Quote :

"Anybody here have personal experience with either of these machines: Asus N550 i7 4700 HQ Lenovo Z410 i7 4702 MQ Lenovo Z510 i7 4700 MQ Don't know what to choose. Have read a ton of reviews and comparisons for the past 1 hour."

My coworker has an Asus N550 that he got around the same time as I got a Lenovo U310. Admittedly a bit jealous because I like his a lot better (though mine was significantly cheaper so maybe apples and oranges).

5/20/2014 4:12:05 PM

^ thanks.

i picked it up a couple of days ago... it is gorgeous!

5/20/2014 9:16:54 PM

Five days ago, I got the N550 JV, which has 8 GB ram, 2 GB vram, and no touch screen.

Just went and exchanged it for the N550 JK which has 16 GB ram, 4 GB vram, and touch screen.

Thank the Lord I had not opened the box yet

5/23/2014 12:32:41 PM

OMG this is the best laptop among all the laptops I have ever got before, which in hindsight, were all crap!

I wholeheartedly recommend the Asus N550. JA is the entry model, JV is mid-range, and JK is the high end model that I have got. The keyboard is amazing, and so is the Bang & Olufsen audio. And to top it off, it is just gorgeous.

5/26/2014 2:51:49 AM

5.68 pounds?!?! Wow that's almost twice as heavy as my Yoga.

5/26/2014 11:43:17 AM

well it is a proper computer, 15.6 inch screen, dvd drive, quad core processor, 1 tb hdd, 16 gb ram, and 4 gb vram, so of course it will be heavy.

but, it is lighter than many other brands of the same size and specs.

5/26/2014 12:27:42 PM

Define "proper computer". I get the need for the discrete video card if you're trying to game, cad, or video but I can get an ultrabook that will perform the same or better (especially because it appears you bought a laptop in 2014 without an SSD. ) for 95% of what most people are going to be doing on a laptop. I have a desktop and a home server for anything else.

Not saying it wasn't a good purchase...what will you be using it for?

[Edited on May 26, 2014 at 12:48 PM. Reason : spelling. ]

5/26/2014 12:38:07 PM

believe me, i would have loved nothing more than getting one with a 512 gb ssd. i have been looking forward to laptops with ssds becoming commonplace for many years: message_topic.aspx?topic=537803

problem is, the ones with 512 gb ssds are all unltrabooks that come with low-power (U) processors, and they are dual core as well. i need one with an i7 quad core. plus ultrabooks come with 4 gb ram, and i need at least 8. i did not find any such combination (i am not in the US, and can't buy laptops off the internet). even the low power ultrabooks with 512 gb ssds are like $300 more than my ASUS, which isn't cheap to begin with, at $1,333.

this is my only computer, so it is for personal use (internet, ms office, music, videos). yes, an ultrabook with a low power processor would suffice for that. however, i am going to start a master's program soon, and we will be using lots of specialized software. the program sent us these minimum specs:

Laptop – SAS Recommends:
8 GB of RAM (more is better)
Quad Core Processor
Big capacity disk drive – 500 MB minimum

just curious, is there a laptop with an ssd that meets those specs, ultrabook or not? thanks.

5/26/2014 1:04:22 PM

Quote :

"problem is, the ones with 512 gb ssds are all unltrabooks that come with low-power (U) processors, and they are dual core as well."

Ultrabooks are awesome. Going in I had the same concerns about the low powered CPUs but there's a few common misconceptions there. Here's the processor in my Yoga 2 Pro:

http://ark.intel.com/products/76616/

Yes it's 2 cores but it's hyper threaded for 4 total and turbo boost goes up to 3.3ghz. As far as photoshop, simple video editing (I've done some GoPro 1080p 60fps editing on it and it's fine), and light gaming it's great. I would say unless you're doing heavy video editing, heavy multi-threaded gaming (something like WoW) then you won't really notice a difference.

Quote :

"plus ultrabooks come with 4 gb ram, and i need at least 8."

Incorrect. Most come with either 4 or 8. I would say 8GB is standard now. Which is plenty for 99% of anything you're going to do. I run a VirtualBox VM as well as a ton of other applications and 8 is plenty. You don't really need 16 on a laptop unless you're doing some heavy CAD work or running multiple VMs.

Quote :

" i did not find any such combination (i am not in the US, and can't buy laptops off the internet). "

This does limit you... you can't buy anything on the internet?

Quote :

"even the low power ultrabooks with 512 gb ssds are like $300 more than my ASUS, which isn't cheap to begin with, at $1,333."

In what country? I got my Yoga 2 Pro with a 3200 by 1800 13" screen, 8GB ram, 256GB SSD, i7, touch screen for $1199 and it's 3lbs and thin as a Macbook Air.

The Lenovo Yoga (the business version) is slightly heavier (3.6lbs) and only has a 1080p screen but you can get it for a similar price. There's also the "Yoga 13" which is the non-pro version with only a 1080p screen as well (compared to the 3200 by 1800 on the Pro) for $1199:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-2-in-1-13-3-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-256gb-solid-state-drive-silver/1817254.p?id=1219065404810&skuId=1817254

I assume you don't have access to Bestbuy either?

Quote :

"this is my only computer, so it is for personal use (internet, ms office, music, videos). yes, an ultrabook with a low power processor would suffice for that. however, i am going to start a master's program soon, and we will be using lots of specialized software. the program sent us these minimum specs:"

I've got a desktop running an i7 at 4.2ghz, 12gb of ram, a pro Samsung SSD, and a $600 video card and my Yoga 2 Pro runs just as fast for 95% of the stuff I do on it aside from gaming and maybe some video editing, and doing big raw photo edits in photoshop.

An ultrabook is going to give you a longer battery life, just as good performance (for probably 95% of stuff), and it'll be way lighter and you'll enjoy working on it more. Plus something like the Yoga 2 Pro lets you use it as a tablet too (plus the various other modes).

I'm not very familiar with SAS but I've used R before and either application you should be simply using a client application and connecting to a server. You're not going to be running a SAS server on your personal laptop (or are you? lol).

But yes for $1000-1200 you could get an Ultrabook that meets all those specs and you're going to have a much better experience.

The discrete video card (Nvidia 750m I assume) will give you an advantage in gaming and applications that have a big video rendering footprint but it's not like it's a mobile gaming card or anything. You'll get zero advantage in any client application like SAS and your battery life will suffer. That's on top of an already poor battery life (4-5 hours). You'll get more than twice that with most ultrabooks on the market today and 3 times that with some (Macbook Air).

Just saying there's other options out there...unless you're doing heavy workstation stuff on your laptop there's no need to carry around a 5.5-6 pound behemoth in 2014 anymore.

-I would also add that any ultrabook on the market today with an SSD is going to "feel" faster and perform faster than your Asus due to having an SSD. The biggest performance increase you can make to a laptop is adding in an SSD. I just got a new work laptop but my previous one (Dell 6410) from like early 2010 I had swapped out the HDD for an SSD and it was faster than all the new 2013/2014 Dells my company had with traditional HDDs. Everyone was jealous of how fast my laptop booted up, loaded large documents, and just ran in general. If you keep the Asus at least pick up a 256-500GB SSD for it. Otherwise it's going to be sloooooow.

[Edited on May 26, 2014 at 2:40 PM. Reason : ssd]

5/26/2014 2:36:44 PM

And I returned the Macbook Pro. Battery life with parallels, or in Win8.1 with bootcamp is fucking horrible.

I'm in the same boat as OEPII1.

There are at least 5 different AWESOME 13.3 ultrabooks out there that are amazing. But 13.3" just is too small a screen for me. a 15-15.6" screen is perfect for me, and there's basically only 2-3 decent laptops out there in this screen size.

The Macbook Pro and Dell XPS 15 are the only two I've found so far. I too REALLY want a quad core i7, as I use VM's on my laptop on a daily basis and consistently need the 8 logical cores and extra umph.

Every other laptop I've found either has a complete shit screen (1366x768@15" is a joke), laughable battery life (really, $1000+ dollar laptops with 3 hour battery life??) or are fucking huge (6-7 pounds).

I may try the Dell out from the Microsoft Store, since they have a no question asked 30 day return policy. I'm pretty skeptical of it though, the keyboard seems really cramped and to date I have wanted to murder every Dell trackpad I've ever used. But it's a touchscreen, so maybe it won't be such an issue anymore.

The thing is, I'm at a point where I'm willing to throw just about any amount of money at a machine that will do what I want:

15+" display @ 1080p or higher (definitely prefer quad HD)
512gb SSD (or replaceable drive so I can put in my own)
16+gm ram
<5lbs
9+ hour battery life
Decent graphics (preferably Intel/nVidia switchable, but also fine with Intel Iris integrated).

Does this exist in any other laptops I'm missing?

I spent a little bit looking at the Razer laptop, which checks all the boxes except the screen size, at 14" it's just a bit cramped. The HP Envy 15 looked promising until I saw the abysmal battery life.

5/29/2014 9:26:08 PM

^ I think the following 2 features are incompatible, at least I haven't seen any machines with them:

Quad core
8-9 hours battery life

You gotta sacrifice one. You can get i7 low power processors, such as 4500U, but they are all dual core right now. They do give good battery life. If you go with a quad core processor, they are all normal/high power, not low power, so you get just 3-5 hours battery life.

^ Just checked out the Razer... the 2014 model has 4.5 hours battery life, whereas the 2013 model had 6.5 hours. Machine looks awesome, but quite steep at $2k for the 128 GB SSD model, and $2.6k or so for the 512 GB SSD one.


[Edited on May 30, 2014 at 1:40 AM. Reason : ]

5/30/2014 1:23:15 AM

^the xps15 gets 9 hours with light use (web browsing) and has a quad core i7.

I just got one from Dell Outlet today for 1475. Its the fully loaded model with 16gb ram and a 512gb sad. I'll let you know what the real world battery life is like.

6/1/2014 3:02:16 AM

^ that model is $2,350 on dell's website

Damn that must be some high end machine in that case! And yeah, it has a 91 Whr battery, which is like 50 to 60% more capacity than a typical laptop battery, I would be curious to see how it performs, so let us know.

So, I am not familiar with the dell outlet, how can they sell it for so much cheaper? Also, physical store or online outlet store? And if they can sell it for 1500 on the dell outlet, why would anyone buy it for 2350 from the main site?

6/1/2014 3:13:19 AM

we have W540's at work. 3k screens, quad i7's 32gb ram, quadra 2100, 512gb ssd's, and an option for optical drives or an extra hdd. 15" <6lbs

[Edited on June 1, 2014 at 9:54 AM. Reason : .]

6/1/2014 9:53:37 AM

Quote :

"I just got one from Dell Outlet today for 1475. Its the fully loaded model with 16gb ram and a 512gb sad. I'll let you know what the real world battery life is like."

Sweet. Yeah you're right on the battery life:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7838/dell-xps-15-haswell-edition-qhd-with-a-refined-design/7

Pretty impressive. Then again Dell is competing with the MacBook pro.

6/1/2014 1:13:59 PM

^^^ http://outlet.dell.com

It's where Dell sells their returns and refurbished items. They carry the same warranty and return policy. I've bought most of my Dell computers through the outlet and never had a problem.

Got a 64gb Dell Venue Pro 8 a couple of weeks ago on the outlet for $175.

The big thing is they have 20/25/30% off coupons every couple of weeks, which makes the deals incredible for pretty much everything.

^^It's fucking terrible. Off-axis keyboard (due to the full numpad), horrible trackpad, thermal throttling on the CPU, 5 hours or less real world battery life, 5.6lbs (which is over a pound heavier than the XPS or MBP), and it costs almost $3000 when configured with similar specs.

[Edited on June 2, 2014 at 12:22 AM. Reason : .]

6/2/2014 12:11:48 AM

^ yeah that's about the only place i order "new" machines from anymore

6/2/2014 11:44:56 AM

Possible option as well:

http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/02/asus-zenbook-nx500-hands-on/

No news on battery life though.

6/2/2014 12:28:18 PM

^ review doesn't mention the exact processor, just that it is i7. quad core or dual core?

found this:

Quote :

"The operation - powered by Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 850M graphics card - is slick and prompt, and Asus suggests that it has a battery life of around 7 to 8 hours. "

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/129151-asus-zenbook-nx500-pictures-and-hands-on


[Edited on June 2, 2014 at 12:41 PM. Reason : ]

6/2/2014 12:34:20 PM

Yeah I'm sure it's a full quad core processor not a ULV processor.

6/2/2014 12:47:32 PM

Where to get a good laptop in good condition that will allow me to do blackboard assignments, type papers and do presentations while having web pages pulled up for the cheapest? Thanks.

6/2/2014 10:15:51 PM

I think pretty much any laptop would do that. What's your budget?

6/3/2014 1:19:27 PM

Starting a new job as a NOC tech and I have the choice between two laptops and here are the details they gave me. Which would you chose?

Thinkpad Carbon X1 Touch - Dual core i7, 8GB memory, 240GB SSD

or

Thinkpad T440P - i7, 16GB memory, 240GB SSD

6/13/2014 10:01:02 AM

If you're mobile often, weight could be a factor: >4lbs for T440P, ~3lbs for X1.

You'll also want to think about how often you use the F1-F12 keys. If these are frequently-used, just know that the X1 Carbon has a virtual row of these keys, not physical keys (its a capacitive strip above the keyboard).

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/x-series/x1-carbon/#features

I think the X1 Carbon is a slick machine. I've used one intermittently, though not for my main machine.

[Edited on June 13, 2014 at 11:38 AM. Reason : virtual keys]

6/13/2014 11:37:20 AM

if you are going to be mostly at a desk then T440p, but if you will be carrying your laptop a lot then get the X1

6/13/2014 1:03:35 PM

I'm (still) looking for a laptop and have been looking at Lenovo stuff. The T series are tanks. Lesser so than their former glory, but still very solid. The X1 series from what i gather has a really good trackpad that i believe is unique in Lenovo lineup.

Theyre no cheaper than a 13" MBP though... so that's still sort of where i'm leaning. Maybe wait for the next release.

6/29/2014 2:02:51 PM

I'm looking to purchase a laptop before next Sunday when I leave for a week-long conference in Atlanta. Looking to obviously use it for work purposes (basic business stuff like using Word, Excel, PPT, Gmail), but I also need decent resolution to look a various meteorology data sources online (radar, model data, etc) and decent power to handle stuff like Google Earth (will not be using it for gaming). Looking to spend less than $1k if possible.

So far, these are the specs I'm looking to have:

Screen: Small to mid-size (less than 16"), with preferably 1080p resolution
Storage: At least 500 GB
Memory: At least 4GB (8GB is preferable)
Processor: likely Intel Core i5 (again, I'm no gamer)
Battery Life: At least 6 hours or more of heavy usage
At least 1 USB 3.0 port w/ multiple other USB ports preferable (2.0 or 3.0)
Solid Wi-Fi (802.11ac I'm guessing is preferable?)
SD card reader

Indifferent to these specs:
Touchscreen and/or 2-in-1
SSD (should I reconsider?)
CD/DVD drive
Operating system (though I'd rather stick to Windows)
Asthetic look (though I'd like it to be fairly durable)

Again, I'll be using it for work (generally at my desk in the office, but I'd like to be mobile for conferences, meetings, weather forecasting from home, etc.). I'm far from an expert on laptops/computers, so I'm open to any suggestions!

8/3/2014 10:32:29 AM

k so now that my wife has a bit of income here, I'm going to be a nice(r) laptop for me and give my wife the ideapad I bought in March.


I'll almost exclusively be using this for school stuff. I'll probably get whichever is best since my school will be paying for it.

My thoughts are currently a :

Asus transformer

Asus Flip

or

Microsoft Surface Pro 3


please educate me on the finer points. My concern with the surface is losing some of the functionality afforded too a laptop that I'd assume the Asus transformer would still retain. I do want the tablet functionality for note taking at school.

8/13/2014 6:37:26 PM

Looking to pick up a new laptop but I don't want to break the bank. I am shopping at best buy as I have some gift cards that I need to use. So what is the best option for around $800 or less?

I am a teacher so I will only be using it for word process, internet, and as for personal use netflix.

[Edited on August 28, 2014 at 8:30 PM. Reason : more info]

8/28/2014 8:28:02 PM

^ I would highly recommend the ASUS brand, or Toshiba or Sony.

Here is a search for you with certain criteria:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_p_36_5?keywords=asus+laptop&qid=1409283551&rh=n%3A172282%2Cn%3A541966%2Cn%3A565108%2Ck%3Aasus+laptop%2Cp_n_feature_eighteen_browse-bin%3A6819967011%7C6819965011%2Cp_n_size_browse-bin%3A3545275011%7C2423840011%7C2423841011%2Cp_n_feature_four_browse-bin%3A2289793011%7C2289792011%2Cp_89%3AAsus%7CZenbook%2Cp_36%3A50000-80000&rnid=2421885011&low-price=600&high-price=800&x=0&y=0

Modify as you see fit on the left, and then do the same for Toshiba.

Get one with the highest processor number you can afford --> Make sure the processor number looks like i5-4xxx or i7-4xxx. i5 is enough for your needs, so you can save money there if you wish by not going for i7. The first digit after the 4 indicates how powerful the processor is, so a 4500 will be faster and more powerful than a 4200. And, if you go with a low power processor, indicated by a 'U' after the processor number (4500U), those are usually found in "Ultrabooks", which are lighter, thinner, and have longer battery life.

Here are some good ones from the search above, at different price points:

http://www.amazon.com/Asus-X550LA-RI7T27-Touchscreen-i7-4500U-Windows/dp/B00MGYB4WG
http://www.amazon.com/VivoBook-V301LP-DS51T-13-3-Inch-Touchscreen-Laptop/dp/B00JB3N6KS
http://www.amazon.com/Transformer-T300LA-DH51T-Detachable-Touchscreen-Ultrabook/dp/B00EPGHAZ8 - detachable screen and with SSD!

Other things to look out for:

touch screen
DVD drive
window 7 or 8

8/28/2014 11:56:01 PM

i forget, did you end up with the N500JK?

I'm in the market for a brand new laptop or ultrabook ~$1000. Looking for something that will last several years. I see they have new GX and NX models coming out but those look like they will be closer to the $2k+ range so those are kind of off the list due to price.

Touchscreen would be preferred but not absolutely required. I see they have a 1TB version as well as a 256GB SSD version (not sure if the 256 is big enough but SSD would be nice). If I go with this, I'm inclined to lean toward the 1TB version atm.

9/7/2014 8:40:00 PM

I got the N550 JK. Go with the SSD if 256 GB suffices, else get the 1 TB HDD.

I love my laptop!

9/8/2014 1:54:28 AM

sorry i meant N550JK. I had the NX500 on my brain.

Is the SSD that big of a deal / that worth having at the expense of a larger drive? I think I would prefer the internal storage. This will essentially be replacing both my laptop (200GB) and my desktop (500GB). I think I'd like at least 500GB and then I will just back the entire thing up to an external 500GB drive as well. At 256 I am afraid I will end up having 2 external drives: one for most of my media and then a 2nd as the backup and I don't like that idea.

Truth be told I'd prefer something like 500GB HDD with a small SSD in combination but that doesn't look like an option with the N550.

Any issues so far?

9/8/2014 9:15:58 AM

I want a new laptop so bad but I'll holdout for 5th gen i5/i7 even if it's 1Q '15

9/8/2014 10:36:34 AM

that's been my problem. I keep holding out and holding out for some new thing around the corner (better processor, bigger ssd, better screens, better touchscreens, etc.) and my Thinkpad from 2007 (running XP sp3) keeps not dying. Thus, I haven't bought a new laptop even though I started looking casually almost 2 years ago.


But I am more seriously in the market now due to an upcoming traveling assignment for work.

9/8/2014 11:05:53 AM

I'm waiting longer because I want to be able to play Civ: Beyond Earth on whatever the best integrated graphics chip is at the time

I hate how loud and hot any laptop with a discrete card gets

9/8/2014 11:08:20 AM

welp, my laptop must have known it was being used to research it's replacement because the display went kaput yesterday which is exactly what happened to my last computer. I always use the display up first and it's almost always exactly 4 years after purchase.

So yeah, now I'm looking at something sooner than the new i5/i7 broadwells in Q1/Q2 of next year

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MMMMMX2#productDetails

Hopefully they'll come out with the 256GB SSD version soon. I'm using a Core 2 Duo laptop for the moment and will try and hold out for Black Friday.

9/21/2014 10:59:46 AM

NVM, I just saw the GTX 970M benchmarks. Makes no sense not to wait at least for a model with that.

9/21/2014 12:28:59 PM

Just wanted to thank you guys for the advice. I've been enjoying the hell out of my t440p. That thing is a beast. I've normally got a bunch of chrome windows open, outlook, lync, some type of SSH or RDP open and nothing slows it down.

Only thing that is/was annoying is the location of the function key which is where the Crtl key is normally located at.

9/24/2014 1:00:51 PM

I wiped an old 1.5GHz Celeron with only 1.5GB of RAM and threw Win 7 on it. Only other things I installed were Chrome and Flash and it runs surprisingly well.

9/24/2014 1:58:13 PM

45% off refurb latitudes. best deal on these i've ever seen. ends 10/2 (i assume end of day).

http://bensbargains.net/bargain/45-off-laptops-199-or-more-at-dell-financial-services-130843/


eg, this is $200 shipped with tax:


COSMETIC GRADE B
FAMILY Latitude
MODEL E6410
PROCESSOR Intel Core i5
PROCESSOR SPEED 2.53 GHz
OPERATING SYSTEM 32-bit Windows 7 Pro
SOFTWARE Learn More > Microsoft Office Starter
HARD DRIVE 250
RAM 2048
SCREEN SIZE 14.1
CHASSIS COLOR / LID COVER COLOR Skin Professionally Applied
POINTING DEVICE Touchpad
I/O PORTS And/Or CARD READERS 4 x USB 2.0
INTERNAL WIRELESS CARD Wireless 802.11 N
OPTICAL DRIVE DVD
ETHERNET PORT 10/100/1000
BATTERY Learn More > INCLUDED

9/30/2014 4:37:45 PM

Yoga Pro 3 and Yoga 14 are calling my name...I'll play with them first in a Best Buy before I decide but I wanted a Lenovo so I'm happy they announced new ones.

10/11/2014 9:15:44 PM

I came to this thread to let you guys know that after owning/working on work-issued Toshiba/Dell/HP/Lenovo/ACER/ASUS laptops, and now owning a MBP, the premium you [may] pay for an Apple product is worth it. Even if you have to run Windows on it, the hardware itself is worth paying extra for. If you run OSX, even more so.

That it all.

10/12/2014 2:32:32 AM

^ i've agreed ever since work gave me a MBP 13" in 2011

10/12/2014 9:57:52 AM

It's since been pulled (or I can't find it) but it seems like the first benchmarks I read yesterday had the Intel Core M-70/HD Graphics 5300 combination running 3DMark Cloud Gate at ~4737.

For reference, that puts it slightly below a dGPU like the Radeon HD 8570M but also the older Intel HD Graphics 4400.

The Y3P is going to be compared endlessly to the SP3 which just so happens to have the 4400 at the closest price comparison

SP3 - $1299 (i5-4300U, 8GB, HD 4400, 12inch, 2560x1440, 256GB SSD)

Y3P - $1349 (M-70, 8GB, HD 5300, 13.3inch, 3200x1800, 256GB SSD)

So it seems to me like for a $50 bump you're getting AT LEAST similar performance but with less heat (SP3 known to run hot with Civ V), better battery life, bigger screen, better resolution, and of course the ability to use all of the 2-1-ness of a convertible laptop without having to buy an external accessory (plus I think the watchband looks cool).

Now it's a whole other story to compare to the 13inch MacBook Air which seems to be BETTER performance but with a $100 price bump over the Y3P and you lose the 2-1-ness. This is where the Yoga 14 may come into play (but I won't bother looking b/c I don't game so integrated works for me).

So if you'll use the 2-1 features heavily, go with the Y3P. If you won't, get a MacBook Air. Microsoft expects you to spend $1430 but I don't see the benefit.

[Edited on October 12, 2014 at 1:24 PM. Reason : v]

10/12/2014 1:22:37 PM

Quote :

"I came to this thread to let you guys know that after owning/working on work-issued Toshiba/Dell/HP/Lenovo/ACER/ASUS laptops, and now owning a MBP, the premium you [may] pay for an Apple product is worth it. Even if you have to run Windows on it, the hardware itself is worth paying extra for. If you run OSX, even more so. That it all."

I bought a MacBook Pro 13" Unibody in 2010/11 and I had constant problems with it. The black plastic on the hinge cracked twice (I'm very careful with my electronics). It overheated all the time. The biggest annoyance was there was a constant frame "clicking" when you put your palm on the right side next to the track pad. It was the most annoying thing ever. I got the back replaced 3 times and it never fixed it. These were pretty common problems in online forums as well.

I finally sold it for what I bought it for and have had much better luck with Dells and Lenovos.

I certainly didn't get what I paid for. I may be willing to give a MacBook Pro another shot but I've never been impressed with the quality on some of them. My girlfriend got one in 2012 and when she bought it there was already dust build up under neath the screen. They replaced it and it started building up again after 6 months. Not acceptable. Seems like my Dells and IBMs/Lenovos have always been more reliable than that.

10/15/2014 12:17:17 PM

May not exactly go along with the thread but didn't want to start a new one....

I'm thinking of buying an iPad and am wondering if there is enough of a reason to pay more for the iPad Air2 compared to the original Air. I realize it is thinner, faster, etc. but I currently don't own a tablet so I don't have much reference point.

I can get a refurbished 64GB Wifi Air for $439. A new 64GB Air2 would be $599. Any reason to pay the extra $160?

10/22/2014 7:22:01 PM

If you're looking for a solid netbook / tablet / 2-in-1, the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 (with Windows) is good. Have been using it since day one of release and the build quality is really amazing!

[Edited on November 13, 2014 at 11:08 AM. Reason : ]

11/13/2014 10:57:08 AM

I'm liking this brand new Macbook Pro with Retina display, but it has some quirks. If I had spec'd it myself, I wouldn't have gotten the discrete GPU. It's served as nothing but a battery drain because it's switched on all time by apps that shouldn't need it. The integrated GPU is pretty good, and this thing isn't a gaming machine anyway. It is however, an excellent Steam In-Home Streaming client, and the integrated GPU has hardware video decoding anyway.

11/13/2014 12:19:57 PM

So it's automatic? You can't manually turn it off?

11/15/2014 7:15:32 PM