No laptop models in Malaysia satisfy your criteria, iinm

edit:
I stand corrected
if you could still find this in stock:
Fujitsu
LH772, i7-3612QM + nVidia GT640LE@RM3369 [ONKYO], W7HP, color: Black/White/Pink NumPad

Price is RSP, negotiable.


This post has been edited by nexus2238: Jul 9 2013, 06:53 PM

Professional usage (ie, using this laptop to make a living ) ?
You may still find light weight (< 2kg) in 14", but anything 15 / 17" is most probably > 3kg (excluding power adapter etc).

The obvious will be these:
Apple
MacBookPro 15", i7-3610QM + Nvidia GT650M + (1440x900)@RM5499[2.56kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), backlit keyboard, Mac OSX
MacBookPro 15", i7-3720QM + Nvidia GT650M + (1440x900)@RM6799[2.56kg], 8GB, 750GB(5400rpm), backlit keyboard, Mac OSX
MacBookPro 15" (Retina Display), i7-3610QM + Nvidia GT650M + 256GB SSD + (2880x1800)@RM6799[2.02kg], 8GB, backlit keyboard, Mac OSX

Other than the models that devour sifu mentioned, you may also want to consider these:

www.illegear.com
Illegear RE-15, i7-4700MQ + Nvidia GTX765M + (1920x1080;matte)@RM3599[Onkyo], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), FreeDOS [CPU Options: i7-4700MQ - i7-4900MQ][/color]
Illegear RS-15, i7-4700MQ + Nvidia GTX770M + (1920x1080;matte)@RM5499[Onkyo][3.1kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), FreeDOS [CPU Options: i7-4700MQ - i7-4930MX][GPU options: Nvidia GTX780M, AMD HD8970M]

Don't be put off by the gamers-centric theme of the company / website.
The laptops that they sell are totally customisable.
You will get the latest Haswell CPU. i7 is good for your usage. Those Nvidia GTX7xxM GPU is good for you as well. You can opt for the 95% NTSC gamut matte screen (and illegear throw in free professional colour calibration from time to time, especially promotion during festive season, the Hari Raya one should be coming ). Put in a high capacity SSD (512GB), OS (W8 or W7), it should still be within your budget. And if you are in Klang Valley or certain cities, they offer on-site warranty service (extend to 3 years if you still have the budget).

You may PM Prince J right here in LYN (he is from illegear).

Light does not mean good

Anyway, MBA is approximately 1.35kg.

Acer
Aspire S7-391-53314G12, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1920x1080; touch)@RM3799, 4GB, W8

Asus
UX31A-R4005H, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1920 x 1080)@RM3599[1.3kg], 4GB, W8

Dell
XPS13, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD@RM3399[1.36kg], 4GB, W8, backlit
XPS13, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000 + 256GB SSD + (1920x1080)@RM4299[1.36kg], 8GB, W8, backlit

HP
Envy SpectreXT 13-2215TU, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD@RM2899[1.39kg], 4GB, W8,backlit keyboard
Envy SpectreXT 13-2216TU, i7-3537U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD@RM3699[1.39kg], 4GB, W8,backlit keyboard

Samsung
9 series NP900X3C, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1600x900)@RM4999[1.16kg], 4GB, W8

Toshiba
Portégé Z930-2035, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD@RM3799[1.12kg], W8, 6GB, 3 years warranty (1st year on-site)

Prices are RSP, negotiable.

Care to share what course is your daughter studying? If she is not into anything that require heavy GPU processing power, those with Intel IGPU should be fine.
Unfortunately, not too many 4th gen (Haswell) spec laptop / hybrid are in Malaysia yet. When is she going to Manchester? If you really want Haswell, may need to wait until 3Q13.
Actually warranty is still relevant Certain brands offer international warranty, so if anything go wrong, she could still get it fix in UK.

Have a look at the following. They are not Haswell (or you can wait for their iteration with Haswell spec later this year), but should be good enough for your daughter (assume no discrete GPU required).

Acer
Aspire S7-191-53314G12, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1920x1080; touch)@RM3799[1.3kg], 4GB, W8
Aspire S7-391-53314G12, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1920x1080; touch)@RM3799, 4GB, W8

Apple
MacBookAir 11", i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD@RM3399[1.08kg], 4GB, backlit keyboard, Mac OSX
MacBookAir 13", i5-3427U + Intel HD4000 + 256GB SSD + (1440x900)@RM4599[1.35kg], 4GB, backlit keyboard, Mac OSX

Asus (2 years international warranty)
Taichi, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000 + 256GB SSD@RM4599[1.25kg][Bang & Olufsen], 4GB, dual IPS screens
Taichi TX300CA-C4006H, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + (1920x1080; touch) + (128GB SSD + 500GB HDD)@RM4199[1.9kg], 4GB, W8
UX31A-C4059, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1920 x 1080; touch)@RM3799[1.3kg], 4GB, W8

Dell (extend warranty to 3 years to become international warranty)
XPS12, i7-3517U + Intel HD4000 + 256GB SSD + (1920x1080;touch)@RM4999[1.52kg], 8GB, W8, backlit, spill resistant keyboard, build-in battery, no ODD

Lenovo
Yoga 11s, i3-3229Y + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1366x768, IPS touch)@RM2599, 4GB, W8, 2 years; colors: grey/orange
ThinkPad Twist S230U, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + 24GB mSATA + 500GB +(1366x768, IPS touch)@RM3408(1.58kg), 4GB, W8P, 1 yr warranty; i7-3517U/8GB@RM3818
IdeaPad Yoga 13, i7-3537U + Intel HD4000 + 256GB SSD + (1600x900 IPS; touch)@RM3799[1.5kg], 4GB, W8, 2 years warranty
ThinkPad X1 Carbon touch, i7-3667U + Intel HD4000 + 256GB SSD + (1600x900; touch)@RM7369[1.55kg], 4GB, 3G connectivity, W8P, 3 yrs on-site warranty

Microsoft
Surface Pro, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + (1920x1080;touch) + 128GB SSD@RM3049[680g], 4GB, W8P

Samsung
ATIV Smart Pro, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1920x1080; touch)@RM3699[884g w/o keyboard], 4GB, stylus, W8; color: black

Sony
Vaio SVD11215CVB, i5-3317U + Intel HD4000 + (1920x1080; touch) + 128GB SSD@RM3999[1.31kg], 4GB, W8, stylus
Vaio SVD11216PGB, i7-3517U + Intel HD4000 + (1920x1080; touch) + 256GB SSD@RM5299[1.31kg], 8GB, W8P

Toshiba
Portégé Z10t-A102, i5-3339Y + Intel HD4000 + (1366x768; touch) + 128GB SSD@RM4499[Onkyo], 4GB, W8P; 3 years international warranty; color:silver

Prices are RSP, negotiable.

are you asking for 2 different things?

a. For laptop models that come with FreeDOS (i.e. no OS pre-installed), usually it also has a spec that come with OS. And the brands usually will put all the relevant drivers for OS that it supported on its website. So if you get your own OS, then all you have to do is go to the website and downloads all the relevant drivers.

b.
15" will not be light.
If you want "as light as possible", stick with 14" for your budget.
Photo and Video editing, depends on the file and the effect you put on, could require some powerful processing power
Anyway,

Asus
K46CB-WX060H, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT740M@RM2199[2kg], 2GB, 750GB, W8, 4-cell, OD

Dell
Vostro 5460, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT630M + (32GB mSATA SSD + 500GB(5400rpm))@RM2199[1.54kg], 4GB, W8SL, 3 cell

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

Lenovo
Z400, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2099, 4GB, 1TB, W8; 2 years warranty

Prices are RSP, negotiable.
Use the remaining of your budget to extend warranty (Dell, HP - 3 years), increase RAM (Asus, HP), swap out HDD with SSD (256G ~ RM600+/-).

TJ, what's the best speakers that you come across in current gen of laptops so far?
The Onkyo did not do much for me (too subtle I think for my peasant ears )
I like the JBL in Dell XPS and Lenovo Y.
The Harmon Kardon in HP also appeal to me

How extensive is your Matlab usage? Heavy 3D modelling? Unless it is very heavy, Intel HD4000 should be able to handle it pretty ok.
What is "light gaming"? Game titles please. This will determine if you need discrete Nvidia / AMD GPU.

you are right. I was blur already about the Harman Kardon. It's in the Toshiba. Even the one in the small netbook (my previous maid from Philippine bought a netbook before she went home) was better than the speakers in my Thinkpad T420

Yes, Dyaudio on MSI is also good. Certain MSI model also has gold-coated audio out port, those audio buff particularly like it

Intel HD4000 could handle Dota2 and Maplestory. But you may want Nvidia / AMD GPU since it will make the experience better.
With that in mind, and considering your budget, I think you are better off looking at 14".

Asus
K46CB-WX060H, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT740M@RM2199[2kg], 2GB, 750GB, W8, 4-cell, OD

Dell
Vostro 5460, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT630M + (32GB mSATA SSD + 500GB(5400rpm))@RM2199[1.54kg], 4GB, W8SL, 3 cell

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

Lenovo
Z400, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2099, 4GB, 1TB, W8; 2 years warranty

Sony
Vaio SVF14218SGW, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT740M@RM2399[2.4kg], 4GB, 500GB, W8SL; colors

Prices are RSP, negotiable.
Use the remaining of your budget to extend warranty (Dell, HP, 3 years, ~ RM250), increase RAM (Asus, HP, 8G stick ~ RM200), or swap HDD out for SSD (SSD 128G ~ RM300+/-, 256G ~ RM600+/-).

Depends on the level of details you turn on for StarCraft 2, it could tax even the high end GPU.
GT610M will be a disappointment in gaming.
Z500 is 15".
You don't need i7. At your budget, you should spend your money on as good a GPU you can get.
13" normally don't have discrete GPU that can handle games well.

Consider these:
Lenovo
Z400, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2099, 4GB, 1TB, W8; 2 years warranty
Z480, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT640M@RM1999, 4GB, 1TB(5400rpm) W8 (not easy to find stock now)
G480, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT635M@RM1699, 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), FreeDOS
G480, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT635M@RM1899, 4GB, 1TB (5400rpm), W8, 2 yrs warranty

Toshiba
Satellite L40-AS109Xb/G/W, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT740M@RM2199[Onkyo], 4GB, 750GB, 3 years local warranty

Prices are RSP, negotiable.

RSP - recommended selling price set by laptop brands, i.e. printed on brands brochure. You could get cheaper price than that from any re-sellers.

Depends on your priority.
Vostro 5460 is lighter than any of those Lenovo / Toshiba model. If you extend Dell warranty to 3 years (cost RM250), Dell on site warranty also is good.
The GT630M in Vostro 5460 is weaker than the GT740M / 640M.

Other models you may consider:
Asus
K46CB-WX060H, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT740M@RM2199[2kg], 2GB, 750GB, W8, 4-cell, OD

Dell
Vostro 5460, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT630M + (32GB mSATA SSD + 500GB(5400rpm))@RM2199[1.54kg], 4GB, W8SL, 3 cell

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

Sony
Vaio SVF14218SGW, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT740M@RM2399[2.4kg], 4GB, 500GB, W8SL

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Jul 11 2013, 11:04 AM

Man, the Acer survive a 2m vertical drop. That's very good

Can see that you need lots of RAM, especially if you run virtualisation. 8G stick is ~ RM200 now. You could upgrade after market, normally will not void hardware warranty.
The Haswell CPU is still not flooding the market yet. So currently most laptop with i7 are Ivy Bridge.
Yes, you don't need discrete GPU for your usage.
if 14" and 15" are displaying the same resolution (1366x768), you are looking at the same image, just slightly bigger
But you budget is kind of tight to go for a proper "business class" laptop.
And for consumer class laptop, normally models spec with i7 CPU also come with some sort of Nvidia / AMD GPU

Acer
V3-571G-73614G1T, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT640M@RM2699[2.6kg], 4GB, 1TB, W7HP
V3-571G-736b8G1T, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT730M(DDR3) + (1920x1080 IPS) @RM2899[2.6kg], 8GB, 1TB, W8

Dell
Inspiron 15R, i7-3612QM +AMD HD7670M@RM2599[2.74kg], 4GB, 1TB(5400rpm), W8

Lenovo
Ideapad Z580, i7-3612QM + Nvidia GT640M@RM2299, 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), freeDOS, white (this one tick all your boxes, but you need to look hard for it, since it is a older model, not many re-sellers have stock)

Prices are RSP, negotiable.
Lots of smoothness in user experience actually is dictated by the disc access speed. You may want to consider going for SSD (128G ~ RM300, 256G ~ RM600) to replace the HDD.

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Jul 11 2013, 06:44 PM

The 14" models that I listed earlier are the light 14" in the market (the weight listed exclude adapter of course).
A "light" 15" will be > 2.3kg

GT750M SLI (that is 2 GT750M) indeed is very powerful. You can look at this list to see how this configuration stack against other mobile GPU:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphi...List.844.0.html

But SLI support is depending on games. You need to check if the games you play could utilise 2 GPU in SLI. If not, the game will run using 1 GT750M.
http://www.geforce.com/games-applications/technology/sli
Btw, both the games you listed support SLI.

Gaming laptop is expensive. So for your budget, there is not too much choice

Asus
G55VW-S1216H, i7-3630QM +Nvidia GTX660M (2GB) + (1920x1080)@RM3999[3.78kg], 4GB, 1TB(5400rpm), W8

Lenovo
Y500, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT750M(GDDR5) + (1920x1080)@RM3899, 8GB, 1TB, W8, red backlit, swappable GN37 exGPU & ODD, 120w+170w psu, 2 yrs

MSI
GX60-3AE, AMD A10-5750M + AMD XT HD7970 + (1920x1080; anti-glare)@RM4399 8GB, 750GB(7200rpm), W8 (the GPU is very good, but performance may be capped by the underwhelming A10)
GE60-2OE, i7-4700MQ + Nvidia GTX675M + (1920x1080; anti-glare)@RM4299,8GB, 750GB(7200rpm), W8, backlit keyboard

www.illegear.com
Illegear RE-15, i7-4700MQ + Nvidia GTX765M + (1920x1080;matte)@RM3599[Onkyo], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), FreeDOS [CPU Options: i7-4700MQ - i7-4900MQ]
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2613184

And that's about it.
Prices are RSP, negotiable.
In terms of sturdiness, Y500 probably will come in last
In terms of pure GPU mayhem, GT750M SLI (on games that support it) is the best of this lot. But do note that you need to deal with SLI

Your Acer seems to be with you for some time already.
And you does not sounds like someone who has ever clean their laptop
When dust clog up the air inlet/outlet vent and the internal fan, the abilities of the laptop to dissipate heat is compromised, which leads to bad temp. You should periodically (at least once every 1/2 year ) clean all these off dust properly.
100C is really bad.
Your Acer is really amazing being able to survive for so long in such high temp

But the Acer V3 that I listed earlier, with the i7, could get a bit warm.

https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=2738492&hl=acer
see here for owner's view on the spec with IPS panel

Yes, the Lenovo Z580 is the cheapest laptop with i7 quad core in Malaysia, if you could still find it

then maybe you should try re-paste thermal paste. But that's moot now since it is holding to life by a thin thread

Since you know the "default 100% view", then you must know how to change it easily right?

Accounting is actually one of those course that punch in lots of numbers, and I think she may want to have the dedicated numpad in a 15"
If she go for 14", then she may need to have a external numpad (Logitech wireless ~ RM80 is very good), otherwise life will really be miserable
For her usage, i3 & HD4000 is more than enough.

Anyway, 14"

Asus
K46CM-WX059V, i3-3217U + Nvidia GT635M@RM1899[2kg], 2GB, 500GB, 4-cell battery, W7HP, OD

Dell
Inspiron 14-3421, i3-3217U + Intel HD4000@RM1399[1.99kg], Win8SL, 2GB, 500GB(5400rpm), 4-cell
Inspiron 14R, i3-4010U + Intel HD4400@RM1549 [2.32kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8 , 4 cell
Vostro 5460, i3-3120M + HD 4000@RM1,549[1.54kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), Ubuntu 12.04, 3 cell; W8SL@RM1,749

HP
Pavilion Sleekbook 14-b051TU, i3-2367M + Intel HD3000@RM1499, 2GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8

Lenovo
G480, i5-3230M + Intel HD4000@RM1499, 2GB, 500GB (5400rpm), FreeDOS
G400s, i5-3230M + Intel HD4000@RM1599, 4GB, 500GB, FreeDOS

Prices are RSP, negotiable.
Use remaining budget to get RAM (4G stick ~ RM100, 8G stick ~ RM200), extend warranty (Dell, extend to 3 years next business day on site ~ RM250, very good in case laptop broke down during assignment time ), swap HDD for SSD (128G ~ RM300, 256G ~ RM600).

This post has been edited by nexus2238: Jul 12 2013, 05:43 PM

This is not a sales thread. Please go to LYN garage sales thread and search for it

I get the sense you friend is afraid of problems
In that case, maybe she should really think about the Dell. They offer on site warranty (go to your friend house to fix problem) on next business day if and when she call in to Dell to report a problem.
Actually Broadcom has very good wireless cards in its product range, just that it also sell lots of cheap single channel card that lots of OEM stick inside cheap laptop

To ensure the wireless reception is ok, if she opt for Dell, just make sure you friend customise for Intel 2230 (don't take the Dell Wireless )

Toshiba is not very competitive at this price point Closest:
Satellite S40t-AS107, i3-3227U + Intel HD4000 + (1366x768; touch)@RM1999[Onkyo], 4GB, 500GB, W8SL; 2 years local warranty