Dear Sifu,

Need your advice on getting a lappie:

1. Asus, Dell, Lenovo
2. RM1.8k - RM2.3k
3. Autocad, minor/average gaming, documentation
4. (Not sure whether to go for ultrabook or ordinary labtop but welcome any suggestions)/14" screen size

Thanks for your suggestions in advance.

Sifu,

I have previously asked before regarding on the recommendation of a notebook in which my requirements are similar to the quoted requirements but I still cannot decide. Between these 3 brands of notebook range, I know that there's no such thing as the best but could you briefly summarized these 3 notebooks' advantages in terms of performance, ergonomic design, reliability and/or overall after sales service so that I can see which are my priorities? And if I decide on one, should I downgrade to Windows 7 as I'm worried on the software incompatibility on Windows 8. Really appreciate your advice in this matter. Thanks.

Ok. Thank you so much for your prompt reply.

Yup, there's one next week in KL Convention Centre; Pikom PC Fair from 7 - 9 December 2012.

Asus A45VS-VX026H, i5-3210M + Nvidia GT645M@RM2199[2.4kg], 2GB, 500GB, W8

Dell Inspiron 14R (Special Edition), i5-3210M + Nvidia GT640M(28nm Kepler)@RM2049[2.38kg], 4GB, 500GB(7200rpm), W7HP/W8

Lenovo Z480, i5-3210M + Nvidia GT640M@RM2299, 4GB, 1TB(5400rpm) W7HB, colors: grey/red/blue

After some comparison, I'm almost deciding on the 14 R SE. But I see Dell online soon going to increase to RM2268. If I were to reduce my budget even more, is this model reasonable for its spec or any other brand which is more value for money than this:

G480, i5-3210M + Nvidia GT635M@RM1899, 4GB, 1TB (5400rpm), W8, 2 yrs warranty

After reading several previous post, I realize most sifu recommend Dell due to its above par on site service compared to other makes but after getting some feedback from my colleagues who use Dell and also reading lowyat dell forums, I realize their hardware tends to fail quite easily (low reliability) and other issues like BSOD. One friend who bought 15R past 2 months got his notebook fan performing at high speed when it's only opening task manager (as if like playing HD games/running autocad/rendering programs) but got it fixed under warranty and problem still persists. My another friend who has his 4 yers old XPS has some graphic card problem and enquire abt the service from Dell but it seems like charging exhorbitantly high cost. Also, my friend mentioned that Dell got no proper service centre location (that's why offering on-site service) unlike HP, Toshiba, ASUS, Lenovo etc. So, Im in dilemma of getting dell after feedback. Good service but poor reliability ratings or is it these are the small portions of sour products?