Hi guys. Im planning to buy this laptop for gaming purposes like playing Dota2, LoL and also to play latest games at medium settings. I dont need a desktop right now because im not always at home. I am planning to buying a Lenovo Ideapad 300-14
Specs:
Intel Core i5 6200U
ATI EXO PRO R5 M330 2GB
4GB DDR3L
WINDOWS 10
14 inch screen
34K price. Is the price and specs good enough ?
-- edited by aofloro on Feb 05 2016, 02:26 PM
Forum Topic
Unified Laptop/Notebook/Netbook Users Thread Part 2 (NO Trading Allowed)
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aofloro:
For your intended use, both the Skylake ULV SoC and the "Exo Pro" GPU of the Ideapad 300-14 don't possess enough breathing room for the latest games to run comfortably at flat medium settings at native resolutions (performance would be more promising if the LED panel is maxed at FWXGA, but not for the latest games). Some concessions will have to be made so that framerates will be fluid enough the more intensive sequences during gameplay.
With that said, however, if you are willing to play on low (with a few certain settings on medium) on native resolutions, the GPU should have little problem delivering the performance needed. It might go a tad further if the Radeon R5 M330 was paired with a full power mobile processor and not a ULV SoC.
Don't be disheartened, though. The R5 M330 is plenty powerful on its own; in some cases it almost matches the performance of a few high-end Fermis or the Radeon HD 5000 Series -- and this is even with the R5 M330's narrow GDDR3 bandwidth. For gamers, the GCN 2.0 features won't be as appreciated as native its Mantle support, but when you need an additional CPU for number-crunching operations, you'll have one ready in the R5 M330.
As for price, you may need to make that decision yourself. I have heard that the Ideapad 300 makes for a good value in the entertainment notebook segment, but "value" is subjective and thus, it all depends on your point of view. -
Thanks Nelko for the concrete feedback. I might be able to shell out a bit more money to buy a decent gaming laptop. What laptops out there that are capable of handling the latest games at medium settings at least?
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aofloro:
Then what you seek are mainstream notebooks that sport price tags well within the mid-tier range (~50 grand to ~100 grand, brand new).
If gaming is to be your primary intended use, then it would be prudent to select directly from the gaming series of each brand you are looking at (Acer's V Series, ASUS' ROG Series, Clevo's P Series and derivatives, Dell's XPS and Alienware derivatives, HP's Omen Series, Lenovo's Y Series, MSI's G Series and barebone derivatives, Toshiba's Qosmio Series, etc.) as they are better equipped to deal with the inevitable waste heat generated by high-end hardware churning out the incredible performance you need. It will also help to look for units with only HD panels (FWXGA at the most), because the performance upkeep for a FHD panel would seriously jeopardize your gaming experience at the mainstream level.
You have to understand that your requirements will ask a hefty investment from you especially if you aim for a brand new notebook with a full guarantee. If you're lucky, you might find a second-hand notebook right here on TPC that could deliver just enough power and still be kind to your wallet -- albeit without the guarantee, of course. -
saken gamit ko pa si neo LD5HL from 2012
pwede pa sa games on med settings -
hi guys, any suggestions for a 20 - 25k budget laptop? mainly for office work but if capable of playing dota 2 / CS Go at that price range then its better :) thanks for the input
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any laptop suggestions good for Dota 2 and CS:GO? Im torn between buying a steam machine and a laptop.
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is inspiron 7559 any good for gaming?
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@mastercritic82 boss ano specs nya? ok naman quality ng neo? any concerns? thanks
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raffyfenix:
Before we move forward any further, you must understand that within your budget, manufacturers have had to cut costs in several facets of the system. This will ring even more true if the notebook you're eyeing touts performance components at very little increase to the price tag. Anything from chassis quality to display panel quality to battery capacity to power and / or heat management systems could have been compromised in an effort to keep prices affordable. So please be mindful that whatever you hope to do with your notebook, you will only get your money's worth in utility -- especially during performance sessions such as gaming.
At the pseudo-bargain tier, plenty of options exist in the form of Intel IGP SKUs. And for all intents and purposes, the graphical processing that these systems allow should be ample enough for both games you've listed above (especially on their own). But since the power of Intel IGPs are dependent on the power of the processor (among other things), it would be a good idea to take a second look at what CPUs are available.
Most of the brand new notebooks at this price level will only sport Core i3 CPUs and are mosty likely in the ULV class. These types of processors lack the flexing power that their full-power mobile cousins possess, but since processing muscle improves marginally per generation, you could attempt to shorten the performance gap by getting the latest generation your budget allows.
Since Threshold 1.0, most IGP-friendly games would fare well with Intel HD Graphics 4000 (and, for some high requirement games, as bare minimum). And so what we're going to do here is aim, at a minimum, for a generation higher than that:
- Acer Aspire E5-473 (34YE, Core i4 5005U, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 920M 2 GB, 1 TB HDD, 14-in. HD TN) - packing both an entry-level Broadwell ULV CPU and an entry-level Kepler GPU, the Aspire E5-473 is more than capable in giving you the gaming performance you need but not for very long; its more powerful cousins are big on muscle but small on heat management, and therefore their utility is largely dependent on how long it takes to get from warm to very hot (which can be altered through assisted cooling); most units of the 34YE SKU will come with a single SODIMM installed, though you may find a few that are set up with two SODIMMs; offered in three "chic" colors plus gray and with an Acer-branded carry case, this notebook will cost you a little over 23 and a half grand
- Dell Inspiron 5000 Series (i3-5458, Core i3 5005U, 4 GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 5500, 1 TB HDD, 14-in. HD TN) - at a few dozen bucks just below 24 grand, the Core i3 SKU of the Inspiron 5458 sports a Broadwell ULV ensemble that is marginally better than a mobile HD Graphics 4400; sitting between a Haswell and a Skylake, it offers the best balance between power (better than a Haswell ensemble) and waste heat management (not an SoC like some Core i3 Skylakes); sadly, its 14-inch chassis doesn't afford much in the screen real-estate or keyboard department, but it should afford you more portability and the HD 5500 could breathe a little easier with the HD TN panel; the spacious hard drive may be a little too roomy for two Steam games and office productivity suites and the pre-installed single SODIMM will hinder the system from achieving better performance (1 SODIMM means the system won't operate in dual-channel mode), but on the upside, it uses the same chassis as the Core i7 SKU of the Inspiron 5458 which has an extensive cooling system, comes bundled with Dell-branded carry cases, and comes in a four different colors
- Hewlett-Packard 14 (44TU, Core i3 5005U, 2 GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 5500, 500 GB HDD, 14-in. HD TN) - a cheaper option in lieu of the halved starting RAM, halved hard drive space, and no pre-installed OS, the 44TU SKU will set your wallet back just under 21 grand; you save some bluebacks on the account of the smaller hard drive which you can use to upgrade the RAM to double the 2 GB already installed (and immediately switch up to dual-channel), while leaving you free to choose which operating system you wish to start with; in most productivity environments, pre-installed OSes are a must to eliminate the hassle, but if this is a non-issue for you, then this everyday computing notebook could be the one for you
Hope this helps.
Oh and the Neo Elan LD5HL is a Clevo W110ER, an 11.6-inch gaming monster whose specifications, performance and potential can be found here: <click here for link> -
atmendoza29:
Many of the suggestions on this page and on the previous page of this thread should be sufficient for those two games. -
ixstab:
The Inspiron 7559 is built to fulfill a general entertainment and multimedia notebook role, so it will do well for moderate gaming in moderate sessions. -
The Inspiron 7559 is built to fulfill a general entertainment and multimedia notebook role, so it will do well for moderate gaming in moderate sessions.
So all laptops that has gtx960m on it will only do moderate gaming? -
Just saw this at PCHub... but might have been posted here already :-)
Dell Inspiron 7559
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 6700HQ Skylake (45W, 4-Core, 64-bit, 2.6-3.5Ghz, 6Mb L3)
Genuine Windows 10 Home SL
15.6" LED Backlight FHD (1920x1080)
4gb+4gb DDR3L 1600Mhz Memory
1tb HDD Sata
nVidia® GTX 960M, Pipelines:1024 (4gb /128-bit, Core/Mem: 1178/3500Mhz)
Colors: Black and red
Cash promo price as of this writing : 56,990
Pretty decent specs for the price, considering you get a Full HD IPS panel paired with GTX 960M. The Core i5-6300HQ variant is even cheaper at Php 46K but I could not find any local sellers :-)
To get a rough idea on gaming performance:
(GTX 960M is about the same as a GTX 750 Ti on the desktop)
-- edited by sleepygeepy on Feb 13 2016, 02:13 AM -
@ixstab
So all laptops that has gtx960m on it will only do moderate gaming?
I think it will also depend on the resolution of the screen used on the laptop and the processor used. If the screen resolution is very low like 1366x768 then the GTX 960M will be able to blow through most games now at smooth framerates at high to max graphics settings. But of course we will not see laptops with cheap 1366x768 screens paired with a GTX 960M hehe!
With a Full HD screen, a Core i5 or Core i7 Skylake mobile processor, combo'ed with GTX 960M graphics... you can expect better than PS4 console gaming performance. So most games will be playable at 40 fps and above depending on graphics settings. If you want higher framerates, you can lower resolution to 1600x900 to get better performance with minimal impact to image quality.
A good setup for a Full HD laptop with GTX 960M is to enable Adaptive VSYNC half-refresh rate on the Nvidia control panel then cap the framerate to 30 fps. This will give very consistent 30 fps gameplay on even demanding games and allow you to use high or very high graphics settings. Basically equivalent to PS4 console performance but with better PC graphics :-) -
I think it will also depend on the resolution of the screen used on the laptop and the processor used. If the screen resolution is very low like 1366x768 then the GTX 960M will be able to blow through most games now at smooth framerates at high to max graphics settings. But of course we will not see laptops with cheap 1366x768 screens paired with a GTX 960M hehe!
With a Full HD screen, a Core i5 or Core i7 Skylake mobile processor, combo'ed with GTX 960M graphics... you can expect better than PS4 console gaming performance. So most games will be playable at 40 fps and above depending on graphics settings. If you want higher framerates, you can lower resolution to 1600x900 to get better performance with minimal impact to image quality.
A good setup for a Full HD laptop with GTX 960M is to enable Adaptive VSYNC half-refresh rate on the Nvidia control panel then cap the framerate to 30 fps. This will give very consistent 30 fps gameplay on even demanding games and allow you to use high or very high graphics settings. Basically equivalent to PS4 console performance but with better PC graphics :-)
Actually the mainly use for that laptop will be for DOTA and CS:GO (for now) I dont know when will I get the itch to play triple A games. I think going to gtx 970m will be a good buy in the long run.
Any cheap lappies with gtx 970m you can suggest? -
@ixstab
Actually the mainly use for that laptop will be for DOTA and CS:GO (for now) I dont know when will I get the itch to play triple A games. I think going to gtx 970m will be a good buy in the long run.
Any cheap lappies with gtx 970m you can suggest?
Well anything with GTX 970M will not be cheap hehe! But here are two gaming laptops that I think are worth the extra cost:
ASUS ROG G751JT-WH71
- Windows 10 64-bit
- 4th Gen Intel Core i7-4720HQ (Haswell)
- 17.3 FHD IPS G-Sync Anti-Glare Display (1920x1080)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M 3GB GDDR5
- 16GB DDR3 1600Mhz Memory
- 1TB 7200RPM HDD
- DVDRW Multi Drive
- Backlit Keyboard
- Php 70,800
Sager NP8657-S
- No O.S. Option
- 6th Gen Intel Core i7-6700HQ (Skylake)
- 15.6? Full HD/IPS/Matte with G-Sync Technology (1920 x 1080)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M 3GB GDDR5
- 16GB DDR4 2133 (2x8GB) Memory
- Samsung 850EVO M.2 250GB SSD
- 1TB (7200rpm) SATA II HDD
- Php 78,200
Reason why you should get these laptops is because of the G-Sync capable screens. G-Sync allows you play games smoothly and stutter free even with lower framerates, extending the usability of the GTX 970M videocard. So even at 30 fps ~ 40 fps, games will still be playable and enjoyable on the laptop.
Take note that the Sager is a customizable laptop and it can go as low as Php 72K if you remove the SSD and dowgrade to 8GB of memory. The ASUS is using an older Haswell processor but there is really not much difference between Haswell and Skylake when it comes to mobile CPU's. You can't upgrade the processor anyway so no need to spend on the latest platform. Save your money and buy a great gaming mouse and headphones :-) -
@sleepygeepy
If you are the one to choose what would you pick?
-- edited by ixstab on Feb 13 2016, 08:08 AM -
@ixstab
If you are the one to choose what would you pick?
Personally I would go for the Sager NP8657-S. Relatively compact size at 15-inches, Skylake platform, and has two M.2 slots for dual SSD + single HDD configuration :-)
My officemate bought the same laptop (Eurocom / Clevo brand) and we tested it at my house. Pretty convincing for a gaming laptop, and had smoother gameplay than my desktop hehe! -
Personally I would go for the Sager NP8657-S. Relatively compact size at 15-inches, Skylake platform, and has two M.2 slots for dual SSD + single HDD configuration :-)
My officemate bought the same laptop (Eurocom / Clevo brand) and we tested it at my house. Pretty convincing for a gaming laptop, and had smoother gameplay than my desktop hehe!
Did he bought it online? The same set up as you mentioned? What games did you play? -
ixstab:
Generally, the GTX 960M is the current ceiling of the mid-performance notebook GPUs. And despite being part of the uppermost echelon of graphics options, its performance gap against its more powerful cousin, the GTX 965M is significant -- so significant in fact, that the GTX 965M can deal with the very demanding games that would give most GTX 960Ms certain trouble.
Although in retrospect, factors such as tolerable ambient operating temperatures, effective cooling system designs, system safeguards, and available power will also come into play. So a well-cooled, well-powered GTX 960M may be able to do a tad better than another GTX 960M that's under heat duress and has reached the peak power limit of its switching power supply.
So yes, it is a mid-range graphics option that can offer high-end performance for short sessions, moderate performance for moderate sessions (what it was built for), or light performance for extended (or unlimited, in the case of Optimus) sessions. -
sleepygeepy:
nVidia® GTX 960M, Pipelines:1024 (4gb /128-bit, Core/Mem: 1178/3500Mhz)
Hmm... Something's wrong with this spec. Either that's a GTX 965M or the real specifics are:
Pipelines: 640
...because the GTX 960M is a faster clocked first-generation Maxwell GM107 which only has 5 smaller streaming multiprocessors. So with 128 arithmetic units per SMM, that's only 640 cores. -
mga bossing mag tatanong lng ako kung saan ang Service Center ng ASUS Laptop dito sa pinas kasi ipapagawa ko ung ASUS K43SD ko natutunaw kasi ung dulo nung power pack nya after 2 hours of use at hindi na rin ma detect ung Battery nya.
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@Nelko
Hmm... Something's wrong with this spec.
Yup, wrong specs on PC Hub's FB page. It should be 640 and not 1024 :-) -
@ixstab
Did he bought it online? The same set up as you mentioned? What games did you play?
Yup, he bought it online and had the specs customized. The exact model is Eurocom Sky MX5 and he specified a Full HD G-Sync screen, 16GB of RAM, SSD + HDD combo. We did not play games that much mostly ran benchmarks. The games he played at the time was Mech Warrior Online, Fallout 4, and some Square Japanese RPG game (I forgot the title). My impression was it was pretty powerful for a gaming laptop and the gameplay was really smooth :-) -
please recommend a good laptop around 20k budget. For office use
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bladefrost:
Especially great pseudo-budget and bargain-tier notebooks would come from the manufacturers in Taiwan and China. Their output, refresh frequency and their penetration into our local market would often result in a number of low-price notebooks with updated technology. Otherwise, you could go for powerful dated technology at a discount.
Some good examples include:
- Acer Aspire R3-131T (P2GZ / P88Y, BsW Intel Pentium N3700, 4 GB RAM, BsW Intel HD Graphics, 500 GB HDD, 11.6-in. HD TS TN) - continuing in the tradition of ultraportable convertibles, the Aspire R 11s (or R3-13s locally) helps to bridge the gap between touch computing and contemporary portable computing in a pinch; at just a few dozen smackeroos below 20 grand, the R3-131T offers state-of-the-art Braswell technology in a powerful quad-core, yet frugal package, full 4 GB RAM in dual-channel mode, and a spacious starting drive; despite a lower TDP, it offers just the same performance of its Bay Trail Silvermont predecessor though with 100% better graphics performance over the IVB Intel HD Graphics of Silvermont; available in two variants -- differing mostly by aesthetics -- the R3-131T promises subtle convertible performance and decent runtimes for its value, if you don't mind the cramped ~12-inch profile
- ASUS X455LA (414T / 522T / 523T / 524T, Core i3 4005U, 4 GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 4400, 500 GB HDD, 14-in. HD TN) - utilizing the newer X Series (and not the older K Series) chassis, the X455LA and its variant SKUs offer you minimal Core ULV performance at the Haswell level at just 20 grand (shaving off a few hundred, depending on where you get it); foregoing portability for better comfort and performance as opposed to SoC alternatives, this 14-inch everyday computing device touts larger screen real-estate for your multi-tasking needs and some breathing room for heat management; while already laden with all of the standard fare ASUS features, it boasts nothing more -- other than a selection of colors, if personalization is important to you
- Dell Inspiron 14R Series (4050, Core i3 2350M, 4 GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6470M 1 GB, 640 GB HDD, 14-in HD TN) - taking advantage of dated technology for your intended purposes (and budget), this 14R is one of the earliest in the Series (circa 2012), sporting an ol' reliable Sandy Bridge full-power mobile processor and an accompanying equivalent generation of AMD Radeon GPU to boot, and a slightly more spacious starting drive; however, the system RAM is likely to be a single SODIMM pre-installed, and as with most mainstream processors since AMD64, the fastest supported RAM depends on the Sandy Bridge's MPC: DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666); luckily, the processor is only available in PGA packages, so its longevity is guaranteed as long as other mobile Sandy Bridge CPUs exist (sadly, not Ivy Bridge ones); the 4050 SKU promises even better performance (though lesser portability and shorter runtimes), a removable battery for desktop use, and two color variants for a hair under 20 grand in discounted price
- Lenovo Ideapad 100 Series 14 (1HPH, BdW Intel Pentium 3825U, 2 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 920M 1 GB, 500 GB HDD, 14-in. HD TN) - for just a little under 19 grand, you could bag the 1HPH SKU of the Ideapad 100 Series 14 that sports a dual-core, Hyper-Threaded ULV CPU based on Broadwell technology and a starting Kepler GPU; it offers nothing essentially special, but it will outperform any Core i3 Haswell ULV in this notebook selection lineup (even if it isn't even a true quad-core computer) and it is at the very least lighter than the Inspiron 14R mentioned earlier; the starting system RAM isn't exactly on a comfortable level, though depending on where you can get this notebook, you can avail of a 2 GB RAM upgrade promo; its performance may leave something else to be desired in the battery runtime department, but at this price range you can't have everything
I'm terribly tempted to throw in several ultraportables and subnotebooks into the mix, but I'd wager that they are better off in the study and student environments than in work.
Happy hunting! -
@nelko
thanks! will look into this. -
@nelko
How about for a budget of 35-45k what laptop can you recommend?
It will be used mainly for work plus a little video rendering.
Thanks -
Learning_mode:
For video rendering, it would be advantageous to you and your prospect notebook to explore Intel-AMD combinations for their ability to tag-team all of their compute elements together in OpenCL. However, depending on what software you intend to use and their updated code and drivers, this may not be the most optimal choice. OpenCL is definitely more widespread, but for certain implementations, sometimes CUDA may work faster. In some cases, the GPU may not be of much help at all.
The reason why you should consider these options is because in the mobile world, there are limitations to the power of the processor. They are not anywhere near the performance level of their desktop constituents, and those CPUs take a while to render a video of reasonable length and complexity.
We'll mix-and-match Intel-AMD and Intel-NVIDIA notebooks and see what we can come up with. Later, we can explore Intel-only options if you still cannot find something that suits you. We will also look at every brand in the market, so as to maximize your options in the event you harbor some reservations against certain brands. So I apologize if this post may run really long.
- Acer Aspire V3-575G (74ZZ, Core i7 6500U, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 940M 2 GB, 1 TB HDD, 15.6-in. HD GL TN) - with a standard-fare spec for its price range, the Aspire V15 (V3-575) offers a quick and cheap solution to the old question: "What can I get for 45 grand?"; mall-priced at about 42 grand, this G variant of the V3-575 technology is at least updated and comes with the latest Skylake ULV SoC, though the faster-clocked first generation Maxwell GPU and the FWXGA screen may leave much to be desired for your intended use; CUDA-optimized applications will efficiently utilize the GPU for acceleration and will at least offer some acceleration for OpenCL; the starting RAM may be trying for video rendering, but it is spread onto two SODIMMs so dual-channel is instantly enabled and it should suit other office tasks well; the Aspire V15 comes with a free carry case, a DVD drive (and thus, opportunity for more drive storage), a large hard drive, a quasi-aluminum shell, a removable battery, and it will at least last a little over 4 hours before it needs recharging
- ASUS X556UB (016T, Core i7 6500U, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 940M 2 GB, 1 TB HDD, 15.6-in. HD GL TN) - the everyday computing line, the X Series, from ASUS is no sloucher in this price segment either; offering a machine identically specc'ed to the V15 and even priced equally at almost 42 grand, they at least give you a USB 3.1 Type-C port and a fair serving of the ASUS' standard feature set, including IceCool and the two year guarantee; this particular SKU uses the newer X Series chassis, so it utilizes an internal battery system that should last you about 3 hours before requiring additional charge; many of its strengths and weaknesses can be shared with the V15 mentioned earlier
- Dell Inspiron 7000 Series (ref:7447, Core i5 4200H, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M 4 GB, 500 GB HDD, 14-in. HD AGL TN) - the old 7000 Series is still in circulation and specc'ed reasonably enough to warrant a 44 grand mall price, the 7447 features a powerful full-power mobile processor escorted by a Class 2 workhorse GPU that could do wonders for video rendering -- concern for all other mundane office tasks would seem particularly moot; however, a 14-inch chassis cannot afford the space for a full keyboard, the screen real-estate just got reduced by another inch, with all its power, its runtime wouldn't last more than 3 hours, and the starting RAM and storage are bare minimum for an entry level-tier notebook; still you could appreciate the removable battery, the DVD drive (and the drive bay it uses), the matte screen (great for outdoors), and the fact that even for a gaming-oriented notebook offered in vibrant red, it also comes in mostly-[mind-your-own-business]-black
- Hewlett-Packard Pavilion 15 (84TX / 85TX, Core i7 6500U, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 940M, 1 TB HDD, 15.6-in. HD GL TN) - with HP's introduction of these two SKUs of the Pavilion 15, Western manufacturers seem to be keeping pace with competitors within the emerging markets; available in plain silver and blue, the Pavilion 15 is without doubt no different from the models introduced into the mid-eastern markets last year: it has the same bulky weight for a completely plastic chassis, the standard fare Class 1 and Class 3 GPU, the same spacious hard drive and decent starting RAM, the rather stinted 3 hour runtimes, and even the effective Bang & Olufsen speaker set; however, there is good news: even for its features (like the V3 and X556UB mentioned earlier), the Pavilion 15 could only cost you 38 grand to get one, if you can find it
- Lenovo Ideapad 500 Series 15 (2QPH, Core i7 6500U, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon R7 M360 2 GB, 1 TB HDD, 15.6-in. HD GL TN) - with the entry of the 500 Series into our market, shortlisting this eager puppy was almost a no-brainer; offering a top-end Skylake ULV SoC, an appropriately powerful IGP, a generous amount of starting RAM, a mid-end GCN GPGPU that will add 10 more cores to your processing in OpenCL, a roomy storage and a comfy 15.6-inch profile for a full keyboard and decent screen real-estate, the 2QPH SKU of the 500 Series 15 also slaps in a few gimmicks: a RealSense 3D camera, the Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 (hello, WiDi / Miracast), and Lenovo's ol' trusty two-year guarantee; unfortunately, the lack of an SSD will definitely hinder your rendering work somewhat, FWXGA is too cramped for the UI you will use, the 2QPH starts out with only DDR3 SODIMMs (and not DDR4), the battery isn't removable, and its capacity won't let you stay away from an outlet for more than 4 hours; nevertheless, if you can find this elusive monster with the 43 grand price tag stamped on it (US$ 750 - 850), consider yourself a lucky guy (even luckier if the one you happen to grab uses an SSHD drive and a FHD panel)
- MSI Classic Series CX62 (02PH, Core i7 5700HQ, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 940M 2 GB, 1 TB HDD, 15.6-in. HD GL TN) - for just a little over 37 grand, the CX62 presents a high-end, full-power mobile Core i7 Broadwell, a faster-clocked first-generation Maxwell, 1 TB of drive space, a common FWXGA panel, an aluminum-plated chassis, a rather loud four speaker array, keyboard aesthetics similar to SteelSeries on the G Series, and a few of its standard-fare features from the same gaming line such as CoolerBoost and AudioBoost; it is powerful as it is cheap, so it still has its quirks: because many of its features are derived from the G Series, facets such as internal battery systems and short 3 hour runtimes are prevalent here as well; the panel is of so-so quality, bordering on mediocre if not already so, and its audio, despite AudioBoost and a quad-array of speakers, isn't as crisp or clear as that of the Pavilion 15's Bang & Olufsen ensemble; still, if power is important, then this would be a good choice; nevertheless, if this power is harnessed to achieve just a modest bonus objective, then the CX62 would probably overshoot that objective by a distance of somewhere between Earth and the moon
Personally, I would have refrained from recommending MSI Classics since the beginnning of Haswell's soldered-only revolution rendered the Classics' previous primary advantages as pointless. But MSI hasn't lost their touch in providing performance at affordable prices, and frankly, your intended use may have need for some performance.
If you're open to a few vanity options, you could choose to forego some power to leverage some much-needed eye candy:
- ASUS Zenbook UX305LA (014T, Core i5 5200U, 4 GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 5500, 256 GB SSD, 13.3-in. FHD AGL TN) - following in their tradition of pseudo-Ultrabook fashions, ASUS offers a slim, Core ULV-equipped machine in a petite 13.3-inch package for 44 grand that doesn't quite yet qualify as a full-fledged Ultrabook; what it lacks in processor power and discrete video options, it at least makes up for in a 9-hour practical battery runtime and a speedy M.2 SSD drive with ample capacity; at just over 13 inches, you can appreciate the FHD panel with movies but UIs and IDEs would be pretty cramped, the keyboard would be even smaller than a 14-incher's, and multitasking scenarios would be trying; its RAM is soldered with no chance of user-level replacements or upgrades, and it lacks a legacy D-SUB interface (so offices without HDMI monitors will leave you confined in a 13.3-inch workspace); still, the 305LA is more powerful than its 305CA cousin, it comes with Intel Dual-Band Wireless WNIC for WiDi, plus its portability and sleek style are bonus points if these are important to you as well
- Dell Vostro 14 5000 Series (ref:5459, Core i5 6200U, 4 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GT 930M 2 GB, 500 GB HDD, 14-in. HD AGL TN) - codenamed the "Monet," this particular model, the 5459, is offered in two vanity variants that have little to do with feature sets and everything to do with aesthetics; arrived last year in shiny silver or lush gold in a classy aluminum-magnesium shell, the Vostro 5459 would certainly be a headturner at the office and at the conference table; true to the spirit of other non-vanity Vostro 14s, the 5459 also offers the usual business notebook facets: 4 hour runtimes, finger print scanner, Dell-branded business carry case, and Dell's premium 3 year guarantee -- all this for just under 44 grand if you look hard enough; unfortunately, the Class 2 CPU and Class 3 GPU are not the best contenders for video rendering, the 5459 lacks a variation in port connectivity (just 3 USB 3.0 ports, a card reader, and 1 HDMI port), and 14 inches of awesomeness is still just 1 inch too small for standard keyboard and viewing comfort
- Hewlett-Packard Envy 13 (20TU, Core i5 6200U, 4 GB RAM, Intel HD Graphics 520, 128 GB SSD, 13.3-inch QHD+ IPS) - once the premium entertainment and vanity line for HP, the Envy now fills in the role to upstage lightweight notebooks (especially the Dell XPS 13, which it upstages very well); featuring a Core i5 Skylake SoC, a Samsung M.2 SSD, and a very bright RGBW QHD+ panel, Intel Dual-Band Wireless 7265 for your WiDi needs), and some 5 hours practical runtime, this Core i5 SKU of the can go for as low as 41 grand if you manage to locate it; unfortunately, like the UX305LA mentioned earlier, the RAM is soldered without means of replacing or upgrading it, and the only way to get 8 GB of RAM is to grab the Core i7 version that's way past your budget; it is also still pretty cramped at 13.3-inches and bare in connectivity as the UX305LA, but for a Macbook Pro Retina 13-grade panel and a Bang & Olufsen setup at this price, you're actually looking at quite a steal
Edit: Repaired a few tags.
-- edited by Nelko on Feb 18 2016, 11:29 AM