A laptop for a college freshman

[rubbateckie]

What is your budget?
Under 1500 for sure, prefer around 1000 or less

What country will you be buying this in?
USA

What size notebook do you prefer?
Ultraportable (11 - 12-inch screen)
Thin and Light (13 - 14-inch screen) - Preferred
Mainstream (15 - 16-inch screen)

What brands do you like or dislike?
Like: ASUS, Lenovo ThinkPad (But anything with good quality is fine)
Would you consider a refurbished laptop?
No

What are the primary tasks you need this notebook for?
For a general gist: Everything a college student would do, including some gaming (Guild Wars 2, Team Fortress 2) and some casual video editing (Avidemux/Other freeware/open source editing software). [Web Surfing, Office and Productivity Software, Listening to Music, Photo Editing, Video Editing, Computer Programming, Video Chat and Conference, Movie Streaming and Viewing, Casual Gaming]

My university requires laptops and professors are allowed to require students to bring laptops to class, so I need it to be reasonably portable. In fact they even "require" students to have an i5 and 4gb ram.

Where will you be using this laptop?
Will be used different places

How many hours of battery life do you need?
3-4, more than that is preferred of course

Will you be buying online or in store?
online or in store - just want the best deal!

Which OS do you prefer?
Doesn't matter - I can get a copy of windows 7 for $30 through my university

List the screen resolutions that interest you:
High Resolution (1600 x 900)
Max Resolution (1920 x 1080)

Do you prefer a glossy or matte screen?
Matte is best, but glossy is fine

Is the laptops design important to you?
No, but I want it to be reasonably compact and lightweight

Approximately what date will you be buying this laptop?
Whenever I decide and find a deal

How long do you want this laptop to last?
At least 4 years for college - so I want it to have great durability/build quality.

How much storage capacity do you need?
500 GB

Are you interested in SSD for storage?
Maybe

Do you want a built-in optical drive, what type?
Do not care either way, although I won't say no to Blu-Ray if it doesn't drive up costs or weight, etc.


I am really flexible about everything on here including the optical drive, the hard drive/having an ssd, etc. The only thing I need is build quality! Basically if something seems to fit please feel free to recommend it!

I would love to have a quad-core cpu, with dedicated graphics, that isn't overbearingly heavy (around 6 lbs is probably my limit). But again, build quality is the most important for me!

I have three laptops in mind right now after all my research but I am absolutely welcoming new suggestions and really want criticisms of my choices!
1. [Sony VAIO S 15.5" - With i7-3612QM, GeForce® GT 640M LE (2GB), 640GB (7200rpm) (It also comes with a free sheet battery). 4.4lbs, 0.95" height for $1270.
2. Asus N56VZ-RB71 - With i7-3610QM, 15.5", 720GB (7200rpm), Blu-ray Player. 6lbs, 1.1" - 1.3" height for $999.
3. Dell Inspiron 15R Special Edition - With i7-3612QM, 15.6", 750GB 7200 RPM, AMD Radeon™ HD 7730M 2GB. 6.1lbs, 1.19” – 1.34” height for $999.
[All three have 1080p screens, 8GB ram, webcams]
Now I feel like the Vaio S is the best bet right now because it is thinner and lighter, but it does have a weaker GPU. How much of a difference is there between the 650M and 640M? And is that drop in weight make the $300 extra price tag worth it when I would be losing some GPU performance?

[chen]

The difference between 640M and 650M can be determined from this link Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech. I would personally go with GPU performance and 300$ cheaper even if it is heavier.

[tommytomatoe]

As far as performing power goes the Asus wins out. I've been eying the n56/76vz series but haven't really found a need. My current laptop is plenty powerful :-)

Price per performance goes to the Asus as well. The 3612qm is undervolted so the clocks are decreased to fit in the tempurature frame for such thin notebooks. 2.3ghz vs 2.1ghz I do believe. But the difference may be negligible for most real life uses.

I say go for the Asus :-) 6lbs is not that heavy.

Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

[rubbateckie]

Someone also recommended this for me but I do not see any reason to get it over the Sony or Asus. Vizio CN15-A2: http://store.vizio.com/cn15a2.html

[theevonator]

wow haha rubbateckie im stuck between the asus and sony as well!

...wish asus had better battery life.

might buy both then return one idk :d

[Kardon403]

Check out this thread on the GT640M LE, Sony Vaio S Bios Mod For Gt640m Le

Looks like they're practically downclocked GT650M's, with a 90% OC at the same voltage temp only rises 5-8 degrees.

[rubbateckie]

Kardon, it looks very interesting.

I took a look at both and the Asus isnt too bulky! The Sony does look amazing as well and with the free battery pack (with which it is still lighter and smaller than the Asus) it has 12 hours battery life.
I think I am going to go with the Asus, because battery life alone doesnt seem $300 for me.