New laptop suggestions

[pluto (Hugh)]

Originally Posted by Screwdriverone

Interesting specs for $1533 inc GST. 16GB RAM, Dedicated 4GB graphics too....

Found it at www.pcmarket.com.au

Warranty: 24 months - Manufacturer Warranty by ASUS Australia
Prod. Code: ASUS-R501VZ-S4387H
Model: ASUS R501VZ-S4387H Intel Core i7-3630QM 2.4GHz Quad-Core Notebook with 15.6" FHD LED, 16GB RAM, 1TB HDD, nVidia GeForce GT 650M 4GB, BR-Combo, 802.11n, Bluetooth, Webcam & Windows 8 - 2YR

That's the same as the one I posted a link to, only $1359 at onlinecomputer.com.au
I agree it ticks all the boxes, quite a machine for that money. If I was looking for a new lappy I'd get that and a 256gb Samsung 840pro SSD for ~$300 and swap out the optical.

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Originally Posted by RB

Chris I just bought the Qosmio PSPLXA-00T00E just last month, I got it for less than $1800 and I see it's already gone up by a few hundred.
It's an awesome machine, nuff said.
Oh and the Nvidia 3D playback is 'unbelievable', not that I needed it but since it came with it, why not?
Not to mention the gorgeous red backlit keyboard.
Too bad it's too big for Mike's requirements, else I was going to suggest it too.

Wish I had the cashola for a beast like that too.... more important things to spend it on unfortunately.

Originally Posted by pluto

That's the same as the one I posted a link to, only $1359 at onlinecomputer.com.au
I agree it ticks all the boxes, quite a machine for that money. If I was looking for a new lappy I'd get that and a 256gb Samsung 840pro SSD for ~$300 and swap out the optical.

Sorry Hugh, I didnt follow your link, just went off and did some searching myself, good to know we ended up in sort of the same place. Yep, very good price you have there for that model. Worth a long hard look. I saw a 240GB sandisk SSD drive at mwave for $185 while browsing around.

Its nice to be able to spend someone elses money

Cheers

Chris

[Logieberra (Logan)]

+1 for bootcamp on Macbook Pro. Apple do sell refurbished on occassion, with 6mo interest free from GE...

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

When the question is "what's the biggest sledgehammer", Qosmio seems to be the answer, and has been for years. I've got one as do several other IISers. I could be tempted to replace the 450GB and 750GB SATA disks rather than upgrade. Say a ~250GB SSD and a 2TB SATA

[Tandum (Robin)]

Get an iPad.

[Tandum (Robin)]

Then RPD to a monster PC at home

[alexch (Alex)]

Hi Mike,

I've got 13" Asus UX32VD with a very nice 1920x1080 IPS screen that calibrates very well and can be used for photo editing and colour work. I reckon the display is the most critical part for what we do and is worth spending a little extra dollars on. You can edit photos/videos on it and when you show it to someone, it looks as you want it to look.

I wanted a small laptop to fit into the camera bag and it had to be equipped with a dedicated CUDA capable graphics card (NVIDIA only) for video rendering/editing in Adobe suite of products. Asus was the only one that had a 13" model with dedicated graphics card. Even if you get a 15" model, your screen resolution is going to be the same and you don't really gain much by adding 2 inches. Also don't be fooled by ultrabook notion in the name the Intel I7 mobile CPU is very capable and none of my photo/video editing tools load it to 100%, owing to the CUDA-capable graphics card.

The laptop came with Intel i7 mobile (dual core), a HDD and 4 GB of ram (2GB soldered on the motherboard and 2 on a chip). I replaced the 2GB chip with 8GB and put Samsung 500GB SSD instead, bringing the total cost to about $1800.

Asus also have the 15" ultrabook in the lineup with the IPS screen, but make sure you take a look at the 13" as well.

Hope it helps,

Alex

[gregbradley]

Good thread. I am also considering a laptop upgrade as my HP i7 4GB RAM, 750gb HD lappie is starting to get very slow for some reason. I use Win 7 64 bit. It sometimes is faster.

Perhaps upgrading the RAM may help too.

If you get one can you let me know what you ended up getting and how its performing?

I could be wrong but I get the distinct impression laptops and computers in general have not moved forward very much at all since the i7 chip.
Usually there's some newest and latest that's an incentive to upgrade but I am either unaware of advances or there simply hasn't been much of one.

Win 8 seems to be Microsoft keeping themselves in touch with the market who is now used to iphone type interfaces. In fact the way its going it seems the laptops's days are numbered. Look at that new Samsung phone with an i7 chip and 13mp camera (no doubt the u-beaut Sony back illuminated stacked CMOS sensor which is totally state of the art). A powerful phone and online storage easy to get to me shows the trend away from laptops/desktops. Not there yet but moving in that direction.

Greg.

[iceman (Mike)]

Excellent information, thanks everyone.

I'll do some shopping and keep you in the loop.

[MrB (Simon)]

Originally Posted by Screwdriverone

Also,

If you want to go all silly, try this one for $2300 at http://www.mwave.com.au here

Has 256GB SSD AND a 1TB HDD in one, with 16GB RAM etc etc etc

ASUS G75VX-T4153H Gaming Laptop i7 3630QM CPU/16GB RAM/SSD+HDD/GTX670MX/Win 8

Bigger screen though and much more pricey, but has it all.

Just a thought

Chris

I got one of these for work early last year. It is a slightly earlier version (G75VW) though with the 3610QM CPU, 670M GPU and Win7 x64 Premium.
It is a great machine but far from practical as a portable option, it is HUGE and HEAVY. Battery run time is crazy short, but for work, that is not an issue as we got them(5 of) as (semi)portable desktop substitutes.

By the way, MSY has the model you linked to (G75VX-4153H) for $2099 and I'm sure some sweet talking could get it to $2k

[Colin_Fraser]

An observation.

Last week a member asked for suggestions on a new laptop and was largely ignored.
When Mike asks for the same, you "clicky" bunch clamber over each other with offers of help.

Sort of makes one feel you need to belong to a 'special elite member group' to get assistance.

I think you all could be a little less discriminating towards newer members

[pluto (Hugh)]

Originally Posted by Logieberra

+1 for bootcamp on Macbook Pro. Apple do sell refurbished on occassion, with 6mo interest free from GE...

Once again, has anyone tried this recently?
Last time I checked people were complaining of terrible battery life. The consensus at the time was that it was due to the video drivers not switching to the on board video card and using the more power hungry nvidia card full-time. Obviously when running OSX on a MBP it switches automatically, same as on a Windows based lappy.
I understand why and it's fine that Apple don't put too much effort into the Windows drivers for their computers, why would they, but unless this issue has been fixed there's not much point buying a MBP to run Windows on.

I agree with Alex, I have a 13" and it's the perfect size, mine also has an I7, 8 gigs of RAM and a dedicated ATI video card so I don't consider it a compromise at all. The size doesn't really dictate how powerful a box is, just look at that crazy Alienware M11x, ugly but fast!

Also don't be affraid of Windows 8, I just put it on my lappy the other day and I don't know what all the fuss is about, everything works so far and it's fast and stable, though I never had any stability issues at all on Win 7 either. I do appreciate that there will inevitably be issues with some specific drivers until manufacturers get around to updating them. I did install a start menu but I don't mind the Metro thing, I might use it or I might not, either way it doesn't seem to use much resources or cause any lag when switching between it and the desktop.

[MrB (Simon)]

Originally Posted by Colin_Fraser

An observation.

Last week a member asked for suggestions on a new laptop and was largely ignored.
When Mike asks for the same, you "clicky" bunch clamber over each other with offers of help.

Sort of makes one feel you need to belong to a 'special elite member group' to get assistance.

I think you all could be a little less discriminating towards newer members

Wow
Tarring everyone with the same brush is a bit rich.
I didn't see the other request.

[naskies (Dave)]

Originally Posted by pluto

Once again, has anyone tried this recently?
Last time I checked people were complaining of terrible battery life. The consensus at the time was that it was due to the video drivers not switching to the on board video card and using the more power hungry nvidia card full-time. Obviously when running OSX on a MBP it switches automatically, same as on a Windows based lappy.

I've never been happy with BootCamp on a Mac laptop - a lot of little things just don't work, and you lose the finesse that you have with OS X on a MacBook. All the astro software that I use (DSS, PHD, Maxim, Stellarium, AlignMaster, EQMOD, ASCOM, etc) works fine under VMWare Fusion though

Originally Posted by Colin_Fraser

Last week a member asked for suggestions on a new laptop and was largely ignored.
When Mike asks for the same, you "clicky" bunch clamber over each other with offers of help.

Sort of makes one feel you need to belong to a 'special elite member group' to get assistance.

I think you all could be a little less discriminating towards newer members

Are you referring to this thread? Greenswale specifically asked about a Windows-based ultrabook.

Like many other IISers here (I assume), I don't know anything about the current range of Win8 ultrabooks on the market so I kept my trap shut. Mike asked a much broader question, and judging by the replies - many of us are more qualified to answer it.

I notice that you also failed to provide a helpful suggestion, but did denigrate the poster's choice of laptop...

[Screwdriverone (Chris)]

Originally Posted by MrB

Wow
Tarring everyone with the same brush is a bit rich.
I didn't see the other request.

Good point Simon, like you, neither did I.

AND I certainly didn't clamber......

I simply used the "today's posts" button like I always do, happen to click on this thread, had a read, knew of a few good suppliers (as I am in the IT industry) , went and had a look, offered a few options and then got excited about spending someone else's money.

If I had read the other post, I probably would have done the same thing.

AS I OFTEN do to help out others, new or old.

So blow it out your proverbial, if you are referring to me.

Nothing "clicky" or discriminating about it!

Now that I have read it, seems you had the post pretty much covered Colin, along with the others that chimed in. So what's the problem?

Chris

[MrB (Simon)]

Originally Posted by Screwdriverone

I simply used the "today's posts" button like I always do, happen to click on this thread, had a read

Same for me, don't really have time to browse thru the sub-fora so I use the "New Posts" button and have a quick scan for anything that catches my interest.

Oh well... trolls will be trolls I suppose, keeps us entertained.

[Phil Hart]

I've been considering upgrading my Asus Netbook which was a budget (and weight) constrained compromise to take travelling last year. It can't even play 720HD video so it's a bit too much of a compromise now (but it was dirt cheap).

It seems the Asus UX32VD is not available in Australia (at least that's what Asus via Centre.com are saying). And PC Market (notebooks.com.au) are saying they have been replaced by the Vivobooks?

The UX31A (upgrade from older UX31) is close but does not have graphics processor and only 256GB SSD hard drive. It also annoyingly has a touchscreen display which is glossy so much more reflective for outdoor use than the matte screen of the UX32VD.

So the UX32VD sounds like a great option if you can get your hands on one..

Phil

[Phil Hart]

The ASUS ZENBOOK U500VZ ticks all the specs of Alex' UX32VD I think but 15" makes it larger and heavier and the price tag goes north as well.

[rat156]

Hi All,

OK, I'm a Mac zealot, but...

I run a Mac mini in the observatory to run the PMX and data acquisition software natively under OSX using The Sky X. I have to run windows (from the Bootcamp partition) under VMware to talk to the focuser. This setup works really well.

I have setup my laptop (older Macbook Pro) under a similar setup. The best thing about this is that you can setup multiple virtual machines to run various tasks, so you could run a Win7 machine, a Bootcamp machine and even a WinXP machine.

If I want to run my planetary camera (Firewire 800), I have to reboot the computer into Windows rather then run the VM, as the VM won't talk to FW accessories.

I do find that when I do this (hard boot to bootcamp) the battery life on the Macbook is appalling and it gets quite hot.

Cheers
Stuart

[graham.hobart (Graham stevens)]

I bought the Qosmio when my old toshiba started cracking up. An awesome machine but as mentioned it truly sucks on the battery life and the power cable is easily dislodged. Only bought it as the Wife keeps nicking my Macbook Pro!
Graz