Best Laptops You Can Buy Under Rs. 40,000 (2018 Updated)

So you are planning to buy a laptop this year and want it to boast of all the features that you've wanted. Right from ultra portability to having juice in its battery to last longer for an year, I mean 7-8 hours atleast and not to forget, it must handle games like Fortnite and PUBG too. Well, typically in a budget range of ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 it is difficult to find out such laptops, but who said it is impossible.

(c) Dredge Blog 2018

My basic verdict would depend on how the laptop is functional and able to pick up day to day chores, normal multimedia works and a bit of gaming for basic to mediocre gamers. And not to forget, I'll try to bring in laptops that have better display modules.

So to conclude the point above, I'll be putting in scores as

•  Routine Chores (x/10)
•  Multimedia (x/10)
•  Gaming (x/10)

Where x would be the score out of 10.

Read ahead to know which laptops are best to buy in 2018

Buying a laptop can get crucial, because investing such an amount for buying a wrong combination of processor and RAM management and being left out with a feel of not buying an entry level Macbook Air, which is a lame feel in my opinion as someone tries to settle for another entry level device which can only do stuffs of an entry level PC which you can avail for like 30% of the amount spent.

To clear the hassles, let's get started!

Lenovo Ideapad 320E 80XL0376IN

The Lenovo Ideapad 320E series features a robust design to be very honest. Island style keyboard that feels great to type has a great tactile feedback and sports an Intel Core i5-7200 7th Gen Processor with maximum clock speed of 3.1GHz that keeps this powerhouse running.

Regarding the speed, there is a 4GB DDR4 RAM clocked at 2133MHz that powers up the Lenovo 320E. There's a 8GB variant available for a bit of extra price too, check it out here. The storage is 1TB HDD. Don't expect a SSD for this price point.

Check some storage devices here.

Graphic department is taken care with a 2GB NVIDIA GPU, most probably a 940mx variant as I am unsure about it.

The only downside that turns my head down is the display. With such hardware, Lenovo tried to cut the costs by fixing a mediocre 1366x768 TFT LCD display, which is ancient but still many laptop vendors use the same. In my personal opinion, we have cheap smartphones running a FHD 1080p display but it is still a dream to mid-range laptops. God knows why.

Coming back to the verdict, here is my score card for Lenovo 320E80XL0376IN :-

• Routine Chores - 9/10
• Multimedia - 8/10 (display!)
• Gaming - 8/10

HP 15-BS164TU

HP creates some serious devices. Pavilion 15 BS164TU is one of them.

The device features a 15.6" Full HD 1080p display which states a great multimedia beast to-be in the list.

Further increments over Lenovo 320E -

• 8th Gen Intel Core i5 - 8250U Processor (1.6 GHz base frequency, up to 3.4 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 6 MB cache, 4 cores)
• 4 GB DDR4 RAM
• Intel UHD 620 Graphics

Here, the other noticeable difference includes sporting an integrated graphic module by Intel.

Score card :-

• Routine Chores - 10/10
• Multimedia - 9/10 (again, display!)
• Gaming - 6/10

Here, the 8th generation Intel Core i5 processor plays a key role in the terms of processing power, which basically is clocked at 1.6GHz but can be clocked at 3.1GHz and hence the Routine higher.

Acer Aspire A515-51



The Acer Aspire A515-51 is an Elinux based 15.6 laptop which made to this list because of it's processing power. Below are the specifications mentioned properly.

• 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-8250U processor
• 4GB DDR4 RAM
• 1TB hard drive
• 15.6-inch screen
• Intel UHD Graphics 620 graphics
• Elinux operating system

Score card :-

• Routine Chores - 9/10
• Multimedia - 7/10 
• Gaming - 6/10

Verdict

I've tried to keep the spec sheet up with going for Core i5 series processors and opting for the best hardware and also mentioned how far they can go in three different categories.

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Asus Zenfone 3 and Zenfone 3 Deluxe Renders Leaked

If we talk about the rumor-mill of tech and smartphones, renders are on top these days. Similarly there's sort of buzz around the web regarding the new 3rd gen of the Zenfone lineup by Asus.
Below are some images of the unofficial renders which are believed to be close to the original devices.

Rumors are there that the Zenfone 3 will sport the same 5.5" 1920x1080 display module (nothing clear about the technology, let's hope for a clear black OLED this time!) and will be seen running on a QS 650 SoC topped by 3GB RAM.

Talking about the Zenfone 3 Deluxe, it'll hold a bigger and lesser pixel dense screen, a 5.9" 1280x720 unit and maybe the internal specs be the same this time. Out of the box, there will be ZENUi seen running over 6.0 Marshmallow. No clear news about the cameras too. Hopefully there must be atleast 12mp Rear /8mp Front combo.

This time it's seen that the devices will hold a physical tactile response button alongside two touch-capacitive keys.

Maybe Asus is going to launch the lineup at the Computex 2016 which dates at May 31st, while the Zenfone 2 was launched at the CES 2015 while Deluxe version of it was launched in September '15.

Unveiled: Sony Xperia Z4v. Upgrades over Z3+ and is Exclusively Verizon.

Hello readers, sorry for a gap between my previous post and this one, all due to some boozy reasons I'll never prefer to share. ;)
Here comes another flagship model by Sony- Xperia Z4v. As of the news, it's exclusive for Verizon Cellulars(as the V comes in the nomenclature). It is said to be minorly upgraded version of the Z3+, or as of Japan, they call it Z4.

Sony Z4 Stock Image

Speaking about the specifications of the device, the display will be sporting a WQHD 5.2" display, as of Z3+, it was a 1080p model. Talking about the upgrade, charging options are flown up with added PMA Charging unit and Qi technology(for those who don't know click here to know).

Apart from the swapped postions of front camera and the rear cam as compared to Z3+, the battery pack has been increased to 3000mAh. Z4v uses the same powerhouse as the Z3+. Tranlating it, I mean by the same Snapdragon 810 SoC and 3GB RAm module and 32Gb onboard storage. For the photobugs, 20.7MP Rear and 5.1MP(for the duck face and pouted selfies, kiddin!) Front camera module will be there.

Verizon Xperia's are not new in the race, as the Z3v was one, Z4v is another. Yet, it has IP65 and IP68 ratings for water and dust proofing. No news about the pricing yet, as of now. We, frankly have no news about the OS version it will work on. If confirmed, it'll be edited.

Do comment, critique and follow me over my Google+, and my Wordpress.
Take care, keep smiling.
Regards,
Me. :)

Micromax Yu: Expectations.

The most bragged home bred Cyanogen device being now fully booked over Amazon. So being a geek,  what are my expectations from it? What basically is it meant to be?

1. Security and Privacy.
After watching the live Launch event over YouTube yesterday, all the speakers had a  positive bend towards the security and privacy concerns of the device.

As we all know, in the nerdy techie world, or talk about a simple sophisticated guy. Who would love their data to be captured by a long horn company's server?  Whatever they make of it, but nothing is safe in this world.

Yureka, which comes exclusive with Cyanogenmod, it will be focusing over the security issues like a treat. Users will be allowed to grant the permission they want on their app. This would be very helpful in terms of unusual data transmission in background and other several-not-major issues.

2. More personal.

The guy's at Yu promised to give out 2 free custom themes in the beginning,  which would be (I guess)  community submitted artwork and will be launching more themes later on with further updates.

We all use launchers,  Nova Prime being my personal favorite. But Cyanogen themes gives you option to have full control over the visible screen area. Which includes buttons, layouts, fonts, and general things.

3. Performance and Performance..!
Being housed on by a 64 bit Octa core Snapdragon 615 SoC and 2GB DDR3 RAM,  who won't have a tempt to taste some more muscular energy?

Well, I have been using an Asus Zenfone 5 a month after it launched in India. It has some good features too. If it can be a beast in terms of performance, why can't Yu be?

Also, DDR3 memory tends to suck lesser juice from the 2500mAh power it boasts of.

4. Say Cheese!

Well, this is the first thing I look after the processor and looks in a phone. Yureka boasts of 13MP front and 5 MP rear lenses. While, the rear one being a Sony Exmor R unit with f/2.2 aperture to tuck in the light.

This sounds great, but hey..! Did anyone shout SloMo?

Yes, the device is capable to shoot 60fps videos and maybe jump to 120fps in the upcoming updates.

Bottom Line.

Well it's not the end of my expectations. Maybe I'll be writing one more keynote for the remaining ones. Still, a hope to get a better Mobile phone from a home brand like Micromax can do many good deeds.

Have Yu any more stuffs to share?  Do write up over G+.

Micromax YU to be unveiled today. Rumored to be priced below 12K INR.

Cyanogenmod being the most favorite ROM's of all time is now setting trends to be 'officially' used with new devices. Oppo and OnePlus being the trendsetters, Micromax is now the new one to join the race.

As it was teased to be officially announced today (18/12/2014), I hope for it's good market and as Yu sub-brand is targeted for youngsters, Cyanogen may play a hit role as it's famous for it's time to time updates and latest builds with tonnes of customization options and tweaks.

For who don't know what a ROM is, please click here to get the facts and for CyanogenMod, uhh click here.

Talking about the sales platform, Amazon is taking care of it.

It is also rumored to be featuring 4G and 64bit processor.

Specs will be covered next.

Stay tuned.

This new freak from LG has 'eyes' on you!

Smartphones these days getting extra smarter with the personal assistants .(Hello Siri, Google Now and Cortana!).
Now that LG doesn't remain 'practically' behind the race, it announced the LG A.K.A(meant to be pronunced as Aw-kuh). These phones are availabe in 4 colors with very catchy names. viz, Eggy(yellow one), Wooky(the white bully), Soul(black and the charm), and YoYo(pink). Names are given in such a way to make users realize that smartphones these days have a brain, than their no-brainers!

Eyes don't Lie

The phone is a new member of the G series by LG. Specs are mid-range.The device itself sports a 5" 720p screen and 4.4 Kitkat being horsed up by a 1.2GHz Quad-core processor with 1.5GB of RAM.
The back shooter is 8 MegaPixels and the selfie department has been taken care by a 2MP sensor.
Coming to the storage part, it has 16GB of onboard memory and SD expandibility.

As said, being a member of the G-series, these 4 tangy pieces sport a Laser Assisted focus just like the G3 had, plus the similar button-ey design on the back.

The eyes react while having any sort of notification and shake/get drizzy while one shakes the device.

There is a good news. The phone has a 4G LTE connectivity onboard and everything cooks up with the total powerhouse of 2610 mAh battery.

Source: GSMArena

Weekly Bash | Top 3 apps worth a shot

As I use an Android device, the apps shown below are basically for Android. Some of them maybe Android-only and some may be cross platform too. So I'll be showcasing on the Best free apps this week I used and loved so far. Applications I reviewed below, can be downloaded for free on Google Play Store, or particular App stores according to your mobile OS.

To start with, I would love to declare All the contents below are my part of personal opinion. None of the contents are advertised or monetize my webpage.

1. Shuttle Music Player.

To start with, I am a music guy. Even if I forget my bike keys, my earphones stills stay in my pockets.
Talking about Third Party apps, I use musiXmatch. But this app is not less than it. Yea, musiXmatch is a cherry when it comes to design, flawless-ness, ability to derive lyrics and floating lyrics.
Shuttle, is based on the Material design, the new reboot in Google's working area. It has a nice and effective Equalizer too.
Shuttle provides nice swiping and new layout like the recently updated Gmail and Play Music.

Download it here.

Nova with Shuffle widget

2. Nova Launcher Free/ Prime.
Another Google fan? Hate your customized ROM or UI? Love Stock theme like Nexus? Any other reasons?
Then yay! Nova is for you. Download the latest version to get the Lollipop Goodness inside it.
Prime has its own benefits.There are more of the Lollipop material 'circle' for example, sort of anymations and transition effects.


Download it here.











3.SwiftKey Keyboard.
I am using this keyboard since my Asus Zenfone 5 upgraded to Kitkat and removed the Google Keyboard. There are plenty of themes to choose from. Some flawless perks and nice UI. The integrated user dictionary works well.

Download it here.

Do comment and follow me on G+.
Regards.