Good deal? i7-3630QM, 1TB, 120SSD, 8GB, GTX660M

[fatw41]

Does this sound like a good deal?

i7-3630QM
8GB DDR3
1TB+120GB SSD
GTX660M 2GB
15.6 inches
1920×1080
802.11b/g/n wireless card

Total price for the laptop is about $1100

 

[andrew_berge]

If i was in the market for a laptop, i would grab it.
What's the brand, by the way?

EDIT: Oooor maybe not.

 

[fatw41]

That's the problem, it's some Chinese brand that has a somewhat poor reputation. I've heard their motherboards and fans aren't good. However, in China companies often start malicious rumors about one another to gain unfair advantages. Well I'm going to bite and hope it will last for quite some time. Just to be on the safe side I'll also get the best cooling pad I can find as well.

 

[andrew_berge]

Oh. Well that kind of changes the situation.
I got a Lenovo which is basically identical to what you're looking at (minus the SSD), for the same price last year.
Wait for a good sale from a more reputable brand.

 

[Cons29]

i wouldnt risk 1 grand for a no-name

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Don't judge laptops by the sticker slapped on them as, for most of the brands you know, that's the brand names only contribution .... actually even the sticker is put there by some other company 99% of the time.

The vast majority of laptops on the market (94% in 2011) are manufactured by a small handful of Taiwan-based Original Design Manufacturers (ODM), although their production bases are located mostly in mainland China. Major relationships include:

Quanta sells to (among others) HP, Lenovo, Apple, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, Fujitsu and NEC
Compal sells to (among others) Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo and HP/Compaq
Wistron (former manufacturing & design division of Acer) sells to Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP
Inventec sells to Toshiba, HP and Lenovo
Pegatron sells to Asus, Toshiba, Apple, Dell and Acer
Foxconn sells to Asus, Dell, HP and Apple
Flextronics (former Arima Computer Corporation notebook division) sells to HP
Clevo sold to Alienware (Pre-Dell buyouts) and still sells to WidowPC, Falcoln Northwest and many other boutique brands

As for your build, the 1TB HD is usually a 5400 rpm job, I'd strongly recommend a 7200 rpm model. In fact, speaking as one who has two lappies, one with a 120 GB SSD and 750 GB 7200 rpm HD and the other with a 7200 rpm hybrid SSD / HD, I'd recommend the hybrid..... no discernable difference in speed and no file management issues as to what's on where.

A custom build lappie with identical specs to yours except for subbing a 750 GB 7200 rpm hybrid / SSD is just under $1,100 (no OS tho...add $80 if needed). Special discounts are available
http/www.lpc-digital.com/sager-np6350.html

http/forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/91510-clevo-guide-v2-0-faq-reseller-info.html

CLEVO is a large Taiwanese computer company specializing in laptops. While the Clevo brand name is perhaps not widely known, their products are re-branded and sold by known boutique brand OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers)… notably Sager, VoodooPC, Falcon Northwest, Eurocom, etc. They are also considered (by whoever knows about notebooks) to design and manufacturer the best of the best notebooks in terms of superior build quality and innovative designs.

 

[fatw41]

I'm only willing to risk it as I'm currently living in China and believe it or not computers tend to be more expensive here than overseas. Even with Lenovo, originally I made up my mind to get a Thinkpad T430, but changed my mind when I learned how difficult it is to customize orders over here, and I just couldn't stand the idea of paying more than I would in the States. Gosh.