LebGeeks

mk555

Member

Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

Hello guys

I'm thinking about buying a laptop this summer but I really don't have a clue about what I should buy .

I will probably use it for graphic design ( photoshop - 3d softwares ) and gaming (anything that will run cod 4 is good enough for me )

Note : I don't really care if I could run games on high medium or low .

My budget is around 1500 $ .

And another question, is a 15.6 inches laptop suitable for what I'm asking for ? because I found this really good laptop from abed tahan, you can check it here http://www.abed-tahan.com/product-details.php?PID=486

Flakk

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

Here is the same laptop from pcandparts
HP DV6-2170     Intel Quad Core i7-720QM     4GB Ram     640GB HDD     DVDRW     15.6" LED     LAN, WIFI     GT230M 1GB up to 2.8GB VGA      Fingerprint /Bluetooth/Cam/Windows 7 Premium 64-Bit      $1325.00*

its the second listing on the pcandparts.com page
http://pcandparts.com/notebook.htm
I highly recommend this one.

And yes 15.6 is pretty good more than that would make the laptop really huge to carry. Dont recommend anything more than 15.6

Georges

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

Here is the same laptop from pcandparts
HP DV6-2170     Intel Quad Core i7-720QM     4GB Ram     640GB HDD     DVDRW     15.6" LED     LAN, WIFI     GT230M 1GB up to 2.8GB VGA      Fingerprint /Bluetooth/Cam/Windows 7 Premium 64-Bit      $1325.00*

its the second listing on the pcandparts.com page
http://pcandparts.com/notebook.htm
I highly recommend this one.

And yes 15.6 is pretty good more than that would make the laptop really huge to carry. Don't recommend anything more than 15.6

I previously bought an HP DV6. The Core 2 Duo version of this laptop.
And with my 2 years experience with HP laptops, i don't highly recommend them since i had problems with the Excessive Heating (their cooling system is an epic fail), the Charger (I had to replace it twice within a year), The camera (i changed the entire screen since they (ALCS) couldn't figure out the problem).

I now have a Vaio and this thing is very good. It never heats up. The battery is excellent.

Edit: I bought it from GCC with a 3 years warranty.

Last edited by Yorgi (June 11 2010)

xterm

Moderator

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

^ I concur.

Nader.Sleiman

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

From an artistic view , i suggest a MacBook, i personally love Mac lappys, however , for you i suggest Sony Vaio Z series VPC-Z116GX/S, its pretty much expensive though, try buying some other VAIO versions if you can't afford.

Remember: Toshiba sucks more than HP, but overall they both suck.

samer

Admin

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

I second the MacBook, now that Steam is there gaming shouldn't be an issue. You can easily dual boot anyway. Also, Photoshop and 3D software could be a better experience to use on OS X.

But if Macs do not suit you, then you probably should get a VAIO – it seems to be what people are recommending all the time.

mk555

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

Here is the same laptop from pcandparts
HP DV6-2170     Intel Quad Core i7-720QM     4GB Ram     640GB HDD     DVDRW     15.6" LED     LAN, WIFI     GT230M 1GB up to 2.8GB VGA      Fingerprint /Bluetooth/Cam/Windows 7 Premium 64-Bit      $1325.00*

its the second listing on the pcandparts.com page
http://pcandparts.com/notebook.htm
I highly recommend this one.

I prefer buying the laptop directly and not through an online company.

And yes 15.6 is pretty good more than that would make the laptop really huge to carry. Dont recommend anything more than 15.6

Well I'm not going to carry it around so size is not a problem for me .

I previously bought an HP DV6. The Core 2 Duo version of this laptop.
And with my 2 years experience with HP laptops, i don't highly recommend them since i had problems with the Excessive Heating (their cooling system is an epic fail), the Charger (I had to replace it twice within a year), The camera (i changed the entire screen since they (ALCS) couldn't figure out the problem).

I now have a Vaio and this thing is very good. It never heats up. The battery is excellent.

Edit: I bought it from GCC with a 3 years warranty.

From an artistic view , i suggest a MacBook, i personally love Mac lappys, however , for you i suggest Sony Vaio Z series VPC-Z116GX/S, its pretty much expensive though, try buying some other VAIO versions if you can't afford.

Remember: Toshiba sucks more than HP, but overall they both suck.

I second the MacBook, now that Steam is there gaming shouldn't be an issue. You can easily dual boot anyway. Also, Photoshop and 3D software could be a better experience to use on OS X.

But if Macs do not suit you, then you probably should get a VAIO – it seems to be what people are recommending all the time.

Do you have any recommendations about what Sony vaio laptop should I buy and where ?

Flakk

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

Oh well i have an HP dv4 never had any serious problems with it, it heats up yes but i got one of those coolers for it. But everything else its been running fine for 2 years now. The only really annoying thing about it is the damn HP quicklaunch which sucked up the laptop's battery even if it was turned off but eventually i was able to disable its drivers and stopped it.

This DV6 is the Core i7 which i think is better in terms of heating and power consumption but i am not sure.  The specs are very good and the video card is very suitable for running games like Cod4.

If you can get a Vaio with similar specs go for it or get a Macbook (but i dont think macbooks are good for gaming)

Cyril

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

I second the MacBook, now that Steam is there gaming shouldn't be an issue. You can easily dual boot anyway. Also, Photoshop and 3D software could be a better experience to use on OS X.

But if Macs do not suit you, then you probably should get a VAIO – it seems to be what people are recommending all the time.

Ditto,
go for the MacBook, you'll definitely feel the change.
I was using Adobe softwares on Windows, and now changed to OS X as Samer said, it's a better experience.

But since gaming was one of your criteria, this might change your choice I think.

mk555

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

MacBook is not an option for me mainly because its not good for gaming
And I checked sony vaio middle east website so I think I'm buying a sony vaio , buy I'm confused between the E-series or the F-series , so what do you recommend .

Georges

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

Do you have any recommendations about what Sony vaio laptop should I buy and where ?

If size and weight are not a problem for you, i Highly recommend this laptop. It's the VPCF1190X Configure-To-Order.

I bought this laptop when i was in the US (I was lucky, they released it the week before coming back to Lebanon ) and this thing is great. It's a custom built laptop in which i added some features like a double battery, a premium full HD display, a backlit keyboard (get them all especially the premium display).

As for the availability of this laptop here, I don't exactly know if it's available here in Lebanon at a reasonable price  (i bought it for 1350 $ including customization).

After 3 months of use, i can confirm that this laptop is one of the most successful Sony Vaio laptops ever built. You won't be facing any problem with the excessive heating and it's perfect for every use:
If you are a gamer, this thing can run COD 6 at full resolution (1920 x 1080) and you won't believe the details that you can see in the game (i still don't). I also tested the Adobe CS 5 suite on this machine too (actually my sister did, she's a graphic designer) and she confirmed that it's a very good and different experience. And for the daily use (programming, Browsing and chat, etc...), it's also excellent.

Edit: This Laptop can Run Windows, Ubuntu and Mac OSX very easily... (it includes Hardware Virtualization needed to run Mac OSX)

Last edited by Yorgi (June 12 2010)

mk555

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

I found two laptops similar to the one you recommended
http://www.sony-mea.com/product/vpcf116fg
http://www.sony-mea.com/product/vpcf117hg
Do you have any clue about there price in Lebanon or will they exceed 1500 $ ?

julien_saadeh

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

What you shouldnt get:

Acer (poor design, very fragile),
HP (complicated design, you cant troubleshoot anything)
Sony (extremely expensive unless cost is not an issue)

What I recommend:

Toshiba Tecra.
Fujitsu
NEC

All of these are extremely rigid. It would fall off the table and remain ON and working.
Their prices are acceptable.

That's about Brand Names.

About specs:
Any CPU with 3MB cache (most likely a 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo).
9600GT DDR3 - 512MB or more.
4GB  DDR2/3 system RAM

Hope that helps.

kareem_nasser

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

I second the MacBook, now that Steam is there gaming shouldn't be an issue. You can easily dual boot anyway. Also, Photoshop and 3D software could be a better experience to use on OS X.

But if Macs do not suit you, then you probably should get a VAIO – it seems to be what people are recommending all the time.

You use VMware for dual boot?

As julien_saadeh said first choose the specs and then the brands and his analysis is true but personally i liked Sony's VIAO(yup it is most expensive but only to meet the satisfaction of the Lebanese audience).
You can find the models on Wikipedia.
P.S: Dont check the wholesalers website Alliance Electronics because the prices there are more expensive than the retailers.

Last edited by kareem_nasser (June 12 2010)

Georges

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

I found two laptops similar to the one you recommended
http://www.sony-mea.com/product/vpcf116fg
http://www.sony-mea.com/product/vpcf117hg
Do you have any clue about there price in Lebanon or will they exceed 1500 $ ?

I'm sorry but i don't. I traveled to the US 6 Months ago and didn't keep track of the prices here. These two laptops will do the Job as well. Check if they support Hardware Virtualization.

You use VMware for dual boot?

No. He's using Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac.

P.S: Dont check the wholesalers website Alliance Electronics because the prices there are more expensive than the retailers.

Huhh !? Then why adding the Link to their website dude ! This is like saying don't click this Link.

kareem_nasser

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

Huhh !? Then why adding the Link to their website dude ! This is like saying don't click this Link.

Simple it is like in court i am just saying that it is true so that he can see it.

Last edited by kareem_nasser (June 12 2010)

Georges

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

Huhh !? Then why adding the Link to their website dude ! This is like saying don't click this Link.

Simple it is like in court i am just saying that it is true so that he can see it.

Ughhh! Okay fine.

mk555

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

What you shouldnt get:

Acer (poor design, very fragile),
HP (complicated design, you cant troubleshoot anything)
Sony (extremely expensive unless cost is not an issue)

What I recommend:

Toshiba Tecra.
Fujitsu
NEC

All of these are extremely rigid. It would fall off the table and remain ON and working.
Their prices are acceptable.

That's about Brand Names.

About specs:
Any CPU with 3MB cache (most likely a 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo).
9600GT DDR3 - 512MB or more.
4GB  DDR2/3 system RAM

Hope that helps.

Thanks but I'm going to stick with sony vaio

By the way I found a store called sony world which I will call for prices .

Last edited by mk555 (June 12 2010)

kareem_nasser

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

It is kind of a Sony showroom like Nassar near LAU.

Zickar

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

I recently bought a laptop from a showroom in Furn El Cheback .. I don't know the model number but I bought it with Graphic Design .... Its a Toshiba , VGA 1 Giga Nvidia , Processor i7 , Windows 7 . 6 Gb of Ram that can be upgraded to 8 , 500 GB hard disk ... I sometimes have Cinema 4D rendering , Working with After Effects and Premier and photoshop open all at the same time and I jump from one software to another in a breeze ... Rendering time is very good specially for 3D files .. I recommend it and I bought it for 1400 $

mk555

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

I recently bought a laptop from a showroom in Furn El Cheback .. I don't know the model number but I bought it with Graphic Design .... Its a Toshiba , VGA 1 Giga Nvidia , Processor i7 , Windows 7 . 6 Gb of Ram that can be upgraded to 8 , 500 GB hard disk ... I sometimes have Cinema 4D rendering , Working with After Effects and Premier and photoshop open all at the same time and I jump from one software to another in a breeze ... Rendering time is very good specially for 3D files .. I recommend it and I bought it for 1400 $

The laptop seems good but can you tell me the name of the graphic card

samer

Admin

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

I second the MacBook, now that Steam is there gaming shouldn't be an issue. You can easily dual boot anyway. Also, Photoshop and 3D software could be a better experience to use on OS X.

But if Macs do not suit you, then you probably should get a VAIO – it seems to be what people are recommending all the time.

You use VMware for dual boot?

You use VMware for dual boot?

No. He's using Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac.

No, you can dual boot natively using Boot Camp – it's not a virtual machine.

Zickar

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

I recently bought a laptop from a showroom in Furn El Cheback .. I don't know the model number but I bought it with Graphic Design .... Its a Toshiba , VGA 1 Giga Nvidia , Processor i7 , Windows 7 . 6 Gb of Ram that can be upgraded to 8 , 500 GB hard disk ... I sometimes have Cinema 4D rendering , Working with After Effects and Premier and photoshop open all at the same time and I jump from one software to another in a breeze ... Rendering time is very good specially for 3D files .. I recommend it and I bought it for 1400 $

The laptop seems good but can you tell me the name of the graphic card

How do I know that ? Where do I check ?

babum

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

Are you capable of buying from the internet? because you could try two options: gateway or dell.

Dell or alienware, has great gaming laptops which can be delivered to lebanon.
i would recommend you getting this laptop configuration as it is very nice considering budget limitations,
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
1 Year Basic Service Plan
1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M
15.6-inch WideHD+ 1600x900 (900p) WLED
3GB DDR3 at 1066MHz
250GB SATAII 7,200RPM
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Primary - 6-cell (56Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery
Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
Alienware M15x, Cosmic Black

1700$

A recommendation: avoid buying the 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 configuration, it consumes a lot of graphic resources and if you don't have a good processor and graphic card and a big screen you wont notice positive performance while gaming

Now, if you can buy from amazon, i would recommend you buying a gateway p7801 which is the current laptop am using for gaming, its amazing for many games, even though it has its limitations with games like GTA 4, CRYSIS, among other few heavy titles. you could also try looking in gateways page.

hope it helps

Last edited by babum (June 15 2010)

Georges

Member

Re: Good laptop to buy from Lebanon

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
1 Year Basic Service Plan
1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M
15.6-inch WideHD+ 1600x900 (900p) WLED
3GB DDR3 at 1066MHz
250GB SATAII 7,200RPM
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Primary - 6-cell (56Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery
Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
Alienware M15x, Cosmic Black
-------
1700$

This is an extremely expensive laptop for such specs. Check Mine

Sony Vaio VPCF1 (latest Vaio)
MS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM @ 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache) - Hardware Virualization Supported.
1 Year Basic Service Plan
NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M - 1920x1080 Full HD - 1GB (up to 2.8)
16.4-inch Sony Premium Display (the best display i've ever seen)
4GB DDR3 at 1333MHz
320GB SATAII 7,200RPM
Blu-Ray (W/R)
Double  Lithium-Ion Battery
Backlit Keyboard

I bought it from the US for 1340 $

A recommendation: avoid buying the 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 configuration, it consumes a lot of graphic resources and if you don't have a good processor and graphic card and a big screen you wont notice positive performance while gaming

I have the 1920*1080 display. and this is the best display i've ever seen. I can play COD6 at this resolution very smoothly. The level of details is amazing.

And if you are in lebanon, i don't recommend buying an Alienware... They don't have shops and repairing centers in Lebanon.