Need New Laptop

by Disciple • 16 Sep 2012, 11:35 • Journals
Yo crossfire!

I'm looking for a new laptop for school purposes only.
Don't actually know much about hardware these days, so I could use some advice!

3 options I got from a friend at a computerstore:

HP ProBook 4540s
Intel core i5 (2.5 ghz)
Win7 Pro
6gb RAM (1333 mhz)
HD 500 GB
AMD Radeon 7650m
Price: €760

ACER ASPIRE V3-571-53214G50MAKK
Intel core i5 (2.5 ghz, boost to 3 ghz)
Win7 Home
4gb RAM
500 GB
Intel HD Graphs 4000
Price: €599

LENOVO Thinkpad Edge e530
Intel core i3
4 GB RAM
500 GB
Intel HD Graphics
Price: €644

My first impressions:
The HP is quite expensive (need to pay a bit more than my budget)
The Acer would suite me perfect, but they told me that they had to repair 3 of those after 1 week....
THe Lenovo looks shit (and is less powerfull?)

So, any other options or is my own opinion about them wrong?

My budget can go up to 700 euries :)

Thanks lads!
Comments
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frozz. 16 Sep 2012, 12:40
please stay away from crap like acer or hp unless u pay extra for extended warranty (to 3 years)...they have 1 year usually. (btw. v3 and v5 series seem to be slightly better than older laptops, but it's still too early 2 call)

lenovo is ok but also its better to get ext. warranty.

I'd go for ASUS, Dell or Toshiba for example.

Check Dell5520 with i3 and ATI 7670M, shouldn't be too expensive. (dell has 3years warranty by default)
ASUS K53 / N53 / N55 / N56
Toshiba L series
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 13:05
Thanks for your advice!

The ASUS' and Toshiba L's look nice indeed :)
Tho I can't really find the DELL 5520 :s there is a 5530 tho...

But really, thanks :)
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frozz. 16 Sep 2012, 13:13
weird,google doesnt find many pictures about 5530..my personal taste would be asus n53, its kinda older series already but for me it looks fantastic+it has great speakers for that laptop range...keyboard is slightly off, but i'd still recommend it. if someone has it on sale with i3/i5 and gt540 or 630 go for it.
also note that 7670M is probably the best graphics card in this budget(it's as the same as 6650M, just renamed)
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frozz. 16 Sep 2012, 13:20
i'm following laptops in this budget range for quite sometime because I'm getting one very soon, just waiting my summer salary to come on my bank acc and most likely I ll be getting this:

http://www.notebook.hr/product_info.php?products_id=16469

550€ here in croatia, usually laptops were much more expensive but eversince webshops showed up, the prices dropped dramatically.
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 13:51
Well, I'd go for the DELL too :) It has the best specs I've seen so far and the price is great!

But I can't seem to find it in Belgium...
The only inspiron laptops they have here are 15 or 15R (for 15 inch ofc)
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 13:58
I found out that the 5520 has been renamed to 15R here in Belgium :)
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frozz. 17 Sep 2012, 02:49
yea thats it
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adetonian 16 Sep 2012, 23:03
Ik heb sinds 2 weken de Lenove IdeaPad y580(i7 3610qm versie). Fantastische machine, kan em 100% aanraden als je je budget iets rekt :P
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Exc1te 16 Sep 2012, 13:36
We're currently in the EU which means he at least has 2 years of warranty.
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 13:39
Actually, the stores I visited didn't offer more than 1 year :)
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Exc1te 16 Sep 2012, 13:42
which means that they're in violation of the law, Apple also did this for a while but they finally got called back by the EU and now they're offering 2 years.
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 13:52
Then I'm gonna sue the company for a free laptop! :D
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FiLuS 16 Sep 2012, 14:14
There is 2 years warranty as minimum around here (dunno if it's EU law, but in SVK it is)
Btw, Acer Aspire V3-571G Olympic Edition here, 2 months and so far no issues. Acer provides the best price/performance ratio, there was simply no laptop in <700e category to be equipped with GT640M and i5-3210 CPU. I was using Acer laptop before, for over 3 years with only one issue (charger burned out after 1 day, bought new one right away and it works now for 3 years and counting) so I took a chance on Acer again knowing built quality, noise level and heat aren't the strong suits of Acer laptops. However, if any of those are important for someone, they should forget Acer or HP (well, ProBooks are very good, but Pavilions are dipshits).

EDIT: seeing he wants for school purposes only, Lenovo would be the best solution from those 3.
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 14:39
Well, those 3 are the ones I got adviced in the store, though I'm open for new options as well :)

When I saw the V3, I was quite impressed by the Price/perf. But ofcourse I need it for school purposes, so I really need a stable one! :) Everything else (like vidcard, sound, etc) comes in handy ofcourse :)
Checking the site, they offer an olympic edition, i5 3210M with GT630M 1 GB for €650

Do you know what gfx card is equal to a GT630? (ATI 7670? Though I'm not really fond of ATI)

Some of the Vostro's have the ATI card and some equal processors, the Inspirons go with the intel graphs...
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FiLuS 16 Sep 2012, 18:11
HD7670 should on the same level as 630m, according to benchmarks
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 18:39
Okay Thanks :) A lot of interesting info's ;)
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frozz. 17 Sep 2012, 02:51
yea didnt know about 2years warranty by the EU law, if thats the case that changes the things pretty much. as i said, v3 and v5 seem to be more decent than older laptops and the specs u mentioned are rather good for the price
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bAnga 16 Sep 2012, 12:57
HP ProBook 4540s
Intel core i5 (2.5 ghz)
Win7 Pro
6gb RAM (1333 mhz)
HD 500 GB
AMD Radeon 7650m
Price: €760
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Kiewan 16 Sep 2012, 13:10
I hardly doubt your going to use it for school purposes only. You will regret this choice when your about to play a game to kill time.
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 13:33
Studying in a French University tomorrow, so I'll need my spare time to practice French :)
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Exorikos 16 Sep 2012, 19:14
You can spend your time studying and drinking. I haven't really played any games in the last years since I started uni. :) Go for a Dell Inspiron 15R.
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 19:19
I'm planning on doing the same as you then :) but without the drinking, I don't drink :)

It's great indeed, niceprice and specs :)

http://www.nicomplus.be/medium-formaat-notebooks/320-asus-n53sm-sx049v-be-azerty-notebook-4716659139904.html

This one is a bit more expensive, but has great speakers, interesting for my music :) Also the specs are wonderful and reliable i guess :)
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Exorikos 16 Sep 2012, 20:25
I didn't specify drinking alcohol. I mostly drink coke and water myself. :)
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 20:31
more like a social factor then, well, I totally agree with you then :) sorry for the misunderstanding!
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Gabt 16 Sep 2012, 13:42
Use a jotter like the rest of the cuntry. (I meant it)
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laNgo 16 Sep 2012, 14:11
go for...

Dell Vostro 3560

or

ASUS A55

the 2 best 15.6" laptop series for your budget (less than 700€ :o)
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 14:23
What's the difference between the Vostro's and the inspiron's?
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laNgo 16 Sep 2012, 15:58
well mainly the vostros are made for smaller companies and the inspirons are for home users..
i didnt had a look by my own on the latest dell series since my company is using hp only atm :/
usually the vostro has the better keyboard and it has a mat screen (for example this is better if you are outside)
the vostro has win7 pro instaed of home prem but this isnt a real argument for the vostro (atleast for a homeuser :P)

well the rest idk ..the case of the vostro seems to be more solid
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strango 16 Sep 2012, 14:28
DO NOT GET A HP... hp is crapppppppp

\o/
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 14:42
Gelukkige verjaardag nog, trouwens :D denk dat ik te laat was op facebook?
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strango 17 Sep 2012, 14:51
thx, ja np's!
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zeKxa 16 Sep 2012, 14:30
good brands: Asus, MSI, Samsung, Sony
bad stuff: Acer, HP, Toshiba

You should go for the Asus N56

Intel Core i7 3610QM
Intel HM76 Express
15.6" TFT, entspiegelt, LED Backlight
Full HD (1920 x 1080)
8GB DDR3 2x 4096MB), 1600MHz, Maximal 2x 4GB
750GB, 7200rpm
nVidia GeForce GT 650M mit 2GB
blu-ray ROM , DVD+/-RW SuperMulti DL LightScribe
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 14:46
What's the price of that one? :D god it looks great :D
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laNgo 16 Sep 2012, 15:59
more than your budget :P
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 16:08
hehe, well, I don't bother giving 750-800 for something that has those qualities :D

The N56vm is slightly lower in specs.
i5
630M
...

How about that?
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 16:14
hehe, well, I don't bother giving 750-800 for something that has those qualities :D

The N56vm is slightly lower in specs.
i5
630M
...

How about that?
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laNgo 16 Sep 2012, 16:51
if you want to spend the money go for it.. the asus n56vm is a good laptop .the case is already on a higher class (~1000 € laptops)

so you have to decide if you want a bit better case (most is the design tbh) the specs are the same as the laptops for ~ 600-700 :)
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 16:58
Well, I dont really search for design :)

The Acer Aspire with i5-3210 and GT630M only costs 650...
The n530 costs 720 with I5 and GT 630M

But is there a lot of difference between the GT 610M and the 630M?
And which processor is the best? the i5 2.5 gHz or the i7 2.3 gHz?
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frozz. 17 Sep 2012, 02:53
there is quite much of diff between 610 and 630m. but difference in processor u wont actually feel unless you use actual programs that require 4 cores.
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m6i 16 Sep 2012, 14:36
I got myself Acer Aspire 5755G one month ago and it couldnt be better. For 500pounds (600ish euro?) You can have a truly great laptop!
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 15:14
Yeah, They are indeed very interesting :) Looking at 2 of their laptops atm :) 600 and 650 :)
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ckie 16 Sep 2012, 20:37
I have Acer Aspire for almost a year now, had no problems with it except some overheating @ summer while playing games that needed full computing power, then I bought one of these:

image: Xigmatek-Shield-NPC-D211

and having no problems atm.

+ acers users have some discounts for McAfee Internet Security, had it for 3 months and I have to say that it was damn good.
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Matias 16 Sep 2012, 16:04
http://www.verkkokauppa.com/fi/product/47118/dhbjm/Asus-X93SM-18-4-FHD-Intel-i5-2450M-GT630M-8GB-1-TB-7HP64

I'm thinking of buying this, is it good?
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 16:18
It looks quite nice :) The N56vm is about the same price here in Belgium, the speakers are B&O (and as a musicfreak, that's awesome!). Though, Filus'' comment is also interesting, the Aspire v3 olympic editions are 650/700 for the same hardware types... (though it's Acer)
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Matias 19 Sep 2012, 01:51
thx for the answer! I'm gonna buy it for playing poker and making music, I have another sound card ofc. You think I should buy it?
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beAsty 16 Sep 2012, 16:57
the lenovo is just fine.

other good brands: asus,dell,clevo(malibal,sager)
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 17:00
the asus N-series (N56vm and N53) are nice laptops, Dell has some fine too :)

If I look at the specs, the Lenovo's seem to be a bit less good... In the same price range...
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beAsty 16 Sep 2012, 17:04
lenovos built quality is 7800 times better than Acer/HP. Lenovo Thinkpads are laptops u can throw out of the window, drive over them with a truck and they will stil work. Besides that battery life should be rly good on that laptop (which might be usefull for school use). Also think about fan noise, display quality, etc.

You need it for working so no need for a good gfx card (as it will also drain battery faster, more weight, etc).

As you take it to school you want portability. Lightweight and ~15" I guess.
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 19:15
They are indeed interesting and your advice is really great!

Indeed , the laptop is for school purposes! But next year I'm probably combining my studies with conservatory studies, so that's why the N-series are wonderful! They've got great speakers :)

This is the one I'm considering atm:

http://www.nicomplus.be/medium-formaat-notebooks/320-asus-n53sm-sx049v-be-azerty-notebook-4716659139904.html
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Rayzed 16 Sep 2012, 17:57
Got myself an ASUS K55V with an i5 ivy bridge, Nvidia 630m, 8gb RAM and 700GB HDD, its quite powefull and fits your budget (700€)
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 19:06
Well, the N53 looks interesting to me :) i5, 630m, 4GB 750 HDD, but has B&O speakers :) Those speakers are quite interesting as a musician.. Dno what is the most interesting :)
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Jonasty 16 Sep 2012, 19:23
40€ voor een hoer in brussel noord!
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 19:27
GIJ ZIJT GRATIS IN LEUVEN
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Jonasty 16 Sep 2012, 19:56
:DDD
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Disciple 16 Sep 2012, 20:07
We moeten nog is afspreken :(
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grzesiek 16 Sep 2012, 19:44
just bought week ago dell inspiron q15r for ~500 euro in poland, feelz good
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