Looking for cheap laptop with AMD/Nvidia, decent built in sound/clip on speakers

mollymosfet

I'm replacing my Acer 6920G as it's kind of crapping out on me.

The one thing I really want from a replacement, aside from being a little lighter, better build quality(not hard) and having more battery life, is decent speakers.

The 6920G had a "Tuba" subwoofer, which while hardly a true subwoofer actually gave it decent, list enable sound. It's adequate for watching stuff in bed with. Most laptop speakers have no bass and grate my ears.

I'm looking for a laptop under €550 that has a similar subwoofer type thing, and also has an nVidia or AMD graphics chip - not looking for a gaming laptop, but the Intel chips are truly terrible, I'd like to be able to play older stuff at least.

I can't find anything at the moment, either subwoofers aren't available on any laptops except a few Dell ones or they're not listed.

So I'm probably going to look for clip on speakers instead. The Logitech L205 looks convenient, though the 305 has better sound quality it's a bit more obtrusive for what I want it for(watching stuff in bed). Are there any other brands?

When I say "decent sound" more specific than speakers; it'd nice to have something with low latency as my current laptop has serious issues with lag spikes(DPC latency) and the like when watching back video and using internet at the same time. I use it for live mixing and it can mess stuff up.

freestyla

I don't know about laptop subwoofers.. but check out some USB powered speakers maybe?
I had odd Philips €15 while ago and did much better job than any laptops own speakers. Some shops can let you hook them up to the laptop/phone so you can test if sound is clear and deep enough.

What comes to "not looking for a gaming laptop, but the Intel chips are truly terrible"

If you buy a laptop with Core i5 2nd gen you get Intel HD3000 integrated, or 3rd gen CPU with HD4000. These are far away from a joke. Enough for occasional gaming at some 1200 resolution and without all the effects of course.
I tested F1 2012 game at low settings it was playable and Counter strike Global Offence at high settings.

mollymosfet

If they're significantly better than the 9500m GS in my old laptop I guess it's worth the upgrade.

I'm probably going for USB speakers. Keep in mind I'm listening in bed, I want the thing to be one unit. So I need clipons.

Are those chipsets enough for HD video? My current laptop lags with some stuff. The HD3000 looks pretty ****, but the HD4000 looks passable. There may be other tweaks too.

Specific recommendations for HD4000 laptops?

mollymosfet

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Lenovo_G580_Bronze_-_Core_i3-2328M_6GB_750GB_15.6_Win8_DVDRW__MAAGPUK/version.asp

^ This looks great, but I'd don't want Windows 8.

freestyla

mollymosfet wrote: »

If they're significantly better than the 9500m GS in my old laptop I guess it's worth the upgrade.

Are those chipsets enough for HD video?

Specific recommendations for HD4000 laptops?

Yes.

Yes, yes even HD2000 is fine with HD video.

There plenty of HD3000 and HD4000 laptops areound.
HD4000 comes with 3rd gen processors - in two different spec. For example core i5-3210M is in overall a tiny bit faster than i5-3317U but later gives you maybe 30-60min more battery life and runs sligthly cooler.
Some motherboards have USB3.0 others not.
Some have VGA, HDMI.. other have mini versions of the same thus you need adapter.

freestyla

mollymosfet wrote: »

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Lenovo_G580_Bronze_-_Core_i3-2328M_6GB_750GB_15.6_Win8_DVDRW__MAAGPUK/version.asp

^ This looks great, but I'd don't want Windows 8.

That Lenovo is a good one.
You have to look for clearance sales etc.. if want windows 7, not so many new cheap models come with 7

Another good for the same price is this Asus k56ca with HD4000

Slow HDD spoils the party here in both laptops- it's not slow in web surfing and writing Word documents but is slow in video encoding, large files copying and games loading.

mollymosfet

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Lenovo_Z580_I3-2350M_4Gb_500Gb_Intel___HD_Graphics_4000_DVDRW_15.6_INCH_W7__M81DQUK/version.asp

Another good one, nice colour too. I think maybe I'd rather the Blue though, not sure. My guitar is a similar colour and I feel like I'll get sick of red

What is current build quality like?

I really like the look of the Purple HPs, a friend has one. He says it's pretty good and he's owned a few laptops. Can't find one with HD4000 though.

mollymosfet

That Lenovo seems to be the best so far. Good build quality, HD4000, Core i3, decent form factor and I think the speakers may even be decent. It's going to be hard to beat, I think. It looks like some of the HP G6s I was looking at might come in similar spec'd variants, but I haven't seen any yet. I really do like that purple!

Might be worth looking in town just in case any of the shops are having sales too.

freestyla

Wanna spend a couple of hours more investigating?

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptop-computers/

so many different sizes and components... have fun

mollymosfet

Neat, but no option to change colour from what i can see and not particularly better than the Lenovo or HP.

freestyla

Boring colors there yeah

Could there be some shops where you can customize a laptop for some 50-60eur?
Or bomb stickers yourself
https://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&tbo=d&biw=1366&bih=643&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=sticker+bombs+laptop&oq=sticker+bombs+laptop&gs_l=img.3...3572.5054.0.5320.7.7.0.0.0.0.57.276.7.7.0...0.0...1c.1.vjCBYaysTx4

mollymosfet

I'll probably do that for the lid, but I like the main bit to look nice too.

Lenovo have the best build quality, so I'll probably go for that. Lamenting not getting the purple HP, but there's always a chance I'd chose the red over it as it looks swankier and sort of matches my guitar(which I've decided might be good rather than bad).

mollymosfet

A bit iffy on the Lenovo now after reading this review -

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Lenovo-IdeaPad-Z580-Notebook.81415.0.html

Looking for other solutions maybe.

freestyla

so what's downside there with Z580?

not sleek and thin right but enough juice for everything than HD gaming..

mollymosfet

freestyla wrote: »

so what's downside there with Z580?

not sleek and thin right but enough juice for everything than HD gaming..

Crap screen. Out of all the ones mentioned it has the worst contrast ratio/blacks.

mollymosfet

Any other ideas? Probably going with the Samsung.

Overheal

You said AMD, and good sound, even a subwoofer.

Look at the HP M6 model. Beats audio 2.1, backlit keyboard, and for gaming get the rig with the AMD A10 cpu in it.

mollymosfet

I hear the Beats audio isn't great, though, and it's not a great laptop for the price. I'm pretty much looking at clip on speakers now.

How is the Asus X55C?

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Asus_X55C_Windows_8_Laptop__X55C-SX028H/version.asp

Overheal

if you want to tell me an M6 is muck then inquire about the X55C, you're clearly listing off in the wrong direction, captain. a black plastic box with a flimsy keyboard.

mollymosfet

Well as far as I know, Asus have decent build quality at least. Looking up reviews through Notebookcheck etc. for the M6 doesn't seem to fair well.

There is an Envy 6 going on Adverts I'm considering, again audio isn't as great as advertised though still probably better than most.

There's also the issue of the power supply not having an angled jack, making it hard for me to prop it up in bed.

http://www.bixpower.com/CNT-LC90-p/cnt-lc90.htm

Would this work on it?

imitation

Why not get a set of headphones ? Laptop speakers are always going to be a disappointment (esp at the no frills 500 euro bracket) compared to a decent set of speakers or headphones imo.

mollymosfet

Because I watch stuff on my laptop in bed, and headphones are uncomfortable. basically I lie on my side, and prop the laptop up on the pillow. it's a pretty awesome arrangement that allows me to watch/read things without ****ing up my posture. But it also makes headphones a little unfeasible.

Again, the speakers on my current laptop are great, but that's about all.

I'm looking for clip on speakers pretty much.

mollymosfet

Going for the Samsung 5 series, seems like a solid laptop; slightly below average in terms of CPU power and Battery life(though the particular model I'm getting seems to be the best balance here, with the A8) but both are significantly better than my current laptop, and it looks to be a nice little light gaming machine for an added bonus.

If I can do better on CPU/Battery life though, and on design(it's a bit plain, but I do like the brushed steel finish), or build quality, I might be up for something else.

BostonB

Do you have a link to it?

mollymosfet

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Refurbished_GRADE_A1_-_As_New_-_Samsung_355V5C_Quad_Core_Windows_7_Laptop_i_77073328-1-NP355V5C-A04U/version.asp

Decent price for a machine you can actually play modern games on, IMO. Looking at Notebookcheck, the screen isn't great but is roughly as good as my current machine so I'm okay with that, with the added benefit of anti-glare, so better overall. Speakers are naff but I'm getting some clip-ons.