Curious about this small and light weight laptop

R

rjhowie

Active member
I already have a replacement pc for Trainz which I more than happy with but I came across this local company site and a particular laptop. My thought was as its is small and so lightweight (only 1.8kg including the battery) it might be of use if I was away somewhere and could maybe be suitable for Trainz on my break or holiday??

This is the link to the Hero-11 laptop and the specs details link in turn half way dow the page.

http://www.utopiacomputers.co.uk/?module&id=HERO-11
 
These are little laptops. :)

After configuring it out to what I would buy, I came in at $1,802.07 or 1128.33 GBP. This is with kitting it up to the top but being reasonable about it too by maxing out the RAM, upping the hard drive to 1TB, and maxing out the processor.
 
The basic price is £637.09 lewisner. Interesting to note that the basics are similar to your laptop. Working with Trainz on my pc is the main place of course but had wondered whether to bother with a laptop maybe for weekends away, holiday or such. Yes, I noticed the review of the slightly larger one which also said was bulkier by the way. In general I had a previous laptop which I tried taking with me but was bulkier and heavier and gave up on that idea as not being practical - a young relation got that! John, I note that you think it is better going for the increased attributes so suggests you reckon Trainz would be a prob on the basics. In reality the increased price of such is not a problem at all with me but whether I want to go to that level for an occasional use is a question and the lightness may not be a sole thing. It gives me something to think abou (from the eye catching lightness) with what you both have said and what anyone else cares to throw into the matter!
 
I found it hard to decypher the minimum specs but from my experience with PC's generally and a few laptops recently I know that an i5 is well up to the job of handling Trainz and one article remarked that the GT 650m was "better than the GT 710m". If I was buying one of those I would want an SSD as the Boot drive but I would probably buy the ordinary lappy then replace the HDD with a one from ebay where 240GB SSD's are hovering around £100 for a used one now. The only possible issues I can see are heat since my lappy kicks out a fair bit of heat playing video games, and the battery life.
As a general workhorse though it sounds spot on.
 
If I were you I would be having a long hard think about what you would be using the laptop for when away from home and also about how much use the laptop will get. On the 'technical' side it should be just fine for casual driving from the cab but I suspect the 11" screen will prove too small for much detailed content creation (routes or assets). The base spec indicates an i3 processor with options for i7 - either should be acceptable but as always a lot depends on the route you are driving etc. As to other enhancements to the base spec, well I could easily spend around £1,500 of your hard earned money on enhancing the specifications but, as you have already said, would it be worth it for the use it would get?

If you decide to go ahead, given that the firm are only ~25 miles away from Glasgow would it be worth visiting them and getting 'hands on' with the laptop before finally purchasing?
 
Find your feelings on this thread itareus very much in my mind and quite correct of course. If I did think seriously on the machine the size is not a iutch as Trainz is on my home pc which is excellent for building and working on etc. No probs in that area at all. My thought was that al ight compact laptop and just driving not building was the main thing (have 2 projects and which as happens are large in each case). Something to muse on there too? Being a railway fan, I will of course take the train down to Kilmarnock and a ten minute walk and suss out things in person. You touched my mind on that area too!
 
If you search ebay for " Dell Inspiron 17r 7720 Laptop, 3.2ghz i5, 1TB, 8GB, 2GB GT 650m, FULL HD, e450 " there is one listed for £550. I would link you directly to it but I think the mods delete posts with links to ebay.
 
Had a look lewisner and it is certainly a reasonable machine for the price although I suspect judging by similar models quite heavy. Keeping an open mind as obviously it isn't a critical matter but an extra.
 
Another source for machines is LogicBuy which is put out by Ziff Davis Networks (zdnet) the company that publishes all kinds of computer magazines.

http://www.logicbuy.com/

The price you're quoting in GPB is quite a bit more than the HP laptop listed here which I saw as an example.

The deals change daily or weekly so you have to grab quickly.

They link back to the manufacturer's website so if you're interested in a Dell they have listed, it will go to the Dell website. I'm not sure if the sale prices are valid in all countries, places, counties, and ones house.

John
 
rjhowie said:
Had a look lewisner and it is certainly a reasonable machine for the price although I suspect judging by similar models quite heavy. Keeping an open mind as obviously it isn't a critical matter but an extra.
Click to expand...

It is the i5 version of my own laptop which is indeed quite heavy. But the advantage is that you get a whopping 17.3 inch screen and since it is made by a large manufacturer you get good support.

Jcitron said "The price you're quoting in GPB is quite a bit more than the HP laptop listed here which I saw as an example."

Unfortunately thats always the way in the uk where we are taxed to the hilt. If you do a random sample of PC parts and search in the USA then do a similar search with "UK price" on the end you will see what I mean. It would probably be economical for me to buy a return flight to the the States for one day, buy a load of high end PC parts then chance getting them through customs.
 
Just came across this laptop. It is small and even lighter than that Utopi model. This one ios 1.08 in wight, small (11 inches) and obviously very suitable for travelling. It is however is ot a Windows laptop but the Apple MacBook BD 7113 B/A 11-6 laptop.

Now I know absolutely zilch about Apple bu I think John you might have something in that corner?? It certainly gets great customer reviews for size, weight and use. A couple of reviews say it can do games but need more advice on that in relation to Trainz of course. I do know Apple tends to be dearer and this is £848 but any info on that would be good in relation to our hobby that refuses to let you go!.
 
If this is the one you mean http://www.laptopmag.com/apple-macbook-air-11-inch-2013).aspx it seems to be basically everything I have always disliked about Apple. Its very pretty and portable but you are getting an i5 with integrated graphics :confused: and 4GB of RAM and paying a huge price for it. I bought a used Dell Inspiron M5110 a year old a few months ago with a dead hard drive, put a new HDD in and 8GB RAM and it was a monster, easily ran Trainz. Total cost was £180.
 
You have a points there lewisner which are important and in hindsight I am smiling at myself on the Mac issue. Not just the cost but the extra bother it would be for me. Mo own built routes are in Windows (7) of course so would just complicate things for what was originally to be a simple plan. Dare say I could still visit Utopia and have a look at the one they have but I am still unsure how Trainz 10 would run on it even though the ads say that gaming would be okay. Perhaps I am looking into the idea of the travelling matter too much and stick to the home pc?!
 
rjhowie said:
You have a points there lewisner which are important and in hindsight I am smiling at myself on the Mac issue. Not just the cost but the extra bother it would be for me. Mo own built routes are in Windows (7) of course so would just complicate things for what was originally to be a simple plan. Dare say I could still visit Utopia and have a look at the one they have but I am still unsure how Trainz 10 would run on it even though the ads say that gaming would be okay. Perhaps I am looking into the idea of the travelling matter too much and stick to the home pc?!
Click to expand...

Well the thing is that the laptop I have is essentially a "replacement desktop" which is the reason I bought it as my desktop's PSU - a Corsair AX860i - decided to throw its toys out of the pram and stop working. I have came to the conclusion that Corsair products are like Apple - pretty and supported by slick marketing but highly overpriced.
My laptop is a tad unwieldy because of the large screen but in a carrying bag it is no real weight at all and I think its unlikely you would be playing Trainz while balancing the Utopia laptop on your knee on a bus!
It might be worth joining this forum site where you can get better or at least more varied advice than I can give you but remember that like most sites it has a certain number of fanboys. http://www.overclock.net/f/158/laptops-and-netbooks
 
You are right I wouldn't have it on a knee on a bus as we have an extensive rail system and use a a table! But more seriously, it would be more likely in a hotel room if the tv progs are lousy or unpleasant outside. It isn't that desperate really as I have that powerful pc at home so my main Trainz and route building is there as my main direction. On a previous break from here I spent almost a week over the Irish sea based in Ulster based in Belfast t and the eastern side of the Province had rain every night where I was and in the west a farmer had to be rescued from snowed in so I was glad to get on a plane back to Glasgow. I did do a bit of running on the NI Railway. Will have a look on that link so thanks again.
 
lewisner said:
Well the thing is that the laptop I have is essentially a "replacement desktop" which is the reason I bought it as my desktop's PSU - a Corsair AX860i - decided to throw its toys out of the pram and stop working. I have came to the conclusion that Corsair products are like Apple - pretty and supported by slick marketing but highly overpriced.
My laptop is a tad unwieldy because of the large screen but in a carrying bag it is no real weight at all and I think its unlikely you would be playing Trainz while balancing the Utopia laptop on your knee on a bus!
It might be worth joining this forum site where you can get better or at least more varied advice than I can give you but remember that like most sites it has a certain number of fanboys. http://www.overclock.net/f/158/laptops-and-netbooks
Click to expand...

My Alienware is my traveling desktop. It weighs in about 15 lbs. not counting the power adapter. I also have a portable laptop pad with a mouse pad, and a laptop cooler that I carry with me in my bag which brings the kit up to about 20 lbs. This is a lot to carry around so I only use the laptop when I am going to be away from home for long periods, or it is too hot to sit with my desktop running.

John
 
John, You have now made me more curious about that wee laptop I referred to! Quite a lot you carry with you and I try to travel light with my personal stuff hence my look at the ease of the. For years taking boys to summer camp with The Boys' Brigade where I was captain those teenagers struggling with heavy cases looked envious at me (!).
Lewisner, I did register with that site and put a thread up but so far have had no advice on that light Utopia machine. Would prefer not to waste money if the thing wasn't suitable for Trainz. Meanwhile as I wait to see if any reaction wil now be able to put up the 6th Ulster rail route slide show on Wednesday at last.

Bobby
 
rjhowie said:
John, You have now made me more curious about that wee laptop I referred to! Quite a lot you carry with you and I try to travel light with my personal stuff hence my look at the ease of the. For years taking boys to summer camp with The Boys' Brigade where I was captain those teenagers struggling with heavy cases looked envious at me (!).
Lewisner, I did register with that site and put a thread up but so far have had no advice on that light Utopia machine. Would prefer not to waste money if the thing wasn't suitable for Trainz. Meanwhile as I wait to see if any reaction wil now be able to put up the 6th Ulster rail route slide show on Wednesday at last.

Bobby
Click to expand...

It will without a doubt be suitable for Trainz , the only point of contention -IMHO - is whether a larger lappy at the same price would be more suitable.
On the plus side I have just restored my desktop back to working order by replacing the hideously expensive Corsair AX860i with a slightly lower spec one by XFX which actually works! So my lovely lappy is relegated to the subs bench.
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/pinzac55/27322665
 
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