Sager NP8265 vs. Alienware 14

[djoss]

I've narrowed my laptop choices down to a few options, but I'm having trouble deciding. I really like the Sager NP7352 and NP8235, but the lack of a backlit keyboard is an issue for me. So right now I'm considering the NP8265, which looks like a pretty solid machine although I haven't heard much about it.

My questions are these (1) among Sager laptops with a backlit keyboard, is the NP8265 a good choice and (2) assuming price/weight is not an issue, which is the better laptop between the Alienware 14 and the Sager NP8265 and why? Thanks guys!

 

[thewisdomp]

Sager is always going to be the best bang for your buck, and it seems they just keep getting better over the years as far as quality and such. I recently ordered the Sager NP 8270s. Now that DELL owns alienware, i've seen a lot of complaints about them. What kind of specs are you looking for anyway?

 

[djoss]

Haswell i7, 14-15 inch 1080p screen, 16 GB RAM (I want to run VMs), 256 GB SSD, 765M or 770M card. Both laptops can be configured with these options and I like them both, which is making it hard to decide.

 

[thewisdomp]

If you are not too concerned about over the top looks, id say go with sager. I mean sure alienware focuses a little more on aesthetics, but it comes with a cost. If you can get the "special edition" of the sager, they up the RAM to 16GB along with putting aftermarket thermal compound on the CPU and GPU for usually a mere 20-30 bucks, which is worth it. Id suggest getting the sager, but buying the SSD separately and installing it yourself, it will be much cheaper that way, and you can do a SSD + HDD combo with the stock HDD. Thats what im doing.

 

[thewisdomp]

Sager also tests each laptop they build for 96 hours for quality assurance before they send it out. I don't think alienware does anything of the sort.

 

[djoss]

Yeah pretty much everyone I've talked to said go with the Sager.

The special editions are overkill GPU-wise for my needs, so I'll probably go with a regular edition. For the SSD it's actually cheaper to have it installed during the assembly process (vs. Amazon/Newegg by about $40).

Thanks for the help!