Investing into a laptop for X-mas

BioHazard.89

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 25, 2004
Messages
229
For Christmas I have plans on investing into a laptop... my folks are pulling a "For every dollar you raise, we'll toss in $1 too," so for the time being budgets not a real big issue. This is just curiosity....

In a quick rundown of specs:
15 or 17 inch monitor
Dual monitor compatible
Dual core processor - 2ghz?
2gb ram
CD/DVD burner
Gaming-worthy video card (non-integrated)
Wireless
Bluetooth


I'm planning on it to be a mobile desktop replacement. It won't be completely replacing my main desktop for gaming but I'd like it to be able to play games... World of Warcraft, Steam, Carpe Diem.....

I'll also be using it as a mobile DAW, using it with my firewire Firepod for recording at home as well as else where. When it's at home, I plan on connecting another monitor to it - dual monitors - so I can use the added space in Cubase and what not.

What are my options besides Dell's XPS seiries. By no means do I mean the by-god m2010. :)

Dell XPS M1710 Black
$3,813
Intel® Core 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2GHz/667MHz/4MB)
Genuine Windows® XP Professional
Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Business from XP Professional
17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife
2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ, 2 DIMM
100GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
512MB NVIDIA® GeForce Go 7950 GTX
Integrated Audio

9-cell Primary Battery and 9-cell additional Lithium Ion Battery
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945a/g
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate)

Microsoft Office Small Business Ed.- Basic plus PowerPoint and Publisher
PC-cillin Internet Security: AntiVirus, Firewall, Spyware removal 15-months
No preinstalled software
2Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service

Add CompleteCare Accidental Damage Service to 2Yr Lim Warranty
No ISP requested

$3,899 gets me the same in the colour red - Whoopdeedoo.
For $2,969, I can get a Inspiron E1705 except:

256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS
and
I'm stuck with Wireless-N draft :mad:
and
the Inspiron states "shared" memory

will 256mb difference in Video card be a noticeable difference? Also, the XPS doesn't say anything about shared memory, is there a hardware difference? Is there going to be a noticeable difference?

Thanks for the help!
John-Michael
 
Save money and get a real beast. Heres a Sager 5760 from pctorque.com for only $2761

Its basically maxed out besides one better cpu offer:

Display: 17in WSXGA+ LCD (Glossy 1680 X 1050)
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 2.16GHz(T7400 4MB Cache)
Graphics Card: nVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX w/512MB
System Memory: 2048MB 667DDR2 (2-1024MB)
Primary Hard Drive: 100GB 7200RPM SATA
Media Drive: 8x DVD+- combo drive with DVD+R DL
Battery: Lithium-Ion Battery (8Cell)
Case: Basic Black business case
Wireless network: Intel PRO/Wireless A+B+G

$2761.00

Sounds like a better deal to me then the Dell's.

I use an older model the Sager 5720 and I got it from pctorque.com. I can honestly say that it's the best decision I ever made and I couldnt be happier with mine.
 
well in terms of buying a laptop it was the best decision i ever made
 
Goran said:
Save money and get a real beast. Heres a Sager 5760 from pctorque.com for only $2761

Its basically maxed out besides one better cpu offer:

Display: 17in WSXGA+ LCD (Glossy 1680 X 1050)
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 2.16GHz(T7400 4MB Cache)
Graphics Card: nVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX w/512MB
System Memory: 2048MB 667DDR2 (2-1024MB)
Primary Hard Drive: 100GB 7200RPM SATA
Media Drive: 8x DVD+- combo drive with DVD+R DL
Battery: Lithium-Ion Battery (8Cell)
Case: Basic Black business case
Wireless network: Intel PRO/Wireless A+B+G

$2761.00

Sounds like a better deal to me then the Dell's.

I use an older model the Sager 5720 and I got it from pctorque.com. I can honestly say that it's the best decision I ever made and I couldnt be happier with mine.

Thanks for the reply and help!
To compare it exactly, I followed up and went to pctorque.com.... I got the same price but noticed it was sans XP Pro, 3yr warrenty, office, and an extra battery.... (also added their dead pixel policy) I'm losing the extra battery, becasue I can't have them both in at the same time, or charge the other while not in the laptop.

I'm still peaking around for other options though!

'Preciate it again!
 
dbmonkey said:
BioHazard, I just bought the setup similar to yours a few days ago. The only difference is that I selected the T7600G processor so I could overclock the processor.

Here's a video demonstrating the new M1710:
http://www.direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/category/1009.aspx?p=2

wait a minute, when did overclocking a laptop become something to bank on? what have a missed? or are the high end laptops coming with unlocked BIOS'es?
 
dbmonkey said:
BioHazard, I just bought the setup similar to yours a few days ago. The only difference is that I selected the T7600G processor so I could overclock the processor.

Here's a video demonstrating the new M1710:
http://www.direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/category/1009.aspx?p=2

Very cool! Has your laptop arrived yet? I'd love to hear what you think about it, as this is starting to seem like a very real option....
 
I'm not sure if it is entirely new in the laptop realm but it is new for the Dell XPS laptop series. If you watch the video, you can see the Dell engineer overclock his laptop from 2.33Ghz to 3.15Ghz. (The video is under the title, "New Dell Products Unveiled @ DigitalLife")

BioHazard, I haven't recieved my laptop yet since I just ordered it 3 days ago. When I get it, I will post pics of the overclocking features. I had waited for 2 months before giving in to the purchase. I did not want to wait anymore and wanted to avoid the Christmas delays.
 
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