Laptop choice

[PenPoint]

I'm currently looking for a decent laptop just for basic productivity tasks with programming and high resolution video playback - which leads to this conclusion : don't need any dGPU. Intel iGPU is enough.

And most of all, I'm going to use it in college. So I rapidly looked up some laptops being sold, and I found these :

 

(1) HP EliteBook 1040 G3-N6E21AV [Approx. 1063 USD]

-> i7-6500U(Skylake, 2.5GHz 2C4T), 8GB DDR4, M.2 256GB unknown SSD, 14" FHD TN non-glare display panel, 1.43kg(about 3.15lb)

(2) LG Gram 14ZD970 [Approx. 1073 USD]

-> i5-7200U(Kaby Lake, 2.5GHz 2C4T), 8GB DDR4, M.2 256GB unknown SSD, 14" FHD IPS glare display panel, 0.97kg(about 2.14lb)

 

Both models have 14-inch FHD display, and each has its own advantages and drawbacks.

For instance, HP has a non-glare display panel but it's TN, and LG has a glare display panel but it's IPS.

Which one will be the better choice? Please help me find out the answer. :]

[vorticalbox]

I'm torn between the i7 and that ips panel  I think i would take the i5 and IPS as they have much better colours.

[PenPoint]

6 minutes ago, vorticalbox said:

I'm torn between the i7 and that ips panel  I think i would take the i5 and IPS as they have much better colours.

Actually, when it comes to CPU and panel only, LG definitely is the winner because that i5 and i7 performance is almost identical. Same core clocks, supporting turbo boost technology... little difference whatsoever.

[vorticalbox]

9 minutes ago, PenPoint said:

Actually, when it comes to CPU and panel only, LG definitely is the winner because that i5 and i7 performance is almost identical. Same core clocks, supporting turbo boost technology... little difference whatsoever.

 

then I would take the i5. same performance better screen and lighter.

[PenPoint]

1 minute ago, vorticalbox said:

then I would take the i5. same performance better screen and lighter.

Yes, actually the weight is one of the most important factor. Less than 1kg... quite appealing.

But some say that the laptop is so light that it bends relatively easily, so that's what I'm worried about.

[Dash Lambda]

You should go for a ThinkPad X260. It's small and light, has an IPS FHD display, it's built better than both of those options, has a ThinkPad keyboard, and its battery life is absolutely legendary.

[PenPoint]

5 minutes ago, Dash Lambda said:

You should go for a ThinkPad X260. It's small and light, has an IPS FHD display, it's built better than both of those options, has a ThinkPad keyboard, and its battery life is absolutely legendary.

I hate Lenovo for numerous reasons. First of all, backdoor issue. Second, amazingly freaking quality of local customer support. I never considered/will consider Lenovo products

Actually LG this time has an insane battery time - LG claims that their laptops goes 23 hours maximum.

Furthermore, I'm not a Lenovo keyboard fan.

[Dash Lambda]

1 minute ago, PenPoint said:

I hate Lenovo for numerous reasons. First of all, backdoor issue. Second, amazingly freaking quality of local customer support. I never considered/will consider Lenovo products

Actually LG this time has an insane battery time - LG claims that their laptops goes 23 hours maximum.

Furthermore, I'm not a Lenovo keyboard fan.

What product are you judging them by? Because ThinkPads are completely different from their consumer products.

[PenPoint]

2 minutes ago, Dash Lambda said:

What product are you judging them by? Because ThinkPads are completely different from their consumer products.

Lenovo is so much well-known for its awful customer service in here. I'm not going to by Lenovo laptop no matter how much they are well-made. But I totally understood what you're talking about. 

[Dash Lambda]

1 minute ago, PenPoint said:

Lenovo is so well-known for its awful customer service in here. I'm not going to buy a Lenovo laptop no matter how well-made they are. But I totally understand what you're talking about. 

Like I said, ThinkPads are completely different. Lenovo's consumer customer support sucks, but ThinkPads are for business use, and you can't really have bad customer support for business customers.

Every time I've had an issue, they sent out a padded box with free one or two day shipping both ways and serviced it without question. There was a machine that kept having manufacturing problems (2nd gen X1 Carbon, just a bad generation), so they let me trade it in for a fully spec'd T440s without any trouble. A little while after that I damaged the T440s and they didn't have the parts to fix it, so they upgraded me to a T450s. I thought I noticed a blotch on the display ('thought') but didn't want to send it in, so they sent me out a new display element for free without question.

 

In my experience, their customer support is among the best I've ever dealt with.

[Keg Ops]

2 hours ago, Dash Lambda said:

-snip

Good to know their customer experience has improved. I still wouldn't recommend Lenovo Products due to how poor their quality check is with their products. 

Don't get me wrong, if you get a working machine, it's a fantastic laptop. I've used a few before and the build quality is great and the keyboard is best I've ever used on a laptop. However, considering how inconsistent they are, and also the base model doesn't really have a display that stacks up to other IPS displays, I don't think it's good for OP's purposes. 

[Dash Lambda]

31 minutes ago, Kek Ops said:

Good to know their customer experience has improved. I still wouldn't recommend Lenovo Products due to how poor their quality check is with their products. 

Don't get me wrong, if you get a working machine, it's a fantastic laptop. I've used a few before and the build quality is great and the keyboard is best I've ever used on a laptop. However, considering how inconsistent they are, and also the base model doesn't really have a display that stacks up to other IPS displays, I don't think it's good for OP's purposes. 

The only ThinkPad I've had QC issues with was the 2nd gen X1 Carbon. Are you talking about ThinkPads or Lenovo in general?

For the displays, though, yeah, they're not the highest picture quality. They're not bad by any means, but they're not the best. (Though I've never used a W or P series machine, those have even had built-in color calibrators...)

[Pendragon]

4 hours ago, PenPoint said:

Lenovo is so much well-known for its awful customer service in here. I'm not going to by Lenovo laptop no matter how much they are well-made. But I totally understood what you're talking about. 

 

56 minutes ago, Kek Ops said:

Good to know their customer experience has improved. I still wouldn't recommend Lenovo Products due to how poor their quality check is with their products. 

Oh definitely. But Thinkpad is a separate customer service line, and a separate manufacturing line. A business laptops added cost comes from getting extreme build and better custom service. If you wish to verify it yourself, simply select calling for business product when you're asked whether you're inquiring about a for home or for work through their phone line. I've never had issues with the business line because it's their business to not have issues. Customer side is terrible. I agree. Nothing you can do though. Also, once you purchase 1 business laptop for work, you're qualified as a business user and you're allowed access to use the business line even if you happen to purchase other laptop lineups. eg. you buy Dell latitudes and precisions for work, and you also buy an Alienware. You can service your Alienware through Dell's business call center.

[PenPoint]

11 hours ago, Dash Lambda said:

Like I said, ThinkPads are completely different. Lenovo's consumer customer support sucks, but ThinkPads are for business use, and you can't really have bad customer support for business customers.

Every time I've had an issue, they sent out a padded box with free one or two day shipping both ways and serviced it without question. There was a machine that kept having manufacturing problems (2nd gen X1 Carbon, just a bad generation), so they let me trade it in for a fully spec'd T440s without any trouble. A little while after that I damaged the T440s and they didn't have the parts to fix it, so they upgraded me to a T450s. I thought I noticed a blotch on the display ('thought') but didn't want to send it in, so they sent me out a new display element for free without question.

 

In my experience, their customer support is among the best I've ever dealt with.

 

7 hours ago, Dash Lambda said:

The only ThinkPad I've had QC issues with was the 2nd gen X1 Carbon. Are you talking about ThinkPads or Lenovo in general?

For the displays, though, yeah, they're not the highest picture quality. They're not bad by any means, but they're not the best. (Though I've never used a W or P series machine, those have even had built-in color calibrators...)

 

7 hours ago, Pendragon said:

 

Oh definitely. But Thinkpad is a separate customer service line, and a separate manufacturing line. A business laptops added cost comes from getting extreme build and better custom service. If you wish to verify it yourself, simply select calling for business product when you're asked whether you're inquiring about a for home or for work through their phone line. I've never had issues with the business line because it's their business to not have issues. Customer side is terrible. I agree. Nothing you can do though. Also, once you purchase 1 business laptop for work, you're qualified as a business user and you're allowed access to use the business line even if you happen to purchase other laptop lineups. eg. you buy Dell latitudes and precisions for work, and you also buy an Alienware. You can service your Alienware through Dell's business call center.

 

Okay guys, I'll show you the condition of Lenovo customer support. Here are some translated sentences from local Wiki :

 

Based on August 2016 experience, they still haven't figured out what is right in customer support. They make inquries about every single products to the Chinese HQ, and in most cases, customers can hear "HQ says that it's your fault" no matter what customer did. Both service center and engineer never gets a single call from the customer.

 

And when I search 'lenovo customer support' in local Google, "seven" out of eight articles are exploding anger about the Lenovo's customer support.

No lenovo

[Dash Lambda]

2 hours ago, PenPoint said:

-snip-

Again, you keep saying Lenovo. Their business customer support, which is for the ThinkPad line, is completely separate from their consumer customer support. 

You cannot judge anything about their business products from their consumer products, might as well not even be the same company.

[Pendragon]

10 hours ago, PenPoint said:

And when I search 'lenovo customer support' in local Google, "seven" out of eight articles are exploding anger about the Lenovo's customer support.

You should probably google Thinkpad support and warranty.