Lads, can someone give this laptop the once over?

emo72

im hoping for a good high def screen, and just a general use laptop. is this decent value for money? i dont mind paying a few bob extra cos i can pick this one up in their shop, which is right beside me. thanks guys.

http://www.adverts.ie/laptops/thinkpad-edge-e530-i7-3612qm-hd-4000-4-gb-ddr3-75h-62wh-320gb/2005960?utm_source=email&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=AdWatchCommented&notification=9f3743fe181a806a2a22285a9b121a5a-1346000160

Torqay

You'll save 70 yoyos if you order the same machine from lenovo.ie.

All they do is order it from Lenovo and charge you €70.

emo72

thanks. and what do you think of the spec? i7 is decent yea? is it worth the upgrade on the graphics card? can that only be done when getting manufactured or can i upgrade it handy enough in the future?

Overheal

not in the future no.

gflood

Overheal wrote: »

not in the future no.

you can put a dedicated GFX card in later but warranty etc will be voided. The hd4000 should be enough otherwise our battery won't last and you'd be better getting a desktop.

Again for battery I wouldn't get more than a Core I5 or get a larger cell battery

Torqay

emo72 wrote: »

i7 is decent yea?

It certainly is, although the 3612QM is the "weakest" of the lot, it's the low power variant, aimed for longer "battery life". The 3610QM is a good bit faster but it draws more power.

emo72 wrote: »

is it worth the upgrade on the graphics card?

The GT 630M is not really a gaming GPU, if you want to play graphic intensive games, you better look for something different. Intel HD 4000 graphics is more than good enough for all things multimedia.

emo72 wrote: »

can that only be done when getting manufactured or can i upgrade it handy enough in the future?

You order it now and that's it, no future upgrading.

areyawell

That is a integrated graphics card so cannot be upgraded(I think I'm right?). Its basic and would probably struggle playing 1080p blue ray rips etc and wouldnt play any new games. Id recommend this laptop [HTML]http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n0015s30&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520&c=ie&l=en&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1[/HTML]

Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3210M processor (3M Cache, up to 3.10 GHz)
1 yr Next Day In-Home Hardware Support
McAfee® Security Center 15 month subscription
Switch by Design Studio - Aluminium
Also Includes
Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
Inspiron 7520 Base
2GB AMD Radeon HD 7730M
Primary 6-cell 48W/HR LI-ION
1TB Serial ATA (5400RPM)
8x DVD+/-RW Optical Drive
6144MB (1x2048 + 1x4096) 1600MHz DDR3
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 Card (802.11n + BT 4.0)
Driver : 2230 Wireless Card
Wireless Display Application
Additional Hard Drive Not included
A5TRBO1303_004/BTS/UK
Daughter Board for WLAN


AMD Radeon 7730 is a very good middle class graphics card and would play all new in medium settings. 850 yoyos

Torqay

gflood wrote: »

Again for battery I wouldn't get more than a Core I5 or get a larger cell battery

The 3612QM has the same TDP as any regular Ivy Core i5, 35W max.

Overheal

Sure, but go look for a power consumption bench still and see where they stack up. One will consume more power than the other on various tasks, ranging from the intense (encoding video) to the mundane (loading a .txt document)

gflood wrote: »

you can put a dedicated GFX card in later but warranty etc will be voided.

for the sake of pedantry, yes. But I don't know of anyone who has found a reasonably priced naked GPU chip that was compatible with their model and soldered it onto the board after they bought it. For all the stress and additional expense, and the level of expertise involved just to shop a compatible chip and then to actually install it, its suffice to say "no, you can't" as we're talking about less than 1% of cases where people actually do such a thing.

Torqay

areyawell wrote: »

That is a integrated graphics card so cannot be upgraded(I think I'm right?). Its basic and would probably struggle playing 1080p blue ray rips etc

No, it wouldn't... I play 1080p movies on my old 1005HA (Atom N280 and Intel GMA 950).

Torqay

areyawell wrote: »

Id recommend this laptop [HTML]http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=n0015s30&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520&c=ie&l=en&s=dhs&cs=iedhs1[/HTML]

850 yoyos

This is all good and well, but it isn't entirely fair to compare a business laptop (Lenovo Thinkpad)) with a consumer laptop (Dell Inspiron). You'll have to pay a premium for better build quality and service.

I'm sure, we'll fine plenty Core i7 consumer laptops for less than 700 Euro.

emo72

so the lenovo is a business laptop, its got better build quality than the dell one? i had a dell before and it fell to pieces on me. the screen body cracked because the hinge was too tight, i lost keys, it overheat a lot and the battery died, and the charger broke. i have no love for them anymore. and then they buggered off over to poland.

Alanstrainor

emo72 wrote: »

so the lenovo is a business laptop, its got better build quality than the dell one? i had a dell before and it fell to pieces on me. the screen body cracked because the hinge was too tight, i lost keys, it overheat a lot and the battery died, and the charger broke. i have no love for them anymore. and then they buggered off over to poland.

I'd have the lenovo over the dell anyway. And definitely buy the extended battery, seems to only cost 12 quid from lenovo.

Torqay

emo72 wrote: »

so the lenovo is a business laptop, its got better build quality than the dell one? i had a dell before and it fell to pieces on me. the screen body cracked because the hinge was too tight, i lost keys, it overheat a lot and the battery died, and the charger broke. i have no love for them anymore. and then they buggered off over to poland.

To be fair, the Inspiron xxR SE series with the aluminum base are nice machines but they are overpriced and if I had to choose between a Core i7-3612QM and Core i5-3210M, I'd take the i7 any day.

And yes, Thinkpad is Lenovo's business line-up, but not all of them are T-series, mobile workstations legendary for their robustness and quality. Just as not all Dell business laptops are Latitude or Precision, they also sell Vostro.

Overheal

Again its not about brand. There are some cheap Dell inspirons I wouldn't touch, then again if I had the money for a Dell Precision workbook, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Of the few Lenovos I get to handle all have been seemingly built fairly well on the exterior and have comfortable keyboards which is a bigger plus than most people factor when they make their buying decisions. Thats something even HP doesnt have going for it right now, I'm mildly annoyed by those chiclet keyboards on some models, just because the sensors on them suck and the keys regularly fail to register strokes.

ED E

Torqay wrote: »

they also sell Vostro.

Ah now, the Vostros may be fugly plastic beasts, but they can take a beating and keep going and going and going. The Vostro 1000 beside me is a testament to that.

Torqay

ED E wrote: »

Ah now, the Vostros may be fugly plastic beasts, but they can take a beating and keep going and going and going. The Vostro 1000 beside me is a testament to that.

Nope, nothing wrong with the auld plastic... but you can't deny that they're not quite up there with the Latitude.

emo72

the seller of the laptop on adverts pulled the ad when someone pointed out that you could buy the laptop cheaper directly from lenovo.

talk about toys out of the pram!

Overheal

emo72 wrote: »

the seller of the laptop on adverts pulled the ad when someone pointed out that you could buy the laptop cheaper directly from lenovo.

talk about toys out of the pram!

"They're on to me!" /run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY64meMb7-s