An aluminium windows-based laptop with decent battery life?

partyatmygaff · 15-10-2011 8:23pm #1

So i've just realised that my plastic-cased Inspiron 15 with its 1 hour battery life just isn't going to cut it for college work. The battery hardly lasts two lectures let alone an entire day and the screen bezel has cracks all over it.

So to cut it short, I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. I'm looking for a laptop with an aluminium body and over 5 hours of battery life. I'd also be looking to spend around €750. I've already had a look around and there are a few good options out there but they're either far too expensive or flawed in some way or another specs-wise.

Anyone have any ideas?

jpfahy · 15-10-2011 8:29pm

Mac laptop with virtualised Windoze ftw

partyatmygaff · 15-10-2011 8:34pm

jpfahy wrote: »

Mac laptop with virtualised Windoze ftw

I actually considered it but I reasoned that I would get much better value for money if I stayed clear of Apple.

Alanstrainor · 16-10-2011 1:40am

i'm loving the look of these UltraBooks, they're not out over here yet. And would probably be over your budget. But im holding out for them! I;ve been trying to justify another laptop purchase, and a super slim ultrabook is seriously tempting. The lid on the Acer S3 is magnesium, but the rest is plastic afaik. Not too sure what the price is going to be like. But it'll prob be more than your budget unfortunately!

partyatmygaff · 16-10-2011 2:27am

I've been looking at those Ultrabooks for a while... The Asus UX31 looks incredible and i'd be willing to stretch my budget for it but Ivy Bridge being released next year is giving me second thoughts.

Acer's offering is a good bit cheaper and isn't bad per se but putting plastic in to the mix ruins it for me.

Overheal · 16-10-2011 4:06am

I've manhandled the Samsung Models. I will pull the model pages in a second for you.

Samsung basically rolled out two obvious troll mac clones: One for the macbook pro and one for the macbook air. They are both, obviously, PC based, and they are pretty sweet. Considering you can buy two of the i7 pro clones for the price of 1 current mac pro, and each of them still has far more spec than the mac pro top spec model.

It is no god damn wonder apple and samsung are suing the crap out of eachother either, the macbook pro clone (The Samsung Chronos) has basically the same touchpad as a macbook, for all intents and purposes. I havent seen the gestures in action but its still the same click-anywhere style pad and has the same physics. Hell, it's almost the same body, too.

Anyway,

Chronos

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+14%26%2334%3B+Display+/+6GB+Memory+-+Silver/3603154.p?id=1218419327877&skuId=3603154&st=samsung%20laptop&cp=1&lp=3

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+6GB+Memory+/+750GB+Hard+Drive+-+Silver/3495331.p?id=1218406257887&skuId=3495331&st=samsung%20laptop&cp=1&lp=6

Compare them to the 15.4" macbook pro: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple%26%23174%3B+-+MacBook%26%23174%3B+Pro+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+15.4%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+750GB+Hard+Drive/1535845.p?id=1218267720156&skuId=1535845&st=macbook&cp=1&lp=2

compare the air: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple%26%23174%3B+-+MacBook%26%23174%3B+Air+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+13.3%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+128GB+Flash+Storage/3108109.p?id=1218378597515&skuId=3108109&st=macbook%20air&cp=1&lp=1

to

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Series+9+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+13.3%26%2334%3B+Display+-+Black/3558472.p?id=1218413650159&skuId=3558472&st=samsung%20laptop&cp=1&lp=2

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i7+Processor+/+13.3%26%2334%3B+Display+/+6GB+Memory/3006306.p?id=1218370888166&skuId=3006306&st=samsung%20laptop&cp=1&lp=1

The little guy is sexy. If I tweaked the registry to disable the windows splash it would boot cold to desktop in 4 seconds.

what were we talking about? Oh yea, both are an aluminum chassis. **** that aluminium **** though you're out of luck there :P

partyatmygaff · 16-10-2011 5:20pm

The Series 7 sounds incredible. There doesn't appear to be a release date (Or price) for the UK/Ireland though? The best i've found is the 2nd October for the US.

Ghost Train · 16-10-2011 5:54pm

Lenovo Thinkpad X Series, magnesium reinforced

Implosiony · 16-10-2011 9:04pm

partyatmygaff wrote: »

The Series 7 sounds incredible. There doesn't appear to be a release date (Or price) for the UK/Ireland though? The best i've found is the 2nd October for the US.

Was in PCworld earlier today. They mentioned Samsung's new line was coming in the first week of November. Probably is this.

But the Samsung RC520 (http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Samsung_RC520_1087511.html) is also pretty nice and available now.

partyatmygaff · 16-10-2011 9:09pm

The RC520 has 2-3 hours battery life which is seriously bad... I think i'll head on to the PC World / Currys forum and ask if they have prices set for Samsung's new laptops.

Plowman · 16-10-2011 10:06pm

This post has been deleted.

dazzday · 17-10-2011 8:48am

Quite alot of options on the ultrabook front:

Asus Ux21/31
Toshiba Portege z830 (personal favorite)
Acer Aspire S3
Samsung Series 7

All circa next month release dates for the US and Germany. However I'd only expect to see the asus available to uk/ireland before xmas, and god knows how long for the rest.

If you want something more immediate and with a little more kick, the asus u46sv is very hard to look beyond. Aluminium chassis (which is beautiful in real life), light, portable and with an 8 cell battery for excellent battery life.
Probably overspecced for your needs, but if you ever plan on gaming the 540GT is a very solid mid-gamer card.

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Asus_U46SV-WX044X_2nd_Generation_Core_i5_Laptop_U46SV-WX044X/version.asp

Overheal · 17-10-2011 1:46pm

Plowman wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Revolutionary? Has Moores Law taught you nothing?

Plowman · 17-10-2011 7:54pm

This post has been deleted.

Alanstrainor · 17-10-2011 8:04pm

My priority is most definitely battery life. So I might just wait it out. I'm in no rush to upgrade, have a decent enough laptop at the minute that does the job.

partyatmygaff · 19-10-2011 2:39pm

I think i'm fairly set on getting the Series 7. I'm finding it hard to find fault with it

2.2GHz quad core i7
8GB RAM
Radeon HD6750M
750GB of HDD with express cache
A beautiful aluminium chassis
8 hour battery life

It sounds perfect. Now I just have to wait for someone to release it over here in Ireland.

BMCD44 · 19-10-2011 5:11pm

I was discussing this with PC World on another thread recently. They confirmed will have in stock this week. €1150 for the i7 model

partyatmygaff · 19-10-2011 5:12pm

BMCD44 wrote: »

I was discussing this with PC World on another thread recently. They confirmed will have in stock this week. €1150 for the i7 model

Which i7 model? There's more than one series 7 with an i7 I think.

BMCD44 · 19-10-2011 5:23pm

There is only 1 on the samsung uk web site:

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/pc-peripherals/notebook-computers/high-performance/NP700Z5A-S01UK

AlmightyCushion · 19-10-2011 8:04pm

partyatmygaff wrote: »

I think i'm fairly set on getting the Series 7. I'm finding it hard to find fault with it

2.2GHz quad core i7
8GB RAM
Radeon HD6750M
750GB of HDD with express cache
A beautiful aluminium chassis
8 hour battery life

It sounds perfect. Now I just have to wait for someone to release it over here in Ireland.

That is one nice piece of kit. I don't really need a new laptop but that is very tempting. Wish it didn't have a numpad though, I hate those on a laptop. I like the resolution. Full HD is too much on a 15.6" laptop and 1366x768 is too little.

partyatmygaff · 20-10-2011 11:33pm

Apparently the Series 7's screen while bright has shockingly bad contrast levels as well as issues with OpenGL.

Just a heads up to anyone else thinking of buying one.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/samsung/607874-samsung-series-7-laptops-15-0-15-6-models-np700z4-np700z5-144.html

partyatmygaff · 01-11-2011 7:21pm

Ok scratch my last comment. The screen's absolutely fine, i've seen it. The only people who will fault it are pro photographers and people who need spot on colour reproduction. It's fine by my standards. As for OpenGL in Linux that'll be sorted out in due course with drivers...

I've just put in an order for a top spec Series 7 with Dabs. €1,090 with a €40 voucher and the €50 student discount. €1000 all in at the end. A good deal I think.

Alanstrainor · 01-11-2011 8:28pm

Looks great man. Report back when you have it!

partyatmygaff · 01-11-2011 8:29pm

Will do.

Dabs rang me five minutes after I made the post to do the usual security check. According to them it's in stock with their supplier and I should have it in 3-5 days. They're estimating delivery on Monday. Christmas is coming early this year

tonto2010 · 04-11-2011 1:40am

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Ok scratch my last comment. The screen's absolutely fine, i've seen it. The only people who will fault it are pro photographers and people who need spot on colour reproduction. It's fine by my standards. As for OpenGL in Linux that'll be sorted out in due course with drivers...

I've just put in an order for a top spec Series 7 with Dabs. €1,090 with a €40 voucher and the €50 student discount. €1000 all in at the end. A good deal I think.

I was about to pull the trigger when I seen your post, how did you apply the student discount? I don't see it advertised anywhere!

Cheers

partyatmygaff · 04-11-2011 1:49am

tonto2010 wrote: »

I was about to pull the trigger when I seen your post, how did you apply the student discount? I don't see it advertised anywhere!

Cheers

The student discount is done through Samsung's website. It's too late for it now though as you had to have bought before the 1st November.

Try Hal40 to get €40 off your order with dabs. It may have expired as well though.

In other news... after a lot of thought i've cancelled my order. For one, Dabs have been incrementing the estimated delivery date by 1 every single day which means that neither their suppliers nor them have any stock and they're just stringing me along. But that's not really my main reason for cancelling. I could wait.

The main reason I cancelled is the laptop just isn't perfect. What I wanted from start to finish was something durable with good battery life that could play a game or two. The Series 7 is durable and has great battery life but this review made me realise it just isn't what I'm looking for in a computer. For one, its performance in BF3 is absolutely dire and secondly the screen just isn't great. I could live with drawbacks like that but when i'm spending €1000+ on a computer, why should I?

As such, i've had a complete change of heart. I'm going to replace the battery in my old Inspiron 1545 with a 9 cell, replace the bezel and stick with that for college work and i'll build a desktop and upgrade my monitor for uncompromised gaming. Thanks for all the suggestions and advice everyone.

tonto2010 · 04-11-2011 2:05am

partyatmygaff wrote: »

The student discount is done through Samsung's website. It's too late for it now though as you had to have bought before the 1st November.

Try Hal40 to get €40 off your order with dabs. It may have expired as well though.

In other news... after a lot of thought i've cancelled my order. For one, Dabs have been incrementing the estimated delivery date by 1 every single day which means that neither their suppliers nor them have any stock and they're just stringing me along. But that's not really my main reason for cancelling. I could wait.

The main reason I cancelled is the laptop just isn't perfect. What I wanted from start to finish was something durable with good battery life that could play a game or two. The Series 7 is durable and has great battery life but this review made me realise it just isn't what I'm looking for in a computer. For one, its performance in BF3 is absolutely dire and secondly the screen just isn't great. I could live with drawbacks like that but when i'm spending €1000+ on a computer, why should I?

As such, i've had a complete change of heart. I'm going to replace the battery in my old Inspiron 1545 with a 9 cell, replace the bezel and stick with that for college work and i'll build a desktop and upgrade my monitor for uncompromised gaming. Thanks for all the suggestions and advice everyone.

Thanks that code worked a treat, I am also a little concerned about the screen but reckon I will just return it if it's really bad.

partyatmygaff · 05-11-2011 3:31pm

I've got my desktop config fairly sussed out on the PC Building & Upgrading forum (i5-2500k, HD6850 and 8GB for about €480ish) leaving me with about €500-600 to get a laptop.

Anyone have any ideas? Dell's Vostro range looks interesting. The Vostro 3350 can sport a HD6490M and can still manage to get around 7ish hours of battery life. It's just ever so slightly out of my budget though when I add the dedicated GFX. Anyone know of any other durable laptops with similar battery life and dedicated GFX of any kind?

partyatmygaff · 07-11-2011 12:55am

I've just found an absolute cracker of a deal I think.

Vostro 3550 with an i3, 3GB DDR3, 250GB HDD, 6630M for €405. Sounds great but it's not as simple as that.

The problem is they can't delivered outside of the US. They have it for $399.99 which converted to euro is about €298. I'm not 100% as to what the customs charges may be but I believe it'll be somewhere in the region of 35% so that brings the price up to around €402 which is still an absolute steal even with the added expense of a charger that will work here.

I could use a forwarding service and bump up the price to around €450 which to my mind is still a pretty good deal. Does it sound like a good idea?

AlmightyCushion · 07-11-2011 2:52am

partyatmygaff wrote: »

I've just found an absolute cracker of a deal I think.

Vostro 3550 with an i3, 3GB DDR3, 250GB HDD, 6630M for €405. Sounds great but it's not as simple as that.

The problem is they can't delivered outside of the US. They have it for $399.99 which converted to euro is about €298. I'm not 100% as to what the customs charges may be but I believe it'll be somewhere in the region of 35% so that brings the price up to around €402 which is still an absolute steal even with the added expense of a charger that will work here.

I could use a forwarding service and bump up the price to around €450 which to my mind is still a pretty good deal. Does it sound like a good idea?

Well, the charger won't be a problem. Most (if not all) laptop chargers can work using 100-240v so they'll work both over in America and here. All you will need is a travel adapter. You should check what the story is with the warranty. Is it valid worldwide? If it's return to base, do you have to send it to America or can Dell Ireland service it? etc.

partyatmygaff · 07-11-2011 10:31am

AlmightyCushion wrote: »

Well, the charger won't be a problem. Most (if not all) laptop chargers can work using 100-240v so they'll work both over in America and here. All you will need is a travel adapter. You should check what the story is with the warranty. Is it valid worldwide? If it's return to base, do you have to send it to America or can Dell Ireland service it? etc.

There's an international warranty transfer form on Dell's site so i'd imagine it's valid worldwide.

An aluminium windows-based laptop with decent battery life?

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