In need of advice

[ZumGai]

Hello dear tech junkies.

 

(Intro - don't read) I have been following linustechtips for quit some time now (almost 2 years), and I have always been impressed by the content of the channel. Reviews of top end tech gear I could never afford, coverage of CES, experiments for the purpose of answering questions I have always (or never) pondered on (Workshop), and always with a clever and funny presentation. But, the most important thing was everything I learned about technology. In appreciation of the knowledge of the linustechtips media group, I decided to post about the dilemmas I face in the process of choosing a laptop.

 

I have always been using a desktop and a smartphone all years from high school, till now, that I graduated from university. And by that I mean that I have never been the owner of any laptop or tablet machine.

But, it seems that the time has come (due to changes in my life), to purchase my very first laptop. This laptop, I don't intend to use for gaming, since I have my desktop for that, and I also have less time to game now that I have to pose as a responsible, productive and hard-working adult. I need the laptop for browsing, utubing, reading and watching movies (mostly). I know that there are a lot of machines that cost as low as 200 euros, that can actually fit my needs, but I decided to spend a lot of my hard earned money to buy a premium-built, thin-n-light, fast laptop with a dazzling screen.

 

So, the specs I have I have decided on:

1) Ultrabook (preferably less than 1.5kg)

2) i5 6200U or i7 6500U (although I don't actually think it matters much)

3) No dedicated gpu

4) 8 gb ram

5) SSD (preferably nvme)

6) Backlit keyboard

7) One finger hing (although lack of one is not a deal breaker)

8) Respectable battery life

9) Maybe a touchscreen

 

I don't really care about the screen size. I don't care about the camera and mic quality, since I was always using my smartphone to communicate. I also don't care about speaker quality, since I am a headphone guy (currently using a Sennheiser HD 439). In fact, I wish manufacturers offered us the option to order their laptops w/o a camera, microphone, or speakers!

The most obvious choice of course is.... the razer blade stealth.

BUT, razer doesn't offer the stealth in my area right now. I even sent them an email for more information, here is their reply:

 

Thank you for contacting RazerStore.

My apologies but the Razer Blade Stealth is only available to purchase in selected countries. We do not have an estimated time of availability yet of the Razer Blade in Greece at the moment. We are working hard to get the Razer Blade available in as many locations as possible.

 

...

 

And here start the problems. I am from Greece. I grew up in Greece, I studied in Greece, I currently reside and work in Greece. All of you that read this and know about Greece, may have already started to pity me. For all others, that don't exactly know about what has happened to the country the last 50 years, I say this: CAPITAL CONTROLS.

6 months ago I wanted to buy a mi4c from gearbest. I created my first paypal account, and I noticed that I cannot transfer money to it from my debit card. I contacted my bank, and they told me that it is not possible, because "it's like transferring money outside Greece". The only way was to create a second account with the same credentials, make a money request to my foremost account, and pay that request with the account's debit card. Then buy the phone with the second account. That didn't work either, so I ended up paying with my credit card, not through paypal, which actually worked.

 

...

 

I had to share that with you, because now I will give you the links of greek sites, with the laptops that I have been looking into. And also because I possibly cannot buy a Venom blackbook 13 zero, since they seem to only accept paypal.

 

This  site is a metasearch of greek shops, together with the filters that I have been using:

 

https://www.skroutz.gr/c/25/laptop/f/342278_342316_342323_343297/Τουλάχιστον-1920x1080-Τουλάχιστον-8GB-SSD-Ultrabook.html

In the left column, I have also tried to minimize the results with the "touchscreen","i5 - i7" and "screen size options"

The ones that I like the most are:

 

1)The lg gram for its lightweight design (unfortunately no backlit keyboard):

https://www.skroutz.gr/c/25/laptop/m/30/LG/f/342278_342316_342323_343297/Τουλάχιστον-1920x1080-Τουλάχιστον-8GB-SSD-Ultrabook.html

 

2)This dell inspiron 9350 for the astonishingly narrow screen margins:

http://bestdeals.gr/computer-systems/laptops/notebooks/dell-xps-13-9350-core-i5-6200u-8gb-128gb-ssd-windows-10-13.3-fhd-infinity-display/

 

But I would actually want something like this:

http://www.shopvenom.com/globalstore/venom-blackbook-13-zero-a32903/

(1200 euros with shipment, provided I can short out the paypal issues)

 

This post is meant to ask for advice:

Should I wait till razer makes the stealth available in Greece? Should I go through the trouble of finding a way to pay for the venom? Or maybe the dell, and the lg are more obvious, easier to acquire choices? What would you do in my position? Are there other, equally attractive options, that I have been missing?

[unidentical]

If you're trying to get funds out or goods in, you might need to... Greece a few palms.

[BingoFishy]

If you can go for an xps 13

[ZumGai]

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-9350-laptop/pd?oc=cax13w10pb5153dat&model_id=xps-13-9350-laptop

 

I would go for this one, too. If I was in US. I think the solution to my problems is to leave the country.

 

The XPS I linked from the greek store is way too expensive for its specs. I think.

[ZumGai]

I compared the laptops I mentioned to asus zenbooks and hp elitebooks and envy laptops. I got to really like the hp laptops. But, in the "envy vs elitebook" comparison I got to see that, even though the elitebooks are of superior quality and features, the envy are better suited for entertainment.

The thing is, in Greece, the elitbooks are very well priced, while the envies, overpriced:

The 820 G3 (i5) costs 1226 euros, the 840 G3 (i7) 1323 euros, and in comparison, the envy 13 (i5) 1200 euros.... The envy should cost 800 euros, or something, if you think about their build....

 

Links:

http://www.msystems.gr/index.php?category=1134&product=21263

http://www.mgmanager.gr/notebooks/55815-hp-elitebook-840-g3-i7-6500u14-qhd8gb256gb-ssdw7-pro-w10-3y-t9x24ea.html

http://www.msystems.gr/index.php?category=1138&product=21264

 

http://www.mediamarkt.gr/el/product/_hewlett-packard-envy-13-d000nv-energy-star-p1s30ea-1171640.html?outlet=1256&etcc_cmp=Productlisting&etcc_med=Price Search Engine&etcc_ori=skroutz.gr&etcc_par=Price Search Engine&et_cid=3&et_lid=5

http://www.you.gr/laptop,tablet/foritoi-ypologistes/laptop/laptop-hp-envy-15-as000nv-(i7-6500u-8gb-512gb-fhd)

 

 

Should I buy an elitebook, even though it is marked as a business model? Will it be missing something? Maybe the envy's screen is of better quality, to accommodate video playback? Or the elitebooks can actually double both as an entertainment, and as a productivity notebook?

[ZumGai]

What bout refurbished?

Del XPS 13

i7 16gbram 256gb950pro UHD touchscreen

1300 euros

 

http://www.mgmanager.gr/ανακατασκευασμενα-laptop/54229-dell-xps-13-9350-i7-6500u133-qhd-touch16gb256gb-ssdw10-pro-gr.html