Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
Hey guys, well I have the classic PC predicament. Should I buy now or wait...
I'm looking to buy a new laptop for my third year in uni next year and since I'm studying architecture I expect to be using a lot of AutoCAD and Photoshop next year (along with some other programs on the side such as InDesign and Illustrator for presentations).
What I'm looking for in a laptop is:
-Under £900, the lower the better.
-Be reasonably powerful and be capable of light gaming (If it can play modern games at low settings I'm happy).
-Be well built (my friend has an MSI that was absolutely fantastic spec wise but the lid has seriously fallen apart after 2 years so I really wanna avoid plastic and go for something sturdy)
-Be reasonably portable (basically as long as it's not a 5kg monster is fine)
So I saw this deal for an Acer Aspire Ethos 5942G for £750:
http://www.acerdirect.co.uk/Acer_Asp...82/version.asp
That looks extremely tempting and it's the best price I've seen by a country mile. The question is should I wait for AMD and their new Fusion products to come out before making my decision? The trouble with waiting I find is that the products could take months to get to market so a wait of a few weeks on paper could drag on forever and by then an even newer product is announced (and about to be 'released' XD).
I guess I'm just looking for some suggestions for suitable laptops and what you guys think I should do! Please feel free to suggest anything from ultra-portables to 18" monsters if there's a reason why it might be suitable because I'm really keeping my mind open at this stage and I want a good laptop that will last me a few years!
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
Presumably by next year, you mean October-ish?
I would think it's well worth waiting 5 months, or do you have a more pressing reason to upgrade now?
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
End-of-August-ish lol, yeah Irish unis are wierd.
Getting one now gives me the summer to play around on AutoCAD and Photoshop and Sketchup so I'm looking to get one halfway through summer at the very latest. If Llano really is being released in June then I can wait till then. But if products only start showing up in August then it's no good :(
Also does anyone know if acerdirect.co.uk is a reputable retailer? Their contact page is very convincing and their address and other prices checks out but only £750 for an Ethos raises eyebrows.
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
It\'s £750 without VAT, in case you didn\'t notice.
Edit: My mistake, saw another price underneath and assumed that was with VAT. :(
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
The Llano IGP should be comparable to a Mobility Radeon HD5650. It is hard to say whether the more expensive Llano laptops will have a discrete graphics card in Crossfire too.
Since,the Llano desktop CPUs are being released next month you should be able to get an idea of the CPU performance.
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Zhaoman
End-of-August-ish lol, yeah Irish unis are wierd.
Getting one now gives me the summer to play around on AutoCAD and Photoshop and Sketchup so I'm looking to get one halfway through summer at the very latest. If Llano really is being released in June then I can wait till then. But if products only start showing up in August then it's no good :(
Also does anyone know if acerdirect.co.uk is a reputable retailer? Their contact page is very convincing and their address and other prices checks out but only £750 for an Ethos raises eyebrows.
I waited forever for i3 netbooks to appear on the scene, and it was a complete waste of time. Started to turn up by the time I needed to buy, but typically they were extremely expensive, and there wasn't nearly the range, so I couldn't find anything that was specifically what I was looking for.
I would be inclined to say don't wait. Okay, so you might get lucky, but even if you do it will probably be a real last-minute purchase, and not necessarily what you want.
Also, when I was looking for the i3 netbooks, prices began to be slashed on the previous models before the new ones came out, presumably because they're far easier to sell when people think "Wow, what a bargain" than when people think "Well, it's cheap because it's rubbish compared to the new one". So you might do well in June.
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
Yeah good point. Thanks for all the comments guys. Maybe I should wait till June and see? It's just that damn £750 price that's got me all twitchy :D
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
Ah right, nice find Snootyjim. I had spotted that at John Lewis but didn't realise it was a different generation of processor! A lot of retailers I have seen are still selling the i5 Ethos at over £1000. It's back to googling for me!
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
Quote:
-Be well built (my friend has an MSI that was absolutely fantastic spec wise but the lid has seriously fallen apart after 2 years so I really wanna avoid plastic and go for something sturdy)
If it's durability you're concerned about then many people swear by Thinkpads. They may not be the fastest/cheapest/best looking but they're built like tanks. I've personally not owned one but I've had a non-thinkpad lenovo in the past and it was incredibly well made.
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
The Thinkpad usually seems to be in the top slots of reliability surveys and NASA has used them for the last 20 years on space missions. They also have good keyboards.
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
I have a thinkpad at work. I suppose its not bad but I've never been to impressed with it; its not bad actually. I can try and break a bit off if you're interested?
I think our IT department is to blame for all the problems with it; none physical though.
In reply to the topic would hang in there although availability may be lacking at launch. The brazos netbooks are still no where to be seen. None in any highstreet retailer; hows that for poor marketing.
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Yeah AMD laptop launches have been really disappointing these last few years, promises of great things but no availability anywhere... So it might be a bad idea waiting for this next one.
I'm seriously considering the Thinkpads now but boy are they expensive! The new T410s looks absolutely perfect (Good specs, optimus, good screen, 14" so portable) but at nearly two grand... er, yeah that's not gonna work.
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Zhaoman
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Yeah AMD laptop launches have been really disappointing these last few years, promises of great things but no availability anywhere... So it might be a bad idea waiting for this next one.
Llano being a fusion CPU is somewhat of a different proposition to older AMD offerings. Older AMD designs were desktop CPUs shoe horned into laptops. Llano OTH seems to be more of a laptop CPU expanded for desktop use.
Look at Zacate for example and this chip was designed more with cost in mind(it was designed relatively cheaply and does not cost much to make it seems).
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Zhaoman
I'm seriously considering the Thinkpads now but boy are they expensive! The new T410s looks absolutely perfect (Good specs, optimus, good screen, 14" so portable) but at nearly two grand... er, yeah that's not gonna work.
Look at the consumer Lenovo laptops which are cheaper.
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
The Lenovo ThinkPad E520 seems to be pretty good atm, Sandy bridge, HD6630M for around £600..
Re: Buying a new laptop: is Llano worth waiting for?
What about a custom built job off a clevo chassis?
http://www.kobaltcomputers.co.uk/notebooks.html
The GS150 comes in at around £900 with a full HD screen and Quad core 2630.