Hi guys,

I know some people are here in the forum with great knowledge about computers and laptops.

The variaty is huge and so many brands and numbers and figures which makes my   

Can anybody give me some advice?

What I need:

- 15" - 17" nothing bigger.
- doesn't have to be a gamer laptop. But not a basic one. So i7 mabye? Or is i5 sufficient?
- is SDD very common already? Or normal HDD? 500GB or more
- RAM 8-16GB
- DVD/ blue- ray reader/ burner
- and I would prefer it to be rather thin and not too thick. The thinnger the better

Anything which is a must have these days I might miss?

Well, price. That is a good question. Not too much, but not the cheapest. Should be a proper one with a reasonable price.

Many thanks for your help/ input/ ideas.

wilco737
  

Oh, one more point: no apple. Sorry, but I am using windows forever and not interested to swap now. Thanks  

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): - 15" - 17" nothing bigger.

I don't think there are laptops that have screens larger than 17".

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): So i7 mabye? Or is i5 sufficient?

i5 is more than sufficient for most applications. Even i3 is sufficient if you're just using it for office application and playing music and movie.

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): - is SDD very common already? Or normal HDD? 500GB or more

SSD is getting cheaper and gaining more popularity. An SSD with at least 240GB in capacity would do fine unless you're going to put large amount of data or many movies and songs in it.

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): - RAM 8-16GB

8GB is more than enough for most applications.

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): - DVD/ blue- ray reader/ burner - and I would prefer it to be rather thin and not too thick. The thinnger the better

If you want a thin one, there is a category of laptops called ultrabook. They have 13"-14" screen and very light, about 1.5 kg or even less. However, they don't have built-in DVD/Blue Ray drive. You'll need an external one.

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): Anything which is a must have these days I might miss?

Must have: high-capacity battery.
Not a must but very nice to have: screen resolution that is better than 1366 x 768 pixels, spill-proof and back-lit keyboard.

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): Oh, one more point: no apple. Sorry, but I am using windows forever and not interested to swap now. Thanks

Sorry, Klaus. 

If you are not into Apple, I suggest you take a look at the Dell XPS 15. Top notch specs, including a touch screen and a nice sleek design.

Quoting afterburner (Reply 1): I don't think there are laptops that have screens larger than 17".

Some very few I found, but they are huge and I do not need them.

Quoting afterburner (Reply 1): i5 is more than sufficient for most applications. Even i3 is sufficient if you're just using it for office application and playing music and movie.

I usually only do usual stuff. I don't have FS on my old laptop as it is like 7 years old and runs windows XP on it 

Quoting afterburner (Reply 1): . An SSD with at least 240GB in capacity would do fine

That would do fine. I have my home PC which I use mostly. Laptop is only for my trips.

Quoting afterburner (Reply 1): ultrabook

Yeah, found them, but:

Quoting afterburner (Reply 1): they don't have built-in DVD/Blue Ray drive

That is exactly the point. As I spend quite some time in hotels (jobwise) I like to watch DVD/ blue- ray during sleepless nights. So this is a must.

Quoting afterburner (Reply 1): Sorry, Klaus.

Haha, I expected soemthing like this 

Quoting AirPacific747 (Reply 2): Dell XPS 15

I will look into that. Sounds like a good machine. Thanks.

wilco737
  

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 3): Quoting afterburner (Reply 1): they don't have built-in DVD/Blue Ray drive That is exactly the point. As I spend quite some time in hotels (jobwise) I like to watch DVD/ blue- ray during sleepless nights. So this is a must.

Why though? Why not copy your movies onto a high-capacity drive? It wouldn't take up more space than a DVD case and it would store many, many, many more movies.

Quoting Airstud (Reply 4): Why though? Why not copy your movies onto a high-capacity drive? It wouldn't take up more space than a DVD case and it would store many, many, many more movies.

What do you mean? Like a HDD?

But copying DVD's into a format which can be watched on PC (tablet) is not lega in Germany. So not sure how to do it then.

wilco737
  

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): - is SDD very common already? Or normal HDD? 500GB or more

I'd go with a conventional drive. It's cheaper. Just make sure the hard drive can be replaced.

On my MacBook (used from Oct 2007 until Dec 2013), the conventional hard drive failed three times. It was neither expensive or difficult to buy a new one and install it. Some people I know often take their laptop out for railway trips, and so they replace it yearly.

Since Dec 2013, I have a Acer Aspire with a keypad to enter numbers more easily. I just like it. Look out for a decent graphics and sound card, though.

(After ten minutes of not understanding Windows 8, I installed Ubuntu, btw.)

Quoting Airstud (Reply 4): Why not copy your movies onto a high-capacity drive?

  

I have a 2 TB USB drive to store all this stuff, despite a 500 GB internal hard disk.


David

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): Can anybody give me some advice?

Asus have some nice laptops. So perhaps an Asus Zenbook model?

I also agree with Airstud about putting the movies/tv-series onto an hard drive.

*edit

Just noticed your post about the legal matter, this can be solved by buying an external
Blu-ray drive which means you don't need an internal drive.

[Edited 2014-04-04 03:39:47]

One word: Apple. But if you're going with MS, get anything from HP.

Here's a link to the Dell. Comes with an i7 processor and 512GB SSD.

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/...hscreen-Laptop/productID.288730000

Quoting varigb707 (Reply 8): One word: Apple

Two words: no thanks.  

Quoting varigb707 (Reply 8): et anything from HP

Thanks.

Quoting AirPacific747 (Reply 9): Here's a link to the Dell

Many thanks. Will check it out.

wilco737
  

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 10): Quoting varigb707 (Reply 8):et anything from HP Thanks.

I am on the fence about the HP suggestion. I don't like their support discs that they send out, and I chased a nasty windows update issue( which is really a MS problem) without it. I would rather go with a Dell or a Lenovo for a laptop. ( On the Lenovo, I would uninstall their "helper apps" especially for Network connectivity).

Quoting thunderboltdrgn (Reply 7): So perhaps an Asus Zenbook model?

I had one of those for a while from work. Total shite. It just felt really cheap. The newere ones may be better.

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): Oh, one more point: no apple. Sorry, but I am using windows forever and not interested to swap now. Thanks

I run Windows 7 on a Mac Air and it is wonderful. It's painless and quick to setup. I wouldn't rule out a 15" Macbook Pro Retina. For CAD2050 you simply can't beat those specs, Apple durability, and that screen my god that screen is amazing.

YOWza

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 5): But copying DVD's into a format which can be watched on PC (tablet) is not lega in Germany. So not sure how to do it then.

Do your DVDs still have "effective" copy protection methods?

The law allows you to circumvent any copyright protection if it is non-effective at protecting the contents. If the copy protection is effective, it is illegal to circumvent it. Tells a lot about our politicians and their mental capabilities, by the way.  


David

Quoting yowza (Reply 12): I run Windows 7 on a Mac Air and it is wonderful. It's painless and quick to setup. I wouldn't rule out a 15" Macbook Pro Retina. For CAD2050 you simply can't beat those specs, Apple durability, and that screen my god that screen is amazing.

Nope, not an option. Sorry, but Apple and me never got along well....

Quoting flyingturtle (Reply 13): he law allows you to circumvent any copyright protection if it is non-effective at protecting the contents. If the copy protection is effective, it is illegal to circumvent it. Tells a lot about our politicians and their mental capabilities, by the way.

Yeah, I know about that. Most of them are pretty new DVD's. So not really possible to get around the protection legally.


wilco737
  

Quoting wilco737 (Thread starter): Can anybody give me some advice? What I need: - 15" - 17" nothing bigger. - doesn't have to be a gamer laptop. But not a basic one. So i7 mabye? Or is i5 sufficient? - is SDD very common already? Or normal HDD? 500GB or more - RAM 8-16GB - DVD/ blue- ray reader/ burner - and I would prefer it to be rather thin and not too thick. The thinnger the better Anything which is a must have these days I might miss? Well, price. That is a good question. Not too much, but not the cheapest. Should be a proper one with a reasonable price. Many thanks for your help/ input/ ideas.

I would go for either the dell here:

http://www.dell.com/de/p/inspiron-15...cnr1515&model_id=inspiron-15r-5537

Or, if you're willing to give team AMD a go, try the HP here:

http://store.hp.com/GermanyStore/Mer...&opt=ABD&sel=PCNB#merch-tech-specs

They're both the same price and have the same graphics. The CPU on the Dell is more efficient but the HP has more 12 GB RAM vs the Dell's 8GB (8GB is plenty anyway).

Hey Wilco,

I recently bought a Lenovo Z510 laptop after my daughter accidently spilled ginger ale over my previous laptop. I researched many different laptops over a 2-3 week period and found this one to be the best bang for the buck.
It has a Intel i7 processor and 8gb ram as well as 1tb HDD. It is thin and extremely lightweight and has a backlit keyboard which wasn't a necessity, but a nice feature all the same.
I got mine for $725 CAD including S&H and taxes with my AC employee discount. Don't know if LH employees get something similar.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the Lenovo. Windows 8 was a little bit of a learning curve compared to Win 7, but I like it now.
I am currently planning on buying a Lenovo Yoga 10.1 tablet from them as well.
Anyways, good luck!!
http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops...eries/z510/?sb=:000001CA:00003FD1:

Couple of tips whether or not you follow the suggestion below:
-Once you start using a backlit keyboard, especially in a plane, you won't want to go back;
-Laptop manufacturers still charge a premium for SSD. After choosing your laptop, look up the hardware maintenance manual to see whether the HDD bay is easily accessible. If it is, get your laptop with the cheapest HDD available, buy a SSD at retail and install it yourself.

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 3): I have my home PC which I use mostly. Laptop is only for my trips.

If you also have a home PC, may I make a suggestion? Buy a very good laptop and ditch the desktop!

Late last year, after having to reset Google Sync again to sync my bookmarks between the laptop and the desktop, and using Evernote and Bitcasa to do the same with files and other materials, I decided there had to be a better way.

I kept my external speakers and my 29" display, bought an AMS Venus enclosure to "recycle" the two high-capacity HDDs I had in my desktop and bought a Toshiba Dynadock to connect all that to (and keyboard/mouse). Then a single USB cable from the Dynadock to a new laptop, and I have a perfect desktop setup at home.

For the laptop, since it is truly a desktop replacement, I have an Intel i7 CPU, one 24GB SDD and one 180GB SDD (*), 16GB of DDR3 RAM, a built-in graphics controller on the CPU and a NVIDIA GeForce graphics controller (software control switching back and force as needed, but you can customize it).

All in all, some serious firepower on the road, and everything I'd need out of my desktop at home and then some. It is the quietest desktop I have ever had, but not the lightest.

(*) Having two SSDs isn't my idea, it's the manufacturer's. The 24GB SDD comes by default and is swapable with a second NVIDIA card, or a bigger fan. I bought the 180GB SDD at retail to replace the HDD the laptop came with.

Quoting ChaosTheory (Reply 15): I would go for either the dell here:

I heard they are pretty good. But the support is difficult. Once something is wrong you always have to send it somewhere and repair take couple weeks. Can anybody confirm that?

Quoting ChaosTheory (Reply 15): r, if you're willing to give team AMD a go, try the HP here:

Never had AMD, so never bad experience. I will look into that. are they a lot cheaper and good performance?

Quoting blueflyer (Reply 17): If you also have a home PC, may I make a suggestion? Buy a very good laptop and ditch the desktop!

I thought about that. But as I do a lot with photo editing and have 2 24" desktop monitors at home, I don't want to swap that into a 17" laptop, if you know what I mean 

Quoting blueflyer (Reply 17): For the laptop, since it is truly a desktop replacement, I have an Intel i7 CPU, one 24GB SDD and one 180GB SDD (*), 16GB of DDR3 RAM, a built-in graphics controller on the CPU and a NVIDIA GeForce graphics controller (software control switching back and force as needed, but you can customize it).

Sounds like an excellent machine    But I guess it wasn't only for $999  

wilco737
  

For Dell support if you take the better warranty (3 or 4 years international something) they come wherever and in one day to repair your laptop. My brother bought the most expensive laptop they had about 6 years ago (XPS 17" with the most powerful graphic card, 1920*1200 screen, etc.), something like 3000€, I begged him to take the 4 years warranty, he did and thanked me as Dell had to change the motherboard 3 or 4 times (damn nvidia card ran so hot it fried the whole thing), every time the technician came at home, work, school, anywhere convenient, with the parts and did the repair there and then.

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 5): What do you mean? Like a HDD? But copying DVD's into a format which can be watched on PC (tablet) is not lega in Germany. So not sure how to do it then. wilco737

That law must not be enforced much as German Blu-Ray ISOs are ten times more common on the newsgroups than any other.

Also, don't dismiss Lenovo's Thinkpads. Browsing their website I'm seeing they let you know the technology used by the screen, that's a nice advance I've been waiting for a decade, as you like photography and watching videos, I'll suggest you choose an IPS screen, and avoid TN ones.

Quoting Aesma (Reply 19): (damn nvidia card ran so hot it fried the whole thing), every time the technician came at home, work, school, anywhere convenient, with the parts and did the repair there and then.

I had the same problem with a macbook pro 15" bought in 2007. Luckily Apple admitted the hardware fault and replaced the faulty graphics card at their expense.

Quoting Aesma (Reply 19): For Dell support if you take the better warranty (3 or 4 years international something

That is quite good. Will consider the foe sure. Thanks.

Quoting Aesma (Reply 19): something like 3000€

Sounds cheap   

Quoting Aesma (Reply 19): That law must not be enforced much as German Blu-Ray ISOs are ten times more common on the newsgroups than any other.

Well, yeah, you know, I am quite careful with all that. So, I don't want to risk anything.

Quoting Aesma (Reply 19): Also, don't dismiss Lenovo's Thinkpads.

Will check them out. Thanks.

Many thanks so far for the feedback and all the input and help.

wilco737
  

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 18): I thought about that. But as I do a lot with photo editing and have 2 24" desktop monitors at home, I don't want to swap that into a 17" laptop, if you know what I mean

You can keep that setup and connect the monitors and the other peripheral equipment
to the laptop instead of the desktop computer.

If you're planning to use it outdoors at all i would strongly suggest one with a matte screen. Any laptop with a standard shiny screen is unbearable/impossible to use even if the sun is shining a little or at all.

Apart from that i'd say a SSD is a far bigger bottleneck performance wise than having the fastest CPU or most memory. It's night and day difference between a SSD and a traditional HDD: Thankfully you can swap the HDD for a SSD on almost any laptop even if it doesn't come delivered with one. And it rarely voids warranty. At least it didn't on my HP Elitebook.


If you want a long lasting machine with 3yr business warranty i would say go with HP's Elitebook line or Dell's Latitude. Price is abit steep but i would say that they are very well worth it.

Look at the customer service ratings there and at the ease of getting repairs for the various brands you are considering.

Reliability ratings and customer service have long been prime issues for me after a week of misery from third rate customer service. In the US if you don't want Apple then go for who ever is in second place.

Buy SSD separately, image it and swap. It works out cheaper and you always have the original HDD in case you have to send it our for repairs. Whenever you call support they will make you restore it to factory state even to fix simple issues.

If you buy HP, get accidental damage protection. Their laptop hinges tend to break and are not covered by standard warranty.

Quoting thunderboltdrgn (Reply 22): You can keep that setup and connect the monitors and the other peripheral equipment to the laptop instead of the desktop computer.

Good point. But do I have to observe anything about the graphics card or can they all do that?

Quoting mika (Reply 23): If you're planning to use it outdoors at all i would strongly suggest one with a matte screen

Not really no. I have a tablet for that or my cell phone.

Quoting DTW2HYD (Reply 25): If you buy HP, get accidental damage protection. Their laptop hinges tend to break and are not covered by standard warranty.

Sounds like good quality :P

Thanks.

wilco737
  

Quoting DTW2HYD (Reply 25): If you buy HP, get accidental damage protection. Their laptop hinges tend to break and are not covered by standard warranty.

This certainly cannot be said about their business line products; probook, elitebook and elitebook workstation.

Which model has that issue? It has to be model specific i'm assuming..never heard of it.

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 26): Good point. But do I have to observe anything about the graphics card or can they all do that?

It needs to have two graphic output ports. It will vary from one laptop to another so need to make
sure that it has two. It also depends on what kinds of connections (DVI/HDMI/HDMI mini) your
monitors are capable of.

Quoting thunderboltdrgn (Reply 28): t needs to have two graphic output ports. It will vary from one laptop to another so need to make sure that it has two. It also depends on what kinds of connections (DVI/HDMI/HDMI mini) your monitors are capable of.

Thanks for that. Will look out for that.

They are both rather new and both with HDMI connected to my current desktop. But I think the 'older' one still has the "original" older connection as well. (no clue what it is called) 

wilco737
  

Quoting mika (Reply 27): This certainly cannot be said about their business line products; probook, elitebook and elitebook workstation.

Not with business class laptops. If I understand correctly wilco737 is not looking for a business class laptop. They just have an annoying problem with fan intake sucking up all the lint in the world and fan runs continuously.

Google "HP laptop hinge problems". Tension on hinge changes over period of time. In bulky models hinge gives away, in slim/ultra slim models screen lid cover tears apart.

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 29): Thanks for that. Will look out for that. They are both rather new and both with HDMI connected to my current desktop. But I think the 'older' one still has the "original" older connection as well. (no clue what it is called) wilco737

The older connector is probably a DVI. different HDMI connectors.

Quoting mika (Reply 23): Apart from that i'd say a SSD is a far bigger bottleneck performance wise than having the fastest CPU or most memory. It's night and day difference between a SSD and a traditional HDD:

But aren't SSDs much smaller capacity than the average HDD now, where 1TB seems very common even on laptops?

And on laptops that come with both an SDD and HDD, can someone explain how that works. What goes on which drive in terms of programs, files etc.?

Hi Wilco,

I got myself a Thinkpad Yoga (256GB SSD, i7) around Thanksgiving.

Pros:

Haswell Chip runs very cool, saving my chromosomes for humanity.
Haswell = long battery life.
SSD means quick start and instant on from Sleep mode.
Beautiful finish and legendary Thinkpad build quality.
Touch Screen
USB 3.0
Very light.
Hi Res Screen, great for watching video.
The i7 just purrs happily and lopes around, around 10-15% utilization on most apps.


Cons:

TouchPad/ UltraNav works really poorly, cant double click.
Win 8.1 freezes often, uses iOS trick of not telling you an exception has occurred.
Battery not user replaceable.
No Optical Drive, but I don't need one.

Petty Gripes:

Cant tell id the computer is 'working' or not: no clicks, whirrs or flashing leds.
Cant tell the time or battery status from the Modern UI.


Good luck with your decision! I would look into the Asus....

I'm typing this on a Macbook Pro with retina screen, top-end model with a Gforce graphics card. Cost a small fortune, but I had money to spend and wanted to see what this Apple gig was all about.

Roughly 5 minutes after firing it up the first time the penny dropped. It's just so .... nice! Fires up in a second, never freezes up, fast as a ferret on fire and with superior graphics. Safari beats the living daylights out of any other browser I've ever known and, best of all, the chance of catching a virus or trojan is untold orders of magnitude lower than if you run a Windoze machine.

Did find that I was missing an Office package, mainly for Excel and Word, but that too can be had for a Mac these days.

About the same time the Mac became a cherished member of the household I changed jobs, and with the new job came a brand new Dell laptop. It's a vile piece of crap, slow and prone to freezing up. Something that takes but a second on the Mac will take 10 times longer on the Dell, and you never stop worrying it'll crash in the middle of you doing something important, erasing all the work you've spent the last couple of hours doing. The Mac has not crashed once, not even a little bit, in the year I've had it now. I've never done any maintenance on it, e.g. defragging, and it just keeps on chucking along as fast today as it was the day I bought it. One word of advice, though, don't go for the magic mouse - a nice Logitech one is far better.

I'm totally converted and wouldn't go back to anything running Windoze ever again.

Give it a try, Wilco, I can all but guarantee you won't regret it! Yes, it's overpriced like all other Apple products, but I haven't for a second felt cheated.

PS
The 15-year old son of my girlfriend had saved up around 1000 Euro's to buy a new Laptop. Not enough for a Mac, so he bought the best Lappy he could get with the money he had. 2 months old and it's already noticeably slower than the day he bought it. And all he ever does on it is play LoL and use it for his school homework. Just sayin'

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 34): Something that takes but a second on the Mac will take 10 times longer on the Dell

Are the hardware specifications of both laptops comparable?

I use an Asus, but I also use it's powerful processor and graphics for FSX. I'm pretty happy with it. It was expensive, but worth it.

Marc

Quoting comorin (Reply 33):

Thannks for all these details and the pros and cons.

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 34): Give it a try, Wilco, I can all but guarantee you won't regret it!

I tried out an apple ipad. After 1 year I sold it as it was really annoying me. Me and apple doesn't seem to get a long well, so I won't spend €2500 on an macbook, just to give it a try. Spent enough money on the ipad already...

Quoting Cadet985 (Reply 36): I use an Asus

Thanks.

Looks like quite a few use Asus. Never heard of that brand to be honest. Well, I heard of it, but it never was really an option because I don't know anybody around me who uses an Asus laptop. But they seem to be good, so I will look into it for sure.

Many thanks to everybody.

wilco737
  

Quoting afterburner (Reply 35): Are the hardware specifications of both laptops comparable?

Pretty much, yeah. Put it this way, if I start both at the same time I'll be halfway through making a posting on a.net, while the Windoze is still trying to figure out whether it wants to play or not.

Quoting Aesma (Reply 19): For Dell support if you take the better warranty (3 or 4 years international something) they come wherever and in one day to repair your laptop. My brother bought the most expensive laptop they had about 6 years ago (XPS 17" with the most powerful graphic card, 1920*1200 screen, etc.), something like 3000€, I begged him to take the 4 years warranty, he did and thanked me as Dell had to change the motherboard 3 or 4 times (damn nvidia card ran so hot it fried the whole thing), every time the technician came at home, work, school, anywhere convenient, with the parts and did the repair there and then.

I bought an expensive and customized Dell XPS with JBL Windows 7 Core i-7 three years ago. At the same time I bought a new printer from Dell as it was offered at a good price with the lap-top purchase.

I was looking at Apple, However, I had had Dell for so long and was satisfied with their product and service. I bought all the extended warranty I could get.

Big mistake!
The printer refused to interface with the lap-top from day one. Over a period of about four months I spent hours and hours on the phone with droids from Dell who just passed me around from one droid to another and not one person helped me out.
All I wanted was to have them send me a printer that would work and they wouldn't even do that. Their customer service is horrible.   

I am DONE with Dell. I wouldn't buy a paper-clip from them. They won't even honor their extended warranty. I am just trying to get the time to take them to small-claims court out of spite at this point. My Epson printer works perfectly. Dell's drek is still sitting here on the floor.   

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 38): Pretty much, yeah. Put it this way, if I start both at the same time I'll be halfway through making a posting on a.net, while the Windoze is still trying to figure out whether it wants to play or not.

Well I have a few years old Lenovo Thinkpad with SSD and a now old Core 2 Duo chip. It boots up from standby immediately as well. Don't attribute all these things to Apple when they don't deserve the credit. They just created this illusion that everything just works on a Mac. Well my girlfriend has a new 13" macbook pro retina. It is very nice, but actually we've had more software issues with that one than I have had with my Lenovo Thinkpad.

If you get a Windows 8 laptop / tablet with SSD and dedicated graphics card, you will notice that Windows 8 is just as fast if not faster than OSX on comparable hardware.

Quoting B777LRF (Reply 38): Pretty much, yeah. Put it this way, if I start both at the same time I'll be halfway through making a posting on a.net, while the Windoze is still trying to figure out whether it wants to play or not.

Can you check the type of the hard drive of both laptops? It may be because the Mac has SSD while the Dell has HDD. The difference in the type of the hard drive itself can make a quite significant difference of booting time.

Anybody any experience with Samsung laptops? As my wife and I both have Samsung cell phones, tablets and our TV's are Samsung as well, would it make sense as well? I am quite happy with them.

I found that one: Samsung RF511-S02

Sounds pretty good, but rather heavy with 2,6 kgs?

wilco737
  

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 42): and our TV's are Samsung as well, would it make sense as well? I am quite happy with them.

I thought LH pilots would be able to afford Loewe or B&O :P but I guess the priorities are elsewhere.

With regards to that laptop, I would think that 4GB of ram is on the lower side.

Quoting AirPacific747 (Reply 43): I thought LH pilots would be able to afford Loewe or B&O :P but I guess the priorities are elsewhere.

Haha, well, it is a 58" Full HD: not the cheapest, but not in the Loewe range. ANd I prefer Bose or Harman Kardon (which I have at home).

True, 4 GB is a bit low. Maybe a similar model with more power 

wilco737
  

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 44):

If I could afford it, I would like a Bang & Olufsen home cinema since I love their design and quality but I guess it's also due to national pride  

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 42): I found that one: Samsung RF511-S02

For Samsung, look for Series 5 Ultrabook. It weighs about 1.8 kg. Series 7 and 9 are lighter. However they don't have optical drive.

Quoting AirPacific747 (Reply 45): If I could afford it, I would like a Bang & Olufsen home cinema since I love their design and quality but I guess it's also due to national pride

Never was much into B&O, too much to pay only for the design. Harman Kardon is great design and great sound and cheaper. So I got this one.

Quoting afterburner (Reply 46): For Samsung, look for Series 5 Ultrabook. It weighs about 1.8 kg. Series 7 and 9 are lighter. However they don't have optical drive.

Yes, I saw the ultrabooks, and I just tried one at a store here. they are slim, light, powerful, But as you said, the optical drive is missing. Not sure if I want to have an external...

wilco737
  

I hope you don't make the mistake I did by being loyal to Dell. Their customer service was just ridiculous.
I should have just gone on newegg and found a good inexpensive bargain. My I-Pad and I-phone do a great job so I don't use the lap-top for much anyway.
Good Luck!

Quoting wilco737 (Reply 47): Yes, I saw the ultrabooks, and I just tried one at a store here. they are slim, light, powerful, But as you said, the optical drive is missing. Not sure if I want to have an external...

There are Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook that have optical drive.