# laptop buying advice



## 123hero (Dec 4, 2012)

1.What is your budget? 
A:- around 40000-45000 INR

2) What size & weight consideration (if any) would you prefer?
both sleek books as well as main stream laptops are ok with me

3) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
preferred brands:- Dell, Lenovo, Asus, Acer, HP

4) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook? 
mostly browsing and working on MS office .....then watching videos and playing games

5)What screen resolution(s) & type (glossy/matte) would you prefer?
preferably 1366*768 resolution with LED display and atleast a 14 inch screen 

6) anything else
A----i will using the laptop for watching HD videos as well as playing some games with some heavy graphics . so laptop having atleast 1 GB graphic card would be preferred
.
also i am confused between Acer aspire as5755g and Lenovo z 570.......i am also interested in having a look at the Lenovo Ideapad S 405 ( AMD a8 processor , 1 tb HDD, 1 Gb gpu 14 inch screen )
please suggest me a good laptop which fits the above criteria and also advise whether I should wait for any upcoming one
thanks


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## daks (Dec 5, 2012)

HP Pavilion G6-2016TX Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win7 HB/ 1GB Graph): Flipkart.com: Compare, Review HP Notebook

HP Pavilion G6-2202TX Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win8/ 1GB Graph): Flipkart.com: Compare, Review HP Notebook

HP Pavilion G6-2005AX Laptop (APU Quad Core A8/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win7 HB/ 1.5GB Graph): Flipkart.com: Compare, Review HP Notebook

Check these out..


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## 123hero (Dec 5, 2012)

daks said:


> HP Pavilion G6-2016TX Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win7 HB/ 1GB Graph): Flipkart.com: Compare, Review HP Notebook
> 
> HP Pavilion G6-2202TX Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win8/ 1GB Graph): Flipkart.com: Compare, Review HP Notebook
> 
> ...


 
do the AMD laptops have heating problems....?
hows the graphics when compared with Acer aspire as5755g which has a 2 gb graphic card


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## coderunknown (Dec 5, 2012)

123hero said:


> do the AMD laptops have heating problems....?
> hows the graphics when compared with Acer aspire as5755g which has a 2 gb graphic card



no heating problem.

Both have same GPU: AMD HD 7670M. So performance will be same irrespective of graphics memory.


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## 123hero (Dec 5, 2012)

Sam said:


> no heating problem.
> 
> Both have same GPU: AMD HD 7670M. So performance will be same irrespective of graphics memory.



hows the lenovo s 405 as compared to the Hp and the acer .....are there any other brands which have more powerful GPU but in the same price range 
thanks


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## Anish9218 (Dec 5, 2012)

@Sam: Hey are you sure that there is no heating problem? I'm planning to buy a laptop(budget-40-42k, Purpose-Surfing and Gaming) and I went to the HP Showroom near my place for laptop prices, they told me the AMD laptops are on demand but advised me to go for intel ones cuz AMD heat up a little. The price of the AMD laptop looks real tempting. I'm confused.


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## thetechfreak (Dec 5, 2012)

Shopkeepers 
They want to sell Intel probably as their stock is piling with lack of buyers.


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## coderunknown (Dec 5, 2012)

123hero said:


> hows the lenovo s 405 as compared to the Hp and the acer .....are there any other brands which have more powerful GPU but in the same price range
> thanks



S405 is an underpowered laptop, kind of ultrabook. The processor is weaker than the 4500M and the GPU is even more weak (7670M >>> 7450M). Avoid it. But as your budget is above 40k, better go for 2016TX or even Dell 15R.



Anish9218 said:


> @Sam: Hey are you sure that there is no heating problem? I'm planning to buy a laptop(budget-40-42k, Purpose-Surfing and Gaming) and I went to the HP Showroom near my place for laptop prices, they told me the AMD laptops are on demand but advised me to go for intel ones cuz AMD heat up a little. The price of the AMD laptop looks real tempting. I'm confused.



At 42k, it is better to invest in laptops with 3rd gen i5. AMD A8 is fine for the asking price (32k locally) but as you can't upgrade the laptop's processor, i'll suggest invest in laptop with best in class processor & GPU. Dell New Inspiron 15R or HP Pavilion G6-2016TX. 3rd gen i5 is lot better than any AMD processor in the laptop space.

laptop will heat up if you try playing games with everything max'd out irrespective of it being powered by Intel or AMD processor. Under normal operation or light gaming, you can't differentiate.


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## daks (Dec 5, 2012)

123hero said:


> do the AMD laptops have heating problems....?
> hows the graphics when compared with Acer aspire as5755g which has a 2 gb graphic card



Why do you want to go with 2nd Gen i5 , when you can get 3rd Gen i5 at the same price, and the graphic card is GT 540M, now being re-branded as GT630M,

AMD 7670M is a little better compared to GT 630M.

Since your budget is 40-45k its better you choose a good Processor and a good GPU. 

AMD-A8 is purely a budget orientated system with a good CPU (~i3) and good GPU.

If you are not concerned with the build quality of the laptops(Fingerprint marks all over,which i don't personally like), HP G6 series is your best bet.


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## 123hero (Dec 5, 2012)

Sam said:


> S405 is an underpowered laptop, kind of ultrabook. The processor is weaker than the 4500M and the GPU is even more weak (7670M >>> 7450M). Avoid it. But as your budget is above 40k, better go for 2016TX or even Dell 15R.
> 
> 
> whats the specific model number of the dell inspiron 15 R.
> ...


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## coderunknown (Dec 5, 2012)

Dell doesn't provide any specific model no so if you order from flipkart, this is it. If you are going to get it locally, just ask for the cheapest Dell 15R powered by 3rd gen i5.


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## Anish9218 (Dec 5, 2012)

@SaM okay. Thanks. the 2016tx stock is over everywhere except a few places(42k). What I was thinking was for normal surfing and using softwares like AutoCAD etc would not require an i5 proccy for me, so instead I could go for an AMD laptop(having same graphic card-7670) for 34k and Ill pay the rest amount to extend the warranty and maybe a cooling pad. No, I would not play the games at max resolution. Medium would do for me. I read somewhere A8-4500M would be in between i3 and an i5. I think it would serve my needs more than enough other than gaming. What say?


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## coderunknown (Dec 5, 2012)

123hero said:


> hows the performance and gaming level in it compared to the HP Paviliob g6 2012 tx...........



no performance difference. Just that some find G6 build quality to be cheap. Can be cause of glossy plastic.



123hero said:


> whats the avg fps i can get while playing some graphic intensive games like Crysis 2



Should be playable on mid-high with some of the settings toned down at default resolution. At least without the high resolution texture pack, game should be playable at high.



Anish9218 said:


> @SaM okay. Thanks. the 2016tx stock is over everywhere except a few places(42k). What I was thinking was for normal surfing and using softwares like AutoCAD etc would not require an i5 proccy for me, so instead I could go for an AMD laptop(having same graphic card-7670) for 34k and Ill pay the rest amount to extend the warranty and maybe a cooling pad.



thats a better idea actually. sometimes (launching several softwares and switching between them) the A8 based laptop will feel slow. But for general work, the difference is negligible. You can also add a (caching) SSD replacing the optical drive.



Anish9218 said:


> No, I would not play the games at max resolution. Medium would do for me. I read somewhere A8-4500M would be in between i3 and an i5. I think it would serve my needs more than enough other than gaming. What say?



Performance wise yes, A8 performs slightly better than 2nd gen i3. BTW Flipkart's price is lot more. Locally you'll find it for 32-33k, of course without cooling pad.


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## Anish9218 (Dec 5, 2012)

@SaM Did you buy the A8 proccy laptop? Whats your say about it? I think Ill wait a little more time till Dec 25 where the offers start up again like extended warranty along with the laptop.


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## coderunknown (Dec 5, 2012)

Anish9218 said:


> @SaM Did you buy the A8 proccy laptop? Whats your say about it? I think Ill wait a little more time till Dec 25 where the offers start up again like extended warranty along with the laptop.



i have tested my friend's HP laptop with A8. tested mainly games on both discrete as well as integrated GPU. Found it to be fine in most task and best of all, you can do a lot of fiddling around if you wish. Just single threaded performance is not good.

And how do you know when offers will be back. christmas


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## 123hero (Dec 6, 2012)

@ sam
upto what extent can i configure the lappie..? i mean adding extra things like ram .....
will multi tasking be a problem on the Hp g6 2005 ax...?
hows the screen quality...
plastic and durability are not that much important to me.......i m looking for performance and gaming hence acceptable levels of build quality should suffice....
does the latest insipron 15 ( i5 3rd gen have dedicated GPU ?


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## nandu26 (Dec 6, 2012)

123hero said:


> @ sam
> upto what extent can i configure the lappie..? i mean adding extra things like ram .....
> will multi tasking be a problem on the Hp g6 2005 ax...?
> hows the screen quality...
> ...



I think Inspiron 15 has 1 GB graphics card.


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## coderunknown (Dec 6, 2012)

123hero said:


> @ sam
> upto what extent can i configure the lappie..? i mean adding extra things like ram .....



hardware wise, add ram (1 free slot) & replace HDD. or replace the HDD/ODD with an SSD.
software wise you can configure a lot too. essentially you can change clock speed, GPU being used.



123hero said:


> will multi tasking be a problem on the Hp g6 2005 ax...?
> hows the screen quality...



won't be unless you try to run games with some encoding/compression going on in the background.
screen quality is excellent. brightness level is really high but at the cost of battery life.



123hero said:


> plastic and durability are not that much important to me.......i m looking for performance and gaming hence acceptable levels of build quality should suffice....
> does the latest insipron 15 ( i5 3rd gen have dedicated GPU ?



the one available at 44k has the same GPU. 40k has integrated Intel HD4000.


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## 123hero (Dec 6, 2012)

the hp pavillion g6 2010 ax looks a very tempting option.....with 1 tb HDD and 6 gb ram and 1.5 gb GPU......is this better than the dell inspiron 15 r


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## coderunknown (Dec 6, 2012)

123hero said:


> the hp pavillion g6 2010 ax looks a very tempting option.....with 1 tb HDD and 6 gb ram and 1.5 gb GPU......is this better than the dell inspiron 15 r



performance wise Dell 15R is still better. with 2010AX you get more hard drive & dual GPU (again performance will be marginally more). Buy 2010AX if you want to save a good amount of cash. And 2010AX is exclusively available at flipkart only.


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## Anish9218 (Dec 6, 2012)

Sam said:


> i have tested my friend's HP laptop with A8. tested mainly games on both discrete as well as integrated GPU. Found it to be fine in most task and best of all, you can do a lot of fiddling around if you wish. Just single threaded performance is not good.
> 
> And how do you know when offers will be back. christmas



Oh, I just asked the nearest HP centre in Visakhapatnam, they said offers would be back from christmas and the new year week. They usually are during festival time like in dusshera. Shouldve taken 2016tx back when they were giving it with 2 year warranty and 1300 will give one more year warranty.  No money back then, and no laptop with offer available now.


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## 123hero (Dec 6, 2012)

Sam said:


> performance wise Dell 15R is still better. with 2010AX you get more hard drive & dual GPU (again performance will be marginally more). Buy 2010AX if you want to save a good amount of cash. And 2010AX is exclusively available at flipkart only.



i think dell is better at after sales service...hows HP`s after sales......yeah pretty good amt of cash can be saved....approx 9-10 k


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## daks (Dec 6, 2012)

123hero said:


> i think dell is better at after sales service...hows HP`s after sales......yeah pretty good amt of cash can be saved....approx 9-10 k




HP is much better than Dell, as i asked a wholesale dealer here, for A.S.S


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## 123hero (Dec 7, 2012)

hi guys.....i just came to know about these two lappies with apu processors 
1. Acer Aspire V3-551G Laptop (APU
Quad Core A8/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win7
HB/ 2.5GB Graph) 

2. Asus A55DR-SX102D Laptop (APU
Quad Core A8/ 4GB/ 750GB/ DOS/
1GB Graph)

pls compare these two with the hp pavilion g6 2201ax  on basis of overall performance and gaming xperience and screen quality .....if possible pls list out each ones pros and cons .
.
thanks


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## thetechfreak (Dec 7, 2012)

Remember that HD 7670(of the A8 processor) is faster than GT630m. You will get better performance with the A8.


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## coderunknown (Dec 7, 2012)

123hero said:


> hi guys.....i just came to know about these two lappies with apu processors
> 1. Acer Aspire V3-551G Laptop (APU
> Quad Core A8/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win7
> HB/ 2.5GB Graph)
> ...



forget all these and go for 2010AX.


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## 123hero (Dec 7, 2012)

will the 2.5 gb GB gpu make considerable difference between the Acer and hp pavilion g6 2201ax ....
..i guess 2010ax is available only online and im not much keen on ordering it online


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## coderunknown (Dec 7, 2012)

123hero said:


> will the 2.5 gb GB gpu make considerable difference between the Acer and hp pavilion g6 2201ax ....
> ..i guess 2010ax is available only online and im not much keen on ordering it online



won't. same GPU (actually dual GPU) so no difference in performance.


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## 123hero (Dec 7, 2012)

HP Pavilion G6-2016TX Laptop (3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/ Win7 HB/ 1GB Graph)
(Sparkling Black)
 how is this lappie when pitted against the HP G6 2201 ax......not much difference is spec just with different processor


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## coderunknown (Dec 7, 2012)

have you missed this post1797174?


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## 123hero (Dec 7, 2012)

yup......thanks for pointing out..........but my mind is perplexed....should i pay 5-6k more for an i5 3rd Gen....pretty confused right now...but will mostly go for 2010ax....since it does not come with an OS...will HP provide all the necessary drivers or i have to download it from somwhere else ?....


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## coderunknown (Dec 7, 2012)

if you are getting the 3rd gen i5 based laptop from HP for just 5-6k more, definitely go for it. You'll definitely not regret this decision.
No, doesn't ship with anything. You'll have to download the updated display drivers anyway as HP, if they ship will be long outdated.


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## Anish9218 (Dec 7, 2012)

@SaM any idea if HP g4-2049tx is being sold in local markets or is it too a flipkart exclusive product?
2049tx- core i5/4GB/500GB/ATI 7670/DOS/14''


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## coderunknown (Dec 7, 2012)

Anish9218 said:


> @SaM any idea if HP g4-2049tx is being sold in local markets or is it too a flipkart exclusive product?
> 2049tx- core i5/4GB/500GB/ATI 7670/DOS/14''



if you can find the same laptop in infibeam/homeshop18 or a few such online portal, then it is not FK exclusive. And it is available at infibeam for 39.4k


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## 123hero (Dec 8, 2012)

HP Pavilion G6-2010AX Laptop
(APU Quad Core A8/ 6GB/ 1TB/
DOS/ 1.5GB Graph -----35990

 HP Pavilion G6 -2016TX Laptop
(3rd Gen Ci5/ 4GB/ 500GB/
Win7 HB/ 1GB Graph)
(Sparkling Black)
(58 ratings)
Out of Stock
Cashback: Rs. 1200
Rs. 42490

difference is 6500 INR ...
2016 tx seems the better buy


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## daks (Dec 8, 2012)

Go for 2016 TX .. The best deal you got @40k


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## 123hero (Dec 8, 2012)

daks said:


> Go for 2016 TX .. The best deal you got @40k



today went to the HP World showroom in my area.( Dombivali..) 
i first went and asked for the 2010ax.........he(salesman)..said that the product was not officially launched in india by HP 
second asked for 2005 ax..he said the model is not available any more and the 2201 ax is there but he quoted the price as 36490...with some extra goodies like optical mouse..antivirus....original laptop bag with 1 yr replacement warranty ( NO EXTENDED WARRANTY )....
.
asked for the 2016tx.....he said model not available anymore and the 2202tx is the model which has succeeded it with price of 43k something...
quite high in the HP showroom...tomorrow going to check in some other shops ....
wishing myself all the best for tomorrow....i was in a hurry hence could not go the Dell showroom located adjacent to it for asking the price of Inspiron 15R..
i guess the 2201 ax will be available around 33k in Lamington Rd...


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## Anish9218 (Dec 8, 2012)

@123Hero Exactly the same thing happened with me. 2201ax is there available for 35k here in Visakhapatnam and 2202tx for 43k exact (flipkart price >45k!) and 2016tx aint available in the HP showroom but available at other local dealers for 42k. I'm kinda thinking of going for 2202tx which comes preinstalled with Windows 8.

@SaM if I in future think of uninstalling Windows 8 and install Windows 7 Ultimate will I get the drivers for it?


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## 123hero (Dec 8, 2012)

Anish9218 said:


> @123Hero Exactly the same thing happened with me. 2201ax is there available for 35k here in Visakhapatnam and 2202tx for 43k exact (flipkart price >45k!) and 2016tx aint available in the HP showroom but available at other local dealers for 42k. I'm kinda thinking of going for 2202tx which comes preinstalled with Windows 8.



try if you can get the 2201ax for 32-33k then it will be a real bargain.....in my case he said that price is fixed at the first instance......
 what about the warranty offered in Vishakhapatanam....


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## coderunknown (Dec 8, 2012)

123hero said:


> today went to the HP World showroom in my area.( Dombivali..)
> i first went and asked for the 2010ax.........he(salesman)..said that the product was not officially launched in india by HP
> second asked for 2005 ax..he said the model is not available any more and the 2201 ax is there but he quoted the price as 36490...with some extra goodies like optical mouse..antivirus....original laptop bag with 1 yr replacement warranty ( NO EXTENDED WARRANTY )....
> .
> ...



that was very much expected. HP showroom will always 1-2k more for the same laptop compared to other stores and as you can't bargain, visit HP showroom just to get reference price and then walk away. And you better give any Windows 8 laptop a miss. More and more peoples are criticizing Windows 8. Even my friend tried windows 8 and said he is least impressed.



Anish9218 said:


> @SaM if I in future think of uninstalling Windows 8 and install Windows 7 Ultimate will I get the drivers for it?



you'll get GPU/chipset driver but anything else (bios, wifi, audio maybe, etc) you'll have to dig yourself. but just in case you missed: HP Won’t Allow Windows 8 Users to Switch Back to Windows 7 and HP Actually Lets Windows 8 Users Downgrade to Windows 7. I hate this kind of yes-no-yes-no scenario where you may get stuck in Windows 8 with no downgrade option available. Better pick laptop with Windows 7 at the first place.


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## 123hero (Dec 8, 2012)

my frnd installed the consumer preview and immediately removed it and was terribly upset...i thought thats the consumer preview and hence the bad aspect....when W8 was launched he again installed it and as expected removed it at once..he also suggested me to go for a laptop which has W7 pre-installed instead of W8....
 also at what price can i expect the 2202tx and the 2201ax in other showrooms......will the purchase from there be as good as from a HP world showroom...?


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## coderunknown (Dec 8, 2012)

expect price to be almost same as flipkart.
yup. all shop sell original product. just check they are giving you from a fresh box and not one of the unit used for demo purpose (loose/box with broken seal).


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## 123hero (Dec 9, 2012)

Sam said:


> . And you better give any Windows 8 laptop a miss. More and more peoples are criticizing Windows 8. Even my friend tried windows 8 and said he is least impressed.



whats so bad in the WINDOWS 8...even all of my frnds are saying its very useless
i cant install WIN 7 in my PC.due to the deathly 256 MB ram...forget WIN 8....i just had a glance at the HP showroom yesterday...the metro looks good though i have doubts on practicality....

as regards to the HP 2201ax...i found the screen quality just average......maybe that was because of the extensive lighting in the showroom or that they would have set it at the lowest brightness and visual settings....


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## Anish9218 (Dec 9, 2012)

Yeah, seriously what is bad about Win8? Can someone just clarify.. given that everyone will move into Windows 8 from 7 sooner or later. The metro style was good when I saw it. Heard the boot times are much fast and one can use Win 8 like 7 only. @123Hero screen quality was good in 2201ax when I saw it.


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## 123hero (Dec 9, 2012)

maybe the shop would have put on the lowest setting dats why the avg screen quality .....maybe tweaking  the setting will give a more crispy display


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## coderunknown (Dec 9, 2012)

123hero said:


> whats so bad in the WINDOWS 8...even all of my frnds are saying its very useless
> i cant install WIN 7 in my PC.due to the deathly 256 MB ram...forget WIN 8....i just had a glance at the HP showroom yesterday...the metro looks good though i have doubts on practicality....



Windows 8 is confusing but more importantly, many games are not compatible. even with patches games doesn't run. some have even went as far as trying cracks on legal copies to make it work. so all i can say is if you are a gamer avoid Windows 8.



123hero said:


> as regards to the HP 2201ax...i found the screen quality just average......maybe that was because of the extensive lighting in the showroom or that they would have set it at the lowest brightness and visual settings....



quality is obviously not great. but brightness is really high and so is the viewing angles. it was in case of 2005AX. 2201AX should be the same laptop with Windows 8 preinstalled but you can never say.



123hero said:


> maybe the shop would have put on the lowest setting dats why the avg screen quality .....maybe tweaking  the setting will give a more crispy display



if the pictures were not very natural, then it is fine. one can fine tune those easily.



Anish9218 said:


> Yeah, seriously what is bad about Win8? Can someone just clarify.. given that everyone will move into Windows 8 from 7 sooner or later. The metro style was good when I saw it. Heard the boot times are much fast and one can use Win 8 like 7 only.



you'll have to relearn the whole OS thing again. I have not used Windows 8 personally so can only say what my friend told. Will try to check it on a friend's PC. But till now i have only heard -ve about Windows 8. And Microsoft will release a new OS update next year called Windows Blue. It "may" bring back some changes. Else Windows 8 is a sinking ship.

Metro style is best suited for touch experience not clicking with cursors.


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## 123hero (Dec 10, 2012)

is there any laptop for which i should wait for.......what are the expected releases in this segment ...


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## coderunknown (Dec 10, 2012)

^^ only a very small fraction of the whole laptop launch ends up here. so better don't wait for upcoming releases.


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## 123hero (Jan 22, 2013)

finally...............i bought the HP pavilion g6 2301ax for approx 36k ..............great laptop chiclet keys are superb, very good design and win 8 is also fine.......

finally...............i bought the HP pavilion g6 2301ax for approx 36k ..............great laptop chiclet keys are superb, very good design and win 8 is also fine.......


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