Help me choose a laptop

monoVertex

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Okay guys, I walked in the swamp of laptops on the internet and found 3 laptops that would fit my budget and my needs. Now, I need a bit of advice on which one to choose.

Note: I found these on Romanian websites, but I am giving you links to english websites. I would rather pick one from these 3, or, if you suggest another one, be wary that I might not be able to buy it in Romania.

1. Acer Aspire AS5741G-434G50Mn
Price at Romanian shop: $860
Processor: Intel Core i5 430M @ 2.26GHz (3072Kb cache)
HDD: SATA 640 GB @ 5400 RPM
RAM: 2x2046 DDR III 1066 MHz
Video card: Dedicated nVidia GT320M 1024MB
Display: WXGA @ 15.6" (1366 x 768)
Connectivity: 4 x USB 2.0 and the rest don't really matter...
Battery: 6 cells, up to 4 hours
Dimensions: 2.8 kg, 383 x 250 x 26/37 mm

2. Dell Inspiron 1764
Price at Romanian shop: $1085
Processor: Intel Core i5 430M @ 2.26GHz (3072Kb cache)
HDD: SATA 500 GB @ 5400 RPM
RAM: 2x2046 DDR III 1066 MHz
Video card: Integrated IntelHD graphics
Display: HD+ @ 17.3" (1600 x 900)
Connectivity: 4 x USB 2.0 (one is combo with eSATA) and the rest don't really matter...
Battery: 6 cells, up to 3 hours
Dimensions: 2.89 kg, 420 x 276 x 20/33.3 mm

3. Toshiba Qosmio F60-10H
Price at Romanian shop: $1273
Processor: Intel Core i5 430M @ 2.26GHz (3072Kb cache)
HDD: SATA 500 GB @ 5400 RPM
RAM: 2x2046 DDR III 1066 MHz
Video card: Dedicated nVidia GT330M 1024MB
Display: HD @ 15.6" (1366 x 768)
Connectivity: 4 x USB 2.0 (one is combo with eSATA) and the rest don't really matter...
Battery: 6 cells, up to 3 hours
Dimensions: 2.8 kg, 387.6 x 266.8 x 29.1/34.8 mm
! Has Blu-Ray !

What do you think?

And for usage, I will use it for image editing, occasionally video processing/editing, programming, watching movies, web surfing, office/student work, gaming (probably SC II and Diablo III will be the most graphic-intensive games I'll have, and I don't mind playing them on medium or something like that) and modding (Galaxy Editor).
For specs, I am going towards the Dell, but I hear people saying they had nasty experiences with Dell, so I am a bit unsure...
 

Slapshot136

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I can't find the screen resolution on the Acer, it just says "high resolution" which is too vague, the Inspirion is a 17", I think the Acer is the best still though because it comes with dedicated graphics
 

monoVertex

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Posted the specs for each laptop, for easier view :p.

Also, the Acer seems the best buy, but it's really new on the market, it has been launched about a month ago (at least in Romania) and I couldn't find any strong review for it. I am feeling that I might risk myself with it. And I don't want to end up with a crappy laptop, because it'll my computer for the 4 years of college xD.
 

sqrage

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Quoting from slapshot's moved post:
did the price on the last one just jump by $200? in that case, it's not worth it.. also, can you link to the romanian stores your looking at?
 

monoVertex

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Sqrage, I was answering to slapshot, for my own issue... shouldn't have moved my last post. Anyway:

It jumped by 200$ because the site where I was originally looking at mis-labeled it. It was, in fact, another laptop, the F60-10Q. I did not notice that because I looked up the specs on another site. It was listed as F60-10H and had an i3 core :rolleyes:. That new price is the average price in any store here. And btw, I also noticed that it has a HD monitor, instead of a WXGA (I mistakenly put the HD on Acer when I put up the specs :eek:. It's fixed now). Also, it has Blu-Ray. The Blu-Ray doesn't really matters for me, but the HD thing is pretty appealing, as I will do lots of image editing.

However, the 1200$ price tag is a little big, I am not sure if my dad will agree to buy it, in the end...

As for the links:
Acer Aspire
Dell Inspiron
Toshiba Qosmio

(the site might list some of the specs wrong (and no, this is not the site that mis-labeled the Toshiba :p), but when I put the specs in the first post I also confronted them with the ones on the manufacturer's page, to make sure they are correct)
 

Darthfett

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The Dell is a definite no:
Video card: Integrated IntelHD graphics

That card will most likely not even run SC2, cannot decently edit videos, etc. I have a similar card, and it runs TF2 (not too graphic-intensive) at a max of about 15 FPS.

As for the other two, other than a slight difference in graphics cards and the Blu-Ray, I can't see much difference, other than the $400 price difference.

I doubt the Blu-ray would be very noticable, and personally, I'd go with the Acer. That's a smokin' deal. :cool:
 

monoVertex

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Thank you for the advice!

However, I'm still digging the better display on the Toshiba. In the end, if my dad agrees to the price, I might go with that one.

That is unless I am wrong and the HD monitor is not actually any better than the WXGA one. Can anyone provide some strong information about these 2 types of display? Is there a noticeable difference?
 

sqrage

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For the value the first one is good. However, ever since having an Acer monitor fail me just after a year of ownership, I am very weary of Acer products.

I'd look into Asus if you could, they usually have the best deals with good hardware.

Toshiba also makes nice rigid quality hardware from what I've experienced. And that one is definitely the best of the three, though I'm not sure if the price difference is worth the slight GPU upgrade. (Not to mention it has a 2 year warranty which is great.)
 

monoVertex

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Well, on the site I can buy them from, all of them have 3 years warranty, so yeah :p.

Okay, I'll look into Asus and thanks for the reply!
 

Slapshot136

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they both have the same display: "HD" means above 720p, and they both have 1366 x 768 (768 > 720) - "full HD" would be 1920 x 1080, which is what blu-rays and other "full hd" media play at - so even with that, it still re-scales videos/etc.
 

monoVertex

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Thanks for filling that in for me!

Also, I just found out. Toshiba have a special promotion: if you buy a computer from them prior to 30 june, you get a no-matter-what warranty. That means they replace it if it brakes (the reason doesn't matter) or if it gets stolen. Which is REALLY awesome.

I think I'll go with Toshiba...
 

sqrage

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Thanks for filling that in for me!

Also, I just found out. Toshiba have a special promotion: if you buy a computer from them prior to 30 june, you get a no-matter-what warranty. That means they replace it if it brakes (the reason doesn't matter) or if it gets stolen. Which is REALLY awesome.

I think I'll go with Toshiba...

Make sure the warranty covers your country and not just the US like some of them. But if it's from that site then I'm sure it does...
 

monoVertex

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Well, I accessed the Romanian version of the Toshiba website and the offer was still there :p.

Plus, I found out about it on the Romanian shop site, so I guess it's available in Romania as well. I sent them an e-mail anyway, asking for more details, just to be sure.
 

Darthfett

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I can confirm that Toshiba makes good quality stuff, it's just usually not the prettiest. :p

I've been running my laptop in my backpack while listening to music, in hot AZ weather for about a year and a half now. Usually about 3 days a week, for 6 hours a day or so (including time I'm in a classroom charging it). The battery still works like new (get about 4 hours battery life if it's idle), and the computer still runs like new, it just boots up a little slower than when I first got it (which is normal, as I have stuff installed).

I don't have any personal experience, but I've heard a lot of good things about them.
 

Slapshot136

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Plus, I found out about it on the Romanian shop site, so I guess it's available in Romania as well. I sent them an e-mail anyway, asking for more details, just to be sure.

good idea, a 3 year "accidental coverage" warranty sounds exceedingly good, usually it's only like 1 year of that and then 3 years of hardware failure/etc.

and personally I wouldn't want a laptop that stands-out, I would prefer a normal-looking one with nice specs, I suppose it depends on preferences
 

monoVertex

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Well, I am still waiting for a response from the shop about the warranty. We'll see about that.

As for standing out, I like nice looking things, I'm a more of an "aesthetics person" :p. Besides, here it's not like in the states where every student takes their laptop at classes and stuff. So there won't be many occasions in which I will take the laptop out (I don't want a desktop, however, because there will be occasions, not many, but there will be. So a desktop is not practical at all).
 

Icyculyr

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I guess a Mac is out of the question :D

If you want it for gaming, I'd go for the third one because of the GT 330M. Otherwise the first looks better, the second one with the Intel graphics is an absolute NO NO NO lol... no point having a better display if you can't play games properly on it...!

EDIT: this is $1099 US
What do you think of it? Any good or no?
 

monoVertex

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Unfortunately, I can't find it on Romanian websites (this includes the Romanian version of Dell's website :p).

And no, I am not planning to get a Mac :D.

EDIT: Actually I found it, but I can only get it with an Core2 Duo processor and the -300$ dollars promotion is not accessible. I am unsure if I can order the laptop from the US page and get it in Romania. I think I can't...

EDIT2: I actually found the Studio 17 with an i7 on 2 websites, but it's a LOT more expensive. And it's definitely out of my budget.

EDIT3: I found another great laptop. Maybe better than the Qosmio, due to the larger screen. Satellite P500-14L. It's at the same price as the Qosmio here. Doesn't has the Blu-Ray though.
 

Darthfett

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EDIT3: I found another great laptop. Maybe better than the Qosmio, due to the larger screen. Satellite P500-14L. It's at the same price as the Qosmio here. Doesn't has the Blu-Ray though.

That's also a pretty nice looking one (not aesthetics, but specs), it has a pretty large screen, so you probably wouldn't be able to run it very long on battery life (not that you could with any of these :rolleyes:). It might be nice for watching movies, games, and graphic-work. It's up there with the other two. At this point it's up to you where the smaller details are concerned. All 3 of these will run anything you throw at them. ;)
 
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