Thinking about a new laptop

**stormy** · 10 May 2011, 12:39 AM

I want a new laptop. Wanted to know if anyone had any thoughts on the matter. I don't follow the mobile chips or graphics cards much, so let me know if there is something I really need to look for.

Criteria-
-13" to 15" screen.
-Must be a high quality screen with resolution higher than 1366x768. I can't stand the shit they put on 95% of the laptops out there.
-If it's a 15" it has to be on the smaller side
-Must have discrete graphics to support light to moderate gaming
-Price around $1000 or less
-I think Arrandale is OK, since I read that Sandybridge dual cores are not that much better. This can probably help fit my budget but let me know if I'm off base. Looking at i5s.

There isn't much out there. I like the Vaio E (arrandale) and C (sandybridge) series. I saw one with the 1080p screen in the store and it was beautiful. E series has some nice discounts now too (and I have $200 in SonyStyle gift certs from cashing in credit card phony bux).

**Josh** · 10 May 2011, 01:03 AM

**MarkRyan** · 10 May 2011, 01:12 AM

I got an 11" Air and it's awesome. Obviously not the best on-paper specs for the money, but I have zero complaints about how it runs (go SSD). It is so damn portable. The resolution is 1366 x 768. I thought it'd annoy me but it looks fantastic on the 11" screen. This is my only PC (and my first Mac) which I use for some web development and Photoshop, no games 'cause gaming on computers sucks. I'm pretty done with Windows.

That was probably of no help to you. Sorry.

**stormy** · 10 May 2011, 01:49 AM

No Mac. Do not want.

**MarkRyan** · 10 May 2011, 02:00 AM

There is literally not one thing I miss about Windows.

**kedawa** · 10 May 2011, 02:18 AM

Buying a Vaio is like paying for a Mac and getting a PC.
Maybe with your discount, it won't be too bad, but Sony computers are just as overpriced as Macs.
Sony also has a nasty policy of denying access to their drivers unless you have a service plan.
I've worked on a quite a few of their desktop machines, and I've had to hack generic drivers and patch the NT kernel in order to get everything working on a newer version of Windows than what the machine shipped with.

**stormy** · 10 May 2011, 02:49 AM

Depends on the model. The E and C are fairly competitive, maybe there is a slight premium of about $100-$200. The screen is so good it makes up the difference from other brands. As long as it has the 1080P upgrade I think they are priced appropriately. In addition to the sale on sonystyle right now they also have coupon codes for another $100 off. Those expired but I'm sure they will come back.

This is $879 ($779 if i can find another coupon)
Intel® Core™ i5-480M processor (2.66GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Coconut White (Reg. Price $50.00)
320GB Hard Disk Drive (7200rpm)
4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1066
15.5" Full HD VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080)
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5650 GPU (1GB VRAM)
CD/DVD Player / Burner
Standard capacity battery

The Sandybridge versions are around $1100 with a similar config. They come with a free bloggie touch that I don't give two shits about, so they might lower it after that promo ends.

Other than a Dell which is giant and ugly, I haven't been able to configure anything I like for less than $1400. The Lenovo T420 is cool but it's too much. I've been using a Sony SZ for the last 3.5 years and it has been good to me.

**MarkRyan** · 10 May 2011, 02:56 AM

My last laptop was a Dell and my fiancee got a Dell laptop. I won't buy from them again. Both of our batteries crapped out way earlier than they should've, her laptop shipped with two dumb problems (only one of them was fixed with a new replacement), mine had hardware with shitty drivers. I didn't complain much about my laptop 'cause I paid just $400 for it, but I wasn't impressed with Dell's quality.

Generally, I'm annoyed by any Windows machine that I didn't build (with carefully selected components) and it's virtually not an option to build your own laptop.