New Gaming Laptop

[CFree3344]

Looking for some help here guys. I was thinking Alienware or Clevo. Open to pretty much anything!

1. What is your budget?
~$2000

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
14 or 15

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Best Possible

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

5. How much battery life do you need?
N/A.

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)?
Yes. Looking to play COD, BF3, D3, and SC2 - High

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
None

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Looking for SSD as the main. I have a desktop with plenty of storage.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3 years if possible

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Bluray reader is fine, but not necessary.

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.
Open for anything.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Hoping the "Sandy Bridge" laptops will be dropping in price soon, so i will be in the market. I am pretty open, just looking for suggestions.

Thanks everyon! Chad

 

[WR2]

Hello cfree3344;

Have you looked over the choices at www.xoticpc.com?
Some new models are arriving shortly, including the MSI GT60 with GT 670M graphics ~$1500
http/www.xoticpc.com/msi-gt60-0nc004us-eta-4292012-p-4332.html

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Since Clevo no longer makes Alienware and they are now made by Dell, I'd cross them off my list. You can look at Sager, WidowPC, FalconNorthwest and all the boutique brands but they're just Clevo models w/ fancy paint jobs.

XoticPC is a great vendor but they have one of the worse web sites for shopping / selecting models that I have ever seen. I wouldn't buy at ProStar given previous experience w/ service department, but the side by side display of the various models available on their site is best viewed here:

http/www.pro-star.com/index.cfm?mainpage=product&filter=4

Clevo P170EM $1,850

17.3" 1920 x 1080 Full HD (16:9) LED
Intel Core i7-2670QM Processor, 2.2 GHz
8GB, PC3-12800/1600Mhz DDR3 - 2 x 4GB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M w/2GB GDDR5 with Optimus Technology
120GB Intel 520 SERIES SATA III Solid State Drive
750GB/7200rpm 16MB Cache Buffer SATA-300
4x Max. Blu-Ray Reader / 8x Max. DVD±R/2.4X Max. +DL Super-Multi Drive
Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit
8 Cells Lithium-Ion Battery Pack 76.96WH
Integrated 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth V3.0 Combo
Full Color Programmable Backlight KB
Built-In 2.0M Pixels Digital Video Camera
Built-In Fingerprint Reader
Built-In Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Built-In 9-IN-1 Flash Memory Reader(MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS DUO/SD/Mini-SD/SDHC/SDXC)
1 IEEE-1394a Fire Wire
1 USB 2.0 Ports
3 USB 3.0 Ports
1 eSATA Port (USB 3.0 Combo)
1 HDMI 1.4a Output (with HDCP)
1 DVI-I Port
1 Display Port 1.1
1 Kensington Lock Port
Built-in Microphone, 2 Speakers and 1 Sub-Woofer
4 Audio Jacks for Headphone, Microphone-In, S/PDIF-Out, and Line-In
1 100/240V Autoswitch AC Power Adapter
Standard Carrying Case with Strap

P270WM Starts at $2100

Much the same options as above but starts out w/ 2nd Generation Intel Core i7-3820K Processor.

Figure out what ya options are on ProStar site and then run over to xoticpc.com to purchase.

 

[CFree3344]

Sager seems to have some pretty good pricing and easy to use website to configure. I see this option for mSATA SSD to be configured at the primary drive for the OS. Is there any down side to using this instead of a standard SSD for the OS? If not, i think i might get the 80GB mSATA to run the OS and then just a standard drive for storage.

 

[WR2]

What is the cost of that 80GB mSATA drive?
You might end up getting better results with a standard SSD as your boot drive and a HDD as your 2nd storage device.

 

[CFree3344]

It's only 200 and then no added price for the first drive since the 500GB is included and no need to include a secondary drive. Can you save data on the mSATA as well? Or is it only for boot purposes?

 

[WR2]

If it's large enough, yes you can save data on it. And 80GB is large enough.

What's the performance characteristics of the 80GB mSATA SSD?
I think it's not going to be quite as fast as the 2.5" standard SSDs like a OCZ Vertex 3 or Crucial m4.

 

[CFree3344]

That is what i was worried about. If the mSATA won't perform as well as a standard SSD. Here is what i just configured.

Sager NP9150 / Clevo P150EM
- FREE!! Continental (U.S. Lower 48 - UPS Ground Only) Ground Shipping on ALL Sager Laptops (Enter Coupon Code: "SAGERFREESHIP" during order process)
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (SKU - S1R301)
- NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Sager - 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM, 2.4-3.5GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache) (SKU - S2R202)
- -Stock OEM Thermal Compound
- nVidia GeForce GTX 675M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 with Optimus™ Technology (SKU – S3R518)
- No Video Adapter
- 8GB - DDR3 1866MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (SKU - S4R373)
- Sager Branding
- Standard Finish
- 80GB Intel 310 Series mSATA SSD - Preconfigured as an OS Drive ( Operating System – Drive C: )
- 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache) - Default (SKU - S5R207)
- 6X Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Special! (SKU - S7P557)
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- Internal 9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo)
- No Back Up Software
- Bluetooth Included (See “Wireless Network” Section Below)
- Sager - Intel® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module (SKU - S8R112)
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro THX 24-bit External USB Sound Card
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- No Spare AC Adapter
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No Headset
- No External Keyboard
- No External Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- No Operating System Redline Boost
- ~Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- LIFETIME Ltd Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime -24/7 DOMESTIC Based- Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs (SKU - X9R009)
- No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
- No Xotic PC Gear

 

[WR2]

That is what i was worried about. If the mSATA won't perform as well as a standard SSD.

It's STILL a SSD. It definitely won't be slow.
If it's what you want and you're happy with price I'm OK with it.

 

[WR2]

It's the 80GB Intel 310 Series mSATA SSD for +$200
The 180GB Intel 520 Series SSD is only +$235.

Let me look and see if I can find a performance benchmark comparison for you.

 

[WR2]

Intel SSD 310 mSATA 80GB vs Intel SSD 510 120GB (6Gbps) (180GB version not in the database)

 

[CFree3344]

Wow the performance is muchhh lower. Looks like the extra money is worth it. What about the mSATA for cache? Is that not necessary when the main drive will be an SSD?

 

[WR2]

I don't see the need to pay an extra $200 on top of the $235 for the 510 SSD.
If you were going for dual 500GB HDDs, then a SSD cache would make more sense.

 

[CFree3344]

Ahh now that makes sense. The only issue is the laptop doesn't have an option for a secondary drive, which im not sure is 100 percent necessary since i have my desktop.

 

[WR2]

Uh ohh - think I completely missed that. Only 1 standard drive bay.

 

[CFree3344]

This MSI has a secondary drive option, but in order to get the 1866MHz i would have to get 12GB of memory. I think that might be over kill.

http/www.xoticpc.com/msi-gt600nc004us-p-4332.html?wconfigure=yes

 

[WR2]

You're right. I'm so used to the bigger frame 15" Sagers with the 2nd drive bay.

I'm going to have to re-train myself to work with these new model, slimmer notebooks.

 

[WR2]

I'm liking what I see on the MSI GT60.
The matte anti-glare screens are something I really like.

You would not notice the difference going with 8GB of 1600RAM. But I bet if you ask - the guys at Xotic will do 8GB of 1866 for you.

 

[WR2]

2 Year & 1 Year Accidental Damage Warranty too.

 

[CFree3344]

So you really don't think the 1866 is necessary? I am fine with 8gb of 1600RAM if i won't see any difference in performance.