looking for laptop under 30k

[TholitzReloaded]

I would not suggest DELL computers. Overheats, etc.

Go for Lenovo, good after sales support. I have a T61 up to now its still in perfect condition after almost 3yrs of use.

[jut703]

*sir jut703, first of all thanks sa reply... intended use are for internet(fb apps,movie and music downloading), ms office, a little bit of photoshop and games...
sir how about the reliability of msi and emachines? oks kasi pricing ng mga laptop nila, cheaper sa asus... thanks!

MSI is okay. They make rather dull designs though. But the CX-420, especially in the i3 + 5470 spec is really good value at 33k. e-Machines is owned by Acer. It's what Compaq is to HP. A budget brand. I personally detest older Acer designs and same applies with e-Machines. But spec wise they're competitive especially with their prices. Sales support, well I've heard mixed opinions on this.

Go for Lenovo, good after sales support. I have a T61 up to now its still in perfect condition after almost 3yrs of use.

That's because you have a ThinkPad. ThinkPad's are built to be extra tough, hence the 60k price for the 30k worth of features. I have an IdeaPad Y310, one of their first mainstream-priced models. It was good value at the time, 36k for a Core 2 Duo. But the plastics are horrible. Keyboard's nice though. It's peeling away little by little now, 2 years and a few months into its life.

[jhnkvn]

*jut703

My cousin bought a Lenovo Y310. Frankly, it's a nice multimedia machine for the price (he uses it to dual log LUG's Flyff >_>) but the heat from the discrete Nvidia is wtfbbq, the laptop definitely runs on the very hot side of things under load.

*bogart26

I'll stay away from e-Machines. Fact is, Acer isn't really known for long term durability, and them making a budget lineup scares me even further.

I'll stick with Lenovo, MSI, and Asus for the lineup.

Specifications-wise, Acer trumps out the three due to its use of a discrete ATI Mobility Radeon GPU.

Although you stated at the page 1 that the laptop use is generally for home use, you might want to opt for a lightweight netbook rather than a full-sized machine.

The "daily" use alone of the laptop seems light enough. Although I have some quirks in using Photoshop on a netbook, an hour each week won't kill it. Besides, if the person's at least university level, mobility starts being an important criteria. Lugging a 5 pound laptop versus a 2.5 pound laptop is huge once you experience it.

Which is why I'll suggest an ION-based netbook instead contrary to popular opinion in this thread -- Asus eeePC 1201N (since you use Villman as reference: http://www.villman.com/Product-Detai...ee_PC_1201pn_1)

Your main bottleneck here is the Intel Atom. But unless she's into heavy gaming (she's obviously not) Atom would suffice. I know the gap to an i3 is strong "against" point but with light usage? Pssh, it readily fits the bill. I'll take the energy saving and less heat anytime.

The occassional movie and photoshop would benefit greatly from the ION2. Since ION 1 houses a Geforce 9400M (GPU of those early MacBook Pros before the shift to G310), we should expect a huge increase in graphics rendering compared to the integrated Intel GMA.

And then there's these points I like a lot:
1. Is it ***y? Yes. It's like comparing an N95 to an iPhone.

2. Is it light? Yes. I like my daughter's legs to not have more muscle than me, thank you.

3. Can I sneak it inside a medium handbag? (LOL) Yes.

The summary is that:
I'll pay Php5,000 less for an Atom processor but least I significantly cut down on flab (weight) and I can handle 720p movies without hiccups due to a better GPU. Windows 7 Starter edition is better than no OS at all (Starter sucks. Make no mistake by it. Get at least Home Premium edition)

I am biased towards:
Mobility. I've been spoiled by an Asus eeePC 1005P and a UL30VT.