Looking for a new laptop

Ljazzyman9182 on 20/06/2014 - 18:07
Last edited 20/06/2014 - 18:08

Hey guys,

I'm looking to buy a new laptop for uni. I am doing engineering so some programs we use are CPU intensive. My budget is around $1000 but I can add more if needed.

Things I have picked I want:

  • A 4th gen i5 or greater (I use some CPU intensive applications, and multitasking)
  • A 15-15.6 in screen
  • An SSD (for fast boot times)
  • Long battery life. (current is max of 45 mins :/)
  • Weight and size does not matter
  • 4GB or more of RAM
  • Solid build quality (screen on current laptop wobbles back and forth with the slightest bump)

Most laptops I have been looking at have not had an SSD, which I want after putting one in my desktop, and as I turn my laptop off and on multiple times a day, I want it to be quicker. So one option I have seen is to replace the CD drive with a hdd bay and move the hdd into there and replace it with a 120GB or so SSD (bought from an OzBargain deal of course :P), and move the OS to that SSD. So with that I probably need the laptop to have an optical drive.

Was looking at this toshiba:
http://www.dicksmith.com.au/laptops-notebooks/toshiba-satell…

But I'm unsure of the build quality.

Thanks for the help in advance :)

Computing

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2014 - 18:09

    Get the macbook airs on sale at Myer, its a no brainer.

    • noyesmaybeok on 20/06/2014 - 18:26

      Yes, MBA. You also can just shut the lid and open it later and continue with everything open in 1-2 secs. No more shut down & start up.

    • p1 ama on 20/06/2014 - 19:06

      He says he wants a 15-15.6" screen.

      • [Deactivated] on 20/06/2014 - 19:07

        Well the 13 inch macbook air fits the other criteria and is much better made than anything else on the market. The screen on it is big enough.

        • p1 ama on 20/06/2014 - 22:42

          is much better made than anything else on the market

          What do you mean?

        • Astro551 on 21/06/2014 - 13:20

          At $849 nothing I know beats it for price, battery life, and portability. Performance is subjctive but Mavericks is pretty damn fast.

        • jazzyman9182 on 21/06/2014 - 14:16

          Most of the mac owners at uni have trouble running the programs and have to get all these different cables to connect to the projectors and such. They do have nice build quality and battery life though.

        • Astro551 on 21/06/2014 - 14:20

          yeh that is definitely annoying. need adapters for hdmi and vga usually. and a fair point on the running programs aspect, OS X doesn't usually fair too well on somethings.

          I'm not sure what kind of engineering you're doing or what programs (I'm gonna guess stuff like Matlab, CAD, and stuff) you'll need, but if it comes down to it you can always dual boot windows or use a VMware to run it.

        • jazzyman9182 on 21/06/2014 - 16:57
          +1

          Electronic engineering. So we use some programs for pcb development and stuff like that.
          Thats certainly an option, would definitely have windows on it if I bought a mac.

          So at the moment it's between the horize ultra note and this MacBook Air.

        • Astro551 on 21/06/2014 - 19:11

          Keep in mind portability and battery as well I think. The Horize is certainly much beefier, but it weighs 1.95kg. Does seem to suit your needs more though, and 5-6 hours batt life is pretty good.

          MBA is much lighter, battery lasts probably closer to 9-10 hours so I think it's more a priority thing to which you prefer

        • jazzyman9182 on 21/06/2014 - 19:18

          To be honest weight doesn't bother me. The bigger the battery they can fit in it the better and stuff like that. I've been living with a battery that last a maximum of 45 minutes so anything is good haha. We have lots of power points at uni, so the battery just needs to get me in on the train 1 hour, and through some lectures.

          Would the battery in the MacBook have a longer lifespan? (not reach 30 mins max life so quick) compared to the horize?

        • scrimshaw on 21/06/2014 - 20:10

          Would the battery in the MacBook have a longer lifespan?

          See http://www.apple.com/au/batteries/notebooks.html

          Apple claims "5 years" of use but of course, this is not a realistic claim and is only in theory.

          The types of batteriess Macbooks use are no different from the lithium polymer cells used in other notebooks. The only variables I see which may be different is operating temperature of the machine which will affect the longevity of the cells.

        • [Deactivated] on 21/06/2014 - 20:13

          X

        • [Deactivated] on 21/06/2014 - 20:15

          The industrial design. It is miles ahead of anything else on the market. The only things that come close are the companies that directly copy the design, but even then they fall short.

  • scrimshaw on 20/06/2014 - 18:29
    +1

    Horize Ultranote??? 1080p display, 240GB SSD, Haswell, 8 cell battery and it's also priced less than $1000.
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/148245

    If you are looking for CPU performance, you'll want to avoid buying a low voltage processor.

    You can usually tell if it's an ULV CPU if the model name has an "U" e.g Core i5 4200U, i7 4500U, and so on. These are clocked at lower speeds and are power saving versions meant for ultrabooks.

    An i7 with a "QM" tells you that it's Quad core version. These are the beefiest in the Core family, but also the most expensive.

    If you want fast CPU performance and a slot for MSATA you might want to look at the Lenovo (currently on EOFY deals). It's the same price as the Toshiba but it's more compact, and has better specs overall.
    http://shopap.lenovo.com/au/en/laptops/thinkpad/edge-series/…

    E431 touch ~ $899
    Core i7 3632QM
    GT 740M graphics
    4GB DDR3 1600mhz (max 16GB)
    1TB 5400RPM drive
    Optical DVD drive
    + Upgrade MSATA drive yourself, add extra $99

  • MustResistPurchase on 20/06/2014 - 22:18

    Is your current laptop that old? You could just buy a cheap SSD, more RAM and a new battery and it might be good enough to last you a little while longer.

  • mrmarkau67 on 21/06/2014 - 11:47
    +1

    Another option is a second hand dell precision. These things are like built tanks and are optimised for engineering workloads, with pro certified graphics cards. Most models have msata so you can add an ssd without losing the hard drive. I can't overstate how much I love mine. But it sure is heavy!

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