHz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB	OCZ Vertex 3 128GB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Sony Opiarc
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair H50	Windows 8 Pro	Samsung S24A850DW	Samsung S24A850DW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Das Keyboard Professional Silent	Antec TruePower New 650W	CoolerMaster Storm Scout	Mionix NAOS 5000
Mouse Pad	Audio	Other	Other
Mionix Sargas 900	Asus Xonar DX	Plantronics GameCom 777	Logitech Z506
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Athlon II x2 245	Asus M3A78	Radeon HD6570 1GB	Mushkin Silverline 2GB DDR2
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB	Samsung Blu-Ray	Windows 7	Samsung 46" DLP
Power	Case	Other
Silverstone Strider Essentials 400W	Silverstone Milo ML03B	Hauppage WinTV 1250
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD FX-8350	Asus Crosshair V Formula	XFX Radeon HD7970 Double D	Patriot Mamba Black 16GB 1866MHz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB	OCZ Vertex 3 128GB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Sony Opiarc
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair H50	Windows 8 Pro	Samsung S24A850DW	Samsung S24A850DW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Das Keyboard Professional Silent	Antec TruePower New 650W	CoolerMaster Storm Scout	Mionix NAOS 5000
Mouse Pad	Audio	Other	Other
Mionix Sargas 900	Asus Xonar DX	Plantronics GameCom 777	Logitech Z506
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Athlon II x2 245	Asus M3A78	Radeon HD6570 1GB	Mushkin Silverline 2GB DDR2
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB	Samsung Blu-Ray	Windows 7	Samsung 46" DLP
Power	Case	Other
Silverstone Strider Essentials 400W	Silverstone Milo ML03B	Hauppage WinTV 1250
View all

hide details

post #2 of 8

6/29/12 at 3:26pm

Thread Starter

wedge
4.0 GHz

Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 487
Rep: 27 (Unique: 27)
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nothing?

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD FX-8350	Asus Crosshair V Formula	XFX Radeon HD7970 Double D	Patriot Mamba Black 16GB 1866MHz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB	OCZ Vertex 3 128GB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Sony Opiarc
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair H50	Windows 8 Pro	Samsung S24A850DW	Samsung S24A850DW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Das Keyboard Professional Silent	Antec TruePower New 650W	CoolerMaster Storm Scout	Mionix NAOS 5000
Mouse Pad	Audio	Other	Other
Mionix Sargas 900	Asus Xonar DX	Plantronics GameCom 777	Logitech Z506
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Athlon II x2 245	Asus M3A78	Radeon HD6570 1GB	Mushkin Silverline 2GB DDR2
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB	Samsung Blu-Ray	Windows 7	Samsung 46" DLP
Power	Case	Other
Silverstone Strider Essentials 400W	Silverstone Milo ML03B	Hauppage WinTV 1250
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD FX-8350	Asus Crosshair V Formula	XFX Radeon HD7970 Double D	Patriot Mamba Black 16GB 1866MHz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB	OCZ Vertex 3 128GB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Sony Opiarc
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair H50	Windows 8 Pro	Samsung S24A850DW	Samsung S24A850DW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Das Keyboard Professional Silent	Antec TruePower New 650W	CoolerMaster Storm Scout	Mionix NAOS 5000
Mouse Pad	Audio	Other	Other
Mionix Sargas 900	Asus Xonar DX	Plantronics GameCom 777	Logitech Z506
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Athlon II x2 245	Asus M3A78	Radeon HD6570 1GB	Mushkin Silverline 2GB DDR2
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB	Samsung Blu-Ray	Windows 7	Samsung 46" DLP
Power	Case	Other
Silverstone Strider Essentials 400W	Silverstone Milo ML03B	Hauppage WinTV 1250
View all

hide details

post #3 of 8

6/29/12 at 3:38pm

jrbroad77
*cough* Stock *cough*

Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,680
Rep: 288 (Unique: 245)
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I'd look into customizable HP dv6 laptops (I'd put links.. but HP Canada site sucks to be honest so I'm not going to look). Possibly Dell XPS 14 or 15, but Dell laptops seem a bit overpriced for what they are. New 14" Vaio E models, with Ivy Bridge i5, 1600x900 screen, and 7670M graphics. Sony Vaio SA or SE would be pushing the $1000 budget.. but you could get the SA with 13" 1600x900 panel, or the SE with 15" 1920x1080 IPS panel.

15", go with the 1GB 640M LE graphics. http://store.sony.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SYCTOProcess?catalogId=100803&storeId=20153&langId=200&LBomId=8198552921666454156&categoryId=8198552921644771498

13" Vaio, http://store.sony.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SYCTOProcess?catalogId=100803&storeId=20153&langId=200&LBomId=8198552921666453658&categoryId=8198552921644771498

edit- you can compare graphics benchmarks here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

and CPUs here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

Ivy Bridge i5-dual is actually faster than the A8 quad in multi-threaded (not that the A8 is slow- far from it.)
Edited by jrbroad77 - 6/29/12 at 3:46pm

CPU	Graphics	RAM	Hard Drive
i3-2310M	Intel HD 3000	8GB DDR3	Samsung 830 64GB SSD
Hard Drive	OS	Monitor	Case
640GB Hitachi HDD	Windows 7	13.3" LCD	Magnesium Alloy, 3.2lbs
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Phenom II X4 955 BE	Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H	MSI Hawk R5770	3x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3	250 GB WD Caviar Black	Samsung 20X DVD-R/RW	Thermaltake MaxOrb
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Power
Noctua NF-B9-1600	Windows 7 Pro 64-bit	BenQ E2420HD, 24" 1920x1080	TT Purepower 500W
Case
TT Lanbox Lite
View all

hide details

CPU	Graphics	RAM	Hard Drive
i3-2310M	Intel HD 3000	8GB DDR3	Samsung 830 64GB SSD
Hard Drive	OS	Monitor	Case
640GB Hitachi HDD	Windows 7	13.3" LCD	Magnesium Alloy, 3.2lbs
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Phenom II X4 955 BE	Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H	MSI Hawk R5770	3x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3	250 GB WD Caviar Black	Samsung 20X DVD-R/RW	Thermaltake MaxOrb
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Power
Noctua NF-B9-1600	Windows 7 Pro 64-bit	BenQ E2420HD, 24" 1920x1080	TT Purepower 500W
Case
TT Lanbox Lite
View all

hide details

post #4 of 8

6/29/12 at 6:22pm

Thread Starter

wedge
4.0 GHz

Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 487
Rep: 27 (Unique: 27)
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I never considered Sony, I've always thought their vaio stuff to be overpriced. but checking their site the 14" E series looks perfect and only slightly over budget. I also never knew there were any 1080p 15" screens, that one is only $60 more, VERY tempting.
before I pull the trigger on one of those, do you know if there are any other 1080p screens in that size range?

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD FX-8350	Asus Crosshair V Formula	XFX Radeon HD7970 Double D	Patriot Mamba Black 16GB 1866MHz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB	OCZ Vertex 3 128GB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Sony Opiarc
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair H50	Windows 8 Pro	Samsung S24A850DW	Samsung S24A850DW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Das Keyboard Professional Silent	Antec TruePower New 650W	CoolerMaster Storm Scout	Mionix NAOS 5000
Mouse Pad	Audio	Other	Other
Mionix Sargas 900	Asus Xonar DX	Plantronics GameCom 777	Logitech Z506
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Athlon II x2 245	Asus M3A78	Radeon HD6570 1GB	Mushkin Silverline 2GB DDR2
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB	Samsung Blu-Ray	Windows 7	Samsung 46" DLP
Power	Case	Other
Silverstone Strider Essentials 400W	Silverstone Milo ML03B	Hauppage WinTV 1250
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD FX-8350	Asus Crosshair V Formula	XFX Radeon HD7970 Double D	Patriot Mamba Black 16GB 1866MHz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB	OCZ Vertex 3 128GB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Sony Opiarc
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair H50	Windows 8 Pro	Samsung S24A850DW	Samsung S24A850DW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Das Keyboard Professional Silent	Antec TruePower New 650W	CoolerMaster Storm Scout	Mionix NAOS 5000
Mouse Pad	Audio	Other	Other
Mionix Sargas 900	Asus Xonar DX	Plantronics GameCom 777	Logitech Z506
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Athlon II x2 245	Asus M3A78	Radeon HD6570 1GB	Mushkin Silverline 2GB DDR2
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB	Samsung Blu-Ray	Windows 7	Samsung 46" DLP
Power	Case	Other
Silverstone Strider Essentials 400W	Silverstone Milo ML03B	Hauppage WinTV 1250
View all

hide details

post #5 of 8

6/29/12 at 6:47pm

Thread Starter

wedge
4.0 GHz

Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 487
Rep: 27 (Unique: 27)
Select All Posts By This User

ah here we go. I see why I wasn't finding anything. I was only checking retailers websites. But I see way better stuff shopping directly with the manufacturers. Looks like the Lenovo T series also meets my needs. they are very similar to the Sony's but for less money. must investigate further

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD FX-8350	Asus Crosshair V Formula	XFX Radeon HD7970 Double D	Patriot Mamba Black 16GB 1866MHz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB	OCZ Vertex 3 128GB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Sony Opiarc
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair H50	Windows 8 Pro	Samsung S24A850DW	Samsung S24A850DW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Das Keyboard Professional Silent	Antec TruePower New 650W	CoolerMaster Storm Scout	Mionix NAOS 5000
Mouse Pad	Audio	Other	Other
Mionix Sargas 900	Asus Xonar DX	Plantronics GameCom 777	Logitech Z506
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Athlon II x2 245	Asus M3A78	Radeon HD6570 1GB	Mushkin Silverline 2GB DDR2
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB	Samsung Blu-Ray	Windows 7	Samsung 46" DLP
Power	Case	Other
Silverstone Strider Essentials 400W	Silverstone Milo ML03B	Hauppage WinTV 1250
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD FX-8350	Asus Crosshair V Formula	XFX Radeon HD7970 Double D	Patriot Mamba Black 16GB 1866MHz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB	OCZ Vertex 3 128GB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Sony Opiarc
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair H50	Windows 8 Pro	Samsung S24A850DW	Samsung S24A850DW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Das Keyboard Professional Silent	Antec TruePower New 650W	CoolerMaster Storm Scout	Mionix NAOS 5000
Mouse Pad	Audio	Other	Other
Mionix Sargas 900	Asus Xonar DX	Plantronics GameCom 777	Logitech Z506
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Athlon II x2 245	Asus M3A78	Radeon HD6570 1GB	Mushkin Silverline 2GB DDR2
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB	Samsung Blu-Ray	Windows 7	Samsung 46" DLP
Power	Case	Other
Silverstone Strider Essentials 400W	Silverstone Milo ML03B	Hauppage WinTV 1250
View all

hide details

post #6 of 8

6/29/12 at 7:00pm

technofied

Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 105
Rep: 10 (Unique: 10)
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http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/829664-REG/Acer_LX_RNA02_008_Aspire_7750_AS7750_6458_17_3_.html

core i5

hd 6850m graphics

1600x900 screen

price: $579.99

note: this is a trusted site even if maybe you hadnt heard about it mainly sells cameras.

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
fx-8120@4.5ghz	m5a97 evo	hd 7970	corsair vengence
Hard Drive	Cooling	OS	Monitor
mushkin enhanced chronos deluxe ssd	corsair h80	windows 8 consumer preview	samsung 40 inch 1080p smart tv
Power	Case
corsair tx850 v2	corsair 500r
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
fx-8120@4.5ghz	m5a97 evo	hd 7970	corsair vengence
Hard Drive	Cooling	OS	Monitor
mushkin enhanced chronos deluxe ssd	corsair h80	windows 8 consumer preview	samsung 40 inch 1080p smart tv
Power	Case
corsair tx850 v2	corsair 500r
View all

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post #7 of 8

6/29/12 at 7:12pm

jrbroad77
*cough* Stock *cough*

Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 2,680
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Thinkpad T-series with discrete graphics adds about $300 to base price - I doubt it's under $1000. Maybe it's still cheaper, but it's not a good value in terms of gaming (it's between 525M and 540M). Toshiba Tecra R940 is the go-to if you don't care about a backlit keyboard. If it's expensive in Canada, you can get it for about $7-800 in the U.S., just pay the tax, no duties. http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=2000035728

CPU	Graphics	RAM	Hard Drive
i3-2310M	Intel HD 3000	8GB DDR3	Samsung 830 64GB SSD
Hard Drive	OS	Monitor	Case
640GB Hitachi HDD	Windows 7	13.3" LCD	Magnesium Alloy, 3.2lbs
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Phenom II X4 955 BE	Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H	MSI Hawk R5770	3x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3	250 GB WD Caviar Black	Samsung 20X DVD-R/RW	Thermaltake MaxOrb
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Power
Noctua NF-B9-1600	Windows 7 Pro 64-bit	BenQ E2420HD, 24" 1920x1080	TT Purepower 500W
Case
TT Lanbox Lite
View all

hide details

CPU	Graphics	RAM	Hard Drive
i3-2310M	Intel HD 3000	8GB DDR3	Samsung 830 64GB SSD
Hard Drive	OS	Monitor	Case
640GB Hitachi HDD	Windows 7	13.3" LCD	Magnesium Alloy, 3.2lbs
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Phenom II X4 955 BE	Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-UD2H	MSI Hawk R5770	3x2GB G.Skill DDR2 800 4-4-4-12
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive	Cooling
1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3	250 GB WD Caviar Black	Samsung 20X DVD-R/RW	Thermaltake MaxOrb
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Power
Noctua NF-B9-1600	Windows 7 Pro 64-bit	BenQ E2420HD, 24" 1920x1080	TT Purepower 500W
Case
TT Lanbox Lite
View all

hide details

post #8 of 8

6/29/12 at 10:25pm

Thread Starter

wedge
4.0 GHz

Joined: Feb 2010
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Posts: 487
Rep: 27 (Unique: 27)
Select All Posts By This User

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrbroad77

Thinkpad T-series with discrete graphics adds about $300 to base price - I doubt it's under $1000.

Yeah, I realized after that post that with the options added on, that one actually gets pricey fast.

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD FX-8350	Asus Crosshair V Formula	XFX Radeon HD7970 Double D	Patriot Mamba Black 16GB 1866MHz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB	OCZ Vertex 3 128GB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Sony Opiarc
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair H50	Windows 8 Pro	Samsung S24A850DW	Samsung S24A850DW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Das Keyboard Professional Silent	Antec TruePower New 650W	CoolerMaster Storm Scout	Mionix NAOS 5000
Mouse Pad	Audio	Other	Other
Mionix Sargas 900	Asus Xonar DX	Plantronics GameCom 777	Logitech Z506
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Athlon II x2 245	Asus M3A78	Radeon HD6570 1GB	Mushkin Silverline 2GB DDR2
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB	Samsung Blu-Ray	Windows 7	Samsung 46" DLP
Power	Case	Other
Silverstone Strider Essentials 400W	Silverstone Milo ML03B	Hauppage WinTV 1250
View all

hide details

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
AMD FX-8350	Asus Crosshair V Formula	XFX Radeon HD7970 Double D	Patriot Mamba Black 16GB 1866MHz
Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Hard Drive	Optical Drive
OCZ Vertex 4 256GB	OCZ Vertex 3 128GB	Seagate Barracuda 2TB	Sony Opiarc
Cooling	OS	Monitor	Monitor
Corsair H50	Windows 8 Pro	Samsung S24A850DW	Samsung S24A850DW
Keyboard	Power	Case	Mouse
Das Keyboard Professional Silent	Antec TruePower New 650W	CoolerMaster Storm Scout	Mionix NAOS 5000
Mouse Pad	Audio	Other	Other
Mionix Sargas 900	Asus Xonar DX	Plantronics GameCom 777	Logitech Z506
View all

CPU	Motherboard	Graphics	RAM
Athlon II x2 245	Asus M3A78	Radeon HD6570 1GB	Mushkin Silverline 2GB DDR2
Hard Drive	Optical Drive	OS	Monitor
OCZ Vertex 2 120GB	Samsung Blu-Ray	Windows 7	Samsung 46" DLP
Power	Case	Other
Silverstone Strider Essentials 400W	Silverstone Milo ML03B	Hauppage WinTV 1250
View all

hide details

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