Replacing desktop with laptop

[MichaelH]

Hey everyone,

I'm considering replacing my desktop with a laptop. I plan to move soon, and I'll also be on a two month trip to the Rockies this summer. The idea of going minimalistic appeals to me, but I don't want to be stuck with a poor decision. I like the idea of being able to rent a furnished cabin and setting the laptop on the kitchen table and getting to work rather than lugging a desktop with me. I may be putting my desktop in storage (along with the 24 inch monitor) for the foreseeable future, although I've had the case since 1994, and am rather attached to it. I just feel like since I don't play games anymore, that this might be my last desktop.

My current desktop has a Gigabyte motherboard, 4gb of RAM, a Nvidia GTX 460, an Intel 120 gb SSD, and a quad core Q9400 CPU. I am happy with the performance overall.

The laptop I am looking at is the Sony Vaio S15, with 1080P and the 15.5 inch IPS panel. It comes with 8gb RAM (max capacity) and a 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7-3632QM quad-core processor.

The apps I plan to run are Sony Vegas Pro and Lightroom 3, along with numerous others. I am an avid photographer, but my main gig is writing, so I'll have the full Office suite installed. I plan to have the optical drive on the Sony removed, and replaced with a 1 TB platter drive. I will replace the 750 GB O.S. platter drive in the Sony with a 180 GB Intel SSD.

I have played with the Sony and love it. The screen is amazing, and I love the quality of the keyboard, although I'll be hooking up a big fat Dell antique keyboard for my most serious writing.

Will I take a performance hit by switching my desktop for this laptop? Sure, the RAM is better on the laptop, but what about the CPU?

Thanks for any input. The only games I really play these days are those old Valve games like CS:S.

Also, my desktop Windows Experience rating is 7.2.

I also currently have a Dell laptop N4010, bought new two years ago. I started using it this summer and it just fell apart (the screen, keyboard, and optical drive).

 

[A15G]

The CPU will be faster, by quite a bit if you ask me..

The 2670QM was on-par with the 2500K, and the 2500k is faster than the Q9400.

3632QM? Oh man... whole different level.

 

[MichaelH]

Thanks. Changed my mind. I tried several new laptops and didn't like any of them. I realize you can't really replace a desktop with a laptop. I'll keep my Win 7 Dell as my mobile computer of choice and stick with my desktop as the main system.

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

a fast CPU in a laptop is great if you are running demanding apps, otherwise get the middle of the road setup.

My vostro 3450 is significantly faster at ripping DVDs than my desktop is but for general computing use there is no tanganble difference. Gaming goes to the 5 year old desktop.

 

[Kueller]

The windows 8 updated version of the Vaio S 15 introduced some disappointing BIOS/UEFI limitations.

If you disconnect the optical drive, the computer will sit using 15-25% CPU cycles on some sort of hardware interrupt, I expect there's a check Sony put into the bios that freaks out if the original ODD isn't connected. This means the computer never goes into low-power state and gets horrific battery life when the ODD is disconnected for whatever reason. You can get around this by simulating the original ODD, but it requires some careful soldering of a new resistor into your replacement caddy.

Sony also changed to UEFI on the Win 8 model. You'd think this would be a good thing...but it really provides no tangible benefits and means the modded bios that unlocks overclocking for the GT 640m in the Win7 models doesn't work. This is a shame, because the GT 640m has a lot of headroom according to Win7 model owners.

I'd actually look for a win7 model in the Outlet at this point. I got my Win8 version before these issues had been discovered I'd trade it in for a Win7 model if I could.