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HD5850 with switchable graphics

Y

YamahaAlex37

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 23, 2005
Messages
1,775
I am looking for the best gaming laptop with a decent battery life (at least 3 hours)

I am a game designer and will use the laptop at school and need the laptop for 4 hour busrides. I prefer directx11 because I will be toying with cryengine. I5 processor is fine. I also do alot of video editing.

So far, the Lenovo Y560 is my first choice, but unfortunately it only gets about 3 hours (some say less) and only has a HD5730. $750

The HP Envy is another good choice, but it is alot more expensive and does not have switchable graphics, but I heard you can get 5 hours out of the battery extension. $1300

What else is there on the market?? Preferable hd5830 or better with switchable graphics. Anyone know of anything?
 
The HP Envy does have switchable graphics with the i3 or i5 processors. I am enjoying mine right now. Good resolution, good screen, good video and plenty of speed. So far, and it is only two times, but I have got about 4.8 hours on the primary battery. That is with light Office use and running a few benchmarks. No real gaming, yet.
 
im going to be getting this laptop from bestbuy its an ASUS with a Core i7 720QM & has a Dedicated 5870 for 1300.

So far from what ive used of it at my friends house its a sick laptop. battery life is about 2h 30m max. Its the only downfall to the laptop

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+...lack/9741729.p?id=1218165344675&skuId=9741729

Update: overlooked your looking for a laptop with Switchable GFX my Bad
 
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Yeah but that is the Envy 14 with HD4650, im not sure that will be sufficient for my needs.

The Envy 15 has the HD1830 which I would love to have, but does not have switchable graphics and less than 2 hours battery without the extension, and is a little too expensive.
 
YamahaAlex37 said:
Yeah but that is the Envy 14 with HD4650, im not sure that will be sufficient for my needs.

The Envy 15 has the HD1830 which I would love to have, but does not have switchable graphics and less than 2 hours battery without the extension, and is a little too expensive.
Click to expand...

Envy 14 has the ATI 5650 with 1 GB GDDR3 which I have found to be surpisingly good.I had also looked at the Envy 17 with the 5850 but it was huge. I wanted something a little more balanced size wise.
 
I really need help deciding! I think I am fine with hd5650, although if anyone knows of anything better with switchable graphics or decent battery life please let me know!

There are so many options at HP, I think I like the HP Pavillion dv7-3171nr Espresso with the hd5650 but I'm not sure if it has switchable graphics and I can't find the battery life online anywhere. I like the fact it has built in firewire. The processer is a Turion II M640. Anyone know what kind of battery life it has?

Other than that I think I'm looking at the dv6 series over the envy 14 because it has the same hd5650 and includes a cd/dvd drive.
If i go with the dv6 series do you guys think the Turion II P520 will be sufficient? (I can always upgrade easily right?) And the amd processors are supposed to run hotter but everyone in the HP reviews (on HP's site under the corresponding laptops) claimed the amd's were running 10 degrees cooler than the i5's etc. So I think I will chose amd as it is also cheaper.
 
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I think the Envy 14 is your best bet. It also has a semi decent screen and resolution at 1600x900.
 
Thanks for all the great advice. I will probably order an envy, so long as the heating issues have been resolved. Anyone know anything about this? I know when I was researching the envy 15 at least, there were TONS of forum posts about the heat issue.

One other issue I had with some of the HP laptops I tested in the store was the crappy finger mouse pad sensor where it was built into the button. It was like they tried to copy the macbook touchpad but did a horrible job. You cant hold one finger on the clicker and move the mouse at the same time like I am used to doing or it screws with the sensor. Anyone know if this is the same touchpad on the envy?
 
I have two of the Envy 14 laptops and they definitely have the heat issue resolved. Runs cooler than many of the low end laptops we have at work and a few of the HP Elitebooks. Very solid little systems.

What I like:

  • Decent video card - ATI HD5650
  • Slot load DVD-RW
  • Screen - very bright, clear, easy to look at - 1600x900
  • Speed - very quick to boot
  • Battery life - not bad at about 4:40, so far
  • Solid metal build
  • Switchable graphics
  • Display port works with a dual-link DVI adapter to drive a 30 inch at 2560x1600

What could be better:
  • Be nice to have a GDDR5 based card like the HD5850
  • Little bit of keyboard flex - easily fixed if you get inside
  • Touchpad takes some getting used to - easily fixed by disabling the two finger zoom item.

Loving it so far. Best laptop I have ever used.
 
The MSI will not get 3 hours. Maybe if you really turn everything off. For the OP, the Envy 14 should offer the perfect balance of performance with solid 4-5 hour battery life.
 
the msi gets well over 3 hours. it comes with a 9 cell not 6 cell. had it been a 6 cell it would get less then 3 hours
 
Thanks BTOtech I'm really trying to look outside of hp a little.

the y560 is actually reporting to have between 3-5 hours using switchable graphics so its still near top of my list.

Gateway® NV73A09u claims 3.15 hours but there is virtually NOTHING on the internet about this one, so I can't confirm the battery life.

Gateway NV79C47u looks like another great deal with claimed 3.6 hours, but again NO REVIEWS!

What is with the gateways not existing on the internet outside of shopping websites. The specs and pricepoints are awesome.

Also the Gateway P-7815u claims 3.6 (not sure how realistic manufacturer's description is) but then i would be giving up directx 11 (not the biggest deal breaker) Anyone familiar with this one?

if anyone has any info on these or others let me know. If I could find a 5830 or better card with 3 hours of battery life CONFIRMED i would be sold!!!


---update---

i almost gizzed my pants when i saw the Gateway NV5924u with 4.5 hours and such a good price tag! BUT IT SEEMS TO NOT EXIST anywhere on the internet wtf!!! Almost like the reviews of its 17" big brother, but this one is not even sold anywhere.
 
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there are 2 brands i hate. gateway and toshiba and for good reasons.
i would buy a dell or hp over the 2 above any day. Here are my pics if you are looking for a hiend notebook with "decent battery life"
1. msi gx640
2. asus g73
3. asus g51
Also you are entering a one month period in august where most of the current products will be replaced with newer and better specs. come september both msi and asus will roll out their replacements for their gaming models.
 
brands like msi and asus do not typically have closeouts on popular models. they may throw a 100$ mail in rebate at you. nothing like dell with 400$ rebates
 
i was pretty close to pulling the trigger on a HP dv7-4060us or a HP dv6-3050us, but then I remembered I7's do not have switchable graphics. These two laptops do however list great battery lifes at 5.75 and 4 hours, respectively. It is impossible to find a review to confirm this though, because hp makes so many different model numbers.

What do you guys think about the battery life on these? Since the dv6 only comes with a 4 cell and listed 4 hours, maybe I can get more with better battery. I see a 6 and 9 cell extended life battery, is this an attatchment to the battery or is it a whole new battery? does it stick out the back?
 
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