Wait for Sandy Bridge or go for it now.

[jbwbizzo]

Hello,
I was about to get a laptop with a SB CPU earlier this week but then it disappeared. I'm computerless and have been for a while, and it really getting difficult. I mostly play moderate game (most intense if 1st person RPGs), edit photos, and do the normal net things. I could either wait for the SB to come out, or get something like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220921

I know this CPU will never touch the SB, but I doubt any SB-based laptop I can get for $1000-1200 will have a GPU as serious as the GTX 460M on the machine I linked to. Any thoughts? I'm really torn right now...

 

[WR2]

What are you using now... and what impact will waiting eight weeks have on you?

ASUS G53JW Core i7 740QM, 1920 x 1080 LCD w/ GTX 460M really is a great laptop.
The only impact I suspect ..is you knowing it's not a SB system.

 

[WR2]

Before the embargo fell we were seeing SB systems and GTX 460s in just about the same prices.

 

[WR2]

You can even go look over the prices still over @ XoticPC

 

[jbwbizzo]

Many thanks for the advice and this link. I was not familiar with this site, so I'm going to do some perusing...

I had a 4 yr old desktop with an AMD that I had been upgrading occasionally, but we had a baby, and had to convert our office into a nursery (tiny urban living space). Consequently, the desktop had to go. As you would expect, it was not keeping up with the latest games anyhow.

I'm currently using my work laptop, which is a pain to bring home, takes 20 minutes to book up because of numerous security logins, and is locked down--I cannot install anything on it. Plus, every time it goes into sleep mode, I have to reboot. Here you go:

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/hp-compaq-6910p/4507-3121_7-32514552.html

It's okay for browsing--once it's started--but that's it. Waiting 8 weeks isn't bad in itself; in a way, I've been waiting 9 months already.

FYI, the types of I expect to buy in the next couple of years (or have been waiting to play): Dragon Age II, Mass Effect II, Witcher II, Diablo III, Batman: Gotham City, Half Life III....

If you think the performance will be comparable on games (that's the most demanding thing I do; I don't do any rendering or hardcore video editing), then I see no point to wait. I don't care about having a SB just to have one. I just don't want to look back in a year or two and regret getting the i7-740 and GTX460.

 

[jbwbizzo]

Best answer selected by jbwbizzo.