Replacing a laptop with insurance money.
September 21, 2010 5:53 PM Subscribe
Help me find a laptop for $1370.
My laptop was burgled this summer and my insurance has just settled with me for $1370. Since its a replacement plan I have to use it all towards a new laptop or State Farm gets to keep the difference.
My old laptop was a Dell XPS M1330 and I was fairly happy with it. I mainly liked the small screen (13") and the dedicated video card.
Basically, with my new laptop I'd like to play Civ5 but also be able to cart it to campus and back with no problems. I'm willing to bend on screen size a little but ideally I'd like to stay around 13-14".
Any suggestions, general or specific would be appreciated. I saw this question that seemed to warn against Dell but I had no real problem with my last laptop up to the point it was stolen.
My laptop was burgled this summer and my insurance has just settled with me for $1370. Since its a replacement plan I have to use it all towards a new laptop or State Farm gets to keep the difference.
My old laptop was a Dell XPS M1330 and I was fairly happy with it. I mainly liked the small screen (13") and the dedicated video card.
Basically, with my new laptop I'd like to play Civ5 but also be able to cart it to campus and back with no problems. I'm willing to bend on screen size a little but ideally I'd like to stay around 13-14".
Any suggestions, general or specific would be appreciated. I saw this question that seemed to warn against Dell but I had no real problem with my last laptop up to the point it was stolen.
I love my Sony Vaio laptop, which is small, light, fast, powerful, and has very nice screen and sound. I bought it a couple of years ago. Amazon, where I got mine, has a few in your price range that seem to fit your specifications.
posted by bearwife at 6:08 PM on September 21, 2010
posted by bearwife at 6:08 PM on September 21, 2010
This is a pretty sweet lil refurbished Macbook Pro in your price range.
posted by contessa at 6:57 PM on September 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by contessa at 6:57 PM on September 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
If you like the size and want what currently is considered the ultimate portable gaming laptop, I'd suggest an Alienware M11X with features fitted to bring it up to $1370. It starts at around $950 on the website. Various configurations and discounts have brought it as low as $750, but you can tack on random stuff to get it up that high
posted by liquoredonlife at 8:29 PM on September 21, 2010
posted by liquoredonlife at 8:29 PM on September 21, 2010
Sign up for spam from Lenovo - I get 30-40% discount promos from them all the time. The T410s has a big screen but is as lightweight as most 13" laptops and offers switchable (ie., you can turn on 3D accelleration when you need) graphics. The base model is at or below the $1.3k line.
I was hoping that Lenovo would do a X302/310 and was holding out, but it looks like they're killing the X3xx line. I haven't heard anything about a T410s successor, but after working a bit with my labmate's T410s, it's actually a better machine for my needs (I've hauled an X61s in a shoulder bag through multi-day conferences; for me, I don't think that the T410s would feel much different.).
An awesome thing about the T410s is that you can turn the optical drive bay into a HD bay; SSD for programs and a traditional HDD for storage. It's too bad that the dock for the T series doesn't have a port to accommodate the swapped-out optical drive.
posted by porpoise at 10:31 PM on September 21, 2010
I was hoping that Lenovo would do a X302/310 and was holding out, but it looks like they're killing the X3xx line. I haven't heard anything about a T410s successor, but after working a bit with my labmate's T410s, it's actually a better machine for my needs (I've hauled an X61s in a shoulder bag through multi-day conferences; for me, I don't think that the T410s would feel much different.).
An awesome thing about the T410s is that you can turn the optical drive bay into a HD bay; SSD for programs and a traditional HDD for storage. It's too bad that the dock for the T series doesn't have a port to accommodate the swapped-out optical drive.
posted by porpoise at 10:31 PM on September 21, 2010
I would tend to go with Apple hardware unless you have a reason not to; the near-universal criticism of Apple's gear is that it's expensive, but that's not a downside for you as long as it's within your budget. So the MacBook that contessa pointed out would probably tempt the hell out of me. Even if you never run the Mac OS on it, the machines themselves are still fairly nice. I don't know how quickly you upgrade normally, but they holds their resale value surprisingly well (for IT gear).
If you're going to get a Dell, be sure to get one of the business models and not a consumer one. The difference in build quality is night and day. The Latitude series aren't bad; I have one as my main Windows machine and it's almost as nice-feeling as a pre-Lenovo IBM. Not quite, but close. Just max the RAM if you're going to run Windows 7. (I just checked the configurator on Dell's Small-Biz site, and you can pretty much max out a 14" Latitude, including a seemingly-decent video card, without blowing your budget, and if you think the insurance company will swallow it you can even build in licenses for MS Office so that they're rolled into the bottom-line price.) Whatever you do I would avoid their XPS line, as I've seen a lot of defects and general flakiness in them. And of course the consumer/budget machines are plastic crap, but you'd be silly to get one anyway with that much money to burn.
Me, with that amount of coin I'd probably get a 14" Lenovo T-series with a Core i7, assuming you can find one that will meet the Civ5 specs; I don't think that the quality has gone down too much at the high end of the product line and they always had very nice hardware. You can even configure them with SSDs, something that Dell doesn't offer in the Latitudes that I looked at. Only thing that I'm not sure of there, though, is whether the video card options are sufficient for whatever modern games require. Graphics have never been their strong suit, so that might push you into Dell or another brand.
I've heard from others that Toshiba's business line is also nice, but I've never actually used one so I can't speak to them. But if you wanted a third option that might be something to consider.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:58 PM on September 21, 2010
If you're going to get a Dell, be sure to get one of the business models and not a consumer one. The difference in build quality is night and day. The Latitude series aren't bad; I have one as my main Windows machine and it's almost as nice-feeling as a pre-Lenovo IBM. Not quite, but close. Just max the RAM if you're going to run Windows 7. (I just checked the configurator on Dell's Small-Biz site, and you can pretty much max out a 14" Latitude, including a seemingly-decent video card, without blowing your budget, and if you think the insurance company will swallow it you can even build in licenses for MS Office so that they're rolled into the bottom-line price.) Whatever you do I would avoid their XPS line, as I've seen a lot of defects and general flakiness in them. And of course the consumer/budget machines are plastic crap, but you'd be silly to get one anyway with that much money to burn.
Me, with that amount of coin I'd probably get a 14" Lenovo T-series with a Core i7, assuming you can find one that will meet the Civ5 specs; I don't think that the quality has gone down too much at the high end of the product line and they always had very nice hardware. You can even configure them with SSDs, something that Dell doesn't offer in the Latitudes that I looked at. Only thing that I'm not sure of there, though, is whether the video card options are sufficient for whatever modern games require. Graphics have never been their strong suit, so that might push you into Dell or another brand.
I've heard from others that Toshiba's business line is also nice, but I've never actually used one so I can't speak to them. But if you wanted a third option that might be something to consider.
posted by Kadin2048 at 10:58 PM on September 21, 2010
+1 what contessa said. I have bought several times from the Apple refurb store and can vouch for the quality. That is an absolute bargain price for that MBP as well.
posted by gaby at 6:25 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by gaby at 6:25 AM on September 22, 2010
I agree with Liquoredonlife - Alienware makes great systems and if I weren't financially constrained, that's the dream system I'd purchase. They were bought by Dell but still make their own systems. They are designed for primarily for gamers, which means high quality and performance minded components. That M11X has a 11.6" screen, lightweight and portable like a netbook, but full performance of a laptop. Dedicated video card, i7 quad core processor, 7200 RPM hard drive, fast RAM.
If you're really set on the larger screen size, Alienware's next step up is a 15" screen. But larger screen of course means more weight and bulk to lug around. Maybe that's worth it for playing Civ 5 though. "Just one more turn!"
posted by indigo4963 at 7:05 AM on September 22, 2010
If you're really set on the larger screen size, Alienware's next step up is a 15" screen. But larger screen of course means more weight and bulk to lug around. Maybe that's worth it for playing Civ 5 though. "Just one more turn!"
posted by indigo4963 at 7:05 AM on September 22, 2010
Avoid a refurbished mac.
Firstly, if you're gaming on it, they get hot. The aluminum body is sweet, but conducts heat like like a frying pan. Gaming runs things hot. My macbook pro is basically unusable for gaming unless I use an external keyboard.
Second, the windows drivers suck. Power consumption is far higher because Apple doesn't like to support Microsoft products. Battery life is far shorter than comparable IBM/Dell/whatever machines. The trackpad is all but unusable in windows, and bluetooth regularly locks the machine up.
Third, warranty. Although Macs are pretty well made, they do break. For a couple hundred bucks, you can get an 3 year *accidental* damage warranty from Dell or IBM or Sony. But not from Apple, although you can get applecare, Apple is notoriously stingy in what they will cover.
And Applecare sucks - if something happens that you have to send it in, you have to send the hard drive. If it's Dell or whatever, you can keep it (assuming its not the problem). This seems like a small deal, but think - your drive has your browsing history, passwords, squirrel picture collection - and if they don't lose it (apple has lost many) they'll format it.
And lastly - cost. If you buy a mac, you have to buy a windows license to go with it. And then maintain two operating systems and all that jazz.
Macs are pretty terrible gaming machines overall.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:13 AM on September 22, 2010
Firstly, if you're gaming on it, they get hot. The aluminum body is sweet, but conducts heat like like a frying pan. Gaming runs things hot. My macbook pro is basically unusable for gaming unless I use an external keyboard.
Second, the windows drivers suck. Power consumption is far higher because Apple doesn't like to support Microsoft products. Battery life is far shorter than comparable IBM/Dell/whatever machines. The trackpad is all but unusable in windows, and bluetooth regularly locks the machine up.
Third, warranty. Although Macs are pretty well made, they do break. For a couple hundred bucks, you can get an 3 year *accidental* damage warranty from Dell or IBM or Sony. But not from Apple, although you can get applecare, Apple is notoriously stingy in what they will cover.
And Applecare sucks - if something happens that you have to send it in, you have to send the hard drive. If it's Dell or whatever, you can keep it (assuming its not the problem). This seems like a small deal, but think - your drive has your browsing history, passwords, squirrel picture collection - and if they don't lose it (apple has lost many) they'll format it.
And lastly - cost. If you buy a mac, you have to buy a windows license to go with it. And then maintain two operating systems and all that jazz.
Macs are pretty terrible gaming machines overall.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:13 AM on September 22, 2010
I bought a wonderful Sony Vaio last year for $900. It is still very fast and can handle anything I throw at it (Photoshop, Left 4 Dead, etc.). Mine has a 17-inch screen but I'm sure you can find something smaller.
By the way, my life revolves around computers so I can back up what I recommend.
Personally, I wouldn't waste money on an Alienware or Mac (or Dell, actually, but I may be biased).
Sony also has great support.
posted by jykmf at 7:54 AM on September 22, 2010
By the way, my life revolves around computers so I can back up what I recommend.
Personally, I wouldn't waste money on an Alienware or Mac (or Dell, actually, but I may be biased).
Sony also has great support.
posted by jykmf at 7:54 AM on September 22, 2010
I wouldn't waste money on an Alienware, either. My brother-in-law has one that he got for high-end 3D graphics work, and it's been nothing but trouble--and they've refused to fix most of the issues, particularly with its (overly expensive) screen. If you search Google, you'll find that he's not alone. Terrible service and unimpressive hardware at a nasty markup, is my impression.
posted by wintersweet at 10:18 AM on September 22, 2010
posted by wintersweet at 10:18 AM on September 22, 2010
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posted by SoulOnIce at 5:59 PM on September 21, 2010