Least Expensive Full HD 1920x1080 17" Laptop

[consultant]

Need a 17" Laptop with 1920x1080 screen. On a tight budget and not a gamer (care less about CPU and Graphics as any model with that resolution is going to be pretty good.) What's the least expensive option out there?

Have some people bought a 1600x900 and then replaced the panel?

 

[rgd1101]

http://www.bing.com/search?q=1920x1080+17"+Laptop

 

[Wisecracker]

Just wondering ... why the 1080p requirement? It really blows up your budget.

17-inch '16x9s' (like this one) can be found for less than $500.

Otherwise, you are likely 4 figures.

 

[inerax]

Doing a newegg search the cheapest is around $1000. I would not buy a 1600x900 and replace the panel. That is not going to be worth it.

I have linked the cheapest 17 inch with 1920x1080 on newegg below. This is new, never used.

GL on your search!


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152293

 

[inerax]

Just wondering ... why the 1080p requirement? It really blows up your budget.

17-inch '16x9s' (like this one) can be found for less than $500.

Otherwise, you are likely 4 figures.

+1 on what he said. going to 1080 is going to be a big cost.

Is the 1080 something you can give up?


Edit: here is a 16x9 model. it is $650 is rated good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215408

 

[Kamen_BG]

Screen size and resolution don't make a laptop good.

 

[consultant]

I've got a 15.6" 768p Thinkpad. I used it with a 24" 1080p monitor 75% of the time. I'm starting to work a lot more out of my home office. I'm finding I'm hating the 768p resolution as many of the web/business apps, the interface doesn't fit very good (constantly having to scroll down to see the functions at the bottom).

I don't mind going with a larger laptop as something closer to a desktop setup is preferred as I'm working from remote offices a lot more now as long as it still fits in my case or backpack and isn't too heavy/bulky (7 pounds or less)

If I go to 1600x900 on a 17.3" it seems I'm really not taking advantage of the larger screen that much. Might as well get a 1600x900 15.6" and preserve portability. But although my eyesight is good, 1600x900 on a 15.6" is going to be borderline to small for my personal preference.

I've got a Gateway 17.3" 1600x900 my kids use so I know what's that like. The extra 1080 pixels would be really useful. I would love it if I had the same resolution as my monitor. But frankly, if I think 1600x900 on a 15.6" (92K pixels per inch) is borderline too small, then 1920x1080 on a 17 is (119K pixels per inch) is definitely too high a resolution. Guess I just talked myself out of 1920x1080. 768p on a 15.6 is 67K PPI. 1600x900 on a 17.3 is 83K. Ya, I think 1600x900 on a 17.3 will be perfect. I know where to get the good deals on those.

You are confirming what I was afraid of. Seems odd that 1080p has been out in display devices for several years now yet the laptop manufacturers seem to be behind the curve. Does a 1080P screen cost that much more to make than a 900p? I guess it comes down to volume.

 

[inerax]

Screen size and resolution don't make a laptop good.

Kind of general. What would you say makes a laptop good?

He does not care about GPU or CPU + any 1080 model is a decent laptop.

What laptop do you think would fit his needs?

 

[consultant]

At risk of someone else here snapping this up, I think this is a tempting deal though.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-DARK-UMBER-DV7-DV7T-17-3-1080P-i5-2-4GHZ-6GB-640GB-DVD-RW-HDMI-WIFI-LAPTOP-/221124046007?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item337c052cb7

(PS. I don't mind advertisements but when a site takes it to the point of seriously hindering performance/load time like here, that's gone too far. Worse site I've ever used as far as lag/delay due to all the ads loading!)

 

[inerax]

If you are ok with spending $1050 with $100 mail in rebate then I would get the linked one below. It is less than $1000 with rebate and is in the top 5 rated 17 inch 1080p laptops on newegg.

I have always liked MSI. Their products I have purchased (couple MOBO, 1 laptop) have done me very well in the past.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152293

 

[consultant]

When I said tight budget I should have specified < $600. I realize most of the people on forums like this are gamers obsessed with CPU/GPU and Resolution.

 

[inerax]

When I said tight budget I should have specified < $600. I realize most of the people on forums like this are gamers obsessed with CPU/GPU and Resolution.

The ebay link is going to be the best bet. the 1080p laptops are too expensive right now :[

Hope they come down on price. Maybe think about trying to make what you currently have work and wait on the prices to drop.

Remember 1080p is going to start be become outdated (with tv's anyway). The new 2k and 4k TV's are going to start to roll out.

Wonder who is going to make the first 2k and 4k laptop and what they are going to cost.

 

[Wisecracker]

The only way you will work this out is to purchase a separate Full HD WideScreen LCD for $110 and an expensive laptop with HDMI out, like this AMD Llano APU for $380.

That leaves you $100 for an SSD boot drive to make things really *snappy*

. . . . and a $10 HDMI cable.


edit: That should be inexpensive :lol:

 

[consultant]

The only way you will work this out is to purchase a separate Full HD WideScreen LCD for $110 and an expensive laptop with HDMI out, like this AMD Llano APU for $380.

That leaves you $100 for an SSD boot drive to make things really *snappy*

. . . . and a $10 HDMI cable.


edit: That should be inexpensive :lol:

This is tempting but my days of tinkering when I'm younger are passed. It it was a < 30 min exercise with 99% guarantee of no issues, then I might go for it though.

Just for the reason inerax pointed out, I'm now thinking I should go for a dv7 refurb around $500 and go ahead with 1080p. The reason is I want to future proof, but I'm not going to wait around for prices to fall. If that were the case you can do that forever as then something newer/better comes along and then you wait for that price to come down? I think my eyes can take 1080 on a 17. You can make the fonts/icons larger. It's just that I have to do a lot of consulting on web design/development, and it makes images on web pages look a lot smaller than what the average users is seeing.

But with Apple going "retina" on everything, I think the days of 768p and 900p on laptop and PCs displays will be ending a lot sooner than previous resolutions took to die out. Plus when I'm collaborating, it would be nice to have something that compares (displays) similar to Mr. Fancy pants with his MacBook sitting next to me. lol.

 

[consultant]

Ugh. Now I'm thinking how my 15.6" barely fits on the tray table on the plane. But frankly I'm only on a plane 2-4 times a year. I also know the 17" won't fit in my current backpack. I consider my iPad though my true portable. If my main scenario is going from 80% docked / 20% mobile office to 50/50 then really I need the closest thing to a portable desktop. Heck with good weather I am trying to get out of my dingy home office and sit out on the deck a lot more! I need a new backpack anyway, lol. Thinkpad is only 18 months old. If I'm going to go to the trouble, might as well go 1080p as I'm sure all the 17" will be that resolution in a year or two anyway.

 

[Wisecracker]

This is tempting but my days of tinkering when I'm younger are passed. It it was a < 30 min exercise with 99% guarantee of no issues, then I might go for it though.

Just for the reason inerax pointed out, I'm now thinking I should go for a dv7 refurb around $500 and go ahead with 1080p. The reason is I want to future proof, but I'm not going to wait around for prices to fall. If that were the case you can do that forever as then something newer/better comes along and then you wait for that price to come down? I think my eyes can take 1080 on a 17. You can make the fonts/icons larger. It's just that I have to do a lot of consulting on web design/development, and it makes images on web pages look a lot smaller than what the average users is seeing.

But with Apple going "retina" on everything, I think the days of 768p and 900p on laptop and PCs displays will be ending a lot sooner than previous resolutions took to die out. Plus when I'm collaborating, it would be nice to have something that compares (displays) similar to Mr. Fancy pants with his MacBook sitting next to me. lol.

It is probably less than a *30-minute tinker* to clone the drive BUT ...

I would suggest a simple fresh OS install to eliminate the OEM bloatware, and reuse the OEM key. A Vantec external HDD enclosure for the original HDD is less than $10. It should hold around 100+ ripped DVDs.

60GB SSDs are around $70. A local computer shop will likely make the conversion for you for $40-$50 (especially if you provide them with updated drivers)

New stuff is the way to go -- refurbs are not a very good long-term proposition, really, and your timing could be better.

7-inch tablets have mini-HDMI-outs and can do the same thing (if you can do 'Android'). They pop up on New Egg 'EBlast' nearly every week for $70. New Tabs with Win8 will be rolling out next month but will likely have that new-price premium -- but will drive down the price of current tabs.

Don't jump until yah feel froggy there are some really interesting options currently available to you -- and lots of new stuff going out soon.

 

[consultant]

Well for anyone interested that finds the thread. Even though that DV7 with 1080p on E-bay was a great deal, I decided I didn't want to have to get a new bag/backpack to lug around a 17" So I went for a 1600x900 15.6" refurb Asus for $346 (i3-2310M at TechForLess - 20% better Passmark than my i3 380M). I figure I'm looking at 1080 on a 24" but sitting 50% farther away so this combo should be about right for me. 1600x900's are really hard to find in 15.6"! Seems funny going from an 18-month old Thinkpad Edge but all I need to do is swap in my SSD, update some drivers and I should be off and running. I may spring for a 1-2 year SquareTrade Warranty for some peace of mind. I think this will be the best compromise between size/resolution/portability. Best thing is I can sell my like new Thinkpad in the original box for low $300's so very little out of pocket needed! And I won't have a resolution to much higher than your average web user so I will have a realistic

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I can't do $600 but can come in well under $1,000

$872 gets you a very nice 1920 x 1080 laptop and that's before you get the MAX discount
http://www.lpc-digital.com/notebook-review-members-military-and-student-discounts.html

17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080)
1GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GT 650M GPU with Optimus Technology
Intel® GMA HD Embedded Intel HD Graphics
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3210M Processor
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 4GB
500GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
Internal 802.11 B+G+N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Combo Module
1 Removable 6 cell smart Lithium-Ion battery pack 62.16Wh
LIFETIME Limited Labor and 1 Year Premium Parts Warranty
High Definition audio interface
S/PDIF Digital output
1 Built-in Microphone
2 Built-in Speakers
THX TruStudio Pro Sound System
Full sized isolated keyboard with Numeric Key Pad
Three instant buttons for WLAN on/off, Mute, CCD Camera on/off
Independent GPU button, support UMA and Optimus mode
Integrated Touchpad with Multi-gesture and Scrolling function
1 HDMI 1.4a output Port
1 CRT output Port
2 USB 3.0 Ports
1USB 2.0 Ports
1 eSATA Port (USB 3.0 Combo)
1 Headphone Jack
1 Microphone Jack
1 S/PDIF output Jack
1 RJ-45 LAN (10/100/1000Mbps)
9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/SD/Mini-SD/SDHC/SDXC)
1 MiniCard Slot for WLAN module
Built-in Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Built-in 2.0M Digital Video Camera
Kensington® Lock

Ya wanna upgrade anything, you can change processor, memory and many other items.