Need advice for buying a new Notebook

[ArjunDhanak212]

Hi guys.

I want to buy a new notebook for college use probably 4 hours a day (but not 4 consecutive), something durable enough that lasts 5 years. My usage is like internet, movies, light gaming (CS Source, COD, Prototype, Fifa) and the regular apps and softwares like photoshop, movie maker, virtualdj and I do use torrents occasionally. I'll probably go for Windows 8 given the lack of new windows 7 notebooks - don't know if it's only in India.

According to this usage description (do tell if I need to elaborate) can you please suggest if I'm in the right direction. So far I've thought of this; CPU is i3-3227u or i3-3120m or i3-3110m (pls advice which is best and why) 4 GB RAM, GPU is 1 GB radeon or nvidia, HDD 0.5-1TB, Brand lenovo, dell, hp, samsung (if you've used aany of these brands let me know about your experience). I live in India and I'm going to buy from a local retailer. Budget is $700

I've seen these notebooks
http://www.flipkart.com/computer/co...EBVBGXD5JPQ,COMDDQRNMWHH7SZK,COMDEH2SRNBYVC2J
Lenovo Ideapad Z580 (59-370239)
Dell Inspiron 15R (i3-3227U 4GB, 500GB, 1GB Radeon)
Samsung NP350E5C-S01IN

Thanks in advance

 

[tipstir]

Is that $700 USD or Rupee? Try to get at least 8GB of DDR3 RAM 4GB is not enough. 3GB with the OS and 2GB free after apps. i3 is okay make sure that is 2GHz the lowest 1.7GHz. GPU 512MB min 1GB mid or 2GB high. HDD 320 to 750GB. With the price range you have you can get some really nice here.

 

[St1ckM4n]

$700 won't get you 4-hr battery life, gaming ability, and decent specs for 5 years. Increase your price or drop your expectations.

You need: i5 dual (quad better), 4-8GB RAM, 1GB+ graphics card.

 

[Jad Chaar]

$700 won't get you 4-hr battery life, gaming ability, and decent specs for 5 years. Increase your price or drop your expectations.

You need: i5 dual (quad better), 4-8GB RAM, 1GB+ graphics card.

Do they have quad core i5s for mobile? I dont think they do.

Avoid the CPUs labeled with "U" since they are low power, and hence will not have great performance. If you get a laptop with a 4th generation core CPU, you may be able to game on low-medium settings just fine and you will get good battery life.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Do they have quad core i5s for mobile? I dont think they do.

Huh, good point. Doesn't look like they do.

By the way, this is the list of 4th gen mobile i5 CPU's and most of them are 'U' designated. True, they have lower performance than non-U parts, but a lot better battery life too!

 

[ArjunDhanak212]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Do I really need a i5 and 6gb RAM to run games and 5 hr daily usage? and is nvidia or radeon graphics better?
How is this
HP Pavilion G6-2016TX (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win7 HB/ 1GB Graph)
Take a look at its pictures tell me if its durable.

 

[Jad Chaar]

4GB of RAM is becoming too little. But for your price range, and the games you play, it is fine. The U series CPU is no problem if it is an i5 since it has turbo boost. The HP you chose is fine, but it may not get good battery life since dedicated GPUs + good battery life dont mix xD.

 

[tipstir]

AMD Dual Core 2.0GHz, 4GB of DDR2, 320GB,
512MB AMD Vision Graphics, Blue-Ray
Windows 7-64-bit Ultimate SP1 15.6-inch (Deep Contrast/Black LED/LCD Panel) 4x USB, HDMI

i3-Dual Core 2GHz, 8GB DDR3 RAM, 1GB GMA, 320GB HDD (optional SSD option)
Windows 7- HPM 64-bit SP1 15.6-inch LED/LCD, 3x USB Ports, HDMI

I only need 320GB I use NAS for my storage here so I don't need to get larger HDD. This above can handle TB HDD or SSD. This above only cost me $249 the one above that cost me $699. Both are ACER/GATEWAY Laptops.

8GB is better than 4GB as you can see both are setup the same.

 

[Jad Chaar]

What is up with the Tuner images???

 

[ArjunDhanak212]

Thanks for all the help guys!!

 

[tipstir]

What is up with the Tuner images???

Just showing the OP what happens with the current configuration of 4GB and 8GB. I could show him 2GB and 16GB. But not required to do so. Free Windows Tuner shows you current system speed 100% most system will show 60 to 80% those are degraded already. RAM and HDD space are also degraded too.

Even if you got a brand new system you would be shock to see how degraded it is. Once you run it you'll see a huge difference. The app also speeds up the system by removing the GUI Boot animation all it does is disable it. I see why they did that.

 

[junky77]

Actually, under $700 you can go with the HP 15z-j000 - with 1080p screen, 8GB DDR3, Radeon 8750M for $610.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Actually, under $700 you can go with the HP 15z-j000 - with 1080p screen, 8GB DDR3, Radeon 8750M for $610.

Good deal. I am not sure it would get good battery life though.

 

[junky77]

I'm pretty sure it will, though I don't know. HP claims almost 10 hours - I guess it is without the 8750M and 1080p screen but still, the previous generation had 5-6 hours at least and this one should be at least as good, since the GPU and CPU are more power efficient