Productivity notebook with a decent screen

[Rolf N]

I'm currently on an Acer Travelmate 8371 and the viewing angles are awful. It's also a bit slow, with only a 1.4GHz Core 2 Solo. I found that I sit in front of this thing more often now than my stationary PC, so its limitations are really starting to grate on me.

I'm looking to replace it with something more modern in the next couple of months. I'm eyeing the Sandy Bridges for decent CPU performance. Graphics is a lesser concern, so I'm fine with the integrated GPUs. Would like to keep weight at or below 2.5kg. Need a card reader, at least 2GB RAM and 802.11n, but all models seem to have that anyway. I also want to be able to drive my 1920x1200 external display in some way (would even accept VGA). 14" screen at the very least.

Don't need a number pad. Don't need an SSD. Don't even need an internal optical drive in fact. 4GB RAM and Bluetooth OTOH would be nice to have.

Basically, here's a list:
Whoop whoop

Lots of options. An absolute conundrum though, turns out, is the screen. I want to make sure that my next notebook treats me well in that regard. I don't know what these manufacturers do with their screens anymore. Low contrast I can live with, but reasonable viewing angles are absolutely crucial.

I tried searching for notebook reviews, found a few sites, but none with proper filtering options to pare down the swath of selections to my base criteria. If any such site exists, I'd like to learn about them please.

Would like to keep budget below 800€. Lower if at all possible.

I'm also not too thrilled by this weirdo 1366x768 resolution that seems to have become the norm. I'd rather go for a 1280x800 if such a thing still exists. I'd also be willing to get something with an AMD CPU as long as it has at least two non-Bobcat CPU cores at at least 2GHz and semi-decent (>=2.5h) battery life.

All suggestions welcome.

 

[homerdog]

My boss just got a Thinkpad E420. It seems well built and the screen is acceptable by my standards. Doesn't hold a candle to the T420 but it is a lot cheaper.

 

[Tchock]

Used/New MBP 13 inch. (800-1200EUR, wtf; Apple is crazily priced in Eurolalazone)

Or the Dell XPS 15 with fullHD R+GB. (749-779 EUR with i3 Sandy and GT525M)

Frankly speaking, forget about good screens on budget notebooks. Also forget about channel sales; very very few have good screens at great prices.

The Dell is the closest, but it's 15 inch and 2.8kg. Yet in terms of relative pricing, it's the only one that's worth your effort. Else, you'll pay a lot more for a lot less screen.

 

[Rolf N]

The XPS15z is with the top-end display is far too expensive. I'd rather not spend money on some discrete graphics whopper that I'm not going to use.

The Inspiron seems to be the equivalent line with integrated GPUs only. But they're all 1366x768.

Which isn't all bad. If someone can confirm that the screens in the 15" Inspirons are okay, that'd be another good option.

 

[Rolf N]

So I've been looking what's what with Llano right now, and found that one model is already available. Namely, the HP Probook 6465b. I can get the 2x2.1Gz/2GB configuration for 610€, with the 4GB version not widely in stock yet, but hopefully soon. 14" 1366x768 displays on all of them. A bit small, but it also helps with the weight.

Need to read more reviews ...

edit: 6465b is too new, but reviews of the 6460b, which should be comparable, all attest particularly poor viewing angles.
http://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-HP-ProBook-6460b-LG645EA-Notebook.56702.0.html
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/hp-probook-6460b.aspx
*scratches HP off the list*

On that note, oh my goodness at the amount of useless spam and linkfarm sites you have to suffer through when you try to find notebook reviews online. Sheesh.

 

[Davros]

does it have to be a notebook
there are quite a few laptops with 17.3 screens in the £350 - £400 range
for example
(not sure if the cpu is enough for you but weight wise its not far off the hp probook you linked to)
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.211-3783.aspx

 

[Albuquerque]

Rolf,

I have three of the HP ProBook 6565b's in house, and it's a great box. Uses the A4-3000 series processor and a single 2GB stick of ram. This particular model is a 15" box with a good antiglare screen, a nice metal casing, picks up a WEI score of 4.5 as-configured, and cost probably around $650USD for a consumer.

Minus some issues that my organization has with it (that are unrelated to your needs), I think it would make an excellent workhorse. Throw 4GB (or better, 8GB) of ram into it and you'd love life.

 

[homerdog]

Can't see why you'd need more than 4GB of RAM, but hell it's so cheap why not.

 

[Tchock]

The XPS15z is with the top-end display is far too expensive. I'd rather not spend money on some discrete graphics whopper that I'm not going to use.

The Inspiron seems to be the equivalent line with integrated GPUs only. But they're all 1366x768.

Which isn't all bad. If someone can confirm that the screens in the 15" Inspirons are okay, that'd be another good option.

15, not 15z. The 15z is really pricey for what it offers, but the 15's a steal.
Really not sure going with a value line notebook's a good idea. Keep in mind there's the panel lottery and you might not get what's reviewed. I can attest to the Sandy Inspirons having quite a bright screen though, was stuck selling a bunch of those for 3 days at an expo. If you can't afford the base i3 15 (L502), then go for the Inspiron 14z/15z (without the optical drive)

 

[Rolf N]

Okay, got it now. Can only configure that thing on the Dell website, that's why I didn't find it before. XPS 15 with the 1080p display checks out at 692€. That could be it!

Though I'm definitely not paying Dell 50€ extra for 2 more gigs of RAM. Rather buy that myself

I'm still going to check out the Thinkpad suggestions. I see they have an L line in between the E and T lines. I'm just going to target the Dell's price and see what they have to offer there.

edit: nope, Lenovo got nothing. Nothing!

edit: Acer got less than nothing. Their website is a complete travesty, too. Good for me!

edit: Fujitsu's NH751 looked like a nice deal, with a 1600x900 screen, twice the RAM and HDD space of the Dell for less money. But it's glossy and the weight is ... titanic. Found some 3.7kg. So Fujitsu got nothing either. This is getting easier!

 

[Rolf N]

does it have to be a notebook
there are quite a few laptops with 17.3 screens in the £350 - £400 range
for example GT525M
(not sure if the cpu is enough for you but weight wise its not far off the hp probook you linked to)
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.211-3783.aspx

The 2.8kg would still be somewhat acceptable weight-wise, but this just looks kind of outdated on the CPU/chipset side. It'd be barely (+50% at best) faster than my current netbook.I really want dual cores at least. HT on the Sandy Bridge chips is a big attraction.

But I'll have a go around the Toshiba site and see what they have to offer.

edit: indeed, there are interesting models in the Satellite Pro LP 770 series. 600€ for the base config with i3-2120, 4GB RAM/500GB HDD, 1600x900 screen. 100€ more for an i5-2410 and a Geforce GT525M. Weight still around 2.8kg. Hmmmm.

 

[suryad]

Do you need something absolutely immeidately? If you could wait a bit why not try out one of them Ultrabook spec notebooks that a slew of them just got announced at the IFA? Supposed to be out in a month or so from Toshiba, Acer, etc etc. 13.3 inch screen good resolution, i5/i7 proc, SSD, decent ram, and instant on features etc etc.? Pricing I am not sure what your budget is but just throwing it out there.

 

[Rolf N]

Do you need something absolutely immeidately? If you could wait a bit why not try out one of them Ultrabook spec notebooks that a slew of them just got announced at the IFA? Supposed to be out in a month or so from Toshiba, Acer, etc etc. 13.3 inch screen good resolution, i5/i7 proc, SSD, decent ram, and instant on features etc etc.? Pricing I am not sure what your budget is but just throwing it out there.

I'll wait at least another month, see how the Llano situation shakes out.

Until then the Dell XPS 15 w/1080p screen and the Toshiba Pro LP770 are my choices. 15" or 17", basically. Not sure if I want to go bulky again. Depends on what I do with my stationary PC, too.

I'm not sold on the Ultrabook thing. To me it looks like they're trying to manufacture a second Netbook fad, but this time with bumped up margins (for a while). Probably not relevant to my interests. Super small, low-res screens and generally overpriced IMO.

 

[Frank]

I have a Samsung that is really nice, but the screen is (like all other "affordable" laptops) glossy and not that great.

The last time we discussed this topic, the consensus was that Dell has a few good ones as option on the more expensive "business" selection laptops. And that's it.

 

[Rolf N]

I have a Samsung that is really nice, but the screen is (like all other "affordable" laptops) glossy and not that great.

Yeah. I've been scouting around a local Saturn and came away completely disillusioned. Toshiba is now off my short list as well. Saw a glossy Toshiba 17 incher, significantly more expensive than my potential pick, too, and its display did not please me at all. Seems to be par for the course though, judging by the other models beside it. They had a few Samsungs too btw.

I may just be spoiled beyond repair by my trusty old NEC 24WMGX3. Now that's a monitor for the ages. Too bad I can't take it with me on the road :\

Probably going for the Dell first thing next month.

 

[Rolf N]

Oh bloody hell, the entire XPS 15 lineup has glare displays. Argh!