Choosing a laptop was a pain for me.

After working out which brand to buy from, things got even more complicated. There came the choice of processors with weird numberings. Whaddya mean the P9500 is slower than X9000, number bigger kan? Graphics adapter/cards/integrated/dedicated ?? Why lowyat ppl scold me when I say ATI x1300 1024Mb better than nVidia 9600GT 512Mb ?

The least I needed was google-ing and reading a long,boring review about a particular laptop. Most of the time, I'll be guilty in skipping to the Conclusion bit . Hence, I'm writing this for those who want a quick overview of the better buys in the market and hopefully it'll help point them towards a platform that suits their needs best.

The laptops will be sorted in Order of Screen Size. Generally, the smaller the screen, the lighter and more portable the laptop.


13 " Or Smaller


14 "


15.4 " - 16.9"


17 "


19 " & Larger


Netbooks
As requested, here appears a small section on Netbooks
Whether you're getting one of these little boys just to surf the web or even make them your primary workstation.. I hope this list can be of some help.

Last Edit : Nov 08

Updating : 11 July 09


I aim to include all major lappie brands which are available within Malaysia and provide Servicing / Customer Support. Taken into consideration are the price, specs, design , build quality and heat issues etc if any.

As per the title, this is just a Quick Guide, where people can see what's good and available on the Malaysian market. Uber technical discussions should be left for other threads. (RAM timming, FSB speed, etc) We're interested in average Battery Life, not the wattage or Power Consumption of each component

If you're proud and happy with your laptop, please leave a reply with the model and rough price so we can spread the joy!


*[size=1]The above laptops are what I would recommend to people. There's no "the best one" but I Iike those in the Recommended section as they bring along a little extra, be it spec or design wise, for the price thats paid . Those in the Others section are still much much better than the compeition and are worth a thought as well. This guide is meant to evolve over time, and I'll gladly base it on forumers opinions.


replying to PM's : the 1st paragraph is styled to keep the reader's attention, and meant as a joke.

This post has been edited by corad: Aug 31 2009, 04:40 AM

wat about compaq V3000 series and the compaq CQ40 and CQ45? V3000 hv been discontinued, it carries the overheat issues with it due to the faulty design of the nvidia chipset.

CQ40 and CQ45 equipped with the new AMD platform, AMD puma and AMD lion with a decent integrated graphic processor, ATi HD3200, and it also support the external graphic card, XGP

is that information enough?

I like the CQ45 as an all rounder but the screen reso is abit of a let down at 1280 x 800 considering the Asus sports 1440x900 and a ATI HD3650. I heard of ATi's XGP, but I din't know it was already on the market.

still waiting for word on Asus's XG Station and MSI's Luxium too

may i recommend the 15.4 inch..

Sony Vaio FZ38GU

Intel Core 2 Duo Processor(2.5 GHZ)
2GB DDR2 Ram
Geforce 8600M
300GB HHD
i buy it like a years ago and it promotion that time..cost me like 5.9k somink...
and it available in all sony outlet

so far ntn problem wit it...
but went it full wit all the software like office, photoshop, msn, ym, games,...the reboot time become slower and slower...
but so far that it... dont hav serius problem yet....

but my tecra consider the best !

hmm. you might wanna seperate out the notebooks from netbooks. the hp mini 1000 is a netbook and is far less powerful than the notebooks you listed under the 13.3in category.

14" - BenQ S42, comes with GeForce 9600M GT

13" - Sony Vaio Z, 16:9 monitor, 9300M GS

15" - HP dv5, MSI (i think) GX600 series, both comes with 9600M GT

true, but this thread is just a very rough guide. Just so people can walk into a store and ask the shop assistant to recommend something like :" xxx laptop"

thanks man !

lol, 17" of course Dell XPS M1730 and Studio 17...

u might wanna throw in Zepto as well...

17" - Zepto Hydra, 9800M GTX

15" - Zepto Nox and Mythos, 9650M GT

and perhaps a separate section for Netbooks???

This post has been edited by astria: Oct 31 2008, 09:36 AM

Wow bro looks like u've gone through quite some work to compile all these
Mind to add-on something with 16:9 screen?

I think this thread should be pinned.

Thats some really detailed guide.

haha, slowly getting there

would have added the Zepto's but I dont know if they have support teams in Malaysia onot . it's just a overall guide, so you wont see much of the exotic brands here. unless they set up base in m'sia


16" laptops eh? i'm havent played with one of those yet ... but if i drop by a show room i'm be sure to look out for one


it's not completed yet we'll see how it goes ... plan to finish it properly over the weekend .


it all depends on your opinions as well guys , so please tell me if i've missed an awesome laptop that should be in that list (or should be recommended)

Thanks in advance !

Well,it looks good now.

Keep up with the good work.

i thot the Acer aspire Turions (14.1") works so speedy with Vista.

(based on my experience with 2 different aspire laptops)

Erm actually 16:9 screen is not 16" screens... It's a ratio
Normally lappies come with 16:10 screens which produces 2 black bars on top & bottom of screen when viewing movies but 16:9 ratio screens does not have this...

corad,personally,i dont recommend M1530 now.

Not that it suxs or anything but it's pretty old now.The new replacement model or at least a refresh model should be released in November or December.

It's an old and going to be obsolete model,i really dont recommend anyone to buy that laptop as there are better options out there.Especially,for gamers who likes to run demanding games on it.8600GT DDR3 isnt enough for todays and the games in future.

Im not really sure of the pricing,compare to other 15.4 laptops,though.Spec wise,i dont recommend.

I think it's kinda hard to differentiate by screen size cuz it covers all type...
Probably by section??? ie - business, entertainment, gaming, casual use etc etc
Kinda like the one u did on 15-16"
Just my 2 cents

This post has been edited by sordanny: Oct 31 2008, 11:32 AM

noted

yeap, but 16:9 ratios usally come on 16" screens no? and weird resolutions of 1366x768 I did come across a Samsung R610 and MSI VR630 but I don't think either are on sale in Malaysia

Agree that the XPS M1530 is abit outdated , and list has been admended to reflect that (ie, removed) . Thanks for the input! the gamming section looks kind of empty now tho ...

can't seem to get the formatting to display correctly. espeically d colours... anybody know why ?

the price for the sony is abit high that's why you don't see many VAIO's in that list. will be adding more to the "fashion line" soon, but apart from that...I doubt many people are willing to pay the extra price. No offense meant


there's an idea . but where would you put ..say the Apple MacBook Pro? gamming , fashion , business or casual ? this list is meant to change and will be based on user opinions. not just what's in the list, but how its laid out as well so keep the ideas comming ! we'll base it on what suits most people

This post has been edited by corad: Oct 31 2008, 12:30 PM

Not all 16:9 screen lappie are limited to 16 inchers... Although most are 16 inchers in Msia
Some of the ones I know:
Acer 6935G
HP HDX16 & HDX18
MSI EX620 & EX630

This post has been edited by sordanny: Oct 31 2008, 12:54 PM