Thread: Find me a laptop!

**I am going to post a link to three laptops that I am considering buying. I really need help. My main uses is going to be for photoshop and video editing. The first one is the hp envy. This one has a different processor than the other two. It's an AMD quad core. Looking at the processor and graphics card will this be better?*

The next is an asus. It has a 3rd generation intel core i5 processor. Same 6gb ram and 750gb hardrive. I know intel has more quality processors, but it has half the cores. Is the quality that much better than the quantity?

The last has less hardive at 500gb and the same ram at 6gh. It has the same core i5 processor. But the difference in this is the hd4000 graphics chip and the 25gb solid state drive. Do the differences in this make it a better buy?*

Please look at the other differences and tell me that to buy.*

HP ENVY 15.6" Laptop 6GB Memory 750GB Hard Drive m6-1105dx - Best Buy

Asus 15.6" Laptop 6GB Memory 750GB Hard Drive Q500A-BHI5N01 - Best Buy

Acer Ultrabook 15.6" Laptop 6GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive + 20GB SSD M5-581T-6807 - Best Buy

Acer and HP are both terrible brands. Go for the Asus.

Originally Posted by Marvo

Acer and HP are both terrible brands. Go for the Asus.

I do agree with you. But will the asus meet my needs? Spec wise is it better than the others? Are there any different laptops in the price range that you think are better?

Screw the acer and HP. Choose between an Asus or Lenovo.

Originally Posted by OldSparta

Screw the acer and HP. Choose between an Asus or Lenovo.

Okay, but same question I asked marvo...

Looks like a fine laptop, my only issue being the lack of a graphicscard.

Generally you want loads of RAM for your purposes. If you can get an ASUS or Lenovo with similar specifications, but a little more RAM, that would be a pretty good deal for you. A graphicscard would be a bonus.

Thank you. Now can you tell me the difference between that asus and this one? Asus KSeries 15.6" Laptop 6GB Memory 750GB Hard Drive K55A-WH51 - Best Buy

They seem about the same. The second one says it has integrated graphics, but the first one definitely does as well, it's just not written anywhere for some reason.

In this day and age, you don't need to put a lot of weight into your considerations. It's really just a matter of whether the specifications meet your requirements, and what brand you're looking at.

For editting large quantities of data, which you do in Photoshop and audio tools, you will simply need a decent CPU and a lot of RAM. I'd say go for at least 8GB RAM, and if you can get a quadcore processor, that would be a lot better than a dualcore.

Of course, the price comes into play, and you might be able to save some money and there, but generally if you avoid idiotic brands, such as Apple, SONY and Dell, you will get your money's worth. If you go for good brands, like ASUS and Lenovo, you will also get something that doesn't break down within a year or two.

Something that might be more interesting to look for, would be a more advanced soundcard. A line-in plug for example, would be very advantageous. Although, if you're getting into serious audio work, you might be more interested in a seperate soundcard/mixing device.

All this said, we can only look at the specifications, and then tell what we think. Sometimes, a model turns out bad, even though it came from a good company, and vice versa. Your best bet is to find the brand, specifications and price you want, and then hit up some reviews on Google of that particular model. If you don't want to be wasting your time, you should find reviews that are several pages long, not some small block of text in the side of a magazine/a site that has this brand's logo plastered all over their site.

Thank you Marco!

Man I love the new posting system on this website.

What's bad about HP?

Notorious for bad engineering, resulting in overheating, as well as harddrive failure.

Originally Posted by Marvo

Notorious for bad engineering, resulting in overheating, as well as harddrive failure.

Indeed, I've reballed quite a few chipsets on the DV 6000 & 9000 series

Well honestly I'm not looking for anything too serious for video and sound editing. My main concern is Photoshop. I think that the Asus I listed will do just fine. I'm going to add a couple more gigs of ram a few weeks down the line. I kind of wish I was getting a laptop with a core i7 but I really can't swing the extra money being 16. Lol

Lol I just saw that I called marvo, Marco. Sorry about that. Haha

Thanks to all who replied. I'm going to go get it tomorrow.

Cool, enjoy it.

So I went to get it today. And I see this awesome lenovo, I terabyte of hard drive, 8gig ram, and an Intel quad core processor. All of this for just 100 dollars more. They were out of them today but as soon as they are in stock I'm snatching it up!

Originally Posted by Marvo

Something that might be more interesting to look for, would be a more advanced soundcard. A line-in plug for example, would be very advantageous. Although, if you're getting into serious audio work, you might be more interested in a seperate soundcard/mixing device.

This. If you plan on doing any serious music work you're not going to find a computer with the kind of sound card you need. For instance, I use an external USB sound card with 6 analog inputs, 4 of which can switch between 1/4" or XLR with built in preamps, 2 digital inputs, MIDI in and out, 2 inserts, and 2 headphone outputs with volume controls, and it uses ASIO drivers (of course). My stock sound card has an 1/8" in, 1/8" out, and non-ASIO drivers.

Overall, your particular considerations depend on what you expect to be doing with the laptop most of the time. A quad-core processor would be a nice step up if you can swing it. Also note that the mobo's on the models you listed support up to 8 gigs of RAM, although none of them come with that much preinstalled.