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Looking for a high quality laptop

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  • Macbook Pro
  • Laptops
  • Workstations
  • Systems
Last response: in MacBooks
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June 23, 2013 5:24:28 PM

I am currently looking for an upgrade laptop from my 2010 macbook pro 13". I am looking for something that is comparable to a 2012 retina macbook pro minus the retina display, unless you can find one. A quad core i7, 8-16gb 1600mhz ram, GPU with at least 1gb of ram, 128-256gb SSD and 750gb or more storage drive. I would also prefer a laptop made from aluminum or something that looks like aluminum. High quality feel and a backlit keyboard would be amazing!

Thanks:) 

More about : high quality laptop

a b D Laptop
June 23, 2013 5:54:47 PM

Alienware is unbelievably overrated. If you want something that's better than a Macbook Pro (honestly, anything really is) then get something like this: http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_inf...

Better than Alienware - and a lot of smaller boutique venders like Origin and Falcon Northwest actually rebrand these machines and resell them that way.
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June 23, 2013 6:01:19 PM

g-unit1111 said:
Alienware is unbelievably overrated. If you want something that's better than a Macbook Pro (honestly, anything really is) then get something like this: http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_inf...

Better than Alienware - and a lot of smaller boutique venders like Origin and Falcon Northwest actually rebrand these machines and resell them that way.


That's the craziest notebook i've ever seen! It looks a little to heavy and bulky though. By "high quality" I meant high build quality. I don't need something that powerful. I need something with power and portability. That thing looks like a great desktop replacement though!
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a b D Laptop
June 23, 2013 7:13:28 PM

The Sager looks like it's a 17.3" display, which explains much of it's size.
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June 23, 2013 7:16:59 PM

mbreslin1954 said:
The Sager looks like it's a 17.3" display, which explains much of it's size.


Yeah, I think a 15 inch display is the best size for portability and experience. The thickness and weight is what I meant by huge though. I'm used to thin sleek macbook pros.
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June 23, 2013 7:21:57 PM

mbreslin1954 said:
Dell has a slim 15" laptop with 1080p screen and discrete GPU with 2 GB RAM:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-15-l521x/pd



That looks like a good choice. When will the new Haswell chips be used? From what i've heard these new CPUs are very power efficient.
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a b D Laptop
June 23, 2013 8:16:54 PM

I don't know. The Haswell desktop CPUs were released first, I'm not even sure the mobile CPUs are out yet.
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June 23, 2013 9:47:28 PM

mbreslin1954 said:
I don't know. The Haswell desktop CPUs were released first, I'm not even sure the mobile CPUs are out yet.


I just did a quick search to find that Haswell CPUs are in extreme gaming laptops and ultra books. Nothing in-between yet. The MSI GT70 Dragon Edition 2 and Razer Blade have them. So my options for Haswell right now are expensive quad core gaming rigs or slower clocked dual core ultra books. So sad:( 
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a c 467 D Laptop
June 23, 2013 10:01:10 PM

Quad core mobile Haswell Core i7 are currently available. However, mobile dual core i5 and i7 are not yet available to the best of my knowledge.

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a b D Laptop
June 23, 2013 10:25:43 PM

mbreslin1954 said:
Dell has a slim 15" laptop with 1080p screen and discrete GPU with 2 GB RAM:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-15-l521x/pd



I'm not a Dell fan by any stretch of the imagination.

Quote:
That's the craziest notebook i've ever seen! It looks a little to heavy and bulky though. By "high quality" I meant high build quality. I don't need something that powerful. I need something with power and portability. That thing looks like a great desktop replacement though!


Sager laptops are among the best on the market. Many system manufacturers sell their laptops rebranded. Dell not so much.
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June 24, 2013 3:53:06 AM

Hondarider98 said:
mbreslin1954 said:
Dell has a slim 15" laptop with 1080p screen and discrete GPU with 2 GB RAM:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-15-l521x/pd



That looks like a good choice. When will the new Haswell chips be used? From what i've heard these new CPUs are very power efficient.


I would be very careful if anyone considers these XPS-15 L521X... I had been looking at getting one of these and fortunately I did some research before buying one, they seem to plagued with a couple problems... One, which is often typical of many laptops with a dedicated GPU is that they get warm, have issues with throttling the CPU and/or GPU... The other, which is in someways the bigger problem with the L521X, is that it seems that the WIFI on it, has some sort of problem, where it won't connect at anywhere near the speeds that you would expect.

The WIFI issue, seems to have never been fixed, I've read many many posts on internet forums about the issue, and near as I can tell, Dell has never come up with a solution to the problem. I was almost willing to take a chance on the CPU/GPU throttling problems, knowing that a lot of laptops have these kinds of issues, but when I read about all the WIFI issues, I gave up on the idea of the XPS15 L521X.

I have been looking for laptops for a few weeks now, and for me, I finally decided on a Sager NP7352, I opted for the 95% NTSC Color Gamut screen, Intel 6235 - 802.11a/b/g/n wireless LAN + Bluetooth , and the high end CPU cooling paste ( hoping it might help keep things cool when using the GPU )... I also had Windows 7 Pro installed, as I'm not a big fan of Windows 8... Total price came out to just under $1300.

http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_inf...

It's a bit hard to find detailed reviews of the Sager(Clevo) laptops, but there are blurbs here and there that suggest the they can pretty nice , when compared to some of the more well known brands. I just submitted my order yesterday, and am basically willing to give them a chance, after suffering with a older Dell XPS 15, for a few years ( it's always had issues with throttling CPU/GPU when trying to run high graphics intense things such as games, etc... )

Anyway, be very cautious when considering that Dell...

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June 24, 2013 8:42:29 AM

Hondarider98 said:
I am currently looking for an upgrade laptop from my 2010 macbook pro 13". I am looking for something that is comparable to a 2012 retina macbook pro minus the retina display, unless you can find one. A quad core i7, 8-16gb 1600mhz ram, GPU with at least 1gb of ram, 128-256gb SSD and 750gb or more storage drive. I would also prefer a laptop made from aluminum or something that looks like aluminum. High quality feel and a backlit keyboard would be amazing!

Thanks:) 


*********************************************
I currently am looking for a similar system. So far I have my eye on the MSI GE70:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/17.3%22+Laptop+-+12GB+Memor...

Lightweight, dedicated video card, and 750 gig hdd. I will probably upgrade the hd to a SSD drive later, but at $1299.00 this Haswell laptop is a steal! You can also go smaller with the GE60, which is a 15" screen. That one goes for $1199.00.

Hope that helps!

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June 25, 2013 1:29:17 PM

1. Desktops are better than laptops for gaming in most cases.
2. You will find infinitely better feedback than this "Alienware is overpriced and overrated" rubbish on the Notebookreview.com forums.
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June 25, 2013 2:38:24 PM

If you want something in the chords of a Macbook Retina 13" wait for the release of dual core haswells. (but no discrete GPU in that range of size)
If you want something in the chords of a Macbook Retina 15" there are a bunch of systems like Sony VAIO S, Dell XPS-15, Samsung 7, Asus NPsomethingIdon'tquiteremember.
Most of them to be still upgraded to Haswell.
With different ratios of power, portability, and price.

It is true that coming from a 2010 Macbook Pro almost any decent laptop is a huge improvement, but, if you're happy with the Apple's system,
why don't go for the actual Macbook Retina?
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