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

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

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 !

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 !

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

already in the 14" list and it's DDR3 .

continuing to put more stuff in now

to everyone reading, this is just a small list of good laptops to help people narrow their choices down. I won't be putting down every single laptop model there

how about the HP Pavilion dv5t or Toshiba Qosmio F50 as mentioned in the 1st page? with an nVidia 9600GT both almost touches Rm4k.

This post has been edited by corad: Nov 1 2008, 05:16 AM

you want to buy the laptops online? I would suggest Dell for that

and the dv4t is a 14" while the XPS m1530 is a 15.4" . i'm quite sure the HP dv5t goes for slightly less than RM 4k without the blue ray drive. you can go for the cheaper dv5z too, it comes with an AMD proc. you could ask a few shops for quotes on the toshiba since some of them offer better discounts.

It may have a few more features here and there, but design and price aside there's nothing much to set it apart from the rest of the 13" already in the list. The MacBook Air however, is in a class of it's own .... for the time being

I suggest you refer to the 1st post ? good and 3k for 14" don't really go togther. The best i can come up with is the Dell Inspiron 1420

I think the reason Cheesenium said that is because this thread is meant to give you the better buys of the market. The XPS M1530 is still a good laptop, but it no longer qualifies as a recommended gamming laptop There are newer laptops out there within the same price range that boast better stuff.

I should think seperating them by screen size would suffice after all , only a few netbooks are avaible in malaysia, and it's not that hard making a decision on which one to get yet.

trying to keep the list from being cluttered up but once netbooks variations start increasing, we might see the need for a whole new section for them

the vostro is alright when it's outfitted with basic specs. But when you start upping the numbers, it's price comes close to the XPS 1330 (or even exceeds it, depending on what you choose to put inside). The vostro's build quality also comes across as being abit flimsy and plasticky .

there's the Acer 4530 at almost the same price. Depends on what you use it for. spec differences are minor , the acer comes with bluetooth while the cq40 does not. but the acer has a slightly lousier graphic card.

hmmm ... many requests for netbooks eh? expect a small small section to come up soon then

this would probably help you. just search for the model of the graphic card and see it's ranking



the HDx16t has a better build quality than the already solid dv5t think of the HDx16t as the big brother, better proc, higher screen reso and nicer design imho. dv5t has the advantage of a higher capacity batt however. Hard to comment on the price since it depends on your own config, but the HDx16t is usally more expensive.

if they're going for the same price, just get the 1 you like the most

btw : netbook sections has been added. hope it helps abit

thanks for the input

considered that laptop, but thought the BenQ S42 was better. Last I checked their prices were about 1k different ?

EDIT: the dell studio 14 also just came out. waiting to see if its good

This post has been edited by corad: Dec 22 2008, 11:55 AM

sorry for leaving this idle for so long.

yeap, that is a worthwhile buy i'll be adding in a budget section in a few weeks ... exam period now

hope this thread continues to be helpful.

haha ... will do !

check back after this weekend