The Laptop Thread: Configs, deals & questions

chevelle · 13th November 2010, 19:28

Sony and Toshiba launched WI-DI (Wireless Display) enabled Laptop. The price of Sony's S series is low considering they price any new tech way above the others. An i3 processor, 4gb RAM with wi-di is only $729.

I hope to see more commercialization of WI-DI so the prices goes down.

null · 13th November 2010, 20:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by nirmaljusdoit

Null - The specs & price is nice ! I too was evaluating the Future bazar option of getting myself an Acer netbook. Some of the prices are killer prices !

Can you please share your experience of online buying ? Most of the reviews i checked online about Future bazar weren't so good !

Well, nothing could beat this deal from Futurebazaar - a 2GB model Netbook with a 6 cell battery, Win7 Starter,Office 2010 Starter, 1 yr McAfee subscription all at a net price of just 11K (after deducting the price of 500GB HDD & 501Rs voucher.

Buying experience was like any other website. The good part is, I asked a question through email after the purchase & they called me up within a few hours to explain abt my query.

The shipment too was very professional and adequately packed. It arrived within 2 days (or 1 day, assuming Nov 1st was a holiday in Blore).

Flip side:
- The tracker AWB number given by them never worked on the bluedart.com website. I see that the final shipment was through some Aramax logistic (can be a bluedart firm I dont know), but the website said it would be sent through BlueDart.

- Gift voucher: they never said that i would get the gift voucher later. They are saying that i would get the voucher within 15 days of the delivery. I couldnt use it to buy stuff during Deepavali. I am a bit skeptical now on whether I would get it without any follow ups.

Overall, I would say, it was a pleasant experience to buy from FutureBazaar.com inspite of those feedbacks on mouthshut.com

khoj · 14th November 2010, 01:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by null

The shipment too was very professional and adequately packed. It arrived within 2 days (or 1 day, assuming Nov 1st was a holiday in Blore).

I see that the final shipment was through some Aramax logistic (can be a bluedart firm I dont know), but the website said it would be sent through BlueDart.

Overall, I would say, it was a pleasant experience to buy from FutureBazaar.com inspite of those feedbacks on mouthshut.com

Aramax is an independent courier and freight company.

Did you get the external Hdd with the netbook or is that coming later too??

manim · 14th November 2010, 02:19

bought Sony Vaio VPCEB36FG with Full-HD screen

Price was Rs.50,430.

Installed Fedora-14 alongside Windows-7.

Initial impression: Awesome!

(problems so far: WiFi under Linux connects/disconnects every few minutes).

Aroy · 14th November 2010, 10:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Hey guys, want to upgrade the RAM of my laptop. Any pointers for the brand to go for?

First of all find out how many RAM slots you have, and what sort of RAM it is.
If in Delhi go to Nehru Place with your laptop. Shop around a bit for "life time warranty" RAM. Let the seller install the RAM and confirm that it is working. Insist that the speed is the maximum supported by the MB.

Some RAM are not compatible with all laptops. I once had a friend in MP who got a 2GB RAM for his Acer. It did not work in his laptop, but was perfect in my Thinkpad.

null · 14th November 2010, 17:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by khoj

Did you get the external Hdd with the netbook or is that coming later too??

The HDD came along with the Netbook itself as a single package. Both the items, netbook & HDD, were listed in the invoice explictly.

Dry Ice · 16th November 2010, 23:04

Thank you Aroy for the suggestion. Mine is a DDR2, have one slot free. I was indeed thinking of going the Nehru Place way!

avi550m · 17th November 2010, 15:39

Hi Guys

I am looking to purchase a laptop, and have done a lot of research on the subject, but am still not happy with the options available and am worried about after sales/ reliability in India.

Let me give a little background: In college, I bought a Thinkpad R60 which has been running very well for the last 4 years. Only recently, its hinge broke and I got it fixed and upgraded its RAM since it was only 512MB to 2.5GB now, to make it run faster.

Based on my *ahem* positive experience with Lenovo (Thinkpad), I bought my GF a Lenovo G460 laptop for B-School. Stupid me, I had to choose a model within 2 days and did not do my research properly. And I also had the misfortune of buying it through those cheats at E-Zone. The laptop has already had its motherboard replaced after 1 month, and now is showing battery problems. And since the laptop is to be used in Manipal, it is not easy to spare time and effort to get repairs in Mangalore, the closest service centre. Not to mention that the downtime which will be involved is completely not acceptable.

So, to cut a long story short, I am giving her my upgraded R60 as a backup model. And I need to get a new laptop for myself.

Being spoilt by the R60, I realized that my needs are:
1. A matte screen is preferred to reduce eye strain over long hours
2. It should be a matte case (Body) which is sturdy
3. I would like to get an extended 3 year warranty in the price
4. After sales and service of the company should be fast and good
5. I would want Windows OS preinstalled
6. The keyboard should preferable have a separate number pad on the sid (hence 15" models are preferred)
7. Keyboard and trackpad should be good quality
8. Body should be sturdy (like the Thinkpad)
9. Average battery life would do, more is a bonus
10. Not really looking to play games or edit videos, just work, internet and long hours of typing needed
11. Should NOT run hot (i.e should be cool and quiet)

My total budget is 50k (inclusive of the cost of extending warranty), But I can stretch it by 5k more if need be.

Of course, my horrible experience with Lenovo, not to mention the fact that a Thinkpad T410 costs 67k, has removed it from my list. No Sony model has matte screen in the price range, and I excluded HP, Compaq and Acer due to the horror storied I have heard about them. But then, I read on mouthshut and other consumer sites about almost each and every laptop model having problems.... in quality or service! What to do? It seems nothing works well these days... I don't know what to choose... frankly, I am royally p***ed off with the laptop makers. I mean, earlier, products would last a long time properly.

So, I have shortlisted the foll models. Remember, performance is not primary importance, as all are fast enough for my work. I have listed price, and pros and cons of each model:

1. Toshiba Tecra A11: 50k
Pros: Matte? Screen, Good Keyboard, Sturdy, Cool and QUiet, 3 year warranty
Cons: Toshiba service??? Warranty is not on-site but carry in

2. Asus B53J: 56k (as seen in CHIP)
Pros: Good build, keyboard, cool and quiet, matte screen,powerful
Cons: Not available in India. Asus people have no idea when it will be launched. And how are Asus laptop?

3. Dell Vostro 3400/3500: 48k (with 3 year warranty)
Pros: Known name (Dell), sturdy, on-site support, 7200RM HDD
Cons: says it heats up and runs loud. Also, not easily available with 3 year warranty from sellers, who don't seem to have a clue

4. Apple Macbook White (the outsider): 58k (1 year warranty)
Pros: GF likes the Macbook, Well made, reliable, sleek and fast
Cons: Only 1 year warranty, parts are expensive to replace, Apple service in India? Not a matte screen. Also, expensive.

5. Dell Inspiron 15R (The cheapskate alternative): 42k (3 year warranty)
Pros: Cheap, lots of people have inspirons, fast system
Cons: Reliability? Said to run hot and loud. Glossy screen, not as good keyboard as the above laptops.

So these are my current choices, and I hope that you guys can help me in selecting a good, stable and fuss-free model based on the requirement listed above. please feel free to add any more choices, and could someone please tell me how Toshiba, Asus or Apple's service in India is, for that would save me a lot of hassle.

munchy_cool · 19th November 2010, 14:52

Hi guys,

I need to ship a laptop from Mumabi to Delhi, any courier company which can provide me this service?

PatienceWins · 19th November 2010, 20:12

I am unable to run Mafia 2 on my Dell Inspiron 15R with ATI Radeon 550v graphics card.

It seems that the game needs Physx driver and it is compatible only with Nividea cards.

Antonian · 23rd November 2010, 17:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by null

Well, nothing could beat this deal from Futurebazaar - a 2GB model Netbook with a 6 cell battery, Win7 Starter,Office 2010 Starter, 1 yr McAfee subscription all at a net price of just 11K (after deducting the price of 500GB HDD & 501Rs voucher.

Buying experience was like any other website. The good part is, I asked a question through email after the purchase & they called me up within a few hours to explain abt my query.

The shipment too was very professional and adequately packed. It arrived within 2 days (or 1 day, assuming Nov 1st was a holiday in Blore).

Flip side:
- The tracker AWB number given by them never worked on the bluedart.com website. I see that the final shipment was through some Aramax logistic (can be a bluedart firm I dont know), but the website said it would be sent through BlueDart.

- Gift voucher: they never said that i would get the gift voucher later. They are saying that i would get the voucher within 15 days of the delivery. I couldnt use it to buy stuff during Deepavali. I am a bit skeptical now on whether I would get it without any follow ups.

Overall, I would say, it was a pleasant experience to buy from FutureBazaar.com inspite of those feedbacks on mouthshut.com

Called the Futurebazaar Customer care, But they said the offer not existing now. Also they said, the offer will be re-launched soon. IMO, This was a jem deal. Now, am waiting for the offer to re-launch.
BTW, Dear null , How is the performance of your netbook ?

joe1980 · 29th November 2010, 19:04

Guys,

After owning a Thinkpad R61 for about 2 years, I'm completely satisfied with its performance thus far. I've abused it many times, my daughter (~ 10 kg's) jumps on it but nothing happened and it works rock solid. I have to hand this machine over to my wife and get myself a new one. I just purchased a Lenovo T410s 2924 machine with the below specs here in Germany:

Intel® Core™ i5-560M Dual core Mobile processor
2 GB RAM
160 GB SSD
WXGA+ (1440 * 900)
Intel GMA HD Graphics
UMTS, 5 in 1 Card Reader
1.77 kg, 3 * USB, 2 MP webcam
Bluetooth, LAN, WLAN

It costed me whopping 1929 Euros. But I feel it is worth the money as I need it for business use and for more mobility with its light weight.

The next step would be to get Linux (preferably Ubuntu) installed on it.

null · 30th November 2010, 17:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antonian

Called the Futurebazaar Customer care, But they said the offer not existing now. Also they said, the offer will be re-launched soon. IMO, This was a jem deal. Now, am waiting for the offer to re-launch.
BTW, Dear null , How is the performance of your netbook ?

Performance is adequate. Hardware wise, I hate the HDD which makes lot of noise. Cooling seems to be adequate. Battery life is over 6 hours right now with browsing. Excellent display, good WLAN, responsive touchpad.. Cribs - Useless speakers, not so impressive keyboard (similar to others I feel). Wish they gave a keyboard skin as well.

Software wise, hate this windows 7 which uses more than 1Gig of memory with loads of unwanted stuff automatically started(through task manager), tried removing some components & the OS crashed (didnt investigate why) and hence have installed ubuntu in parallel - Put the desktop version (not the netbook one - was not happy with the netbook edition) with no unwanted services and it is blazing fast.

chevelle · 30th November 2010, 19:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by joe1980

I just purchased a Lenovo T410s 2924 machine with the below specs here in Germany:

Intel® Core™ i5-560M Dual core Mobile processor
2 GB RAM
160 GB SSD
WXGA+ (1440 * 900)
Intel GMA HD Graphics
UMTS, 5 in 1 Card Reader
1.77 kg, 3 * USB, 2 MP webcam
Bluetooth, LAN, WLAN

It costed me whopping 1929 Euros.

This is outrageous pricing for T410s. On converting it comes to around $2500. Are all laptops that expensive in Germany?

T410 with same config is available for $1200 here. Notable difference is NVidia NVS 3100mm 512 mb Graphics Card.

joe1980 · 30th November 2010, 20:57

I just checked the price for the same configuration in US, India and I did not find any major differences with India being more expensive and US being a bit cheaper (not a great difference though). Even I saw some T410 for 1400 Euros with more or less the same configuration that I bought my T410s for. But this time around I needed a rugged light weight machine and that is why I did not bother pay this much. I have been saving for months for this. Counting on the reliability of my R61, I hope that for the next 5 years the T410s would perform without any problems and if it did, then it was worth the money that I paid.

And yes you are right, electronics generally here in Germany seem to be expensive when compared to the USA.

13th November 2010, 19:28	#2656
chevelle Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: sacto Posts: 1,299 Thanked: 553 Times View My Garage	Sony and Toshiba launched WI-DI (Wireless Display) enabled Laptop. The price of Sony's S series is low considering they price any new tech way above the others. An i3 processor, 4gb RAM with wi-di is only $729. I hope to see more commercialization of WI-DI so the prices goes down. Last edited by chevelle : 13th November 2010 at 19:29.
	() Thanks

14th November 2010, 02:19	#2659
manim BHPian Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Chennai Posts: 822 Thanked: 919 Times	Vaio Full-HD bought Sony Vaio VPCEB36FG with Full-HD screen Price was Rs.50,430. Installed Fedora-14 alongside Windows-7. Initial impression: Awesome! (problems so far: WiFi under Linux connects/disconnects every few minutes).
	() Thanks

16th November 2010, 23:04	#2662
Dry Ice Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: -- Posts: 3,592 Thanked: 7,504 Times	Thank you Aroy for the suggestion. Mine is a DDR2, have one slot free. I was indeed thinking of going the Nehru Place way!
	() Thanks

17th November 2010, 15:39	#2663
avi550m BHPian Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Bangalore Posts: 253 Thanked: 308 Times	Done my research... still not satisfied... need a good, sturdy, reliable laptop Hi Guys I am looking to purchase a laptop, and have done a lot of research on the subject, but am still not happy with the options available and am worried about after sales/ reliability in India. Let me give a little background: In college, I bought a Thinkpad R60 which has been running very well for the last 4 years. Only recently, its hinge broke and I got it fixed and upgraded its RAM since it was only 512MB to 2.5GB now, to make it run faster. Based on my ahem positive experience with Lenovo (Thinkpad), I bought my GF a Lenovo G460 laptop for B-School. Stupid me, I had to choose a model within 2 days and did not do my research properly. And I also had the misfortune of buying it through those cheats at E-Zone. The laptop has already had its motherboard replaced after 1 month, and now is showing battery problems. And since the laptop is to be used in Manipal, it is not easy to spare time and effort to get repairs in Mangalore, the closest service centre. Not to mention that the downtime which will be involved is completely not acceptable. So, to cut a long story short, I am giving her my upgraded R60 as a backup model. And I need to get a new laptop for myself. Being spoilt by the R60, I realized that my needs are: 1. A matte screen is preferred to reduce eye strain over long hours 2. It should be a matte case (Body) which is sturdy 3. I would like to get an extended 3 year warranty in the price 4. After sales and service of the company should be fast and good 5. I would want Windows OS preinstalled 6. The keyboard should preferable have a separate number pad on the sid (hence 15" models are preferred) 7. Keyboard and trackpad should be good quality 8. Body should be sturdy (like the Thinkpad) 9. Average battery life would do, more is a bonus 10. Not really looking to play games or edit videos, just work, internet and long hours of typing needed 11. Should NOT run hot (i.e should be cool and quiet) My total budget is 50k (inclusive of the cost of extending warranty), But I can stretch it by 5k more if need be. Of course, my horrible experience with Lenovo, not to mention the fact that a Thinkpad T410 costs 67k, has removed it from my list. No Sony model has matte screen in the price range, and I excluded HP, Compaq and Acer due to the horror storied I have heard about them. But then, I read on mouthshut and other consumer sites about almost each and every laptop model having problems.... in quality or service! What to do? It seems nothing works well these days... I don't know what to choose... frankly, I am royally p***ed off with the laptop makers. I mean, earlier, products would last a long time properly. So, I have shortlisted the foll models. Remember, performance is not primary importance, as all are fast enough for my work. I have listed price, and pros and cons of each model: 1. Toshiba Tecra A11: 50k Pros: Matte? Screen, Good Keyboard, Sturdy, Cool and QUiet, 3 year warranty Cons: Toshiba service??? Warranty is not on-site but carry in 2. Asus B53J: 56k (as seen in CHIP) Pros: Good build, keyboard, cool and quiet, matte screen,powerful Cons: Not available in India. Asus people have no idea when it will be launched. And how are Asus laptop? 3. Dell Vostro 3400/3500: 48k (with 3 year warranty) Pros: Known name (Dell), sturdy, on-site support, 7200RM HDD Cons: says it heats up and runs loud. Also, not easily available with 3 year warranty from sellers, who don't seem to have a clue 4. Apple Macbook White (the outsider): 58k (1 year warranty) Pros: GF likes the Macbook, Well made, reliable, sleek and fast Cons: Only 1 year warranty, parts are expensive to replace, Apple service in India? Not a matte screen. Also, expensive. 5. Dell Inspiron 15R (The cheapskate alternative): 42k (3 year warranty) Pros: Cheap, lots of people have inspirons, fast system Cons: Reliability? Said to run hot and loud. Glossy screen, not as good keyboard as the above laptops. So these are my current choices, and I hope that you guys can help me in selecting a good, stable and fuss-free model based on the requirement listed above. please feel free to add any more choices, and could someone please tell me how Toshiba, Asus or Apple's service in India is, for that would save me a lot of hassle.
	() Thanks

19th November 2010, 14:52	#2664
munchy_cool BHPian Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: void (0) Posts: 95 Thanked: 118 Times	Hi guys, I need to ship a laptop from Mumabi to Delhi, any courier company which can provide me this service?
	() Thanks

19th November 2010, 20:12	#2665
PatienceWins Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 2,427 Thanked: 833 Times View My Garage	I am unable to run Mafia 2 on my Dell Inspiron 15R with ATI Radeon 550v graphics card. It seems that the game needs Physx driver and it is compatible only with Nividea cards. Last edited by PatienceWins : 19th November 2010 at 20:14.
	() Thanks

29th November 2010, 19:04	#2667
joe1980 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Andromeda Posts: 336 Thanked: 155 Times	Guys, After owning a Thinkpad R61 for about 2 years, I'm completely satisfied with its performance thus far. I've abused it many times, my daughter (~ 10 kg's) jumps on it but nothing happened and it works rock solid. I have to hand this machine over to my wife and get myself a new one. I just purchased a Lenovo T410s 2924 machine with the below specs here in Germany: Intel® Core™ i5-560M Dual core Mobile processor 2 GB RAM 160 GB SSD WXGA+ (1440 * 900) Intel GMA HD Graphics UMTS, 5 in 1 Card Reader 1.77 kg, 3 * USB, 2 MP webcam Bluetooth, LAN, WLAN It costed me whopping 1929 Euros. But I feel it is worth the money as I need it for business use and for more mobility with its light weight. The next step would be to get Linux (preferably Ubuntu) installed on it. Last edited by joe1980 : 29th November 2010 at 19:10.
	() Thanks

30th November 2010, 20:57	#2670
joe1980 BHPian Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Andromeda Posts: 336 Thanked: 155 Times	I just checked the price for the same configuration in US, India and I did not find any major differences with India being more expensive and US being a bit cheaper (not a great difference though). Even I saw some T410 for 1400 Euros with more or less the same configuration that I bought my T410s for. But this time around I needed a rugged light weight machine and that is why I did not bother pay this much. I have been saving for months for this. Counting on the reliability of my R61, I hope that for the next 5 years the T410s would perform without any problems and if it did, then it was worth the money that I paid. And yes you are right, electronics generally here in Germany seem to be expensive when compared to the USA. Last edited by joe1980 : 30th November 2010 at 21:13.
	() Thanks