In the market for a desktop replacement/gaming laptop

[-Drifter-]

Hi,

I'm in the market for a desktop replacement/gaming laptop. I also plan on using it to provide tech support to family members (i.e. easier to bring my system to fix theirs instead of lugging theirs home). I would prefer the system have DDR3 memory and a good quality GPU. Having a Warranty is also very important. I should also note that I have been eying the ASUS G71V-A1.


General Questions

1) What is your budget?

$1500-$2000

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen

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

USA

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

ASUS/Sager preferred

5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?

This will be a desktop replacement. Using it for gaming, database work, web design, spreadsheets, watching movies

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?

I will be taking different places. Weight not an issue

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?

Yes. World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online, Diablo 3 (when it comes out), COD 4/5

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

Standard battery is fine.

9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?

Not at all

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.

XP (as long as 4GB of RAM is supported)

Screen Specifics

11) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?

Widescreen

12) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer? (more details below)

Widescreen
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.

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

Glossy/Reflective

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

No

15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?

Within the next couple of weeks hopefully

Notebook Components

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

320GB-400GB (7200RPM only)

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

Yes. Built in Blue-Ray R would be nice but not necessary.


TYIA for any input

[robamb2002]

I hate to sound repetitous but the NP5793 sounds like another great fit!

http://www.xoticpcforums.com/showthread.php?t=2059

with a few tweaks to the example above Ive come up with this...

Sager NP5793 Custom Sager Notebook (Built on Clevo M570RU-U / M571RU-U)
- 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- ~Intel® T9300 45nm "Penryn" Core™2 Duo 2.5GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 800MHz FSB
- 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 9800M GTS DDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
- ~ 4,096MB DDR2 667 PC2 5300 (2 SODIMMS) Dual Channel Memory (Requires Vista 64-Bit to recognize Full 4GB)
- NP579x Orange Frame Trim Color
- ~ 2X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- ~ 320GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Internal Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5100 802.11 a/g/n
- Built in 1.3Megapixel Camera
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- ~Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's
- 3 Year Parts & Labor Warranty 24/7 Tech Support

$2028.00 before cash discount and shipping

As mentioned in the previous post, this is a clearance item and would best be persued quickly.(the sales department will answer any questions/reservations you have quicker than forum users) This would satisfy all of your requirements, it also has one of the better GPUs on the mobile market plus the three yr warranty :) I ploped vista on the machine because only 64bit OS recognize/utilize the full 4gb of ram. If you wanted to drop vista and buy XP64 after-market that would work as well. I figure if your troubleshooting family systems you should have suficient knowledge on how to manage that :)

Happy Lappy Hunting!

[-Drifter-]

Thanks. I have been playing around with that same config and it does meet my needs. I guess one thing that i am not 100% sold on, is the lack of a second HDD bay. Here is a comparison i did against the ASUS model i mentioned above with the better configs (IMO) highlighted in red. I should also mention that I have already have XP 64 bit and Vista Ulitamate 64 bit OSs.

Sager NP5793 Custom Sager Notebook (Built on Clevo M570RU-U / M571RU-U)
- 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- ~Intel® T9300 45nm "Penryn" Core™2 Duo 2.5GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 800MHz FSB
- 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 9800M GTS DDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
- None Standard
- ~ 4,096MB DDR2 667 PC2 5300 (2 SODIMMS) Dual Channel Memory (Requires Vista 64-Bit to recognize Full 4GB)
- None Standard
- NP579x Orange Frame Trim Color
- ~ 2X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- ~ 320GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- None Standard
- None Standard
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Internal Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5100 802.11 a/g/n
- None Standard
- Built in 1.3Megapixel Camera
- None Standard
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- None Standard
- None Standard
- None Standard
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- None Standard
- None Standard
- None Standard - Drivers & Utility Software Only
- None Standard
- None Standard
- 3 Year Parts & Labor Warranty 24/7 Tech Support

$1931.00 before Cash discount

ASUS G71V -- A1 - PRE ORDER
- !! FREE !! UPS GROUND SHIPPING (Use Coupon Code FREESHIP in Checkout)
- 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
- None Standard
- ASUS Zero Bright Dot (ZBD) Pixel Guarantee
- -Intel® T9400 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.53GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 35 watt - ASUS Default Processor
- 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 9700M GT DDR3 DX10
- None Standard
- - 4,096MB (Corsair, Kingston, Major Brand) DDR3 1333MHz (2 SODIMMs) Dual Channel Memory
- Standard Finish
- - 2X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- - 200GB Seagate Momentus 3GB/S SATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive - Asus Default Hard Drive
- - 200GB Seagate Momentus 3GB/S SATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive - Asus Default Hard Drive
- None Standard
- None Standard
- Internal 8-in-1 Card Reader: MMC/SD/Mini-SD/XD/Memory Stick/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo
- 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
- Asus G Series Matching Backpack made by Targus- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- None Standard
- None Standard
- None Standard
- None Standard
- Asus G Series Matching Logitech Mouse
- None Standard
- ~Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's - ENS
- None Standard
- None Standard
- 2 Year ASUS GLOBAL Warranty, 24/7 Tech Support, 1 Year Accidental Damage Coverage & 2-Way Pre-Paid Overnight Shipping for Repairs

$2029.00 before Cash discount

[Justin_W@XoticPC]

Both of the notebooks you listed above are really good choices, The Sager notebooks generally give better graphics performance if your looking primarily for a gaming notebook. On the other hand this Asus notebook comes with a slightly better warranty coverage and a little newer/faster CPU, RAM, dual hard drive bays, HDMI, & e-SATA.

[-Drifter-]

Thanks for the responses all.

Justin, any release date on the ASUS yet? :D

[Justin_W@XoticPC]

The current ETA according to Asus is Late October/Early November

[-Drifter-]

Just wanted to share that I placed the following order! :) Thanks for everyone's input

ASUS G71G -- A2 - PRE ORDER (http://www.xoticpc.com/product_info.php?products_id=2497%7B161%7D1411%7B7 6%7D1296%7B187%7D1757%7B94%7D1903%7B92%7D2451%7B88 %7D1090%7B186%7D734%7B93%7D1991%7B112%7D656%7B98%7 D1798%7B96%7D2461%7B97%7D2461%7B168%7D1453%7B116%7 D1416%7B117%7D1915%7B120%7D703%7B110%7D2486%7B169% 7D1449%7B119%7D1898%7B100%7D734%7B164%7D1441%7B107 %7D1879%7B106%7D1696%7B121%7D694%7B108%7D710%7B109 %7D711%7B170%7D1492%7B173%7D1880%7B167%7D1452%7B10 3%7D1514%7B113%7D1413%7B111%7D1414%7B69%7D1775) Any solid date yet?
- !! FREE !! UPS GROUND SHIPPING (Use Coupon Code FREESHIP in Checkout)
- 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- ASUS Zero Bright Dot (ZBD) Pixel Guarantee
- -Intel® T9400 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.53GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 35 watt - ASUS Default Processor
- 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 9800M GS DDR3 DX10
- None Standard
- - 6,144MB DDR3 1333MHz (3 SODIMMs) Dual Channel Memory
- Standard Finish
- - Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti 8X DVDRW Drive w/ Software
- - 320GB 7200RPM WD or Seagate (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s)
- - 320GB 7200RPM WD or Seagate (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s)
- None Standard
- None Standard
- Internal 8-in-1 Card Reader: MMC/SD/Mini-SD/XD/Memory Stick/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo
- Internal Bluetooth + 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
- Asus G Series Matching Backpack made by Targus
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- None Standard
- None Standard
- None Standard
- None Standard
- Asus G Series Matching Logitech Mouse
- None Standard
- ~Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's - ENS
- None Standard
- None Standard
- 2 Year ASUS GLOBAL Warranty, 24/7 Tech Support, 1 Year Accidental Damage Coverage & 2-Way Pre-Paid Overnight Shipping for Repairs

[sheaiiimef]

I know you have already ordered, but on the topic of a second hard drive, which you got, an external one with all the drives, files, etc that you need would work. I have two that I use for travel and since they are 2.5 they only require being hooked into USB.

I ordered a 250 from Amazon for $84. It is sweet. The company that makes it is Acomdata and the drives they use in their package tend to cost more when just bought by themselves. There are many reviews on them and I have been very pleased. Just shop around for the best price.

[-Drifter-]

I know you have already ordered, but on the topic of a second hard drive, which you got, an external one with all the drives, files, etc that you need would work. I have two that I use for travel and since they are 2.5 they only require being hooked into USB.

I ordered a 250 from Amazon for $84. It is sweet. The company that makes it is Acomdata and the drives they use in their package tend to cost more when just bought by themselves. There are many reviews on them and I have been very pleased. Just shop around for the best price.

I have an 500GB external already sitting on my desk :) no need for the small form factor as I don't mind lugging this machine around.

[Anewbus]

Hey Drifter, quite a beastie there! Congrats!:smile2:

[-Drifter-]

Hey Drifter, quite a beastie there! Congrats!:smile2:


Thanks!! :)

[sheaiiimef]

I have a 500 Gig as well, plus my 250 and 320. I have too much crap.