Is this what PC laptops have come to?

[tokie]

Seriously, 90% of PC laptops belong in the garbage can.

What is up with 15.6" 1366x768 displays? I thought that was generally used on 11" or 13" laptops. By the time you upgrade (if possible) to a proper 1080p/900p display and get rid of the Pentium processor for an i5, the price is nearly the same as an Apple laptop. It's ridiculously hard to find a decent number of laptops with 15.6" 1080p displays.

I am looking for a PC laptop which has the following:
(1) Sandy Bridge (or soon Ivy Bridge) with at least dual-core i5
(2) at least 4GB ram
(3) 15.6" 1080p display (or 17" if possible)
(4) I don't care about internal hard drive (could ship with none for all I care) or disc drive
(5) ExpressCard 2.0 slot *OR* Thunderbolt port (I think these should become more common with Ivy Bridge)
(6) Preferably without Windows (if possible to save the $)
(7) Less than 1.2" thick and less than 6 lbs
(8) Integrated Intel graphics

The only laptops which meet these requirements are getting up there in price compared to a Macbook Pro. I don't want to spend that much money! What happened to PC manufacturers being so much cheaper and a better deal than Apple?

 

[Meaker10]

Expresscard is a dead standard, so no laptop can ship with that now. Thunderbolt is still tied up by apple exclusivity AFAIK.

Xotic will strip out the HDD from the GE60 with the full HD display for $1000.

 

[vbuggy]

Seriously, 90% of PC laptops belong in the garbage can.

What is up with 15.6" 1366x768 displays? I thought that was generally used on 11" or 13" laptops. By the time you upgrade (if possible) to a proper 1080p/900p display and get rid of the Pentium processor for an i5, the price is nearly the same as an Apple laptop. It's ridiculously hard to find a decent number of laptops with 15.6" 1080p displays.

I am looking for a PC laptop which has the following:
(1) Sandy Bridge (or soon Ivy Bridge) with at least dual-core i5
(2) at least 4GB ram
(3) 15.6" 1080p display (or 17" if possible)
(4) I don't care about internal hard drive (could ship with none for all I care) or disc drive
(5) ExpressCard 2.0 slot *OR* Thunderbolt port (I think these should become more common with Ivy Bridge)
(6) Preferably without Windows (if possible to save the $)
(7) Less than 1.2" thick and less than 6 lbs
(8) Integrated Intel graphics

The only laptops which meet these requirements are getting up there in price compared to a Macbook Pro. I don't want to spend that much money! What happened to PC manufacturers being so much cheaper and a better deal than Apple?

Well, how much cheaper do you want it to be?

What Apple has always offered, especially post-2006, and what too many people are too dumb to realise, is the baseline of an actually usable computer spec. I usually almost always spend *more* than a Mac when buying a PC, to get a *better* machine.

If you want crap, buy a machine much cheaper than a Mac. If you want something decent, buy something about the same.

If you're serious, buy something more expensive.

 

[notposting]

Mmmhmm crappy Acer here with the same screen and Pentium lol. Only one underpowered speaker too. But it was only $400. Heck we actually bought one in 2009, bought the Squaretrade warranty on it, 16 months later it gave up the ghost and replaced it with this one. Works fine enough, though the next one will most likely be a Macbook Air unless someone can build a proper Ultrabook competitor too it. Battery life and better vent layout really is the lure for me.

 

[rabbitz]

Seriously, 90% of PC laptops belong in the garbage can.

What is up with 15.6" 1366x768 displays? I thought that was generally used on 11" or 13" laptops. By the time you upgrade (if possible) to a proper 1080p/900p display and get rid of the Pentium processor for an i5, the price is nearly the same as an Apple laptop. It's ridiculously hard to find a decent number of laptops with 15.6" 1080p displays.

I am looking for a PC laptop which has the following:
(1) Sandy Bridge (or soon Ivy Bridge) with at least dual-core i5
(2) at least 4GB ram
(3) 15.6" 1080p display (or 17" if possible)
(4) I don't care about internal hard drive (could ship with none for all I care) or disc drive
(5) ExpressCard 2.0 slot *OR* Thunderbolt port (I think these should become more common with Ivy Bridge)
(6) Preferably without Windows (if possible to save the $)
(7) Less than 1.2" thick and less than 6 lbs
(8) Integrated Intel graphics

The only laptops which meet these requirements are getting up there in price compared to a Macbook Pro. I don't want to spend that much money! What happened to PC manufacturers being so much cheaper and a better deal than Apple?

Thinkpad t520 or w520... fits your requirements exactly except it comes with a graphics card

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I swear 90% of PC laptops do belong in a garbage can. If anything the market has gotten WORSE since 2008.

I wonder if Apple's gonna take the route to the garbage can too with its MBP refresh coming up. Maybe they'll hold strong, but seriously PC manufacturers need to get their act together. I'd like some 1680x1050 15" screens still please... ugh.

Also why are we moving to 16:9 from 16:10?

with that said there are at least some 1600x900 displays out there like Samsung's 7 series and stuff.

 

[hans007]

Most people wont pay for more than 1366x768 on a 15" as it is. How many people have you seen with 22" monitors that are 1080p running it at a smaller interpolated size? Most people are damn near blind AND cheap. The rest of them just pay more for a business laptop or a vaio or something.


Cheapest way to 1080p is to buy a t520 or w520 with 1366 screen. Then go on eBay and buy the 1080p panel for $100 or less. Very easy swap .

 

[Meaker10]

Does the cable even support 2 LVDS channels? Manufacturers tend to remove one of the LVDS channels from the cable.

 

[Gikaseixas]

I just got the Samsung Series 7, 15.6 (see sig) with Intel i7 2675 Quad, 8GB SSD built in for cache, 750GB 7200rpm, Radeon HD 6750, 8GB of ram, 1600x900 mate screen, backlit keyboard, bla bla bla for $1150

Not a bad deal and it's comparable with MBP in terms of specs for $500 or so less. You just have to be a little patient and you'll find something decent.

 

[Pardus]

ThinkPad T420 Laptop with Enhanced Graphics, $1140.00. no backlit keyboard, bluetooth or fingerprint reader

Intel Core i5-2520M Processor )
14.0" HD+ (1600 x 900) LED Backlit AntiGlare Display, Mobile Broadband Ready
NVIDIA Quadro NVS4200M Optimus technology (1GB)
4 GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM)
Keyboard - US English
UltraNav (TrackPoint and TouchPad) without Fingerprint Reader
720p HD Camera with Microphone
320GB Hard Disk Drive, 7200rpm

HP Pavilion dm4t Entertainment PC, $900.00

2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2430M Processor (2.4 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) Turbo Boost to 3.0 GHz
1GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7470M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, VGA]
6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
640GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 7.0 hours of battery life +++
14.0-inch diagonal HD+ Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1600 x 900)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
720p HD video streaming webcam supports Skype + FingerPrint Reader
Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R)
Backlit Keyboard

 

[alent1234]

for most people a $500 cheapo laptop is more than enough. most of my computing is done on my iphone and ipad and i rarely play PC games so my SB or first gen iCore laptop is more than enough

 

[hans007]

Does the cable even support 2 LVDS channels? Manufacturers tend to remove one of the LVDS channels from the cable.

i've read on the T520/w520 its doable. I guess lenovo doesnt bother removing it .

i saw a coworker do a w520 swap from 1600x900 to 1920x1080 and he said it was easy.

 

[amigabill]

Expresscard is a dead standard, so no laptop can ship with that now.

Dead? PCMCIA organization got absorbed into the USB organization, but it's not dead.

http://www.usb.org/developers/expresscard

 

[ElFenix]

Also why are we moving to 16:9 from 16:10?

at some point computer makers decided that the only thing people do with laptops is watch movies.

that and there's really no reason to advertise anything other than 'HD' resolution as 95% of consumers will have no idea wtf that means.

god forbid anyone do any actual work.

 

[tokie]

ThinkPad T420 Laptop with Enhanced Graphics, $1140.00. no backlit keyboard, bluetooth or fingerprint reader



HP Pavilion dm4t Entertainment PC, $900.00

Both those are 14" and they both have graphics cards.

I don't want a gpu in it because I will be doing external gpu.

 

[hans007]

Both those are 14" and they both have graphics cards.

I don't want a gpu in it because I will be doing external gpu.

You can get a t420 with gma graphics . I have one on my desk. And they are much cheaper than $1100. Got mine for $700 last summer.

Might as well wait for t430 tho

 

[ninaholic37]

What is up with 15.6" 1366x768 displays? I thought that was generally used on 11" or 13" laptops.

The upcoming IVB ASUS Zenbook Prime is apparently going to have 11.6" screen and 1920x1080 resolution.
http://www.google.ca/#hl=en&q=ASUS+Zenbook+Prime

 

[dave_the_nerd]

lol

Good things cost money. There's always something crappier and cheaper.

Used Thinkpad maybe?

 

[vbuggy]

The upcoming IVB ASUS Zenbook Prime is apparently going to have 11.6" screen and 1920x1080 resolution.

I think in the headlong rush for the 'I think I know tech' herd to embrace all things Retina they forget how it can only really work well on a simplified, unified platform like the iPad at the moment.

Given a legacy-saddled (often for users by choice) platform like Windows, too often you're going to be squinting at something that doesn't work well with increased dpi. 11.6" 1080p is just not viable for a lot of people in W7 and below, and if you're using some sort of zoom control all the time, it gets unproductive/old pretty fast.

I expect things to change as we start getting more Metro-centric but it's not going to be overnight.

 

[virtuality]

I'm seriously interested in your 2016 update on this topic.

My main pet peeve is the screen ratios. I understand PC manufacturing has became a low margin, commodity business, but I never understood the claim 16:9 screens are cheaper to produce than 16:10 ones.

Apple has sticked with their 16:10s, OK, they are not cheap, they can do it. But as soon as Microsoft and Google (the other two taste makers in the notebook business, I don't think the other, common manufacturers has any say) said it's cool to make 3:2 screens, the manufacturers has embraced that form factor. Alas, only on s***ty 2:1 tablets everyone in their right mind would use as a normal notebook instead.

I heard the Dell XPS 13 is that bad for the money: http://www.portvapes.co.uk/?id=Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps&exid=thread...er-edition-dell-xps-13.2481730/#post-38537857

Laptop Mag's rating of laptop brands: http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/laptop-brand-ratings

1st, Apple, 83 points - Check
2nd, Dell, 82 points - Check

And that's it, cutoff.

3rd, Asus, 81 points - I would't go that low. According to the Internet, Asus' support is zero to non-existent. Laptops are more like a service.

 

[aigomorla]

my lenovo y700 defnitely does not belong in the garbage can... :O

The only things i wish it had on it was a thunderbolt port so i could use a external videocard, and a 4k screen for that external video card to power.

 

[sxr7171]

Well, how much cheaper do you want it to be?

What Apple has always offered, especially post-2006, and what too many people are too dumb to realise, is the baseline of an actually usable computer spec. I usually almost always spend *more* than a Mac when buying a PC, to get a *better* machine.

If you want crap, buy a machine much cheaper than a Mac. If you want something decent, buy something about the same.

If you're serious, buy something more expensive.

Word. MacBooks are not the benchmark for anything. Great PC laptops always cost more and are worth much more.

However electronics are cheaper now and his expectation that a laptop under has better than 1366x768 is more than reasonable. I mean 1080p should be minimum after around $600-800.

I see OP's post is from 4 years ago. Look today and the competition is unreal. Great machines from Lenovo, Dell and HP. I'd be happy with any of them. In the meantime MacBooks have stagnated. There should be a thread about how the Apple laptop scene is horrible and outdated. No OLED strip will make any difference. And supposedly finally they will be putting a fingerprint reader on them.

 

[crank.head]

Post 4 years ago look now how times change PCs have taken over

 

[Oyeve]

Post 4 years ago look now how times change PCs have taken over

Taken over what? It's always been dominant.

 

[sxr7171]

Both in quality and quantity. But you're right even in quality business class machines like Thinkpads, Dell E series were always better quality than MacBooks.

What's new is how some consumer level Windows machines are better than MacBooks.