Looking for Decent i7 Laptop, Help Please

Thargor

Hi people, Just wondering if anyone had seen any decent i7 laptop deals recently? I could go to an i5 if it was a particularly good deal:

Budget: 750-800 Euro max, cheaper would be nice but I dont think it'll be an i7 for that will it.

Intended use: Data entry, internet, e-mail, Word processing, programming, games, entertainment, future proof for a few years at least. 500-750 GB HDD.

Mobility: 15 inch preferable, 17 if it was a great deal.

Warranty: A year is okay if its a decent brand

What Operating System do you use? Windows 7 definitely.

Thanks a lot.

Thargor

Sorry to be a pain but I have to get a new laptop and I havent specced anything myself in years, has anyone seen any goo i5 or i7 bargains lately?

brembo26

Bought a DELL Inspiron N5110 in Currys the last day, its a great yoke.

These are the specs:

Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor @ 2.30GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
Memory: 4GB
Hard drive: 500GB
64 bit OS
Integrated graphics card: Intel(R) HD Graphis family 1.77GB (Supports 3D CAD very well)
1 year warranty with DELL
Integrated speakers have SRS Premium Sound Better than normal ones im sure
15.?" HD Screen and all that jazz too!
Seems of good build quality too!

€569 in Currys!

Jaafa

Thargor wrote: »

Sorry to be a pain but I have to get a new laptop and I havent specced anything myself in years, has anyone seen any goo i5 or i7 bargains lately?

By games do you mean recent games? BF3 skyrim etc?

Thargor

No that would just be a nice bonus, Im more interested in high specs so its lightning fast in Office 2012...2014 etc, I will want it to have a graphics card and RAM and all but I'm not looking for a dedicated gaming machine.

brembo26

Sure you wouldn't need anything spectacular to run office programs. I use office a fair bit on the one I bought and its runs the programme as fast as its going to run :P

Jaafa

Yeah from what your saying an i5 core will do you fine, try and get a GT525m card or better.

Something like one of these, http://www.dell.com/ie/p/xps-l502x/fs?cs=ieepp1

Thargor

I still want to play some games aswell though, not Skyrim or anything released this month probably but it would be nice for the sake of a an extra hundred quid or so to have the option.

So Dell is a safe way to go these days is it? I always thought you should avoid them if possible but I haven't looked at specs in years.

brembo26

This dell from the page that was linked is pretty much the same as the one I have mentioned except for the integrated graphics card.

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n00x5m19&c=ie&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ieepp1&model_id=xps-l502x&

But as I said the one I mention has a 1.77gb HD integrated so im sure it would compare well.

€729 vs €569 for nearly the same thing. I know which I would pick...

Oh and just to mention i have been dealing with dell for at least 7 years and never had a problem. Very reliable IMO and good build quality for good money.

And I dont work for dell either... :P

Thargor

Jaafa wrote: »

Yeah from what your saying an i5 core will do you fine, try and get a GT525m card or better.

Something like one of these, http://www.dell.com/ie/p/xps-l502x/fs?cs=ieepp1

Those Dells in this link, do they have graphics cards?

I don't really want a dell anyway, I use them all day at work and they're just horrible, I know its not the same thing but I don't want to be reminded of work when I'm at home

Also they seem to be charging for the horrible reduced function MS office in that pack and I want them to take it off but they wont, I can get Win 7 and Office myself I dont need to pay for them twice.

Whats the main laptop site for Ireland for Samsung or Acer or whatever please?

Im looking for an i7 laptop with a decent graphics card, if you had to order one tomorrow what would you do?

brembo26

Have you looked at any HP's?

These are very nice machines

HP Pavilion dv6-6b51ea i5

or

HP Pavilion dv6-6157ea i7

Both have AMD dedicated graphics cards and 6gb RAM.

Thargor

Thanks for all the help by the way brembo26...

Is the difference between i5 and i7 all that noticeable? Should it be a dealbreaker for me if I wanted this to be my gaming machine?

brembo26

Im no computer expert by any means, just a general user but from what I can see the i7 is just a slightly better processor but only if you are running seriously big programmes like auto cad and revit and the likes. As a gamer machine the i5 seems more than up to the job. Im actually running cad on revit on my i5 with 4gb ram machine and its running them very well.

I cant see going for the i7 is worth the extra few hundred quid unless your going to be using very demanding programmes.

That i5 hp one would be the best buy IMO

Found this on the net too if it answers your question any better:

i5 vs. i7: What it Means to Consumers and Power Users


Currently, the Core i5 processor brand makes up most of Intel's Sandy Bridge processor line. The prices of these processors range from $177 to $216 with base clock speeds between 2.8 GHz and 3.3 GHz. Intel only offers two Core i7 products, the Core i7-2600 and Core i7-2600K, both of which have a 3.4 GHz base clock speed. The i7-2600 has a price tag of $294.
As you may have guessed, paying about $80 more for the 100 MHz clock speed increase between the fastest i5 and the i7 isn't a great deal. The main reason to pay this additional cash for a i7 is hyper-threading, but this advantage will only be evident if you frequently use programs that can actually make use of 8 threads.

For most users, the i5 is clearly the better deal. The i5-2500 makes the most sense in my opinion, as it offers an extremely quick base clock speed of 3.3 GHz for about $200. Of course, the value of this is subject to change in the future as Intel fleshes out its product line with new models.

Thargor

Okay that's excellent thanks for that, a lot of time wasted today looking for i7's!

brembo26

No problem at all. By all means if you can get a well priced good brand i7 go for it but I just cant see the extra few quid justifying what you said it will or may be used for.

But thats just my opinion

beno619

brembo26 wrote: »

Im no computer expert by any means, just a general user but from what I can see the i7 is just a slightly better processor but only if you are running seriously big programmes like auto cad and revit and the likes. As a gamer machine the i5 seems more than up to the job. Im actually running cad on revit on my i5 with 4gb ram machine and its running them very well.

I cant see going for the i7 is worth the extra few hundred quid unless your going to be using very demanding programmes.

That i5 hp one would be the best buy IMO

Found this on the net too if it answers your question any better:

i5 vs. i7: What it Means to Consumers and Power Users


Currently, the Core i5 processor brand makes up most of Intel's Sandy Bridge processor line. The prices of these processors range from $177 to $216 with base clock speeds between 2.8 GHz and 3.3 GHz. Intel only offers two Core i7 products, the Core i7-2600 and Core i7-2600K, both of which have a 3.4 GHz base clock speed. The i7-2600 has a price tag of $294.
As you may have guessed, paying about $80 more for the 100 MHz clock speed increase between the fastest i5 and the i7 isn't a great deal. The main reason to pay this additional cash for a i7 is hyper-threading, but this advantage will only be evident if you frequently use programs that can actually make use of 8 threads.

For most users, the i5 is clearly the better deal. The i5-2500 makes the most sense in my opinion, as it offers an extremely quick base clock speed of 3.3 GHz for about $200. Of course, the value of this is subject to change in the future as Intel fleshes out its product line with new models.

That article is about The desktop core i serious (mobile cpu's have an 'qm' at the end)..where the difference between an i5 and i7 is negligible.
You would probably only notice the difference when using demanding applications and gaming, if you wanna help future proof your machine get an i7 the price difference isn't that bad if you shop around.
When your talking about €750+ there's no point not going for the i7.

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5750G_1068071.html
great value for money, questionable build quality with a bit of flex on the screen.

Have an xps 15, from the dell uk outlet would recommend it even tho you say you dont want a dell :P

Jaafa

Thargor wrote: »

Those Dells in this link, do they have graphics cards?

I don't really want a dell anyway, I use them all day at work and they're just horrible, I know its not the same thing but I don't want to be reminded of work when I'm at home

Also they seem to be charging for the horrible reduced function MS office in that pack and I want them to take it off but they wont, I can get Win 7 and Office myself I dont need to pay for them twice.

Whats the main laptop site for Ireland for Samsung or Acer or whatever please?

Im looking for an i7 laptop with a decent graphics card, if you had to order one tomorrow what would you do?

Dell have improved alot, sure people still have problems with them but no more than any other company. That dell that I link too is an XPS. That's dell's premium range of laptops, your ones you use at work don't even compare.

And yes it has a graphics card, a GT 525m, its run any game at least on low settings (and older games on much higher).

Heres a review (note this one has an i7, but as other has said you wont notice the difference.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwcx_pkGEis

Fluffy88

I don't mean to be insensitive brembo26 but like beno said that quote is about desktop processors and does not hold for Intel's mobile range.
Most if not all Intel Core i5 second generation(Sandybridge) processors are dual core, where as most i7's are quad core.
You can tell by the suffix,
i5 2410M - M stands for mobile
i7 2670QM - the Q stands for Quad core
So any Core i that doesn't have the Q is only a dual core and it's performance will not be comparable to a Quad core.


What I mean by all that is, an i7 is worth it, if you can get a good price.
The laptop Beno linked to is pretty good, but like he said Acer isn't an amazing brand.

Last week I bought a new Dell XPS 17, I upgraded the options a little but at stock it was,
Intel Core i7-2670QM
nVidia GeForce GT 550M
4GB of RAM
500GB HDD
and cost €750
all that leads to a damn good laptop within your price range.

That particular deal is gone now, but if you keep a close eye on the site they should have a new coupon code that will give you 10% off any of their laptops so you should get something similar to the above. I'll be keeping an eye on the Dell site so if I find a good deal on it before you buy I will let you know

Other than that similar spec laptop's with dedicated graphics cards ordered by which I would prefer to buy,
Lenovo i7-2670QM 6GB 750GB GT 540M
Asus i7 2670QM/8GB/750GB nVidia GeForce GT520M
Acer Intel Core i7 2630QM, 4GB, 500GB

Thargor

Hi Fluffy, went with the Asus in your 2nd link there and couldn't be happier, she's a beast. Thanks everybody.

Fluffy88

I just got my new laptop last night too, it's soo good
Wish I didn't have to put it away for the next 6 weeks:(
Hope all goes well with yours.

What is the build quality like with it?
My brother is looking at an Asus K53E laptop, not as high a spec as yours but same chassis.
Is the keyboard comfortable to use?
How does the trackpad feel?
What's the battery life like?

Sorry for all the questions

Thargor

Build quality is fantastic, its matallic but super light, lovely to look at.

Battery life I haven't tested fully yet but I made it from Dublin to Galway on a Citylink bus with about 2/3 left watching Youtube while browsing all the way down, 2.5 hours so that's good enough for me.

Keyboard is a standard laptop keyboard, soft silent keys, you know the type. Likewise the trackpad is bog standard aswell, I hate them though, always have a wireless mouse in my bag so they're not a big deal for me.

Its completely silent, I didnt know laptops could be this quite, games so far are GTA IV and Rome Total War so not a good test of its graphics, well I suppose GTA IV on high is actually, it ran it flawless at max anyway, ultra-smooth. Im going to chance Skyrim on it this Christmas.

Boot up time is the best thing about it. Win7 loads superfast and you're instantly into it, like before the start-up windows sound is finished you can be launching apps and checking your email if you know what I mean, it makes the sh1tty old Dell I have to use at work even more enraging.

I love it

Fluffy88

Thanks for that, I'll pass on the delight

Wish you all the best with your newest friend!