Should I wait for Win 9 announcement to shop?

marxr87

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Hi all,

I was wondering if it would be nice for my wallet to wait for the Sep 30 announcement of windows 9 to shop for laptops?

I really just want a 1080p, hdmi port, long battery life and good keyboard laptop in the 500-700 range. I have a desktop for workhorse needs.

Thanks!
 
Solution
I've never heard of that before, but it could be true. All I know is I've never had problems myself, but it is common to have them on some models. I would that's just bad drivers and poor reception, and less the actual hardware, and it would depend on the brand of card.

If you go on Lenovo's site and enter their academic section, you can get the same Lenovo Flex 2 that I showed you on Newegg for $539 instead of $669, due to the fact that they are the current weekly deal plus the already decent student discount. I would call that a pretty good deal. In fact, you can go with the $659 model and get a bump to 8GB RAM and an i5, if you wanted. I checked Dell which also has a student/military discount but their laptops in that price range...

drapacioli

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Right now the tail end of the back to school/memorial day (week?) sales are happening. If you wait, you'll might get stuck holding out until Black Friday for the best deals, and then it's a nightmare even online these days. In all likelihood, windows 8 machines won't start dropping in price rapidly until win9 is released anyway, and that's only if Windows 9 is better than 8, which some people aren't sure about.

If you're looking right now, Lenovo has a few good web deals going on. This is one of them with excellent 10hr battery life: (I THINK it has HDMI out, the tech sheet lists it but I don't see it in the pictures. Might want to call if you go with this one just to be sure): http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/u-series/u430p/?sb=:000001C9:00012465:#customize
 

drapacioli

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Here are a few more that have everything you're looking for:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834317607 - 7 hr battery
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231960 - 5 hr battery
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314533 - 7 hr battery

Not sure about Lenovo Vs Acer here, the Aspire V3 is one of Acer's better lines in terms of reviews, while the Flex is more expensive, Lenovo typically has better reviews overall, but not for that model in particular.
 

marxr87

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Thanks for the input!

This one (lenovo) is pretty close to what I want

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834317607&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

Would be nice if I could get wireless 802.11 ac (I think), maybe a slightly larger ssd (even at expense of hdd), and maybe a bit better battery life. The specs says 7 hours, but reviewers say about one hour on high!

This one from asus has 802 ac, more ram, weighs less, and has a dedicated card...but not touchscreen (don't really care about that), has no ssd, and I don't think asus is known for their keyboards!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231960&SortField=0&SummaryType=0&PageSize=10&SelectedRating=-1&VideoOnlyMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

Also, I'm a student and a veteran, so if you know of any discounts in that area, then please let me know (I think Dell does).

Thanks!
 

drapacioli

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Yes, if you max out CPU and GPU, you would be using a lot of power. The battery in that is a 4 cell, which is typically about 37Whr. That means if you were using 37w of power, you would drain the battery in 1 hour. There's no getting around this if you need full load with that system as the battery does not appear to be user-replaceable. Most laptops in this price range have 3-6 cell batteries max.

Students can typically get discounts from manufacturers, but not all models are always included. I've never shopped for veteran discounts as I'm not a veteran myself. I'll take a look and post again if I find anything that's a better deal.

As for 802.11ac, do you actually have a router and connection that supports that speed? I pay for some fast internet, but it's not THAT fast, and my router is only 802.11n, so it's pointless to go higher for me. If you think you'll need that much speed then go for it, but keep in mind these higher end cards and a dedicated gpu with use more power.
 

marxr87

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"As for 802.11ac, do you actually have a router and connection that supports that speed? I pay for some fast internet, but it's not THAT fast, and my router is only 802.11n, so it's pointless to go higher for me. If you think you'll need that much speed then go for it, but keep in mind these higher end cards and a dedicated gpu with use more power."

I don't need it for speed, but I had heard (maybe wrongly) that it was more reliable than the 'n' cards.

"Yes, if you max out CPU and GPU, you would be using a lot of power. The battery in that is a 4 cell, which is typically about 37Whr. That means if you were using 37w of power, you would drain the battery in 1 hour. There's no getting around this if you need full load with that system as the battery does not appear to be user-replaceable. Most laptops in this price range have 3-6 cell batteries max."

Bummer, I am still using my msi wind u110, and it has a 9 cell! Love it, and love xp...but this thing is about to fall apart haha :p

I just want it to be snappy, i.e. when I open it, I can start typing quickly and it doesn't lag with casual use.

Thanks!

 

drapacioli

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I've never heard of that before, but it could be true. All I know is I've never had problems myself, but it is common to have them on some models. I would that's just bad drivers and poor reception, and less the actual hardware, and it would depend on the brand of card.

If you go on Lenovo's site and enter their academic section, you can get the same Lenovo Flex 2 that I showed you on Newegg for $539 instead of $669, due to the fact that they are the current weekly deal plus the already decent student discount. I would call that a pretty good deal. In fact, you can go with the $659 model and get a bump to 8GB RAM and an i5, if you wanted. I checked Dell which also has a student/military discount but their laptops in that price range either had poor battery life or didn't have 1080p, and HP requires membership first before looking at prices which I wasn't able to do. Unless they offer $400 price cuts though, you won't get decent battery life and a good screen from them at all.

I tried to find more battery life in this price range but even with student discounts a lot of the 9hr+ laptops are over $1000.
 
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marxr87

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Thanks, you've been more than helpful!

I'll probably be contacting lenovo tomorrow to inquire...I am pretty sold on the Flex 2 I think.

That is an excellent price r.e. lenovo academic discounts!

Best Regards,

Ryan
 

chris_shadez

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