Question:
Advice please.....My first laptop
1) What is your budget?
Under $4,000....hopefully
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
15"-19"
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
gaming, CAD, internet, LAN parties, research, lab reports/presentations, and gaming
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Home and school. A desk 80% of the time, but I like to work outdoors whenever possible
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
The great ones. I will not be purchasing a wii, 360, or PS3 so those other games too.
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Clevo seems to have some heavy weights:
M570, spare battery (+)
D900K&T, 3 GB RAM (?) 10+lbs (-)
M590KE, a monster (-)
MSI smaller but still strong:
16332 & 171722, express cards(+), nVidia (+)
17154, light (+)
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
1-2 surfing the net only, no 3-D or CAD
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
I want to buy online
9) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in?
USA
Screen Specifics
I plan on getting a large monitor (30") to set up in my room, this is where the majority of my gaming will take place
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
Not a deciding factor on the model
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
highest resolution possible
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Not really sure yet
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
No. That can be changed
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
Early January. Years.
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 160GB?
i was thinking of 80GB/7200RPM and getting an external later on
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive? DVD-rom
MISC
17)Geoforce of Quadro?
I use Quadro FX 560 from pny with dual displays at work and at home will the 7950 be enough? will a quadro drain my battery & heat up my notebook?
18)Cooling
What options do i have & where can i find them? CPU, GPU, HD, & RAM heatsinks & fans. Cannot find any products except external cooling.
19)Where to buy?
As of now, I am planning on buying from flawlesscomputers.com. I like the accidental insurance and have heard only good about them in here.
20)The best RAM?
Any suggestions?
21)Desired OS = 64 bit XP PRO
22)CPU = Dual Core over 2GHz (64 bit)
23)MXM?
Thanks alot, these forums have helped me out tremendously since I started shopping for a laptop last Thursday.
Answer:
Re: Advice please.....My first laptop
Welcome to the forums. I'd say the Clevo M570U (aka Sager NP5760) is the way to go for you. You may not need the workstation card unless you will be doing a lot of CAD and 3D modeling, etc. The go 7950 GTX is more than powerful enough for those applications.
You can get Artic Silver 5 applied to your CPU when you customize the notebook to help with cooling. Otherwise, cooling pads will help as well. Read through the cooling guide for more information on this.
Answer:
Re: Advice please.....My first laptop
You should also consider the alienware 9700.
It would exceed the clevo in 3dmark scores.
Answer:
Re: Advice please.....My first laptop
Can I make a suggestion? If you want gaming, and it sounds like you do, and if a majority of your time will be spent at home, I think you seriously need to consider a screaming desktop, and then an ultraportable. With a $4k budget, you can do both.
Sure, there are some nice gaming laptops, but as I wrote in another post, no laptop can touch a blazing desktop with 4 gigs of ram, upgradeable video cards that you can run in SLI (which will cream just about any laptop on the market), 10,000 rpm Raptor hard drives (no laptop can even come close to the blazing performance of the latest Raptor for single users -- I have one, it matters), wicked-fast processors, and booming LCD display -- and you'll pay a heck of a lot less for all that power in a desktop.
Get that, then get a nice ultraportable to do your work on. Get a VAIO TX or SZ, pick up a Toshiba R200, a Dell D420 -- anything that's nice and light to get simple work done.
Answer:
Re: Advice please.....My first laptop
Definitely going to recommend the Clevo M570U.
Its definitely the best 17" gaming notebook on the market. And should give the most mileage out of any other notebooks in its class.
Answer:
Re: Advice please.....My first laptop
A desktop and a lighter notebook is your best option if its going to be at home 80%.
Answer:
Re: Advice please.....My first laptop
^^ What he said ^^
Answer:
Re: Advice please.....My first laptop
@FormFactor & Jason,
Thanks for the suggestions. i know i would save money with a desktop, but the majority of my time will be spent on campus at a desk and not at home. i am going to take twice as many classes next semester and be starting my senior design project, i get a couple of hours of break in the middle of the day and i would like it if i did not have to leave campus to enjoy it. I know i said i wanted this laptop to last a few years, but that is mostly because i will give it to my little brother when i graduate next december.
Answer:
Re: Advice please.....My first laptop
Well, that being the case, I think the Clevo M570U is your best bet. You could also look at the Dell XPS line, but they will be pricier, I think.
I'd also recommend you get a nice pair of hi-fi headphones, something like the Sennheiser 280 Pros, which are inexpensive, produce decent sound -- and will shut out a ton of college/dorm room noise while making games sound very good.
Answer:
Re: Advice please.....My first laptop
What is the difference between M570U&M575U? looks to me to be the case color.