Looking for a powerful gaming laptop under certain criteria, need advice.

[FalconXFury]

Hey guys, I've been saving up and I'm going to be getting a gaming laptop in the near future. Originally I had planned to upgrade my current PC, however due to changing circumstances I won't be able to host a tower PC. Instead, I'm looking for a powerful laptop. The price range isn't a huge issue for me, I'm willing to spend what is needed.

My main criteria are:

- GTX 1070 or 1080
- Thin, lightweight, preferably under an inch (slightly over would be okay)
- With back-lit keys (I'm rather fond of chroma back-lighting, I'm aware that it doesn't affect performance in any way but I'm a sucker for that kind of thing lol)
- With either an SSD and 1TB HDD or 1TB SSD
- High quality screen, if only 1080p I'd like it to be 120hz. I think a 4k screen is pretty cool too, but not a necessity
- Minimum of 16gb DDR4 RAM
- A high quality CPU, something like the i7-7700HQ
- 17.3" display would be great
- TB3 port would be awesome, that's not a must-have though


I think that the rest of the features go without saying/come standard with the stuff listed above (3 USB 3 ports, good Wi-Fi card etc.)

I do have one issue with this. I live in New Zealand, and I've noticed some companies do not ship here. I do know that I can get it sent through a 3rd party, but for instance the Razer Blade Pro's warranty becomes void if that happens, and I don't want to risk it with such an expensive laptop.

I think that's all, I may have something else to add later on, but for now, thanks for your attention.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Any laptop brand that you know (except MSI) doesn't actually make a laptop' almost all lappies are built by ODMs and HP, dell, Asus, whomever slaps their logo on them. For the last 10 years or so, we have had all of our lappies custom built to our specifications. You can buy them from a boutique shop such as WidowPC, FalconNorthwest (Alienware pre-Dell buyout) or you can go straight to Clevo who actually builds them for those guys.

http/forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91510

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.

Established in 1983, as an ODM (Original Design Manufacturer), they sell barebones ranging from laptop to portable computing solutions for both AMD and Intel processors. Clevo is one of the world's most preferred ODM partners and markets their products in more than 50 countries, and have established service centers in the USA, Germany, Britain, China, and Taiwan.

Know of three in Australia ... dunno about NZ

http/www.metabox.com.au/
http/www.affordablelaptops.com.au/
http/www.logicalblueone.com.au/store/

You can start with a 1070 and go all the way to twin 1080s in SLI
I usually get a 256 GB M.2 SSD (256 GB) and install the SSHD myself.

You get many other choices, from 1080p up to 4k including IPS

 

[FalconXFury]

Any laptop brand that you know (except MSI) doesn't actually make a laptop' almost all lappies are built by ODMs and HP, dell, Asus, whomever slaps their logo on them. For the last 10 years or so, we have had all of our lappies custom built to our specifications. You can buy them from a boutique shop such as WidowPC, FalconNorthwest (Alienware pre-Dell buyout) or you can go straight to Clevo who actually builds them for those guys.

http/forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91510

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.

Established in 1983, as an ODM (Original Design Manufacturer), they sell barebones ranging from laptop to portable computing solutions for both AMD and Intel processors. Clevo is one of the world's most preferred ODM partners and markets their products in more than 50 countries, and have established service centers in the USA, Germany, Britain, China, and Taiwan.

Know of three in Australia ... dunno about NZ

http/www.metabox.com.au/
http/www.affordablelaptops.com.au/
http/www.logicalblueone.com.au/store/

You can start with a 1070 and go all the way to twin 1080s in SLI
I usually get a 256 GB M.2 SSD (256 GB) and install the SSHD myself.

You get many other choices, from 1080p up to 4k including IPS

Thanks for the reply. It seems the logicalblueone link doesn't work, and I couldn't find the website by searching it on google.

I'm just questioning the build quality of metabox laptops, the keyboard seems rather budget but I'm not too sure to be honest. Are there any other good sites where you can customize a laptop? I'm not really bothered about the country, as long as they ship internationally. I've had a look but didn't find much.

Are there any laptops that are non-customizable that fit my description that anyone knows of? There may have been a few that I've not seen, so anyone who can name a laptop like that would be great. Thanks.*

 

[xSimply1337x]

I agree with going online to a build-a-pc site and essentially paying a little less for a great gaming laptop but having all of the hardware and specs customized to your liking.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Thanks for the reply. It seems the logicalblueone link doesn't work, and I couldn't find the website by searching it on google.

I'm just questioning the build quality of metabox laptops, the keyboard seems rather budget but I'm not too sure to be honest. Are there any other good sites where you can customize a laptop? I'm not really bothered about the country, as long as they ship internationally. I've had a look but didn't find much.

Are there any laptops that are non-customizable that fit my description that anyone knows of? There may have been a few that I've not seen, so anyone who can name a laptop like that would be great. Thanks.*

Alienware made it's name selling Clevo laptops .... All of the boutique laptop vendors (FalconNorthwest, Voodoo, WidowPC, etc) are all selling Clevo laptops. So they all have the same KB. To my knowledge, Clevo is the only vendor working thru a distributor network that customizes laptops. Sager is Clevo's retail arm.

I run a consulting engineering business and on our lappies, AutoCAD is the primary application. Thes eare taken out in the field and tend to receive some minor abuse on construction sites.... I'm not talking pouring rain or falling off construction equipment but they do get their bumps and bruises. Nice thing is what's good for AutoCAD (GTX) is great for gaming

Note that "shopping" for best price via the internet is not going to work. All distributors are prohibited from **advertising** and price below set limits. Of course, one contact is made you can negotiate prices and discounts can be substantial. The FAQ here covers international orders and shipping.

https/lpc-digital.com/faq/



We buy all our stuff from LPCdigital ... you can call / e-mail Larry to ask any questions ya might have.

 

[FalconXFury]

Thanks for the reply. It seems the logicalblueone link doesn't work, and I couldn't find the website by searching it on google.

I'm just questioning the build quality of metabox laptops, the keyboard seems rather budget but I'm not too sure to be honest. Are there any other good sites where you can customize a laptop? I'm not really bothered about the country, as long as they ship internationally. I've had a look but didn't find much.

Are there any laptops that are non-customizable that fit my description that anyone knows of? There may have been a few that I've not seen, so anyone who can name a laptop like that would be great. Thanks.*

Alienware made it's name selling Clevo laptops .... All of the boutique laptop vendors (FalconNorthwest, Voodoo, WidowPC, etc) are all selling Clevo laptops. So they all have the same KB. To my knowledge, Clevo is the only vendor working thru a distributor network that customizes laptops. Sager is Clevo's retail arm.

I run a consulting engineering business and on our lappies, AutoCAD is the primary application. Thes eare taken out in the field and tend to receive some minor abuse on construction sites.... I'm not talking pouring rain or falling off construction equipment but they do get their bumps and bruises. Nice thing is what's good for AutoCAD (GTX) is great for gaming

Note that "shopping" for best price via the internet is not going to work. All distributors are prohibited from **advertising** and price below set limits. Of course, one contact is made you can negotiate prices and discounts can be substantial. The FAQ here covers international orders and shipping.

https/lpc-digital.com/faq/



We buy all our stuff from LPCdigital ... you can call / e-mail Larry to ask any questions ya might have.

You've helped a lot, thanks. I'm thinking of buying one from Metabox with these specs:

Either with a GTX 1070 or a GTX 1080. The laptop is a bit thicker than I'd hoped for, but I think I can manage. It's not too big or too heavy. I've sent an enquiry to metabox to see if the warranty will still be alright if it's sent overseas to NZ. I'll probably also extend the warranty, if the warranty isn't void in NZ.

Thanks again.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

The thickness comes from the custom copper cooling systems, but not all Clevo models use that chassis design

 

[FalconXFury]

The thickness comes from the custom copper cooling systems, but not all Clevo models use that chassis design

Yes, however that specific chassis is the only one that can host the features that I want. Not a big deal though.