Advice for new laptop

[JulianWe]

Hi guys,

I'm looking for a new laptop for school with light gaming. For example, CS GO and Dota 2.
No need for a super good gaming laptop performance as my priority would be having a light-weight and slim laptop as i would be carrying it around.
Multitasking smoothly and fast processor is also preferred.

My budget would be $1500

Advice from you guys as experts would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[Intrinion]

Hi Good Morning!

At your price range, you are looking at possibly two types of processor types:
a Dual core and a Quad core option

The dual core option would be based on the latest Skylake Architecture possibly
- A dual core i7 6500u with possibly a GT940M

While the quad core option would be based on the older (2 generations behind) but still widely used Haswell Architecture:

- A quad core i7 47xx series of processor with possibly a GT840/ GT940/ GTX950.

The dual core option would have better battery life, owing to lower energy consumption but would have slightly lower performance due to it having 2 less cores - so it's essentially a give and take type of scenario.

Both processor types commonly found in OEM laptops can support the games mentioned above.

You mentioned that you would be using it and possibly lugging it around for school - so size and weight are considerations. What would be the acceptable weight range that you would be comfortable in carrying?

 

[Wathen]

I'm also looking for the same thing as TS. Probably something around 1.5kg or less. I considered the Asus 303UB but dropped it after hearing about the hinge problems and bad after service.

 

[Intrinion]

I'm also looking for the same thing as TS. Probably something around 1.5kg or less. I considered the Asus 303UB but dropped it after hearing about the hinge problems and bad after service.

That's a hard one. < or = to 1.5kg.
Are you still looking at Asus or some other make?

A bud of mine recently got this: K401 - pretty good, suits her needs for school but it's at 1.65kgs

P.S. I believe there's a typo, it should be GT940M instead of GTX940 ( do verify with retail staffs for GPU model and type)

 

[Wathen]

That's a hard one. < or = to 1.5kg.
Are you still looking at Asus or some other make?

A bud of mine recently got this: K401 - pretty good, suits her needs for school but it's at 1.65kgs

P.S. I believe there's a typo, it should be GT940M instead of GTX940 ( do verify with retail staffs for GPU model and type)

Yeah I saw this too but I cringe at the hinge which is the same design as ux303. Is there any other laptops that are not asus or acer brand?

 

[Intrinion]

Yeah I saw this too but I cringe at the hinge which is the same design as ux303. Is there any other laptops that are not asus or acer brand?

What's your budget & max weight limit?
How about an expensive Thinkpad Carbon

Edit:
All jokes a side, the brands that are left are - HP, Lenovo and Dell.

Factoring in strong hinges, reasonable specs on top of being relatively light... the Lenovo Flex Series seems to fit your needs.

 

[JulianWe]

Hi,
I am looking about below 2.3kg for weight.
I thought Asus has one of the slimmest, I didn't know that dell and hp produce such portabl Lappy too. Could u advice on the model of the mentioned brands?

Also, do u recommend dual core since it's a newer generations? Or th quad will Serve us better?

For your kind advice thanks

 

[Intrinion]

Dont mention it man!

Apart from the macbook airs, zenbooks are possibly the slimmest you can find on the market.

Other makes do have ultrabooks and from the top of my head, there the Envy series from Hp and the Xps Series from Dell - you may check them out if you like.

If you do consider the Envy, do check out their touch pads as they can be quite hard to use - I do own an Envy 15, 2014 for school usage myself .. and the touchpad's pretty annoying.

Sent from HO HO HO MERRY X'MAS using GAGT

 

[Intrinion]

Opps missed out on the last part!

Dual cores are sufficient for most needs i.e. light-med gaming and office applications.

Quad cores are reccommended if you do CAD modelling or Video Rendering related sort of activities - which are CPU intensive.
What modules would you guys be taking? And what would be the software needed for your course? Am posting via mobile right now, will update more later!

Cheers

Sent from HO HO HO MERRY X'MAS using GAGT

 

[JulianWe]

Opps missed out on the last part!

Dual cores are sufficient for most needs i.e. light-med gaming and office applications.

Quad cores are reccommended if you do CAD modelling or Video Rendering related sort of activities - which are CPU intensive.
What modules would you guys be taking? And what would be the software needed for your course? Am posting via mobile right now, will update more later!

Cheers

Sent from HO HO HO MERRY X'MAS using GAGT

Hi, sorry for the late reply. was away for 2 days.
thanks for the suggestion. i will have to decide rly carefully then!

Is the zenbook sufficient for games that i mentioned?

Im doing a business course so i dont think i would need much modeling and stuffs,. which means a average computer will be fine for me. no software needed

 

[Intrinion]

Hi, sorry for the late reply. was away for 2 days.
thanks for the suggestion. i will have to decide rly carefully then!

Is the zenbook sufficient for games that i mentioned?

Im doing a business course so i dont think i would need much modeling and stuffs,. which means a average computer will be fine for me. no software needed

Hi Julian!

No worries, am always here
Do you have the specs for the Zenbook you are looking at?

The games that you mentioned should run fine on med settings as they are not really graphically intensive titles.

However please do note that zenbooks are fanless which means that they do not have any fans but rather rely on passive cooling to cool its internal components down. Therefore though it can run games, but it should not be ran all the time or for extensive long periods to ensure longevity of the system. Being especially thin, heat dissipation can be an issue and the system would throttle to reduce performance until it reaches acceptable levels.

 

[JulianWe]

Hi Julian!

No worries, am always here
Do you have the specs for the Zenbook you are looking at?

The games that you mentioned should run fine on med settings as they are not really graphically intensive titles.

However please do note that zenbooks are fanless which means that they do not have any fans but rather rely on passive cooling to cool its internal components down. Therefore though it can run games, but it should not be ran all the time or for extensive long periods to ensure longevity of the system. Being especially thin, heat dissipation can be an issue and the system would throttle to reduce performance until it reaches acceptable levels.

Hello,

I went to funan today to get the zen ux303Ub
its processor is i5-6200u.
i was told by the salesperson it will run fine.

i hope the i5 and i7 dont make much of a difference for my usage.

Did not get the i7 model due to $200 more expensive.

oh and i was told that i do not have choice for color, is that true?

thanks for ur help

 

[Intrinion]

Hello,

I went to funan today to get the zen ux303Ub
its processor is i5-6200u.
i was told by the salesperson it will run fine.

i hope the i5 and i7 dont make much of a difference for my usage.

Did not get the i7 model due to $200 more expensive.

oh and i was told that i do not have choice for color, is that true?

thanks for ur help

Hey!

Not too sure about the colour options.. I would take the salesperson's word for it - they do know what they sell better.

Had a look on the specs. The i5 version should be fine for your course and games.

I am using an i5 for the occasional gaming myself - i5 3337U with a GT740. It's able to run BF3 on Med settings. Yours being much newer will be able to surpass it.

Just do take note on its temps and maybe use a laptop cooler to reduce temps when gaming.

Oh and congrats on getting a new laptop

Cheers!

 

[JulianWe]

Thank u for walking me throught the process

 

[MsiH97G43]

Guys, a quick question that gt555m can run sc2 legacy of void at max setting?

 

[chiaRH]

Guys, a quick question that gt555m can run sc2 legacy of void at max setting?

http://www.notebookcheck.net/nvidia-m.41933.0.html


StarCraft

low 1024x768 --- 190 198.4 fps 234.2 fps ~ 208 fps
med. 1360x768 --- 55.8 fps 57 57.5 fps 62.6 fps ~ 58 fps
high 1360x768 --- 38 38.6 fps 42.4 fps 46.2 fps 46.4 fps ~ 42 fps
ultra 1920x1080 --- 22.3 fps 22.6 fps 23.9 fps 24 fps ~ 23 fps

At 1080p maxed settings looks like it gets around 22FPS

 

[hk7310]

Hi, expert

Your advice needed, thanks in adv.

for normal usage, surfing and office app, etc. no gaming

I am looking for this or other made

V3-575G-52GE
Intel Core i5-6200U Dual-core 2.30 GHz
39.6 cm (15.6") Full HD (1920 x 1080) 16:9
NVIDIA GeForce 940M with 2 GB Dedicated Memory
8 GB, DDR3L SDRAM
1 TB HDD

Is the Acer labtop reliable? Durable?

 

[MsiH97G43]

http://www.notebookcheck.net/nvidia-m.41933.0.html


StarCraft

low 1024x768 --- 190 198.4 fps 234.2 fps ~ 208 fps
med. 1360x768 --- 55.8 fps 57 57.5 fps 62.6 fps ~ 58 fps
high 1360x768 --- 38 38.6 fps 42.4 fps 46.2 fps 46.4 fps ~ 42 fps
ultra 1920x1080 --- 22.3 fps 22.6 fps 23.9 fps 24 fps ~ 23 fps

At 1080p maxed settings looks like it gets around 22FPS

Pardon me..is 22fps the bottomline?

 

[donald83]

What about the 6th gen Intel M series? Suitable for TS's needs?

 

[Intrinion]

What about the 6th gen Intel M series? Suitable for TS's needs?

Hey!
Happy New Year.

Do you mean the Core M series?

Well Core M series are sort of in between the Bay Trail Atoms and the Normal range of i3 / i5 / i7 processors. It's meant for hybrids , ultrabooks and tablets and not exactly designed for gaming!

Hope this answers your query..
If Ts doesn't game then yes probably this would be alright for the him / her.