Fast laptop w 17"+ screen, NVidia 1080, i7, HD + SSD

[Stringtheory]

I'm trying to spec a laptop for doing neural net development, hence the need for NVidia 1080 (or faster) and fast i7. Also need large screen, and two drives (fast SSD and high volume HD).

Ideally, I'd like 64gb of RAM, but I'll settle for a system that can be retrofitted. The other features, like CPU, Nvidia, etc obviously cannot be changed later.

I'm not a gamer, but this will probably look like a nice gaming machine. Long battery life would be great, but I may be asking too much. The Acer Predator systems, for example, say battery life is 3hr, which rather sux. In the past I've had machines where the battery could be swapped out, but I don't think they make those any more.

Random comments appreciated. I figure some have experience with this.

 

[orlbuckeye]

Well a thing about battery life is most batteries aren't that much different. The biggest factor in battery life is discrete versus integrated graphics. Discrete requires more power which results in less battery life. The Nvidia is a discrete and one of the most powerful card available for laptops. Next the faster i7's will generate more power. A fact of like your describing a good gaming machine specs which may say 5 hours but i doubt if it gets 3 doing most stuff. Today's 2-in-1's and convertibles come with integrated, i7U processors,SSD and can reach 10 hours but like I said the gaming machines are basically made to be plugged in while using.

 

[Stringtheory]

Well a thing about battery life is most batteries aren't that much different. The biggest factor in battery life is discrete versus integrated graphics. Discrete requires more power which results in less battery life. The Nvidia is a discrete and one of the most powerful card available for laptops. Next the faster i7's will generate more power. A fact of like your describing a good gaming machine specs which may say 5 hours but i doubt if it gets 3 doing most stuff. Today's 2-in-1's and convertibles come with integrated, i7U processors,SSD and can reach 10 hours but like I said the gaming machines are basically made to be plugged in while using.

Yeah, I'm primarily just looking for recommendations on the manufacturers and subjective opinions on their performance. I've tried narrowing the search using Newegg's options panel, but I end up with just one or two. I'm sure there are a lot of laptops that either qualify, or they are close enough to be retrofitted with more ram, or and additional drive.

Battery life is probably wishful thinking. If the batteries could be swapped out, that would solve the problem, but I'm not sure anyone is doing that anymore.

From your tag: "Alienware 18 Intel Core i7 4810 QM 16GB DDR3 18.4" "

So you get about 15 minutes from a battery charge? I've seen some Alienware machines that were absolutely beautiful but they were outrageously heavy.

Anyway, Alienware would be out in this case, but I'd love to hear recommendations on lighter high-powered machines.

 

[shahbaz200]

I have 74Wh battery on my laptop, dell 7567. i5 7300HQ + 1050Ti and when gaming, it hardly gives me 1 hour runtime (with performance drop as its not plugged in). With your specs, I believe you wont get good battery life when working with heavy load. That 3hr claim might be with low load, no way it can handle 3hr at max power.

Even if you get good battery life, system's performance is reduced too much.