Affordable Laptop Suggestions?

Morning friends.

I'm normally a Mac user but currently need to get a small, affordable laptop for those few hours per day between home and office. I have my eye on two machines but am not familiar with either processor nor the advantages of one over the other regarding how L5 would run (albeit I am aware that it will be limited in both cases as neither is a powerhouse). So here are the machines, which would you recommend?

Acer Aspire V5 122p with touch screen (AMD A6 1450 Quad Core at 1.Ghz with turbo to 1.4 Ghz with 2MB on die Level 2 cache) Price $399.00

Asus VivoBook X202E with touch screen (Intel i3 Dual Core at 1.8GHz with 3MB L3 cache) Price $440.00

Both have 500 HD, the same screen, 4 GB RAM, comparable bodies and input/output ports, but the Acer has Bluetooth and expandable RAM to 6GB whereas the Asus has neither capability.

Primarily I'll be using it to do the usual document writing, emailing, web and an hour or two of Bible study every day with Logos. For this last one, L5 needs to run decently enough on the machine to not be a major hold up. Slow is ok, but one or two minutes of wait for every click would kill my limited study time.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

Mark

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Mark Smith

I have no input other than to suggest you edit your listing to something like: Affordable Laptop Recommendations?? or something like that.

Mark Nigro

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/509294#Comment_509294

Thank you, Mark. Good advice, I've just changed the listing.

Mike Binks

Hi Mark

Two important things you might consider...

a Total cost of ownership.

b New is not always best value - as a mac user you might find that a secondhand older model saves a lot of time and trouble.

I recently gave a 2007 mac book to a minister who thinks it is the best thing since sliced bread. I don't let him see the Air :-)

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

Acer Aspire V5 122p with touch screen (AMD A6 1450 Quad Core at 1.Ghz with turbo to 1.4 Ghz with 2MB on die Level 2 cache) Price $399.00

Asus VivoBook X202E with touch screen (Intel i3 Dual Core at 1.8GHz with 3MB L3 cache) Price $440.00

CPU benchmark list = http://www.christ2rculture.com/commentaries/books.html shows AMD A6 1450 is # 386 while i3-3217U is # 184. PC Mag has a review of Asus VivoBook X202E => http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2414658,00.asp with cons: Mediocre performance. Short battery life.

Dell Outlet has coupon codes on Twitter that currently includes 25 % off home laptops and desktops priced $ 500 to $999 so a Dell Inspiron 14z Ultrabook becomes $ 411.75 with a Solid State Disk (SSD) that would be noticeably faster for Logos use:

The Intel i3-3217u is the same CPU as Asus Vivobook X202E. Personally would look for 3rd/4th Generation i5 or i7 with SSD.

Keep Smiling [:)]

Brother Mark

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/509541#Comment_509541

KS4J is, as usual, offering solid advice. Thanks you!

Dan Francis

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/509587#Comment_509587

My advise would be for you to check out a major computer places website and check in for clearance products. I went to a canadian site and did that and saw a good computer brand name that had a 14 inch 320GB 6GB ram windows 8 for $249…

-Dan

Rich DeRuiter

Thanks for any advice you can give!

One of the things I would do is search the internet for something like "Acer Aspire" Review, or "Asus VivoBook" Review. You're bound to get some overly negative/positive reviews, but if you find a pattern of positivity or negativity, that should help direct you. Sometimes you can stumble on a review by a reputable computer site (like CNET or PC World).

Another way to go is to go to a site like NewEgg.com, and look for customer reviews there.

In talking with other computer users both brand names you mention have had their good machines and their not-so-good ones. So it's wise to do your homework.

As for the specks, you don't mention video capabilities. A laptop without an integrated (vs. dedicated) video card will share RAM and CPU time with everything else wanting access to either. Shared video on the Asus, with only 3MB non-expandable, or trying to work with shared video on the Acer with 2MB could be a problem. Remember that Logos is video intensive, in that it renders text graphically via WPF and .NET. You may be disappointed by your Logos experience with either of these machines, depending on the complexity of how you work, and what else you have going on at the same time.

George Somsel

Check the refurbished models. I just bought a refurbished HP laptop at a good price. The only reservation I have is that it has Windows 8, which is an undesirable OS in my opinion, tough,since you use a MAC, you may like it,

Rich DeRuiter

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/510154#Comment_510154

The only reservation I have is that it has Windows 8, which is an undesirable OS in my opinion,

OT: There are fairly strong rumors that Windows 8.1 will bring the start button back. But I don't repeat rumors, so... [;)]

George Somsel

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/510168#Comment_510168

The only reservation I have is that it has Windows 8, which is an undesirable OS in my opinion,

OT: There are fairly strong rumors that Windows 8.1 will bring the start button back. But I don't repeat rumors, so...

It will take more than the start button. I'm glad you don't repeat rumors. [:D]

Keep Smiling 4 Jesus :)

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/510186#Comment_510186

Windows 8.1 preview by ZD Net => http://www.zdnet.com/the-metro-haters-guide-to-the-windows-8-1-preview-7000018398/

Apple refurbished Mac models => http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac that have same warranty as new; the box has refurbished sticker. New models tend to appear after 4+ months.

More afforable are refurbished iPad's => http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipad that includes iPad mini with 16 GB for $279. Logos app on iPad lacks many features in Logos 5, but can sync notes, ...

Keep Smiling [:)]

Mark Nigro

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/510209#Comment_510209

Thank you all for your kind and very helpful advice.

I researched and weighed my needs against the costs and went with the Acer Aspire v5 122p (on sale at Best Buy plus used my reward points for a total of $374.99).

Although I will remain a Mac user most of the time, I needed a Windows machine for certain things. Also was craving the ultraportable form and could use the touch interface of Win 8 on this 11.6 touchscreen.

So far it's great. I took a 9.5mm SSD which I wasn't using and modified it down to 7mm for this machine...this little work horse now plenty fast for L5.