New Laptop for Student(Budget $1000 CDN)

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nova_intel

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1. What is your budget?

No more then $1000 CND without taxes and shipping unless it is a deal that can't be passed up

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

I want a more thin and light laptop. It's going to be my primary computer and I'm on the go a great deal of the day. The size of screen I have no preference.

3. What screen resolution do you want?

No preference

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

I would like a more portable laptop

5. How much battery life do you need?

I would like to be able to get though a full day of work. This would include word, email, internet and programing on a single battery. I seen some manufactures saying that they can get 8+ hours on a battery so I would love to have something that could last 6 hours at least but if its more realistic then 4 hours is fine.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

I play a ton of older games and most of the time I play on medium settings. I like to play Battlefield 3 and Portal 2 on it. If it can be on Medium settings and do 20-25 FPS would be great.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)

Like I said mostly school work like programing, Word and email.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

I currently have a 250GB so if it has a hard drive nothing less then that. However if it comes with an SSD then I am willing to go down to 80 or 90 GB.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

None really but I like to keep it to Canadian place if possible.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

My old laptop is about 3 years old so I like to keep this one for just as long.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

DVD writer is fine, if it comes with a Blue ray then that's a plus.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

Gateway at the moment. My old laptop is a Gateway and I have had problems through its life. As I type this its temp is up to 80C (and yes I have replaced the thermal grease, cleaned it, use a cooling mat and I have even had the fan assembly replaced)and that's with a browser and Word open. Another guy I know bought one at the same time and his keeps BSD on him after upgrading to Windows 7. So I like to stay away from them for now. Other then that I open to anyone.

13. What country do you live in?

Canada

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I like to get a Sandy bridge laptop since I heard and ready great things about the CPU. I also like some of the features that Intel offers like Theft protection and Visualization as I might be setting up some virtual operating systems like Windows sever 2008 for learning purposes. I might also be dual booting windows 7 and Linux. I don't need an Operating system as I have access to Windows 7 Pro 64-bit for free from MSDN that they have at my University. I also interested at a tablet Laptop like x220t. I know this may be not possible with my budget but if its possible that would be a plus.

Thanks for your help and suggestions.
 
Solution
WR2
Lenovo Ideapad Y560P $950
Core i7 2630 4GB 500GB 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6570M graphics

ASUS N53SV-XV1 $1050
Core i7 2630QM 4GB 500GB HDD 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ GeForce GT 540M graphics

MSI GE620 $1056
Core i7 2630QM 8GB 640GB HDD DVD 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ GeForce GT 540M

All 15" models with Sandy Bridge quad core CPUs and (unfortunately) Win7 included as with most OEM laptops.
Gaming performance should be nearly identical with perhaps a slight edge to the HD 6570M Lenovo.
Out of the 3 I'd prefer the Asus N53, followed by the Lenovo and then the MSI a distant 3rd.

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WR2

WR2

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8+ hours of work isn't realistic on a single standard battery in a 'thin and light' powerful notebook.
You could get a 2nd battery pack. Or one of the larger battery packs which might give you something like six hours worth of work.
For example:
14" Acer Aspire 4820TG Timeline X Notebook review
Battery runtime:
Idle (without WLAN, min brightness) 9h 57min
Surfing with WLAN 5h 00min
DVD 3h 25min
Load (maximum brightness) 1h 08min

 
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nova_intel

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Thanks for the numbers. I wasn't able to find numbers and all I can get are the "lab" results for the number of hours. I would mind a second battery as that is the situation I am in now, which I get with both combined 2 to 2 1/2 hours with minimum load to the laptop. With my old laptop I real never put the laptop under load unless I am plug into the wall. In never looked at Acer how are they as a brand?

EDIT
Also is USB 3 possible thing to get? Thanks for all the help.
 
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WR2

WR2

Polypheme
Nov 18, 2005
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61,960
Lenovo Ideapad Y560P $950
Core i7 2630 4GB 500GB 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6570M graphics

ASUS N53SV-XV1 $1050
Core i7 2630QM 4GB 500GB HDD 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ GeForce GT 540M graphics

MSI GE620 $1056
Core i7 2630QM 8GB 640GB HDD DVD 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ GeForce GT 540M

All 15" models with Sandy Bridge quad core CPUs and (unfortunately) Win7 included as with most OEM laptops.
Gaming performance should be nearly identical with perhaps a slight edge to the HD 6570M Lenovo.
Out of the 3 I'd prefer the Asus N53, followed by the Lenovo and then the MSI a distant 3rd.

 
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Solution
WR2

WR2

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The ASUS N53SV-XV1 does have USB 3.0. And it also has an additional 1 year Accidental Damage Warranty.
It does have the Optimus feature to shut off the graphics card and use the integrated HD 3000 graphics on the CPU to increase battery life.

I'll be looking at some custom laptop options next that might not need to have Win7 installed. That usually saves about $90.
 
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WR2

WR2

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There don't seen to be many options in the 13" & 14" laptops for Sandy Bridge CPUs outside of the 'business class' notebooks.

How big a hurry are you to grab a new laptop? The major players are still going through a model refresh with new CPUs/GPUs.
And those changes start at the top end and usually work their way down in the standard consumer models later on.
 
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nova_intel

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Well I'm not in a big rush right now. I can wait as my old laptop is still chugging away. I can wait a few months if need be. Also its not a big deal if its 15" I just like a laptop that is not too heavy.
 
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cbrunnem

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220996
this one has the 540m and the 2630qm and also 1080p which you will like cause you will be able to see more lines of code at once.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131115
i can attest for this one as being an awesome laptop. as i type i am on this exact laptop. though i did put a 7200 rpm hard drive and 8gb of memory, thing you wouldnt need, it get around 4 hrs battery life on power saver mode and will play anygame you throw at it.
 
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nova_intel

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Thanks for the suggestions, unfortunately I can't seem to find the Samsung on newegg.ca :( I try to keep an eye out for it.
 
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nova_intel

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The shipping charges maybe and warranty as well. Since I had problems with my old laptop I don't want to have to ship it down to the US for repair, I had taken my old one in about 3 times in the three years I had it and as of right now I should take it in again. This might not be a legit concern.
 
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nova_intel

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For looking at the notebooks you have provided, should I think think about drop the idea of gaming and just look at a business oriented notebook? I like to get something under 5 pounds and everything seems to be > 5 ponds with a graphics card.
 
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WR2

WR2

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I don't like to tell anyone that gaming on a laptop is a bad idea. It's not.
But you do ''have to pay to play" when you're talking about laptops. Especially when you want to play modern (and not yet released) games at fairly high levels (medium graphics and above).

The dual core CPU and modest GT 525 graphics of the 14" Samsung QX411 @ $850 is a compromise between the quad core CPU and better graphics of the 15" notebooks at correspondingly higher prices.

Is $200 extra worth the quad core CPU and GT 540M graphics? That's a question only you can answer.
If you spread that extra $200 over a 3 or 4 year lifespan of a typcial notebook it doesn't seem quite as much, eh? ;)
 
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nova_intel

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Thanks for answering all these questions. I think that I might hold out on a gaming oriented laptop. I can wait to play BF3 and Portal 2 until I get some money to build a proper Gaming Desktop. I still can play Battlefield 2 which requires a lot less and I still have lots of fun with. The most modern game I have is Half life 2 episode 2. Think about the experience I had with my Gateway laptop and what I have research if I would like a half descent gaming laptop I would probably spent a little over my budget. Again thanks again.
 
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nova_intel

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Thanks for the help; I just have one more question. I think if I go for a gaming laptop I’m going to go with the Asus that WR2 suggested. However if I were to go with business/ultraportable I was thinking of either the Toshiba Portege R835 or maybe a ThinkPad t520 or x220. Which of the three might be a better choice?
 
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cbrunnem

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a thousand dollar mac book wont be able to play the games he want to very well except at low settings at best. macbooks come with a 320m
 
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nova_intel

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That and all my applications that I would need to run are windows based. I know that there is boot camp but I think that would not be the best thing for me.

Doing some research, has anyone had problems with heat levels in the Sager laptops? I read that they were getting up to 70-90 range. That's something my laptop is getting at right now and the reason that I'm looking at a new laptop. Also is this something that is not limited to Sager and might be something that is common in other laptops?
 
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cbrunnem

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thats normal with a quad core i7. the max temp for them is 100* c so that is not a concern
 
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