Suggestion for a good multimedia laptop with great battery life under INR 40K

[achyutaghosh]

1) What is your budget? Upto INR 40,000


2) What size & weight consideration (if any) would you prefer?
Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen


3) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
No Brand Preference- but among the laptops that I have checked out, my current shortlist, in order of preference seems like-

1) Acer TimelineX (love the long battery, and great at multimedia playback)
2) HP Pavilion G62005AX ( Totally VFM package, can do more gaming too)
3) HP Envy 6 1011TU ( the wife's favorite- fell for its looks, and it has a long battery life too)
4) Lenovo Z580 (am familiar with the brand, and love the extra large 750 GB hdd)

4) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
1. Mostly for multimedia activities like- Watching movies, listening to songs, surfing etc
2. Light office work
3. Light gaming


5) What screen resolution(s) & type (glossy/matte) would you prefer?
No Preference

6) Anything else you would like to say?

I would prefer a system with a big screen (15.6 min), a dvd slot, high on RAM, very good battery life, and great sound quality. I am currently using a Lenovo Y550- excellent system with a subwoofer, JBL audio and great picture quality. Want to replace it as it is 3 yrs old and slowing down.

I am specifically looking for feedback on the TimelineX and G6 2005AX, also open to new models that you think should work for me.

 

[aroraanant]

Dell Inspiron 15R is a good option, it costs 40-42k

 

[pratyush997]

Samsung Series 5 w/ i5 rest my signature!@49k

 

[kisame]

^You are way over the budget.
@OP:If you mean HP Pavilion G6 2005AX,its no-brainer.Just grab this laptop.Complete VFM and will not disappoint you as per your work load.

 

[pratyush997]

^^Sorry!!

 

[achyutaghosh]

^You are way over the budget.
@OP:If you mean HP Pavilion G6 2005AX,its no-brainer.Just grab this laptop.Complete VFM and will not disappoint you as per your work load.

Kisame- I means the 2005AX, thanks i have made the edit too.
Yes i think the 2005AX suits my needs quite well , except for the following-

1) I am a bit skeptical about HP's ASS and in general product quality. In some other thread i read that HPs have the highest failure rate.
2) I an not an avid gamer per se, would rather prefer great movie playback, sound and good battery, so do you think the graphics card will be wasted?

To be truthful, I have been using Thinkpad/Lenovo machines since 2005 and have been generally happy with them. My current machine is an Ideapad Y550 which is awesome for multimedia.

ASUS and HP seems pretty popular in the forum- Any idea on the TimelineX?
I kind of thought it also ticked a lot of the boxes for me

Dell Inspiron 15R is a good option, it costs 40-42k

Aroraanant, I did some laptop hunting for a friend last year, and somehow didnt like the looks of the Dell Inspiron family and their audio quality, the XPS sounded better but thats beyond my budget.

Maybe they have updated their systems this year, so will go and have a look.

Samsung Series 5 w/ i5 rest my signature!@49k

Pratyush, will you loan me the 9K difference

 

[aroraanant]

Aroraanant, I did some laptop hunting for a friend last year, and somehow didnt like the looks of the Dell Inspiron family and their audio quality, the XPS sounded better but thats beyond my budget.

Maybe they have updated their systems this year, so will go and have a look.

Now the looks of Insprions have changed do have a look.

Pratyush, will you loan me the 9K difference

LOL

 

[coderunknown]

1) I am a bit skeptical about HP's ASS and in general product quality. In some other thread i read that HPs have the highest failure rate.

till last year HP had the highest failure rate but haven't heard of any HP failing this year from any of my friends or even here. But most of the failed HP used to have extreme heat problem that resulted in the motherboard getting burned. Powered by either Core2 processor series or some faulty GPUs or at times odd ventilation.

2) I an avid gamer per se, would rather prefer great movie playback, sound and good battery, so do you think the graphics card will be wasted?

the GPU is not a highend one and so if you are even a casual gamer, should 7670 is like an added bonus. Else if you think Intel HD4000 graphics is sufficient for your games, you can have a look at these too:
HP Pavilion G6-2103TU or HP 2000-2116TU. Both are same except the first one cost 4k more and comes with Windows 7 HB.

To be truthful, I have been using Thinkpad/Lenovo machines since 2005 and have been generally happy with them. My current machine is an Ideapad Y550 which is awesome for multimedia.

I have used Thinkpad as well as Ideapad. Thinkpad has one of the best build quality of any laptops out there whereas Ideapad mainly puts emphasis on looks. It uses brushed plastic that looks like aluminium and the build is decent. The laptops is not glossy which is true for almost all HP laptops.

ASUS and HP seems pretty popular in the forum- Any idea on the TimelineX?
I kind of thought it also ticked a lot of the boxes for me

If you are interested in TimelineX, do get yourself a demo at the shop before finalizing. Some of the timelineX doesn't have quality display but usually Timeline is considered a well built business laptop. So keep it ticked.

 

[achyutaghosh]

till last year HP had the highest failure rate but haven't heard of any HP failing this year from any of my friends or even here. But most of the failed HP used to have extreme heat problem that resulted in the motherboard getting burned. Powered by either Core2 processor series or some faulty GPUs or at times odd ventilation.



the GPU is not a highend one and so if you are even a casual gamer, should 7670 is like an added bonus. Else if you think Intel HD4000 graphics is sufficient for your games, you can have a look at these too:
HP Pavilion G6-2103TU or HP 2000-2116TU. Both are same except the first one cost 4k more and comes with Windows 7 HB.



I have used Thinkpad as well as Ideapad. Thinkpad has one of the best build quality of any laptops out there whereas Ideapad mainly puts emphasis on looks. It uses brushed plastic that looks like aluminium and the build is decent. The laptops is not glossy which is true for almost all HP laptops.



If you are interested in TimelineX, do get yourself a demo at the shop before finalizing. Some of the timelineX doesn't have quality display but usually Timeline is considered a well built business laptop. So keep it ticked.

Thanks for your inputs, Sam. I can consider HP with more peace of mind.

If I am getting discrete graphics and double the RAM in the 2005AX at a lower price, I would prefer that over the Intels you mentioned. But i also saw that the two models that you mentioned, the HP Pavilion G6-2103TU had almost 2.5X the battery life as compared to HP 2000-2116TU- is that a typo in the website?

Because i would prefer a longer battery life in my machine, so it becomes a serious plus point in favor of the 2103TU

The TimelineX series did not do well or what? last year when I had gone to the Acer Mall in Nehru Place, they had close to 7-8 models in that range with different configurations. This time round on their website, they only have one configuration available

 

[coderunknown]

But i also saw that the two models that you mentioned, the HP Pavilion G6-2103TU had almost 2.5X the battery life as compared to HP 2000-2116TU- is that a typo in the website?

FK shows random battery backup info on all laptops. On laptop with everything same sometimes they'll show 6hr backup and at other times 3hr backup. Truth is all these laptops will offer 5hr under light use or say power saver on and 3.5-4hr when watching movies.

Because i would prefer a longer battery life in my machine, so it becomes a serious plus point in favor of the 2103TU

Theoretically A8 based laptop should offer more battery than the i3/i5 based ones but the inclusion of the GPU which i don't think can be turned off completely will reduce backup somewhat. Still 4hr is possible.

Check this review by GG. He did a detailed review of the 2005AX with some tests on battery backup. HP Pavilion G6 2005AX Review and Benchmarks.

battery test from the review:

Did a test with Battery at 100%, Dual graphics disabled (APU only), brightness set to 50% sound 50% and CPU clock set to 1400mhz from AMD control center (lowest possible) and watched an HD video of around 1 hour 38 mins and there was still 56% battery remaining - couldnt run it down to 0 that day. Did the test again and I could watch 2 movies of roughly the same length (1 hr 40 mins) and charge was at ~8% so that equates to around 3 hours 30 minutes when we hypermile with this laptop

The TimelineX series did not do well or what? last year when I had gone to the Acer Mall in Nehru Place, they had close to 7-8 models in that range with different configurations. This time round on their website, they only have one configuration available

i read somewhere about the screen being poor in the Timeline. Thats why asked you to take a demo. I have never used or seen a timelineX directly to know how good is the screen so will not comment on that.

 

[RON28]

TimelineX has throttling issues with heat, i heard many times about it but i like its isolated keyboard

 

[achyutaghosh]

TimelineX has throttling issues with heat, i heard many times about it but i like its isolated keyboard

Ron28, is throttling happening only when gaming (which i will rarely do) or while watching movies, playing music, light office work (which is my primary need)?

 

[Piyush]

The best of them all is HP Pavilion G62005AX
Here is one of the best and honest review I found so far

Pros:
1. Excellent price/performance ratio. (More so if you want to play games)
2. The configuration at this price is excellent - AMD A8, 7670M+7640G Graphics, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD)
2. Decent build quality (although quality of plastics used could be better)
3. Runs sufficiently cool for regular usage.(The ones who are complaining have either never owned an old powerful laptop, or do not have an idea of how hot the CPU/GPU get under gaming, whether it be laptop or desktop)
4. Good keyboard and touch pad
5. Decent connectivity (expected at this price - nothing spectacular, but no compromises either)
6. Battery life is decent - 2.5-4.0 hours depending on usage.
7. Screen has surprisingly good horizontal viewing angles.

Compromises (Only small issues):
1. Screen quality with 1366x768 resolution is average. Unnatural brightness and on screen readability is below average. Glossy finish shows a lot of reflections.

2. Placement of connectivity and indicators is questionable - USB 3.0 ports are too close to each other, the MIC/Speaker plugs are not color coded and Power/HDD/Charging indicator lights or on the right side - which means they are not visible under normal usage.

3. The quality of multi touch gestures on the touch pad could have been better - it doesnt always manage to pick up scrolling actions.

4. The glossy finish (inside/outside) is prone to dust and fingerprints.

5. The inbuilt camera is horrible (My 4 year old VAIO had a better camera) - buy a separate external camera if you plan to do video calling.

6. Big and heavy (expected at this price and screen size)

Additional Notes:
1. No, AMD A8-4500M in pure benchmarks is not as fast as Core i5 and comes nowhere close to i7. But i5/i7 cost 2-3 times more and are only useful for professional usage. The A8-4500 offers almost the same performance as an i5 at half the price and is definitely better than most i3 versions out there. Bottom line - it is a very good pure quad core processor at this price and allows everything to run smoothly - you will not notice any slowness, bottlenecks or system freezes. It is more than sufficient for home usage. To compare, I use a Lenovo X220 with Core i7 Pro at work, and do not notice any difference in regular usage.

2. The Dual graphics are very powerful combination and offer a combined theoretical graphic memory of 1.5GB (actual is lower due to limitations). Here are the games I am able to run smoothly:
a. Crysis 2 (High Quality)
b. DiRT 3 (High Quality)
c. Ghost Recon Future Soldier (Low Quality)
d. Max Payne 3 (Medium Quality)
e. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (Medium Quality)
f. Need for Speed - The Run (Low Quality)
g. Alan Wake (Low/Medium Quality)
h. Splinter Cell Conviction (Medium/High Quality)

 

[achyutaghosh]

FK shows random battery backup info on all laptops. On laptop with everything same sometimes they'll show 6hr backup and at other times 3hr backup. Truth is all these laptops will offer 5hr under light use or say power saver on and 3.5-4hr when watching movies.



Theoretically A8 based laptop should offer more battery than the i3/i5 based ones but the inclusion of the GPU which i don't think can be turned off completely will reduce backup somewhat. Still 4hr is possible.

Check this review by GG. He did a detailed review of the 2005AX with some tests on battery backup. HP Pavilion G6 2005AX Review and Benchmarks.

battery test from the review:

Great review, thank you for referring


i read somewhere about the screen being poor in the Timeline. Thats why asked you to take a demo. I have never used or seen a timelineX directly to know how good is the screen so will not comment on that.

Sam- all these mainstream laptops claim a 3-4 hr backup, but within 6 months comes down to half their promised levels, and within a year, like my Y550, to 30 mins. I know it is usage based, and that i have not been efficient with battery usage (someone told me not keep the power connected while using battery), but a bit skeptical all the same, and so am leaning towards extra battery machines. But anyways i can always replace batteries, so i think the 2005AX is now number one on my list
I will check out the screen in Timeline, thanks.

Any feedback on the Envy and Lenovo Z580?

The best of them all is HP Pavilion G62005AX
Here is one of the best and honest review I found so far

Pros:
1. Excellent price/performance ratio. (More so if you want to play games)
2. The configuration at this price is excellent - AMD A8, 7670M+7640G Graphics, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD)
2. Decent build quality (although quality of plastics used could be better)
3. Runs sufficiently cool for regular usage.(The ones who are complaining have either never owned an old powerful laptop, or do not have an idea of how hot the CPU/GPU get under gaming, whether it be laptop or desktop)
4. Good keyboard and touch pad
5. Decent connectivity (expected at this price - nothing spectacular, but no compromises either)
6. Battery life is decent - 2.5-4.0 hours depending on usage.
7. Screen has surprisingly good horizontal viewing angles.

Compromises (Only small issues):
1. Screen quality with 1366x768 resolution is average. Unnatural brightness and on screen readability is below average. Glossy finish shows a lot of reflections.

2. Placement of connectivity and indicators is questionable - USB 3.0 ports are too close to each other, the MIC/Speaker plugs are not color coded and Power/HDD/Charging indicator lights or on the right side - which means they are not visible under normal usage.

3. The quality of multi touch gestures on the touch pad could have been better - it doesnt always manage to pick up scrolling actions.

4. The glossy finish (inside/outside) is prone to dust and fingerprints.

5. The inbuilt camera is horrible (My 4 year old VAIO had a better camera) - buy a separate external camera if you plan to do video calling.

6. Big and heavy (expected at this price and screen size)

Piyush- thanks for your inputs. I dont mind the cons of the 2005AX- dont do too much of video chatting, and am fine with glossy finish, and iffy ergonomics. I just dont want the system to hang, transfer files fast, and playback movies well with decent battery life.

I have a feeling my current dual core 2GB, 250 GB Ideapad Y550 will run for a few more months easily- so are we expecting a price drop in these laptops once Win 8 comes in? I was thinking whether it is good to hold off purchase for a few months then?

Also, i simply love the Samsung NP550P series, wish i cud buy it but cant fork out 50k, is there any chance of a price drop on that in the coming months given the fact that the exchange rates are going to be unfavorable throughout the year?

 

[dashing.sujay]

Lenovo z580 is pretty decent as compared to last gen Ideapads. One minor issue is it has a single input for audio in and out.

Envy is of course better, but too costly IMO.

 

[Piyush]

If you can wait , then watch out for A10 which might be releasing soon

 

[achyutaghosh]

Lenovo z580 is pretty decent as compared to last gen Ideapads. One minor issue is it has a single input for audio in and out.

Envy is of course better, but too costly IMO.

Sujoy- One of my friends have a Z570 and he is pretty happy too. how is the battery life in Z580?

AMD Envys are still not available in India, right? I remember seeing Intel ones.

And when will the A10s release? I can wait a few months

 

[Piyush]

And when will the A10s release? I can wait a few months

I'm waiting for them too
and they may arrive by late August-mid September

 

[pratyush997]

Pratyush, will you loan me the 9K difference

Ha..ha.Nope

 

[dashing.sujay]

Sujoy- One of my friends have a Z570 and he is pretty happy too. how is the battery life in Z580?

AMD Envys are still not available in India, right? I remember seeing Intel ones.

And when will the A10s release? I can wait a few months

Its 4 hrs I guess. Contact vkl, he bought one.

Frankly, after A8 (trinity), I don't expect a magic from A10.