Help MK Buy a Laptop!

[MidKnight]

Hi guys! I need a new laptop, and there are tons of deals up right now. The only problem is that I don't know what to buy!

Maybe you folks can help with that?

What am I looking for?

• Something Durable. I need something that will perform and keep on performing.
• Something lightweight. > 4 lbs need not apply.
• Long battery life is a must.
• Usability and reliability are more important to me than tech specs.

What am I considering right now?
ATM, I'm looking at these two laptops:

1: Lenovo X220

(Click the image for a review)

pros: sturdy like nothing else (apparently), IPS LCD panel, nice keyboard, better CPU and bigger SSD than the other choice

cons: not super-thin, has a fan while the UX31 is silent, some reviews say the plastic is bendy



2: Asus UX31

(Click the image for a review)

pros: DROP DEAD GORGEOUS, super thin, better resolution (1600x900 vs 1366x768), new CPU

cons: New, so it's kinda untested, some people report issues with the trackpad


So, what do you guys think?

[HeavyLancer]

Thinkpad X220, hands down. It's got a much better warranty because it's a business-grade machine. The 1366x768 resolution isn't bad on a 12" screen, but on anything larger it becomes an issue.

[hoijui]

(ASUS) Netbook?
i use it every day for many hours. it is very durable (better then all IBMs i had). it fell down from tables multiple times already, no damage, not even visible.
cheap, heavily tested, standard components -> very linux friendly/long running drivers support.
uses little power -> long battery live, little heat.

[Wombat]

i would go for second just becouse its asus.

[Prominence]

One laptop comes from Communist China known for their defective products, and other one comes from Republic of China. How hard can it be. Choose Republic.

Pick Asus, it does last long.

[PicassoCT]

how thin can you get without having to introduce a new usb standard ?

honestly its a tie.. but some of the programers i know use lenovo, and luv it. As someone heavily involved in games (even just for testing) you shouldnt completely ignore the specifications.

Oh, and it actually depends on the real usage (not the one you imagined) its put too. If only work, what sort of work? Buisness with people you need to impress, or buisness fixing screwed up machineprogs by shifting 1 and zeros?

The rational guy tells me lenovo. The tech lover wants to marry Asus.
The richkid in me wants both.
The Frankenstein in me asks himself- cant i have both, disassembling the lenovo, fitting its parts in a case made by myself.... :/

Guess im no real help.

[MidKnight]

Thinkpad X220, hands down. It's got a much better warranty because it's a business-grade machine. The 1366x768 resolution isn't bad on a 12" screen, but on anything larger it becomes an issue.

The Thinkpad warranty costs $200 extra.

(ASUS) Netbook?

Netbook? What?

how thin can you get without having to introduce a new usb standard ?

honestly its a tie.. but some of the programers i know use lenovo, and luv it. As someone heavily involved in games (even just for testing) you shouldnt completely ignore the specifications.

Oh, and it actually depends on the real usage (not the one you imagined) its put too. If only work, what sort of work? Buisness with people you need to impress, or buisness fixing screwed up machineprogs by shifting 1 and zeros?

The rational guy tells me lenovo. The tech lover wants to marry Asus.
The richkid in me wants both.
The Frankenstein in me asks himself- cant i have both, disassembling the lenovo, fitting its parts in a case made by myself.... :/

Guess im no real help.

This reads like a transcript of my internal monologue for the past few hours.

[hoijui]

when you arrive at a location, and get ready for business with your netbook, you'll be done in seconds, and it looks like a mixture between bruce lee swinnin a sword and lucky luke shootin ya in da face. BAM! BAM!

... and in case it goes wrong, like so often, and it lands on the floor while rotating still... who cares!??1 pick it up and go on!

.. did i mention your other hand is free while doing this? ladies love it!
my netbook could be piss-yellow and still own those two notebooks!

BAM! BAM! Ba*woops*

did i mention that you can have your netbook running, in your bag-back for hours, and neither kill it nor burn your back?

[CompWiz]

IPS screen viewing angles are fucking amazing. It's like that on vertical angles too, but that's harder to photograph.

This is my rather beat up Thinkpad x61.. they are certainly tough machines. I have not played with the newer ones though, so I can't comment too much about them.

[knorke]

I see it also runs spring in a browser as a flash app. (cant do with iphone :/ )

[CompWiz]

Well, I was going take a screen shot of spring running on it, but I was too lazy, and the person on skype in the background was trying to get me to play games with him.

Thinkpad X61(SXGA+ AFFS IPS) | Thinkpad T43(XGA TN panel.)



But yeah, after finding a laptop with an IPS screen, I really don't want another TN panel. It's rather annoying that very few companies still put IPS in laptops.

X61 needs better GPU. Spring and GMA965 do not work extremely well together.

Lets as, as far as your question goes.. I'd get the Lenovo, if only because you can download their hardware maintenance manuals

On the other hand.. there is no such thing as too many pixels in a screen. I'd much prefer higher resolution screens, and I don't think you can drop a QXGA screen into the x220 like you can on the old T60