Budget Laptop

[amazingbrains]

1.Budget <30,000INR

2.Screen size: Anything>11inches

3.Residence: I reside in India in Andhrapradesh.

4.Brands: No particular preference. But don't fancy HP & acer as they are usually costly. Toshiba always seemed inferior in terms of quality to me.

5.Primary tasks: Internet,Movies,photoshop cs4(2-3times/week).

6.Gaming: Occassional gaming.Like cricket 2007, Virtua tennis..etc. Ability to play games released on and before 2010 would be an advantage.

7.Portability:50-50 (home & outside).Not a big concern.

8.Battery life: Capable of watching atleast a 3-3.30hr movie.

9.Purchase: Seeing the product directly isn't a must.

10.Screen resolution: I don't prefer very small texts. Atleast medium sized text is a must.Any resolution of >1024x768.

11.Decent Appearance and comfortable keyboard layout with good touchpad is highly preferable

Imn't a frequent buyer. So hope to keep it for atleast 5yrs after buying. Im also on a tight budget. So the cheaper the price better(of course quality also matters).

Kindly suggest a few laptops with the above specs so that i can chose among them. Thank you very much!

 

[aishwar]

go for acer aspire 5740....with a 9-cell battery....costs around Rs.31550.

 

[sandyqbg]

Check out the Dell Inspiron 14R on their site. Just add the Radeon HD 5650 and the rest you're good to go. Will cost you abt 32k but you can play games upto 2010 on low to mid settings. It's a 14 incher.

Or go for the Dell Inspiron 15R. Just change the batteries to a 9 cell and for 31k you get a sweet deal. While you can play all those 2007 era games, don't expect to be playing latest not even on low settings.

Both the Dells use an older Pentium processor.

Also check the Compaq Presario CQ62-455TU. No dedicated graphics and it comes with DOS only.

With a strict budget it's usually hard to get a system that fits your reqs. Check flipkart for good deals.

I don't know about the aspire 5740 but I don't think you can get it at 31k. Anyway, ask around town. I'm not sure about this.

 

[aishwar]

Check out the Dell Inspiron 14R on their site. Just add the Radeon HD 5650 and the rest you're good to go. Will cost you abt 32k but you can play games upto 2010 on low to mid settings. It's a 14 incher.

Or go for the Dell Inspiron 15R. Just change the batteries to a 9 cell and for 31k you get a sweet deal. While you can play all those 2007 era games, don't expect to be playing latest not even on low settings.

Both the Dells use an older Pentium processor.

Also check the Compaq Presario CQ62-455TU. No dedicated graphics and it comes with DOS only.

With a strict budget it's usually hard to get a system that fits your reqs. Check flipkart for good deals.

I don't know about the aspire 5740 but I don't think you can get it at 31k. Anyway, ask around town. I'm not sure about this.

i got it in ranchi, jharkhand for 31550....don' t know about other places

 

[amazingbrains]

Thank you one and all for Ur valuable responses! How about increasing the budget to 35k?? Will i get a laptop satisfying my specs at this new price range????

 

[sandyqbg]

i got it in ranchi, jharkhand for 31550....don' t know about other places

Oh... ok. What are the specs. Because the 5740 seems to have different specs and different prices with that.

Thank you one and all for Ur valuable responses! How about increasing the budget to 35k?? Will i get a laptop satisfying my specs at this new price range????

Dell Inspiron again.
Go to the Dell site:
-Choose the second model(Superior Value) in the Inspiron 14R. This is a core i3 @ 2.53GHz clock. Throw in a 9 cell battery and that costs you 35k on the whole. Throw in the Radeon 5650 graphic card and you get it for 38k. You can play new games on lower settings.
-Choose the second mode(Great value) in the Inspiron 15R. Again same CPU. Throw in a 9 cell battery - 35k. The graphic card is the default 5470, which is not much of a performer. So 2007 and older games are guaranteed, but not anything newer. Anyway, you can rely on for your surfing, word processing, spreadheet, photoshop, etc., tasks.

As aishwar said, check the Acer Aspire 5740.

In Sony Vaio, go for the E series.
The model VPCEB44EN/BI has the same specs as the Inspiron 15 model I've suggested above but has 1GB extra(3GB total) memory and costs 37k. Again you can play your 2007 era games, and the extra 1GB means faster processing when it comes to more intensive tasks like photo/video editing. But it's got a 2k premium over the inspiron 15 and it has a 6cell battery.
Check the other sub 35k models in sony. They're pretty much close to each other and to the two dells i've mentioned above, though they seem to be slightly costlier than their dell counterparts(about 1k or so)
The advantage of Sony is generally that it's reliable and has a good(albeit a bit costly) customer support.
Dell is a little more prone to break downs compared to the Sony laps, but has a great customer support(a little cheaper too)

Lenovo has its Ideapad Z460 or Z560, again close to your reqs, but no dedicated graphics and has only a 6 cell battery. For Lenovo better check the prices with the local stores. They usually have special deals for Lenovo and the pricing and feature set is more dependent on the local stores than it is for Dell or Sony.

These are the closest to your reqs. You've ruled out HP and anyway, it's slightly on the costlier side for your budget. Toshiba is also ruled out.

 

[amazingbrains]

Thanks a lot sandy for such a detailed explanation..I will consider dell inspiron. But the company price and online price varies only by a few hundreds!! Not much of a difference.

1. What will be the boost in time achieved in replacing a 6cell with 9cell?
2. Heard that the extra graphics card will drain the battery even faster.Is it true?
3. Will there be any "significant" performance difference between Core i3 370M & 380M??

I will narrow down my choices soon and let u know....

 

[iamharish15]

My recommendation is to go for Lenovo Ideapad Z series laptops, currently they are offering the best trade off between the quality and the price.
Most of Laptops of this series comes with the nVIDIA graphics card, Core I3 processors and atleast 320GB HDD. And great looks also and the price is just around 32 to 37Ks.
Lenovo Ideapad z560
Or
Lenovo Ideapad z570
these two are the two hot choices recommended by me, you check and compare their features and price with the other recommended ones and it will be easier to decide for you.
But the final word by me is to go for it!

 

[suvra.saha79]

WOW!!!!!!! A large number of information. I also need to buy a laptop urgently. But a question. How much INR equals one dollar??
Anyways, thanks to all of you..

Printing services
Design and Printing
Business Printing

 

[aishwar]

WOW!!!!!!! A large number of information. I also need to buy a laptop urgently. But a question. How much INR equals one dollar??
Anyways, thanks to all of you..

44 rupees equals 1dollar

XE: (USD/INR) US Dollar to Indian Rupee Rate

 

[amazingbrains]

Still narrowing down...Now im starting to think what if we were able to assemble our own laptop jusk like our desktop from scratch. As soon as i narrow down to a particular laptop and find it satisfactory i finally realize that it is lacking in one or the other department (Hard drive capacity or RAM).

What if laptops were as upgradeable as desktops!!! Considering their size it's not to be!!!

Will narrow down in a day or two. Honestly i find better deals in Flipkart than on ebay?? Does anyone have similar experience???

 

[sandyqbg]

1. What will be the boost in time achieved in replacing a 6cell with 9cell?

Considering the Dell, the 6 cell version might give you a video playback of 2 to 2.5 hours and the 9 cell will last around an hour longer.

2. Heard that the extra graphics card will drain the battery even faster.Is it true?

Yes, but the thing with the sandy bridge and the Optimus technology on new Nvidia graphic card, the lap will switch to a low power mode using the on-board graphics(it's something like disconnecting the gfx card temporarily), so battery backup will not really be a problem unless you play games on it.

3. Will there be any "significant" performance difference between Core i3 370M & 380M??

Not really significant. If that is going to be the only deciding factor(in terms of specs) check the prices and go for the cheaper one.

My recommendation is to go for Lenovo Ideapad Z series laptops, currently they are offering the best trade off between the quality and the price.
Most of Laptops of this series comes with the nVIDIA graphics card, Core I3 processors and atleast 320GB HDD. And great looks also and the price is just around 32 to 37Ks.
Lenovo Ideapad z560
Or
Lenovo Ideapad z570
these two are the two hot choices recommended by me, you check and compare their features and price with the other recommended ones and it will be easier to decide for you.
But the final word by me is to go for it!

The Ideapad 560 does not have a discrete graphic card and costs about as much as the Inspiron 15R. But then again first check with the local dealers as there are sub-models which priced at the dealers' whim.

The 570 has an inferior graphic card compared to the Dell 14R, but has a 15" screen while the 14R has a 14" screen, while being priced around the same. Check with the dealer for the pricing and exact specs

Still narrowing down...Now im starting to think what if we were able to assemble our own laptop jusk like our desktop from scratch. As soon as i narrow down to a particular laptop and find it satisfactory i finally realize that it is lacking in one or the other department (Hard drive capacity or RAM).

What if laptops were as upgradeable as desktops!!! Considering their size it's not to be!!!

Will narrow down in a day or two. Honestly i find better deals in Flipkart than on ebay?? Does anyone have similar experience???

Yeah ot would be great to b able to assemble your own rig to match your exact reqs... Which is what I love about desktops the most... that and the lower price per unit performance. Anyway, we don't have much choice. Only Dell allows us to customize a bit and I hope other companies follow soon.

I feel flipkart is more reliable than ebay. After all, flipkart procures product from the manufacturer/seller, and then ships it to us, which means that there's more on the line for them if anything goes wrong. Also there's cash on delivery, which means(for <50k) that you pay only after you take the delivery and only if you think it hasn't been tampered with. I feel flipkart is more reliable.

On the other hand, anyone can put up anything on ebay, so you gotta be more careful on the deal. But I don't know much about the ebay experience... expect that it's a totally online transaction. If you're comfortable with online transactions and follow the right precautions, you can get a good deal.

 

[iamharish15]

The Ideapad 560 does not have a discrete graphic card and costs about as much as the Inspiron 15R. But then again first check with the local dealers as there are sub-models which priced at the dealers' whim.

The 570 has an inferior graphic card compared to the Dell 14R, but has a 15" screen while the 14R has a 14" screen, while being priced around the same. Check with the dealer for the pricing and exact specs.

I want to correct you man, Ideapad z560 does have a discrete graphic card nVIDIA GeForce 310M. Well Ideapad z560 has many submodels, you need to check urself,
the configuration of ideapad ranges from i3 to i5, graphic card from 512 MB to 1GB and the price is lower than the Dell models of similar configuration.
And I also have the Ideapad z560 with following config:
Core i3-350M, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, nVIDIA GeForce 310M 512 MB, @36000INR 9 months ago.
Now this model with same config is available for just 34K.
so I don't think you would be finding the better option than this.
You may also want to check the Ideapad z570 with similar configurations and similar price.

 

[sandyqbg]

I want to correct you man, Ideapad z560 does have a discrete graphic card nVIDIA GeForce 310M. Well Ideapad z560 has many submodels, you need to check urself,
the configuration of ideapad ranges from i3 to i5, graphic card from 512 MB to 1GB and the price is lower than the Dell models of similar configuration.
And I also have the Ideapad z560 with following config:
Core i3-350M, 3GB RAM, 320GB HDD, nVIDIA GeForce 310M 512 MB, @36000INR 9 months ago.
Now this model with same config is available for just 34K.
so I don't think you would be finding the better option than this.
You may also want to check the Ideapad z570 with similar configurations and similar price.

As I said, you gotta check with the dealer for the exact specs on offer and the pricing. But yeah, I didn't know the Ideapad came with a discrete graphic card. Don't count on the graphic card, though. It isn't a performer and is probably marginally better than the IG that comes with the system now.

Don't jump into the buy until you check the Ideapad laps in the store or you might miss out on a good deal

 

[iamharish15]

As I said, you gotta check with the dealer for the exact specs on offer and the pricing. But yeah, I didn't know the Ideapad came with a discrete graphic card. Don't count on the graphic card, though. It isn't a performer and is probably marginally better than the IG that comes with the system now.

Don't jump into the buy until you check the Ideapad laps in the store or you might miss out on a good deal

you are right, GeForce 310M is an entry level graphic card, but still it is enough for the requirements specified by the "amazingbrains". It will enable you to play many games post 2010 also, which you can't play without it.
And it is not that poor either, you can see the comparison with other graphhic card in its class like ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 that Dell provides.
And it is certainly far better than the IG.

 

[sandyqbg]

Actually the 5740 is itself not a great performer. This should give an idea of the performance of the lap for games. The 310 will run the 2007 and earlier games, but not really that many games post 2010. @amazingbrains: Check the link and see if that is okay for you

 

[iamharish15]

After all the final choice has to be made by the "amazingbrains". But I suggested according to my knowledge and opinion. Rest is his judgement and preference.

 

[amazingbrains]

Ya...harish is right! The final choice is mine and that is the difficult one too!! hahaha! If the core i3's cant manage a post 2007 era game how come my desktop pc with intel core2duo @2Ghz(no graphic card)& intel chipset plays them well, even though not at full resolution????

1. Are the processors for desktop and laptop different?? I mean does a core i3 for a desktop differ from the core i3 of a laptop???

2.Lets say, if i plan to throw away the game requirement from my specification will there be a significant decrease in price?? But atleast i need to watch my movies and do some photoshopping?

Can you please quote few models under this category. What will be its minimum cost?? Purpose: Browsing, movies, photoshopping. I need a good battery life more than 5hrs. I am willing to discard gaming totally from my option for this purpose.

3.Why is the battery life of a netbook higher than that of a notebook? Is it primarily due to the processor?

4. I have zeroed in on few models from ur advice above. Will quote them later. Before that it would be helpful if u can suggest few models sans gaming as said above.

5. What is the difference between core i3 and a second generation core i3. Similarly core i5 and 2nd gen core i5. This was mentioned in flipkart.com but i didn't notice any difference in the processor speed between the two. Which chipset is better? NM10 or HM55??

6.I also noticed a 2130M(2.10ghz) variant of core i3. Is this better than 370M(2.40Ghz),390M(2.67Ghz)?? Does a higher processor speed neccessarily mean its superior??


Finally, sorry for bombarding with so many questions!!! Thought it would be easy for u to answer if split up my queries rather than writing a whole big paragraph. Thank you in advance!!!

 

[geekymedico]

1. Are the processors for desktop and laptop different?? I mean does a core i3 for a desktop differ from the core i3 of a laptop???

Yes. Laptop processors are more power economic and are underclocked
Example :
2nd gen i3 desktop processor is clocked at 3.01 GHz while the laptop counterpart is clocked at 2.10GHz

2.Lets say, if i plan to throw away the game requirement from my specification will there be a significant decrease in price?? But atleast i need to watch my movies and do some photoshopping?
Can you please quote few models under this category. What will be its minimum cost?? Purpose: Browsing, movies, photoshopping. I need a good battery life more than 5hrs. I am willing to discard gaming totally from my option for this purpose.

i3 and i5 are enough for movies and photo-shopping. Intel HD graphics can handle pre 2007 games in low to medium settings. I have played CSS, SWAT 4, Max Payne 1 and 2, Mass Effect 2 at low to medium settings on Intel HD.

Graphics card improve the gaming experience but decrease the battery life. Cost is also increased

3.Why is the battery life of a netbook higher than that of a notebook? Is it primarily due to the processor?

Smaller Display and processor

4. I have zeroed in on few models from ur advice above. Will quote them later. Before that it would be helpful if u can suggest few models sans gaming as said above.

Dell inspoiron 15R will be good for you. Complete entertainment package. Its a bit heavy but pretty solid built

5. What is the difference between core i3 and a second generation core i3. Similarly core i5 and 2nd gen core i5. This was mentioned in flipkart.com but i didn't notice any difference in the processor speed between the two. Which chipset is better? NM10 or HM55??

2nd Gen processors are faster than 1st gen counterparts
Chipset dont really matter in this case. HM55 seems better to me. Not sure.

6.I also noticed a 2130M(2.10ghz) variant of core i3. Is this better than 370M(2.40Ghz),390M(2.67Ghz)?? Does a higher processor speed neccessarily mean its superior??

In this case YES.
2nd gen processors are faster and run cooler

 

[amazingbrains]

wow! Quite an explanation. Thank u so much geeks!

In this case YES.
2nd gen processors are faster and run cooler

In this case the processor with higher speed is core i3 390M with 2.67Ghz whereas core i3 2310M is 2.10Ghz which is supposed to be a 2nd gen processor. So which is superior??? The 2nd gen lower processor speed 2310M???