1_What is your budget?
1200 - 1300
2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15.6 (might do a 17 if it is the only thing that meets my requirements)
3_What screen resolution do you want?
Greater then or equal to 1600x900
4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
A desktop replacement ***see extra info at end #14***
5_How much battery life do you need?
Decent but not expecting the best in the world
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)?
Kind of ***see extra info at end #14***
7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
Programming
8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
500GB is fine
9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Dell
hp
newegg
10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2-3 years
11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DVD ROM/Writer
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.
I am open to most brands but have been looking into HP and Dell because I can get a student discount. Hp has a 10% the top for sudents
13_What country do you live in?
USA
14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.
So, I am looking to purchase a laptop that meets or exceeds my current desktop setup. My current setup is as follows…
• Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0Ghz
• 6 GB DDR2 800
• Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS – has a slight overclock on it (Core: 710Mhz , Shader: 1523Mhz, Memory: 1008MHz)
This leaves me wanting but not limited to…
• I5 540m – I would like to hit the mark of the 540m because it is basically an equivalent of the E6850. A 520m is tad bit lower than the E6850 when it comes to speed. What about the i7 you might ask? Well I am not opposed to it but I do have concerns of heat and the extra drain the processer will have on my battery. On top of that there is the option of switchable graphics that I am considering with the i5.
Am I completely mad not to consider the i7? Is the heat that much more versus the i5? It seems that most issues I see now with laptops have to do with the heat of the i7.
• ATI 5650m – This seem to be just a step above my current 8600 GTS. I honestly don’t care about playing games on my laptop. My concerns come from the programming that I do. I like to program games but by am no means making the next Crysis. I am more not programming games but programming demos for my own learning purposes. I have yet to run into an issue with my desktop GPU but it would be nice to have a mobile version that is just a bit better.
• 6 GB DDR3 – I am looking to exceed my desktop speed and get nothing less than 6 GB.
I also am very concerned about a warranty. I am looking to get at least a 2 year accidental warranty.
So with all this in mind these are a few of the setups I have seen that are in the ballpark….
HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-540M
• 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 switchable graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
• Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
• Backlit Keyboard with Fingerprint Reader
• High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)
• 2 yr Adp warranty
1,314.07 Shipped
This computer meets just about every need I listed except for the screen resolution. I could remedy this by stepping up to a 17inch (1600 x 900) for only 1,354.95. With the 17inch I also have the option of the i7 720 for an additional 50 dollars but at that point I am paying 100 more than I am budgeting.
Dell Studio XPS 16
• I5-540m
• 6GB DDRS
• 15.6” WLED LCD (1600x900)
• 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 565v
• Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
• Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250
• Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.1+EDR)
• 3 yr ADP warranty
1,308.87
Now this seems to also be close to everything I need. Even though the 565v is marked as less than the 5650 in some test and more in others I think at the end of the day it seems to be on the same level. I do have the concerns that I keep reading about throttling issues do to overheating. Now I am not in the know if this refers to the i5 models or just the i7. Does anyone know? Does anyone know if they have remedied this issue? With all that in mind the i7-720 version with 4gb of ram, upgrade to 5730, and only 2-yr warranty would cost me 1,314.61.
So those are the two I am looking at.
1) Do you have an insight into those two (4) options?
2) Are my concerns about i7’s heat warranted enough to suggest me an i5?
3) Does anyone have any up to date about the over-heating/throttling issue with the XPS 16? Does that problem encompass the i5 model?
4) If you have any other suggestion the feel free to let me know.
Thanks for all the help
Chad
1200 - 1300
2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15.6 (might do a 17 if it is the only thing that meets my requirements)
3_What screen resolution do you want?
Greater then or equal to 1600x900
4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
A desktop replacement ***see extra info at end #14***
5_How much battery life do you need?
Decent but not expecting the best in the world
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)?
Kind of ***see extra info at end #14***
7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
Programming
8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
500GB is fine
9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Dell
hp
newegg
10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2-3 years
11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DVD ROM/Writer
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.
I am open to most brands but have been looking into HP and Dell because I can get a student discount. Hp has a 10% the top for sudents
13_What country do you live in?
USA
14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.
So, I am looking to purchase a laptop that meets or exceeds my current desktop setup. My current setup is as follows…
• Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0Ghz
• 6 GB DDR2 800
• Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS – has a slight overclock on it (Core: 710Mhz , Shader: 1523Mhz, Memory: 1008MHz)
This leaves me wanting but not limited to…
• I5 540m – I would like to hit the mark of the 540m because it is basically an equivalent of the E6850. A 520m is tad bit lower than the E6850 when it comes to speed. What about the i7 you might ask? Well I am not opposed to it but I do have concerns of heat and the extra drain the processer will have on my battery. On top of that there is the option of switchable graphics that I am considering with the i5.
Am I completely mad not to consider the i7? Is the heat that much more versus the i5? It seems that most issues I see now with laptops have to do with the heat of the i7.
• ATI 5650m – This seem to be just a step above my current 8600 GTS. I honestly don’t care about playing games on my laptop. My concerns come from the programming that I do. I like to program games but by am no means making the next Crysis. I am more not programming games but programming demos for my own learning purposes. I have yet to run into an issue with my desktop GPU but it would be nice to have a mobile version that is just a bit better.
• 6 GB DDR3 – I am looking to exceed my desktop speed and get nothing less than 6 GB.
I also am very concerned about a warranty. I am looking to get at least a 2 year accidental warranty.
So with all this in mind these are a few of the setups I have seen that are in the ballpark….
HP Pavilion dv6t Select Edition
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-540M
• 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
• 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 switchable graphics [HDMI, VGA]
• 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
• Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
• Backlit Keyboard with Fingerprint Reader
• High Capacity 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)
• 2 yr Adp warranty
1,314.07 Shipped
This computer meets just about every need I listed except for the screen resolution. I could remedy this by stepping up to a 17inch (1600 x 900) for only 1,354.95. With the 17inch I also have the option of the i7 720 for an additional 50 dollars but at that point I am paying 100 more than I am budgeting.
Dell Studio XPS 16
• I5-540m
• 6GB DDRS
• 15.6” WLED LCD (1600x900)
• 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 565v
• Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
• Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250
• Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.1+EDR)
• 3 yr ADP warranty
1,308.87
Now this seems to also be close to everything I need. Even though the 565v is marked as less than the 5650 in some test and more in others I think at the end of the day it seems to be on the same level. I do have the concerns that I keep reading about throttling issues do to overheating. Now I am not in the know if this refers to the i5 models or just the i7. Does anyone know? Does anyone know if they have remedied this issue? With all that in mind the i7-720 version with 4gb of ram, upgrade to 5730, and only 2-yr warranty would cost me 1,314.61.
So those are the two I am looking at.
1) Do you have an insight into those two (4) options?
2) Are my concerns about i7’s heat warranted enough to suggest me an i5?
3) Does anyone have any up to date about the over-heating/throttling issue with the XPS 16? Does that problem encompass the i5 model?
4) If you have any other suggestion the feel free to let me know.
Thanks for all the help
Chad