Hi guys, Looking for a new netbook / laptop for around house/travelling/lecturing. Here is what I am looking for: - 12 to 13" max in size (potentially 11"). - capable of playing 720p films files. - occasional word processing. - Best possible wifi card available to keep up with my 50MB broadband. - Relatively good cooling. - 250GB storage minimum. - Preferably matt screen. - 4GB ram. - 4hrs+ video battery life. - Good build quality. - Optical drive not mandatory. - weight reasonable. - Some form of video output. Price range: Looking to keep this for 3 years if I can. So don't mind spending a bit more if it lasts ! Up to £600, less if I can. Have looked at Lenovo X100e 11.6" £355, and Dell M301z 13.3" £499 so far. Appreciate your help !
If you want battery life and build quality, look under the business line system. They are a bit more expensive, but that is because of the higher build quality, better engineered (cooling wise), longer battery life, AND better warranty service. All business class laptops have matte screens. For whatever laptop you get, I strongly suggest a 3 year warranty, and if you always need the laptop with you, I suggest next business day onsite service, this way THEY come to you for repairing your laptop at the time you want (being reasonable, of course), starting the next business day. This way you are assured that the job is done correctly, that the problem is fixed, and you always have the laptop in hand, and won't need to go in the trouble of sending it, wait 1-2 weeks (the large time is mainly due to the shipping time back and forward, plus any wait at the repair depot). Also, CALL to order, as you can always negotiate free upgrade, shipping, and/or price. Also, remember that battery life drops fast, based on usage and battery care. http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries A 5 hour battery system, will quickly become 3 hours within a year or so. And with no battery care... perhaps 1hours and half to 2. So always get a battery that is way more that you need. Especially that, assuming you are replacing your battery with a new one directly from the OEM: A 6-cell battery is usually about ~130$ Canadian/U.S, if the laptop is new, for 6-cell battery the 9-cell is ~150$ (+-10-20$). It's not worth getting the 6-cell battery. Of course, it makes the laptop larger and a bit heavier... but if you are a good BACK pack, with a laptop compartment, you won't care if you carry a 20lb thing... as you won't feel it, as it's close to your body... ok maybe not 20lb, but you get what I mean.
Thanks for the input GoodBytes. I had a 12" Lenovo Tinkpad X60s for almost 4 years that I loved but now its having MB issues and no longer under warranty. You mentioned business line systems, any particular brands, models you have in mind considering the size I'm looking for ? I've heard alienware is good (M11x) so far, and Lenovo has a good reputation.
Alienware M11x looks good, but it's designed for a gaming system. So it is heavier, and thicker to handle intensive load, without overheating shut-down or throttling. My recommendations is on Lenovo, and Dell. Their is also HP business line that looks good, but I don't know how they stand up. Their home system doesn't last over a year, unless you have a manufacture error, and it last 2 years instead. I am excluding select models, like the Envy system which seams solid (which BETTER be, for the price).
So I've looked at the X1 and X220 from Lenovo and I don't like the absence of buttons in the X220 and the design of the X1. I've however looked at the VAIO S series, which can house switchable graphics, and they have free blue-ray burner at the moment as well. Here is the custom build I am looking at: VPCSB1C5E, 13.3 inches £ 988.99 * VPCSB1C5E * Configured o Intel® CoreTM i5-2520M 2.50GHz o Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium o French (AZERTY) o Black o 500 GB Serial ATA (7200 rpm) o 4 GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM o Blu-ray Disc(TM) writer o 33.7 cm LCD, 1366x768 + webcam o AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6630M 1GB + switchable integrated graphics. o Security features o Standard battery o Backlit keyboard * Also Included o HDMI(TM) output o Built-in Speakers + Microphone o Backlight keyboard o 1 AC Adapter o 1 VGA Output o 2 USB 2.0 + 1 USB 3.0 o Ethernet (RJ-45 Direct Port) o SD and MS card slot o Headphone and Microphone Jack o Wireless LAN(bgn) + Bluetooth® Nice and light at 1.75 kg and seems to be well built. Sony also does very nice screens I believe, enjoyable for films and the occasional gaming. Anyone got any other models / brands to recommend ?
my sister has a Toshiba portage R700 which is excellent, has a optical drive not many 13" laptops do and only weighs 1.3kg. But what ever you buy just make sure you got the new SB cpu's
I think the most intensive limiting factor you list is HD playback. Alienware M11x R2 user here, it kind of fits your spec but is pricey and heavy, and I can see issues with the i3 model on offer at the moment for £599. Straight off, it has a glossy screen, at the end of the day it has not bothered me as much as I thought or as much as they seem to bother everyone else. It will easily playback 720p mkv files, I believe it will do this on the integrated chip however any issues and you can set it to switch to the discrete Nvidia card to decode these files. Battery life under normal use is around 4 hours (on discrete GPU it is half that tho) and comes with wireless N as standard, keeps signal very well in my house. The build quality is excellent. I think even the £599 offer i3 model will be a lot faster than most netbooks and it does have the 250GB hard drive, which seems small to me. Big downsides are it is only equiped with 2gb ram and no bluetooth at this price, so upgrading to these will take it way over, what Dell charges for these upgrades is extortionate. Having said that my favourite cashback site, topcashback.co.uk, will give you 10% cashback on an Alienware purchase so you might be able to steer it in under budget. Not sure about Core 2 Duo version they offer for £498, this is the version from 2 years back. It doesn't have Optimus (switch GPUs is manual, some people say they prefer it) but I think battery life is a bit better, and they have specced the base model correctly with 500gb storage, 4gb ram and bluetooth. However I think where it will fall down is how it copes in the near future if you want to make it last 3 years.
Almost anything will play 1080p these days no problem. As long as you have a recent Intel GPU, or anything newer than a Geforce 6150M (and the equivalent from AMD/ATi) you are good. For Sony... first of all, study showed that switchable graphics is not used by many. AMD and Nvidia noted that. AMD produced more power efficient GPU's, while Nvidia produces Nvidia Optimus technology. The problem with switchable graphics is that you need to close ALL your programs, before switching, and it can cause the system graphic driver to crash during the switch, or system lock up, or other stories... it's not 100% reliable. That is why people don't bother after using the laptop after a year, as it's annoying. In Canada, Sony repair time is 1 month.
If you're looking for ultra-mobile, then the E-350 APUs from AMD are the way to go. They have enough oomph for office-tasks and HD-media-playback. If you're looking for something beefier, then the new SandyBridge-CPUs will suit you best. The Lenovo Z370 M565AGE seems like a nice little notebook, but I can't tell anything about it actually but what the tests about it tell me.
My system is 100% reliable, the switch is seemless and I never have to close any of my programs, thus I can endorse the Nvidia Optimus switchable graphics system, I cannot speak for the rest. On the intergrated solution for decoding HD video, like I said I think my laptop does do it on intergrated and it is fine (will check when I get home), however this will put more stress on the CPU and system RAM, forget multitasking like this. Going to discrete will drop the CPU load considerably if using a hardware accelerated playback solution, switchable gives you an option. Generally I agree you do not need a graphics powerhouse but netbooks are notoriously crappy at HD playback.
Yup that's the advantage of Nvidia Optimus, however the down side is big drop in CPU performance, as Optimus eats the system bus to transfer to the memory buffer of Intel GPU. On one thing can use the system bus at every cycle. They are no computers with multiple system bus. Too costly, and too complicated to implement, today as we speak. Every power management feature has downsides. It depends on what you seek. For me, I don't have Optimus on my laptop, I made a software to control my GPU performance based on what I run (software list is user updatable, and can be updated online). I am working on the final stages of the software. Once done (hopefully end of summer), I will of course, have it for anyone interested on my website.
Thanks for the input guys. I've had another think through all this and here is where my thought process is at... For roughly 1000 pounds here are the two laptops I am looking at: Lenovo x220, 12.5 inches - Brilliant optional Premium HD IPS matt screen - Great lenovo durability - Only Integrated Intel® HD Graphics 3000 - No USB 3 VAIO S VPCSB1C5E, 13.3 inches - Screen not as good. - Acceptable durability. - AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6630M 1GB dedicated graphics - USB 3 - Nice back lit keyboard (handy for traveling and using in bed). Otherwise both have: - Intel i5 second gen processors - 4GB DDR3 - Bluetooth So I do tend to be quite keen on the X220 because of the apparently much better screen, especially considering that I want the best video playback I can get (max 720p files). Also seems sturdier than the VAIO - considering I will be traveling lots - also it's not bad as such. The major doubt I have is if the x220's integrated graphics will play 720p files smoothly ? Also couldn't find any clear info on battery life ? Any other thoughts ?
IPS panel generally consume more power than TN.. but I don't know about laptops... this is a new technology, and don't know the performance, and how it impacts battery life. I would not expect nice colors, as it's a laptop screen, and everything designed to save power. I would expect widER view angle. But then, everyone will see your screen Isn't that IPS panel option super expensive?
It's only an extra 32 pounds. No brainer not to get it really... Otherwise it seems that the X220 has overall much better battery life than the Vaio. The only reason to get the Vaio would therefore be if one really needs a graphic card and an optical drive. X220 has better battery life, weight, durability, webcam, screen and wifi.
I have the same Intel intergrated graphics as that in my laptop paired with an i3-350M, plays 720p .mkv files smoothly .
