Posted: 6/8/2013 8:23:37 PM EDT
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So my current computer (an HP Envy 14 (1st Gen)) is coming up on its 3rd year of life and it's starting to break down a little, and I'm now in the market again for a high-quality laptop, and I've been completely oblivious to what's been happening in the market since I've bought this one about 3.5 years ago.
I intend to use this computer as a media device (Photoshop, video editing and rendering) and gaming to some extent (main goal is to run ArmA II and III reliably and smoothly). I don't want a full-on 17" desktop replacement because it needs to stay portable to some degree (My favorite screen size right now is in the 14" range, but up to 15.6 is just fine, as well). Because of what I do any computer 1366x768 is far too little pixel real estate, and for a 14" screen my minimum resolution needs is 1600x900 and 1920x1080 for a 15.6" I'd like to keep the price under $1100 as much as possible, and from the devices I've looked at, it seems like a reasonable goal. I looked at the Lenovo Y400 and Y500 and they have a killer deal going on now, but I've read that it has a weird BIOS setup and it's hard to reformat or install other OSs on it, which is close to a dealbreaker. (I'd like to be able to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows) The Asus N56 series is also appealing Does anyone have other suggestions 
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I'd hold off a little bit if possible. The 4th gen i series(haswell) from intel shows promise of better battery life and vendors have been showing off high res screens. Samsung has shown off a 13.3 3200x1800 panel, sharp has the igzo screens, etc. I'd say you have toshiba's kirabook which has a 2560x1440 screen but it is out of your range starting at 1600.
I guess what I'm getting at is that over the next few months we should start seeing some interesting changes with more high end screens as they filter down and the haswell chips should be a good setup. Now just really isn't the best time to buy if you can help it(unless you want the high end). If possible go for something with a ssd for speed as well. No one I've known that has had an asus has been happy with it. The warranty sucks as does the support. If possible I'd look at the business notebooks from pretty much anyone. The support is generally better and many of onsite options so you don't need to mail it off it something goes wrong. |
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Quoted:
So my current computer (an HP Envy 14 (1st Gen)) is coming up on its 3rd year of life and it's starting to break down a little, and I'm now in the market again for a high-quality laptop, and I've been completely oblivious to what's been happening in the market since I've bought this one about 3.5 years ago. I intend to use this computer as a media device (Photoshop, video editing and rendering) and gaming to some extent (main goal is to run ArmA II and III reliably and smoothly). I don't want a full-on 17" desktop replacement because it needs to stay portable to some degree (My favorite screen size right now is in the 14" range, but up to 15.6 is just fine, as well). Because of what I do any computer 1366x768 is far too little pixel real estate, and for a 14" screen my minimum resolution needs is 1600x900 and 1920x1080 for a 15.6" I'd like to keep the price under $1100 as much as possible, and from the devices I've looked at, it seems like a reasonable goal. I looked at the Lenovo Y400 and Y500 and they have a killer deal going on now, but I've read that it has a weird BIOS setup and it's hard to reformat or install other OSs on it, which is close to a dealbreaker. (I'd like to be able to dual boot Ubuntu and Windows) The Asus N56 series is also appealing Does anyone have other suggestions As was mentioned below, you should hold off for a few weeks to let the upgraded laptops begin to enter the retail/sales channel. But you would be likely be better off with a business computer. Models to consider: HP elitebook 8570p/8570w, Dell Latitude E6540 / Precision M4700 . You can find better prices on the HP's at provantage.com and dell offers big discounts on their computers at their outlet (business) website. |