Help me choose the best student laptop from this list

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ForUm8

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Oct 5, 2014
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Hello, I really need your help choosing the best laptop for the university as an Electrical engineer - so I guess I won't need so much of a graphic power, but rather a good battery life/performance ratio.
This is the list: (scroll down in each page to view full specifications - it's the website of the store I'm buying from)

1)http://
2)http://
3)http://
4)http://
5)http://
6)http://
7)http://
8)http://
9)http://

I truly need your help because I've never had a laptop and I don't know which is the most reliable, and has the best screen,battery life, performance, service etc.
*I've also chosen the i5 and not i3 or i7 because I thought it would be the best for a student on this budget (not too expensive, not too slow)
Thank you
 
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yellowpois0n
** Id say Asus is a trustworthy brand for build quality and such. Every company has similar ways of doing things, I just like Asus products.
** You dont need a dedicated GPU in your laptop if your going to be doing student stuff. The integrated graphics is more then enough to do whatever, and going with integrated graphics improves battery life by a short time, but it adds up.
** I would get a 15.6 screen, its a little bigger and i prefer that.
** I would go ASUS, but it actually doesn't matter at all as laptop manufacturers generally are good all around. Theres no bad manufacturer.
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They all pretty much the same except the hard drives, id just pick one that I like E.G color and cheaper price. They will all be beast student laptops with great performance and multitasking ability. Like I said just get one that you like because they all have the same performance really.

Update: The Intel I5s will be more then enough power to handle whatever you throw at it, and same thing with battery life. Core I5s are pretty power efficient.
 
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Thank you!
I've also added number 8 and 9 while you answered
Maybe you can check them out?
And please answer a few more questions :) :
**Which brand do you recommend based on other things rather than performance ie : battery life, screen quality, build quality?
**Does a laptop with an AMD/Nvidia (and not the built-in Intel 4400/4600) uses more battery?
**What do you recommend for a student, a 14" or a 15.6"?
**My main concern is, which brand to choose: Lenovo, Asus, Toshiba, HP, Dell? ( Every person gives me a different answer on each, so it's hard to tell which is a bad one, but one thing many told me is that Lenovo is bad so I would try to avoid it)
 
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** Id say Asus is a trustworthy brand for build quality and such. Every company has similar ways of doing things, I just like Asus products.
** You dont need a dedicated GPU in your laptop if your going to be doing student stuff. The integrated graphics is more then enough to do whatever, and going with integrated graphics improves battery life by a short time, but it adds up.
** I would get a 15.6 screen, its a little bigger and i prefer that.
** I would go ASUS, but it actually doesn't matter at all as laptop manufacturers generally are good all around. Theres no bad manufacturer.
 
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Solution
Thank you thank you!
I am really close to choose one finally.
I just found a few more questions if you don't mind :)! :
Where exactly will I notice the difference between the Intel built-in HD 4400/4600 and an AMD Radeon R5 M230 with 1GB or with 2GB/ATI Radeon HD 8670M/NVIDIA GeForce 820M 2GB, and which one of the dedicated do you think is the best?

And last thing ! If you had to choose one laptop out of this list of 9 laptops, which one would you go for?

Thanks alot again!
 
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rockie_, thanks, there's also a laptop with an Nvidia GeForce 820M- what do you say? better than the AMD?

But can you help me choose not just by the graphics card, but the overall performance for my needs?
Thanks
 
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** You will see the difference when playing games or watching you tube videos in 1080p. The GPU will give you more graphical power, however the GPU's performance is barely better then the integrated graphics. The 4600's graphical power then the 4400 just by a hare.
**I would go with number 3. 500g of space is enough, its 15.6 screen, 4gb ram, 4400 integrated graphics will do whatever I would need it too, (for student needs) and its a sleek silver color.
 
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So you wouldn't choose one with an Nvidia 820M with 2GB RAM? 😛
Now it's hard for me to choose between number 3 and 7, maybe just the final push to choose any of them? which one overall would fit me the best?

Thank you guys for the help!
 
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According to 2 sites Geforce 820M is a little faster than R5 M230 . But the processor is a little slower . i pick the Dell number 7 : 820M + i5 4210U .

i have a slower i3 2350M but it still works well .

http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Laptop-Graphics-Cards.130.0.html
 
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Id still go with number 3. Number 7 is great, but theres really no point in getting a GPU, unless you do want that extra graphic power. I prefer Nivida over Amd anyways, so it comes down to number 3 or number 7. The GPU may suck up some battery, not alot, just beware of that. The 4400 graphics is configured with the i5, so its battery efficient and theirs no chance of any bottlenecks. Its entirely up to you - more graphic power, more cost, and less battery life by a few minuets. Or the integrated, cheaper, battery efficient, and can handle videos and some old games very very well. (The GPU wont get you much more then a little graphic power for a little more battery juice) Hope this sums it up!
 
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Thank you, tomorrow I will go and buy the laptop and tell you which one I've chosen. I just called the store and they also suggested an HP laptop with 6GB RAM and intel HD 4400 : http://

They suggested this one to me because I told them warranty is important, and this one has a pickup from my house service, something DELL does not have (But the ASUS one does have)

this is the only thing holding me from purchasing the DELL with the Nvidia 820M - the warranty - How am I supposed to send them a Laptop? What do you think about it? Am I being too paranoid? Or it's really good to give up the 820M and to have a pickup-from-house warranty service?

Thank your for your patience!
 
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The HP laptop is also good, 2 extra gb of ram. Not really going to effect your performance though, 4gb is enough. As far as im concerned, I would just give up the 820M and get the pickup from house service because I prefer the Asus 4400 graphics a little more for your needs.
 
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I really wanted to choose the DELL with the graphics card, because I always wondered how does a PC with graphics card perform(always had integrated, even on desktop PC), but I guess warranty is better! (Oh Dell why you had to do that!)
But tomorrow I purchase so I will update you about what I finally chose :)!

Thank you, yellowpois0n!
 
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Thank you, rockie, it really looks like a good laptop, and I also thought about choosing it, until I was told that Lenovo is a bad Laptop, and even the screen quality is worse. Is that true? And take a look at number 9 - the Toshiba laptop with the same card just with 1GB ram and the 4200u cpu - is there a lot of difference? (The Lenovo laptop is also quite heavy for a student? Or it's not?)
 
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It all comes down to personal preference. Idk if you got dell #7 how you would hand in a laptop with the warranty. I wouldn't get the Levono or the Toshiba laptops, and just narrow it down with the #7 or #3. The 1GB ram in the GPU in the Toshiba will give you worse performance in the GPU anyway. Id put CPU power before GPU power in terms of a student laptop, and since #3 and #7 have the same CPU, it comes down to your choice
 
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Honestly I have heard good things about lenovo laptops, and while being the heaviest, offer the best processors and hard drive, and most likely similar battery life with the more power hungry processor. I enjoy the Asus brand myself and am not a huge fan of the quality of HP laptops (all my friends who have had them have had issues) the graphics list goes 8670M > 820M > R7 M230 for performance and 820M > 8670M > R7 M230 from what I can tell for power consumption.
 
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Guys thank you all, today is the day I am going to buy it soon 😀, but just final thing before I go to buy : I always ask about battery life, but I never actually know the time in hours. So between my final three choices : number (3). (7), and this Lenovo : http://, what is the battery life of each in hours and minutes? That should help me decide ( i really like the Lenovo specs but the problem is the weight, too heavy for a student, isn't it?)

**Edit: Sorry I'm asking so much, but I've just noticed the Lenovo 4210M cpu runs at 2.6 GHz! (vs 1.7 of 4210) It's almost like a Desktop CPU! will I notice the difference in "real life"?

Thanks!
 
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Update : I bought the Lenovo IdeaPad G510 with Intel Core i5 4210m, and the AMD R7 m230 2GB GPU.
This is a nice laptop, however, I am not too happy with it as a student.
Next time I purchase a laptop I'll have more experience, so I'll probably know what to choose myself, and I will try to explain:

This laptop is quite heavy and thick! for a student I'd recommend a thinner and less heavy device, even if the battery life is shorter (I'm not sure the different is going to be too big, and I'm sure you can find power outlets before the battery runs out in a university)

Next time, I will surely choose a Full HD screen, I really don't like the quality of this monitor, it hurts my eyes.

I'm not sure I really need the Graphics card as a student, and besides, so far this laptop is only using the Intel HD Graphics (it is automatically switchable, and for the apps I use it just won't switch to the AMD, so render that useless)

I should've bought something perhaps more expensive, but with a Full-HD screen, less weight, and not even care if it has a graphics card or not (the intel is definitely enough for a regular student)

 
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