Laptop For College(Computer Science)

G

Guys i'm now going to enter college(writing board exams now). And i want to ask you two questions,

1.Should i buy a laptop now or buy one after finishing the first year. I have this doubt because few of my friends recommended me to wait saying i wouldn't need a laptop for most of the first year and by the time i finish the first year i'll know which one to buy(And its gets a bit cheaper) and have a newer one. Others say its better to buy one now use it for four years then get a good one later and move on. So should i buy a lappy now or after a year?

2.Should i go for a 30-40k laptop now and again upgrade after 2nd or mid 3rd year to another 30-40k one then or buy something in the 50-60k region now and use it for the entire college life(4 years). Which would be better? I'm asking this because the 30-40k laptop which i get in maybe mid 3rd year or at the end of 2nd year would equally perform with the 60k one i get now.
(Which ones would you recommend Flipkart or Amazon(Indian Version plz no Amazon.com Links plz) or retail is also ok or if abroad need international warranty)
Note: I have a Windows 8.1 x64 license so even if it comes with DOS its ok for me.
Specs: Would prefer SSD(even if its 64 or 128 gigs over HHD)
13 inch screen and 1080p atleast(Higher better!)
Weight no problem(I mean it)
Battery atleast 4-5 hours otherwise its practically useless for me.
Ram bare minimum 4 gigs but would prefer a 8 gig one.
Softwares to run (Maya, Maybe one or two VM's, Unreal Engine 4,Photoshop,Visual Studio few other code related stuff)

Did i miss anything?

Will you be playing any games, recent or future titles? If yes, neither of your budgets is enough. Also, performance and battery life don't go together. And no, a 30-40k future laptop may not perform the same as a 60k laptop now. It may perform same as the current 30-40k laptops. All depends upto the inflation, taxes, OEM's greediness, etc.

G

SaiyanGoku said:
Will you be playing any games, recent or future titles? If yes, neither of your budgets is enough.

An answer to my question would have better. Will i play games yes maybe but would i purchase a lappy to just play games no. Hope you understand, i'll be happy with whatever i'll be able to play with my lappy. And even if i want to play games then i still think i would be able to play games at both the budget. Definitely not all settings maxed out with AA turned on but still the 60k region should easily play recent games with maybe 40-50 fps as for i know! If i'm wrong prove it.

G.Ashwinkumar said:
An answer to my question would have better. Will i play games yes maybe but would i purchase a lappy to just play games no. Hope you understand, i'll be happy with whatever i'll be able to play with my lappy. And even if i want to play games then i still think i would be able to play games at both the budget. Definitely not all settings maxed out with AA turned on but still the 60k region should easily play recent games with maybe 40-50 fps as for i know! If i'm wrong prove it.

Sadly, 840M is the best GPU you can get for laptops under 60k
*www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-840M.105681.0.html

Recent games are playable at 1366*768, med-high settings. In 2 years, to get playable framerates, you'll have to come down to 1280*720 med settings or even worse.

G

Ok leave the gaming thing please.Any particular suggestions? Lappy models, versions those kind of things(India)? Any particular laptop recommendations. I just looked at the new Mac lineup. Now don't get mad at me. You can get cheaper and better ones from others. But that's the problem. I don't know why but here in India the competition is not doing good. The other Lappy miss something. And are overpriced compared to the US prices. So maybe a macbook pro with student discount? I know I can't game but man osx doesn't have so many and I really don't care. Plus the battery life 10+ hrs? No one else is nearby.. What's your take?

And as far as graphics goes I think the Nvidia 840M overpowers the Intel 6100 iris series!

Update 1: just read a few other threads and saw your xotic recommendation. I actually have an aunt in us and she'll return to India in a few months so that's actually a good option for me. But can she directly buy it and bring it along with her or what about taxes and other stuff? Is it worth the hassle? What about warranty? And yes please leave the gaming thingy! I think I made my requirements clear..

Update 2:I now got more confused on which one to buy after seeing a few more products. The new Dell xps 13 and the Surface Pro 3.Ths former though can't munch in too much of graphic performance still looks good while the latter fills in my tablet requirements as well with a docker I could get a neat keyboard and is ultra portable.. Help me choose one guys! The more I search the more I get confused. And also I'll be happy to buy a lappy from usa(aunt has gone there and she might return in 2 months) if there is international warranty.. Also as I'm a student I could grab any student rebate if available.. Help me.

If she brings the laptop as her personal computer which is allowed one per person there will be no customs.

We are allowed to carry one laptop free of duty as a personal luggage without it being inside the box it came with. No customs, no shipping charges, no taxes at all.

And Force 16GC is worth it, costs 51k only (direct price conversion)

K

frankly mac is overrated and overpriced
the 10 hours battery life is not true
3 of my friends have macbook airs and 1 pro and within 2-3 months,battery life etc diminishes to 4 hours
rather get an ultrabook or something

also dont worry ,people here will exaggerate and discourage you saying 'gaming laptops cant game,will not play games after 2+ years'
all that is total bs im sorry to say
my 7520 is nearly 2-3 years old now and it still plays newer games like a charm on high settings

most members here have alot of unjustified hate towards laptops and tablets and Apple,most people havent even tried out these things properly

Just avoid ULV cpu unless you dont want it for games and youll be ok

I simply love Mac coz of it's battery life. Even after using many laptops I am yet to hit that 9hr+ mark on a laptop.

K

$hadow said:
I simply love Mac coz of it's battery life. Even after using many laptops I am yet to hit that 9hr+ mark on a laptop.

sadly the battery life advantage isnt true in Mac
my friend gets normal battery life on Air

iPad Battery life is certainly the best amongst all tablets but not for Macs

M

G.Ashwinkumar said:
Ok leave the gaming thing please.Any particular suggestions? Lappy models, versions those kind of things(India)? Any particular laptop recommendations. I just looked at the new Mac lineup. Now don't get mad at me. You can get cheaper and better ones from others. But that's the problem. I don't know why but here in India the competition is not doing good. The other Lappy miss something. And are overpriced compared to the US prices. So maybe a macbook pro with student discount? I know I can't game but man osx doesn't have so many and I really don't care. Plus the battery life 10+ hrs? No one else is nearby.. What's your take?

Don't get Mac since you are a student and sometime you need to use windows only softwares.and since you are going to run maya,photo shop your prority should be good display.

G

$hadow said:
If she brings the laptop as her personal computer which is allowed one per person there will be no customs.

Thanks for the info. You're sure about it? And another doubt instead of a laptop can she bring a pc(all components). Note: Just asking for information purpose not gonna buy a pc.

SaiyanGoku said:
We are allowed to carry one laptop free of duty as a personal luggage without it being inside the box it came with. No customs, no shipping charges, no taxes at all.

And Force 16GC is worth it, costs 51k only (direct price conversion)

It seems it's priced good. But what about warranty? Just in case I screw up something where do I go for help? Also it has a 5400rpm drive by default should i swap it? And also should i go for a processor upgrade(i7-4800MQ) in it? (most programs are processor dependent not that much on graphic card and they really live higher clock speeds).

kkn13 said:
frankly mac is overrated and overpriced
the 10 hours battery life is not true
3 of my friends have macbook airs and 1 pro and within 2-3 months,battery life etc diminishes to 4 hours
rather get an ultrabook or something

also dont worry ,people here will exaggerate and discourage you saying 'gaming laptops cant game,will not play games after 2+ years'
all that is total bs im sorry to say
my 7520 is nearly 2-3 years old now and it still plays newer games like a charm on high settings

most members here have alot of unjustified hate towards laptops and tablets and Apple,most people havent even tried out these things properly

Just avoid ULV cpu unless you dont want it for games and youll be ok

I know which members you mean! And I do know that I'm still gaming with a retired graphic card. The Nvidia 8400 Gs. It's totally out of the game but I just over clocked it heavily and awesome natural cooling system (ripped of the case) and am still able to play battlefield 3 and the folks at low to medium settings(A turned off) ! Still playable! But I do here from many that macbook have good battery life. Maybe you're friends haven't calibrated it or something like that? Maybe a faulty piece? And still 4 hours aint that bad considering many offer only that with a brand new lappy.
Get an ultra book or something well which one any recommendations? Why not a ULV processor? It does save a lot of battery right? Maybe when I game (rarely) put the lappy in performance mode?

$hadow said:
I simply love Mac coz of it's battery life. Even after using many laptops I am yet to hit that 9hr+ mark on a laptop.

So you recommend me to get a Mac? Which version do you think would suite me?

kkn13 said:
sadly the battery life advantage isnt true in Mac
my friend gets normal battery life on Air

iPad Battery life is certainly the best amongst all tablets but not for Macs

OK so I'm getting mixed opinions in this? But what about other things? Which one would you recommend me to buy?

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Minion said:
Don't get Mac since you are a student and sometime you need to use windows only softwares.and since you are going to run maya,photo shop your prority should be good display.

Well can't I run on specific softwares in a VM? I already have a 8.1 key so it shouldn't be a problem. Yeah a good display would be nice but not definitely a 4k at the price range. But the problem is everyone would like to get a piece of hardware that's good in everything. Good display, speed, power for the cheapest possible price tag why wouldn't one right? So can you recommend me any particular laptops?

Well I got my Gpu and PS4 with out any customs. Just remember one thing you have to bring the product in unpacked mode.

- - - Updated - - -

kkn13 said:
sadly the battery life advantage isnt true in Mac
my friend gets normal battery life on Air

iPad Battery life is certainly the best amongst all tablets but not for Macs

Might be some difference in his usage scenario. Every one in my family is easily able to touch 6 hrs of normal or office use.

G.Ashwinkumar said:
It seems it's priced good. But what about warranty? Just in case I screw up something where do I go for help? Also it has a 5400rpm drive by default should i swap it? And also should i go for a processor upgrade(i7-4800MQ) in it? (most programs are processor dependent not that much on graphic card and they really live higher clock speeds).

If you want the best config in this budget, you'll have to sacrifice the warranty. And people always assume they're gonna break a thing or two but it rarely happens. Most people require ASS because of manufacturing defects only. No point in HDD upgrade, rather add a 128 GB ssd to it. You'll get best of both worlds, speed and storage space. You decide about the processor but I think it'll hardly matter.

Forget ULV processors. They'll be crap for the performance you are aiming for.

M

G.Ashwinkumar said:
Well can't I run on specific softwares in a VM? I already have a 8.1 key so it shouldn't be a problem. Yeah a good display would be nice but not definitely a 4k at the price range. But the problem is everyone would like to get a piece of hardware that's good in everything. Good display, speed, power for the cheapest possible price tag why wouldn't one right? So can you recommend me any particular laptops?

You will not get same performance in VMs. I would suggest
Idea Pad Flex 2-14 FHD (Grey)(59-429729)
Lenovo Flex 2-14 | Ideapad Laptop | Lenovo India | The DO Store

I know this is not the most powerful laptop within your budget but it has a 1080p IPS display , backlit keyboard,lighter at 1.9Kg and has a NVidia 820M graphics which will handle Maya and Photoshop and some occasional games.

and if you want the most powerful laptop within your budget then you have to go with zotic PC that saiyan has suggested but sadly you have to compromise on warranty.

Some things I want to say:

* Laptop use : 5% studies, 95% not-studies

* Don't go for lightweight, go for basic sturdy model, college = brutal use of laptop

* Good GPU preferred, no not for Maya or AutoCAD, you'll definitely be playing games at some point in college.

* Import laptop - HNOOOOOOO !!!!! You're almost surely going to need RMA while in college, go for a brand with more than decent after sales service, opt for extended warranty, it'll be worth it.

Yes, Op has to prioritize what he wants. And along that there are laptops which International warranty.
But I can vouch for the above mentioned 3 points :-D

mitraark said:
Some things I want to say:

* Laptop use : 5% studies, 95% not-studies

* Don't go for lightweight, go for basic sturdy model, college = brutal use of laptop

* Good GPU preferred, no not for Maya or AutoCAD, you'll definitely be playing games at some point in college.

* Import laptop - HNOOOOOOO !!!!! You're almost surely going to need RMA while in college, go for a brand with more than decent after sales service, opt for extended warranty, it'll be worth it.

My friends haven't required RMA in last 4 years even though they bought low end laptops from HP, Dell, Lenovo

If build quality is good, it'll do fine even for >5 years without needing service. You should be worried about manufacturing defects which show up during initial stages only which can be avoided if the laptop is thoroughly tested. This rarely happens for laptops sold in India in that budget.

I am using a Lenovo laptop since 2009, it has survived 4 years of inhuman usage in college, 24x7 running at 70 C... no problems yet.

College students have many problems, it's more likely than unlikely that youér laptop will face some kind of accident, better be safe and invest in extended warranty.

Unless you drop the laptop, I don't think you need RMA.

S

G.Ashwinkumar said:
Guys i'm now going to enter college(writing board exams now). And i want to ask you two questions,

1.Should i buy a laptop now or buy one after finishing the first year. I have this doubt because few of my friends recommended me to wait saying i wouldn't need a laptop for most of the first year and by the time i finish the first year i'll know which one to buy(And its gets a bit cheaper) and have a newer one. Others say its better to buy one now use it for four years then get a good one later and move on. So should i buy a lappy now or after a year?

2.Should i go for a 30-40k laptop now and again upgrade after 2nd or mid 3rd year to another 30-40k one then or buy something in the 50-60k region now and use it for the entire college life(4 years). Which would be better? I'm asking this because the 30-40k laptop which i get in maybe mid 3rd year or at the end of 2nd year would equally perform with the 60k one i get now.
(Which ones would you recommend Flipkart or Amazon(Indian Version plz no Amazon.com Links plz) or retail is also ok or if abroad need international warranty)
Note: I have a Windows 8.1 x64 license so even if it comes with DOS its ok for me.
Specs: Would prefer SSD(even if its 64 or 128 gigs over HHD)
13 inch screen and 1080p atleast(Higher better!)
Weight no problem(I mean it)
Battery atleast 4-5 hours otherwise its practically useless for me.
Ram bare minimum 4 gigs but would prefer a 8 gig one.
Softwares to run (Maya, Maybe one or two VM's, Unreal Engine 4,Photoshop,Visual Studio few other code related stuff)

Did i miss anything?

Late reply-----Was busy with Mid-Sem exams.

Wait for a year, and believe me, you won't regret. During first year, you are going to study common courses, and all which are going to be probably based their respective de-facto reference books. Why I recommending you to wait; because it is feasible, your studies won't suffer much(actually, they will get better). Second, by next year Skylake will be ready for notebooks, and is going to be a major shift in terms of both power requirements and integrated gpu performance.

G

Guys thanks for the reply and sorry for a very late reply from my side. Ok so from what i see get the laptop in second year because you'll not need it in the first year and second skylake is expected to revolutionise the world.

I dont think i'll want to wait till second for the first reason. I want to get into competitive coding and get into stuff from first year.My 11tha nd 12th wasn't their best so i want to make the best use of my college life and the time in hand.So if i wait for a year am i not losing almost a full year of practice? Second skylake thats arguable..Am i going to max out the PCI E 3 bandwidth no..Am i going to break the laptops processor width memory intensive stuff always mostly no.

And yes i dont want to compensate on warranty.Just incase it breaks what do i do isn't my 1000$ getting wasted? And in laIs the risk really worth? I dont think so.

So guys should i really wait?

Well atlast i have a good news.If i am given a go to buy the laptop (I would still like to get some opinion from you guys on this) i can get it from USA in August 2015.My budget would be 1000$(Incase i wait for a year my budget would still be the same and i'm not planning to increase it) I've selected a few models which are around the 1000$ range which one do you think is the best?

1)ASUS ROG GL551JW-DS71($1072)
2)Lenovo Y50-70 Laptop - 59440646($990_

Or
1) Dell XPS 13(Second model)

As you see i again have a doubt should i go for a premium business laptop or stick with the medium to low end gaming rigs?I know the xps 13 doesnt have enough power compared to the other 2 but beats the **** out of them in battery, keyboard,weight.

G

See My previous post plz.

I

For a budget around $1000, add this one to your list :
Acer Nitro V (the refresh one with 960m)

Get this:
XOTIC PC | Sager NP7155 (Clevo N155SD) - 15.6" Gaming Laptop
Add Samsung 850 Evo 120 GB ssd for 100$, Intel AC 7265 for 25$. Total cost ~1013$

K

SaiyanGoku said:
Get this:
XOTIC PC | Sager NP7155 (Clevo N155SD) - 15.6" Gaming Laptop
Add Samsung 850 Evo 120 GB ssd for 100$, Intel AC 7265 for 25$. Total cost ~1013$

Do not add 100 GB for $100.
You can aftermarket 256 GB for $100

kunalgujarathi said:
Do not add 100 GB for $100.
You can aftermarket 256 GB for $100

That is a mSATA ssd

K

*www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TGIVTP2/...+evo+msata&dpPl=1&dpID=51B7QxHEgHL&ref=plSrch

250 GB $117

kunalgujarathi said:
*www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00TGIVTP2/...+evo+msata&dpPl=1&dpID=51B7QxHEgHL&ref=plSrch

250 GB $117

O_O

+1

@OP, get this instead. :thumbs:

K

SaiyanGoku said:
That is a mSATA ssd

msata usually doesnt exceed 32 or rarely 60gb afaik

kkn13 said:
msata usually doesnt exceed 32 or rarely 60gb afaik

samsung has msata around 1 TB.

K

Check this out.

Amazon.com : Acer Aspire V15 Nitro Black Edition VN7-591G-70RT 15.6-Inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) Gaming Laptop : Computers & Accessories

kkn13 said:
msata usually doesnt exceed 32 or rarely 60gb afaik

Even 1 TB msata ones exist.

K

SaiyanGoku said:
Even 1 TB msata ones exist.

wasnt aware of that until shadow and you mentioned it :O

G

Ok so Asus Rog JW551-Ds71 vs the Sager
1.Same GPU, Processor,Size,HDD
2.The Asus has better BUILD quality,looks,cooling,keyboard
3.The sager has a better price and combined with a ssd will perform better than the Asus in the sheet
4.Asus gives one year international warranty but with the sager there is nothing called a warranty

I know that you might argue that we may not need the warranty and the looks of the laptop is not as important than what's inside it.Lets say it was a manufacturing defect and the one who is bringing it from USA doesn't notice it then i'm literally busted with the Sager as i would have to ship it there and get it repaired who knows whether it'll be done properly the first time. But with the Asus atleast i can take it to the local service center argue the hell with him and make him repair it under warranty for free. Yes i can give it to some local service guy and let him handle ..but i cant really say that if he intensified the problem or actually corrected it. So i don't think the Sager or Clevo would work untill they get a service center here..Also apart from the service risk the lappy doesn't hold too much value compared to the Asus yes i would save a few 100 bucks but is it really worth it?

2.Acer Aspire V15 Nitro Black Edition vs the Asus Rog
This one seems pretty tough.
8gb ram vs 16gb
1tb 5400rpm vs 1tb 7200rpm
4gig vram vs 2 gig
This one lookes very close
But as i was reading the reviews the acer seems to have pretty bad wifi issues. I would get deeper in this comparison and would decide between the acer and the Asus. And again the Acer warranty is kinda confusing and it doesn't seem to have an international warranty by default, whereas the Asus seems to have an international warranty.

K

1) I read somewhere in one forum. Here is the context

"5400rpm is the smart choice when you are storing large files, for example when using the HDD to store backups, movies, pictures, archives; etc.

If, however, you will be using the HDD to act as system drive, running applications from it that care about latency instead of throughput, then you should pick 7200rpm HDDs or even better; SSDs."

2) Acer does support international warranty but with some limitations

International Travelers Warranty

3) Yeah people are complaining about wifi issues but it's not with majority of the buyers..And again, acer claimed that it has changed the wifi chip with a new one.. So can't really comment on it.

Overall, Asus rog seems to be a solid deal. The choice now comes to ram and gpu. IMO, acer looks much better than asus rog.

Let other digitians reply and then decide.

K

id avoid Acer,they really have poor quality products and after sales
even the Sager would be a more reliable buy

Regarding Sager vs Asus,its a tough call like you said

Sager Pros-
-Easily the best laptop chassis in the industry
-built with a desktop style experience in mind, parts are generally very easily swappable and sometimes even interchangeable because of the Clevo base which allows for easy upgrades
-has a extremely large variety of combos to choose from,you can customise it like anything

Sager cons-
-literally no after sales,RMA/warranty etc in India
even getting parts in India locally seems unlikely afaik
though I guess you can get the parts shipped or interchange parts with alienware and MSI(some people have done it before but it doesnt always work,needs to be the exact same) and this is possible because of the Clevo chassis

Asus pros-
Extremely efficient staff and after sales/rma etc
Asus has built a reputation in India in a short time and all their products have excellent support so far
so much that even the reliable Dell,Nokia/Microsoft after sales is challenged by Asus in India

Asus cons-
Not as upgradeable and flexible as the Sager
but Asus is no slouch either and some of their laptops do support similar upgrades etc as Clevo laptops have

^^ Its a tough call but its totally upto you to take the call

personally Asus Rog seems more juicy and safe a deal

btw why didnt you consider MSI ?
they have an official re-entry into the Indian market now

Its your personal choice. I'd pick sager despite no indian warranty as I prefer upgradability and easy of disassembly. And the 7200 rpm hdd + msata ssd for same price.

MSI laptops :lol:

They copy crapple's overpricing strategy.

G

Kalam : Regarding the wifi issue it seems that even though acer claims to have replaced the chip it actually hasn't.. And for me the Asus looks better..
Kkn13:So you seem to have solved the slightly chance of doubt towards Acer, I seem to somehow like the Asus has he Sager/Cleavo and you seem to suggest that I'm not taking a dude stanza and the Asus is a pretty need deal.. And regarding MSI I actually couldn't find a good one at this budget with good review do you have any model in mind?
SaiyanGoku : I think id prefer the Asus as i would like to be on the safer side and in terms of performance the Asus is no switch either... And MSI I don't have much idea.. Are they too overpriced?

K

Go for Asus . And are you totally sure about the international warranty?

U

If OP still hasn't pulled the trigger or for future reference to many others I would like to suggest Y50-70 from the US, lenovo.com the online lenovo store.
SSD can be added but at the expensive of the removal of the SSHD which it comes with.
Its good to have some power under the hood.
Get depot only warranty for 3yrs, lenovo has intl. warranty (non-accidental) in India for Y50.
So, three year coverage in India will be quite a deal with all that power at that price.

People travelling intl. (USA to India in this case) can carry two (2) laptops- 1. Personal 2. Official. Both need to be outside the carton they came in.

I have the Y500 (gt750m) model from the US for college (CSE only) and Lenovo India treats it like a baby when it comes to intl. warranty. My laptop is fully covered for anything apart from accidental damages.

G

kalam_gohab said:
Go for Asus . And are you totally sure about the international warranty?

Yes i'm sure about the Asus Warranty Part.

Utkarsh2008 said:
If OP still hasn't pulled the trigger or for future reference to many others I would like to suggest Y50-70 from the US, lenovo.com the online lenovo store.
SSD can be added but at the expensive of the removal of the SSHD which it comes with.
Its good to have some power under the hood.
Get depot only warranty for 3yrs, lenovo has intl. warranty (non-accidental) in India for Y50.
So, three year coverage in India will be quite a deal with all that power at that price.

People travelling intl. (USA to India in this case) can carry two (2) laptops- 1. Personal 2. Official. Both need to be outside the carton they came in.

I have the Y500 (gt750m) model from the US for college (CSE only) and Lenovo India treats it like a baby when it comes to intl. warranty. My laptop is fully covered for anything apart from accidental damages.

I've not pulled the trigger yet as the relative is coming a bit late to be exact on September 5 so i would have to confirm what laptop he should get for me probably August first week so he can make the purchase do some test runs and pack it safely.

U

Y50-70 is a good laptop get it with extended warranty (entire 3yrs depot service). It will be useful in India too.
Get it from lenovo.com only and ask him to get rid of the carton. Two laptops can be carried person duty free in international travel.
Make sure you order by 2-3aug as lenovo itself takes a long time to ship.

G

I've done some decent searching('ve put in a lot of time) and have now got more confused.. So many options everything with some compromise or the other.
I've got the MSI GE62 Apache-082 or 276[1099$],MSI GE72 Apache-027 or 078 or 235,[1199$], Lenovo Y50(4 gig 960m,16gb ram)[1099$], Asus Rog GL551JW-DS71[1050$],Asus Rog GL551JW-DS74[1150$],Asus Rog G751JL-DS71[1200$], Acer Aspire V15 and v17.

I'm just totally confused now. In terms of cooling nothing here comes close to Asus Rog G751JL-DS71 also it has the 965m which is good but it has a non removable battery,a crappy speaker,also sata 2 2nd drive. The MSI ones look pretty neat but not soo good build quality compared to the Asus,loud fans,and pretty bad looks(not a major issue),Acer seems to have wifi issues and i've been told to keep away from them considering after sales support,the Lenovo seems a pretty good offer nothing major against it except the stupid sshd and not having the option to install a second drive.

So please advice which one is the best option all around? Have i missed some contender ?Let me know.

U

Lenovo can get you very good warranty (3yrs in India) which WILL be very good in the long run. These powerful laptops can go bonkers without a rhyme or reason and burn a crater in your pocket.
Agreed that lenovo comes with a super crappy hdd but you can replace it with an ssd. They are getting cheaper by the day.

As far different brands go I guess Acer will offer 1 yr warranty which is a risky business.

I am not sure about MSI.

Update:
500GB SSD 850EVO will cost you 180ish usd.
You can sell the SSHD for at least 4-5k.

My personal opinion is that 17.3" laptops are just too bulky for college students.

'2' GB vram will hold the otherwise powerful gtx965m.

At 17 inch you are talking about a desktop replacement not a portable laptop.

G

Utkarsh2008 said:
Lenovo can get you very good warranty (3yrs in India) which WILL be very good in the long run. These powerful laptops can go bonkers without a rhyme or reason and burn a crater in your pocket.
Agreed that lenovo comes with a super crappy hdd but you can replace it with an ssd. They are getting cheaper by the day.

As far different brands go I guess Acer will offer 1 yr warranty which is a risky business.

I am not sure about MSI.

Update:
500GB SSD 850EVO will cost you 180ish usd.
You can sell the SSHD for at least 4-5k.

My personal opinion is that 17.3" laptops are just too bulky for college students.

'2' GB vram will hold the otherwise powerful gtx965m.

The 17.3" will give a decent real estate for coding. Attaching an external monitor to the laptop wouldn't be an option initially at least considering the whole this one is burning in my pocket. And also i don't want to buy anything that is non portable and keep it in the dorm due to certain reasons. So getting a 17.3" might hurt my back due to portability but provide some relief when coding.

My budget is 1200$ so when i get the Lenovo Y50 (1099$ in the official site) i wont have enough money to get the ssd in USA. Also it seemes lenovo comes with 1 year default international warranty. And if you want to upgrade the warranty in USA you have to pay 175$ for 3 years in home + accidental damage protection but in India depot only warranty is available. So i'm not sure if i'll be able to upgrade the warranty in India(The same 3 year depot only costs 5k here).

$hadow said:
At 17 inch you are talking about a desktop replacement not a portable laptop.

I explained about it in the previous reply.

- - - Updated - - -

A small update about warranty guys:
MSI: Provides 2 years warranty by default, but only the first year is international second year is USA only so to be clear i'll get 1 year international warranty.
Asus: 1 year international warranty by default
Lenovo: 1 year international warranty by default(They call it IWS) and there is an option to extend it to 3 years which costs 175$ in USA i have to confirm them if i'll be able to extend my warranty in India(Here it costs 5k for the extended warranty).
Acer: Yet to get the reply.

U

17.3" being good for coding is pretty vague, I also code and 15.6" 1080p works like a charm. People even manage serious coding (Professionals, let alone college "CODING") at 15.6" 1366x768.

Lenovo does offer 1yr warranty and its international, hence valid in India as Y50 is released here too.
If you want to upgrade after purchasing then you can surely place an online order any time before your 1yr base warranty expires. You would need a US credit/debit card for that.

You can go for Lenovo "Depot only" warranty for 79.20usd (5100ish inr) taking the taxable(9.8ish % for most part of USA) total to (1099+79.20)usd for Y50-70 4gB gtx960m with 16gB RAM and a total of 3yr warranty from purchase date, yes the 3yr upgrade is actually 2yrs only, so its like 1+2 (base+upgrade) years from date of purchase.

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UPDATE:
Lenovo can even convert your country from USA to India if you ask them to.
Buying warranty with the laptop or before the 1yr base warranty deadline is one and the same thing. You can buy from India but that would require a US D/C card if the country in USA and if you get it changed to India then an Indian card would work fine.

PS: Lenovo is strong with warranty and the config on offer for the price.
They are weak on the SSD front as no slot is available. SSD on y50 means you have to remove the mech. HDD and use external HDDs for large data(which isn't as cumbersome as it sounds)

PPS: Google for lenovo barnes and noble discount, it is a surefire way to get around 100usd off easily just by creating an account by spending a minute or two.

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UPDATE 2:
After Lenovo barnes and noble scheme, the y50 with 4gB 960m, 16gB RAM and 3yr depot only warranty can be had for $1,088.10+taxes

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UPDATE 3:
*i.imgur.com/J2rFqgr.png?1

G

Hey thanks for your reply and extremely thanks for the 100$ off link.

I've zeroed in on 3 models.
1. Lenovo Y50(15.6" screen,16gig,960m with 4gb vram,3 years warranty)(1088$)
2. Msi Ge72 Apache-027(17.6" screen,16 gig, 965m 2 gig, 1 year warranty)(1190$)( A free SteelSeries Gift - Siberia V2 Headset-MSI Gaming Edition)
3. Asus Rog G751JL-DS71(17.3" screen,16 gig,965m 2 gig,1 year warranty)(1190$)

Even though the Lenovo Y50 has a smaller screen and less powerful gpu and no expansion slots for ssd it makes up for it with the price and warranty.This laptops seems to have a solid everything else(Keyboard, Sound ,etc)
Even though I did check the Msi Ge62 series but it seems that they have a lot of heating issues(fan running crazily and stuff) so the 17.3" version with good cooling, 3 m2 slots for ssd, and with a headphone seems to be a very good offer.
The Asus almost same in every aspect with the MSI Ge72 one except one expansion slot and supporting up to 32gig ram expansion(Ge 72 is 16 gig max) (But i don't think i'll need anything more than 16 gigs..). It Seems asus support is better and beats the MSI in build quality, cooling.

So its like a tie between these three.Should i opt for a longer warranty or for higher specs and bigger and better display? If so the Asus or MSI?

But the 3 year warranty makes me look back at the Lenovo again! Help me!

^ I'd pick Asus over MSI as asus has international warranty by default.

U

17" will be bulky.
GTX965m is simply more powerful than the GTX960m, 2gB of VRAM maybe a problem with many games at FHD.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M - NotebookCheck.net Tech
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

Check out the game benchmarks for both to get the idea about the difference in perf.

Having an option to upgrade to an SSD without losing the mech. HDD is a boon.
Not having a long enough warranty can burn holes in your pockets in the longer run.

About 8-10% taxes are levied on purchases across the country depending on the place.

^^
Consider the above and pull the trigger.

M

@OP Since you are a college student get laptop which is lightest and portable I mean get 15''.

P

Lenovo is good for me, but I like Ausu many more reasons, including experience using it. And insurance services for Ausu considered valid as ever.