[sindabad.sailor]

With lot of efforts and mails finally my Lenovo offers, post purchase, have been registered.

As popularly advertised in media, they offered me 1 year Accidental Damage Protection T&C of which I haven't read yet.

I was also offered 10000 rs worth vouchers for spending on thedostore.com website. The accessories there are priced insane. However since it was free, bought Bluetooth headset worth 5k (Ebay retail price 3k, Amazon: 37USD) and a backpack priced some 3600 Rs. Was still having Vitamin M tablet left from the vouchers so did choose 2 yrs additional warranty. Net 600 Rs spent additionally.

However received a mail from some third party to mail the Debit card front page copy by masking few numbers and expiry dates. Got suspicious and immediately wrote to the Lenovo support asking if it was safe to do do. Lenovo support mailed that it was indeed required by their payment gateway.

Now the wait begins. They are saying 15 days for accessories and 30 days for warranty and ADP documents.

I had read on net that the do store offers were scam'ish. However I have had no issues dealing with them. I would vouch only after receiving the accessories.

By the way, it was U510 Ultrabook.

Now next, RAM upgrade. Doesn't sees as easy as my ealier laptops as apparently I have to dismantle the casing unlike earlier one which had a separate cover for accessing RAM alone.

Any advices?

Cheers

[gsurya]

Originally Posted by appu.bhandari

@maxtorque

Asus has excellent built quality and are one of the finest laptops. but since it's a relatively new player in the Indian laptop market, the servicing capability is unknown

I had an Asus netbook a couple of years back, no issues with service. The laptops are themselves pretty well built; but if for high-end business use, I would say go with HP or Dell.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by gsurya

I had an Asus netbook a couple of years back, no issues with service.

What kind of problems did you get serviced and where are the service centers in Bombay?

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by carboy

Re: Asus laptops

I picked up an Asus brochure from last week and noticed that they have the new 4th generation Core processors from Intel only in their high end variants that have Core i7 processors. The others still have the older 3rd generation processors.

However, I did notice that Acer offers a 4th generation Core i3 in their entry-level model. Although I don't recommend Acer-branded laptops, I have to make an exception in this case because they were quick to introduce a model with the 4th gen Core i3. The body of the laptop does have some flex but not too much to cause concern. The inner work surface of the laptop is quite comfortable to use too.

PS: Bought the Acer w/ Core i3 4th gen as a gift. Tried it when installing software (VLC, FF, 7z etc.)

[MaxTorque]

Originally Posted by k_nitin_r

PS: Bought the Acer w/ Core i3 4th gen as a gift. Tried it when installing software (VLC, FF, 7z etc.)

Which model did you choose? How much did it cost?

[appu.bhandari]

Originally Posted by k_nitin_r

PS: Bought the Acer w/ Core i3 4th gen as a gift. Tried it when installing software (VLC, FF, 7z etc.)

P
Hi, if you don't mind could tell me the model no and the price you paid??

I'm in the market for a new laptop and wanted the new haswell chip in it.
The ones I wanted are in available in Thailand now.

Dell inspiron 3437(W560702TH), 4th gen core i5-4200u, 4GB ram, 750 GB, GT 740 2GB, 14.0, linux

It's costly around 35k inr. I just am not sure about the importing thing

[mxx]

I see that the laptops these days do not come with windows 8 media. Since we already get an OEM license, is there any way to source windows 8 media from laptop manufacturer or microsoft?

[appu.bhandari]

Originally Posted by mxx

I see that the laptops these days do not come with windows 8 media. Since we already get an OEM license, is there any way to source windows 8 media from laptop manufacturer or microsoft?

Are you talking about Windows media centre. They have stopped bundling it with Windows but it can be downloaded separately.

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by MaxTorque

Which model did you choose? How much did it cost?

I don't have the model no of the Acer laptop, but the specs are:
Core i3-4010U, 4GB RAM, 1TB Hard disk, Windows 8

The price paid was AED.2300/Rs.40k with the 3-year warranty. It was also available with a 1-year warranty for Rs.8k lesser. The warranty does not cover software. If I were to buy a laptop for myself, I would have spent on more hardware and taken the standard warranty, but this was a gift so opted for warranty instead of higher specs.

Originally Posted by appu.bhandari

Hi, if you don't mind could tell me the model no and the price you paid?
Dell inspiron 3437(W560702TH), 4th gen core i5-4200u, 4GB ram, 750 GB, GT 740 2GB, 14.0, Linux. It's costly around 35k inr

(See above for the price paid)

The price for the one you've been quoted is reasonable. If you are looking for something cheaper, ask for a model with the 4th gen Core i3 and Intel graphics. It's not worth importing these models because the price difference is minimal for the entry-level laptops; with a local purchase, you also have the advantage of getting support from the store for claiming warranty.

Originally Posted by appu.bhandari

Are you talking about Windows media centre. They have stopped bundling it with Windows but it can be downloaded separately.

I think he is referring to the installation media (CDs) for Windows 8. Earlier, they had a utility to create the restore/recovery CDs/DVDs but now they only have a separate partition with OEM recovery tools, which is fine unless you have to replace the hard disk.

[appu.bhandari]

Originally Posted by k_nitin_r

The price for the one you've been quoted is reasonable. If you are looking for something cheaper, ask for a model with the 4th gen Core i3 and Intel graphics. It's not worth importing these models because the price difference is minimal for the entry-level laptops; with a local purchase, you also have the advantage of getting support from the store for claiming warranty.

Thanks for the detail
The main requirement is a decent graphic card, as I would be working a lot of graphic and presently no laptop in India provides a haswell at a decent price with good graphic cards.
Btw you have got it from dubai? Hence it would be an international warranty piece. I'm getting it from Thailand and the warrant stated is international too so I'm hoping for that.

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by appu.bhandari

main requirement is a decent graphic card, presently no laptop in India provides a haswell at a decent price with good graphic cards. Btw you have got it from dubai? Hence it would be an international warranty.

Right now, most of the models with Haswell are mid- to high- end ones. The Acer was the only one I found with a Haswell Core i3. There are Ultrabooks with the Core i5 and Core i7 Haswell processors - the SSD in the Ultrabooks contributes most to the higher price. The Core i5 is an increase of about Rs.4,500 and the touch screen is another Rs.4,500 when comparing similar models.

You can get a really good bargain on Ivy Bridge Core i5 laptops with NVidia GeForce graphics. They are priced at about Rs.38k (they used to be priced at Rs.45k or higher). The laptops in Dubai generally have international warranty, but they can be taken back to the store that I bought it from and they can take it to the workshop for warranty repairs.

[sgiitk]

I am looking for two good 4th Gen i5, 4GB+, 14" systems. Any suggestions and prices!

[appu.bhandari]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I am looking for two good 4th Gen i5, 4GB+, 14" systems. Any suggestions and prices!

Sir
As of now, there are no official launch of 4th gen i5 in India. Few models from Dell are in sale on eBay and other sites but they are imported from Thailand.

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by appu.bhandari

As of now, there are no official launch of 4th gen i5 in India. Few models from Dell are in sale on eBay and other sites but they are imported from Thailand.

There is the Dell Inspiron 15 7000-series that Dell India is advertising (I think Dell India sent an email with their offers); they are mid- and high-end systems with the 4th generation Haswell Core i5 and Core i7 processors (more details below).

In UAE, I haven't seen any budget laptops with Haswell processors except for the Acer that I mentioned to you about earlier, but I'm pretty sure that with the Gitex next month, other manufacturers will introduce their new models too.

Originally Posted by sgiitk

I am looking for two good 4th Gen i5, 4GB+, 14" systems. Any suggestions and prices!

Dell Inspiron 15 7000-series comes with specs that exceed what you are looking for - a 15" touch screen instead of a 14" screen, 6GB RAM instead of 4GB RAM, and NVidia GeForce graphics. It costs about Rs.68k. They may be able to deliver a model with lower specs by-order like they do for corporate sales.

[sgiitk]

@k_nitin_r; I have no interest in 15" as I want a 14" only. If you look at the pricing 14" is often costlier than the 15"