New Laptop

[scott broadway]

Hi guys. Looking for input.

1. What is your budget?
>>> up to $1500

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
>>> 17"

3. What screen resolution do you want?
>>> 1920 x 1080 (I'm assuming this is ideal.)

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
>>> Mostly desktop replacement...

5. How much battery life do you need?
>>> Would like 2 hours.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
>>> I want to play games on High settings. That being said, I will always be about 5 years behind the latest games. I currently have Med Total War II, A of E III. There are some others in storage that my Inspiron 8600 couldn't handle - Lord of the Rings game, & another rpg. I will probably need to get more time in on the 2 games named above first, though. Most of my questions revolve around if I will be able to run games made today at medium settings in 5 years...

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
>>> Surfing, watching Korean dramas online, Sibelius music program. Nothing too demanding.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
>>> I thought 500GB, maybe 320MB.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
>>> No. Just want reliability. If that means buying direct, that's fine.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
>>> 5 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
>>> Basics

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
>>> Been happy with Dell, so looking at XPS 17. Maybe MSI, ASUS, but saw an MSI vs. ASUS youtube video review involving a GT series MSI and a G series ASUS where the reviewers really said the ASUS won in the "running cooler" category ONLY. Open to brands that are reliable.

13. What country do you live in?
>>> US and Korea

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
>>> Items I want:
1) 7200rpm (for gaming, right?)
2) 1920 x 1080p (right?)
3) Try for Low Heat (I sometimes game for extended periods - older games.)
4) Backlit Keyboard
5) Nice Speakers
>>> Would the i5 do the job for 5 years?

Thanks. (Please let me know if this is the wrong forum before you delete my post. I believe my others may have been deleted for some reason.)

 

[Abyssalx]

To do what you want, you don't really need to spend $1500.

Two choices are

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220992

which is an Asus with a 2.0ghz i7, 6gb of ram, gt540m.

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131117

Samsung, same specs as above, but only 4gb of ram.

On newegg, the best I could find that comes standard with a 7200rpm laptop with your specs is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214392

Which is a Toshiba, has an i7 and a 560m(which is total overkill for the games you stated) the HDD setup is weird. it has a 4GB boot ssd along with a 500gb 7200rpm drive and a 750g 5400rpm drive.

To be honest, in my opinion, the HDD speed giving more performance is pretty minimal.

Also - on the HP website, you can customize a DV7tqe for $1200, that has a 17" screen, 1080p resolution, 8gb ram, i7, 6770m (better than 540m not as good as the 560m) with a 750gb 7200rpm HDD. It also comes with a pretty decent battery, too.

And yes, the GT540m will play every game today on medium, and most on high or ultra settings.

 

[howardp6]

I would stay away from HP consumer laptops, their reliability is not as good as the other two brands.

 

[scott broadway]

Yes, I see that now. HP is risky if I want reliability. (I also see Dell is not what it used to be.) Was hoping to buy a machine mostly made in the USA at first... So how would you compare these?

>ASUS N73SV-A1 (as mentioned above)

>ASUS G73SW-XN2

>Samsung RF711 (4GB RAM model -02; 8GB RAM model -03) - Looks like that's the only difference. Maybe model -03 has BluRay?
- Is the upgrade worth it now, or wait and see if it is even needed?

How much trade off between heat and rpms? I really do game for a number of hours sometimes and don't want to shorten my laptop's life.

 

[the tippy]

Out of those 3 laptops the ASUS G73SW-XN2 would be the most powerful option and it would have the best cooling. The Samsung on the other hand would be a better option if you wanted more batter life and you could add a 7200rpm hdd if you wanted but it doesn't have a 1080 display. I own the i5 version of the Samsung and it works like a charm on games it doesn't get very hot other than the far left side where the fan is placed you won't notice it. As far as heat trade off it adds a small amount of heat and noise when adding a 7200rpm hard drive.

 

[Abyssalx]

The ASUS G73SW-XN2 completely annihilates the others in gaming performance, besides the toshiba I posted. However, it comes with a sacrifice in battery life because of the power-hungry gpu(both the 460m and the 560m are). If you're gonna be plugged in while gaming, that might not matter.

 

[ragenalien]

There are also custom laptops from venders such as ibuypower and cyberpc. Their reliability is decent and they usually come with a 3 year warrenty.
Also why has nobody mentioned the AW m17x? Its base model costs 1500 and has everything your asking for.
btw very few laptops can use a dedicated graphics card for any amount of time away from the wall so battery life goes out the window when gaming on battery.

 

[Abyssalx]

The AW m17x comes standard with a 6870m and a 1600x900 screen. for the 560m and the 1920x1080 screen, it would cost ~$1750. I would recommend the 560m over the 6870m because ATi's graphics switching is nothing compared to Optimus. Also, that thing is heavy. The m14x weighs more than most 15" laptops so I assume the m17x is probably 1-2 pounds heavier than the average 17" laptop. The problem with ibuypower and cyberpowerpc is the batteries, they're pretty trash. But the design is really nice, and the prices are decent too. The P170HM is pretty nice, and you get 3 free games with it, too. On Cyberpowerpc, there is an Xplorer X7-9700 which has the 560m and i7, for $1350. But for the same price, there is the X7-8500, which is an MSI with the i7 but a better graphics card, the 570m. This will take a chunk out of the battery life though, and I don't know if you need it.

 

[scott broadway]

Thanks. I was able to handle a 17" Samsung and it seems like the perfect size. So, I'm a little less interested in the ASUS models because of what I've heard about their size.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like 5400rpm should be fine - and actually run cooler.

So here is what I think I would like (with your help) and some computers that seem to fit nicely.

>> i7-2630QM
>> RAM 4+
>> HDD 500GB+
>> Decent speakers if possible
>> Backlit keyboard if maybe possible
>> Low heat
>> GPU that will enable me to play up to around 2010 games.

Samsung RF711-02: RAM 4GB/8GBmax; HD 750GB; GT540M w 1 GB video Mem; BluRay

Samsung RF711-03: RAM 8GB; HD 750GB; GT540M w 2 GB video Mem; BluRay; PLUS Gigabit Ethernet

?Toshiba Satellite P770-BT 4G22: RAM 6GB/8max; HD 640GB; GT540M w 1 GB video Mem; PLUS Gigabit Ethernet

>> I have heard that Gigabit Ethernet is important, so I am looking at the Samsung RF711-03. I would be happy to take any other laptop suggestions and research them.
>> I have been running my Inspiron 8600 laptop at 1280x800 for everyday use. I'm still confused which resolution would be the best to get. How does that balance with the GPU? This is the big question as it really changes the game (decision) depending on which way I go. I'm OK with movies not being at top viewing.
Thanks again all.

 

[ragenalien]

The Nvidia 540m is NOT a high end GPU and in fact has quiet a bit of trouble playing the latest games. For Nvidia cards I wouldn't recommend getting anything with less power than the 460m. Thats a minimal card for todays games.

 

[ragenalien]

Oh and as for the AW weight issue, its not really an issue at all. Sure they're a bit heavy, but all gaming laptops (with the exception of the new Razer) are going to be heavy. Its about 9 pounds for the M17x but it still gets my recommendation as its one of the few laptops that you can upgrade the graphics card on.

 

[WR2]

While the GT 540M might be considered a mid-level laptop graphics card it's performance is below an entry level $40 graphics card in a desktop environment. Stepping up from 1366x768 resolution to 1600x900 or 1920x1080 is going to have a great impact on performance than from a more powerful graphics card.

If it helps you understand think of a GT 540M graphics card which is a bit less powerful than a desktop GT 430 graphics card.

For the GTX 460M it's near a desktop GTS 450 performance.

 

[Abyssalx]

ragenalien, I completely disagree with the first statement. The 540m: http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-540M.41715.0.html
Will play anything on at least medium. Most anything on high with about 30fps. And for what he stated, that's pretty much perfect. And no, the only laptop that even compared to the m17x's weight was that huge Asus 17" beast laptop.

 

[Abyssalx]

I would also consider a Lenovo Y570, as they can come with an i7, 555m, and a 64gb ssd + 750gb HDD. But the drawback is the resolution, which at 1366x768, is pretty crappy.

 

[scott broadway]

Thanks. Will read up today.

 

[ragenalien]

Well abyssalx I do believe WR2 just proved my point on the 540's weakness. The desktop 430 is definitely not made for hardcore gaming and is in fact a weak desktop card. A simple google search places the 430 (http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/rmp_vds) between the ATI 5570 and 5550.

 

[ragenalien]

Oh and heres for laptop cards, placing it 98th http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

As someone who owns a 260m (only 17 places higher) I can say its not enough to play 2010 games on anything but low/med settings even with a powerful i7 CPU.

 

[Abyssalx]

If he were a hardcore or at least an enthusiast gamer, I would agree. However, he said right in the beginning that he would only be playing games on medium, which the 540m does flawlessly. Why would you need more, then?
I supposed the 560m is a safer choice for future gaming, but usually the price outweighs the reason in situations like this. This, however, doesn't seem to be the case with the other specs for this laptop.

This is a little cheaper though
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152280

MSI 15.6", i7, GT555m, 1080p, 640gb hdd, 8gb ram. The only thing is the battery life, again. I have to assume it has optimus, but the other MSI laptops I've looked at were pretty low battery life(though they had ATI cards inside them)

 

[Abyssalx]

And on top of that, $1500 will get you this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152284
an MSI with an i7, 560m, 12gb ram, and a backlit keyboard! 17.3", 1080p, etc.

I can't help but think that's overkill though.

 

[scott broadway]

I have to have a 17"

I am very picky about details and I saw MSI has a lot of assembly issues (not performance issues) - alignments, etc. And, the ASUS would just be too big - not too heavy - too big.

I like rpgs, so as long as I have something that plays Neverwinter Nights 2 at Max, the next rpgs to come out after this, and Medieval War II Total War, I'm OK I think.

I am leaning toward one of the these:
I really like the size, look, feel.

Samsung RF711-02: RAM 4GB/8GBmax; HD 750GB; GT540M w 1 GB video Mem; BluRay

Samsung RF711-03: RAM 8GB; HD 750GB; GT540M w 2 GB video Mem; BluRay; PLUS Gigabit Ethernet

Thoughts? Do I need Gigabit Ethernet?, 2 GB video Mem?

I will look into the MX17x.

 

[gamer25]

MSI GT780DXR

Intel Core i7 2630QM

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M (DDR5 1.5GB)

1TB hard drive

12GB DDR3 memory

USB 3.0

HDMI Port

click here

 

[Abyssalx]

If you care about the hardware a lot, the m17x may be a good choice. Alienware laptops are very high-end in all the hardware. They're overpriced, but you get what you pay for one way or another.

 

[scott broadway]

Wow! Now I'm TEMPTED to go back and look at the upper-enders - M17x... Sorry to drag this out, but I'm learning. The Samsungs size and look is nice, but it sounds like x1080 could give me a more significant boost in tandem with a decent GPU. Plus, I don't really like glossy screens.

I can get the XPS 17 from Dell, 4GB Mem, 500GB/7200; upgrade screen to x1080; GT550M for $1230.00. Let's assume the 4GB and 500GB HD are fine for my needs (I won't have much videos or music) with the rpm variable pending heating issues per model computer. What would compete in this category not above $1350.00? I will now research heating issues for this XPS computer.

 

[scott broadway]

Thanks all. I will look into Sager, etc.

 

[Abyssalx]

The Sager NP5175 is a 17" 1080p laptop with a 555m, and an upgrade to an i7, and assuming you don't have a Windows CD laying around, it costs about $1050. Better than the XPS for cheaper.
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5170-custom-laptop-built-the-clevo-w170hn-p-3000.html?wconfigure=yes