Best way to know is check with Dell the serial number I suppose?

There are 2 types of i7 for that budget yo
Please follow the format in the 1st page so that we can recommend you better

This post has been edited by [PF] T.J.: Sep 24 2013, 03:33 PM

Asus has the worst warranty support in Malaysia at the moment, so its best to avoid buying one. Or if you insist, make sure the unit is working 100%, and pray that it doesn't spoil within 2 years

If strictly Asus and Lenovo only, can consider the following:
14
Asus K46CB-WX060H, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT740M@RM2199[2kg], 2GB, 750GB, W8, 4-cell, OD

Lenovo
Z400, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2099, 4GB, 1TB, W8; 2 years warranty; colors: chocolate *EOL-ed
Z400 touch, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M + (1366x768, touch)@RM2199, 4GB, 1TB, W8; 2 years warranty


15.6
Lenovo Z500, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2299[2.2kg], 4GB, 1TB, backlit, W8; 2 years warranty

If other brands, then perhaps these:
14"
Dell Inspiron 14R, i5-4200U + Nvidia GT740M@RM1849 [2.32kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), Linux, 6 cell; W8@RM2049

15"
Dell Inspiron 15R, i5-3210M + AMD HD7670M@RM1899[2.65kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W7HP/W8

Dell offers the best warranty service in Malaysia, provided you are covered
So make sure to fork out ~Rm250 to extend the warranty to 3 years, otherwise no point getting a Dell

Yeah, I suppose Nvidia is still better supported for games at the moment. And having one will be good for your studies
Perhaps these?
14"
Dell Inspiron 14R, i5-4200U + Nvidia GT740M@RM1849 [2.32kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), Linux, 6 cell; W8@RM2049

HP Pavilion 14-N059TX, i5-4200U + Nvidia GT740M@RM2099[2.03kg], 4GB, 750GB, W8; colors: silver/black

Lenovo Z400, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2099, 4GB, 1TB, W8; 2 years warranty; colors: chocolate *EOL-ed

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

15"
Lenovo Z500, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2299[2.2kg], 4GB, 1TB, backlit, W8; 2 years warranty

Toshiba Satellite L50-A100X/XW, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2199[Onkyo], 4GB, 750GB, W8SL; 3 years local
warranty; colors:silver/white
*Prices in RRP, negotiable

Assuming your "college use" only involves normal Microsoft Office work ya
If strictly those 2 brands:
14
Asus
A450CC, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT720M@RM2099[2kg], 4GB, 750GB, W8; 4-cell; colors: black/red/white
PRO45VJ-V0056X, i3-3120M +Intel HD4000@RM1999[2.4kg], 4GB, 500GB, W7P

Lenovo
Z400, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2099, 4GB, 1TB, W8; 2 years warranty; colors: chocolate *EOL-ed
G400s, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT720M@RM1899, 4GB, 1TB, W8
S410p, i5-4200U + Nvidia GT720M@RM1999[1.8kg], 4GB, 1TB, W8, 2 yrs

15.6"
Asus A550CC-XX530H, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT720M@RM2099[2kg], 4GB, 750GB, W8; colors: black/red/white

*prices in RRP, negotiable

No problem man
The prices given to you is RRP, so you'll probably be able to get discounts of around RM50- RM100 for those notebooks.
If you are around KL/PJ, perhaps can try and find these online sellers here? devour, storm88 There are many other sellers in Garage Sales as well, just head over and have a look, some really offers pretty good prices

Lenovo notebooks are pretty okay
Most of them come with 2 years warranty as standard as well
But do take note that the Z400 is a bit tough to upgrade i.e. RAM and HDD

Aiya, just because one particular Toshiba model you had got hot doesn't mean all Toshiba notebooks are like that
All notebooks will get hot when on load, especially so after a few months or years when the dusts clogs the internal fan and heat sinks (like how dust clogs your house fan). If you don't clean them up, the cooling efficiency will go down, and your notebook will become a frying pan

One of the best way to know whether the heat is bearable to you is to try it out on the spot yo

I suppose the temps should be alright with proper ventilation and maintenance

Pretty much these:
14"
Asus
K46CB-WX060H, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT740M@RM2199[2kg], 2GB, 750GB, W8, 4-cell, OD

Dell
Inspiron 14R, i5-4200U + Nvidia GT740M@RM1849 [2.32kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), Linux, 6 cell; W8@RM2049

Lenovo
Z400, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2099, 4GB, 1TB, W8; 2 years warranty; colors: chocolate *EOL-ed

*Prices in RRP, negotiable
*The Lenovo is EOL-ed already, might be a bit hard to find

Spec-wise, all 3 models perform pretty similarly in terms of gaming performance since they all have the same GPU.
CPU-wise, the Lenovo is the most powerful
Warranty-wise, both Lenovo and Asus come with 2 years international warranty. But the latter is known to offer very bad warranty support

Yeah, its a pretty good choice if you are familiar with installing your own OS

But please do check whether the swappable exGPU for the Y400 is the same as the Y410p. If they are not, then please take note and don't buy the wrong one
Can head over to the dedicated Y series thread for more personal feedbacks: https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2851949

The notebook will have no problems handling two monitors if that's what you are asking
But do expect gaming performance to drop abit at super high resolutions, which can be easily rectified by lowering the resolution. Can refer here for GPU FPS for specific games: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Game...ds.13849.0.html

I'm not really sure you will be able to get a super good screen for your budget unfortunately, unless if you consider getting an external monitor..

15.6"
Acer
R7-571-53338G1T, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000+ (1920x1080 IPS; touch)@RM2999[2.4kg], 8GB, 1TB, W8
V7-582PG-74508G52k, i7-4500U + Nvidia GT750M + 24GB mSATA + 500GB HDD + (1920x1080 IPS; touch)@RM3399[2.2kg], 8GB, W8

Asus N550JV-CN077H, i7-4700HQ + Nvidia GT750M + (1920x1080; IPS matte)@RM3699[2.7kg], 4GB, 1TB, W8, backlit keyboard

Dell Inspiron 15R (Special Edition), i7-3612QM + AMD HD7730M + (1920x1080; anti-glare) + 32GB SSD + 1TB HDD(5400rpm)@RM3199, 8GB, backlit keyboard optional, W8


Lenovo Y510p, i7-4700MQ + Nvidia GT750M(GDDR5) + (1920x1080)@RM3099[2.7kg], 8GB, 1TB, W8, red backlit, swappable ODD, 120w psu, 2 yrs
*prices in RRP, negotiable
You might want to go and try out the Acer and Asus notebooks' IPS screen 1st and see whether they are good enough for you. Otherwise, you can actually just get a smaller notebook i.e. 14 incher for portability, and connect to a much better monitor for better color reproduction

For your budget and usage, definitely these:
13"
Dell
XPS13, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD@RM3199[1.36kg], 4GB, W8, backlit

Samsung Series 7 Ultra, i5-3337U + Intel HD4000 + 128GB SSD + (1920x1080; anti-glare)@RM2999[JBL][1.46kg], 4GB, W8

Prices in RRP, bargain abit and it'll be within your budget already

The Samsung has pretty awesome specs for its price, worth considering too~

Yeah I know, I was referring to the Dell mainly lol.
Samsung is already within TS's budget

Perhaps you can consider this one
14"
Toshiba Satellite M840-1034XG/XP/XQ, i7-3620QM + AMD HD7670M@RM2699, 4GB, 750GB, W8SL; 3 years local warranty; colors:gold/pink/blue

*prices in RRP, negotiable
Although the specs are slightly "old", you do get a quad core i7 which would prove useful for your AutoCAD, and 3 years warranty, and some color options
The i7 is much more powerful than the current i5 and i3 ULV processors you get from newer notebooks in the market

And if you don't mind installing Windows and everything yourself, then perhaps this one- a budget gaming powerhouse~
14"
Lenovo Y400, i7-3630QM + Nvidia GT750M@RM2499, 4GB, 500GB, FreeDOS, 120wPSU, swappable ODD, 2 years warranty

Regardless of which notebook you choose, you could always upgrade to SSD later on when you have the budget

Can consider these:
15.6"
Asus A550CC-XX530H, i5-3337U + Nvidia GT720M@RM2099[2kg], 4GB, 750GB, W8; colors: black/red/white

Dell
Inspiron 15R, i3-4010U + Intel HD4400@RM1599 [2.32kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8 , 6 cell
Inspiron 15, i5-3337U + AMD HD7670M@RM1749[2.25kg], 4GB, 750GB(5400rpm), 4-cell, Linux; W8SL@RM1899
Inspiron 15, i5-3337U + AMD HD7670M@RM1799[2.25kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), 6-cell, Linux; W8SL@RM1949

Toshiba
Satellite L50-A100X/XW, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT740M@RM2199[Onkyo], 4GB, 750GB, W8SL; 3 years local warranty; colors:silver/white

*Prices in RRP, negotiable
All these are budget-line notebooks, so can't really expect super good video and sound quality.
I suppose you could opt for Dell, and top up a bit to get 3 years on-site warranty service (best in Malaysia, fix any problems within 1-2 working days); or you could just get the Toshiba which comes with 3 years warranty (carry-in warranty though, do take note)

I'm assuming you are comparing between these two
15.6"
Asus
S551LB-CJ075H, i7-4500U + Nvidia GT740M + 24GB mSATA + 1TB + (1366x768;touch)@RM3399[2.4kg], 8GB, W8, 3-cell

N550JV-CN077H, i7-4700HQ + Nvidia GT750M + (1920x1080; IPS matte)@RM3699[2.7kg], 4GB, 1TB, W8, backlit keyboard

*not sure the i7 in the N550 is i7-4700MQ or i7-4700HQ (the specs in the Asus product catalog is contradictory)

One is more geared towards portability (S551), the other one performance (N550).
If your friend doesn't need anything super light in particular, then the N550 is the better choice, with a more powerful quad core CPU, GPU, screen and dual fans (iinm).
Can always upgrade to 8GB RAM and SSD later on

Both are Ivy Bridge i5 processors
Processor codes with a suffix "M" = Mobile (standard processors, offering good performance and battery life)
Processor codes with a suffix "U" = Ultra low voltage processors (energy saving processors, offering weaker performance, but way better battery life and lesser heat)

Intel has the upper hand now
For a budget of RM2.5k, you can either consider this:
15.6"
Asus S550CB-CJ102H i5-3337U + Nvidia GT740M + 24GB mSATA + 500GB + (1366x768; touch)@RM2499[1.83kg], 4GB, W8


Or the ones recommended earlier, but use the remaining budget to get a full SSD (~RM300 for 128GB; ~RM600 for 256GB) to replace the original HDD that comes with the notebook. That way the speed will be a hell lot faster

Yeah, its pretty good, nice looking as well.
But do take note that Asus Malaysia's warranty service is one of the worst.
So 100% sure that you are getting a good unit before you go home after purchase

Read here for more details, and you will understand why we say that https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2337458
Yes, Dell offers the best warranty support (when covered, so its best to extend the warranty to 3 years).

These actually these 2 awesome notebooks from Dell as well, but since they have pretty weak wifi cards (short range), I don't really dare recommending them to you:
15.6"
Dell
Vostro 5560, i3-3120M + Nvidia GT630M@RM2009[2.2kg], 4GB, 500GB(5400rpm), W8, ODD
Vostro 5560, i5-3230M + Nvidia GT630M@RM2349[2.2kg], 4GB, 750GB(5400rpm), W8, ODD

The 14" version of this notebook has already been refresh. I suppose its just a matter of time before the new 5760 will be out with a better WiFi card, can wait for that if you want

Otherwise, just stick to the ones recommended to you, and slap in an SSD if you are feeling adventurous

SSD = Solid State Drive. Something like a big pendrive that is slowly replacing HDD now.
Since it doesn't involve any rotating parts, its quieter, more solid, cooler, way faster and lighter. Only drawback is that is more expensive and the capacity is lower for the time being

You will have to replace the HDD inside the notebook with the SSD, better ask shop people to do for you if you are not familiar with it