Looking to Replace my Laptop


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I have a Sony VAIO SR Series that I love but it's getting quite long in the tooth and I'm looking to replace it.  The problem is that I can't seem to find anything similar anymore so I was hoping someone here could help.

 

It's a 13.3" laptop with a 1280x800 LED screen.  I'd really like to stick with that size (13.3") and I would prefer to stick with the 16:10 aspect ratio but I'm flexible there.  1280x800 is acceptable but 1920x1200 would be ideal (I don't really have any desire for anything higher than that).  I do NOT want a 15" or larger laptop nor do I want some tiny 10" device.

 

It has a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 video card and I'd like to keep a discrete card and not go integrated but of course the faster the GPU the better.

 

It has a Blu-Ray optical drive and HDMI out and this is essential as one of its main uses is as a portable Blu-Ray player while on travel.  I have no interest at all in burning discs on the laptop but I need the ability to play Blu-Ray movies (on planes, etc.) and HDMI to connect to TVs in hotels and such.

 

I have ZERO desire for a touchscreen.  If it has it and I can ignore it that's fine but I certainly don't want to pay more to get it.

 

I can't seem to find any 13.3" laptops at all with dedicated graphics and an optical drive anymore.

 

 

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i can find a few options but the blue-ray player may be a bit of an issue to find as the popularity (as there wasn't much to begin with) has gone down on laptops.

 

would ripping your bluerays onto the hard-drive be an option if nothing can be reasonably found?

 

edit: what is your desired price range? there's also the problem of dedicated graphics being used less in laptops as well so it might be a little difficult finding much under $900

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unfortunately I'm not finding anything smaller than 15" that has a blueray drive and everything else that i'm finding is 14" (for dedicated graphics that is)

 

here's 2 that i've found so far that have integrated graphics

 

http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/tecra/Z40/Z40-ABT1400

 

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/z-series/z40/

 

are you going to be doing any gaming? if not then integrated graphics is more then enough anymore, they've come a long way. might be a worth wile sacrifice if you want more options to choose from

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Except during flights most of the movies I watch I rent from the nearest RedBox.  To rip them to disk would require me to rip every movie I planned to watch on my Desktop before the trip and transfer them to the laptop and I just don't do that level of planning.  Plus what I watch depends greatly on my mood at a given time so I just don't know ahead of time.

 

Price range isn't a huge issue.  I'd be willing to spend up to about $2k for something if it nailed all the specs I want.

 

The discrete graphics is less important than the Blu-Ray drive.  For Intel for example the "7th Generation" GPUs (HD4000 and above) that support DX11, OpenGL 4.0, and OpenCL 1.2 would be acceptable though not preferred.

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Depending how much you travel and how often you watch bluray films will decide whether this is convenient... but it might be less costly and lighter to carry around a slim usb bluray drive which can be picked up for around $100 and a laptop.

 

I can't find anything with a Bluray drive smaller than 15 inches.

Edited by lt8480
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yeah I was looking around again & i literally cannot find anything with a blue-ray player that's smaller than 15"

I know this is not an answer that you want to hear but that is the reality of the current market

 

if I widen my search to 15" then I'm able to meet both of your other requirements

here's a couple I found
 

http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/P50/P50-BST2GX1

 

http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/satellite/S50/S50-ABT3N22

 

(come to think of it, from all my searching Toshiba is the only OEM that actually has laptops with blueray right now)


Can't you just get an external blu ray drive? USB 2 or 3 are available.

yeah that'd be comfortable to use on a plane /s

 

just the fact that he mentioned that he uses it on plane rides is why i haven't recommended that

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yeah I was looking around again & i literally cannot find anything with a blue-ray player that's smaller than 15"

I know this is not an answer that you want to hear but that is the reality of the current market

You're apparently having the exact same issues I am. At least I know I didn't just miss the obvious. Thanks for the effort though.
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Thanks.  :)

 

I've never purchased anything from them (xoticpc.com) but the options they give are pretty dang sweet.  Wish I had a bit more info on them to see if they're reputable. 

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