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Thread ID: 135021	2013-09-14 12:56:00	Please recommend me a laptop	Chikara (5139)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1353549	2013-09-14 12:56:00	Hi all, Hoping the forum here can recommend me a laptop to suit my needs. I travel often for my work. Although I have a company laptop, it's pretty locked down so it's no use for leisure, apart from limited internet browsing. About 3 years ago I bought a Asus Eee netbook, thinking the small size would be great for traveling, and I would just use it just for basic email, browsing, and maybe a couple of simple flash-based Facebook games while away (no 'proper' games). It's been a disappointment. I knew they're not that grunty, but it's underpowered, and performance was actually worse than I expected it would be - even right clicking on a menu takes 4-5 seconds to appear sometimes. Plus, the max screen resolution of 1024x600 on a small screen is quite limiting, many pages do not scale or are not scrollable to view easily on such a small screen. So, I've decided to go to the other extreme now. If I want portability and basic browsing and emails I can use my smartphone. So I'd like a laptop that has a decent screen size, and good, fast, near-desktop performance - so that as well as basic email and browsing, I can also take some games away and play those if I am stuck in the hotel or airport and bored. I'd also like it to be grunty enough to do either audio or video editing (a hobby), plus be able to take away my music collection and part of my video collection to watch/listen to. So, using the groups expertise, can you please recommend me something... here are my requirements: - I'm not worried about physical size or weight (within reason) - as long as it will fit in a backpack. (Thinking perhaps a 17"??) - Not too worried either about battery life, as most places I will use it will either have access to power, or where I don;t have power will probably only use it for a few hours max at a time - I'd like something that is capable of running most modern games reasonably smoothly - they don't need to be run on best quality settings, but enough to be playable smoothly and still look quite good (example - Skyrim and GTA IV are a couple of games I'm still playing now, I know they're a few years old but I haven't finished them) - I'd like something with sufficient storage capacity so I can take away my full music library and part of my video library (and obviously be capable of playing these smoothly) - Something that boots reasonably fast (SSD??). I'm fed up with the Eee..press the power button then make (and drink) a cup of coffee before it finishes startup... - I'd like reasonable on-board sound quality so that ideally I don't need to bring separate speakers if I'm using it in my hotel room. - I'm only interested in a Windows machine, and would strongly prefer Win 7 (would have to be a very convincing argument to get me to buy a Win 8 machine - I tried Win 8 during the public RC phase and hated it). Can you actually still purchase machines with Win 7?? - I don't have a set budget but don't want to go crazy either. I have a rough figure in my mind around $2k to $2.5k, but I am happy to consider more than that to get the right machine, considering I'd like that to last me for many years. I'm a bit of a fan of Asus, have also used a Toshiba in the past which was also OK. I think Asus's hardware is good quality (despite my experience with the Eee). Am also leaning towards some of the Alienware gaming laptops? Please let me know what you think will be the best option based on my needs. Any other info needed, please let me know... PS - I should note, I'm a Kiwi but living in Singapore right now, so please recommend brands/models (or components), but not a specific shop in NZ, as I'll be buying it here in Singapore. (NZD and SGD are pretty much 1:1 right now so my budget is valid in either currency) Thanks in advance!	Chikara (5139)
1353550	2013-09-15 04:49:00	If you can stretch your budget to 3k I'd get one of these: www.msi.com 16GB RAM, 17", 1080p screen, 2xSSDs in RAID for super fast load times, copy speeds and a super low boot time. CPU wise it's quite powerful too (4700QM). From memory the one for 3k comes with 2x128gb SSDs + a 1tb storage drive. The only downside to this laptop is that the 4700QM doesn't have an IGPU, meaning the 765m is going to always be powered on which would reduce the battery life. MSI also has a laptop for 2.5k which is better spec wise (has a 770m instead of a 765m and the same CPU) but is only 15" and 1600x900. It doesn't use the a slim form factor either or an ssd(? not sure on that one). If you want to look at how well laptop gpus run games look here: www.notebookcheck.net	icow (15313)
1353551	2013-09-15 05:56:00	Hi, thanks for the reply, and the useful link about the laptop gaming performance - saved that as a favourite! My budget is flexible so it can stretch to that, for the right machine. How is the MSI build quality? I know very little about that brand. How would that compare build-quality wise, and performance wise to, say a Asus or AlienWare? The specs look pretty good on it though. I should also have mentioned in my first post, I may have a business trip to the US in a month or so (San Fran), would I be better off to try to get something while there? Apart from warranty issues, what are the other considerations/pitfalls from buying overseas?	Chikara (5139)
1353552	2013-09-15 06:24:00	Hi, thanks for the reply, and the useful link about the laptop gaming performance - saved that as a favourite! My budget is flexible so it can stretch to that, for the right machine. How is the MSI build quality? I know very little about that brand. How would that compare build-quality wise, and performance wise to, say a Asus or AlienWare? The specs look pretty good on it though. I should also have mentioned in my first post, I may have a business trip to the US in a month or so (San Fran), would I be better off to try to get something while there? Apart from warranty issues, what are the other considerations/pitfalls from buying overseas? Based on reviews the MSI laptop is pretty well received, no notable build quality complaints. As for long term reliability I'm not too sure. MSI doesn't make enough laptops to feature in any studies into laptop failure rates. Buying in the USA just means that you'll have access to a bigger range of laptops as well as quite a drop in price. You don't even have to buy from shops either, websites like amazon which usually don't' ship some items to NZ or charge a lot for shipping are viable to purchase from as long as the lead time on the product is short. I was in the states this year with a friend he ordered some stuff from amazon and got overnight delivery to the hotel we were staying at. Worked perfectly. The specific version of the laptop I was talking about is available from amazon for $1900 USD: www.amazon.com As for a comparison to Asus? Not to sure, MSI is likely to have a slightly higher failure rate seeing as Asus is pretty much the best brand in the business for long term quality (something like a 12-15% failure rate over a period of 3 years and just under 10% for 2 years).	icow (15313)
1353553	2013-09-15 07:25:00	There's a similarly priced Asus I was also looking at: www.amazon.com They seem similarly spec'd and priced, but I think the Asus has dual fans vs the MSI having a single fan - for a laptop I think the cooling is important (although 2 fans possibly are noisier). Any thoughts on that one? I'll have to investigate the Amazon option. As I'm in SG I think they offer free shipping here, but not sure about how the warranty works - or as you suggested, it may be cheaper to order and deliver to me while I am in the US, or pick it up at a physical store there, once I decide what I want... Any thoughts on Alienware? Is the hype about them worth it?	Chikara (5139)
1353554	2013-09-15 08:18:00	The Asus is basically identical, spec wise. The major difference would be the trade off between portability and the difference between a 770m and a 765m. I personally prefer the form factor of the MSI, but it depends if that matters to you at all or not. The GPU difference comes down to the 765m in the MSI being 5 - 15 fps behind the 770m on fairly high settings, at medium - lower settings the difference is fairly negligible. I'd imagine the 770m would last slightly longer in terms of being able to play new games as they come out at higher settings. I know Asus will honor an international warranty, I believe MSI does the same. I'd assume it doesn't matter to Amazon whether you are an international customer or not, it's really just the cost of shipping it back to the USA. If you buy from the Amazon and ship to Singapore it might be easier to go straight through the manufacturer (Asus or MSI) if you need to return it for warranty purposes. As for Alienware, you're paying for a brand. Kind of like the Razer Blade: www.razerzone.com you can get more for your dollar elsewhere. That being said the Razer Blade (non-pro) is in the same-ish price range as the MSI and the Asus with similar specs to the MSI, might be worth a look: www.razerzone.com	icow (15313)
1353555	2013-09-15 08:59:00	I just remembered you won't get a optical drive with the MSI, not that it's a big deal these days.	icow (15313)
1353556	2013-09-15 15:43:00	I just remembered you won't get a optical drive with the MSI, not that it's a big deal these days. Actually that's a valid comment and something I had forgotten to check the specs on. A number of my games are on CD/DVD, so that's quite important. What's the best way around this, just to purchase a small cheap external drive to run them from? I think many have copy protection, so I can't just install them and then run from the HD only unfortunately. I must admit I'm tending to favour a Asus over a MSI at this point, mostly because of Asus' quality reputation vs. MSI's unknown (to me) reputation. But the MSI does look nice visually...	Chikara (5139)
1353557	2013-09-15 23:20:00	If you get a laptop without a CD/DVD drive the easiest way around it is to buy an external one, should be about $30-$40USD. The Asus does however have a optical drive so you won't have that issue with the Asus.	icow (15313)
1353558	2013-09-15 23:48:00	I'm not worried about physical size or weight (within reason)Then how about this HP one (www.pcworld.co.nz) reviewed by our very own fine PCWorld.	Greg (193)
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