You pretty listed all the models in Malaysia within your price range that suit your requirement.
Yes, Asus Malaysia do have that dodgy warranty support records.
Sorry, can't comment much on 2nd hand (this is not a sales thread)

Alternatively, up your budget to RM5-6k, and go for this:
Illegear RS-15, i5-3210M + AMD HD7970M + (1920x1080)@RM5299, 8GB, 500GB(5400rpm), FreeDOS [CPU Options: i5-3210M - i7-3940XM][GPU options: GTX680M]
Good warranty support.

In terms of raw power, these models are more or less equal.
Yes, Lenovo has 2 year warranty. If you send to SC run by IBM, the service is quite good.
Dell only come with 1 year warranty standard, but it is on site warranty (you don't need to send to SC). You can extend the Dell warranty to 3 years for RM250+/-.

If you are bringing the laptop to SG, both Asus and HP are OK in terms of warranty services
The Asus come with 2 years International warranty. The HP you need to upgrade the warranty.

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Mar 12 2013, 04:18 PM

Lots of brandsdon't give CD/DVD for OS / drivers anymore.
Generally, you may find a partition within your HDD that may contain the OS.
Alternatively, if you wanto wipe the HDD clean, you could download an OS image (make sure it is clean). The OS license to activate the OS could normally be found at the bottom of your laptop.

Acer (closest)
V5-471G-33214G50, i3-3217U + Nvidia GT620M@RM1799[2.1kg], 4GB, 500GB, W7HP
V5-431P-21174G50, 2117 + Intel HD + (1366x768; touch)@RM1599, 4GB, 500GB, W8

Asus (closest)
K46CM-WX060V, B987 + Nvidia GT630M@RM1699[2kg], 2GB, 500GB, W8, OD
X401A-091/092/093R, B820 + Intel HD3000@RM1299[1.85kg], 2GB, 500GB, W8; colors: black/white/green; 1 year warranty

Dell
Inspiron 14 (3420), i3-3110M + Nvidia GT625M@RM1599[2.1kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8
Inspiron 14-3421, i3-3217U + Intel HD4000@RM1399[1.99kg], Win8SL, 2GB, 500GB(5400rpm), 4-cell

On specs, the Dell has the best value.

I may not be the right person to ask. I always go for the one that offer on site warranty (ceteris paribus)

Good warranty support? Dell

Inspiron 14-3421, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT625M@RM1649[1.99kg], Ubuntu, 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), 6-cell; W8SL@RM1899
Inspiron 14R, i5-3210M + Nvidia GT630M@RM1899[2.29kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8
Inspiron 14R (Special Edition), i5-3210M + Nvidia GT640M(28nm Kepler)@RM2049[2.38kg], 4GB, 500GB(7200rpm), W7HP/W8

Price is RSP, negotiable. Extend warranty to 3 years (~ RM250+/-) and you should be set. Any hardware problem, call Dell, technician at your door Next Business Day (NBD), sure will not miss assignment deadline

http://h20386.www2.hp.com/MalaysiaStore/im...238tx-sleekbook
HP Malaysia website.

Ok, the GT640M, GT645M, GT730M are all of the same chip, just clock differently. In real life situation, the performance gap (if any) is small, I doubt you will realise it unless you actually look for it in benchmark.
This group has a noticable performance gap vs the GT650M (especially that with GDDR5) and GTX660M. You can get GT650M in this Lenovo:
Y400, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT650M@RM2799, 4GB, 500GB, W8, 120wPSU, swappable ODD

No.
RTS games like StarCraft 2
Don't "campur" CPU and GPU performance together.
It actually depends on game titles.
Some games you are likely capped by GPU (those new shooter like Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Assasin Creed ... ). The demand on GPU to render graphic details will hit performance 1st before you hit CPU bottleneck.
Some games actually don't push GPU that hard. But instead has more calculation need to be done on CPU (eg. path finding when you have swarms of units ), so a stronger CPU help.

GT640M is just GT640M, it don't run faster when pair with i7 or i5. But a GT640M + i7 may increase performance in certain games because the games can take advantage of the better CPU.
But seriously, with gaming at your budget, if you have money to spare, spend it on GPU, not on CPU, because you will generally capped by GPU first within your budget range. If you have the budget, get this:
Lenovo Y400, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT650M@RM2799, 4GB, 500GB, W8, 120wPSU, swappable ODD

Share market Do you need to punch in trade quickly? If yes, then better go for those 15" model with dedicated numpad.
SSD is a loooooooot faster than HDD In terms of boot time, I normally get 8-10s for W8, and 20s top for W7 (I don't spend too much time trying to optimise )
It's not that sifus are biased towards Dell in Malaysia. It's just that Dell Malaysia on site service for consumer laptop is really like an oasis in desert
If you buy from Dell Online, just configure to get the better wireless card (generally Intel Advance N is good enough).
Also FHD screen will have more work space and show more stock quotes on screen.

15"
Inspiron 15R, i5-3337U + AMD HD7670M@RM1999[2.32kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8SL
Inspiron 15R, i7-3537U + AMD HD8730M + (1920x1980; anti-glare)@RM3299[2.32kg], 8GB, 1TB(5400rpm), W8SL

Prices are RSP, negotiable.
Extend warranty to 3 years for peace of mind.

I checked the Dell Malaysia website for Inspiron 15R, the customisation options for hardwares are pretty limited. And Dell Malaysia does not even fit SSD into 15R

Luckily, you can actually do all these upgrade aftermarket, and it will not void the Dell hardware warranty

If you are not keen on the FHD screen, start with this one:

Inspiron 15R, i5-3337U + AMD HD7670M@RM1899[2.32kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8SL
Extend warranty to 3 years bring it up to RM2148. Also remember to tick the check box to get W8 DVD.
Negotiate online (click the chat button) for lower price

After you get the unit, just go to any shop that sell laptop components. Buy a 4G RAM (~ RM80), buy a SSD (128G ~ RM300+/-, 256G ~ RM600+/-) and swap the SSD for the HDD (see if the seller willing to trade in the 500G HDD, if not, keep it for external HDD).

If you want to cut the hassle, you can actually online chat with the Dell Sales Agent. Tell them you want to upgrade RAM and get SSD, see if they entertain you (but normally getting RAM and SSD from Dell is more expensive than after market ).

For your old laptop: Is the fan spinning at max speed as soon as you boot up? If it is overheating, then you actually just need to clean the laptop (inside) for dust and reapply thermal paste. Go to any laptop shop, labour cost should be cheap . Do you hear some weird sound coming from HDD? Is the auto-shut down occur only when laptop is on battery power (could be dead battery)?

I suggest you talk to another shop BS big time
Why don't you look for some of the re-sellers here in LYN garage sales forum

Talk to re-sellers here in LYN garage sales forum

Work fine in safe mode, but not in normal boot up Hard to do diagnosis like this.
Can consider open a thread, post more details (maybe with some pictures). Lots of sifus can give you ideas

There are re-sellers who serve the Seremban communities, iinm
Anyway, the warranty still come directly from Dell, not the re-seller. If you have problem, always contact Dell directly (when it is still under warranty That's why I always think the RM250+/- to extend for 2 more years is really worth it)

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Mar 14 2013, 05:00 PM

The RSP is RM2499, can still negotiate a bit
The mSATA SSD is for caching (factory default in BIOS), basically cache a copy of frequently used apps or files so that they will launch faster. But it is hit and miss solution, and responsiveness not comparable to full SSD solution that you have in mind previously. You can't save files or install apps on the 24G SSD (unless you go into BIOS and change the setting), will not even see it in OS file manager.
Touch screen on 15" is a novelty, the screen is heavy, poke poke in the long term could weaken the hinge and make the screen wobble.
Otherwise pretty good spec for the price.
Please note Asus Malaysia warranty support records

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Mar 14 2013, 05:19 PM

Architecture studies Are you going to use Revit or something similar?
If yes, Revit can make use of i7 quad core. Also can make use of good GPU.
But you want light weight, and 14", then you have to consider 14" ultrabook.

Asus
K46CM-WX090H, i5-3317U + Nvidia GT635M@RM2199[2kg], 2GB, 500GB, W8, OD

HP
Envy4-1238TX, i5-3337U + AMD HD8750M@RM2099[Beats][1.75kg], 2GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8

Prices are RSP, negotiable.
Use your remaining budget to increase RAM (4G stick is ~ RM80), swap HDD for SSD (256G is ~ RM600+/-), extend warranty (HP, 3 years).

Need to up your budget slightly.
AutoCAD need good CPU. The most graphic demanding game you play is NFSMW.

Consider these 14" ultrabook:

Asus
K46CM-WX090H, i5-3317U + Nvidia GT635M@RM2199[2kg], 2GB, 500GB, W8, OD

HP
Envy4-1238TX, i5-3337U + AMD HD8750M@RM2099[Beats][1.75kg], 2GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8

Prices are RSP, negotiable.
Upgrade the RAM to 4G or more (4G stick is ~ RM80).

AutoCAD need good CPU. Also can make use of more RAM.
Intel HD 4000 could take care of your graphic usage.
Hybrid laptop - you need to look for models with good CPU (avoid those only with Atom CPU).
W8 is fine In fact, it is good. Users just need to learn some new tricks

Dell
Latitude E6230, i5-3360M + Intel HD4000@RM4550, 4GB, 320GB(7200rpm), W7P(32-bit)/W8 Pro (64-bit), 3-cell; [CPU options: i3-3360M-i7-3520M]
Latitude E6330, i5-3320M + Intel HD4000@RM4380[1.65kg], W7P (32-bit), 3 years Pro support; [CPU options: i5-3320M-i7-3520M]
Latitude XT3, i5-2520M + Intel HD3000@RM4100, 4GB, 320GB(7200rpm), W7P (32-bit), 3 years Pro Support; [CPU options: i5-2520M-i7-2640M], tablet PC
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
Latitude E6430u, i5-3427U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD@RM4500, 4GB, W8Pro, 3 years Pro support; [CPU options: i5-3427U - i7-3667U]

HP
Pavilion dm3-1001TU (Folio 13), i5-2467M + Intel HD3000 + 128GB SSD@RM2999[1.49kg], W7HP
Folio 9470M, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 32GB mSATA + 500GB(7200rpm)@RM3499, 4GB, anti-glare, W7P; W8@RM3699

Lenovo
ThinkPad X230, i5-3230M + Intel HD4000 + 32GB mSATA + 500GB HDD@RM4059, 4GB, 3 years on-site warranty, external USB OD, W7P/W8

Prices are RSP, negotiable.