Looking for new laptop

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bjballar41

Member
I am looking into a new laptop. Right now I have an ASUS U56E. Its done good but windows 8 really isnt supported on this computer by ASUS and I need windows 8 and it to be supported for school. I am a networking specialist student so im gonna be doing some virtual os on the computer along with other things. im thinking of going with a lenovo l540 with an i7-4702mq processor, windows 8 64bit, intel hd graphics 4600, 8GB pc3-12800 ddr3l sdram 1600MHz SODIMM, a 500GB Hard drive and 16 GB NGFF memory(can someone explain this to me I assume its like an ssd hard drive of some sort or like whats in the chrombooks) a 6 cell 48Wh battery, and intel single band wireless 7260BN with bluetooth 4.0

here is the link. http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/l-series/l540/#customize

if anyone sees anything i should change or shouldnt get let me know. please or if u know of a batter computer from them or asus let me know. id like to stay around 1000 or less
 
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When I click your link, all I get is something about a "Lenovo DisplayPort To DVI-D Adapter Cable", nothing about a laptop. :(
 
Thinkpads are nice but you will pay more, I just ordered a Lenovo Idea pad Z510 which is comparable in specs to the thinkpad but only ran me $699. The only Lenovo's to not buy are the "essential" line as these are complete crap. I should have mine by tomorrow or the day after judging by the ship date.

You are talking about running virtualized desktops? If we are thinking the same think I do that right now on a Intel Core i3 380 with 4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz which means any modern computer would do just fine.
 
well ill be working with server so i need higher ram cause i will dedicate 2 GB just for it so id like to have 6 GB or upgradeable and i can do it later. i did look at the e line up. i just looked urs up and thats a damn steal on the price on their site. what makes the thinkpad better? cause those specs put some of the thinkpads to shame. its a lil big on my taste id like something like 15 inches. but specs wise thats pretty much what im looking for. i just need something thats gonna be supported for a lil longer than my asus was(a lil disappointed in that)
 
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The thinkpads are a little more rugged in the sense Lenovo engineers most of them to handle spills, slight drops and not to have the fans clog in the event left outside during a sand storm. They are considered business grade.

However I have never owned a business line notebook, all of mine have been consumer models and as long as you do your research on the manufacture and the model lines you can still get a pretty good notebook which will come close to "business grade". I have been researching mine now for about two weeks and the only complaint I have seen are the screen quality but that is on the 1366x766 resolution only and the one I bought at that price is the 1920x1080 so I am sure it will be fine. Should find out tomorrow saying UPS delivers it on time.

From what I read online the idea pad series are a really good line, the only ones that seem to get complaints are the essential line but in that case you get what you pay for.
 
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So I got my notebook today and man this thing is far better quality then I would have expected for a notebook only being $700. The quality of the screen is amazing and the performance great. The only downside I see but ever PC suffers from is the bloatware. A lot more then I was expecting but all easily removable. I get about five hours of battery life. Got any questions let me know.

On a side note I was looking at the notebook you listed the link too and the only thing I would be against is the CPU on that model. It is more of an ultra book cpu and posses less power.

Here is a comparison of the CPU from the Z510 and from the U510
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-4700MQ-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4500U
 
where did u purchase urs from? and pics of the build quality please. also how fast does it come up from being shut down and being asleep. i was thinking about doing a ssd with the hard drive (like 16GB) how do u feel about the dark chocolate color?
 
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The chocolate brown looks almost black to me so not to bad and that is just the outside and the inside is brushed aluminum. It can be upgrade to 16GB of memory and yes it can replace the HDD and SDD, though I do not know if you can run a SSD along side the HDD unless you find a model that already does. As far as I know that is the best battery you can get without using an external battery. Honestly with a quad cure i7 will be hard to achieve over five hours for anything under 1k especially given the great build quality. I am currently out of the house but I will post some more detailed pictures when I get home. I bought it from Lenovo.com
 
Hey man sorry I didn't respond yesterday as I got rapped up in some stuff. For the quality of this notebook the shell feels very sturdy, the track pad is on par with notebooks well over 1k. I would say the track pad is on par with many Macbook Pro's I have used. Key board is not clacking at all and very smooth with a back light that can be toggled on and off. The I have turned the volume all the way up on videos and music and no crackling from the speakers, they do get pretty loud if I might add. The fans are not loud at all, actually very quiet especially on "balance" or power save mode. On a final note one piece of software I kept on there from everything lenovo installed was the battery manager, I don't know if it really helps extend each charge but it has two maintenance options. One it will reset the battery which it recommends to do once every 1 to 2 months to extend the battery. The second is it will run the fans through a series of cycles to help clean out the dust which will get trapped in the fans and the case.

For some reason it is only letting me upload one picture, saying my box is full even though this is the only picture I have in my attachments.
 
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Yes it does, and I don't know since I have yet had a need to push it nor do I think I will ever have a need to push it.
 
so ive been looking at the y510p not sure if i should get one like that or not. i like the idea of the ssd and the hdd thats a huge plus.
 
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