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Need laptop suggestions

F

Firekingdom

n00b
Joined
Jul 21, 2011
Messages
21
Need a new laptop for school and games.

Screen resolution 1080p
Screen size 15.6 or higher
HDMI out
DVI or vga out
1GB graphic card current gen. Thinking 660 to 675 or AMD similar
Two HDD bays not counting ODD
CPU i5 or i7 current gen
Ram hardware min 16GB limit
Full keyboard
 
Lenovo Y580 - 15.6" 1080p, i7-3610QM, GTX660M 2GB, 8GB RAM for under $1k.

This really only has the 1 HDD bay + ODD bay...But you can plug in an mSATA SSD in addition to the HDD and ODD.
 
I was searching for a laptop with very similar requirements. The G55 and G75 seem like GREAT options. Good reviews. I got my hands one and it looked and performed very well. Yes...it plays Crysis, haha. It's a little large and power hungry, so I made some compromises and went with the Samsung Series 7 15.6" and threw in a 256GB Samsung 830 SSD. Outstanding laptop.
 
Firekingdom said:
But that kills the use of it in other systems.
Click to expand...
Plenty of other systems use mSATA, including a few desktop and mini itx motherboards. I know Shuttle uses it and some other laptop manufacturers utilize it. But I feel ya. It would be nice a regular 2.5" drive. Like the G75 I recommended. But I wasn't willing to lug around a laptop large enough to house all that power.
 
Firekingdom said:
But that kills the use of it in other systems.
Click to expand...
Tough shit. You want swappable parts you build a desktop, or SFF.
It's not like this is a problem specific to the Y580.
The Clevo/Sager NP9150 only has 2 drive bays + mSATA slot.
The Asus G55VW only has 2 drive bays + mSATA slot.
The Y580 was just the least expensive option ($939 through Lenovo B&N) that almost meets your criteria.

You're not likely to find:
15.6"
Ivy Bridge
1080p
3 drive bays
GTX660M+
<$1200

There isn't a large enough market for a 15" 3 full size drive bay laptop for your Dell/HP/Lenovo's to make one*, and the custom builders want more of a margin than your budget allows. *There are some 3 drive bay workstation models, but they command a premium price and usually have professional Quadro/Fire GPUs.

http://www.amazon.com/Micro-SATA-Cables-MSATA-ADPT-Adapter/dp/B004YKJ5TE
 
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Kueller said:
Tough shit. You want swappable parts you build a desktop, or SFF.
It's not like this is a problem specific to the Y580.
The Clevo/Sager NP9150 only has 2 drive bays + mSATA slot.
The Asus G55VW only has 2 drive bays + mSATA slot.
The Y580 was just the least expensive option ($939 through Lenovo B&N) that almost meets your criteria.

You're not likely to find:
15.6"
Ivy Bridge
1080p
3 drive bays
GTX660M+
<$1200

There isn't a large enough market for a 15" 3 full size drive bay laptop for your Dell/HP/Lenovo's to make one*, and the custom builders want more of a margin than your budget allows. *There are some 3 drive bay workstation models, but they command a premium price and usually have professional Quadro/Fire GPUs.

http://www.amazon.com/Micro-SATA-Cables-MSATA-ADPT-Adapter/dp/B004YKJ5TE
Click to expand...

You just gave me a great idea.

Dell Precision M6600 from their business outlet. If you are patient, you can get it with a 15-20% discount coupon. Get a model with Firepro M8900, it is ranked just under the 670M by notebookcheck (their ranking is pretty much only on gaming performance, so don't let the professional driver argument dissuade you). You will have all the drive bays you need, a great GPU, you just have to settle for Sandy Bridge. But in compensation for that, you get a 3 year NBD on-stie warranty.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
knight427 said:
You just gave me a great idea.

Dell Precision M6600 from their business outlet. If you are patient, you can get it with a 15-20% discount coupon. Get a model with Firepro M8900, it is ranked just under the 670M by notebookcheck (their ranking is pretty much only on gaming performance, so don't let the professional driver argument dissuade you). You will have all the drive bays you need, a great GPU, you just have to settle for Sandy Bridge. But in compensation for that, you get a 3 year NBD on-stie warranty.
Click to expand...

True, but the M6600 is still a 17.3" beast. 3 drive bays is relatively common on 17" models, you've got so much room to work with in those monsters. I suppose the OP did say 15.6" or higher. Maybe I was wrong to even consider 15" models. 17's should have space for everything he wants...
 
Kueller said:
True, but the M6600 is still a 17.3" beast. 3 drive bays is relatively common on 17" models, you've got so much room to work with in those monsters. I suppose the OP did say 15.6" or higher. Maybe I was wrong to even consider 15" models. 17's should have space for everything he wants...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I stuck to the 15" for my initial suggestion, but it turned out to be a budget buster. In the 17" class, the M6600 is pretty hard to beat when they have a coupon going, especially if you value warranties and build quality.
 
Kueller said:
Or the Clevo/Sager NP6370
Click to expand...

Certainly a good recommendation, though M6600 has the stronger GPU. Sager has good build quality, but most users I've met with experience from both say business class machines are much stronger. And then there's the warranty (and included OS). BUT, 99% of gamers would chose the Sager.

EDIT: FYI, Dell Outlet has a 15% discount coupon right now: SC?B8Z04BKDTW0
that's for Precision Laptops

Just for the heck of it:
$1,002.15 - after coupon
Processor: Intel Core i5-2540M Dual Core Processor (2.60GHz, 3MB Cache)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional
Precision Mobile Workstation M6600 Laptop
250 GB SATA II Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
AMD FirePro M8900 Mobility Pro Graphics with 2GB GDDR5
17.3 Inch UltraSharp FHD(1920x1080) Wide View Anti-Glare LED-backlit with Premium Panel
Click to expand...

They actually have offered better prices before. I configured a quad-core, 1080p, M8900 for ~$800 a few months back.
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I'd probably go with the M6600 over the Sager. The workstations even more than the standard business lines are built like tanks. The only real positives on the sager are the Ivy cpu and the 660M is a Kepler based chip, so power consumption and heat generation will be less...which isn't a big deal in a 17" model that is big enough to accommodate decent fans and cooling.


...Now if I were choosing a machine for myself, I'd still go with a 15.6" and mSATA SSD over either of the 17" models. I feel like you lose a lot of portability going from 15 to 17.
 
I agree with the portability issue. For a student with limited in-class desk space and backpack weight/volume limits, it is hard to justify a 17" notebook. I just left a college teaching job where I took my 8740w with me everyday so I could work on my consulting projects between classes. I didn't have to carry any more than 1 book at a time, and I didn't have to sit at student desks, so it was manageable for me. But I am even considering going down to 15" for my next laptop even though I don't need to carry my laptop around with me so much anymore.

Oh, I remembered one more advantage for the Sager. You can upgrade the GPU. The workstations come with removable GPU's, but they normally whitelist hardware in BIOS, so your upgrade options are very limited.
 
You could get a 15.6 MSI barebone for around 800 with 1080p matte, 580m (same as 675m), or a 17.3 with 675m for 850.00. Then just troll the for sale forum/ebay for your cpu,hdds, ram.
 
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