New hardcore laptop!

D

DeathPrincess

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May 15, 2010
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I know i'm being maybe a little premature, but i'd like to test the waters here. I have a long founded dislike of laptops, mainly because their underpowered and expensive. But I can't lug my 35kg desktop everywhere so I have always had to make some compromises. After the last laptop died a sudden death I thought I could do without one. But using other peoples equipment for things is never good. I need to get a replacement within 6 months, or at most 9. So would like to see if there is anything amazing availible now, and what is on offer. Because of my dislike for them, they are outside of my knowledge. I still wish for an ATX style build your own style laptop...

The system will be used for running live synth programs hooked up to keyboards and things and at the same time run the video streams used for the visual parts of performances. This can get CPU heavy. Then again the 4gh/z i7 I have now gets to about 50% with all the sound software. The visual parts are usually 1080p videos (sometimes 2 720p or less, or rarely 2x 1080p) or 3d stuff. Well see what I do this time. Plus I'd like some extra power for when the future happens. The hardcore bit...

Basically i'm looking for something fairly robust power wise, that will last a long time.

1. What is your budget?

Preferably as low as possible (no point spending needless money), but i'm willing to spend money for quality. $1500 is probably the upper limit. But i'm willing to move up price brackets if it will get something extra.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

I'd prefer a bigger screen. Current is 17" but it needs to be viewable in low light/from a small distance.

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Decent resolution and i'd prefer 16:10. Programs I use need vertical space and for the application I need to be able to see stuff without access to a mouse. Plus needs to have monitor out for second monitor output.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Portable desktop. It will be used for travelling, but not everyday. So weight isn't an issue. Still nothing beastly.

5. How much battery life do you need?

I don't care as I will have a plug. 2 hours+ would be nice.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

I probably will (I play games on everything I have) but that is not it's intended purpose. But the GPU would need to be good for other activities (realtime 3d rendering) i'd take as much power as I can get within reason.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
  • Mass software Synths.
  • Reason/Reaktor etc. For song performace/composition
  • VJ/DJ software
  • visulisation things like whitecap/others.
  • Media players for multiple monitor video outputs and things.
  • As I get bored would be nice to do some photo editing...

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

500GB I could get by on. More is fine, no lower than 320GB

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

None so far

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

At least 3 years. Something I can use until its out of date.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

None really. A DVD/W drive would be nice for film watching in hotel rooms. And for backups/CD ripping.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

Everything I use is windows based. No apple or bronze leaguers. Plus I hate using them for sound based activities/they look horrendous. I'm not too fond of alienware either for that reason.

13. What country do you live in?

Currently in the UK, may be moving soon to Germany/Japan/who knows where. I wouldn't mind importing (is usually cheaper even with overpriced shipping)

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
  • Needs to have at least 3 USB ports. More if possible. I need 2 for interfaces (keyboard/surface) then one for mouse (hate trackpads).
  • On the monitor out i'd prefer DVI, But HDMI/VGA would be fine. I'd prefer if the onboard sound was of decent quality.
  • I'm probably going to mod it up a bit to fit more in with my "image" but it would be nice if it started off looking decent! Though plain and black would be a good starting point. Plus i'd want something that lasts well in build quality.
  • Oh, and ill need a fast a LAN port as I can get and wireless n.
  • thinking about it, would be nice if it had lit keys, mainly because of low light situations.
  • because of software, i'd prefer a Nvidia GPU
 
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The sony F series with the optional 1920x1080 screen is drool worthy. The new 17" XPS ain't bad either as both come with i7 processors and all the fixins. The dell is really pricey though and Sony's website seems to be undergoing maint. at the moment so some things are not displaying right. I can't pull up a price but IIRC it comes in under $1500.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...1&categoryId=8198552921644691998&N=4294953518

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dndojx4&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=xps-17

edit: sony review - http://www.etechreviews.net/sony-vaio-f-series-vpc-f115fmb/ lists $1349
 
vsboxerboy said:
The sony F series with the optional 1920x1080 screen is drool worthy. The new 17" XPS ain't bad either as both come with i7 processors and all the fixins. The dell is really pricey though and Sony's website seems to be undergoing maint. at the moment so some things are not displaying right. I can't pull up a price but IIRC it comes in under $1500.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...1&categoryId=8198552921644691998&N=4294953518

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dndojx4&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=xps-17

edit: sony review - http://www.etechreviews.net/sony-vaio-f-series-vpc-f115fmb/ lists $1349
Click to expand...

The sony has remote play too...i'm guessing the games wont work but still...

It says the site is down for maintenance. Hopefully it's quick.

The dell has decent specs, but I am wary of dells because of it being a dell. I don't have any experiance of their laptops but I have heard so many horror stories relating to their PCs. Though their higher end stuff is probably much more reliable and better build quality, it does leave me worried.

Is the i7m just a downclocked i7 or is it further gimped in some way?
 
Depends on the i7m, the 720Qm is a true quad core with hyper threading (8 threads like your desktop), the 620m is a dual core......other than that i think the main difference is lower thermal envelope, and the onboard graphics card....


as for dell Laptops, my family has had 5 of them, no issue whatsoever, great machines, i would stay away from dell desktops for sure though...


as for your build quality, you should maybe look towards some of the buisness oriented models(HP Elitebook, Dell Lattidude, Lenovo, and Sony's) all of them will have better build quality, and much more clean cut designs, none of the flashy stuff....but they do come with a price tag.
 
W.Feather said:
Depends on the i7m, the 720Qm is a true quad core with hyper threading (8 threads like your desktop), the 620m is a dual core......other than that i think the main difference is lower thermal envelope, and the onboard graphics card....

as for dell Laptops, my family has had 5 of them, no issue whatsoever, great machines, i would stay away from dell desktops for sure though...

as for your build quality, you should maybe look towards some of the buisness oriented models(HP Elitebook, Dell Lattidude, Lenovo, and Sony's) all of them will have better build quality, and much more clean cut designs, none of the flashy stuff....but they do come with a price tag.
Click to expand...

Thats good to know that theres some hidden dual cores in there! I just assumed that it was like the desktops with i7 being 8t4c, i5 4t4c and so on. The clock do seem way lower than the desktops, but as it's a OEM laptop I can assume clocking is out of the question? Would probably like to lower the vcore as much as possible for heat reasons.

The dell brand probably hasn't done had the best strategy to promote itself. They should have done what lots of companies do and had a "lower" version of the main brand.

Lenovo seem quite rare in europe from what I have seen, but there is definately loads of HPs and dells. I'm going to order online so anythings viable. I almost bought an elitebook something edition 2 years ago that was reduced 50% because noone bought it. It was copper and brass kind of looking (that sounds bad, but think...steampunky) but I've always regretted letting it go. The non-flashy would be good, as i'd like to personalise it a little (have to be careful with warrantees and such) so a clean slate is preferred. So many laptops are silver right now...Ill look into the local staples where they sometimes have strange good deals. But recently there has only been ATI GPUs or expensive core2s.

It's a balancing act getting into a high enough price range for quality, but not excessive expensive high.
 
my HP Elitebook 2740p runs the i7-620m, a 2 core 4 threaded CPU. CLocks from 1.2 ghz up to 3.33, with 2.6ghz being the base clocks. On my Dualcore i7 the clocks are the same as a desktop, just half the thread/cores, on the 4 core/8 threads it is lower clocked. Temp wise this thign is very cool running unless its at 3.33 GHz full bore. So long as you let it go to powersaving mode, your fine.

ATI has been doing alot more recently to put themselves out there.....In my case I only have an integrated intel solution, partially due to the size of the laptop, and it being buisness oriented they wanted the heat lower i would assume.....


Color wise, it seems the Elitebooks are either a brushed aluminum look, or black. The lattidudes the same(the Dell vosotro, lower end biz model from them, sare all black last i knew)

I would say since your goign to be using the laptop alot, from the sounds of it your a DJ, I would sacrifice some aspects in order to get the better build quality

As a reference my 12" tablet(2740p) has 3 USB ports on the computer itself, when i attach to the dockingstation I get an aditional 4.

Since yoru going to be staying in one place when you need alot of your component requierments, maybe getting a dockingstation (with a buisness model) may suit what you want more? I know I have a Display Port, and VGA on my dockingstation (not sure why there is no DVI, less prevalent in buisness world now? )
 
MSI GX740 $1414.35
Display 17" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) Glossy
Video Card: 1024MB DDR5 ATI Radeon HD 5870
Processor: Intel® Mobile Core i7 720QM (Customizable)
Memory: 4GB DDR3 1066MHz (Up to 8GB)
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive (Customizable)
Battery Life: 2+ Hour
Weight: 7.04lbs
 
W.Feather said:
my HP Elitebook 2740p runs the i7-620m, a 2 core 4 threaded CPU. CLocks from 1.2 ghz up to 3.33, with 2.6ghz being the base clocks. On my Dualcore i7 the clocks are the same as a desktop, just half the thread/cores, on the 4 core/8 threads it is lower clocked. Temp wise this thign is very cool running unless its at 3.33 GHz full bore. So long as you let it go to powersaving mode, your fine.

ATI has been doing alot more recently to put themselves out there.....In my case I only have an integrated intel solution, partially due to the size of the laptop, and it being buisness oriented they wanted the heat lower i would assume.....


Color wise, it seems the Elitebooks are either a brushed aluminum look, or black. The lattidudes the same(the Dell vosotro, lower end biz model from them, sare all black last i knew)

I would say since your goign to be using the laptop alot, from the sounds of it your a DJ, I would sacrifice some aspects in order to get the better build quality

As a reference my 12" tablet(2740p) has 3 USB ports on the computer itself, when i attach to the dockingstation I get an aditional 4.

Since yoru going to be staying in one place when you need alot of your component requierments, maybe getting a dockingstation (with a buisness model) may suit what you want more? I know I have a Display Port, and VGA on my dockingstation (not sure why there is no DVI, less prevalent in buisness world now? )
Click to expand...

The docking station is a good idea, but because of it being used to travel with performances, it would not always be viable. I think DVI is used less on laptops because of the size on it. They are almost twice the size of HDMI/DP adapters and much bigger than VGA. Plus neater looking and more prevelant in the comsumer world (HDMI anyway)

The V/DJ part is because I want to leave the CD desks behind and upgrade myself a little, tech wise! But that wont use very much CPU power. What will is the main purpose of this, which is to run the software synths that are used for live performances. Its pretty much a load of virtual instruments, but some of the more complicated ones take a load of cycles (about 10% of a core of this) and sometimes theres 5 of that type at once. Plus the video outputs etc.

The upclocking on the i7m is for all the cores, or is it more like the desktop i7s who upclock a single core? I know it has much worse ventilation and a much smaller HSF. I'm always worried about laptops overheating because of the comparibly weak cooling system.

The reason I want black is because it's lower key. Plus, I've never liked the look of brushed aluminium for some reason. I think i'd prefer it to be...darker so it's less noticable.

The other option was to go SFF but from the looks of it, that might be even more expensive (though I could customise it to a greater degree)

Theres too many good options :D
 
Just keep in mind that 17" is a very big laptop - I more or less stopped using my FX-7805u outside of my home and only brought it with me on extended stays away from home (which happens pretty rarely) because of the weight and the awkwardness of carrying it around.

Do you have to transport it around A LOT or will it be more of a semi-portable desktop? If you're going to be moving a lot, you might not want a 17".
 
SpeedyVV said:
MSI GX740 $1414.35
Display 17" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) Glossy
Video Card: 1024MB DDR5 ATI Radeon HD 5870
Processor: Intel® Mobile Core i7 720QM (Customizable)
Memory: 4GB DDR3 1066MHz (Up to 8GB)
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive (Customizable)
Battery Life: 2+ Hour
Weight: 7.04lbs
Click to expand...

I like the custom skins on that site :D
The only problem with that one is the ATI graphics. It would be fine for games and such, but some of the things I use work better with CUDA, so while it would work ok, i'd prefer a Nvidia option!
It's good to see that there is still 16:10 laptops. When I've been scouting out the local computer shops it's just been row upon row of 16:9 13 inchers.
 
KatalDT said:
Just keep in mind that 17" is a very big laptop - I more or less stopped using my FX-7805u outside of my home and only brought it with me on extended stays away from home (which happens pretty rarely) because of the weight and the awkwardness of carrying it around.

Do you have to transport it around A LOT or will it be more of a semi-portable desktop? If you're going to be moving a lot, you might not want a 17".
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It's not going to be a day to day stransport thing. Most of the places I go to have desktops so a portable HDD/USB drive is fine (even the HDD I have is huge, it weight like 1kg..). This is only for when i'm doing performances. I will be travelling with it occasionally (like twice a year, but probably more soon) and taking it on planes and such. SO that will be the time when the weight will be most of an issue. But then again, i'm kind of used to lugging huge suitcases and heavy crap around. (the DJ mixer I use is like...20kg). I think as long as its not too heavy it will be fine. I mean the last laptop I had was 17 inches and 3.5kg and that came with me on a 14 hour flight and a few road trips.
I get what you are saying, but i'm not sure that a smaller laptop will have what I need, plus I would like the bigger screen for readability and screen estate. I'm used to...quicker computers, so I find it kind of annoying working with "slower" systems.
The P-7805u was 4kg wasn't it? That is pretty damned heavy for a laptop! As long as it has a decent bag, it should be less of a problem
 
1) The upclocking on my 620m, cannot speak for others, increases both cores to 3.33 Ghz

2) Dockingstation wise, i dont know about other models, but mine actually goes beneath the laptop, and sticks out maybe an inch behind it......All it really does is add about .25-.5 inch to the total height, and a little weight.

3) Temp wise, the only time i have seen the cores on my 2740p come to 80c (still 25c off of TJ max) was when folding and my room was at 90f .... other than that i rarely see them above 45c even when doing light gaming.

Edit: Think i may have found a pretty suitable one for you: HP EliteBook 8540p

Ports it has:
3 USB 2.0
2 USB 3.0
1 eSATA
1 external VGA monitor
1 DisplayPort
1 1394a
1 stereo microphone in
1 stereo headphone/line-out
1 AC power
1 RJ-11
1 RJ-45
1 docking connector
1 secondary battery connector

Can be configured with i7, and NVIDIA NVS 5100M graphics with 1 GB dedicated DDR3 memory

15.6" screen
 
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Mobile workstation of some sort? You'll get workstation graphics, which will be good for your 3D stuff, and they're mainly intended for rendering work, though you could probably game on it.

Lenovo Thinkpad W510, W701, Dell Precisions, HP Elitebook with model numbers that end in a w.

However, they're expensive for the specs you're getting, but the build quality is REALLY good. Magnesium alloy chassis and all that.
 
W.Feather said:
1) The upclocking on my 620m, cannot speak for others, increases both cores to 3.33 Ghz

2) Dockingstation wise, i dont know about other models, but mine actually goes beneath the laptop, and sticks out maybe an inch behind it......All it really does is add about .25-.5 inch to the total height, and a little weight.

3) Temp wise, the only time i have seen the cores on my 2740p come to 80c (still 25c off of TJ max) was when folding and my room was at 90f .... other than that i rarely see them above 45c even when doing light gaming.

Edit: Think i may have found a pretty suitable one for you: HP EliteBook 8540p

Ports it has:
3 USB 2.0
2 USB 3.0
1 eSATA
1 external VGA monitor
1 DisplayPort
1 1394a
1 stereo microphone in
1 stereo headphone/line-out
1 AC power
1 RJ-11
1 RJ-45
1 docking connector
1 secondary battery connector

Can be configured with i7, and NVIDIA NVS 5100M graphics with 1 GB dedicated DDR3 memory

15.6" screen
Click to expand...

The HP site is awful on IE9 (it makes all of the text like 3px high! But after zooming in 200x it was fine!
The laptop you listed came up as 1500-1360 GBP ($2,405 - $2,180) on the european site (damn europe prices!) but I could look around for some better deals.
The NVS route would make it better for cuda processing, though i'm still a bit unsure of its true power (its a 9000 series chip isn't it?) i've only used softmodded quadros so far!

The number of ports is ideal though. (I should say i'm looking for at least 1 USB 3/eSATA to tranfer off my main rig (i'd prefer USB3 so I wouldn't have to plug in the ugly eSATA front panel cable :D
 
ouch that is a nice price hike.....maybe you can find someone stateside to receive and then send it to UK for you (even with extra shipping and customs it would probably be cheaper)


No idea on the card, but being the quadro lappie card it is defiantly going to be better than an ATI solution, and possibly better than the other nvidia consumer offerings.
 
The G73 does seem to be the 'bang for the buck' solution.

However the only machines I could personally recommend for that sort of high-duty-cycle use are the Dell Precision M6500 and the HP Elitebook 8740w (I have not owned the Lenovo W701, the other potential competitor to this duo) - both of which will probably blow past your budget in a hurry once you get to a decent spec. If you are interested I could expand on why it makes sense for me - but if I'm not talking at your budget point, it's kind of pointless saying anything much.
 
I just did this same search and settled on the new G73JW. Easily the best bang for the buck.
 
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