- Dec 14, 2009
- 2
- 0
- 18,510
Hi, all -
I'm shopping for a new laptop. Based on my research thus far, I think my finalists are the Dell Studio 17 w/ the i7-820QM and the HP Pavilion dv8t w/ the i7-820QM, but I'm definitely open to other suggestions.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice you can offer!
1_What is your budget?
~$2500
2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
17-18" display
3_What screen resolution do you want?
The higher the better, but 1080p is a must. Ideally I'd like an LED-backed display. Support for dual monitors would be nice, too.
4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
This is definitely more of a desktop replacement. I want the ability to work from my couch rather than a desk. "Portability" is important in that I want to be able to take my laptop out of my house to work, but I'm not concerned about the inconvenience of carrying around a bulky/heavy laptop.
5_How much battery life do you need?
I expect to be using AC power 90% of the time. If I'm in an airport or coffee shop and can't get an outlet, I'd love to have a couple of hours of battery life, but I'm willing to pony up for an extra battery if I need one.
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'm not much of PC gamer (particularly not FPS or MMO). I think the last thing I played on a PC was Portal.
7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
The main considerations are video editing/rendering (regular and Blu-ray), photo editing, and print layout. I'll also be watching movies, listening to music and typical web browsing.
8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
I'm guessing a minimum of 500GB, but ideally closer to 1TB. I'm intrigued by the idea of pairing a smaller solid-state drive with a big drive, or of setting up two 500GB drives as RAID 0, but I'd love to hear thoughts on whether the real-world performance is that noticeable. (I plan to backup to an external drive.)
9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.
So far I've just been window-shopping at HP, Dell and Apple.
10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
At least 3 years. I need to be able to upgrade to future versions of the software I'm using without wanting to cry. I realize there's only so much future-proofing one can do, but I'd like this to be a viable machine for a while, and I'm willing to pay a bit more now to do it.
11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Blu-ray & regular DVD reader/writer.
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.
The IT guys at work like working with Dell support, and have told me good things about their non-corporate support/parts experience, too.
I've never owned or used anything from HP. Their prices seem a bit lower than Dell's, and my company has an EPP discount there, so that's a plus. However, I've been hearing not-so-flattering things about their service/parts.
I'm open to the idea of a Mac, but I don't want to pay a cost premium for it. Booting to Linux doesn't matter to me.
13_What country do you live in?
USA
14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I know there's no such thing as great sound from a laptop, but I would love to have speakers that don't actively suck.
I'm shopping for a new laptop. Based on my research thus far, I think my finalists are the Dell Studio 17 w/ the i7-820QM and the HP Pavilion dv8t w/ the i7-820QM, but I'm definitely open to other suggestions.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice you can offer!
1_What is your budget?
~$2500
2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
17-18" display
3_What screen resolution do you want?
The higher the better, but 1080p is a must. Ideally I'd like an LED-backed display. Support for dual monitors would be nice, too.
4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
This is definitely more of a desktop replacement. I want the ability to work from my couch rather than a desk. "Portability" is important in that I want to be able to take my laptop out of my house to work, but I'm not concerned about the inconvenience of carrying around a bulky/heavy laptop.
5_How much battery life do you need?
I expect to be using AC power 90% of the time. If I'm in an airport or coffee shop and can't get an outlet, I'd love to have a couple of hours of battery life, but I'm willing to pony up for an extra battery if I need one.
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'm not much of PC gamer (particularly not FPS or MMO). I think the last thing I played on a PC was Portal.
7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
The main considerations are video editing/rendering (regular and Blu-ray), photo editing, and print layout. I'll also be watching movies, listening to music and typical web browsing.
8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
I'm guessing a minimum of 500GB, but ideally closer to 1TB. I'm intrigued by the idea of pairing a smaller solid-state drive with a big drive, or of setting up two 500GB drives as RAID 0, but I'd love to hear thoughts on whether the real-world performance is that noticeable. (I plan to backup to an external drive.)
9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.
So far I've just been window-shopping at HP, Dell and Apple.
10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
At least 3 years. I need to be able to upgrade to future versions of the software I'm using without wanting to cry. I realize there's only so much future-proofing one can do, but I'd like this to be a viable machine for a while, and I'm willing to pay a bit more now to do it.
11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Blu-ray & regular DVD reader/writer.
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.
The IT guys at work like working with Dell support, and have told me good things about their non-corporate support/parts experience, too.
I've never owned or used anything from HP. Their prices seem a bit lower than Dell's, and my company has an EPP discount there, so that's a plus. However, I've been hearing not-so-flattering things about their service/parts.
I'm open to the idea of a Mac, but I don't want to pay a cost premium for it. Booting to Linux doesn't matter to me.
13_What country do you live in?
USA
14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I know there's no such thing as great sound from a laptop, but I would love to have speakers that don't actively suck.
/www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/laptops.to?category=Gaming%20Laptops#1260898291163
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