[amansanc]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

My Brother bought a HP laptop from US which was carried here by his brother-in-law. Its a 15" touchscreen laptop with i3 processor, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD with 64 bit Windows 8.1.
What has surprised me is the price he paid for it. That same configuration laptop retails here for 63k and he got it for little under 17k as there was some offer going on that time.
I also have to buy a new laptop as my 6 and half year old Lenovo is gone for a toss. Please suggest me a laptop as per this configuration -
Screen size less than 14", preferably 11-12" with touchscreen, 4GB RAM, preferably an i series processor, HDMI port, 3 USB ports and 64bit Windows 8/8.1/7. HDD can be 320 or above. My main usage would be nothing related to gaming or high end work, only photograph processing, net surfing, watching movies etc. Why 4GB? Because I have been using a 4GB system since last 6 &1/2yrs and using a 2GB system doesn't help. Now the biggest issue - Price. It should be at the most 40k. I know I'm asking for a lot. Please spare me. ☺

I have almost the usage as you have. Bought a Dell Inspiron 3148 in October 2014. Got it for an excellent price from Flipkart under an offer. So far its working well. The laptop fell due to my negligence and a few components were replaced under Accidental damage protection.

Would recommend the same laptop to you. Config is exactly what you wish for with an added benefit of a 360 degree flip touchscreen which is extremely useful and good for showing off too

However, do buy extended warranty along with the laptop as nowadays most laptops are too fragile for some reason!

[Octane_Power]

Hello folks! Need a laptop under 30-32k INR, 11-inch screen size and light-weight. I am confused with multiple things as follows:

1. Which brand would provide better customer service out of Dell, HP, Asus here in India? (Concerned about on-site warranty and promptness of service).

2. Am I missing out on any other brand (which deserves consideration) while I am looking at these three only?

3. I found the 'Dell Inspiron 11 3000 series 2-in-1' good but it doesn't have an optical drive. I want the laptop to have an optical drive...

Can you'll please address the above queries? Need to buy it today. Please reply asap.

-Bhargav

[sgiitk]

In the 11" size, watch out for Atom type of CPUs. Also, not having an optical drive is not a big hassle, in fact may be positive. You can buy a USB DVD Reader/write under ₹4k. I have seen more Optical Drive failures in Laptops than any other thing.

[BoneCollector]

Originally Posted by amansanc

I have almost the usage as you have. Bought a Dell Inspiron 3148 in October 2014. Got it for an excellent price from Flipkart under an offer. So far its working well. The laptop fell due to my negligence and a few components were replaced under Accidental damage protection.

Would recommend the same laptop to you. Config is exactly what you wish for with an added benefit of a 360 degree flip touchscreen which is extremely useful and good for showing off too

However, do buy extended warranty along with the laptop as nowadays most laptops are too fragile for some reason!

I have purchased Lenovo Flex-2 14" (model no. 59-429730) with i3 processor from Flipkart. I paid 35k for it as I exchanged it for an 8 year old just functioning Dell inspiron. I have not yet seen it as it was shipped to my brother's place. Shall have it by month end.
Do I require to put a scratch guard on touchscreen?

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

I have purchased Lenovo Flex-2 14" (model no. 59-429730) with i3 processor from Flipkart. I paid 35k for it as I exchanged it for an 8 year old just functioning Dell inspiron. I have not yet seen it as it was shipped to my brother's place. Shall have it by month end.
Do I require to put a scratch guard on touchscreen?

We have three (i5) in our family yours truly, my son and son-in-law. No scratch guard on any of them. They have been with us for over a year.

[Shankyz]

Looking for a home laptop for regular use (some browsing, facebook, regular kid games, microsoft office tools etc.) I think a i5 based system should be future proof for next 3-4 yrs?

Not sure which brand to go with (Dell or Lenovo or any other from reliability and warranty perspective) and if ordering from Flipkart is safe or a physical store like Chrome or Vijay Sales

Will appreciate quick pointers and advice from fellow TBHPians

Thanks in advance

[sgiitk]

Slightly OT:

How do I get the latest Win 8.1 on my Lenovo Flex2. As we all know Window registry management is not very good, and a lot of garbage collects in the registry etc. Alternative, some utility for analysing and cleaning up the garbage, and restoring the performance.

[SankalpDesai]

Hello friends, need your advice. My wife has a Dell Inspiron laptop (not sure of the model number right now). Its been quite useful for the last 8 years or so now.

The problem is that the laptop hinge has been broken for the past 1 year. The screen does stand up but it is not as tightly fixed into position as it should be. And with a slight movement it comes crashing down. We have been using it in such a poor shape for the past 1 year now as it is used rarely and that too purely for entertainment purposes. I had 2 questions:

1. What would be the approximate cost to get this fixed? We are sure it is only the hinges as the rest of the contraption works fine.
2. Warranty is over long ago. Does it make sense to go to an authorized Dell service center or get it done from an independent repair shop?

What would you recommend? We were thinking of getting it repaired, if the costs are justified, as my wife has an emotional connection with it. So... any ideas?

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Slightly OT:

How do I get the latest Win 8.1 on my Lenovo Flex2. As we all know Window registry management is not very good, and a lot of garbage collects in the registry etc. Alternative, some utility for analysing and cleaning up the garbage, and restoring the performance.

CCleaner is a good tool for Registry management. You can give it a try.

[RavSam]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Slightly OT:

How do I get the latest Win 8.1 on my Lenovo Flex2. As we all know Window registry management is not very good, and a lot of garbage collects in the registry etc. Alternative, some utility for analysing and cleaning up the garbage, and restoring the performance.

I use:
1. Tune-Up Utilities
2. Wise Care 365
3. RegCure Pro

They make my PC run smoothly even after 8 years!

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by SankalpDesai

Hello friends, need your advice. My wife has a Dell Inspiron laptop (not sure of the model number right now). Its been quite useful for the last 8 years or so now.

The problem is that the laptop hinge has been broken for the past 1 year. The screen does stand up but it is not as tightly fixed into position as it should be. And with a slight movement it comes crashing down. We have been using it in such a poor shape for the past 1 year now as it is used rarely and that too purely for entertainment purposes. I had 2 questions:

1. What would be the approximate cost to get this fixed? We are sure it is only the hinges as the rest of the contraption works fine.
2. Warranty is over long ago. Does it make sense to go to an authorized Dell service center or get it done from an independent repair shop?

What would you recommend? We were thinking of getting it repaired, if the costs are justified, as my wife has an emotional connection with it. So... any ideas?

You can try independent repair shops. Provided they have the correct hinge it would be a low cost option. Otherwise it is not worth spending any money on an 8 year old laptop, as not only the resale is poor, but in case you have to change the battery it will cost you many times the resale value.

In my opinion, it is better to buy a low end laptop, say for around Rs.20K (or less) and donate your laptop to a needy person.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by SankalpDesai

Hello friends, need your advice. My wife has a Dell Inspiron laptop (not sure of the model number right now). Its been quite useful for the last 8 years or so now.

The problem is that the laptop hinge has been broken for the past 1 year. The screen does stand up but it is not as tightly fixed into position as it should be. And with a slight movement it comes crashing down. We have been using it in such a poor shape for the past 1 year now as it is used rarely and that too purely for entertainment purposes. I had 2 questions:

1. What would be the approximate cost to get this fixed? We are sure it is only the hinges as the rest of the contraption works fine.
2. Warranty is over long ago. Does it make sense to go to an authorized Dell service center or get it done from an independent repair shop?

Dell might refuse even to take a look. You need to hunt for a friendly repair shop who could replace the hinge from a scrapped laptop.

Frankly, unlike cars, computers don't have any worthwhile resale value.
So if your wife is emotionally attached to her laptop, repair and keep the laptop as long as it is possible. I have seen many computers well past their primes and still churning. Battery is not an issue.
You can continue to use the laptop on mains.

You can ask the service guy to cut the old 'battery' and replace the internals with equivalent new batteries.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by SankalpDesai

My wife has a Dell Inspiron laptop (not sure of the model number right now).
The problem is that the laptop hinge has been broken for the past 1 year.
1. What would be the approximate cost to get this fixed ? We are sure it is only the hinges as the rest of the contraption works fine.
2. Warranty is over long ago. Does it make sense to go to an authorized Dell service center or get it done from an independent repair shop ?

I have a 2007 Inspiron too, running Vista of all things, but keeps chugging away every time it is turned on.
Is the hinge on your laptop broken mechanically, or is it just loose ?
If you're the mucking about kind, I'd say just open the laptop & check.

Easiest is to check for YouTube videos for your specific model of laptop, for e.g.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62eImbH1zLs

If the hinge has just gotten loose, fixing it will not cost you anything.
If one the other hand, you need a new hinge, you can check for replacement parts online.
Parts from Indian re-sellers will be cheaper, but availability will depend on the model's popularity.

A note of caution though, some specifics of the laptop assembly may vary between geographies.
For example, the following is a video for the disassembly of Dell's N5010 laptop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YXGa5rTw1o

In the video, one of the earlier steps is to remove the "bottom keyboard screw", however, the Indian model does not have a bottom keyboard screw !
To my consternation, I found out that the keyboard in my N5010 was "fixed" to the palm-rest using double sided tape (pretty strong too).
Also, keep a count of the screws, in my N5010 the screen hinges were held on by just a single screw on each side

[raghu.t.k]

Iam in a slightly confused state. My Dell Studio 1558 has crashed, and looking at the symptoms, looks like a motherboard problem. I am now not sure which laptop to buy.

Earlier I had been a fanboy of Dell, but ever since they stopped the configurable option, I am not too keen on getting a Dell. Also their quality and service levels has also dropped significantly. The laptops bought in 2002 and 2006 from London is still usable, while the studio 1558 bought in 2010 has crashed. Dell does not want to even talk of fixing it, even as a paid repair!!

Looking at various reviews, and I am surprised to see that as in cars we do not get the top spec laptops in India. I was looking at the Dell, HP sites and compared it with their US sites.

Given that I dont travel as much as I used to, I would like to go for a 17" i7, preferably with a SSD + HDD combination.

The ones that I shortlisted are
ASUS G751
Dell Alienware
HP Envy 17

The negatives I see in the above are as follows:
1. Asus G751
-Battery is internal and cannot be removed as others
-Previous generation of i7

2.Dell Alienware
-Cost
-Previous generation of i7

3.HP Envy 17
-Not sure on the reliablity, I dont see any reviews for the n001tx

Not sure why the Windows 10 pre-loaded laptops are not yet advertised. I dont want to buy one with 8.1 and then have to download 10, eating up my internet FUP quota. Any idea when the Windows 10 pre-loaded laptops would be available?

Any good suggestions on a 17" i7 laptop?

[Kumar R]

Guys, I will soon have to purchase a new laptop to take with me for my graduate studies in the US. (Presently I use a desktop and have an 9 year old Thinkpad that is more of a portable desktop than a laptop). In particular I am looking for Lenovo brand and something that is lightweight (less than 2 kg) and small (but not with a cramped keyboard). I am not fussy about a touchscreen and the specs can be minimal since I will use it only for documentation and browsing. My budget is Rs 35k.

I have been suggested these two models

Lenovo Yoga 300 series (Rs 30k)

http://www.flipkart.com/lenovo-300-y...2005&srno=b_43

and Lenovo Ideapad Flex-2 (Rs 37k) [Mysteriously the Lenovo site shows the price at Rs 43k]

http://www.flipkart.com/lenovo-ideap...30280&srno=b_5


Is it safe to order via flipkart?

What would you reccomend - is there some other model I should consider? I am bewildered by the array of choices and totally out of tune with the market.