Laptops [Guide]Laptop Buying Guide.

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seamon

Recruit
This is also posted in Thinkdigit forums. I decided to bring my guide here so members can benefit from it.

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Get used to clicking this thingy.



Greetings members and guests of TDF alike. Today I decided to create a guide of my own for all those laptop lovers and buyers out there. This is my first guide so please bear with me.

Abbreviations:-
  • GPU:-Graphic Processing Unit aka Graphic Card.
  • CPU:- Central Processing Unit aka Processor.
  • SSD:- Solid State Drive.
  • HDD:- Hard Disk Drive.
  • RAM:- Random Access Memory.
  • Spec:- Specifications, ie, power of the components of the laptop.

Misconceptions:-
1. i7 is always greater than i5 = WRONG!
core i7 processors with U in their name as nearly as powerful as core i5 with M in their name.
Intel Core i7 4500U vs i5 3230M
This is because that particular i7 is undervolted , underclocked and has lower no. of cores (2 (hyperthreaded upto 4) as opposed to 4 (hyperthreaded upto 8) in i7 4xxxMQ or 3xxxQM processors.

2. More amount of memory in GPU is always better OR a 4GB GPU card is twice as fast as a 2 GB one. WRONG AGAIN!

This topic is explained better over here :-

How much graphic memory makes sense? - NotebookCheck.net Tech

Updates:-
These listings are for
Quarter 1 2014.
The laptops will be updated on a quarterly basis.

The first thing that people have in mind while buying a laptop is the budget. I will start at a min of 20k INR because that's a good price for a budget laptop and below that one is better off buying a second hand laptop.

I will cover 4 basic demographics:-
  • The Godly Gamer:- This type of laptop buyers are buying laptops because they either have to play games on the run or want the portability of a laptop while gaming. Most important factor for this demograph is the GPU and the CPU of the laptop. Expect bulky notebooks with the best single application performance in their respective budget tier. Consumer grade notebooks.

  • The Bad@$$ Businessman:- Laptops in this category are meant for business use and for very light to moderate gaming. Build Quality, Battery Life and portability are main things to consider by people in this demograph. Expect solid, lightweight and durable notebooks.

  • The Great Graphics Designer :- Desktop Level Rendering capability is the only requirement of this demograph.
    Starts:- 75k+

  • The Humble Human:- General laptops, basically a jack of all trades. These laptops are meant for a little bit of everything from facebook to photoshop to light gaming.
    This class is exclusive to the first budget.

Budget 1:- 20k to 30k (Super Duper Low Power Laptops)
The Humble Human
HP 455 Laptop (APU Dual Core/ 2GB/ 500GB/ DOS) Rs.21470 Price in India - Buy HP 455 Laptop (APU Dual Core/ 2GB/ 500GB/ DOS) Charcoal Grey Online - HP: Flipkart.com

Reasons to Consider:-
1) Anti-glare display which is good for outdoor use.
2) Money not wasted by manufacturer on a OS.

Samsung NP300E5X-A0BIN Laptop (2nd Gen Ci3/ 2GB/ 500GB/ DOS) Rs.25853 Price in India - Buy Samsung NP300E5X-A0BIN Laptop (2nd Gen Ci3/ 2GB/ 500GB/ DOS) Titan Silver Online - Samsung: Flipkart.com

Reasons to Consider:-
1) Intel core i3 processor.
2) Money not wasted by manufacturer on a OS.

Budget 2:- 30k to 40k (Leveling up!)
The Godly Gamer:-
http://www.samsung.com/in/consumer/pc-peripherals-printer/notebook/essential/NP300E5V-S02IN#

Reasons to consider:-
Very powerful GPU for this range.

Lenovo Essential G500 (59-370358) Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ DOS) Rs.35500 Price in India - Buy Lenovo Essential G500 (59-370358) Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ DOS) Black Online - Lenovo: Flipkart.com

Reasons to Consider:-
1) Core i5 CPU.
2) Fairly Capable Integrated GPU.
3) USB 3.0

Lenovo Essential G510 (59-382843) Laptop (4th Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ DOS/ 2GB Graph) Rs.38999 Price in India - Buy Lenovo Essential G510 (59-382843) Laptop (4th Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ DOS/ 2GB Graph) Black Online - Lenovo: Flipkart.com

Reasons to Consider:-
1) Core i5 CPU.
2) Dedicated GPU
3) USB 3.0
4) Money not wasted by manufacturer on OS.

The Bad@$$ Businessman
]Lenovo ThinkPad E431 (62771F0) Laptop (3rd Gen Ci3/ 2GB/ 500GB/ DOS) Rs.34600 Price in India - Buy Lenovo ThinkPad E431 (62771F0) Laptop (3rd Gen Ci3/ 2GB/ 500GB/ DOS) Black Online - Lenovo: Flipkart.com

Lenovo Thinkpads are well known for their reliability. Besides in this budget a macbook is not feasible.

Budget 3:- 40- 50k (In the zone (yes this title is stolen)).
The Godly Gamer:-
Acer Aspire E1-572G

Review
Reasons to Consider:-
This laptop is slightly less powerful than the 2 laptops listed after this which are recommended if your budget allows it but if you can't cross the 45k barrier then this is a good choice as it has a pretty nice CPU+GPU combo.


Lenovo Ideapad Z500 (59-380480) Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 1TB/ Win8/ 1GB Graph) Rs.47111 Price in India - Buy Lenovo Ideapad Z500 (59-380480) Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 1TB/ Win8/ 1GB Graph) Dark Chocolate Online - Lenovo: Flipkart.com

Review

Reasons to consider:-
Performance slightly better than Acer alternative above.
The Bad@$$ business:-
Thinkpad Edge E531 (Black) - Thinkpad - Laptops | Lenovo India | The DO Store

lenovo's build quality is at par with apple. Lenovo is famous worldwide for their business laptops. These thingies are extremely reliable. The entire thing is protected with a metal cage. Rumor has it that these can survive desk level falls. Keyboard is spill resistant.

Budget 4:- 50k-60k(Mainstream episode 1)
The Godly Gamer:-
Samsung NP550P5C-S06IN Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 6GB/ 1TB/ Win8/ 2GB Graph) Rs.58900 Price in India - Buy Samsung NP550P5C-S06IN Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 6GB/ 1TB/ Win8/ 2GB Graph) Silver Online - Samsung: Flipkart.com

Reasons to buy:-
Spec wise this laptop is similar to models in the previous budget category but the main highlight of this model is its Anti-Glare 900p (HD+, 1600x900) Screen. This is recommended for those people for whom screen resolution is a priority. Otherwise there are better alternatives available.

Also this laptop has JBL speakers with sub woofer and is a good choice for music and audio enthusiasts.



Dell Inspiron 15 Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 8GB/ 1TB/ Win8/ 2GB Graph) Rs.60000 Price in India - Buy Dell Inspiron 15 Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 8GB/ 1TB/ Win8/ 2GB Graph) Black Online - Dell: Flipkart.com

Review

Reasons to consider :-
1. Very powerful GPU + moderately powerful CPU.
2. The advantages of a great GPU outnumbers the advantages of a great CPU WHILE PLAYING GAMES.

Lenovo IdeaPad Z510 (59-398016) Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 8GB/ 1TB 8GB SSD/ Win8.1/ 2GB Graph) Rs.57999 Price in India - Buy Lenovo IdeaPad Z510 (59-398016) Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 8GB/ 1TB 8GB SSD/ Win8.1/ 2GB Graph) Dark Chocolate Online - Lenovo: Flipkart

A more multipurpose laptop. This will be better while multitasking while at the same time providing a good gaming experience. It has a more powerful CPU.
Anti glare screen which has better visibility outside.

Review

The Bad@$$ businessman:-
Acer Aspire S3-391 Ultrabook (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB 20GB SSD/ Win8) (NX.M1FSI.017) Rs.52500 Price in India - Buy Acer Aspire S3-391 Ultrabook (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB 20GB SSD/ Win8) (NX.M1FSI.017) Champange Gold Online - Acer: Flipkart.com

Review

Reasons to consider :-
Portable+good battery life

Budget 4:- 60k-70k (Metal Laptop Rising (hope you get the reference))
The Godly Gamer:-
Shop Ideapad Y 510p Dusk Black Laptop Online | Lenovo India | The DO Store
Reasons to consider :-
Ultrabay which maybe released later which doubles gaming capabilities. This is a long shot and Dell Inspiron 15 with AMD Radeon 8850 is a very good alternative.

Dell Inspiron 15 Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 8GB/ 1TB/ Win8/ 2GB Graph) Rs.60000 Price in India - Buy Dell Inspiron 15 Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 8GB/ 1TB/ Win8/ 2GB Graph) Black Online - Dell: Flipkart.com

Review

Reasons to consider :-
1. Very powerful GPU + moderately powerful CPU.
2. The advantages of a great GPU outnumbers the advantages of a great CPU WHILE PLAYING GAMES.

The Bad@$$ businessman:-

Here we see the advent of the first macbooks.

Apple MD711HN/A MacBook Air (4th Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 128GB Flash/ Mac OS X Mountain Lion) Rs.61349 Price in India - Buy Apple MD711HN/A MacBook Air (4th Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 128GB Flash/ Mac OS X Mountain Lion) Silver Online - Apple: Flipkart.com

Reasons to consider:-
Build Quality+Extremely Portable due to extreme small size+V.Fast because of SSD+Quite Capable CPU+GPU+Superb battery life.
What else do you need?

Apple MD760HN/A MacBook Air (4th Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 128GB Flash/ Mac OS X Mountain Lion) Rs.68190 Price in India - Buy Apple MD760HN/A MacBook Air (4th Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 128GB Flash/ Mac OS X Mountain Lion) Silver Online - Apple: Flipkart.com

Reasons to consider:-
Bigger Screen.

Budget 5:- 75k to 1lakh (LEGEN-wait for it-DARY tier)
The Godly gamer:-
Laptop PC | IdeaPad Y510p (Black) | Lenovo India | The DO Store

Review
Ignore anything the review has to say about SLI.

No need to look at anything else.

Need a laptop with 3D screen plus 17.3" but at the cost of CPU+GPU power? Go ahead I won't stop you but this is not recommended.

Toshiba Qosmio X500-X8310 Laptop (2nd Gen Ci7/ 4GB/ 1.5TB/ Win7 HP/ 1.5GB Graph) Rs.71900 Price in India - Buy Toshiba Qosmio X500-X8310 Laptop (2nd Gen Ci7/ 4GB/ 1.5TB/ Win7 HP/ 1.5GB Graph) Online - Toshiba: Flipkart.com

The Bad@$$ businessman:-
The sweet spot as there are many alternatives available

Apple MD212HN/A MacBook Pro (3rd Gen Ci5/ 8GB/ 128GB Flash/ Mac OS X Mountain Lion/ Retina Display) Rs.90490 Price in India - Buy Apple MD212HN/A MacBook Pro (3rd Gen Ci5/ 8GB/ 128GB Flash/ Mac OS X Mountain Lion/ Retina Display) Silver Online - Appl

I am starting with a superb macbook pro. This thingy provides ultimate performance(not gaming) for designers and businessmen alike along with superior build quality and reliability.

Apple MD712HN/A MacBook Air (4th Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 256GB Flash/ Mac OS X Mountain Lion) Rs.74529 Price in India - Buy Apple MD712HN/A MacBook Air (4th Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 256GB Flash/ Mac OS X Mountain Lion) Silver Online - Apple: Flipkart.com

A toned down mackbook air but much more portable.

Windows alternative

Shop Online Thinkpad T430 Black Laptop | Lenovo India | The DO Store

lenovo's build quality is at par with apple. Lenovo is famous worldwide for their business laptops. These thingies are extremely reliable. The entire thing is protected with a metal cage. Rumor has it that these can survive desk level falls. Keyboard is spill resistant.

The Great Graphics Designer :-

I would suggest the HP ZBOOK 15. Go to HP site and ask them directly. If you send in an email they will call you.
This one is an extremely customizable laptop with top notch components. Every damn thing can be customized as the price will change accordingly.

HP Mobile Workstation- ZBook 15 | HP® India

Try to keep the specs to a min or else the price will skyrocket.

Budget 6:- 1 lakh+ (Overkill)
At this point you either really love laptops or are filthy rich and give zero damns.

The Godly Gamer:-
Here you have two alternatives. Either you can buy one from India which is secure or you can import one from US which will provide better performance.

Asus G750JX-CV069P Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 24GB/ 1.5TB/ Win8 Pro/ 3GB Graph) Rs.145000 Price in India - Buy Asus G750JX-CV069P Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 24GB/ 1.5TB/ Win8 Pro/ 3GB Graph) Black Online - Asus: Flipkart.com

Review

Inferior to Alienware 17 and after sales service is not very good but much cheaper.

Dell Alienware 17 Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 16GB/ 750GB/ Win8/ 3GB Graph) Rs.185250 Price in India - Buy Dell Alienware 17 Laptop (4th Gen Ci7/ 16GB/ 750GB/ Win8/ 3GB Graph) Anodized Aluminum Online - Dell: Flipkart.com

For people who love to show off. Superb gaming performance and after sales service is good.

Also in the local market another series of alienware is floating around, it is the m14x and m17x Haswell edition. Those of you that are interested in buying alienware please be aware of these models as they have i7ULV CPUs and are not that good for gaming. The price difference is just 2k INR.



When buying a laptop in this budget, people will want the very best but unfortunately in India you can't just walk into a store and demand it because those evil CEOs , for unknown reasons, decided not to launch the best gaming machines in India.
The perfect gaming laptop will include a GTX 780M in either SOLO or in SLI mode. Those interested are advised to buy from xotic PC and ship through ppobox for minimum headaches. ebay.com is also a good option too.

Xotic PC:- Perhaps the best laptop reseller in the USA, these guys are extremely reliable and will test their products before shipping.

ppobox.com :- A reliable service that imports and clears customs on products for you.

The best 15.6" laptop money can buy:-

MSI GT60 2OD-026US - XOTIC PC - MSI Gaming Laptop

Reasons to consider:-
1. Can beat the Indian alienware 17 any day.
2. Total cost ~1.5lakh INR(including shipping)
3.MSI offers international warranty.
4.The best period.
Price :- ~1.3lakh INR
Importing+duties:-~25-30k INR


The best laptop money can buy:-

XOTIC PC | Alienware 18 (SLI 780M)

1. Nvidia GTX TITAN level performance.
2. Legendary Dell warranty.

The Bad@$$ business man:-
Apple ME665HN/A MacBook Pro (3rd Gen Ci7/ 16GB/ 512GB Flash/ Mac OS X Mountain Lion/ 1GB Graph/ Retina Display) Rs.186490 Price in India - Buy Apple ME665HN/A MacBook Pro (3rd Gen Ci7/ 16GB/ 512GB Flash/ Mac OS X Mountain Lion/ 1GB Graph/ Retina Disp

Why not go for the best mac?


The Great Graphics Designer :-

I would suggest the HP ZBOOK 17. Go to HP site and ask them directly. If you send in an email they will call you.
This one is an extremely customizable laptop with top notch components. Every damn thing can be customized as the price will change accordingly.

HP Mobile Workstation- ZBook 17 | HP® India

Warning:- A maxed out ZBOOK 17 with core i7 4930 MX version, Quadro K5100M, SSD+HDD and Brightview screen can cost well above 5 lakh INR so choose the components wisely and try to keep them to a min.

Min-Liang Tan Tier:-
Min-Liang Tan is the CEO of razer. He is extremely passionate about both gaming and making machines that game well( his work). If you are passionate about gaming and your business then this laptop is perfect for you.

razer blade laptop | eBay

A laptop has a superb battery life+ desktop level performance (think GT 650) + Reliable + Solid Build Quality + Fast due to SSD.

It is advisable to import using ppobox.com

Make sure that the one you are buying is listed as NEW in ebay.com and seller has a high rating.
Also make sure it has core i7 4th gen and GTX 765m.







Useful Links:-
CPU Comparison chart:-
Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist - NotebookCheck.net Tech

GPU Comparison chart:-
Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - NotebookCheck.net Tech

Gaming Scores:-
Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - NotebookCheck.net Tech

Companies that provide great after sales service (This is a debatable topic and I am talking in general):-
Dell,Lenovo,HP


Contributors:-
1.anupam_pb
2.AbhMkh
3.samudragupta
 
Last edited:
hitesh12 said:
This can be included in godly gamer 30-40k . It has 8750m, better than anyone mentioned in that range
Click to expand...
Good find.
How the hell do I edit my post. :/[DOUBLEPOST=1396015796][/DOUBLEPOST]Looks like I can't edit my first post but I can edit this one. Pretty trash coding imo.
 
seamon said:
Good find.
How the hell do I edit my post. :/[DOUBLEPOST=1396015796][/DOUBLEPOST]Looks like I can't edit my first post but I can edit this one. Pretty trash coding imo.
Click to expand...
You can edit your first. You might be facing some problem[DOUBLEPOST=1396019190][/DOUBLEPOST]Add this to game 30-40k. It has 740m, even a little better than 8750m
 
That CPU will severely bottleneck the GPU rendering it useless.[DOUBLEPOST=1396020270][/DOUBLEPOST]I can't edit first post no matter what lol
 
That laptop has a core i3 undervolted processor. That's like very bad.
The GPU has the capability of running high end games like BF 4,NFS Rivals if coupled with a decent CPU. That CPU is just too weak for that GPU to run these games. I'll give you an example how weak U processors are. I have a core i7 4500U with AMD 8850M. When playing NFS Rivals, the CPU usage is 80-90% creating a bottleneck and thus dropping the FPS to 20ish. GPU usage drops from 99% to 70%.
 
seamon said:
That laptop has a core i3 undervolted processor. That's like very bad.
The GPU has the capability of running high end games like BF 4,NFS Rivals if coupled with a decent CPU. That CPU is just too weak for that GPU to run these games. I'll give you an example how weak U processors are. I have a core i7 4500U with AMD 8850M. When playing NFS Rivals, the CPU usage is 80-90% creating a bottleneck and thus dropping the FPS to 20ish. GPU usage drops from 99% to 70%.
Click to expand...
Well you kinda have a point :pompus:
 
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