Solved! 1k laptop now or wait till January and other questions

[Squander]

1. What is your budget?
$1k

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15'' bigger isn't portable enough for me.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
1080

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

5. How much battery life do you need?
3hrs will be fine

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)?

High
sc2
Me2
ME3
Maybe final fantasy 14 or the new star wars MMO I will probably play LA Noir when it hits the pc too.

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

I use almost all of CS5. I want to do more video editing work and I put out a monthly podcast that I use Adobe to clean up.

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

500+ a 128gb or better SSD

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. Xoticpc but I'm open.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2-4 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? DVD ROM
none

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.

I'm open more later.


13. What country do you live in? USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.


About three months ago I splurged on a sager 8150 from xoticpc and it was awesome. But it got ganked a month after I bought it. Just one of those things that happens. Paying that much for a laptop hurt. But going back to my aspire 4730z is worse.

Things I noticed from my use of the sager. I have to have a mouse with it. I want an extra mouse to keep in my laptop bag. I didn't have a SSD with it, and I could notice that this gimped some of the performance.

Xoticpc now has generation two i5 laptops. None with the 560m, but as a bonus the 555 has optimus.

I haven't been able to find benchmarks for the laptop i5, how much different is it than the desktop i5. Because if I were buying a desktop I'd probably go i5 over i7.

So given the above info, what do you think, should I scrimp and save and eat this old comp until January, when I'll probably be able to afford the 8150 again. Or should I buy a 5165 (ranged) laptop right now?

Part of my problem is I am way more productive outside at coffee shops, at friend's houses, and at parks than I am at home on my desktop. I just don't get anything done. I can get buy writing copy and doing my emails away from home and doing the brunt work when I get back, but it's a pain/inconvenient.

I found 1080 a little big for a 15 in screen but I couldn't imagine going lower, because sometimes I'd need multiple things up looking at them side by side.


So what I need.

A laptop
A cheap 128gb SSD (I could install this myself)
Good noise dampening/cancelling Headphones (also stolen)
Mouse (I miss my old sidewinder with the swapable feet and the auto profile switching but I love all the buttons on the R.A.T 7)

I can spend 1k now. In January, if I wait, I can pay 1200ish range.

thanks for your thoughts. and if you have links comparing the mobile i5 to the mobile i7 I'd like to see them, the mobile i7 seems way better, unlike the desktop version. But I don't really know how that stands up in real world applications.

 

[Ubrales]

The ideal time to buy would be on Black Friday; November 25, 2011. Start looking at various i5 laptops now and make a list for price comparisons.

 

[Squander]

The ideal time to buy
would be on Black Friday; November 25, 2011. Start looking at various i5 laptops now and make a list for price comparisons.

That isn't a bad idea, but i find black friday deals frustating. And if I am getting an i5 i'd rather have use of it now. I just dont know how gimped it will feel.

 

[Ubrales]

That isn't a bad idea, but i find black friday deals frustating. And if I am getting an i5 i'd rather have use of it now. I just dont know how gimped it will feel.

i5 is a good choice! 4 GB or higher of RAM.

Look at Sony, Asus, Toshiba. With the myriad of laptops available, I suggest that you make an Excel spreadsheet and compare specs, performance, and prices for about 3 to 5 laptops. Then your final selection will be a lot easier.

(BTW, if you are interested in Black Friday deals, do your shopping online in the comfort of your home).

 

[Squander]

I am racked with indecision. Looking over the benchmarks here: http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

I feel like the 2630qm is worth the extra money. And prices on the sager/np8130 are falling all the time. Does anyone have a firm update as to when the nvidia 600m cards are going to come out? I read in one article that they thought it would be in nov.

And I guess sager is now offering price protection through dec, it seems like it makes it silly to wait.

http/xoticpcblog.com/?p=63

Though it kind of reads like a serious hassle to try and get

I think I'll probably just order this again. Thanks for your advice, everyone.