# Looking for a windows laptop, recommendations welcome



## Santuzzo (Oct 9, 2013)

Hi,

I want to buy a laptop. I am not sure about the budget, as I don't know how much I would need to spend on a good laptop.
I am thinking of mainly using if for general stuff like internet and e-mailing especially when I am traveling, but I would also like to use it for recording, when I can't access my PC.
What kind of specs would I need in a laptop that would also work fine for recording?
Any specific brands that you guys would recommend?
I do not want a macbook or anything apple, btw, I want windows laptop.

Thanks,
Lars


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## Cloudy (Oct 9, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> Hi,
> 
> I want to buy a laptop. I am not sure about the budget, as I don't know how much I would need to spend on a good laptop.
> I am thinking of mainly using if for general stuff like internet and e-mailing especially when I am traveling, but I would also like to use it for recording, when I can't access my PC.
> ...




You'll probably want to grab a computer with a decent processor, probably a 2.4-2.6 and a generous amount of RAM (maybe 6+) if you want to do some recording and use it for multi tasking- of course more is always better. You don't need a super decked out computer for what you've requested so most 600-800$ toshibas/HPs/Gateways etc will probably get the job done. I've found that Dell has absolute horseshit customer support so I'd recommend avoiding them.

If you plan to do a bit of gaming I'd suggest getting a computer in the 1000~ range but else if you'll probably be fine with what I've recommended. Stay away from Radeon/AMD graphics cards for general usage (some people may disagree with me on this one, just personal experience), a lot of programs (not necessarily for recording/emailing/web surfing) don't support them. Intel/GTX/Nvida are solid so look out for those.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 9, 2013)

Thank you very much!

I just looked around online for some laptops (Toshiba and HP), but most of them only have 4GB RAM. Is it easy to upgrade RAM on a laptop like it is on a PC?


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## troyguitar (Oct 9, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> Is it easy to upgrade RAM on a laptop like it is on a PC?



Very easy and very cheap.

If you're going to use it primarily for traveling and not for gaming, I suggest something on the smaller side with the best battery life and screen quality. A lot of laptops with otherwise good specs and prices have terrible displays. Pretty much anything you can buy today will be powerful enough except for a few really cheap netbooks.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 9, 2013)

troyguitar said:


> Very easy and very cheap.
> 
> If you're going to use it primarily for traveling and not for gaming, I suggest something on the smaller side with the best battery life and screen quality. A lot of laptops with otherwise good specs and prices have terrible displays. Pretty much anything you can buy today will be powerful enough except for a few really cheap netbooks.



Thank you!

I'm not going to use it for gaming. I quit gaming altogether because I got too addicted (to Far Cry II a few years ago), but if I ever get back into it, I will do it on my desktop PC.

What specs would a screen need to have so I know the display is of a good quality?


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## troyguitar (Oct 9, 2013)

First thing to look at is resolution, a 15" laptop should probably have a 1920x1080 display not some low-res like 1366x768. Beyond that a lot of them you just have to either look at in person or at least read specific reviews online.

HP for example has a display upgrade for $50 extra on a lot of their models - get it. Last I was looking at stuff HP also frequently had major discount coupons floating around, like 25% off.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 9, 2013)

troyguitar said:


> First thing to look at is resolution, a 15" laptop should probably have a 1920x1080 display not some low-res like 1366x768. Beyond that a lot of them you just have to either look at in person or at least read specific reviews online.
> 
> HP for example has a display upgrade for $50 extra on a lot of their models - get it. Last I was looking at stuff HP also frequently had major discount coupons floating around, like 25% off.



Thanks!


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## DostavkaUSA (Oct 10, 2013)

agree


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## Osorio (Oct 10, 2013)

I never had anything but extremely bad experiences with HP laptops. 2 first hand, and one with a friend. Toshiba is a great buy, as far as my experiences are concerned.

Personally, I have a fairly old (2009) laptop that gets pretty much all of the jobs you requested done pretty smoothly (it's a 2.5 intel core 2 duo and 4gb ram, meaning, not all that powerful for todays standards), so I don't think you should spend a lot of money on this. 
I'm on the camp of people that don't see how a high-res display on a "travel" laptop is any benefit, though. More pixels = More battery to keep it up, more processing power wasted on putting things there, etc... I personally wouldn't go for a 1080p on a 15", sounds like complete overkill to me; but it doesn't hurt one bit to go to a place a check it out yourself. For comparison, my machine is a 13" with a 1280x800 and it does just fine.


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## troyguitar (Oct 10, 2013)

It's not about the resolution itself, it's just that companies tend to use higher quality screens for the higher res models. My old Fujitsu has a 12" 1280x800 display that looks great and my work Dell has a 15" 1366x768 display that looks horrible.


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 10, 2013)

Dell's customer service has been pretty good for me, and the computers are good even if they're not altogether very durable, but I take care of my laptop. 

You're living in a good age for buying a laptop - most of the stuff introduced this year is going to be very fast and viable for gaming and supporting recording software etc. 

A lot of people here swear by Lenovo so I'd look into them. I haven't used one, but when I asked a similar question to yours, 90% of the replies were "get a Lenovo".


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 10, 2013)

Oh, I forgot to talk about Windows 8.

I haven't a single complaint about Windows 8 because I *know how to use it* and have *familiarised myself with the OS adequately*. People complain that it's an OS for touch products, but that's probably one of the most pathetic gripes I have heard this whole time. It's very easy to navigate Windows 8 with a touch-pad, and the start screen has side scrolling (you literally just scroll by swiping against the edge of the screen (admittedly it's not an intuitive feature since I only found out about it a week or so ago.

Windows 8 is also good for gaming. On the whole, it's faster and more powerful than Windows 7 (which isn't really that far behind, to be fair).


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## ferret (Oct 10, 2013)

The Microsoft Surface Pro is actually a really nice piece of hardware, basically a tablet with full laptop grade hardware rather than the usual lower powered stuff. It's powerful enough for gaming, which even though you are not interested in, shows that the machine has some decent power. They have a range of keyboards for them with magnetic clasps to hold them closed. There's the touch ones as well as a "mechanical click" version.


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## tmo (Oct 10, 2013)

Hi, Also check www.ASUS.com. Can't say nothing but good things about them. Rock solid and good specs for less money. IMO these are better than Toshiba or HP (which I must say I don't trust).

For specs go for Intel processor and check on the possible RAM upgrade.

You spoke on recording, which gear are you using for that? External sound card? USB or Firewire? Most laptops now do not have firewire. I had to sell my Presonus Firestudio Mobile because I was buying a laptop with no firewire...


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## Santuzzo (Oct 10, 2013)

Thanks again everyone for your input.

@CrushingAnvil: good to hear that you like Windows 8, I was a little worried about that since I have heard/read some bad things about it, but reading what you said about it makes me feel a lot better 

@tmo:I use an external USB audio interface (Line6 UX2), so no firewire needed


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## Osorio (Oct 10, 2013)

troyguitar said:


> It's not about the resolution itself, it's just that companies tend to use higher quality screens for the higher res models. My old Fujitsu has a 12" 1280x800 display that looks great and my work Dell has a 15" 1366x768 display that looks horrible.



I see, thanks for that clarification. I absolutely overlooked that aspect. If that is the case, then by all means, ensure you get a good device buy spending a couple more on a more attractive screen. If the price is still right, definitely a win/win.




Santuzzo said:


> @CrushingAnvil: good to hear that you like Windows 8, I was a little worried about that since I have heard/read some bad things about it, but reading what you said about it makes me feel a lot better



Windows 8 is indeed quite alright. Processing wise, it really is an improvement on 7, which was already pretty damn solid. I don't particularly have it, so my experience with it has only been on a very casual and limited basis, but a lot of people on the more technical side of things swear by it. 
One thing that always worries me about "new" OS is software compatibility, but I haven't seen a single post anywhere of stuff not working on 8, so I guess you are pretty home free on that front. I would definitely do a google search for compatibility problems between your recording gear and the OS though.

Lord only knows how much trouble I could have avoided with a "motu drivers problems firewire mac os 10.6" search before purchase....


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 10, 2013)

I should go on to explain what I meant by learning how to use Windows 8:

If you google the shortcuts etc. you'll see that they make it an easier and more efficient operating system. You can get shit done. 

I'm telling you this because Windows 7 is being phased out and isn't going to be found on any new computers in the next couple of years. There's a 99% chance the laptop you buy will have Windows 8 instead of Windows 7.


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## Mordacain (Oct 10, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> Thanks again everyone for your input.
> 
> @CrushingAnvil: good to hear that you like Windows 8, I was a little worried about that since I have heard/read some bad things about it, but reading what you said about it makes me feel a lot better
> 
> @tmo:I use an external USB audio interface (Line6 UX2), so no firewire needed




Windows 8 is extremely solid. In fact, I'd argue it is both more stable out of the box and less prone to becoming less stable over time than any other version of Windows thus far.

The only real problem (at least from people I have talked to directly in trying to resolve their issues with it) is that people have had with it has been the learning curve; which is ironic, since the thing people bitched about before with Microsoft is not innovating and keeping up with current trends in OS design and then when they do, everyone bitches that it is too different.... but I digress.

Too make things easier, install Classic Shell XP and set it up to have your standard Start Menu layout. Other word of advise is to get real familiar with Windows key + F (that is your most important shortcut key combo going forward).


In so far as recommendations for brands / specs, I've had good success with Asus. I've had less success with Acer (in terms of component quality). My current Lenovo laptop (though being a budget system) has been pretty solid though I had some driver issues I had to resolve before it started being solid.

I like AMD processors if you're doing basic stuff. Mine is one of the original Fusion platform procs (Lano core) and it's a decently powered little quad-core. The nice thing about an AMD platform at the lower to mid range end is that the stock graphics are much, much better than the Intel HD series range. Mine actually has a dedicated GPU as well that can be run in crossfire with the on-die GPU. It's nice for when you'd like to do some gaming as well.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 10, 2013)

CrushingAnvil said:


> I should go on to explain what I meant by learning how to use Windows 8:
> 
> If you google the shortcuts etc. you'll see that they make it an easier and more efficient operating system. You can get shit done.
> 
> I'm telling you this because Windows 7 is being phased out and isn't going to be found on any new computers in the next couple of years. There's a 99% chance the laptop you buy will have Windows 8 instead of Windows 7.



Thanks!

Yes, as far as I could tell from looking at laptops on the internet, all of them had Win8, so I was already considering buying Win7 separately and install that, but might as well give Win8 a try first.


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## Mordacain (Oct 10, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Yes, as far as I could tell from looking at laptops on the internet, all of them had Win8, so I was already considering buying Win7 separately and install that, but might as well give Win8 a try first.



Definitely give 8 a shot first. I have it running on all of my systems save for my laptop, and that's only because the Lenovo drivers were total sheit.

As opposed ot every other iteration of Windows (where I have to reinstall every so often to clear up the accumulated dead links, program clutter and general crap) my Windows 8 PCs I've not had to touch since I installed the OS and it's been well over a year for all 3 of them now.

One of those computers I've switched out the baseboard and processor on and didn't even reinstall the OS; it just swapped out the drivers on it's own and has been stable ever since. I've never been able to do that on any prior version of Windows and have it be stable.


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## tmo (Oct 10, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> @tmo:I use an external USB audio interface (Line6 UX2), so no firewire needed



No firewire means more options for you on the laptop market.

Please, do give ASUS a deeper look. I bought my laptop 1&1/2 year ago. I had the purpose of using it for graphic processing (Civil 3D, AutuCAD, 3DS Max, Photoshop, Illustator, Premier, etc..), so I got one with a nice dedicated graphic card.

The _problem_ with ASUS is that they have a BASE model that varies in specs on stores, so FIND the specs you REALLY need and then get the most close model you can find and upgrade it. The one I wished for would go with a faster HDD, more RAM stock from factory, etc. The one I got has a regular speed HDD, no BlueRay optical drive, 6Gb Ram stock which were immediately upgraded to 16Gb. Look for motherboard and RAM specs when searching brands. HP, Sony or Toshiba's models comparable to mine were generally +300 to +500 over the price I payed and the benefit was (in some cases only) having firewire.


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## Osorio (Oct 10, 2013)

It's worth noting that even if you end up hating W8 and want to instal 7 over it, this might pose a problem to you. As the motherboard and etc are not "optimized" for it, you will be missing drivers and some other components, components which are sometimes very hard to find. 

Just keep that in mind and be sure to give 8 a fair shot before you put yourself through the trouble.


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## troyguitar (Oct 10, 2013)

If you hate Windows 8 you can set it up to look/feel just like 95/98/XP/Vista/7 very easily. It's not a big deal.

(but I still think a lot of win8's interface and features are ....ing retarded)


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 11, 2013)

Mordacain said:


> Windows 8 is extremely solid. In fact, I'd argue it is both more stable out of the box and less prone to becoming less stable over time than any other version of Windows thus far.
> 
> The only real problem (at least from people I have talked to directly in trying to resolve their issues with it) is that people have had with it has been the learning curve; which is ironic, since the thing people bitched about before with Microsoft is not innovating and keeping up with current trends in OS design and then when they do, everyone bitches that it is too different.... but I digress.
> 
> ...



You don't actually need to press F along with windows key to search/find. You can just press windows key and start typing


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## Santuzzo (Oct 11, 2013)

Thanks again everyone for your input, it's much appreciated.

I find it very difficult to make a choice, there are soooo many laptops out there....ugh.....

Will have to go into a store this weekend to take a closer look at some models.


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 11, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> Thanks again everyone for your input, it's much appreciated.
> 
> I find it very difficult to make a choice, there are soooo many laptops out there....ugh.....
> 
> Will have to go into a store this weekend to take a closer look at some models.



Just to help as much as possible:

The hard drive in my Dell 15R was damaged when they first shipped it to me. It slowly began to deteriorate, so they sent a guy around and he replaced the hard drive while I sat there watching BBC - it was awkward, but hey my computer has been fine ever since. 

I actually wouldn't praise the build quality of Dell laptops _circa_ 2011-2012 so I guess that's not going to be a worry of yours if you're buying new. I haven't gotten my hands on a newer model but they LOOK more solid than mine. My 15R bends if you pick it up with one hand by the part of the chassis near the touch-pad. Maybe you shouldn't pick your laptop up like that, but it's indicative of how the inside has little reinforcement. It's light because it's hollow. I haven't cracked or broken any part of it, but I wouldn't be surprised if/when I do. 

It's funny how old your laptop begins to look after a year or two 

The state of processing (processor) technology currently is such that pretty much anything you get will be fast as hell. Nothing under 2.3Ghz pretty much. 

I think the cost is going down too. 

I'd honestly recommend getting a laptop with an NVIDIA or AMD Radeon graphics card (or anything similar) because the day you fancy playing some games on your computer is going to come and you're going to cry when you try to play Skyrim or something on a laptop with integrated graphics.

Given my comment about processors, you don't really need an i7. An i5 would be more than fast enough for anything you'll do (gaming included). 4GB of RAM is currently the minimum, in my opinion, for a fast, cooperative computer. 6GB is ideal, and I think that minimum is rising.

Bottom line is, I'd recommend spending up to the medium price-point. 

I'm not recommending this laptop per se, but something with similar specs 

http://www.dell.com/nz/p/inspiron-15r-se-7520/pd?oc=w510264nz&model_id=inspiron-15r-se-7520


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## Santuzzo (Oct 11, 2013)

Thank you very much!

I will go into a store tomorrow.
Right now I am considering the following brands: Dell, HP, Toshiba, Asus.
I will keep the specs you mentioned in mind!


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## Santuzzo (Oct 11, 2013)

what do you guys think of this Asus laptop:

ASUS X75A-TY185H Laptops bestel online bij Media Markt

Sorry, it's in Dutch language, but if you scroll down you can see the specs....
To me this looks pretty good.


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## Osorio (Oct 11, 2013)

Looks pretty solid, but there is a "detail only maybe not really" that caught my eye: 

I believe that the HD is listed as "5400 rpm". This could be a problem to recording, as that is a somewhat slow speed... I'm NOT entirely sure on the specifics though. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that this was hardly an ideal scenario, but I'm going out of my way to make sure you understand just how nebulous this impression is and how wrong I can possibly be about it.

Someone with more knowledge on the technicalities may come forward and give a better explanation or debunk my worries, but it really caught my eye as something that, whoever minor, may (or may not) be an issue.

Really good otherwise though. Looks like a solid machine.


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## ferret (Oct 11, 2013)

One idea for you.

Go to the store, try them all out.. But don't buy. Look at the options, pick one you like, whether because the keyboard seems sturdy or you just like the case design, whatever catches your eye in the end... But then go home and go to that vendor's webpage, and order it that way. Yeah, you'll pay shipping (maybe), but they may have more customization options, so you'll know you like the case, keyboard, etc, but might be able to get a faster processor, more memory, etc, if you order direct.

Just something to consider.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 12, 2013)

I looked at some other laptops on the site, but most of them have a hard drive with 5400rpm speed. The ones that have 7200rpm are in a different price range altogether.


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## Mordacain (Oct 12, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> I looked at some other laptops on the site, but most of them have a hard drive with 5400rpm speed. The ones that have 7200rpm are in a different price range altogether.



I wouldn't worry about it. There's a whole lot more that goes in to determining how smoothly a HDD works than just the RPM. Windows 7 & 8 are very good about utilizing memory so there is less active caching going on a hard drive. Provided you halt any virus scans and disable active defragging, a 5400 drive won't have any issues tracking. 

Personally, I much prefer to choose my own HDD or SSD anyway rather than take the typical bargain basement model that comes with most (even higher end) laptops.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 12, 2013)

Mordacain said:


> I wouldn't worry about it. There's a whole lot more that goes in to determining how smoothly a HDD works than just the RPM. Windows 7 & 8 are very good about utilizing memory so there is less active caching going on a hard drive. Provided you halt any virus scans and disable active defragging, a 5400 drive won't have any issues tracking.



Thanks a lot!



> Personally, I much prefer to choose my own HDD or SSD anyway rather than take the typical bargain basement model that comes with most (even higher end) laptops.



You mean, to get an external HDD, or to swap the internal one out after buying?


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## Handbanana (Oct 12, 2013)

Bro, even asus is getting over-priced these days. Get on slickdeals and find yourself a lenovo. Best bang for your buck.


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## Mordacain (Oct 12, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> You mean, to get an external HDD, or to swap the internal one out after buying?



Swap out the internal drive. I typically do a fresh install of the OS whenever I get a new system anyway unless it is completely devoid of bloatware.

However, the newer OS really don't necessarily need that and I mainly just do it out of habit.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 12, 2013)

Mordacain said:


> Swap out the internal drive. I typically do a fresh install of the OS whenever I get a new system anyway unless it is completely devoid of bloatware.
> 
> However, the newer OS really don't necessarily need that and I mainly just do it out of habit.



Thanks!

Is it that easy to swap out the internal HDD on a laptop?
Could I do that myself?

I have built my PC< but never worked on a laptop, so I have no idea.


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## Mordacain (Oct 12, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> Thanks!
> 
> Is it that easy to swap out the internal HDD on a laptop?
> Could I do that myself?
> ...



It depends on the manufacturer honestly in terms of how easy / difficult it is. Usually, there is either a single panel to gain access to both the dimm slots and drive tray, or a separate drive caddy that can be easily removed.

Of course certain makes are ridiculously difficult to get at (I'm looking at you Apple!).


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## Osorio (Oct 12, 2013)

I just checked, and mine is a 5400 as well. This is an interesting find to me, because I really do have some problems when plug-in usage gets heavy on the sampling... But I can also say freely that it is hardly ever a hindrance unless I'm doing some really intensive sampling, which is easy to avoid, albeit a bit more time consuming...

Replacing HDs is generally easy, but it does vary a lot on model. I agree with a previous poster that said to go to the store and check some models out. Ask some questions to the people there as well, see if you like the build qualities, etc. Doesn't hurt.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 12, 2013)

Just got back form the store and bought a Samsung:

SAMSUNG ATIV Book 9 NP900X4D-K01NL Laptops bestel online bij Media Markt

this is the link from the Samsung website:
Series 9 15


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## Osorio (Oct 12, 2013)

Wow. Very good find. Congrats on your new machine


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## Santuzzo (Oct 12, 2013)

Osorio said:


> Wow. Very good find. Congrats on your new machine



Thank you very much!

Honestly, this was more than I was initially going to spend, but then I did like the idea of the SDD drive and the somewhat smaller size for better mobility when traveling, so I bit the bullet.


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## Osorio (Oct 12, 2013)

SSD was definitely a good pick. Specially in a laptop, which is obviously prone to a lot of moving around, having one less movable part is a god-sent, not to mention the increase in speed in almost everything. Definitely a good buy.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 12, 2013)

Weird thing is, Win8 is pre-installed, but no CD pr DVD with Win8 was in the package, they told me that that is not done anymore these days...
So, how can I re-install win8 if I don't have a CD or DVD of it...


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## Osorio (Oct 12, 2013)

My mother bought a laptop some time ago which worked like this:

The hard drive was partitioned from factory. About 5gb was "sectioned off", dedicated to holding a "recovery copy" of windows, so, if you wanted to reformat the machine and "start over", you would "activate" that recovery copy and it would erase everything on the main partition. That's what I read about it, anyway... I never tried to actually do it.

Does yours have something like that? Sounds like a weird thing to do with an SSD though, since the space is already fairly limited, essentially putting the OS there TWICE seems extremely wasteful.


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## ferret (Oct 12, 2013)

More than likely there's a hidden partition like Osorio is talking about, and if you press a certain key combination when booting up, it will load a special recovery "factory reset" ... does seem a weird solution with an SSD though, since that will eat up at least 5-7GB. Then again, there could even be a small ROM or something for it, who knows how they actually implemented it.

Also, you can use USB drives to do installations these days.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 13, 2013)

problems with win8 are already starting .... windows update was trying to install updates several time, each time the update failed...ugh....

not a firewall or anti-virus software issue, as I'm only using the firewall and AV that is part of win8.....


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## ferret (Oct 13, 2013)

It is probably not really a "Windows 8" issue, but something specific to the laptop that we might be able to help you fix. Would need some more information to try to assist. Where or how is the update failing?

For example, does it ask to reboot and then fails during the reboot? Or does it just popup a message saying "Updates have failed" or similar.

Also, you may want to visit Samsung's site and see if they have any updates for the laptop, such as new drivers.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 13, 2013)

ferret said:


> It is probably not really a "Windows 8" issue, but something specific to the laptop that we might be able to help you fix. Would need some more information to try to assist. Where or how is the update failing?
> 
> For example, does it ask to reboot and then fails during the reboot? Or does it just popup a message saying "Updates have failed" or similar.
> 
> Also, you may want to visit Samsung's site and see if they have any updates for the laptop, such as new drivers.



Thanks !

I issue was: there were like over 90 updates selected and it tried to download and install but after a few minutes the message popped up saying 'failed', it did not even get to the re-booting.

I got it resolved, though: I deselected all of them and then only selected like 1-5 updates at a time and went through it in several stages, that worked. So, maybe it was just a problem of too many updates selected at once?


another non-related thing:

while I was at the store they also showed me this laptop:
ATIV Book 7 (NP740U3E) | Samsung Laptops
it was priced around the same price, but they did not have it in stock so the guy told me I could get the floor-model and he'd have the RAM upgraded free of charge from 4GB to 8GB. 
Would that have been a better choice?
I am a bit in doubt now if I took the right decision. But either way, since I unpacked the laptop, I could not return it....


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 13, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> Just got back form the store and bought a Samsung:
> 
> SAMSUNG ATIV Book 9 NP900X4D-K01NL Laptops bestel online bij Media Markt
> 
> ...



Crikey. Good on you for not going cheap. Those ATIV Book 9's are probably the best ultrabooks on the market.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 13, 2013)

CrushingAnvil said:


> Crikey. Good on you for not going cheap. Those ATIV Book 9's are probably the best ultrabooks on the market.



Thanks!
Do you think this one may have been a better choice (see my post above):
ATIV Book 7 (NP740U3E) | Samsung Laptops


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 13, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> Thanks !
> 
> I issue was: there were like over 90 updates selected and it tried to download and install but after a few minutes the message popped up saying 'failed', it did not even get to the re-booting.
> 
> ...



No I think the 9 is superior.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 13, 2013)

CrushingAnvil said:


> No I think the 9 is superior.



Ok, thanks, I'm glad to hear that. In terms of specs they were pretty much similar, except the 7 has a touch screen (but smaller), which I don't tihnk I want. and the 7 also has a better graphics card, but since I am not doing any photo work on it nor am I planning on playing any modern games on it, I was not concerned about that.

Also: the touch-screen is very shiny, so it reflects light which can be pretty annoying in my opinion, whereas the screen on the 9 is like satin which is not so prone to reflection....


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 13, 2013)

This thread has really made me consider replacing my Dell. Given that it's two years old, which is really a pretty solid expiration date for me. The laptop still works, but the build quality is getting to me. 

Couldn't justify a Samsung ATIV Book 9, however, which is unfortunate. I'm really tempted to try a Lenovo, but I'm caught up on how ugly their shells are


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 13, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> Ok, thanks, I'm glad to hear that. In terms of specs they were pretty much similar, except the 7 has a touch screen (but smaller), which I don't tihnk I want. and the 7 also has a better graphics card, but since I am not doing any photo work on it nor am I planning on playing any modern games on it, I was not concerned about that.
> 
> Also: the touch-screen is very shiny, so it reflects light which can be pretty annoying in my opinion, whereas the screen on the 9 is like satin which is not so prone to reflection....



I personally prefer glass LED's, although that's a good point you make about the light reflection issues of glass screens. I think I just like cleaning glass screens


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## Santuzzo (Oct 13, 2013)

CrushingAnvil said:


> This thread has really made me consider replacing my Dell. Given that it's two years old, which is really a pretty solid expiration date for me. The laptop still works, but the build quality is getting to me.
> 
> Couldn't justify a Samsung ATIV Book 9, however, which is unfortunate. I'm really tempted to try a Lenovo, but I'm caught up on how ugly their shells are



I was almost gonna buy a Lenovo that I really liked, and it had very good specs and then the guy told me if I wanted the same specs in a smaller unit I should take a look at the ultrabooks, then I saw how much smaller and lighter they were...dis-advantage though is that the DVD-burner needs to be connected externally.... whereas on the Lenovo it was built-in.
My concern was that the bigger Lenovo would be more of a hassle to take along when traveling and using on a train or plane, etc.

Then I also thought the 15"screen of the ATIV 9 would be a bit better to work with when recording than the 13,5" of the ATIV 7....not really sure, though, if that would make such a big difference, I would have to see it with the DAW installed to really tell.....

In all honesty, I can't really justify spending all that money on a laptop, but I will get about the same amount that the laptop cost back in taxes that I paid too much, so I figure I treat myself on a nice laptop


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 13, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> I was almost gonna buy a Lenovo that I really liked, and it had very good specs and then the guy told me if I wanted the same specs in a smaller unit I should take a look at the ultrabooks, then I saw how much smaller and lighter they were...dis-advantage though is that the DVD-burner needs to be connected externally.... whereas on the Lenovo it was built-in.
> My concern was that the bigger Lenovo would be more of a hassle to take along when traveling and using on a train or plane, etc.
> 
> Then I also thought the 15"screen of the ATIV 9 would be a bit better to work with when recording than the 13,5" of the ATIV 7....not really sure, though, if that would make such a big difference, I would have to see it with the DAW installed to really tell.....
> ...



You can get a 25" full HD (I think it's FHD anyway) screen from Dell for like $250 - that would be great for studio work.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 13, 2013)

CrushingAnvil said:


> You can get a 25" full HD (I think it's FHD anyway) screen from Dell for like $250 - that would be great for studio work.



oh, you mean as a 2nd screen to connect to it?

I just realized that on the US Samsung site the price difference between the ATIV 9 and the 7 is kind of big, a couple hundred dollars, so I guess the guy in the store was right when he told me the ATIV 9 is on a special deal this week....


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 13, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> oh, you mean as a 2nd screen to connect to it?
> 
> I just realized that on the US Samsung site the price difference between the ATIV 9 and the 7 is kind of big, a couple hundred dollars, so I guess the guy in the store was right when he told me the ATIV 9 is on a special deal this week....



Yeah, I did the arithmetic and it's like 1800 NZD  My dell was like 1099 NZD or something - it has an i5-2450M, 4GB of RAM, 500GB 5400rpm HD and shitty Dell Integrated HD3000 graphics.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 13, 2013)

CrushingAnvil said:


> Yeah, I did the arithmetic and it's like 1800 NZD  My dell was like 1099 NZD or something - it has an i5-2450M, 4GB of RAM, 500GB 5400rpm HD and shitty Dell Integrated HD3000 graphics.



the ATIV 9 I got also only has an intel integrated HD4000 graphics card...


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 13, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> the ATIV 9 I got also only has an intel integrated HD4000 graphics card...



HD3000 is probably a lot worse off than HD4000 graphics. I did think "oh, bummer" when I heard you mention it before (or maybe I read it in the specs on the site), but if I can almost run Skyrim on medium settings without many problems, HD4000 graphics should be pretty good for games. With all that being said, you did say, or at least imply, that gaming wasn't the focal point of the purchase.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 13, 2013)

CrushingAnvil said:


> HD3000 is probably a lot worse off than HD4000 graphics. I did think "oh, bummer" when I heard you mention it before (or maybe I read it in the specs on the site), but if I can almost run Skyrim on medium settings without many problems, HD4000 graphics should be pretty good for games. With all that being said, you did say, or at least imply, that gaming wasn't the focal point of the purchase.



yes, that's right. I am actually not planning on gaming at all. Even on my desktop PC. I used to get so addicted to playing games that I had to ban them from my PC as I would spend way too many hours on playing games, actually it was only one game: Far Cry II.
But I am just like that, I always have 2nd thoughts and start doubting "but what if..." etc...


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 13, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> yes, that's right. I am actually not planning on gaming at all. Even on my desktop PC. I used to get so addicted to playing games that I had to ban them from my PC as I would spend way too many hours on playing games, actually it was only one game: Far Cry II.
> But I am just like that, I always have 2nd thoughts and start doubting "but what if..." etc...



 yeah I find that when I have a good game on my personal computer, I tend to ruin that game for myself by overplaying it. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a perfectly example of that


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## Santuzzo (Oct 13, 2013)

CrushingAnvil said:


> yeah I find that when I have a good game on my personal computer, I tend to ruin that game for myself by overplaying it. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a perfectly example of that



hahahaa, yeah, I just could not control it, I was not able to stop playing after say an hour or two, I would sit in front of that thing sometimes for like 3-5 hours 
only game I am playing once in a while is a Star Wars freeware game called Battle Of Endor, and that will definitely run just fine on my laptop.


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## CrushingAnvil (Oct 13, 2013)

Santuzzo said:


> hahahaa, yeah, I just could not control it, I was not able to stop playing after say an hour or two, I would sit in front of that thing sometimes for like 3-5 hours
> only game I am playing once in a while is a Star Wars freeware game called Battle Of Endor, and that will definitely run just fine on my laptop.



One thing you can say about games like Call of Duty: Black Ops, is that they don't get old. I could play that game for the rest of my life


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## ferret (Oct 13, 2013)

The 7 and 9 series are basically the same thing, with different screen sizes. As for whether any two individual models are equal in performance depends on the exact specs. It's a bit hard to research, since you're looking at models available in the Netherlands and I'm generally getting US hits, so they may not be the exact same specs.

Assuming the same CPU is available between the two, I'd take the 9 for the 15" screen myself. Heavier, of course, but I hate cramped screens.

Edit: Wow, I missed a whole page of replies. I stand by my view though, Series 9 is the winner.


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## Santuzzo (Oct 13, 2013)

CrushingAnvil said:


> One thing you can say about games like Call of Duty: Black Ops, is that they don't get old. I could play that game for the rest of my life



Sounds like that is a game I should stay away from....



ferret said:


> The 7 and 9 series are basically the same thing, with different screen sizes. As for whether any two individual models are equal in performance depends on the exact specs. It's a bit hard to research, since you're looking at models available in the Netherlands and I'm generally getting US hits, so they may not be the exact same specs.
> 
> Assuming the same CPU is available between the two, I'd take the 9 for the 15" screen myself. Heavier, of course, but I hate cramped screens.
> 
> Edit: Wow, I missed a whole page of replies. I stand by my view though, Series 9 is the winner.



Thanks!
as in specs here the 9 I got has 8 GB RAM as opposed to the $ GB of the 7, but the 7 has a ATM Radeon graphics card whereas the 9 just has an intel 4000.
But, yeah the slightly bigger screen is an advantage, I agree, so I am happy with the choice I made.


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