Time to upgrade laptop! ($1000-$1500)

[Emelth]

Alright, so the wife's laptop is going to shit so I'm gonna give her mine which is still in perfect condition. GREAT! Means time for an upgrade for me.

1. What is your budget?
$1000 - $1500

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
I currently have a 17" which is what I'm used to but I'm wondering how much of a difference going down to a 15" inch

3. What screen resolution do you want?
1080

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)?
I play mostly MMO's (Diablo III, WoW, Guild Wars 2)

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Photoshop

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
500GB - 1TB
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Where ever the best deal is from
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3+ years (I bought my current one back in Feb 2011)

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Basic DVD ROM
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.
No preference

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Good cooling system (I do use a notebook cooler as well to help)
I use it a lot in dark areas and watch movies/ shows

 

[Emelth]

What do yall think about about the different companies that do custom builds?

I know of 4 places, don't want to get a crappy built one.

Sager
Ibuypower
Cyberpower
Xotic
Alienware (overpriced wouldn't even think of them)

 

[i7Baby]

I'd get Asus, MSI or Lenovo - in that order of preference.

eg MSI $1500 i7 4810, GTX 870M - http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA57X...

 

[Emelth]

I love the shit out of that laptop you first posted, I'm a huge fan of dragons and my username is actually of a brown dragon that I learned about almost 2 decades ago.

But, I'm finding better deals on the cyberpower website I just need to know if they are good quality products.

Reason for the being is that I just built a Fang Evo HX7 (its currently on special)

Comes with

- the Same CPU/GPU
- I was able to add a 128 GB SSD and still get a 1TB HDD
- Get windows 7 instead of that stupid 8 at no extra cost
Total: $1,494.00 + Free Shipping!

 

[TopLuca]

I think Icyberpower's deal is better and if I were you I'd get it for the extra storage + SSD.

 

[Emelth]

just stumbled across powernotebooks.com

Talked with a tech there and he said new gpus are about to be released tomorrow along with a new MSI GT70 version plus they give an extra 5% discount for certain laptops on top of the already 3% discount. So gonna wait tomorrow to fully check it out but I think I will most likely go with them until i find a better deal some where else.

God I wish we could build laptops like our desktops, way more research and digging then needed >.< to try and find the best reliable websites and what not.

 

[TopLuca]

Yeah I wish we could but I think its much more in depth compared to desktops , can't just mix and match that easily.

 

[Emelth]

Well I see xotic has a couple 9xxm already posted. Now I gotta wait for powernotebooks to update their website!

 

[Emelth]

Alright so powernotebooks is updated lets see where I can get the best deal!
ed
This is From Powernotebooks.com (EDITTED prices were wrong )

MSI GT70 Dominator-2293
- Intel® Core™ i7-4710MQ
- IC Diamond Thermal Compound applied to CPU + GPU
- GTX 970M
- 16GB (2x 8GB) DDR3L/1600 Dual Channel Memory (there is a 1x8GB option but not sure if thats a good idea, Desktops we do 2x4GB for gaming if the 1x8 is good enough more savings for me)
- 128GB mSATA III Solid-State Drive
- 1TB SATA III 6Gb/s 7,200 RPM Hard Drive

As Configured: 1762.00 (w/ 2x8GB RAM)
As Configured: 1673.00 (w 1x8GB RAM)





On Xotic PC

Sager NP8278-S
- i7-4710MQ
- FREE! - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- GTX 970M
- COPPER COOLING UPGRADE
- 8GB DDR3 1600MHz [2x4GB]
- 120GB Crucial M500 mSATA SSD
- 1TB 7200RPM

As Configured: $1678.00



Let me know what yall think. I think the xotic is the clear winner. Wish the ASUS would roll out the 970 already.

Also know any other deals that I could possiblly get? or other websites to look at.

 

[Emelth]

I really want to get a 970M, CPU doesnt matter cause most of them have very little difference in performance, a 120/8GB SSD. I really need this laptop to stay as cool as possible and I think the ASUS one's have the best cooling performance from what I've read. An MSI would be my next option, the reviews on the rest of the brands arent informative enough for me to decide on if they are good quality or not. Now I wonder if I should wait for Black Friday to get it or not that way majority of the bugs/glitches are fixed from the new equipment.

 

[TopLuca]

I'd pay for the MSI Dominator , even if its 2x8 gb which is overkill however it'll stand the test of time and probably won't need any upgrades for a while.

 

[Emelth]

I'd pay for the MSI Dominator , even if its 2x8 gb which is overkill however it'll stand the test of time and probably won't need any upgrades for a while.

Which version are you referring to? I'm guessing the GT70, I'm looking at the 2293 specifically.

 

[TopLuca]

I'd pay for the MSI Dominator , even if its 2x8 gb which is overkill however it'll stand the test of time and probably won't need any upgrades for a while.

Which version are you referring to? I'm guessing the GT70, I'm looking at the 2293 specifically.

I'll take a look and provide you with my verdict

 

[Emelth]

The MSI GT70 Dominator-2295 - $1799
17.3" FHD Matte
Intel® i7-4710MQ
NVIDIA® GTX 970M [3GB]
8GB RAM (1x8)
128GB mSATA + 1TB HDD

Great has everything I want but....

MSI GT70 Dominator-2293 -$1499
17.3" FHD Matte
Intel® i7-4710MQ
NVIDIA® GTX 970M [3GB]
8GB RAM (1x8)
1TB HDD
*add 128GB SSD* +$105
*Upgraded Thermal paste* +$35
*Copper Cooling Upgrade* +$59
Total w/upgrades: $1698

The same computer for less cost! lol I can add two more features (ie. OC the CPU AND GPU) and still pay less than the 2295!

 

[TopLuca]

Go for the cheaper one , OCing on Laptops isn't recommended tho.

 

[Emelth]

Yeah I wasnt going to OC them I was just giving you an example. I was probably gonna add the monitor calibration, 16GB RAM for shits and giggles or cosmetic alterations.