Feedback please

[redhand8888]

I would appreciate any feedback that can be provided


General Questions

1) What is your budget?
I would like to keep it under 1100, but I can go up to 1300 if I can get a good bang for my buck

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
Ideally I would like a 17 inch screen but ,I could work with a 15.4 inch

3) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in.

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
I am open to any brand that provides good customer service.

5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Gaming, programming,Dual boot linux/vista

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
I'll be taking it with me, but the weight doesn't matter to me

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
If it can handle Oblivion ,farcry 2, crysis(with the performance enhancing mods) at good settings I would be really happy

8) How many hours of battery life do you need?

I would like 3, but I would settle for 2 if that trade off resulted in better performance.

9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
I don't mind at all.

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
I currently use linux, but I would dual boot this system
Screen Specifics

11) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
yes
12) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer? (more details below)either d or e

d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.


13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non glossy screen? (Read below on differences)

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Asthetics are far less important than performance.

15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
2 or 3 years (as a game playing system), 2 more as a general purpose machine

Notebook Components

16) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 500GB?
160-250

17) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
DVD/cd burner

[PSRT]

Sager NP2096 Custom Laptop (Built on the Compal JHL90) Sager NP2096 Custom Laptop (Built on the Compal JHL90)
- 15.4" WSXGA+ "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1680x1050)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- ~Intel® P8600 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.40GHz w/3MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt
- 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 9600M GT DDR2 DX10
- None Standard
- ~ 4,096MB DDR2 800 (2 SODIMMS) Dual Channel Memory (Requires Vista 64-Bit to recognize Full 4GB)
- None Standard
- Standard Finish
- ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
- ~ 250GB 5400RPM (Serial-ATA 150)
- None Standard
- None Standard
- Internal 3-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS)
- Internal Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5100 802.11 a/g/n
- None Standard
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- None Standard
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Carying Case Optional (Select if desired)
- Smart Li-ion Battery (9-Cell)
- None Standard
- None Standard
- None Standard
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- None Standard
- None Standard
- ~Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's
- None Standard
- None Standard
- 1 Year Parts & Labor, Lifetime Sager Toll Free Tech Support

Price: $1216.38

This rig has decent gaming capabilities and a pretty fair pricetag. Knock off about $100 if you don't want Vista pre-installed.

Anything you want/need changed?

[redhand8888]

Thank you for your reply, that looks like a great system at a great price(I can get a free vista license from my school).I have two additional questions if you don't mind answering

Is 2 gigs of "Robson turbo memory" worth 45 bucks?

Is the 9600m a decent option for newer games(farcry,crysis,etc)?

[robamb2002]

to your first question: the price of turbo memory is fair, if you look at other who offer turbo memory it is generally $50 +/- $10... If you mean is the $45 worth the performance boost, than that is a harder question. It will load regularly used programs faster (because they are basically stored on a ssd) but while in the program there is very little use of the turbo memory. so if you want windows to boot 4 seconds faster, or you want your web browser to pop up the instant you hit the key for it, than it might be worth the $45. then agian if the next proccessor upgrade is only $45 (or memory upgrade) then get that! its performance increases would be magnitudes greater than the turbo memory.

on to the second question :) the 9600 is definatly not the 9800 gtx and playing crysis on high at 1600 res is out of the question, but you would be able to play the game at a lower settings and still have a decent fps. basically the card will have its limitations, but concidering the price difference between a 9600 lappy and a 9800gtx lappy (2-3x the cost) I think you will be just fine :)

well thats my two cents, take it or leave it :)

Happy Lappy Hunting

[redhand8888]

1. Before I ask another question I would like to thank PSRT and robamb2002, for their assistance,I consider myself pretty tech savvy but this is my first time shopping for a gaming system, much less a gaming laptop that offers this level of customization.

2. I noticed that some of the more expensive()laptops have user upgradable graphics cards, did I miss something or are there any $1200 laptops that have user upgradeable graphics cards.

[robamb2002]

If you see the card listed as a PCI Express card (eg. the Compal JHL90 machines) It is considered "user ungradable" basically its not soldered to the board. I believe the nvidia 9600s up are user ungradable, but I can not guarantee that :)

[Zatara214]

Upgradability in laptops, at least in my past experience, has been rubish. But, Xotic does use MXM standard nvidia chips, which may or may not allow upgrades to future cards (depends on motherboard support, power draw, and heat output, which is usually why cards aren't upgradable... I think the 8xxx > 9xxx series was an exception though)

[robamb2002]

Upgradability in laptops, at least in my past experience, has been rubish. But, Xotic does use MXM standard nvidia chips, which may or may not allow upgrades to future cards (depends on motherboard support, power draw, and heat output, which is usually why cards aren't upgradable... I think the 8xxx > 9xxx series was an exception though)

The 8xxx to 9xxx series was kosher, and required little more than a bios update. unfortunatly the processor upgrades from T series to P series which occured around the same time did require a mobo swapout, so if you were upgrading your system at that time you still needed a swap-out :-\

[Zatara214]

Yeah, eh, for most of the people here, the video card is what counts lol. I hope I'll be able to upgrade mine when newer things come out... whatever and whenever that may be lol