I bought a new laptop!

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by LauraR, Dec 28, 2013.

  1. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    For the first time in a long time I did not buy an HP. I think between all the members of my family I have purchased 5 computers from HP in the last 4 or 5 years.

    This time I decided to go with a Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p. The reviews I read were very good and I've heard about them being pretty good machines. It supposed ships in a week or 2. :)

    Specs (which I thought sounded pretty good):

    4th Generation Intel Core i7-4700MQ Processor (2.40GHz 1600MHz 6MB) - Operating system Windows 8.1 64 - Display 15.6" FHD LED Glare Wedge 1920x1080 - Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT755M GDDR5 2GB - Memory 8.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L SDRAM 1600 MHz - Hard Drive 1TB 5400 RPM+24GB SSD - Optical Drive DVD Recordable (Dual Layer) - Network Card Intel 7260 b/g/n Wireless (2x2 BGN) - Bluetooth Bluetooth Version 4.0 - Warranty One year - Battery 6 Cell 72 Watt Hour Lithium-Ion
     
    LauraR, Dec 28, 2013
    #1
  2. sikvik

    sikvik Corporal Karma

    Great machine, Laura. :)
    You prolly bought it yesterday, right? Still kinda early morning in the US.
    Did you manage to catch some sleep over night? :-D I'm like a kid when it comes to new computers- work on it till I have it set up as I want.

    Cheers..
     
    sikvik, Dec 28, 2013
    #2
  3. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    haha...yep. I bought it last night. :-D

    I only buy direct because I think you get the best specs and prices, but the only problem is you have to wait. I hate waiting. LOL
     
    LauraR, Dec 28, 2013
    #3
  4. indyattic

    indyattic Corporal

    My husband has one of those. It's a few years old, and it's a work machine so it's pretty bare-bones, but it's a great machine. He travels with it a lot, treats it like it's unbreakable, and it's never so much as blinked.
     
    indyattic, Dec 28, 2013
    #4
  5. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    I've heard good things about them. Thanks for the confirmation on that.:) I think they have traditionally been considered business machines (their ThinkPad line), but IdeaPad is more of a gaming line. I don't typically game, but always like them for their more beefed up specs. We shall see. I'm not typically a person who does change when I find something I like (HP has always been great for me).
     
    LauraR, Dec 28, 2013
    #5
  6. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    That's not bad at all. Lenovo makes good laptops, always have. Enjoy the new toy! :)
     
    Mimsy, Dec 28, 2013
    #6
  7. HughScot

    HughScot Private E-2

    I've usually gone with Dell for a laptop and I was wondering how you'd compare Dell to HP and Lenovo? I don't play games.
     
    HughScot, Dec 28, 2013
    #7
  8. NICK ADSL UK

    NICK ADSL UK MajorGeeks Forum Administrator Staff Member

    NICK ADSL UK, Dec 28, 2013
    #8
  9. Caliban

    Caliban I don't need no steenkin' title!

    Laura, for information: a friend of mine recently toured the Lenovo plant in Morrisville, NC. He was afforded every courtesy imaginable and said the place was clean as a whistle. Good to know.

    The online tour is located here.

    Good luck with your new machine. ;)
     
    Caliban, Dec 28, 2013
    #9
  10. Adrynalyne

    Adrynalyne Guest

    I just ordered a Lenovo for my mom. Not a gaming laptop though, LOL.

    Thinkpad W530 15.6in 1080p
    Intel Core i7-3630QM
    Windows 7 Professional 64
    W7 XP Mode English
    8 GB PC3-12800 DDR3 (2 DIMM)
    RAID HDD, 500GB, 7200rpm
    RAID 2nd HDD for Optical Bay
    Primary SATA RAID 1
    9cell LI Battery TWL70++
    Bluetooth 4.0 w/ antenna
    Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300
    W530 NVIDIA Quadro K1000M 2GB


    Plus a portable optical drive.

    Meets military specs and ISV certification.


    Came close to 2 grand. Hoping this beast will withstand her torture...she kills laptops yearly.
     
    Adrynalyne, Dec 28, 2013
    #10
  11. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Thanks Mims.:) I'm excited for sure for the new toy!

    I always bought Dell before I went to HP, but Dell took a turn for the worse, so I stayed away. I think they are back and am pretty sure the Dell guy who started the company is back at the helm. Other than my original desktops, I don't have any recent experience with Dell. I'd look at the reviews for their current laptops on their website. I do know, though, that as far as IPS monitors, they make very good ones.

    I better be able to run Major Geeks on any laptop I buy, Nick, or it would be a no sale for me. :-D

    Very cool. Thanks!:)
     
    Last edited: Dec 28, 2013
    LauraR, Dec 28, 2013
    #11
  12. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Did you spec it out, Jeremy? I couldn't find a place to do that...which is probably a good thing, since I decided that the money I saved on the machine, I was going to buy that IPS monitor I want for my photo editing.
    Plus, one of my prerequisites was matte screen.
     
    LauraR, Dec 28, 2013
    #12
  13. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    Hi Laura, one of the company's I do work for, uses 6 Lenovo laptops and they are generally quite reliable and very strong but over here in Oz warranty is a bit hit and miss. If you need to RMA it then sometimes the experience is not very good. I don't think this is a reflection on the brand but more likely just local issues causing any delays and difficulties. Luckily in my experience they rarely have problems and when they did one was a combined battery/charger problem and another had a backlight issue with the screen. I suspect it was dropped or fell off the car seat under braking but this was denied by the employee and the screen was eventually replaced. These 6 laptops are all used by sales reps who are on the road so they are always being lugged about in cars and planes and don't always get the best care but they still survive so I would say they are pretty darn tough ;) :cool

    If you have a spare 12 minutes (you won't get it back lol) then I found this vid of a dude showing and telling about his new Y510p
    Y510p
    or if you want to save the time the upshot is that he is happy with his purchase ;)
     
    joffa, Dec 28, 2013
    #13
  14. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    I spent the extra $150 or so for the 3 yr warranty plus accidental damage, so hopefully it's pretty good. I'm a die hard Square Trade girl, but this was a good price for the warranty, so I went with it. Hopefully, I won't need it.

    lol...your link went to 'verizon search' so I didn't see the vid...glad it was the guy saying he was happy though. LOL
     
    LauraR, Dec 28, 2013
    #14
  15. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Rikky, Dec 28, 2013
    #15
  16. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    Just saw this after I posted above. I bought an i7 Dell Inspiron 17R late last year that was only one month old. I didn't really need it but it came with Windows 7 Pro 64bit, full retail Micro$oft office 2010, Adobe Acrobat X Pro, Dell bluetooth mouse, upgraded to 12Gb RAM, 9 cell battery, and a Dell V515w wireless multifunction inkjet printer/fax with an auto document feeder for Au$700 ex demo :-D:-D:-D
    I couldn't resist LOL Just the software licences alone cost more than what I paid :p The retail price was supposed to be Au$2700

    How did this happen? Well I was in the right spot at the right time for once ;):cool
    This package was a $2300 Dell cashback offer to run out laptops with win 7 that was quickly superceded and the new (same model) laptops were being supplied with Win 8 Pro 64bit. The one I got had Win 7 and so was deemed to be old stock but in fact had only been on display for two weeks and never been powered up and still had the protective film stuck to it but it still got written off as used stock because the box had been opened. I was at my supplier picking up some other stuff when he was talking to the distributor's sales rep and the rest is history :-D:-D:-D
    Usually I miss out on deals like this and get told them later ;)
     
    joffa, Dec 28, 2013
    #16
  17. joffa

    joffa Major Geek's Official Birthday Announcer

    Just in case you want to waste the 12 minutes Laura LOL
    Try the link in quote tags
     
    joffa, Dec 28, 2013
    #17
  18. Adrynalyne

    Adrynalyne Guest

    Yeah, the w530 is customizable.
     
    Adrynalyne, Dec 28, 2013
    #18
  19. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Wow....what a great deal. I would have jumped at that as well.



    Damn. Oh, well, I'm happy with my specs and my price...a lot less than $2000. LOL
     
    LauraR, Dec 29, 2013
    #19
  20. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Raspberry Pi? lol...is that missing an e at the end?

    What the heck is that, Rik. :-D

    I went on the website and saw this:

    lol...what?
     
    LauraR, Dec 29, 2013
    #20
  21. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Its a mini pc, hdmi output to a tv, running linux, limited windows use. It's hard drive is a SD card.:-D Not got it working yet, apparently none of the sd cards I have are compatible.

    Dunno about writing my own operating systems but I'm sure I'll find something to use it for, might try and get into coding and apparently the first language I have to learn is python.

    http://www.raspberry-pi.co.uk/projects/creating-your-first-program-with-the-raspberry-pi/

    Don't want to hijack your thread anyway, I'll start a thread about it when I've got to grips with it:)
     
    Rikky, Dec 29, 2013
    #21
  22. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member


    Well, that is very cool. You'll have to let us know what you create with it.


    I'm good with the thread hijacked. I just wanted to let everyone I ordered a new laptop. :-D
     
    LauraR, Dec 29, 2013
    #22
  23. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Nice laptop Laura :)

    Like the red glow on the keyboard, very "evil lair-ish" muhahahahhahaa

    Curious to know what they are using a 24GB SSD for, kinda a bit small for the OS and Software drive, so could only be as a cache drive (Expresscache IIRC is the term banded around think I have an Express SSD port in my desktop motherboard*), but like the Hybrid Drives that surfaces a few years back but never took off too massive in that guise, but this one going to read up on more.

    *now that opens up a holiday project as I have 3 spare SSDs around here*

    Looks nice though Laura.
     
    DavidGP, Dec 30, 2013
    #23
  24. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Yeah...not sure on that SSD. lol (hmmmm....maybe I could use it for my Photoshop cache??)

    The price was right and I decided I wasn't going to spend as much for a laptop as I normally do. That way, I can get a new one sooner and won't feel bad about it. Plus, I want one of the Dell IPS monitors.

    I did get a tracking number, so it's coming in this week maybe. :)
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2013
    LauraR, Dec 30, 2013
    #24
  25. Adrynalyne

    Adrynalyne Guest

    The SSD makes it work like a hybrid drive.
     
    Adrynalyne, Dec 30, 2013
    #25
  26. Fred_G

    Fred_G Heat packin' geek

    Woots, nice looking laptop! We have some OLD Lenovo/IBM laptops at work. They take a beating. We have some with missing keys, and some with busted monitors, but just hook up a keyboard and external monitor, and they work great.
     
    Fred_G, Dec 30, 2013
    #26
  27. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Yeah, but only 24 GB? Seems like not much?
     
    LauraR, Dec 30, 2013
    #27
  28. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Awesome. That's what I've heard!:)
     
    LauraR, Dec 30, 2013
    #28
  29. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    It's perfectly sufficient for caching. Basically the laptop uses the SSD and the HDD together as one single drive, with the SSD essentially becoming the HDD's cache.
     
    Mimsy, Dec 30, 2013
    #29
  30. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    :) Thanks Mims. That works out perfectly for me. I was wondering that before David even said anything.
     
    LauraR, Dec 30, 2013
    #30

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