Ok it's a bit long, so thanks for those of you who get thru it all; for those
who don't, here's the short version:Lenovos rock, but have issues too-tho their
KBs are the best. Got a Acer Aspire that seems to work but thinking of getting
a new laptop anyway, maybe a Lenovo but want to play games on it-are any
Lenovo's good for that or do I need something completely different? Budget of
up to $2k. Oh and I would rather get a PC-should I wait for Win8 maybe then?
-----Some thoughts on my laptop history (going back a few posts before the
Apple flame war). Oh, and I'll add that I mostly live on my laptop, especially
the last few years as I do all my email and IM and surfing on it, and only used
my (fairly old and now pretty much desktop) for games and I haven't been
playing games that much the last few years (e.g. bought Oblivion and only got a
few hours into it)
Lenovo laptop rocks but I've definitely had problems with them (though I do
beat them up)-oh, and I got them all through work (corporate-issued machines).
Had a T23 for years, and then used a T42 for even longer and I replaced
everything on that thing myself. The hard drives failed for a while on that
one (went thru 5 one year) but I figured out that was b/c the stylish new
leather shoulder bag I was using wasn't padded on the bottom-and yeah, once I
switched to a real laptop bag no more HD problems-amazeballs! And yes, when
the screen died on it after like 4 years, I even took apart the T42 and put in
a new screen in from another T42 from work (apparently I can always get a job
in laptop repair if I lost this one or want to change careers).
I had a T61 since 2007 but didn't start using it til 2009 b/c I didn't want to
deal with reinstalling/moving stuff over but when the new screen died after a
couple years I gave up. But I decided to go with an SSD if I was going to use
it, so I got a 60GB Intel G2 SSD and installed Win7 on it and that machine was
awesome-until it started overheating earlier this year. Unfortunately it was
just out of the 3 yr warranty, and unlike the Apple stories Lenovo wasn't going
to fix it w/o major cost when I called support. I hoped it was the integrated
heatsink/CPU fan b/c the fan had stopped spinning (so I used a small desk fan
blowing on it to keep it working for a while lol) but it turns out that even
after I replaced that the fan wouldn't run, so it had to be the mainboard and I
wasn't going to deal with replacing THAT (there were enough screws getting that
far, plus the cost for something that old), so I got a new laptop from a friend
in Feb of this year...
Which was his newly purchased gaming laptop that he decided to sell when he got
a better one from work, an Acer Aspire 7745G with a ATI Mobility Radeon HD5650
on a 17.3" screen that's 1600x900 native. It was nice to be able to play some
games on my laptop, but Fallout 3 didn't run at full res at high enough FR
(only 15-20) and it got damn HOT so I was a little annoyed, but I got this
thing for $600, so not bad for what it is (oh, did I mention core i7-7400QM, so
it's decently fast and 4GB RAM and did I mention that 17.3" screen at 1600x700
which is NICE?!)
But I can say that I really HATE this KB, but maybe b/c I have almost 8 years
of IBM/Lenovo keyboard memory and I still hit the wrong keys sometimes, but
that might also be b/c the design kind of really sucks and it's hard to tell
keys apart and my finger slip ALL THE TIME, so yes IBM//Lenovo KBs definitely
rock!
And the thing sucks juice like no one's business-if I try to go on battery, it
only lasts about an hour, even if I turn the brightness down! Yeah that sucks,
but I just learn to make sure it's always charged and I now carry a 25" 3-prong
extension cord with the laptop! ;)
I've got Win7 64-bit on it (this def is the BEST version of Windows ever) and
while not perfect (mostly issues due to browser memory leakage and needing to
reboot occasionally) it's been pretty damn good, BUT given the KB issues, and
lack of battery like and the feeling that it's starting to overheat more and
more often...
...I was thinking of getting a Lenovo again, but wanted something I could play
most games on too as this would be a personal laptop I purchase myself and I
want a big screen (and can always export to an external display) and does
Lenovo make anything that does that? Work gives me $2k every 3 years for a
laptop so I have a definite budget.
My roommate got this one earlier this year right when I got my Acer:
http://www.amazon.com/G73SW-A1-Republic-Gamers-17-3-Inch-Gaming/dp/B004I1J864/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323689351&sr=8-2
and it seems pretty good, but I'm sure there's better stuff out there now (or
coming soon)?
And yes this Acer is big, and people laugh when I pull it out, but I love the
screen size, and hell, might not even mind a 19" laptop that does higher res
(screen real estate and res is the most imp thing for me, which is why I have 5
monitors, 3 20" and 2 24" ones-though I can't drive them all at once now lol).
So while a small laptop might be nice, I have an iPad2 that fills the small and
portable niche, so I want big screen, high res and power in my laptop!
Anyway, lots of background, but couldn't sleep and felt like sharing and
figured it might help with any recs. Thanks guys!
BINO
> Date: Thu, 8 Dec 2011 22:41:14 -0700
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [H] Laptop?
>
> Hi,
>
> I personally really like the thinkpads quality wise, I have a work
> issued (IBM) Lenovo W520, and it's really really nice.
>
> If your interested in Lenovo, either refurb/lease returns or new, send
> me a direct email, I have employee discounts that can be used by friends
> and family.
>
> Harry
>
> On 12/8/11 7:46 PM, Anthony Q. Martin wrote:
> > Lenovo has a wonderful keyboard.
> >
> > Sent from my iPad 2
> >
> > On Dec 8, 2011, at 7:10 PM, Gary Udstrand <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> I am in the market for a laptop, something in the 15" range. Laptop will
> >> be used for general purpose stuff around the house, some gaming and
> >> photo/video in a pinch. Not looking for an ultra portable or anything
> >> like that, would like decent battery life and hopefully be ~5-6 pounds, i5
> >> processor (2nd gen). Been looking at Dell, Asus, HP, Lenovo and Acer.
> >> Too many choices! Any recommendations? Specific model or just a brand
> >> or two I should focus my efforts upon.
> >>
> >> Oh,
> >>
> >> --
> >> Gary
> >> http://www.twigsandtracks.com
> >> Twigs snap and tracks fade, a photograph reacquaints
> >> Twigs and Tracks Blog: Painted
> >> Falls<http://blog.twigsandtracks.com/2011/06/25/painted-falls/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=painted-falls>
>
