1000 dollar laptop for work and gaming

[kresso]

1. What is your budget?

Around $1000 but it's flexible

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

Don't care

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Don't care but more is probably better

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

Desktop replacement

5. How much battery life do you need?

At least 1 hour and a half (hopefully like 2.5 hours if I can turn off cores or underclock it)

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 would like to play Oblivion and Halflife at max settings. Would also like to do this if possible while hooked up to an external screen. I also play other random games and would like to be able to play at least Crysis at medium. I say the more graphics card the better.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)

Handbreak, and ROOT and c++ programs. I need to do computational intensive stuff. Not under huge time constraints but faster is better. Not certain if faster dual core or slower quad is better in this regard.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

Whatever, but probably 320 or more. I will dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 7.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

Probably newegg, but where ever. I need to buy something that doesn't charge me tax because I am getting reimbursed, also I live in Indiana.

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

3 years more of PHd (hopefully)

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

Doesn't matter, but i would prefer that is can read Blueray, but again, not essential.

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.

Well, I need to laptop to look semi reasonable. Nothing to fancy so it doen't look like I bought some weird gaming laptop since my University is paying.

13. What country do you live in?

USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

So my University if buying me a laptop and I can spend around 1000 dollars (I can probably go to 1100 as well). My primary function will be running the program ROOT was well as c++ programs. I know a laptop isn't the best computer for that, but I travel at times and need to bring my computer with me. So, in addition to my university functions I would like the laptop to be able to game. These are the two I am looking at.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152231
MSI GX660-260US NoteBook Intel Core i5 460M(2.53GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870

or
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220821
ASUS G Series G73JH-RBBX05 NoteBook Intel Core i7 720QM(1.60GHz) 17.3" 6GB Memory DDR3 1066 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870

I am a little worried about the 1.6 GHz on the i7 because my c++ programs are not multi threaded. Also do you know if I can disable cores to save battery life on either of these?
Also if there are other recommendations I would love to hear them. Thanks!!

PS can I hook up two monitors to either of these?

 

[dalauder]

There is one important thing: get a second generation i5 or i7 processor.

That means i7-2XXX CPU (it will have an M or QM at the end, example: i7-2630QM) or i5-2XXX. These use less power and more powerful than first generation CPUs (i5-4XX, i5-5XX, or i7-7XX)

 

[JackNaylorPE]

If ya can spare a few bucks, most of the Sandy Bridge laptops you will see from Asus and Clevo (P151HM) start at about $1200

 

[WindowsTeam_Kevin]

Going to get a truly high powered machine with great graphics for that price. Like JackNaylor said, you might want to bump the price up for $1200 for something a little more serious.

In your price range you can look at the iBUYPOWER Battalion Touch CZ-10. 2.53 GHz Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Mobile P8700 processor, 512 MB dedicated and ATI Radeon HD 4650.

Kevin
Windows Outreach Team

 

[Maziar]

+1 to JackNaylorPE
SB CPUs are significantly faster than current core i CPUs, have a look at Sager NP8130 from xoticpc
http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8130-clevo-p151hm1-p-2973.html

 

[kresso]

+1 to JackNaylorPE
SB CPUs are significantly faster than current core i CPUs, have a look at Sager NP8130 from xoticpc
http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8130-clevo-p151hm1-p-2973.html

So where does the GTX 460M compare with one of ATI's mobile GPU's? I will say the NP8130 looks pretty awesome!

 

[kkiddu]

So where does the GTX 460M compare with one of ATI's mobile GPU's? I will say the NP8130 looks pretty awesome!

Almost as powerful as a 5870M. A few fps less.

I'm also looking at the NP8130 as a gaming laptop. My budget is somewhere around $1200, but I'll be buying my lappy in two months or so.

If you go the Sager way, I'd suggest looking at the NP8150 (same config). The 8150 comes with a 180W power supply, compared to 120W for 8130. So in case you want to upgrade the processor or graphics in the future, you can have more power-hungry ones in the 8150. Also handy if you overclock, I suppose.

 

[Maziar]

Right^
GTX 460M is a little slower than 5870M but runs cooler and will give you more battery life.

 

[kresso]

Almost as powerful as a 5870M. A few fps less.

I'm also looking at the NP8130 as a gaming laptop. My budget is somewhere around $1200, but I'll be buying my lappy in two months or so.

If you go the Sager way, I'd suggest looking at the NP8150 (same config). The 8150 comes with a 180W power supply, compared to 120W for 8130. So in case you want to upgrade the processor or graphics in the future, you can have more power-hungry ones in the 8150. Also handy if you overclock, I suppose.

Yeah, that one does look good as well, better graphics, but to pad they cut out 4 gigs of ram compared to 8 in the NP8130.

 

[Bacterius]

Yeah, that one does look good as well, better graphics, but to pad they cut out 4 gigs of ram compared to 8 in the NP8130.

You don't need 8 gigs of ram, 4 is way enough for most users (especially gamers) for the next couple of years at least. More than 4 gigs of ram isn't going to make a difference for what you want to do. You will want a powerful CPU for your computationally heavy tasks, but more ram is just going to be overkill. As I say if your program is using more than a gig of memory, you're doing it wrong. I wouldn't push aside a good laptop just because it's missing memory that will probably stay idle forever. Just saying...

 

[dalauder]

WindowsTeam_Kevin--you have got to learn the difference between a Core 2 Duo CPU and a Nehalem or Sandy Bridge CPU. Your posts like that one above are suspicious and obnoxious because you're willingly so ill-informed or perhaps just posting ads.

There was already a thread about banning you for suspicious potential ads like that. Stop doing it. If you want to make a suggestion--go ahead, but at least make it compare to the suggestions on hand. Don't act like a Core 2 Duo P8700 Compares to a mobile Sandy Bridge because you're just misleading people who came here for some honest answers.

 

[kkiddu]

WindowsTeam_Kevin--you have got to learn the difference between a Core 2 Duo CPU and a Nehalem or Sandy Bridge CPU. Your posts like that one above are suspicious and obnoxious because you're willingly so ill-informed or perhaps just posting ads.

There was already a thread about banning you for suspicious potential ads like that. Stop doing it. If you want to make a suggestion--go ahead, but at least make it compare to the suggestions on hand. Don't act like a Core 2 Duo P8700 Compares to a mobile Sandy Bridge because you're just misleading people who came here for some honest answers.

I agree. I've always been suspicious of that account, posting silly and irrelevant and stupid advice.

@OP, you can customize your lappy , that's the beauty with Sagers. You can make your 8150 a 3000 dollar laptop, if you want. Every Sager reseller (like XoticPC.com) offers the option of customizing your laptop. Customizability is the reason why gamers go for these in the first place. It's almost equivalent to building your own desktop rig.

 

[kresso]

I agree. I've always been suspicious of that account, posting silly and irrelevant and stupid advice.

@OP, you can customize your lappy , that's the beauty with Sagers. You can make your 8150 a 3000 dollar laptop, if you want. Every Sager reseller (like XoticPC.com) offers the option of customizing your laptop. Customizability is the reason why gamers go for these in the first place. It's almost equivalent to building your own desktop rig.

Thanks a lot, I haven't heard of Sager before since I am normally a desktop diy kind of guy, but from what I see I am really liking them. You guys are all great and thanks for the help!

 

[Maziar]

Sager laptops are really good.Their design may not be flashy but their build quality is excellent and have a great price/performance ratio as well.

 

[dalauder]

At your price point, HP has a $300 discount on laptops with second generation i7's right now. So you can configure one worth $1,200 and actually only pay $900--which is pretty sweet. Sager's good--but not quite as good as this deal. Note the GTS 450M uses DDR3 memory on the Sager builds.

 

[kresso]

At your price point, HP has a $300 discount on laptops with second generation i7's right now. So you can configure one worth $1,200 and actually only pay $900--which is pretty sweet. Sager's good--but not quite as good as this deal. Note the GTS 450M uses DDR3 memory on the Sager builds.

Hmmm... I looked at the HP laptops and the best I could do for me with the discount. I listed the major differences between the two for me

HP XN093AV - 1009 + $70.70 tax
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 6570 GDDR5 graphics [HDMI, VGA]
FREE Upgrade to 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 3.0 hours of battery life +++
17.3" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView LED Display (1600 x 900)
FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner


Sager NP8130 - 1172.73 + 23 shipping
15.6” FHD 16:9 LED Backlit Wide screen (1920x1080) Super Clear Matte Type Screen
nVidia GeForce GTX 460M 1,536MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11
Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Software
500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
Bluetooth
Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime -24/7 DOMESTIC Based- Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC) Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs

for about 125 dollars more I think the sager still wins for it's graphics card and HD monitor. I couldn't really find a way for an HP to have a better graphics card than the 6570 so perhaps I was doing it wrong.

 

[dalauder]

The HP has $300 discount with code NB1166. That means $849 + tax. I'd get the 9-cell battery upgrade. The screen resolution is lower, if you get the 15.6" model, but that also means much better frame rates in games.

HP: Quad dv6t with 2nd Gen i7: $879 + tax w/free shipping
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 6570 GDDR5 graphics [HDMI, VGA]
640GB 7200rpm HDD (better than the upgrade)
9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery ($30 upgrade) - Up to 10.0 hours of battery life +++
15.6" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView LED Display (1366 x 768)
FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner

http/www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=High+performance&series_name=dv6tqe_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/notebooks/High_performance/dv6tqe_series

The Sager laptop is better, but it's ~$1150 vs ~$850. Is the better graphics (which will look about the same on a higher resolution monitor) worth $300? Only you can decide.

 

[kresso]

Hmmmmmmm....... you make a compelling argument. I will have to think about this carefully.

 

[dalauder]

$200 buys a nice SSD that would make the laptop battery last longer than 10 hours while making everything snappier. $300 buys a great desktop graphics card. $600 buys a 50" 1080P TV.

But if you already have that stuff...then get the Sager. I prefer 17" laptops...so I don't know what I'd get.

 

[kresso]

$200 buys a nice SSD that would make the laptop battery last longer than 10 hours while making everything snappier. $300 buys a great desktop graphics card. $600 buys a 50" 1080P TV.

But if you already have that stuff...then get the Sager. I prefer 17" laptops...so I don't know what I'd get.

Yeah, so like I mentioned at the beginning my school is getting the laptop for me and I can spend around 1000 dollars, they don't reimburse tax so tax free is good, but if I get something superior I don't mind shelling out some of my own money to ensure I can have three years of working on something I would be more happy with. I am gone about 3 month of the year and want something that can do some gaming in the evenings when I am away. So I guess I would rather spend more money since it isn't my money (selfish I know)

Actually if I were spending 1100 of my own money for things that I want I would probably do just about what you said, ssd, new graphic card, and big high definition tv.