My eldest get fever this morning 3am. Tended him and brought him to clinic around 9am. Hope he get well before CNY proper.
Decided to kick back and stay at home today
Small family, not much to prepare. Wife and I both from KL, don't need to travel Shopping all done last week, already get new note from bank for ang pow.
Now just wish for a lucky Snake year

Don't need to apologise lah I am just teasing

Intel basically say once Haswell (new Intel CPU) come out this year, all ultrabook must has touch screen
So you will probably see a lot more touch screen laptop going forward (around end of 2013 onwards).

As I said, with your budget (I assume it's ~ RM2.5k), if you want touch screen, right now only Z400, Z500, M5 are available in Malaysia.
If you don't need touch screen, for gaming, best is Y400.

Personally, I think touch screen work best in hybrid laptop (those that can convert to tablet mode 1 way or another).
Otherwise, I see 2 issues:
1. Poking across keyboard is not ergonomic
2. The hinge holding the screen and base together, if subject to too much poking poking, may loosen

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Feb 8 2013, 12:33 PM

http://shopap.lenovo.com/my/en/products/la.../z-series/z400/
http://shopap.lenovo.com/my/en/products/la.../z-series/z500/
See Z400 & Z500 details there.

Z400 is expected ~ RM2.3k.

The M5 models either has touch screen, or full SSD. GPU is slightly better.
The rest is just Asus price/spec advantage

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Feb 8 2013, 12:45 PM

TJ is drafting his magna opus: "The Dating Guide Part 3: How to close the deal"

As I said, nothing like Y400 / 500 specs, within your budget, has touch screen. In fact, no gaming laptop has touch screen yet.
W8 is perfectly usable without touchscreen

IdeaPad Yoga 13, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD@RM3399, 4GB, 2 years; colors: grey/orange
UX31A-C4032H, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1920 x 1080;touch)@3799[1.3kg], 4GB, W8

Personally, I find FHD in the UX31A 13" make things a bit too small (but I am getting old). This is actually very subjective, and you should look at the actual unit for both models to decide which screen is better in your eyes.
UX31A, without touchscreen, has very nice matte IPS screen. But for the model with touchscreen, I find the colour, brightness is worse than the model without touchscreen, and it come in glossy (I mean it is still pretty good, but worse than the model without touchscreen).

For Yoga 13, why don't you check it out with actual owner here
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2698544

I just find it is easier to use the touch screen with Yoga 13 design (flip to tablet mode).

You want lightweight and thin. That mean ultrabook-ish. This don't come cheap.
And then you want matte screen with good viewing angle, which rule out most of the consumer laptop
And you don't want built in battery, which rule out most of the 13" ultrabook
There are laptops that fit your requirement, just out of your budget

Dell 13"
Latitude E6330, i5-3320M + Intel HD4000@RM4380[1.65kg], W7P (32-bit), 3 years Pro support; [CPU options: i5-3320M-i7-3520M] (matte TN screen, otherwise satisfy all your other requirement)
14"
Vostro 3460, i5-3210M + Intel HD4000@RM2199[2.23kg], 4GB, 500GB(7200rpm), W7HB; colors: red/silver/bronze (not thin & light. Have matte screen (one of the cheapest matte screen laptop) but TN, and detachable battery)
Latitude E6430s, i5-3360M + Intel HD4000@RM4300, 4GB, 500GB(7200rpm), W7P (32-bit)/W8 Pro, 3-cell; [CPU options: i5-3360M-i7-3520M], HD+ screen upgradable (upgrade to the HD+ screen which has good viewing angle. Only laptop that I can think off that tick all the box)
Latitude E6430u, i5-3427U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD@RM4500, 4GB, W8Pro, 3 years Pro support; [CPU options: i5-3427U - i7-3667U] (matte TN screen, otherwise satisfy all your other requirement)

HP 14"
Folio 9470M, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 32GB mSATA + 500GB(7200rpm)@RM3499, 4GB, anti-glare, W7P; W8@RM3699 (matte TN screen)

Lenovo 14"
ThinkPad Edge E430, i5-3210M + Intel HD4000@RM2749[2.2kg], W7P, 4GB, 750GB (5400rpm), anti-glare (not thin and light, matte TN screen)
ThinkPad T430U, i5-3317U + Nvidia GT620M + 24GB mSATA + 500GB HDD@RM3799, 4GB, W7P, 3 years on-site warranty (matte TN screen)

13" is out of your budget. 14":

Asus
A45VS-VX026H, i5-3210M + Nvidia GT645M@RM2199[2.4kg], 2GB, 500GB, W8
K46CM-WX090H, i5-3317U + Nvidia GT635M@RM2199[2kg], 2GB, 500GB, W8, OD
K46CM-WX059V, i3-3217U + Nvidia GT635M@RM1899[2kg], 2GB, 500GB, 4-cell battery, W7HP, OD

HP
Envy4-1009TU/1019TU, i3-2367M + Intel HD3000 + 32GB mSATA+ 500GB(5400rpm)@RM1899[Beats][1.75kg], 4GB, W7HP (2nd gen i core)
Pavilion Sleekbook 14-b051TU, i3-2367M + Intel HD3000@RM1499, 2GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8 (2nd gen i core)
Pavilion G4-2205/2206/2207TX, i5-3210M + AMD HD7670M@RM2099[2.19kg], 2GB ,500GB(5400rpm), W8, colors: white/red/black

Price is RSP, negotiable.

If you like touchscreen and like the Zenbook, you can consider this as well:
UX31A-C4032H, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1920 x 1080;touch)@3799[1.3kg], 4GB, W8

Those suggestion that I mentioned previously with TN screen has the typically not so good viewing angle. For good viewing angle, you usually need to look for IPS panel, which is not common in laptop (I think less than 20 models in Malaysia, and some of these have glossy screen)
Yup, most 13" laptop come with internal battery. And most ultrabook (13", 14") is the same as well.
But since you don't game anymore, internal battery should not be such a major concern right?

If you can look past internal battery, and good viewing angle, but still want light weight and matte screen, this one is the cheapest, iinm:
Dell 13"
Vostro 3360, i3-2365M + Intel HD3000@RM1859[1.67kg], 4GB, 320GB(5400rpm), W7HB; colors: red/silver/bronze
Vostro 3360, i3-3217U + Intel HD4000@RM2009[1.67kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W7HB; colors: red/silver/bronze
Vostro 3360, i3-3217U + Intel HD4000 + 32GB SSD + 500GB(5400rpm) HDD@RM2199[1.67kg], 4GB, W7HB; colors: red/silver/bronze
Vostro 3360, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000@RM2249[1.67kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W7HB; colors: red/silver/bronze

ps: looking back at your 1st post, I may have misunderstood you. When you said matte, do you mean you want the surface of the laptop has matte surface, or you want the screen of the laptop to be matte (don't reflect background light)?

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Feb 9 2013, 02:25 PM

Since you mentioned good warranty service, then these:

Dell
XPS13, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD@RM3399[1.36kg], 4GB, W8, backlit
XPS12, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1920x1080;touch)@RM3999[1.54kg], 8GB, W8, backlit, spill resistant keyboard, build-in battery, no ODD

Extend warranty to 3 years. Price is RSP, negotiable (even when you buy from Dell Online, just online chat). It's within your budget

Matte black colour laptop shell? All consumer class ultrabook are out (except gaming laptop like Asus G series, Clevo, I can't remember if any consumer laptop is still matte black in colour. But these are heavy beast).

As for Thinkpad, the cheapest Edge series somehow don't have matte shell I could only think of the T430u as ultrabook with matte black shell

Sorry, other sifus please help

What do you want, shot them?

Alienware M14x R2, i5-3210M + Nvidia GT650M (1GB) + (1600x900)@RM3999[2.92kg][Klipsch], 8GB, 1TB(5400rpm); [CPU Options: i7-3630QM - i7-3840QM], W8, 2 years warranty
Alienware M14x R2, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT650M (2GB) + (1600x900)@RM4699[2.92kg][Klipsch], 8GB, 1TB(5400rpm); [CPU Options: i7-3630QM - i7-3840QM], W7HP/W8
Alienware M14x R2, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT650M (2GB) + (1600x900) + 32GB mSATA + 1TB(5400rpm) + Bluray@RM5549[2.92kg][Klipsch], 12GB; [CPU Options: i7-3630QM - i7-3840QM], W7HP/W8
Alienware M17x R4, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GTX660M + (1920x1080)@RM5999[Starting 4.26kg][Klipsch], 6GB, 500GB (7200rpm), W7HP/W8, backlit keyboard [GPU options: GTX660M/HD7970M/GTX675M/GTX680M)
Alienware M17x R4, i7-3740QM + Nvidia GTX660M + (1920x1080)@RM6299[Starting 4.26kg][Klipsch], 8GB, 2x1TB (5400rpm), W8, backlit keyboard GPU options: GTX660M/HD7970M/GTX675M/GTX680M)

Ahhhh, 3 year NBD on site warranty. Have no fear
If the laptop really is a dud (normally you will find out within days), invoke RMA to get money back

No sweat Your usage requirement is easy to fulfill. It's your aesthetic requirement (which I perfectly understand, since my business laptop was Latitude -> Thinkpad -> Latitude (dictate by company policy)) which is hard to find among laptop of your budget

Good that now that you show your love for brushed metal colour

That Envy 4 is indeed one of the ultrabook that within your budget:
Envy4-1009TU/1019TU, i3-2367M + Intel HD3000 + 32GB mSATA+ 500GB(5400rpm)@RM1899[Beats][1.75kg], 4GB, W7HP

The others:
HP
Pavilion Sleekbook 14-b051TU, i3-2367M + Intel HD3000@RM1499, 2GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8
Dell
Inspiron 14z, i3-3227U + Intel HD4000@RM1899[1.87kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8, *no VGA port, OD
Lenovo
S400, i3-2365M + AMD HD7450M@RM1699[1.8kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W7HB
S400, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 24GB mSATA + 500GB(5400rpm)@RM1999[1.8kg], 4GB, W7HB; AMD HD7450M/W8@RM2199
Asus
K46CM-WX059V, i3-3217U + Nvidia GT635M@RM1899[2kg], 2GB, 500GB, 4-cell battery, W7HP, OD

All can handle your usage requirement. Price is RSP, negotiable.

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Feb 11 2013, 07:29 AM

For the M(obile) CPU, 3rd gen i3 outperform 2nd gen i3 around 5-10% (you will not notice it on CPU related task that you usage call for ).
But some of the model suggested earlier use 3rd gen i3 U(ltra Low Voltage) CPU, which is slightly less powerful compared to 2nd gen i3 M CPU, but more power efficient (good for battery performance).

Yes, you are right in that the main difference between 3rd gen and 2nd gen is the IGPU. HD 4000 is a looooot better than HD 3000 (~30-40%) in term of performance. But don't worry, HD 3000 can handle your usage requirement. And both the IGPU are pretty energy efficient.

The short answer is Yes. Lenovo International Warranty for Y580 cover Taiwan. You may verify here:
http://support.lenovo.com/en_MY/product-service/iws.page?
Please remember to bring along the receipt as proof of purchase when you go to Taiwan.

The long answer is why don't you consider buying laptop when you are in Taiwan Acer, Asus are cheap in Taiwan. You could get Asus G series in Taiwan for your budget, and Asus Warranty in Taiwan is better than Asus Malaysia

ThinkPad X230, i5-3210M + Intel HD4000@RM4059, 4GB, 320GB(7200rpm), 3 years on-site warranty, external USB OD
ThinkPad X230, i7-3520M + Intel HD4000@RM4769, 4GB, 320GB(7200rpm), 3 years on-site warranty, external USB OD, Thinkpad 65-warr AC adapter

There is NO 14" laptop with FHD screen. You have to connect to external display or FHD TV (through HDMI or Display Port) to enjoy FHD details.

Within your budget, this is best:
Lenovo
Y400, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT650M@RM2799, 4GB, 500GB, W8, 120wPSU, swappable ODD

For Dell:
Inspiron 14R (Special Edition), i5-3210M + Nvidia GT640M(28nm Kepler)@RM2049[2.38kg], 4GB, 500GB(7200rpm), W7HP/W8
Inspiron 14R (Special Edition), i7-3612QM + Nvidia GT640M(28nm Kepler)@RM2799[2.38kg], 8GB, 1TB(5400rpm); backlit keyboard optional

Price is RSP, negotiable.
For heavy multitasking, increase RAM, 8G should be ample (4G stick is ~ RM80).