desktop replacement help

[Vesanus]

Hello all. The headaches have become too much and now I'm asking for advice / help / anything that will make the indecision go away. Basically, I'm looking to ditch my bulky desktop for a laptop. I don't play games and am looking for more of a media hub. The laptop I get will have to interact with a larger external tv, while being able to stand up on its own. HD is important, but blu-ray is not. Main uses will be online activity, media management, over-the-air HD, and movie watching. I was considering the HP dv8t, but have a feeling I can do better for less money.

General Questions

1) What is your budget?

$1500 - $1800 (less is better, naturally)

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen (am willing to consider a smaller screen)

3) What country are you buying this in?

USA

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

nope

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

mentioned above (media hub, music, movies, over-the-air HD)

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

light traveling, mostly stationary

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

probably not

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

not much of a concern

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

nope

10) What OS do you prefer? (more details below)

Windows 7

Screen Specifics

11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer? (more details below) Widescreen
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.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.

unsure, but good HD is important, as is widescreen
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non glossy screen?

either

Build Quality and Design

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

nope

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

3-4 years would be nice

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you want; 80GB, 160GB, 250GB, 320GB, 500GB, 1TB, or 1.5TB?

500GB (would like more depending on price)

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

cd/dvd burner

17) What speed CPU/Processor would you like? Dual core or Quad Core CPU?

was looking at both Quad and i7 (this is negotiable, however quick, smooth performance is a must)


A couple other items of note. I plan on multi-tasking quite a bit, which may include a dual monitor setup sometime in the future. Much of my HD needs come in the form of sports, so a good TV-tuner with remote is important. Pretty sure that's it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[powerpack]

Force 3551 or NP2098 they are the same? That is what I recommend.

[Joseph@XoticPC]

Good evening and welcome to the XoticPC forums.

I think powerpaks suggestions are really good and in your budget I would take a look at a couple of Force models. The force 3551 and the Force 1656.

Here is my first suggestion for you:

FORCE 3551 (Built on MSI-1651-ID2 / GT628) (http://www.xoticpc.com/product_info.php?products_id=2596%7B76%7D647%7B94% 7D1074%7B92%7D2446%7B187%7D1757%7B88%7D2463%7B194% 7D2594%7B186%7D1532%7B93%7D2507%7B193%7D657%7B112% 7D656%7B98%7D1907%7B96%7D1863%7B168%7D1453%7B116%7 D696%7B117%7D707%7B120%7D703%7B110%7D1095%7B169%7D 1449%7B119%7D1898%7B100%7D746%7B164%7D1441%7B107%7 D1539%7B106%7D2008%7B195%7D698%7B121%7D694%7B108%7 D710%7B109%7D711%7B170%7D1492%7B173%7D1175%7B167%7 D1452%7B103%7D2684%7B113%7D1413%7B111%7D1414%7B69% 7D2536%7B196%7D2719)
- 15.4" WSXGA+ "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1680x1050)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- -Intel® P8700 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.53GHz w/3MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- nVidia GeForce GTS 160M 1024MB PCI-Express GDDR3 DX10
- No External Graphics Card
- No Video Adapter
- - 4,096MB (2 SODIMMS) DDR3 1066MHz Dual Channel Memory (Requires Vista 64-Bit to utilize 4GB+) (Corsair, Kingston or Crucial)
- None Standard--
- Standard Finish
- - Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti 8X DVDRW Drive w/ Software
- - 500GB 7200RPM WD or Seagate (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s)
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO)
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-850 HDTV USB 2.0 ATSC/NTSC TV Tuner (Digital & Analog)
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (9-Cell) -
- NO Spare Battery
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- No Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- Windows 7 Home Premium - 64-Bit
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- 1 Year Complete Care Warranty - 1 Year Parts with 2nd Day Shipping, 24/7 Telephone Tech Support & Lifetime Labor Warranty
- No Xotic PC Gear $1,553.00 http://www.xoticpc.com/images/pixel_trans.gif Sub-Total: $1,553.00

This is a very nice balance of power, performance, build quality, and price. It includes all of the Important things like a good CPU, large HDD, a good HD/analog tv tuner w/remote. It also has a really fun turbo mode that you can activate to overclock the cpu I suggested all the way to 3.06ghz safely.


The next model will push your budget to the top, but will provide a little less graphical performance but a lot higher cpu performance which if you aren't looking for a gaming machine could be the best choice.


Here is my build suggestions for you:


(http://www.xoticpc.com/product_info.php?products_id=2661%7B76%7D647%7B94% 7D1074%7B92%7D2668%7B187%7D1757%7B88%7D1649%7B194% 7D2594%7B186%7D1532%7B93%7D2587%7B112%7D656%7B98%7 D1907%7B96%7D1863%7B168%7D1453%7B116%7D696%7B117%7 D707%7B120%7D703%7B110%7D1095%7B169%7D1449%7B119%7 D1898%7B100%7D746%7B164%7D1441%7B107%7D1539%7B106% 7D2008%7B195%7D698%7B121%7D694%7B108%7D710%7B109%7 D711%7B170%7D1492%7B173%7D1175%7B167%7D1452%7B103% 7D2684%7B113%7D1413%7B111%7D1414%7B69%7D2536%7B196 %7D2719) FORCE 1656 (Built on the MSI-1656) - PRE ORDER (http://www.xoticpc.com/product_info.php?products_id=2661%7B76%7D647%7B94% 7D1074%7B92%7D2668%7B187%7D1757%7B88%7D1649%7B194% 7D2594%7B186%7D1532%7B93%7D2587%7B112%7D656%7B98%7 D1907%7B96%7D1863%7B168%7D1453%7B116%7D696%7B117%7 D707%7B120%7D703%7B110%7D1095%7B169%7D1449%7B119%7 D1898%7B100%7D746%7B164%7D1441%7B107%7D1539%7B106% 7D2008%7B195%7D698%7B121%7D694%7B108%7D710%7B109%7 D711%7B170%7D1492%7B173%7D1175%7B167%7D1452%7B103% 7D2684%7B113%7D1413%7B111%7D1414%7B69%7D2536%7B196 %7D2719)
- 15.4" WSXGA+ "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1680x1050)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Intel® Core™ i7-720QM, 1.60-2.80GHz, (45nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- nVidia GeForce GTS 250M 1024MB PCI-Express GDDR3 DX10
- No External Graphics Card
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 4,096MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires Vista 64-Bit to utilize Full 4GB)
- Standard Finish
- - Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti 8X DVDRW Drive w/ Software
- - 500GB 7200RPM WD or Seagate (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s)
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO)
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-850 HDTV USB 2.0 ATSC/NTSC TV Tuner (Digital & Analog)
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (9-Cell) -
- NO Spare Battery
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- No Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- Windows 7 Home Premium - 64-Bit
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- 1 Year Complete Care Warranty - 1 Year Parts with 2nd Day Shipping, 24/7 Telephone Tech Support & Lifetime Labor Warranty
- No Xotic PC Gear $1,713.00 http://www.xoticpc.com/images/pixel_trans.gif Sub-Total: $1,713.00
This laptop has all of the benefits as the previous suggestion: Brushed aluminum chassis, very fast CPU(new i7 cpu), fast ddr3 ram, big hard drive, tv tuner w/remote and a reasonably fast GPU. The Force 3551 excels in gaming performance and the Force 1656 will excel in cpu performance but will have an adequate GPU.


Please let me know what other questions you have. Feel free to email me at Joseph@xoticpc.com.


thanks,

Joseph L

[Vesanus]

Thank you for the suggestions. Sounds like it's coming down to either the FORCE 1656 or FORCE KHLB2. The NP2098 is also in the running, but all things being identical, I see no reason not to go for the better warranty on the KHLB2.

The question is, what do I need? I'm not a gamer and I'd say my level of multi-tasking is medium (example - watching live HD hockey game, bittorrent going, several tabs open in web browser, while playing 3 or so poker tables). Is the 1656 too much computer for me or is it worth the extra cash to have the latest technology? If it makes a difference, this will most likely become a computer that will help organize the needs of a small business, but that's 8-12 months away.

I realize I'm probably the only one that can answer my question, but any words of advice would be appreciated.
(http://www.xoticpc.com/force-khlb2-built-compal-khlb2-p-2635.html)

[Anewbus]

Thank you for the suggestions. Sounds like it's coming down to either the FORCE 1656 or FORCE KHLB2. The NP2098 is also in the running, but all things being identical, I see no reason not to go for the better warranty on the KHLB2.

The question is, what do I need? I'm not a gamer and I'd say my level of multi-tasking is medium (example - watching live HD hockey game, bittorrent going, several tabs open in web browser, while playing 3 or so poker tables). Is the 1656 too much computer for me or is it worth the extra cash to have the latest technology? If it makes a difference, this will most likely become a computer that will help organize the needs of a small business, but that's 8-12 months away.

I realize I'm probably the only one that can answer my question, but any words of advice would be appreciated.


Hi Vesanus,

Having said all that, I would recommend going for something with a Quad such as the FORCE1656 with the i-7. That would not only help things run smoother if you will be doing all that at the same time, but will help "future-proof" if you will, for your small business needs and such as well.
We will soon see a saturation of quad CPUs in laptops. I think it's already begun.
With live streaming video, bit torrent downloading and playing 3 poker tables at the same time going on, I would also get as much ram as budget, OS and Mobo will allow as well as a 7200rpm HDD. Basically you want to cut down on bottlenecks as much as you can. I think the FORCE1656 gives the best start with the i7 Proc and the GTS 250M GPU @ 1024MB on board.
Something I just thought of in regards to RAM. Of course you want to get 4GB while 6 or 8 GB would be great, it's price is very prohibitive. However, a possible work-around for future would be to later on maybe swap out the two sticks @ 2GB for one stick at 4GB and then get another 2GB stick. I don't know current price on a 4GB stick off hand, but down the road this may be a cost saving manuver. Don't know, just a theory that hit me, I could be wrong.:)

[Vesanus]

I appreciate the quick reply and the solid advice. Will I be doing all that at the same time? It was a pretty extreme example and would probably never happen, however it would be nice to have the freedom to be able to do all that. On the other hand, $500 is a lot of dough for some peace of mind.

[Anewbus]

I appreciate the quick reply and the solid advice. Will I be doing all that at the same time? It was a pretty extreme example and would probably never happen, however it would be nice to have the freedom to be able to do all that. On the other hand, $500 is a lot of dough for some peace of mind.

What's $500? I don't see it.

Here's what I came up with:I lowered the HDD to 320GB 7200rpm saving about $40. That is if you are willing to consider extra storage alternatives such as: USB drives or external HDDs etc. You would be surprised what a 320GB HDD can hold and from what I gather your not doing any heavy video editing or sound editing and such so a 320GB should hold you for a while.

FORCE 1656 (Built on the MSI-1656) - PRE ORDER (http://www.xoticpc.com/product_info.php?products_id=2661%7B76%7D647%7B94% 7D1074%7B92%7D2668%7B187%7D1757%7B88%7D1649%7B194% 7D2594%7B186%7D1532%7B93%7D2587%7B112%7D656%7B98%7 D1907%7B96%7D2461%7B168%7D1453%7B116%7D696%7B117%7 D707%7B120%7D703%7B110%7D1095%7B169%7D1449%7B119%7 D1898%7B100%7D746%7B164%7D1441%7B107%7D1539%7B106% 7D1691%7B19%20)
- 15.4" WSXGA+ "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1680x1050)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Intel® Core™ i7-720QM, 1.60-2.80GHz, (45nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- nVidia GeForce GTS 250M 1024MB PCI-Express GDDR3 DX10
- No External Graphics Card
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 4,096MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires Vista 64-Bit to utilize Full 4GB)
- Standard Finish
- - Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti 8X DVDRW Drive w/ Software
- - 320GB 7200RPM WD or Seagate (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s)
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO)
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-850 HDTV USB 2.0 ATSC/NTSC TV Tuner (Digital & Analog)
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (6-Cell)
- NO Spare Battery
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- No Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- Windows 7 Home Premium - 64-Bit
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- 1 Year Complete Care Warranty - 1 Year Parts with 2nd Day Shipping, 24/7 Telephone Tech Support & Lifetime Labor Warranty
- No Xotic PC Gear
TOTAL = $1578.17 with cash discount and 1 year warranty
Or
With a 3 year complete warranty = $1732.42


So the price difference between the two machines is either about $25 for the 1 year warranty. With that it's worth going for the Force 1656. For $153 more you can tack on the 3 year complete warranty for peace of mind.
Like I said, for now I'd just get the 4GB of RAM and then work on upgrading that later if you want.

[Vesanus]

I should have clarified that. The $500 difference I mentioned was the difference between the KHLB2 and the 1656. Guess it comes down to how much I'm willing to spend. At least I know where I'll be buying from! These forums have been a great help.