Thread: Laptop Upgrades and Future Laptop Replacement

Well, I am a contractor at my job, and what that means most is two things, I get paid slightly more and I have to supply my own equipment. Specifically computer equipment.

And since I work on some *gasp* access databases that are piled on me by the month. (I was hired to only manage 1 and do data entry and reporting, but now I manage three, plus additional projects)

So my hardware needs have grown.


I am currently using a 'Dell 1569' known as the Studio 15z. It was originally only available at best buy under their blue label program.

It has a Core i5-430M, 4GB DDR3, 500GB 5400RPM HD, 15" screen.
Little things it has that are nice: backlit keyboard, decent speakers, slot loading DVD drive.

Overall fairly slick.


But my job has me using this WAY more than when I originally intended. (web-browsing, note taking, movie watching in-bed and on the go)

I apologize for the long post now.

I just got a 256GB M4 SSD from crucial to replace the hard drive, and 16GB of DDR3 (2 sticks) to up the ram for now.



But I am seriously looking at this laptop as an upgrade. (Asus Zenbook UX32VD)
Amazon.com: ASUS Zenbook UX32VD-DB71 13.3-Inch Ultrabook: Computers & Accessories

What are your opinions on the new Ultrabook form factors? Or this one specifically.

I know the GHz is lower, but its 2 generations newer.... its surely faster right? And I can put 1 of the 8GB sticks in it, and the SSD.... so that makes those two things better.....

For my work, I use a Lenovo T420s. It has the i5-2520m, which is much better than the i5-430m. It does pretty good with database reporting and maintenance.

It is nothing flashy and is all business... Typical Lenovo. Very basic graphics. It is very light and makes working remotely vet easy. Also has a great docking station.

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Yeah I was provided a Lenovo for a previous job I had. They are built like tanks. I wanted something lighter as I have to walk around a warehouse right now holding it to fill out information about wiring cabinets, (literally holding in one hand and typing, or bending over and pressing against my legs to use two hands) and later when they are shipped to the hydro-electric dam I will have to walk around there with it. Basically rules out a docking station. (I also have to use lots of USB to serial / modbus /profibus converters, as no laptops come with those ports anymore, and adds to the weight)

Screen resolution is important too, some of these access forms were made by monkeys it seems with unlimited screen resolution.... and because scroll wheels in access are broken/disabled on purpose, I spend tons of time scrolling. 1080p is a minimum for these things, my current 768p results in two scrolls per record update... terrible.

I'm currently looking at a Sager. I've only heard good things about them. The Zen books are pretty nice though.

Does Sager have anything that is somewhat decently powerful and thin (and thus light).

As above I have ram and an ssd to upgrade into it... so those aren't a must, but upgradable HD and RAM are....

I have been using and recommending Asus.

I have heard good things about Sager, but they are a little more pricy.

I avoid HP, mainly because of some business practices ... I posted a thread here years ago. Essentially, unless there is a class action lawsuit they won't replace known-faulty lines of parts for free. Most other companies will... Never used Dell, but I have an IT buddy who loves them, says their support is good. Avoid Alienware, as it is just better Dell, but Sager would be better if paying that price (AW mobos are usually lower end).

I have only ever bought dell in the past, and I have dealt with their corporate support... top class support I would say. I got to test a bunch of prototype laptops to find what my company needed at the time.

I do not trust HP's craftsmanship or thermal designs..... usually the two go hand in hand, both being crap. Not to mention business practices. So I completely agree with you Soy.

Alienware is too expensive for quality I know isn't comparatively better than regular dell. Plus all their optimization they charge you to do, I would re-do myself anyways.... first thing I plan on doing is a clean installation of windows 7.


Thanks for the suggestions so far, I will have to take a look into Sager.

Originally Posted by rush2049

I have only ever bought dell in the past, and I have dealt with their corporate support... top class support I would say. I got to test a bunch of prototype laptops to find what my company needed at the time.

I do not trust HP's craftsmanship or thermal designs..... usually the two go hand in hand, both being crap. Not to mention business practices. So I completely agree with you Soy.

In fact it has been heat issues that wrecked three different HP systems in my past; my grammy's Touch Smart, and one of my lappys and my ex's lappy. They all died because overheating made the GPU come unsoldered. They all had the same mobo and GPU and cooling system. There is another line using the same parts and a class action lawsuit forced them to replace all of that line. Unfortunately, for the other models that used the same parts no class action law suit came to fruition...

In one case you could wrap it in a towel for awhile, let it get hot and then smush the GPU back into place... lol.


In any case: Fuck HP. I have never afforded a Sager, have fun with it. I have heard all good...

Originally Posted by rush2049

Does Sager have anything that is somewhat decently powerful and thin (and thus light).

As above I have ram and an ssd to upgrade into it... so those aren't a must, but upgradable HD and RAM are....

They can get more powerful than quite a few desktops. You can get them with an SSD and pretty good RAM (32GB 1600MHz).

As for thin, I don't know, but they have everything from 10-17" in terms of monitor size. I would assume the 17" wouldn't be thin. The 15" and below, likely though.

I love my Alienware M11x. No optical drive, which sucks if you really need one, but other than that it,is,great.

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