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For work, college, and gaming: higher spec 15.6" or lesser 13.4"?

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  • 27-10-2012 10:39am
    #1
    runswithascript
    Registered Users Posts: 2,789 ✭✭✭


    These laptops are from Germany because in Ireland and the UK they are either unavailable with the same specification and/or price. I will need to either refit an EnGB keyboard, or use premade Lenovo stickers to correct the three or so keys out of place on the QWERTZ.

    Also, regarding my situation I work from home most of the time but attend university full time, and neither are graphics demanding.

    Lenovo IdeaPad z580 - 15.6", Intel Core i5-3210M, NVIDIA GT 640M, 8GB DDR3 - 2.6kg - €632 delivered.

    My only concern is that perhaps a 15.6" 2.6kg would be too large and bulky to lug into university each morning on the bus and around classes with me?

    Alternatively I was considering a Lenovo ThinkPad e330 - 13.4", Intel Core i5-3210, NVIDIA GT 610M, 8GB DDR3 - 1.8kg - ~ €660 delivered - which I would of course have to spray paint black or cover in electrical tape.

    Videobenchmark.net rates the GT 640 @ 1,407, and the GT 610 @ a meager 340.

    Do many of you bus a 15.6" into and around college, and do any of you regret not going for a lesser specification 13.4"?

    The German supplier advised me they should have the z580 early November, but I have not found one Irish or British supplier offering the z580 with the specifications listed above, and I have contacted all listed on Lenovo's website.

    I am hoping after release I may get a model with a UK & Irish keyboard, but if it was going to be released here why would German websites be advertising it (for months now) in advance and we do not?

    Help me choose please!


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    #2
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    The GT 610M is a joke, more a sales spin ("wow, Nvidia graphics") than a useful addition, the on-chip Intel HD 4000 scores 518 at videobenchmark.net. If you don't run graphics demanding programs or games, it's more than sufficient. An additional GPU will only draw more juice from the battery.

    Maybe the 14" UltraNote is for you, £535/€666 in the following configuration:

    yQgkp.jpg

    Incl. OS installation DVD and 3 yr warranty. And you don't have to worry about the keyboard. ;)

    It'll be slightly cheaper if you prefer a platter HDD over a solid state disk.


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    #3
    runswithascript
    Registered Users Posts: 2,789 ✭✭✭runswithascript


    Torqay wrote: »
    The GT 610M is a joke, more a sales spin ("wow, Nvidia graphics") than a useful addition, the on-chip Intel HD 4000 scores 518 at videobenchmark.net. If you don't run graphics demanding programs or games, it's more than sufficient. An additional GPU will only draw more juice from the battery.

    Maybe the 14" UltraNote is for you, £535/€666 in the following configuration:

    yQgkp.jpg

    Incl. OS installation DVD and 3 yr warranty. And you don't have to worry about the keyboard. ;)

    It'll be slightly cheaper if you prefer a platter HDD over a solid state disk.

    Thanks for the reply as ever Torqay :) But isn't that 1" larger than the e330, with a smaller HDD, and 6GB less RAM?

    Ideally I would like to squeeze a graphics card into an i5-3210m 13" laptop that makes more than a negligible difference - some games are improved by the 610m, some run the same as HD 4000, some run better with the HD 4000 but there's really not much difference at all.


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    #4
    runswithascript
    Registered Users Posts: 2,789 ✭✭✭runswithascript


    Strangely PC Specialist will fit an i5 3210 paired with a GT 650m into an 11.6" netbook, but not the 14" Ultranote?


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    #5
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    dusf wrote: »
    Thanks for the reply as ever Torqay smile.png But isn't that 1" larger than the e330, with a smaller HDD, and 6GB less RAM?

    Yes, the display ~1" larger but also smaller than the 15.6" Z580.

    No, I have configured the UltraNote with 8 GB RAM.

    I didn't select a HDD but a SSD, smaller? Yes. But but also a helluva lot faster than any HDD and more robust (no moving parts). Feel free to configure it with a HDD up to 1 TB if you prefer disk space over performance and safety.
    dusf wrote: »
    Ideally I would like to squeeze a graphics card into an i5-3210m 13" laptop that makes more than a negligible difference - some games are improved by the 610m, some run the same as HD 4000, some run better with the HD 4000 but there's really not much difference at all.

    Ah, we're talking gaming now? What happened to "neither are graphics demanding"? :D

    dusf wrote: »
    Strangely PC Specialist will fit an i5 3210 paired with a GT 650m into an 11.6" netbook, but not the 14" Ultranote?

    The Inferno is only a netbook by size, otherwise it's a real beast. ;)

    Since the UltraNote is more about mobility, I'd say it's a matter of battery life (they also offer 45W max TDP i7 CPUs for the Inferno which are not available for the UltraNote, the quad Core i7 3632 is specified at 35W max TDP) or maybe the lack of space in the thin body or insufficient cooling.


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    #6
    runswithascript
    Registered Users Posts: 2,789 ✭✭✭runswithascript


    Torqay wrote: »
    Ah, we're talking gaming now? What happened to "neither are graphics demanding"? :D

    Please see the topic, I just wanted to emphasize it's only my gaming that requires graphics :)

    That said I keep hearing people say HD 4000 is not bad at all.

    Do personally think the 15.6 would be too big to lug around with me?
    Torqay wrote: »
    The Inferno is only a netbook by size, otherwise it's a real beast. ;)

    Yes, but maybe slightly too small to appreciate the expensive hardware when gaming?

    How do you think PC Specialist's Clevo laptops compared to XMG's Clevo laptops?
    Torqay wrote: »
    Since the UltraNote is more about mobility, I'd say it's a matter of battery life (they also offer 45W max TDP i7 CPUs for the Inferno which are not available for the UltraNote, the quad Core i7 3632 is specified at 35W max TDP) or maybe the lack of space in the thin body or insufficient cooling.

    Ah, so the ultranote is thin, I will have to have another look. I'm hoping I'll be able to see the weight with and without changing the config...


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    #7
    runswithascript
    Registered Users Posts: 2,789 ✭✭✭runswithascript


    At 2.15kg it's not that much lighter than the GT 640m Lenovo, and @ 34cmwide it's only 3cm smaller.


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    #8
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    It's about one pound less to lug around. And the weight is closer to the 13 inch than the 15 inch Lenny. Probably less with a SSD too.

    The Inferno also weighs 1.8 kg, double the weight of an ordinary netbook, performance comes at a price. ;)

    What difference should there be between PCS and Schenker laptops? They're both build on Clevo chassis. Schenker do offer a 13.3" vusiness laptop but only with Sandy bridge CPUs (and no dedicated GPU), so I suppose this model will be discontinued.


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    #9
    Torqay
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,835 ✭✭✭Torqay


    dusf wrote: »
    That said I keep hearing people say HD 4000 is not bad at all.

    This will give you an idea what the Intel HD 4000 can do and what not.


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    #10
    runswithascript
    Registered Users Posts: 2,789 ✭✭✭runswithascript


    Thanks for all the replies.

    I went to PC World at the weekend just to get a feel for some of the 15.6" ~2.5kg laptops on offer and they really felt as clunky and cumbersome as I feared they might.

    I have started a new thread regarding my pursuit of an affordable 13.3" Ultrabook with an Intel Core i5-3210m and NVIDIA graphics (GT 630+) here.


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