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In the Market for a New Laptop

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Kibokun

Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2006
So I'm looking for a new laptop. Here's where I'm at.

Primary Requirements:

Great performance.
I'm a coder, and when I'm running lots of VMs and servers in my development environment, I don't want any sluggishness. Being able to play the occasional game on the go would be nice, too.

Battery life.
I'd love to be able to get 5 hours on Wifi.

Screen resolution.

Build quality

Compromises I'm willing to make:
Size
I don't want to go over 15", but I'll accept a medium-behemoth if I have to.

Price: <= $1300

I've been looking at the new Asus UX31, but It feels like I'd be paying a premium for the portability, when I'd rather that money go towards more power.

Thanks a lot!

EDIT: After some researching, I think the best options in my price range are the Thinkpad T420 and Alienware m14x.

T420:
+ Better battery life (9-cell) by almost 2 hours
+ Less gaudy
+ Better keyboard (so I've heard)
+ < 5lbs

m14x:
+ Much more powerful GPU

I'm a little torn, but by the numbers the T420 is ahead. I don't plan to game on this thing primarily. I have a desktop for that. I'm just wondering how the gpu choice may affect any DX11 work I do. I think the Quadro NVS series supports DX11, so I may be fine.
 
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I could probably be considered a thinkpad fanboy, as I've used a lot of them and have been overall happy, despite some issues with older T series models.

I have a T410 and am especially happy with it. The keyboards have always been better in comparison to most laptops in my opinion, despite some purists who would have some criticisms of the thinkpad keyboards in certain models.

I don't game, and the T420 experience with gaming likely is not great - depends on your configuration though, as there are always lots of options within the models. As a workstation replacement though, my T410 rocks and it hits on the battery life and being a serious tool to get work done.
 
Try looking into the MSI laptops http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?cid=6&id=329
or a bit cheaper http://www.msimobile.com/level2_productlist.aspx?id=110
i know you said 15.6 and 1300 but just in case for 1399 you could get 17.3 with 9cell 12gb ram 750 hd and gt555m
http://www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?cid=6&id=312

The specs on the MSI seem nice, but from what I've read, the battery life just isn't good enough.

The 17 incher is definitely out of the question. I don't want to have to wear a backpack just to carry it. (My shoulder bag could fit a 15 in a sleeve without TOO much worry.)

@I.M.O.G. : The thinkpad T420 seems VERY nice. I'd get a somewhat weaker GPU than the non-quadros, but I'd have the right weight, great cpu, the right size and monster battery life.

It's looking like the head of the pack. How is the build quality?
 
The m14x is a nice machine... Got work to buy me one, and it's a beast... Can't play max everything but it can play everything well, and gets 5hrs on power saver for when I'm working.
 
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