Help buying new laptop...from US

Hi...I have waited and waited long to get a new laptop, which will be replacing my current Acer Aspire 5672WLMI...a friend of mine will be coming from US in a couple of months and he is willing to carry a laptop for me...so here I am...here are my requirements:

-Budget 30-45k, haven't really decided
-Usage: hmmm...movies..music...gaming, if possible...video conversions..
-Should have good battery back up(NO 9CELL BATTERY THOUGH)
-Minimal heating
-Shall have good display quality, I repeat QUALITY..not the size
-Screen size- any size I guess, should fulfill other requirements
-Shouldn't be very heavy, say around 2.5kg..
-Brands: Dell, Sony(If carries international warranty), Apple and maybe Alienware( Just M11x)
-And last but not the least...Good after sales service in India

Here are a few models that I might be interested in:
Dell Studio 15/14
Apple Macbook 13"(NOT PRO)
Sony...uhh..dont remember
Alienware M11x..its processor is the main issue
 
DarkAngel said:
VPCEB190X | VAIO® EB190X Configure-to-Order | Sony | Sony Style USA

Configure the sony's new E series.
i-330M
4GB RAM (4GB*1 :eek:hyeah:)
320GB HDD
ATI HD5470

Price: $750 - 35k INR :)
And what about its screen size..Battery life...Dimension..weight?

dheerajjotwani said:
i am yet to come across a sony vaio that didnt have heating problems... so tread carefully !
Any model with heating issues will be a NO for me...already have enough of it with my current laptop..

Processor is the main thing where I am getting confused...i3 or i5..is it worth getting i3 350M over i3 330M or i5 430M over i3 350M? Worth that extra buck?
 
DarkAngel said:
For your needs i-3 330M processor would suffice. Its not worth spending extra bucks on the i-3 350M or i-5.
So what kind of user would need an i3 350M or i5 proccy?

Praks said:
Go with Dell Studio, You can transfer warranty to India.

No one else can give you this :)
Thats one reason y I was more inclined towards Dell..but then I heard that some of the Sony models also come with global warranty, not sure as to which ones in particular..

Does any other manufacturer provides international warranty?
 
harish_21_10 said:
So what kind of user would need an i3 350M or i5 proccy?

The i-3 350M is not worth for anyone. if one needs a basic lappy then it is better to stick with i-330M. If one needs more processing power then it is better to go for the i-5 5xx series.

The i-3 350M comes at a $50 premium over i-3 330M. $50 for a 130MHz speed bump. useless.
 
DarkAngel said:
The i-3 350M is not worth for anyone. if one needs a basic lappy then it is better to stick with i-330M. If one needs more processing power then it is better to go for the i-5 5xx series.
How about for video conversions and gaming?
 
harish_21_10 said:
How about for video conversions and gaming?

If you do a lots of video conversions/ professional work then opt for the i-5 5xx series. If gaming then look for a better GPU like the HD5650.

Nothing will change whether u choose i-3 330M/i-3 350M for games.

The acer 5740G sells with a i-5 4xx series and HD5650 for about $750-800 in US. That is the best gaming laptop in your budget.
 
DarkAngel said:
The acer 5740G sells with a i-5 4xx series and HD5650 for about $750-800 in US. That is the best gaming laptop in your budget.
Acer 5740G packs a punch sure, but I have been using my acer laptop for over 3yrs now and I am not happy with it...I need something that wont ditch me in the long run, this is another reason y I was asking about i5 processor...
A lot of ppl have been saying that Acer has come a long way with its build quality and service but I am kinda hesitant to get Acer...

No one for Apple Macbook?
I went through a lot of laptop configs and that just left me wondering if I want a gaming laptop or just I asked for here...I do like gaming but then not many gaming laptops give give battery backup or do they?
 
harish_21_10 said:
No one for Apple Macbook?

I went through a lot of laptop configs and that just left me wondering if I want a gaming laptop or just I asked for here...I do like gaming but then not many gaming laptops give give battery backup or do they?

The 13" MacBook complements your needs perfectly. It has got a great build quality, superb 7 hour battery life, decent enought graphics and processing power.

Read more about it from my post here.

Micro center is selling one for $799, $200 bucks below retail price, pretty sweet deal if you ask me.:)

The Bottom-line is that you won't find anything better, especially at this price point, so just get it eyes-closed, you're going to love it.:)

Any more queries are welcome.
 
Thanks for that link....amazing deal...I was kinda juggling between a Apple Macbook or some good gaming rig in the same price range..but the $799 price tag makes me wanting the Macbook even more...

The thing is that I have never used a Mac before, so not sure as to what exactly it has in store for me...I am afraid of change but do expect some flexibility and level of usage provided by an OS...

Another thing is that I was looking at the Macbook Pro, which has a firewire port, an SD card reader, a battery capacity indicator and also a backlit keyboard but wonder if its worth that extra $200...

I have a month to decide on the laptop so hoping that the prices will also come down a bit by then...does anyone know about when Apple is planning to upgrade its current line of laptops with i3 or i5 processors?
 
harish_21_10 said:
The thing is that I have never used a Mac before, so not sure as to what exactly it has in store for me...I am afraid of change but do expect some flexibility and level of usage provided by an OS...

Mac OS X is fairly intuitive and it won't take you much time to get a hang of things so this should be least of your worries.

harish_21_10 said:
Another thing is that I was looking at the Macbook Pro, which has a firewire port, an SD card reader, a battery capacity indicator and also a backlit keyboard but wonder if its worth that extra $200...

I think it is worth the extra $200, specially because of unibody aluminum construction which looks way cooler and feels great along-with making the notebook a tad thinner than the MacBook.

In addition to the differences you mentioned, the Pro model also has support for upto 8GB of RAM whereas the MacBook supports only 4GB.

But right now, you can get the MacBook at just $799 which makes the difference $400. So its upto you to decide if the extra features like firewire, SD card slot, backlit keyboard etc. are really important to you.

harish_21_10 said:
I have a month to decide on the laptop so hoping that the prices will also come down a bit by then...does anyone know about when Apple is planning to upgrade its current line of laptops with i3 or i5 processors?

No one knows anything about the refresh to state the fact. Its all just pure and wild speculation based on previous update cycles/rumors. The update could be next tuesday or next month or even at WWDC in June.
 
Styx said:
I think it is worth the extra $200, specially because of unibody aluminum construction which looks way cooler and feels great along-with making the notebook a tad thinner than the MacBook.

In addition to the differences you mentioned, the Pro model also has support for upto 8GB of RAM whereas the MacBook supports only 4GB.
It doesnt matter if the support is for 4gb or 8gb...coz I know that i wont be upgrading to anything over 4gb...
Styx said:
But right now, you can get the MacBook at just $799 which makes the difference $400. So its upto you to decide if the extra features like firewire, SD card slot, backlit keyboard etc. are really important to you.
It says $799 but adding the tax to it takes the price to $862
And my friend is a student in US, which will get him the student discount from Apple and bring the Macbook Pro's price to $1099
Now thats a difference of $237...
I have never used a firewire port and not really sure as to where nd with what its to be used. But I do use SD card slot, having the backlit keyboard and the battery gauge will be useful features. And it has 160GB HDD compared to 250GB in the white Macbook...I am not able to make up my mind if I should push my budget that far...

I will be paying extra just for some features and a lower capacity HDD...proccy, RAM, graphics being the same theres no performance difference...so at the end of the day its just the looks and a couple features difference between the two...

I heard that the Macbook white's screen is quite glossy nd almost unusable under direct light...is it the same with MBP too?
 
Styx said:
No one knows anything about the refresh to state the fact. Its all just pure and wild speculation based on previous update cycles/rumors. The update could be next tuesday or next month or even at WWDC in June.

I've been searching for the same for the past 1 week. This site seems to be good :D

Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac, iPod or iPhone

It has been quite sometime since they did an upgrade to this series. In many sites, they are expecting new type of machines in their inventory by March. It'll be iPad or Pro for sure.

iPad releases on the 3rd of April, MBP should be around the corner ;)
 
harish_21_10 said:
It doesnt matter if the support is for 4gb or 8gb...coz I know that i wont be upgrading to anything over 4gb...

It says $799 but adding the tax to it takes the price to $862

And my friend is a student in US, which will get him the student discount from Apple and bring the Macbook Pro's price to $1099

Now thats a difference of $237...

I have never used a firewire port and not really sure as to where nd with what its to be used. But I do use SD card slot, having the backlit keyboard and the battery gauge will be useful features. And it has 160GB HDD compared to 250GB in the white Macbook...I am not able to make up my mind if I should push my budget that far...

I will be paying extra just for some features and a lower capacity HDD...proccy, RAM, graphics being the same theres no performance difference...so at the end of the day its just the looks and a couple features difference between the two...

Well, in that case i'd say that the aluminum construction and backlit keyboard alone make it worth the extra $237. Its much much better in long run and i'd suggest that if there's an Apple authorized seller nearby, you should really check out the notebooks in person.

harish_21_10 said:
I heard that the Macbook white's screen is quite glossy nd almost unusable under direct light...is it the same with MBP too?

Actually MBP's screen is even more prone to reflection under direct light as the glossy screen has a glass enclosure on the outside. But as long as you're using it indoors you should be fine as the display is pretty vivid and sharp. Outside, its not the same, pretty much unusable unless you find some shade to work in.

McAgnel said:
I've been searching for the same for the past 1 week. This site seems to be good :D

Mac Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy Your Mac, iPod or iPhone

It has been quite sometime since they did an upgrade to this series. In many sites, they are expecting new type of machines in their inventory by March. It'll be iPad or Pro for sure.

iPad releases on the 3rd of April, MBP should be around the corner ;)

Thanks for posting, i'm aware of that guide though, the MacBook Pro refresh is obviously due, but when exactly, that is the real question which no one has a definite answer to.

There have been many reports about some dummy Apple Notebook SKU's appearing in Bestbuy inventory but that's still not really a substantial proof.

Apple cannot delay the refresh until June though unless there are some major production problems with the new chipset as that would almost make it an yearly refresh which has almost never been the case with refresh of Pro Notebooks.

So waiting actually makes a lot of sense right now, specially if you're not going to be buying another laptop in 3-4 years.
 
Styx said:
Well, in that case i'd say that the aluminum construction and backlit keyboard alone make it worth the extra $237. Its much much better in long run and i'd suggest that if there's an Apple authorized seller nearby, you should really check out the notebooks in person.
Until yesterday I was very much confused as to which laptop to buy..I was kinda stuck between Macbook, Macbook Pro and Sony Vaio VPCCW22FX
But then I very much wanna try a Mac..so decided on Apple..then I spoke to a friend of mine, who has been using a Macbook, and he suggested to buy MBP as well...even he gave the reason of it having Aluminium body..
Now I will have to think of getting that extra cash from somewhere:S

The MBP is costing $1099(after $100 student discount) with 2GB RAM and 160GB HDD...what I wanted to know is, would it be a good idea to spend another $100 to get 4GB RAM? or would it be better to stick with 2GB and maybe later in the future, say after 6months, upgrade the same myself?

Styx said:
Actually MBP's screen is even more prone to reflection under direct light as the glossy screen has a glass enclosure on the outside. But as long as you're using it indoors you should be fine as the display is pretty vivid and sharp. Outside, its not the same, pretty much unusable unless you find some shade to work in.
Well, no option there...my current laptop is pretty glossy too nd does give lot of reflection even when in the room, due to light source reflection off of me...but then I can live with that:p
 
harish_21_10 said:
Until yesterday I was very much confused as to which laptop to buy..I was kinda stuck between Macbook, Macbook Pro and Sony Vaio VPCCW22FX
But then I very much wanna try a Mac..so decided on Apple..then I spoke to a friend of mine, who has been using a Macbook, and he suggested to buy MBP as well...even he gave the reason of it having Aluminium body..
Now I will have to think of getting that extra cash from somewhere:S

The MBP is costing $1099(after $100 student discount) with 2GB RAM and 160GB HDD...what I wanted to know is, would it be a good idea to spend another $100 to get 4GB RAM? or would it be better to stick with 2GB and maybe later in the future, say after 6months, upgrade the same myself?

That totally depends upon what apps you're going to run. In case its just casual browsing, iTunes, movies, light photo/video editing and stuff, 2GB should suffice.
But if you're going to run Windows 7 in Parallels/VMware and simultaneously using resource heavy apps like photoshop/InDesign along with some other stuff, you probably would feel the need for more RAM.
 
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