Multimedia + Gaming Laptop <80k

falcongamer

Broken In
I want to buy a multimedia laptop within Rs. 80k. 60-65k would be the sweet spot, would only go for a higher price if I get enough added returns.
1) What is your budget? (INR or USD)
<80k INR

2) What size & weight consideration (if any) would you prefer?
14", 15.6"

3) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
  • Light gaming
  • Photo editing
  • Movies and surfing


5) Any typical configuration in your mind you're eying for ?


4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a. Like: Dell, Lenovo


6) Anything else you would like to say?
Screen resolution (would prefer FullHD or at least 900p)
Purchase place ( Local)

First off, I need a laptop with extended international warranty (3 yrs) with ADP if possible. That kinda boils down to just Dell imho. Please tell me if there are other manufacturers which also give the same.

Now, I'd mostly be doing light gaming once in a while, but would like the lappy to be somwhat future proof, so a upper mid range card would suffice. Other than that photography is my hobby and I'd spending some time editing photos (at the time it is mostly RAW editing in Lightroom. Don't tinker with PS much). I also do a bit of keyboard based music production, but I take it that wouldn't put much tax on modern processors. I've seen that Lightroom on 768p screens is a bit cramped, so I would prefer a 900p or a 1080p screen if possible. Otherwise I'll have to resort to hooking up with a FullHD monitor whenever I need to.

Right now, just looking at Dell, I have 3 options at three price points:
1. Dell Inspiron 15R (4th Gen Ci7 4500U, 8GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, 2GB Radeon HD8850M): 60k INR +7k (for 3 yr Complete Cover)
-Sweet deal, except the fact that it is only available with 768p screen.

2. Dell Latitude 3540 (4th Gen Ci5 4200U, 8GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, 2 GB Radeon HD8850, FullHD display): 69k INR (includeing 4 year ProSupport) + 4.5 k (for ADP)
-This is a corporate offer through my company. All good except the ULV i5. I cannot decide if the upgrade from 4200U to 4500U is worth foregoing the FullHD screen. Will it make much real world difference to my usage scenarios? After all 4500U is still a ULV dual core with higher clock and more cache.

3. Dell Inspiron 7000 (Ci7 4500U, 8GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, 2 GB nvidia GT750M, FullHD IPS touch display): 80k + 7k (3 year complete cover)
-Best of both worlds, but with a whopping price difference. Of course I get unibody aluminium construction, Corning Gorilla Glass display and the added weight.
Also I had read about some Wifi issues in some review but some of them seem to have been resolved?

So, yes I'm pretty much confused and need your help guys! I'm very open to other brands if they have the warranty thing sorted out. In fact a full voltage processor would be nice, and Dell doesn't put in full voltage processors in anything except the Alienware laptops.

Thanks a lot, and Happy Holi!! :)
 

seamon

Superhuman Spambot
Get the lenovo y510p. It meets all your conditions except adp. You can get upto 4 years warranty for 4.5k more. The color reproduction and viewing angles of its screen is greater than dell Inspiron 15/15r.
 
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falcongamer

Broken In
Get the lenovo y510p. It meets all your conditions except adp. You can get upto 4 years warranty for 4.5k more. The color reproduction and viewing angles of its screen is greater than dell Inspiron 15/15r.

Yeah I've been thinking of the Y510p. But does Lenovo give International warranty here in India? Lenovo customer care has got me confused. As in the initial 1 year warranty is supposed to be international, but from what I heard, when I extend it, the extended part is only covered nationally. Is that true?

Also, please tell your thoughts about the 4200U vs 4500U issue considering my laptop needs.
 
I think Lenovo still provides 2 years warranty + ADP, when you buy Y510p....... Ask Lenovo about warranty extension
You can get the laptop for 72-74k, put rest of the money for warranty extension

It has 4th gen i7 4xxxM, i.e not an ULV + FHD screen + GT755M
Lenovo Ideapad Y510 (59-390016) Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 8GB/ 1TB/ Win8/ 2GB Graph) Rs.76990 Price in India - Buy Lenovo Ideapad Y510 (59-390016) Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 8GB/ 1TB/ Win8/ 2GB Graph) Black Online - Lenovo: Flipkart.com
 
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falcongamer

Broken In
Thanks.

Well, I have thought about the Y510P. The lenovo customer care got me confused. According to them it seems the initial warranty given with the laptop, but the extended warranty which we would buy is only available nationally. Is that true? The customer care people did seem confused!

The dostore shows that it comes with 1 year onsite warranty + ADP though, not two years.

Also please give your thoughts about the 4200U vs 4500U issue, considering my computing needs.
 

AbhMkh

Ambassador of Buzz
You can check out the Dell Latitude E6540.Dell India does not mention the exact price or specs(you have to call and inquire about it), but AFAIK it offers the following at 80k

15.6 ANTI GLARE FHD+CORE I7 4800MQ/4600M+AMD RADEON 8790M 2 GB+ 8GB RAM+ 500 GB SOLID STATE DRIVE WITH 8GB FLASH.

Pretty awsome specs if ask me, will result in blazing fast performance !
 

seamon

Superhuman Spambot
Re: Multimedia + Gaming Laptop &amp;amp;lt;80k

Core i7 4800mq+500gb ssd should make the laptop cross 1 lakh barrier easy imo.

- - - Updated - - -

4600m is dual core so it won't be that good.

- - - Updated - - -

Thanks.

Well, I have thought about the Y510P. The lenovo customer care got me confused. According to them it seems the initial warranty given with the laptop, but the extended warranty which we would buy is only available nationally. Is that true? The customer care people did seem confused!

The dostore shows that it comes with 1 year onsite warranty + ADP though, not two years.

Also please give your thoughts about the 4200U vs 4500U issue, considering my computing needs.

There is a difference of maybe 20-30% in core i5 4200U and core i7 4500U but there is a difference of almost 105% between core i7 4700mq and core i7 4500u as the former is twice faster than the latter.

- - - Updated - - -

Btw why is warranty so important to you?? After the initial adp, warranty does not cover any harm done due to drops/surges etc. After one year of usage people generally don't tend to find anything bad with their laptops except heating issues which can be resolved cheaply.
 
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falcongamer

Broken In
Yeah. Latitude E6540 is a monster, and retails at >$1500 at most online stores!! Not my cup of tea.

About the warranty thing, I have a few reasons:
This will be my first laptop, so I don't have much of a first hand idea about their durability fail-safeness (if that IS a word in the dictionary)
My company requires an extended warranty to be bought, so I figured why not get ADP along with it, with international warranty thrown in coz I have plans of moving out, which might or might not materialize.

I understand 4500U will be crushed by 4700MQ, it being quad core and full voltage, but as long as it can cope up with my needs for 2-3 years...also I'll take the better battery life as a bonus.

What do you think?

And should I safely remove 4200U from my list then?
 

seamon

Superhuman Spambot
Re: Multimedia + Gaming Laptop &lt;80k

Try this one
Sony VAIO SVP1321WSNB
Intel Core i7 Processor
8 GB RAM
1 TB Hard Disk
Windows 8 OS


Or this

Sony VAIO SVP1321WSNB
Intel Core i5-4200U, 1.6 GHz Processor
4 GB DDR3 RAM
128 GB SSD
Windows 8 64 bit OS


I bought the frist one n loved it!!

The first one is a strict no no. It does not provide the performance for the money you are paying. Zero VFM. The Lenovo Y510p which costs similar is a much much better device. Better GPU+better Screen(FHD).

Second one is just a mackbooish device which is only good for travel use. Zero Performance.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah. Latitude E6540 is a monster, and retails at >$1500 at most online stores!! Not my cup of tea.

About the warranty thing, I have a few reasons:
This will be my first laptop, so I don't have much of a first hand idea about their durability fail-safeness (if that IS a word in the dictionary)
My company requires an extended warranty to be bought, so I figured why not get ADP along with it, with international warranty thrown in coz I have plans of moving out, which might or might not materialize.

I understand 4500U will be crushed by 4700MQ, it being quad core and full voltage, but as long as it can cope up with my needs for 2-3 years...also I'll take the better battery life as a bonus.

What do you think?

And should I safely remove 4200U from my list then?

The lenovo Y510p beats Dell Latitude E6540 in terms of sheer performance. The advantage is that the CPU is upgradable in the Lenovo one(which is much easier if one stays in US) +better GPU. Lenovo one has a SSD slot which can be attached as per requirement along with the HDD.

For most people laptop problems arise during only the first 1-2 months and after that once the system is stable, it tends to stay that way for 3-4 years after which the battery requires changing but the a battery normally lasts 3-4 years only.

IMO Go for the Lenovo Y510p, it's a solid device.
 
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falcongamer

Broken In
Yeah HP Envy is sexy, but the only better thing about it is less weight. There's one with FullHD at >80k but with DDR3 GT740M. So definitely Y510p is better.

Btw what about the build quality of Y510p? Durable? And have all the touchpad, wifi and other issues sorted out? I had checked it out in a shop a few months earlier and it had a flimsy touchpad which wasn't registering Win8 gestures very well.
 

seamon

Superhuman Spambot
HP Envy is just 30% lighter. Lenovo laptops are the most durable of the lot. Lenovo is known worldwide for their durability while HP is not. One member [MENTION=261170]AbhMkh[/MENTION] literally bit off(seems that way) his HP laptop. (for AbhMkh--->deja vous). Lenovo Y510p is made of pretty solid material. I got a pretty good touchpad in my Y500(predecessor with exact same design as Y510p) and registers all the gestures easily. You can't expect it's touchpad to be at par with macbooks but it's okayish. Anyways I prefer my mouse. I don't think any wifi issues exist in this laptop. I have never faced any
 

AbhMkh

Ambassador of Buzz
HP Envy is just 30% lighter. Lenovo laptops are the most durable of the lot. Lenovo is known worldwide for their durability while HP is not. One member [MENTION=261170]AbhMkh[/MENTION] literally bit off(seems that way) his HP laptop. (for AbhMkh--->deja vous). Lenovo Y510p is made of pretty solid material. I got a pretty good touchpad in my Y500(predecessor with exact same design as Y510p) and registers all the gestures easily. You can't expect it's touchpad to be at par with macbooks but it's okayish. Anyways I prefer my mouse. I don't think any wifi issues exist in this laptop. I have never faced any

Yeah, I wouldn't buy HP.The build quality is dubious.

@Op: If build quality is one of your primary concerns(it should be), Dell is the one to look at.Two models, the Inspiron 15R and the Inspiron 15 7000 are allmost entirely made of aluminium.

The Inspiron 15 7000(the fhd) model even has corning gorilla glass on its display.

I have the Inspiron 15R, the all aluminium chassis makes it heavy but the build quality is second to none.

I cannot speak for lenovo laptops though, and yes I too have noticed the flimsy touchpad on the Y500.(The 750M model,dunno about the y510p)
 

seamon

Superhuman Spambot
The touchpad is the only bad part of the Y510p, the rest is sturdier than Dell. Trust me I own both.
 

AbhMkh

Ambassador of Buzz
The touchpad is the only bad part of the Y510p, the rest is sturdier than Dell. Trust me I own both.
You own the inspiron 15 which has an entire plastic build, the y500 may have a better build quality than that but no laptop comes even close to the aluminium build of the inspiron15r/ 15 700

"Built like a tank" according to the review of techfirstpost.com
 

seamon

Superhuman Spambot
You own the inspiron 15 which has an entire plastic build, the y500 may have a better build quality than that but no laptop comes even close to the aluminium build of the inspiron15r/ 15 700

"Built like a tank" according to the review of techfirstpost.com

I am not talking about the aluminium build of the front part, I admit it's pretty solid. I am talking about the underside which is same as mine as I checked in your pics. It feels it's made of cheap plastic. I opened it up and lo behold it is made of cheap plastic. Lenovo's underside is much more solid.
 

AbhMkh

Ambassador of Buzz
I am not talking about the aluminium build of the front part, I admit it's pretty solid. I am talking about the underside which is same as mine as I checked in your pics. It feels it's made of cheap plastic. I opened it up and lo behold it is made of cheap plastic. Lenovo's underside is much more solid.

Thats the inspiron 15r, inspiron 15 7000 is all aluminium,even the underside
 

seamon

Superhuman Spambot
Thats the inspiron 15r, inspiron 15 7000 is all aluminium,even the underside

But performance. heh!
It will be as if you are more concerned about protection than computational prowess. The Lenovo Y510p is pretty damn solid, hell even the Dell Inspiron 15R is pretty solid(the underside) for a common user, the aluminium body will only work well when overclocking without active cooling in which case a plastic covering like that of the Dell Inspiron 15R can crack up. It's not as it you are going to play laptop fight(think pillow fight) in a LAN party or use it as a football when there's no electricity. Where the Y510p truly shines is in it's computational prowess and imo that's the first thing one must look in a computer. I am not saying that other factors don't matter(a broken computer is no computer) but overpaying for protection while not paying enough for components is no way to buy a computer.
 

AbhMkh

Ambassador of Buzz
But performance. heh!
It will be as if you are more concerned about protection than computational prowess. The Lenovo Y510p is pretty damn solid, hell even the Dell Inspiron 15R is pretty solid(the underside) for a common user, the aluminium body will only work well when overclocking without active cooling in which case a plastic covering like that of the Dell Inspiron 15R can crack up. It's not as it you are going to play laptop fight(think pillow fight) in a LAN party or use it as a football when there's no electricity. Where the Y510p truly shines is in it's computational prowess and imo that's the first thing one must look in a computer. I am not saying that other factors don't matter(a broken computer is no computer) but overpaying for protection while not paying enough for components is no way to buy a computer.

As I said on another thread, I am not going to argue with you about specs.

These recommendations were based primarily on build quality
 
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falcongamer

Broken In
Oh wow! Calm down, you two! Both have a point. Depends on how much importance you have to give to build vs performance. A person considering a lappy as desktop replacement wont be too concerned about build for example.

Now, I'm cool if the lappy can handle fortnightly air travel.

I love the touchpad of the Dells. Super smooth and responsive. Can't comment on the build. Haven't used them.

The Inspiron 7000 is cool and has top notch build. I'm just concerned if after paying 80k, the 4500U would get obsolete in a year or so. Like I saw my four year old Phenom 9550 processor has the same CPUMark score as the 4200U.

Hence all the confusion
 
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