Laptop Recommendation

[joelwong]

If not, you can go for the 640m, $100 more only, and much lighter

[Green Baron]

Don't get Apple unless you intend to use Original Microsoft Office...

For a notebook, most important thing would be the weight, don't forget, you will be using it 30% of the time, and carrying it around 70% of the time.

For surfing and office application wise, the processor speed and the graphics chipset does not matter at all.

Battery life is another important factor to consider although not very important as most of the notebooks would come with battery maximizing software which you can customize. Most of the battery benchmark are not so accurate also.

RAM wise, it's the more the merrier, make sure you have 1 more RAM slot for you to add memory. If it comes with 512mb, make sure it's 1 X 512, not 2 X 256. If it's 1GB it's ok to have 2 X 512 as 1GB would be more than enough for most applications, even light video editing.

Hard disk space does not matter at all, be it 60GB or 80GB, it is going to be filled up before you know it (movies, mp3s, porn etc) For serious school work, give you 5GB also more than enough.

IMO, if you want cheap, go for Dell, if you want good, go for ThinkPads.

I would think for your budget, don't even look at ThinkPads or other brands.

My personal recommendation would be the Dell 12.1 inch one (if I'm not wrong it's called XPS or something like that.) Go for the larger battery capacity and upgrade the graphics chip if you want to play game. Don't worry too much about the RAMS as they can be added later at a cheaper price. Before upgrade, it costs $1999, after the upgrade, I think less than $2200.

Another thing to take note would be, if you are going to log in into school domain, you would NEED to get Windows XP Professional, XP Home won't do.

Hope that helps

Agree totally with Joel.

Thinkpad if it fits your budget, else Dell .
I recommend at least 1GB ram.

[Cacatuoides]

Latest discovery after going to Sim Lim Sq

Acer Aspire 5541WXMI $1898
14.1"
80Gb
512Mb Ram
Core Dual T2050
BT
triband wifi
1yr warranty

Asus A8F $1998
14.1"
Core Dual 2300
1Gb Ram
80Gb HDD
.35 webcam intergrated
triband wifi
BT
2yr warranty

I'm having a hard time choosing between these 2 models....which should I choose?

Acer: design, acer's empowering management
Asus: 0.35MP webcam, 2yr warranty, heard its product quality quite good

[Simon]

I will go with the Asus, something about acer, the fan oulet is located on the right side, which is very uncomfortable when using a mouse, plus the hand rest gets abit too warm for my liking

[joelwong]

Agree totally with Joel.

Thinkpad if it fits your budget, else Dell .
I recommend at least 1GB ram.

If you think you are using it for MS office, surf, music and movies only, 512MB is actually more than enough if you can keep your OS really clean, if not 1GB would be a safer bet with the other 512 taken up by all the spywares (Serious, I'm not joking about half or more of the rams taken up by spyware, this is very common)

[Cacatuoides]

Thanks guys, I've decided to take the Asus A8....should I pay another 200odd for a Nvidia graphic card? This current model, $1998, is using intel 945 smth integrated graphic card.....the one with the Nvidia card is $2288 smth

[joelwong]

Thanks guys, I've decided to take the Asus A8....should I pay another 200odd for a Nvidia graphic card? This current model, $1998, is using intel 945 smth integrated graphic card.....the one with the Nvidia card is $2288 smth

If you are playing 3D games, go for dedicated graphics, if not, no difference.

[avant]

Do take note that intensive gaming will heat up the whole motherboard.

[Cacatuoides]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll prob pay 200more and get the dedicated graphic card just in case I'm hooked on a little gaming in the future

Any other things that I need to look out for when buying a new laptop in Sim Lim?

[Goondoo]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll prob pay 200more and get the dedicated graphic card just in case I'm hooked on a little gaming in the future

Any other things that I need to look out for when buying a new laptop in Sim Lim?

Probably the most important thing is to Max the warranty possible.

[BFG]

Try holding back the purchase at the shop you been to. Don't remind the sales person that you were there before. Act like you want to get that model but unsure. Maybe if you are lucky, they will throw more goodies in for you. Or even more discount, but make sure you purchase the stuff.

[joelwong]

Probably the most important thing is to Max the warranty possible.

That is what most people including myself would advise, but I guess when it comes to coming out with the money, I rather save the money or use the money to get better notebooks as extended warranty do not come cheap.

90% of the issues with computer is software issues which can be solved by a format and is not covered by warranty.

[Cacatuoides]

Hahas.....nice tactics guys....the warranty is 2yrs...
will definitely bug the staff for freebies and discount too!!hahas

[Goondoo]

That is what most people including myself would advise, but I guess when it comes to coming out with the money, I rather save the money or use the money to get better notebooks as extended warranty do not come cheap.

90% of the issues with computer is software issues which can be solved by a format and is not covered by warranty.

OT: Sorry to side discuss about the warranty issue.

I don't really agree....

I used to work for a bank supporting Desktop and Laptop for a reasonable numbers of years. I had witness alot of hardware failures on laptop especially the transformer, LCD display, hard disk and main board. Most of these parts, unlike most desktop are not easily purchasable outside (example: SLS) and will be freaking hell expensive if you try to purchase them from the manufacturer without a valid warranty.
FYI: The bank I used to worked for uses Toshiba, IBM and Compaq so its not about the reliability of the laptop.

[joelwong]

OT: Sorry to side discuss about the warranty issue.

I don't really agree....

I used to work for a bank supporting Desktop and Laptop for a reasonable numbers of years. I had witness alot of hardware failures on laptop especially the transformer, LCD display, hard disk and main board. Most of these parts, unlike most desktop are not easily purchasable outside (example: SLS) and will be freaking hell expensive if you try to purchase them from the manufacturer without a valid warranty.
FYI: The bank I used to worked for uses Toshiba, IBM and Compaq so its not about the reliability of the laptop.

I do agree with you on hardware do fail especially the hard disk (replacable cheaply). But looking at the cost of extended warrenty, it might be expensive to endusers, example, upgrade to 3 yr warranty cost maybe 15% of the cost of the notebook? And the chances of the hardware failing on the second and third year of operation is much, much lower than that. Not to mention the usage of notebook will most probably be much lower than corporate user who tend to leave work 8-10 hrs straight a day with their notebooks, and after that bring home for their personal use on a daily basis, compared to probably 1/2 the usage for a student. And corporate users do not pay for the notebooks so they tend to be rougher on usage and handling.

[Simon]

I too don't agree that 90% of the time, its due to software problems, having gone through 2 breakdown within a month, just before the warranty ends for my office notebook was scary enough. I would say 90% of breakdown is hardware problems. Considering the money you spending on a notebook, getting an extension of warranty, gives you a piece of mind, knowing that if the hardware goes kaput, its covered. But having said that, some warranty doesn't cover certain hardwares, eg. battery, adapters & etc (may varies from brand to brand). Actually, as time goes by, failure should be higher, but if you are a light user, then fret not ;P, software problems are a piece of cake to solve but not the hardware problems

[Cacatuoides]

Thanks very much for your kind advises guys....I've got my laptop today!!!
Asus A8JC, $2163