Which seems like the better machine between these MSI and Sager laptops?

JDK33

Honorable
Mar 17, 2013
2
0
10,510
How are you doing? I'm looking to buy a new laptop and could use your opinion on which one these two machines seems like the better of the two.

Just for some quick background info. The laptop will be used daily to run Google Chrome with an average of 6-10 tabs open at a time, Photoshop CS6 with several large files being worked on (sometimes files that are multiple gigs), Media Monkey media player, Microsoft Word, FilaZilla, IrfanView, Tweetdock and a few other programs that I believe don't require much memory. I'm not a "big" gamer, but that's not saying I don't play a game here and there (Age of Empire, Company of Heroes, Black OPS). It will be used to edit photos and graphics in Photoshop, 85% of which are for web use and not print. Being able to deal with heat issues is something that's big in my book since I've always had problems with laptops overheating. I also need Photoshop to run smoothly with little to no lag. I've always had issue with lag in photshop, where I would wait for PS to initialize the type tool or where I would try and drag things across the screen and they would only move part way before stopping and starting again after a few seconds.

It's been suggested before that I go with a Quadro or Firepro or 7970m GPU, and said that they would make Photoshop run more efficiently, but since I'm not ruling out games entirely, I don't know if that's the wisest idea. Thoughts on that?

All that being said, here's the two machines I put together. If you could please take a look at the specs and let me know which you feel is the better buy for my needs, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, if you see anything I could change to improve the performance for my needs, please, don't hesitate to suggest a recommendation. Take note though, these two machines are pretty much at my budget level. I could maybe spend $100-$200 more.


MSI GT70 0NE-452US
- 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Screen w/ 72% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (SKU - X1R551)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- XOTIC PC Professional Monitor Color Calibration (Will add to Production Time) (Operating System is required) (XPC Service)
- 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3630QM (2.4GHz - 3.4GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU – X2X317)
- IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU (Cools better than all Compounds) (XPC Service)
- nVidia GeForce GTX 680M 4,096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 w/ Optimus™ Technology (SKU - X3R708)
- 16GB DDR3 1600MHz [SKU-444P] (Dual Channel Memory (4x4GB SODIMMS)) – Default
- Standard Laptop Finish
- Standard White Logo Backlight
- mSATA Option: Operating System Installed [Default] w/ mSATA(s) selected below
- 128GB Solid State Drive mSATA - [ In Primary Hard Drive Bay ]
- No mSATA SSD
- 1,000GB (1TB) 5400RPM (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) - Default (SKU - X5R353)
- 6X Blu-Ray Reader + 8X DVDRW/CDRW Super Multi Combo Drive (SKU – X7R562)
- Bluetooth Included
- Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1202 + Bluetooth 4.0 (Dual Band) (SKU – X8R117)
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Integrated Digital Video Camera
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (9-Cell)
- Stock MSI SteelSeries™ Chiclet Backlit Keyboard
- Windows 7 Home Premium - 64-Bit (Supports up to 16GB of RAM)



Sager NP9370 - Gaming Laptop (Clevo P370EM)
- 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Screen w/ 72% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (Will add 4-7 business days to build time) (SKU - X1R552)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- XOTIC PC Professional Monitor Color Calibration (Operating System is required) (XPC Service - requires shipment to XOTIC PC: will add to build time)
- Sager - 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3630QM (2.4GHz - 3.4GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU – S2R174)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 680M 4,096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 [User Upgradeable] (SKU - S3R707)
- 16GB - DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS) (SKU - S4T822P)
- 128GB Crucial M4 mSATA SSD - Preconfigured as an OS Drive ( Operating System – Drive C: ) - [ETA: 4/1]
- 1,000GB [1TB] 5400RPM [Serial-ATA II 3GB/s] (SKU - S5R353)
- HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- 6x Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Special! (SKU - S7P557)
- Bluetooth Included
- Sager - Built-in 802.11 Wireless B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card + Bluetooth™ v3.0 (SKU - S8R110)
- Internal 9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo)
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- Standard Sager/Clevo Non Chiclet Backlit Keyboard
- No Operating System Redline Boost
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (64&32-Bit CD Included (Supports up to 16GB of RAM)) + MS Office Starter 2010


I've never owned anything aside from a store bought Dell or HP. I've heard great things about both Sager and MSI and was told that one of these brands would be the way to go for my needs. Just not sure which of the two are better.
 
Dell and HP don't "make" laptops.....so you getting closer to the source this time :)


Quanta sells to (among others) HP, Lenovo, Apple, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, Fujitsu and NEC
Compal sells to (among others) Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo and HP/Compaq
Wistron (former manufacturing & design division of Acer) sells to Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP
Inventec sells to Toshiba, HP and Lenovo
Pegatron sells to Asus, Toshiba, Apple, Dell and Acer
Foxconn sells to Asus, Dell, HP and Apple
Flextronics (former Arima Computer Corporation notebook division) sells to HP
Clevo sells to boutique laptop makers such as VoodooPC, Falcoln Northwest and their own distributors

As for the 2 choices, the Sager / Clevo gives you the SSD manufacturer which is a good one
Both HD are sucki 5400 rpm jobs
The MSI has the Killer NIC which I find to be of no benefit
Sager has better card reader, gives ya a case and gives you the MS Office thing.

You can configure the thing yaself .....

Here it comes with a 7200 rpm HD standard
http://www.lpc-digital.com/sager-np9370.html

I find Larry has the best prices and best service on Clevo / Sager products ... make sure ya contact him personally to get the best discounts

http://www.lpc-digital.com/notebook-review-members-military-and-student-discounts.html




 

JDK33

Honorable
Mar 17, 2013
2
0
10,510


So you're suggesting that a Sager would be better, and that I should make sure it has a 7200 rpm HD as opposed to a 5400 rpm HD?