Which notebook to buy

[candychng]

Hi,

I am looking to get a new notebook to replace my office desktop. Portability is important as I may have to commute with it daily. I use this notebook for productivity (very heavily on spreadsheets and PDFs and research works on the internet). Budget is $1.6k +/- $100

I have shortlisted the following:

1. ASUS UX32VD-R4041H
2. TOSHIBA R930
3. LENOVO X1 CARBON

Would appreciate recommendations from forummers here.

Thanks in advance.

 

[PC_Dreams]

Hi,

I am looking to get a new notebook to replace my office desktop. Portability is important as I may have to commute with it daily. I use this notebook for productivity (very heavily on spreadsheets and PDFs and research works on the internet). Budget is $1.6k +/- $100

I have shortlisted the following:

1. ASUS UX32VD-R4041H
2. TOSHIBA R930
3. LENOVO X1 CARBON

Would appreciate recommendations from forummers here.

Thanks in advance.

UX32VD has metallic chasis, thus is more rugged. It also have FHD screen - good for Excel and RAM is upgradable to max 10GB. However, weight is heavier @ 1.45kg.

Toshiba R930 is the lightest @ 1.4kg. However, the casing is plastic and feels more flimsy.

Lenovo X1 Carbon has the largest screen 14.0" (R930 and UX32VD are 13.3"), 1.4kg and the most rugged among the 3. However, it is also the most expensive one.

Personally, will recommend you to look more into UX32VD (for its RAM upgrade capabilities, graphics card and metallic chasis) at a good value price or Lenovo X1 for a solid 14" roadwarrior.

 

[Henabi]

adding on to what PC_Dreams...

if possible...head down to any AD shops and try these models out..

as you are using it for work and long hours. you need to be comfort with a few.things:
1) the keyboard.
do you like the layout? how about the tactile feedback of the keyboard as you type away?
if you have wide fingers then you may,want to look for laptops with wider keyboard layout.

2) the screen
are you alright with the resolution, the colour brightness and colour saturation and the viewing angle?

3) battery life
if you are always on the road, the laptop should last at least 4-5hrs at mid-low settings

4) Security features
if your work involves highly sensitive data. then you need a laptop with added security like facial unlock, finger scan etc

5) Warranty and Extended warranty
do you travel overseas for business trips often? then you mau need international coverage or even immediate servicing coverage.
for electronic products like laptops, people always look at the features first and consider warranty last. but I always prioritize warranty as top few things to consider

 

[brown19e]

Would also recommend Henabi's advice.

Most important, since you have shortlisted those products, is to test them out yourself - keyboards, mobility and especially the screen.

From experience, I think Asus's UX32 ranks tops in terms of aesthetics, but lowest on business capability. Don't think it has full ports / optical disk drive. Toshiba's R930 is a business notebook and it has the full range of ports and disk drive, however lacking on aesthetics loh.. give and take. For Toshiba's range, you also might want to consider the Z930, even thinner and lighter than the R930, but no disk drive. The X1 Carbon got no disk drive also right? But I've tried it in shops and I loved the keyboard.

If business capabilities in a notebook is important - go for the R930 if you can get past its looks.

 

[pishako]

Hi,

I am looking to get a new notebook to replace my office desktop. Portability is important as I may have to commute with it daily. I use this notebook for productivity (very heavily on spreadsheets and PDFs and research works on the internet). Budget is $1.6k +/- $100

I have shortlisted the following:

1. ASUS UX32VD-R4041H
2. TOSHIBA R930
3. LENOVO X1 CARBON

Would appreciate recommendations from forummers here.

Thanks in advance.

hi five!! i shortlisted the same first 2, waiting for comex next week.

I didn't consider lenovo cos it's a china brand. :x

 

[bolts]

all are interesting and good.

depend if you go out of office a lot or not. or if you bring home the machine.

 

[Henabi]

hi five!! i shortlisted the same first 2, waiting for comex next week.

I didn't consider lenovo cos it's a china brand. :x

for X1 carbon...its Thinkpad series
so it's safe to say that X1 is a very high quality model.

be it indian, China, Malaysian or any ulu pandan brand. It will be dumb to release a low quality laptop under the ThinkPad brand name, which is always linked to Business, High quality and durability

 

[crazydeals]

Hi,

I am looking to get a new notebook to replace my office desktop. Portability is important as I may have to commute with it daily. I use this notebook for productivity (very heavily on spreadsheets and PDFs and research works on the internet). Budget is $1.6k +/- $100

I have shortlisted the following:

1. ASUS UX32VD-R4041H
2. TOSHIBA R930
3. LENOVO X1 CARBON

Would appreciate recommendations from forummers here.

Thanks in advance.

Toshiba R930 is my choice....

 

[deadshot]

I'm more towards the LENOVO X1 CARBON cuz I'm using it so far and don't have much problems, quite like it actually

 

[stan216]

Is using a toshiba R930 for school work use. bought at comex 1 year ago. $1499

mine is:
i5-3210m, 2.5GHz (3.1 turbo boost)(2 cores 4 threads)
intel HD4000 gfx (1366x768 resolution)
8GB RAM
640GB hdd (i bought an OCZ vertex 3 separetely)
has an optical disc drive
VGA, hdmi output
3 USB ports (2x 3.0, 1x 2.0/eSATA)
windows 7 home premium 64bit
weighs about 1.44kg with battery, about 1.82kg with charger. battery is about 300g

battery life: if you trust what windows reports, it should be able to last approximately 5 hours. I rarely use the battery myself as I hope to preserve the lifespan of my battery for as long as possible... do note it takes quite a while to charge, so if you need to use battery power often you might want to remember to charge it overnight.

fingerprint scanner: don't get cheated by the display laptops. mine has no fingerprint scanner. the more expensive model however, may have...

keyboard: from my perspective, you kinda need to have a firm press on the keys, else you might feel that you pressed the key but the input didn't register.

screen resolution is crap imo. i wonder what reasons do OEMs (not limited to toshiba) have for limiting display resolution to 1366x768. I see Aftershock offering >1366x768 even for their 13" laptops, so it's not technologically impossible. has matte screen display, no "privacy protection" viewing angle. I kinda disliked my previous laptop's reflective surface, so this is +1 for me.

Sound: built in speakers are crap. audio output lacks bass. if you're an audiophile or happen to need to work with sound, this is a negative.

warranty: 3 years international, plus 1 year onsite (1 year has passed for me without problems, so, yay! -_-)

someone asked about this model as well last year and i replied

Toshiba R930 is the lightest @ 1.09kg with 6GB RAM. However, the casing is plastic and feels more flimsy.

1.44kg, with battery, weighed by yours truly before typing this out. mixed up with another model perhaps?

I didn't consider lenovo cos it's a china brand. :x

if you must know, mine is (and i assume all r930s as well are) assembled in china...

adding on to what PC_Dreams...

//rest of post

answered the best i can, as above.

If business capabilities in a notebook is important - go for the R930 if you can get past its looks.

one man's meat is another man's poison i guess. i eyed on the r930 since i first saw the r830 (major difference is processor, design wise it's pretty much the same afaik. r830 uses 2nd generation i-series, mine is 3rd generation i-series processor) plus it comes in my fav colour red

on a size note, TS does your company require windows professional/enterprise edition? i realised that only the more expensive laptop variants will come with pro versions. i was thinking, if your company requires pro version, and if there is a IT helpdesk available to help you format, it might be a waste of money if you bought a laptop preloaded with pro version, since your company might be paying for the product activation. please don't mind my 2 cents...

 

[candychng]

Hi,

Thanks for all the advice.

I am more or less settled for Asus UX32VD or the Lenovo X1 carbon, depending on the deals I can get for them. I have also set aside some budget for MS Office and additional warranty.

By the way, how much is the X1 carbon selling these days??

 

[Henabi]

Hi,

Thanks for all the advice.

I am more or less settled for Asus UX32VD or the Lenovo X1 carbon, depending on the deals I can get for them. I have also set aside some budget for MS Office and additional warranty.

By the way, how much is the X1 carbon selling these days??

X1 carbon landed in Singapore about 4 months ago. Initially the RRP for lowest config was $2.5K. Highest config was $3.3K

Right now, i think its still more or less the same. pricing a bit difficult for drastic drop since they are using carbon fibre body, weighing only 1.36KG for a 14" laptop, using 256GB SSD, and plus its under THINKPAD brand...

 

[candychng]

Hi,
Decided to get the Asus Ux32vd. Upgraded to 8G RAM and 128G SSD with 3yrs warranty. Damage is $1.5k.

 

[Henabi]

Hi,
Decided to get the Asus Ux32vd. Upgraded to 8G RAM and 128G SSD with 3yrs warranty. Damage is $1.5k.

welcome to the Asus Club

 

[trupurple]

Lenovo China brand, you serious? Having dealt with tens thousands of laptops, Lenovo X series are really darn durable and quality.
otherwise professionals even NASA, govt etc wouldn't be using it. I myself own the T and X series...

 

[kazuki666]

Don't mind me hijacking your thread, feel abit mafan create need thread. I have similar requirements as TS, just that I will need outlook as well. But the bulk usage will be still home use of net surfing, dl videos to watch, probably no gaming. But I am poorer than TS, I only have around $1k budget...

 

[Henabi]

Lenovo China brand, you serious? Having dealt with tens thousands of laptops, Lenovo X series are really darn durable and quality.
otherwise professionals even NASA, govt etc wouldn't be using it. I myself own the T and X series...

I have a friend who is still using a T series from 7yrs ago... on XP. Just for surfing, youtube and ms office.

 

[10e5x@1610]

Hi,
Decided to get the Asus Ux32vd. Upgraded to 8G RAM and 128G SSD with 3yrs warranty. Damage is $1.5k.

May I know the specs of the Asus u got? The price seems attractive. I always wanted to get one

 

[candychng]

May I know the specs of the Asus u got? The price seems attractive. I always wanted to get one

I had my office administrative o to purchase it for me. We purchased 3 sets of the ux32vd model, running on i5 processor but I upgraded the ram and ssd drive. The other specs are as per asus brochure.