2013-04-24, 13:48 | Link #1 |
(。☉౪ ⊙。)
Author
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: In Maya world, where all is 3D and everything crashes
Age: 36
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Ultrabooks
Hello people,
Somewhere along the upcoming week I want to purchase my first ultrabook. I have never owned a laptop before so a lot of the specs sound like wizardry to me hence why I am making this thread. What am I going to use it for: Well several things; for microsoft office things to write reports or stories, to lurk around online, watch movies and anime (I am not planning on running 1080p stuff on it before anyone mentions that). I am not planning on using this for gaming. I have a good desktop at home, I want to take this one on the road since I frequently visit family on the other side of the country but I never had a laptop or anything so I want to change that so that I can do some work when over there as well. A colleague at school advised me the new Samsung series but they are all around €1000,- which is way too expensive for me. I found one of a different series of €875,- but seen the specs it is still expensive to me. (Samsung NP540U3C-A01NL) (specs: http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/32043...specificaties/ sorry for the dutch). It has this touchscreen and windows 8 but is expensive imo in terms of the specs it has, however the ram is upgradeable. So I started looking around on other places and came to the Lenovo Ideapads series and in specific the u310 ultrabook. Of the u310 series they are listed here; http://tweakers.net/product/312651/lenovo-ideapad-u310/ that makes around €706,- in total The u410 is on sale for €780,- which is also on my mind but I am unsure whether or not I need it for the things I will use it for. spec etc. http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/32081...specificaties/ I have been looking around for a while and I see reviews all over the place for several with graphs and the whole shazam but honestly I am unsure what I should look at and what not, I hear so many pros and cons on the i5 cpu that it makes me doubt it all together because no one hammers it down as good because there is always a but. When it comes to the ideapad ones; I read they are a good entry level ultrabook, but then again I hear things about screenquality and I heard the u310 has a wifi problem (?) but I can't find any specifics about it whether that is from u310 books from a certain year and if it has been fixed with the newer produced ones or if it is a bios problem. I also looked at the thinkpads in general but even though they are cheap they are far too heavy at at least 2 kg. The ones that are light are all very small in resolution compared to the ideapads which are also cheap. And no I am not spending my dime on a macbook. I could really use some advice, thank you for reading and responding. |
2013-04-24, 15:03 | Link #2 |
blinded by blood
Author
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Why the Thinkpad hate? Best laptops for doing actual work ever.
As for ultrabooks, I don't think you can really beat Asus and Sony these days, though everyone seems to be trying. The Zenbooks and Vaios though are the only ones that really appear to be anywhere in the same ballpark as the MBA. You do know you can run Windows or Linux on a Macbook Air, right?
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2013-04-24, 15:13 | Link #3 |
(。☉౪ ⊙。)
Author
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: In Maya world, where all is 3D and everything crashes
Age: 36
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Why not a macbook? Because they cost at least €1000,- and that is over my budget.
I don't dislike thinkpads, in fact from what I have seen they are quite adjustable. However many of those that are on sale in my country are very heavy because of added parts that I have no need for such as an optical drive. The only thinkpad I was considering was this one http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/32151...specificaties/ the Thinkpad edge E330. What are your thoughts on that Thinkpad? I had been thinking about buying that one, because many of the others that are on sale are too thick and heavy. The Lenovo Thinkpad Edge S430 is also light and has a bigger resolution but it isn't on sale in my country which sucks and sites that do sell it ask also €1000,- for it minimum. Last edited by -KarumA-; 2013-04-24 at 15:31. |
2013-04-24, 15:22 | Link #4 |
blinded by blood
Author
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I have a Thinkpad X200, which is a bit older... it's 2009-vintage with a Core 2 Duo. For my purposes it's more than powerful enough, and it's compact, lightweight considering how well built it is and easy to tote around.
It also doesn't waste space with an optical drive, and the 12.1" display is 1280x800 instead of 1366x768. The extra vertical pixels add up after a while, especially if you're editing long documents. The newer "version" of the X200 is the X230, which starts at around $860 direct from Lenovo. Note that none of the new Thinkpads have the original incredibly awesome Thinkpad keyboard (which is why I keep hanging onto my X200). The X201 had the first-generation Core-i mobile CPUs, while the X220 has the first-generation Sandy Bridge (second-gen Core-i) CPU. Both keep the original famous Thinkpad keyboard, but the X220 has a 1366x768 screen which is terribad.
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2013-04-24, 15:51 | Link #5 |
Turnin' the Tables
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Where dimensions collide...
Age: 36
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The real question is how long do you plan on keeping this laptop before you buy something else. If you plan on taking this machine everywhere, and you plan on it lasting longer than 3 years, then the Thinkpads (not the Ideapads) are still your best choice. My Thinkpad R61 will have lasted me 6 years in a couple months, and it's still going strong. Believe me, I take this thing everywhere, and it has its share of scars (though no scratches...). But it does last, and it does so for under $1000.
The counterbalance is, of course, an issue of weight. Lighter design at the same price point often means weaker design. Therefore, you will likely find an ultrabook (or in this case, ThinkPad) that is indeed lighter, and with sturdy construction, but it will cost you. Even then, Ultrabooks have a notoriously low resolution, even when they are made-to-order. I have resigned myself to the "wait until the next generation" mantra, but if you really want one now, and under $1000, look at the X-Series.
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2013-04-24, 15:51 | Link #6 | |
(。☉౪ ⊙。)
Author
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: In Maya world, where all is 3D and everything crashes
Age: 36
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And there we have the problem:
Can I have my purchase shipped overseas? Lenovo is unable to ship orders internationally due to export restrictions and policies. Additionally, Lenovo sells and ships products intended for end-users only. No products on Lenovo.com may be resold. Lenovo reserves the right to refuse and/or cancel suspect orders that do not meet the criteria of an end user. I can't buy directly from their website and retailers here sell that model for at least €1000,- The European site for Lenovo is very bad, cheapest sells it at €990,- downgraded to an i3 processor. If I look for retailers in my area I get a list of companies that do not sell hardware but do IT work. Lenovo seems quite popular on the other end of the Atlantic ocean but not here in the Netherlands I am afraid. Quote:
I looked for other models int he X range but they all go for around € 1700,- for the X230 and other models are not being sold by any online retailers in my country. I am willing to pay money for it just not €1000,- |
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2013-04-24, 16:32 | Link #8 |
Excessively jovial fellow
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: ISDB-T
Age: 37
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the following laptop lines are more than just expensive toys and good enough to Do Things on:
- macbook - thinkpad the end literally everything else is shit (don't buy a laptop unless you absolutely have to, a stationary computer gives you a shitton more for your money and is actually user serviceable)
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2013-04-24, 16:42 | Link #9 | |
(。☉౪ ⊙。)
Author
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: In Maya world, where all is 3D and everything crashes
Age: 36
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We don't have anything like craigslist, I am looking on a reselling website but I would rather not buy from there because many adds look shady as in no pictures of the product itself, only stock photo's and rather idiotic descriptions containing far too many buzzwords to be written by any normal person. I have ordered used parts before from this site when it comes to hardware and it is the best known used-selling website here but many adds in several categories such as laptops are disguised users that are from webshops and still sell you the product for the full price. I saw one for the Lenovo Thinkpad X220 at €500,- but out of all listed nearly all of them were from webshops or retailers selling their goods backdoor to other companies (several do not allow civil buyers and only other companies to buy products). So no, the one for the X220 again didn't list anything but specs and stock footage and I know people who were stupid enough to get scammed on that site for buying laptops, I am not that willing to lose my money over nothing.
It also seems that besides that one Xseries Thinkpad all of the others are from the T series. Quote:
It would be nice to be able to keep up with university work while being there. |
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2013-04-25, 12:39 | Link #11 |
(。☉౪ ⊙。)
Author
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: In Maya world, where all is 3D and everything crashes
Age: 36
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What do you guys think about demo models being resold?
I saw one of of the recent Samsung 9 series that is being resold, but it is a demo model from the store for 3 months. |
2013-04-28, 22:23 | Link #13 |
Hiding Under Your Bed
Join Date: May 2008
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I think once tablets started to become mainstream, that there's no particularly good reason for every buying an Ultrabook.
Just buy a normal laptop with a 14-15 inch screen. If you're not doing anything fancy on it (ie: just web surfing, writing documents, etc), then you really don't need to spend more than $500, and buy one on sale off Newegg/Amazon. I wouldn't overthink this purchase. Though, let's be real, if you are only doing simple things, then you may as well just use a tablet/Chromebook.
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advice, ultrabook |
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