Premium Laptop Suggestions

[fwotyoz]

Here's what I need:

1) matte anti-glare 17" 1080p screen

2) Gen 3 i7 CPU

3) dedicated graphics card w/ switching to CPU graphics (don't need a ton of power here)

4) extra empty hard drive bay

5) backlit keyboard

6) Would prefer aluminum chassis

Max budget $1500. I'm in the US. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

 

[master_chen]

Get this or this and you're pretty much good to go.
I highly recommend them (but my personal choice is the second one).

 

[austing]

No backlighting, not sure if extra bay:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230408

i5, backlit keys, not sure if extra bay:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834200525

 

[master_chen]

not sure if extra bay

They almost don't do them in notebooks anymore these days, even in the 99% of the very top ones. Seriously, these days it's much easier to buy a small/medium sized external HDD that's powered through USB (and are easily carried everywhere, ready to go anytime), and connect it, than to find a notebook that has spare HDD bays.

 

[austing]

They almost don't do them in notebooks anymore these days, even in the 99% of the very top ones. Seriously, these days it's much easier to buy a small/medium sized external HDD that's powered through USB (and are easily carried everywhere, ready to go anytime), and connect it, than to find a notebook that has spare HDD bays.

DVD HDD caddy converter 😛

 

[master_chen]

DVD HDD caddy converter 😛

Even that aren't present in the most of the models these days, simply because they stopping adding disc bays at all, thanks to ultrabook segment devouring standard notebook market little by little...it's inevitable.
Soon (I'd say - in 8~15 years from now) notebooks with standard disc drives/spare HDD bays would be extinct as a species, it is absolutely inevitable. There may be notebooks/ultrabooks with spare SSD bays in the future, or with ulta-slim disc drive bays which would be accepting discs like PlayStation 3 does (disc "hole", without parts moving out), but there definitely would be no more standard "sliding out" disc bays, neither there would be any space for the 2.5" inch HDDs or SSDs, because future SSDs would be much MUCH thinner and only those new SSDs (probably 1.5" inch, or even thinner) would be present in the future notebooks and ultrabooks.

 

[fwotyoz]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll check them out.

I ask about the second HD bay because I already have an extra 128GB SSD that I want to pop in as my OS drive but I'd love to have whatever HD comes with the laptop as a data drive.

 

[master_chen]

I'll check them out.

Don't forget to report back here after you buy the thing.

 

[fwotyoz]

I had already purchased an HP Envy 17" 3200 recently but I was considering returning it due to the glossy screen (doesn't work very nicely in coffee shops!). However, after weighing all the options I decided to keep the HP as I like everything else about it a lot. Thanks for the great suggestions though.

 

[fwotyoz]

Best answer selected by fwotyoz.