Team-BHP - The Laptop Thread: Configs, deals & questions

Quote:

Originally Posted by scorpion_blore (Post 4082864)

Wondering what can be done with the broken laptop. Is there any shop/service that accepts such laptops? Can any part the re-used with the new laptop?

Awaiting your suggestions.

Make a TV streaming box/NAS/XBMC server out of it! :D
Sell off the screen (if working) on Olx and transfer the rest to a pvc box maybe. That way, it can sit comfortably in your TV cabinet or side tables below the router. :)

@rbp : What is the purpose of your laptop? Mainly heavy home use & not necessarily portability?

I would say if main purpose is powerful home use, go for a desktop - you can get a truly powerful one at much lower price. If portability is the main reason, then you get thin ultrabooks nowadays with great performance, but the ones you listed are heavy. I somehow dont like lugging around heavy laptops anymore after having a taste of ultrabooks.

I have always had at least one Dell laptop at home for the last decade, I agree, fantastic laptops with great service. I would stick with them as long as they make great new designs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbp (Post 4090061)

I have owned a Dell XPS 1645 for the past 6+ years. Great build and quality, not a single issue till date, but it has started to show its age, video/image editing etc, take a long time. It has the First gen i7 processor.
I am interested in buying a laptop which will let my kids play occasional games and let me edit videos/images, this will be purchased in US and brought to India later, I have zeroed in on MSI GT73VR / Asus 752 / Latest Alienware 17 inch models. The MSI is an absolute beast with NVMe [Fastest performance] 128 GB SSD. The other two come with PCIe SSD. The Alienware and MSI come with 120 HZ panels, where as the Asus comes with 75HZ. Asus I kinda have been exposed to their support through my Wifi Router and wouldnt give them any plus points.

I have my eyes set on the MSI but I am not familiar with their support.

Alienware, though not the most VFM, I have been exposed to dell support and appreciated their professionalism.
Any thoughts ?

Not answering your question, but you might be able to prolong the life of your current laptop by upgrading your hard drive to SSD. It did wonders to my 5 year old HP that was sluggish especially after I upgraded to Win 10. Now my laptop boots in 10 seconds flat and everything else is a breeze too.

Can you claim warranty on laptops in Inida,purchased from US ? I'm thinking of getting a lenovo yoga 710 or spectre x360 sometime next month and they mention about international warranty, but do the local service chaps honor it ? If not warranty, servicing shouldn't be an issue atleast ? Wanted to know from those with any experience on this

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr M R K (Post 4090541)

My 6 year old laptop boots quickly, it has 7200 rpm HDD and has no issues with boot times etc. When I start running heavy applications like premier pro, eclipse etc, I find it slow.

Anyways, I should still give the SSD a try though. I am planning to pass on the old laptop to wife and kids for their school projects etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shashank.nk (Post 4090757)

Lenovo now and IBM previously, always honour "International Warranty" on their products. Laptops sold in US have generally North America warranty. For International warranty you have to pay more. The options are there on their site and you can choose any type of warranty - onsite or off site, 2,3,4 or 5 years (as applicable), Local or International.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aroy (Post 4090808)

Thanks, didn't know about this North America only warranty. The models i'm considering are both bestbuy exclusives, I hope i'd be able to buy warranty after purchase, using the serial number. Also Lenovo India clearly states extended warranty only applicable on purchases made in India, wonder if they'd honor extended warranty bought abroad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shashank.nk (Post 4090757)

I can confirm that Dell laptops bought from the US have international warranty. Typing from one right now :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by agambhandari (Post 4092013)

I can confirm that Dell laptops bought from the US have international warranty. Typing from one right now :D

That's good to know! Did you claim warranty in India for a US purchase ? If you don't mind sharing,do let me know the model you purchased and if you opted for any additional warranty besides the standard one year mail service. I'm guessing only the high-end ones would be eligible for warranty here ?

Need some help in selecting a laptop which I am getting through my cousin from US. Which one of these 2 will be a better option -

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/produ...p/fncwsbb0013h

And

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-hp-en...&ref=194&loc=1

Hp is 899 but will be available for 699 in black Friday sale.

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry10 (Post 4095129)

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/produ...p/fncwsbb0013h

You might want to get this , if it suits your requirements. http://deals.dell.com/productdetail/4yf

Seems to me like a sweet deal. I am planning to get this as well. Any suggestions are most welcome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shashank.nk (Post 4092643)

Sorry for the late reply.

I called them to claim the warranty as I believed I was getting less battery life. First they checked the warranty status from my service tag and confirmed that i was covered. It is a different matter that I did not use the warranty since dell only promises 15 min of battery life per cell:deadhorse:deadhorse.

I was down to 4 hr battery life from the usual 5hr. I bought a Dell Inspiron 7548 with the Core i5,6GB, 1080p touch panel from Best buy (pick up from store after ordering online).

Hope this helps

Can anyone please suggest me a laptop that has minimum 8GB RAM, no OS or Linux, Core i3 or equivalent AMD CPU and priced less than 30K?

8GB RAM is the prime requirement, and without that this lappy would be no use for me. I don't want Windows at all. Ubuntu would be the preferred OS.

Thanks in advance..:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas (Post 4108318)

minimum 8GB RAM, no OS or Linux, Core i3 or equivalent AMD CPU and priced less than 30K? I don't want Windows at all. Ubuntu would be the preferred OS.

Under 30k? You may be asking a bit too much specs for under 30k, most mainstream manufacturers are now shoving Win 10 into the laptops as part of the 4th Reich in technology. Now there maybe a few models you can get without any OS but certainly not with 8 GB RAM, you might get a dual channel RAM holder so you can upgrade on your own. Phones cost on average 30k these days, a laptop should certainly cost more. My suggestion is to keep the price slightly flexible and keep it to brands with easy service Dell/Lenovo/HP etc. Unknown brands will have terrible quality in my experience. Try Toshiba also, though I feel prices may be higher.

My preferred brand for the past decade has always been ThinkPads, just google "ThinkPad" and you'll find a few offers from Amazon India for 32-31k (DOS machines) and 4 GB RAM.. I dont think one can find better value than this and ThinkPads are and have been, ultimate business machines since forever (they were the first laptops afterall). Just buy the same models from ThinkPad authorised retail stores though, NEVER buy laptops online.

Our 4 year old T430 is doing duty loyally as also a year old X250. Both weren't cheap by any measure but well worth the peace of mind (noiseless performance and water-resistant keyboard).

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas (Post 4108318)

Try this. I got one recently as an add-on windows laptop and overall performance is good. I got a gift card offer too which brought overall cost down to 28k. Follow it for few days to see if you get an offer.

http://www.amazon.in/Lenovo-80E503G1..._encoding=UTF8

It came with single 8GB RAM and has 2 slots. You can add one more 8GB and make it 16GB if you want to.