Opinions on new laptop

[MrNintend0]

Hi guys, I am looking in the market for a nice gaming laptop, so far I've found 2. The help I need is everyone's opinion on which one to get, and if you have a better suggestion, I'm listening.

The first laptop is a Sager NP8760. The configuration will include: Intel Core i7-820qm, nVidia Geforce GTX 280m, 4GB DDR3 1333MHz RAM, 320GB 7200RPM HDD, and Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.

You can find the gallery and technical specs here: http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8760-built-clevo-w870cu-custom-gaming-laptop-p-2660.html

The second laptop is an Asus G73JH-A1, although it hasn't been released yet, ETA middle to late Feb. The configuration on this will include: Intel Core i7-820qm, ATI Radeon HD 5870 Mobility, 8GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM (cannot order with less than 8GB), 320GB 7200RPM HDD, and Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.

You can find the gallery and technical specs here: http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-g73jha1-order-p-2731.html

So what do you think guys? Better to wait for the Asus, or go with the Sager?

[Luke122]

I thought the i7's were all triple channel memory..?


I'm an Asus fan, so that gets my vote.

[Airbozo]

I thought the i7's were all triple channel memory..?


I'm an Asus fan, so that gets my vote.

Pretty sure the i3, i5 and i7 built on the 1056 socket are dual channel.

[Luke122]

Ah my bad, you are right. :)

[Airbozo]

I actually only learned that today while reading my copy of the TechInsight...

Learned a lot about the new procs, both desktop and server.

I am also a big ASUS fan, so that gets my vote.

[x88x]

I would wait for the Asus. I've been drooling over that laptop since I saw the press release for it from CES, and quite honestly when it is released there won't be many laptops on the market that can compare for pure performance, and there won't be any that can compare in performance for the money (assuming xoticpc's price is correct). Personally though, I steer clear of xoticpc; granted I'd never heard of them before seeing a link to the G73JH-A1 page in engadget comments, but they just feel really shady to me (discounts for paying in cash? really?). To my knowledge, they're the only site that is taking pre-orders atm, but once the G73JH-A1 is actually released, I'm sure there will be plenty of sites selling them.

[MrNintend0]

Thanks for the input guys, but I believe I'm going with the Sager, nothing against Asus, my friend owns one and it's a great laptop, but I like the design of the Sager and it was cheaper than upgrading the Asus. Yeah, sure I missed out on the standard 8GB RAM and the new DirectX 11 GPU, but those things are just for gloating anyways... I'd rather gloat over a completely custom desktop than a laptop that anyone with 2,000 bucks can buy...

Oh and the i3, i5, and i7 are built on the 1366 and 1156 sockets, but those are the desktop cpu's, I think the laptop ones are socket 439... Those can either be triple-channel or dual-channel memory...

[Mark_Hardware]

http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf

just some info.... ASUS had the lowest failure rate over three years of all the laptops. What sucks is My school discount program only has HP's.... So that's what I'm getting

[x88x]

IDK how much of a discount you get from HP, but a bunch of other OEMs have student discounts that aren't dependent on specific schools.

EDIT:
Oh, and btw, MrNintend0, if you get the Sager, I would highly recommend that you buy it straight from them (http://www.sagernotebook.com/default.php) instead of through a questionable middleman.

[Mark_Hardware]

IDK how much of a discount you get from HP, but a bunch of other OEMs have student discounts that aren't dependent on specific schools.

well, the way they have it configured its approx $3200-$3500, for $1499, so its a pretty good discount :D

[Luke122]

I've seen loads of failures with HP's due to heat issues.. keep it cool and it'll last forever. :) Or almost.

[x88x]

well, the way they have it configured its approx $3200-$3500, for $1499, so its a pretty good discount :D

:eek: Holy flying crackmonkeys of doom, Batman! That is a freakishly awesome discount....too bad they had to have that deal with HP, but like Luke said; keep it cool and it'll treat you pretty well.

[TheGreatSatan]

I thought the i7's were all triple channel memory..?


I'm an Asus fan, so that gets my vote.

Ditto. If Asus was a woman, I'd love her long time!

[MrNintend0]

Thanks for the replies guys, ordered it today, waiting till they send me a tracking number or something...

Also it isn't just the heat from HP's that make them have bad failure rates, a friend of mine bought an HP, it's got 2 problems: the first is that you MUST keep a disc in the DVD drive at all times, or it simply won't boot (can be a blank cd or whatever (tweaked the bios, still same problem), and also, if he tilts the screen until he reaches a 115 degree angle, the picture messes up on the screen and cycles through random colors. It stays fairly cool, so I doubt heat is a problem with that model (forget the model, sorry).

[MrNintend0]

Oh, and one more question guys, I was planning on installing Windows 7 Pro 64-bit on an SSD (not sure what size, maybe 32GB to be safe), and have a 7200rpm hard drive to install all my apps and games on (the laptop can support 2). Alright, I know this is possible but my question is it worth doing or should I just keep to one hard drive or SSD? If you got any suggestions please let me know.

[crenn]

The only difference will be load times, personally, I'd say just run a single HDD.

[x88x]

The only difference will be load times, personally, I'd say just run a single HDD.

I respectfully disagree ;) Sure, the biggest difference will probably be load times, but the general feel of the system is definitely much snappier on SSDs than on HDDs.

Especially since this laptop can take two HDDs, I would say go ahead, you won't regret it.

My personal recommendation would be to get at least a 60GB SSD and install the OS and games on the SSD, and everything else on the HDD. Of course, a 30GB might work if you only plan on having a few games installed on the SSD at a time, but I would highly recommend any games be on the SSD. Especially, put the web browsers on the HDD. To make things easier on you organizationally, you could even mount the HDD in a 'Program Files (HDD)' (or some such name) directory on the SSD as well as giving it a drive letter. That would make the application mappings a little cleaner (imo).

[artoodeeto]

My personal recommendation would be to get at least a 60GB SSD and install the OS and games on the SSD, and everything else on the HDD. Of course, a 30GB might work if you only plan on having a few games installed on the SSD at a time, but I would highly recommend any games be on the SSD. Especially, put the web browsers on the HDD. To make things easier on you organizationally, you could even mount the HDD in a 'Program Files (HDD)' (or some such name) directory on the SSD as well as giving it a drive letter. That would make the application mappings a little cleaner (imo).

I absolutely agree with this assessment. I installed a 120GB SSD in my desktop and pulled out the 500GB HD and am now using that as an external. The SSD is blindingly fast compared to the HD; my CS4 applications launch in a second or two, and boot time in Win7 x64 Pro is around a minute tops for a cold boot. Games too run beautifully; I use the external HD now really just for backup and storage of bigger sets of files, like my music and photos.
In short, get the SSD. You won't regret it!

[x88x]

I use the external HD now really just for backup and storage of bigger sets of files, like my music and photos.

I did that for a while too...then I finally got my file server up and running :twisted: Much, much higher capacity than the external I had been using, and access over gigabit ethernet is much faster than USB ;)