Can you match this list?

Dangerous_Dave · 18 Dec 2011 at 16:05

I'm after a laptop to fill a moderate list of specifics as closely as possible:

Size: 14-16" screen
Weight: <2.5KG
Battery Life: >6hours light use
Must be capable of showing all types of video
Must have speakers that aren't terrible.

With the last requirement, I simply wish to avoid the 'sonic tranducer+postage stamp' tradition of laptop speakers, which sound so bad they might as well not be there at all.

I have no need of gaming capability and would prefer that it didn't cook the fat out of my thighs.

Does anybody know of laptop models meeting most/all of these requirements?

Laptops that can now be bought second hand would be a bonus!

Thanks

Scrutinize · 18 Dec 2011 at 18:50

What is your budget??

You could spend £500 to £2500 for this spec. There are however, only a hand full of laptops which will genuinely hit that battery life figure doing more than just web browsing with a maximum cpu set to 10% under your power management.

You need to be looking at business notebooks really.

My money would be on a Lenovo Thinkpad T series or HP Elitebook

Dangerous_Dave · 18 Dec 2011 at 18:52

Battery life is probably a bit flexible. I guess 4 hours normal usage would be a minimum.

Django x2 · 18 Dec 2011 at 23:48

You won't get the audio in T series or Elitebook ranges, there will have to be a compromise somewhere.

FWIW, my 8460p Elitebook sat from 9:15 until 13:30 from a full charge under heavy use (VMs, email, documents, internet), and I plugged it in at 7%. I remove HPPA as it's cack and use the Windows 7 one which is much better with the screen set to 2/3rds brightness.

Dangerous_Dave · 19 Dec 2011 at 00:22

What do you guys think to the Lenovo T420 or even T420S?

dave_beast · 19 Dec 2011 at 00:31

Macbook Pro, works straight from the box. Or if on a budget something from the Dell outlet?

Meaker · 19 Dec 2011 at 00:47

Easy, dell XPS14z.

Wolfe777 · 19 Dec 2011 at 11:33

If the Xps 14z has the same JBL speakers as my XPS 15 L502x, then I recommend that wholeheartedly.

Holy crap those speakers are phenomenal for a laptop, it even has a sub woofer on the underside of the laptop.

Absolutely magnificent sound for a laptop.

.

MikeHunt79 · 19 Dec 2011 at 11:40

dave_beast said:
Macbook Pro, works straight from the box. Or if on a budget something from the Dell outlet?

MacBook Pro has pretty nice speakers for a laptop, good battery life also, around 7 hours.

Edit: The 15" model is 2.54 kg according to the Apple website, so 40g too heavy

MumboJumbo · 19 Dec 2011 at 13:57

Wolfe777 said:
If the Xps 14z has the same JBL speakers as my XPS 15 L502x, then I recommend that wholeheartedly.

Holy crap those speakers are phenomenal for a laptop, it even has a sub woofer on the underside of the laptop.

Absolutely magnificent sound for a laptop.

.

The speakers on my old studio 16 xps were the same. I couldn't believe it. My money would be on this, such a nice piece of kit:

Samsung 9 series.

Highlights:

Matte screen so can be used outside without screen glare.
SSD
Extremely slim and stylish

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/...ebooksdisplays_middle_expand_series9_01092011

Dangerous_Dave · 19 Dec 2011 at 21:19

Does look nice, but I find 13.3" just a little too pokey.

Anyway I've gone for an Elitebook 8440 and a Lenovo t420 to test against each other. The Elitebook was £310 delivered in excellent used condition and the Lenovo was £386 delivered in the same condition. Just waiting for them to arrive now. Any opinions on these models? I read that the 8460 had issues with poor screen/sound, but I don't know if these are any different on the earlier 8440.

Scrutinize · 20 Dec 2011 at 10:10

Dangerous_Dave said:
Does look nice, but I find 13.3" just a little too pokey.

Anyway I've gone for an Elitebook 8440 and a Lenovo t420 to test against each other. The Elitebook was £310 delivered in excellent used condition and the Lenovo was £386 delivered in the same condition. Just waiting for them to arrive now. Any opinions on these models? I read that the 8460 had issues with poor screen/sound, but I don't know if these are any different on the earlier 8440.

The only problem that you may find with these is a reduced battery life depending on how they have been looked after and how many charging cycles they have been through.

Surely would have just made more sense to but a new T420 for £650-£750 as you get 3 years warranty as standard etc etc or will you sell one and you budget was only around £300? mark??

Dangerous_Dave · 20 Dec 2011 at 14:03

Scrutinize said:
The only problem that you may find with these is a reduced battery life depending on how they have been looked after and how many charging cycles they have been through.

Surely would have just made more sense to but a new T420 for £650-£750 as you get 3 years warranty as standard etc etc or will you sell one and you budget was only around £300? mark??

Yeah gonna sell the one I like the least. I think I should be able to at least get my money back on it. I will update the thread with what I find out.

ChrisD. · 20 Dec 2011 at 15:33

Meaker said:
Easy, dell XPS14z.

I'd rather set myself on fire than buy another Dells XPS Z laptop.

Scrutinize · 20 Dec 2011 at 16:41

MilanoChris said:
I'd rather set myself on fire than buy another Dells XPS Z laptop.

I think you actually need to make a new thread entitled that as there is a lot of blind love for these at the moment on here.

ChrisD. · 20 Dec 2011 at 19:45

Scrutinize said:
I think you actually need to make a new thread entitled that as there is a lot of blind love for these at the moment on here.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18295818

My experiences are in there. If people don't search, then it's their own fault.

A quick Google search of "XPS 15z problem" on the discussion bit reveals 100s of posts on the Dell forums.

Dangerous_Dave · 21 Dec 2011 at 23:44

Mixed reviews really: the battery life on the Lenovo is far better than the HP, but I guess that's to be expected partly with the new tech. The speakers are also better on the Lenovo, and the overall performance is better. The Lenovo is also lighter.

But the screen on the Lenovo is terrible! It's like they made the matt finish by sneezing on it! So annoying that I can't get one that ticks all the boxes!

Dangerous_Dave · 22 Dec 2011 at 00:54

Bit of a u turn here. The HP has the optional 1600x900 screen and looks way sharper than the Lenovo. The sound is also just as good, and the overall look of the laptop is better. But the battery life just sucks - less than 2 hours normal usage, compared with more than double that for the lenovo!

Does this sound abnormally little? Maybe the previous owner on the HP was battery heavy?

Scrutinize · 22 Dec 2011 at 07:03

How old are the HP and Lenovo? What power management settings are you using and what chipset / processor have they got? The latest Lenovo screens are, in the thinkpads I have seen, very nice.

To achieve the 5+ hour battery life every time even with intense tasks, you probably need to set your maximum processor performance to 10-20% when unplugged and screen brightness down to 0. Make sure your minimum processor state is set to 5%.

The problem is you have bought two used laptops here and you don't know their history. Looking on eBay like new 8440p have been selling for the £400 mark.

MikeHunt79 · 22 Dec 2011 at 13:34

Dangerous_Dave said:
Bit of a u turn here. The HP has the optional 1600x900 screen and looks way sharper than the Lenovo. The sound is also just as good, and the overall look of the laptop is better. But the battery life just sucks - less than 2 hours normal usage, compared with more than double that for the lenovo!

Does this sound abnormally little? Maybe the previous owner on the HP was battery heavy?

It probably uses a 3 or 4 cell battery which do tend to drain rather fast.

I have yet to find a laptop which will beat the Macbook in terms of battery life but if you find ones which will accept a 12 cell replacement battery you may come close...