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New High-Performance Laptop


NikoDG

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A couple day ago I was walking into with my laptop and slipped on a patch of ice, the screen on the laptop is totally wrecked now, and it looks like getting a new screen is out of the question, so I'm in the market for a new one. I've had to scrap my HTPC plans for now, as my need for a laptop is greater, I work out of camp for periods of eight days at a time and running a desktop back and forth is simply unrealistic. So far I've ruled out the Asus G75 (no 670 or 680 option) and the Alienware M17X (too pricey) which leaves me with the MSI GT70 (the gaudy monstrosity that it is) and the Sager NP9170 (no issues that I know of as long as you avoid the 7970M).

 

I'm leaning towards the Sager as they are more customizable and have a cleaner look and feel while being in the same price bracket as the MSI. It's a shame that the keyboard and speakers on the Sager aren't nicer though. I'm hoping to make this laptop last me 3 or 4 years, so I'm not too worried about price, though I don't want to spend money where I don't need to.

 

Sager starting price: $1, 351.98

 

- "17.3 LED (1920x1080) Matte Finish @ $30.75

- GTX 675M 2GB @ $0.00 OR GTX 680M 4GB @ $507.38

- Intel i7 3630 @ $0.00

- Windows 7 Home Premium @ $82.00

- 16GB (4x4GB) 1600 @ $51.25

- 2TB (2x1TB Raid 0) 5400 RPM @ $174.25

- 64GB Crucial CM4 Caching SSD @ $102.50

- 8x DVD Reader/Writer @ $0.00

- Killer Wireless Network/Bluetooth @ $51.25

 

$1, 843.97 (w/ GTX 675M)

$2, 351.35 (w/ GTX 680M)

 

I have a few questions:

1) Does anyone know of any other laptops I should be considering?

2) Is the difference between the GTX 675 2GB and the 680 4GB big enough to justify the massive price jump? If I did go with the 675 what kind of longevity should I expect as opposed to the 680?

3) Does anyone here have experienced with Sager laptops? Are they generally sturdy and well built? How is the customer service?

 

Thanks in advance,

Niko

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Sager starting price: $1, 351.98

 

- "17.3 LED (1920x1080) Matte Finish @ $30.75

- GTX 675M 2GB @ $0.00 OR GTX 680M 4GB @ $507.38

- Intel i7 3630 @ $0.00

- Windows 7 Home Premium @ $82.00

- 16GB (4x4GB) 1600 @ $51.25

- 2TB (2x1TB Raid 0) 5400 RPM @ $174.25

- 64GB Crucial CM4 Caching SSD @ $102.50

- 8x DVD Reader/Writer @ $0.00

- Killer Wireless Network/Bluetooth @ $51.25

 

If you get all that for that price, I say pick that one! But I can't tell if that is the initial price and all the prices to the right is how much it costs to upgrade to that, which it looks like. Would like to see what you get for the base price if that is the case as it would make it easier to help you.

 

Well while I don't subscribe to the theory on all performance laptops are a waste I will say I agree with the theory when comes to the jump to a 680m simply because the jump seems to be $600. I found it very difficult to find laptop benchmarks when I was looking for mine and I can't imagine much has changed since then so I will be lazy and not even bother, but I can't imagine the difference being too great between a 670m and 675m. I would imagine once a 670m is outdated a 675m also is. The difference between a 670m and a 680m might be worth mention, but is it worth the increase in price. :dunno: That's your call.

 

If you really aren't too concerned with price (your words) and you want good performance than outside of putting together your own laptop, I don't think you are going to beat an Alienware. They win all the benchmarks. I didn't go with Alienware but if I had the money for one and didn't mind dropping the money for one I would have no problem buying one - they're nice, just too pricey for me. Next stop is ASUS. They're for the people who want close to Alienware performance for a lot less in price. And around the holidays Amazon offers some REALLY nice deals on ASUS laptops, like $300-500 off and sometimes giftcards on top of it. I've seen $1900 ASUS laptops selling for $1300+ with $75 giftcard incentives.

 

Assuming the above price is not including any of the above listed features, unless it has a $0 cost on the right I would be looking at something like this:

 

ASUS G75VW-NH71 - $1330 (free shipping)

 


  •  
  • Intel Core i7 3630QM(2.40GHz)
  • 12GB Memory
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M
  • 17.3" Display
  • 500GB HDD 7200rpm >>> ASUS laptops have two HDD bays use the 2nd bay to add an SSD
  • Windows 8

 

The MSI equivalent with an upgrade to a 675m costs $187.68 more - MSI GT Series GT70 0ND-444US. ($1499.99 + 17.68 shipping) I would rather use that $187 for a 256GB SSD. That's me though. Though I would probably wait a bit more and see what deals Amazon has their holiday deals on laptops usually makes Newegg look like overpriced primadonnas. The laptop deals will probably start next week.

Edited by Fogel

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If you really aren't too concerned with price (your words) and you want good performance than outside of putting together your own laptop, I don't think you are going to beat an Alienware. They win all the benchmarks. I didn't go with Alienware but if I had the money for one and didn't mind dropping the money for one I would have no problem buying one - they're nice, just too pricey for me. Next stop is ASUS. They're for the people who want close to Alienware performance for a lot less in price. And around the holidays Amazon offers some REALLY nice deals on ASUS laptops, like $300-500 off and sometimes giftcards on top of it. I've seen $1900 ASUS laptops selling for $1300+ with $75 giftcard incentives.

Yeah, a similarly specced Alienware (7970 and a single 1TB HD with 64GB SSD cache) runs $2,749.99, that's almost a $400 premium over the Sager with a GTX 680 just for the Alienware name. That is on top of it having (what I consider to be) an inferior GPU, and less HDD capacity. Even though I said price wasn't a huge issue, I don't exactly see any good reason to spend more and get less.

 

As for Asus, a similarly priced unit ($1800'ish) comes with 1TB HDD (no Raid 0 or caching SSD) and is limited to, at best, a GTX 670 (as opposed to a 675 or a 680). So, while I do have some loyalty to the Asus name, it just doesnt have what I am looking for.

 

That is why I have decided against both those brands. Thank you for your thoughts though, maybe I should wait for a week or so, maybe some nice MSI's with GTX 680's in them will go on sale (currently they can be had for around $2,400.00). I've read that while MSI's are gaudy monstrosities they actually have amazing speakers and a fantastic keyboard compared to most laptops in their range (Asus and Sager). I do wonder though if it would be possible to cram as much storage into an MSI (2x1TB in Raid 0, with a 64GB SSD cache) as I tend to use a ton of space.

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I've had no issues with my Kb or speakers. I think the people that complain about the speakers must be over sensitive audiophiles that expect too much from a laptop. It sounds just fine to me while gaming or watching movies/TV shows.

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