High End Laptops

I've got around $3.5/$4k to spend on a new Notebook and just wondered if any of you have any experience with these brands...

 

I'm looking between these 3 Laptops:

 

Alienware M17X - Wicked looks and solid construction being Aluminium rather than plastic. I love the design and features but its pricey compared to the competition. The only thing I didnt include in the options for this is the Blu Ray Burner because its a $700 option here Total $4k

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7-820QM Processor (1.73GHz,4 Cores/8 Threads,turbo up to 3.06GHz, 8MB Cache)

MEMORY: 4GB (2 X 2GB) Dual-channel 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM

HARD DRIVE: 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive (500GBx2)(Raid 1)

OPTICAL DRIVE:Slot Load Fixed Blu-ray BD-ROM / DVD + /-RW Combo Drive

VIDEO CARD: Dual - 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870

BLUETOOTH: Dell™ Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal mini-card

17.0" WUXGA 1920 x 1200 - Beyond HD (1200p) - RGB LED

 

 

 

Toshiba Qosmio X500/02M 18.4" - Great spec but I really dont like the wobbly screen which is a pain and its FAT...This is the middle of the range in terms of price $3250

Intel® Core™ i7 processor 820QM (1.73GHz/3.06GHz, 1333MHz FSB, 8MB L2 Cache)

MEMORY (STANDARD/MAX)

8GB DDR3 (4GB + 4GB) (1066MHz) expandable to 8GB

VIDEO CARD TYPE NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 360M (GDDR5) (2298MB Total: 1GB DDR5 discrete memory + 1274MB shared memory)

OPTICAL DRIVE

Blu-Ray RW/DVD SuperMulti Double/Dual Layer Drive

DISPLAY SIZE/RESOLUTION

18.4” Widescreen Full HD TruBrite® Display (1920 x 1080)

SOUND/SPEAKERS Premium Harman/Kardon Speakers

VOLUME CONTROL, HEADPHONE, MICROPHONE Volume Control Dial, Headphone port, external microphone port. Integrated Microphone

NETWORKING

LAN 10/100/1000 Base TX, Wireless LAN 802.11 a/g/n, Bluetooth.

TYPE OF PORTS

4x USB Ports (3x USB 2.0 + 1x eSATA/USB Combo with Sleep and Charge),1x PCI Express Card, VGA, HDMI-CEC (REGZA LINK) SD Slot, IEEE 1394, SD Slot , Webcam

PORT REPLICATOR FACILITY Optional Toshiba Dynadock

BATTERY TYPE/USAGE 12 cell

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64bit)

ADDITIONAL FEATURES: Backlit Toshiba Multimedia Console Buttons, Touchpad™ with Gesture Support

DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT: 442.6mm x 294.2mm x 41.5mm 4.64kg (May vary with spec)

 

HP Pavilion DV8 18.4" - Again this has great spec and comes in a few bucks under $3k even with extra accessories like bags & external keyboard etc In terms of value for money I think this is the way to go

Intel® Core i7-820QM Quad Core Processor (1.73GHz, 8MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to3.06GHz

Memory 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)

Hard drive 1TB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (500GB x 2) with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection

Graphics card 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 230M

Display 18.4" diagonal High Definition HP Ultra BrightView Infinity Display (1920x1080p)

Primary optical drive Lightscribe Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support

Personalization Webcam + Fingerprint Reader with HP Imprint Finish (Espresso Black)

Networking Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth

TV & entertainment experience HP Integrated HDTV Hybrid Tuner

Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard

Primary battery Extra 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Accessories Mobile Stereo Earbud Headphones (2 pair)

50% OFF! HP Pavilion additional 120W AC Adapter

OS and recovery media $10 OFF! System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Productivity software Microsoft® Works 9.0

Photography software Adobe® PhotoShop® Elements 8

DVD/CD burner, movie software Adobe® Photoshop® & Elements Combo

Your additional options:

 

Mice & keyboards HP Wireless Elite Desktop Keyboard and Mouse

Carrying cases Targus 18" Deluxe Nylon Case

HP 20" Roller Case for Notebook PCs

HP Care Pack Services 2-year HP Care Pack Accidental Damage Protection Service

Specialty accessories: Targus Notebook Chill Mat

 

 

Well thats the 3 Laptops...So really it's just a matter of choosing one of them because they are all very similar. I've always been a Dell man myself but my techy housemate reckons HP is the way to go because thats all he buys for his employees, he can decent get discount through work too...

 

Have any of you got or used these before?

A fiend has the toshiba. Wow is it an ugly laptop. Looks like something for 5 year olds

IMO Alienware computers are all over priced. The Alienware has slightly better specs then my current laptop yet it costs $2500 more.

I am a loyal HP fan. I've been using their nw800-series for the last 6 years, upgrading every 2 to years. Right now I have the nw8440, and waiting for my nw8530 to come in.

 

I will swear by HP forever., for home and business. But, MAC's, more and more...I've fallen in love with my spouse's Macs (yes macs lol..). I just don't like the lifetime of HP laptops. But, I've never been disappointed by their technical customer service, at all.

 

Alienware, again best simply for gamers....u don't necessarily need all of those features if u are not going to be doing consistent gaming. However, excellent to watch movies, and other media....and if u have very elaborate presentation to show, this would be great as well.

Stay away from Alienware.

What do you do that requires a 3K laptop?

Being in technology - I would ask why spend even close to that on hardware.

 

You can spend 1/2 and get roughly the same processor power, ram, HD and graphics. Anything you buy is out of date roughly 12 - 18 months later.

 

Get a nice HP, Lenovo or Dell - Tier I brand, have it dual boot with Windows 7 and Linux and you are good for about 2 years.

 

I am to the point now that I look at most laptops and desktops nearly disposable after a few years (I run typically HP, IBM or Dell) - the advancements in video technology alone in a 12 month period would dissuade anyone from spending a ton due to the advancements that happen each year.

Price isnt an issue because insurance is covering the bill due to a recent flood destroying my Dell. Since the equivalent old one is around $3.5k here in AUS, thats how much I have been allocated. I thought I may aswell get the best Notebook I can for the money I have been allocated. If I need to top it up a little to get the best spec I will.

 

I play games and watch movies on my laptop, recently started running multiple demanding programs simultaneously. I work on it, travel with it and I also need it to be able to last the next 2-3 years. It's my main source of entertainment & work seen as though I dont have a desktop & TV here sux...

 

I have always bought laptops with the intention of replacing after around 12-18 months but this time I want something that will last a little longer.

Alienware is the Lamborghini of laptops gorgeous fast overpriced and to heavy.

But you should get an SSD as your boot drive.

Here are my suggestions.

 

Get an SSD for your boot drive. Most perceived slowness in computers is because people upgrade gpu, cpu etc, but still have a 5400 rpm HDD. You can have a shitty one for storage, but have an SSD to boot from and run applications from.

 

Consider when you use your laptop the most. You want an HD screen, Bluray, fastest GPU and CPU; but if you mainly use your laptop when you're not plugged in, your battery life will be shit. Get a bigger battery, but also remember it will weigh a lot. If battery life and weight aren't a big deal, then go for it.

 

Also, if you had a 2-3 year old Dell, even the bottom of the barrel new laptop is probably just as fast or faster.

 

Do not get a Dell. Their quality has gone to shit IMO. My recent one had so many problems and then the motherboard went after a year. I just bought a Vaio and I'm diggin' it. Build quality is important for laptops because they go through lots of banging and lifting and knocking and dropping etc. I'd try to physically touch one of the laptops you're going to buy just so you know what it's like. I almost bought a Toshiba, but then I picked it up and it felt like a hollow, weak piece of plastic that I could crush just by pinching to hard. It's also good to be able to feel the touchpad and keyboard. If you don't like how they feel or the touchpad is under par, it will suck using it. I've heard HP is good these days, and IBM is usually very good build.

 

You also might want something with HDMI out and maybe USB 3.0 if anything has them yet.

 

On a side note: $4K for a laptop is beyond comprehension for me. I think I spend $1000 and have decent system. $1500 would be my limit. Maybe you can buy a $4K laptop, get the payment for it, then send it back and buy a cheaper one and pocket the rest.

I like my Apple

I have always been pretty happy with the Dell Precision laptops... I have owned the M50, M90, and am getting ready to get another...

Have you considered IBM/lenovo, i think you should.

any laptop as long as it's NOT Apple...

any laptop as long as it's NOT Apple...

How about falcon-northwest? Expensive but reliable and tweeked to run fast. My Alienware has run solidly for several years but it had an intermitant sound hicup that, when it pops up drives me nuts. Never crashed and always ran anything I threw at it.

How about falcon-northwest? Expensive but reliable and tweeked to run fast. My Alienware has run solidly for several years but it had an intermitant sound hicup that, when it pops up drives me nuts. Never crashed and always ran anything I threw at it.

 

Alienware is great, but I've heard some really good things about Falcon NW. When I was into gaming, Falcon NW was my grail computer. I'd suggest going on some gaming/computer forums and doing a bitof research. From my understanding, there are a number of high end, "boutique" laptop/PC builders out there.

Apple, Dell Precision, or a loaded Sony Vaio.

From what I've heard Voodoo computers are insane when it comes to performance; however, they cost quite a bit.

Had an Alienware and it was a bit overpriced and had a few problems.

 

Had two Sony Vaio's will never go with a different brand...

Had two Sony Vaio's will never go with a different brand...

 

They're not exactly on the end of "James Camron used this computer to edit and produce effects in Avatar", but they are very good computers.

 

--Response typed on my Sony Vaio computer .--

Here are my suggestions.

 

Get an SSD for your boot drive. Most perceived slowness in computers is because people upgrade gpu, cpu etc, but still have a 5400 rpm HDD. You can have a shitty one for storage, but have an SSD to boot from and run applications from.

 

Consider when you use your laptop the most. You want an HD screen, Bluray, fastest GPU and CPU; but if you mainly use your laptop when you're not plugged in, your battery life will be shit. Get a bigger battery, but also remember it will weigh a lot. If battery life and weight aren't a big deal, then go for it.

 

Also, if you had a 2-3 year old Dell, even the bottom of the barrel new laptop is probably just as fast or faster.

 

Do not get a Dell. Their quality has gone to shit IMO. My recent one had so many problems and then the motherboard went after a year. I just bought a Vaio and I'm diggin' it. Build quality is important for laptops because they go through lots of banging and lifting and knocking and dropping etc. I'd try to physically touch one of the laptops you're going to buy just so you know what it's like. I almost bought a Toshiba, but then I picked it up and it felt like a hollow, weak piece of plastic that I could crush just by pinching to hard. It's also good to be able to feel the touchpad and keyboard. If you don't like how they feel or the touchpad is under par, it will suck using it. I've heard HP is good these days, and IBM is usually very good build.

 

You also might want something with HDMI out and maybe USB 3.0 if anything has them yet.

 

On a side note: $4K for a laptop is beyond comprehension for me. I think I spend $1000 and have decent system. $1500 would be my limit. Maybe you can buy a $4K laptop, get the payment for it, then send it back and buy a cheaper one and pocket the rest.

 

Some interesting points raised guys, I have looked at some of the "Boutique" Laptop makers and they are just way outa my price range e.g Lenovo start at $4k & same spec as Toshiba is $9k!! Sager was a good option but they don't have any retailers over here

 

I'll get an SSD once they start coming down in price and become a little larger, all they have available is the ~100GB currently and I recently bought 2 other backup drives after my last failures as some of you guys know. That together with the Raid1 on the new Laptop "should" have me well covered.

 

My cous and bro both had Vaio's, I don't like them never have. They carry a huge premium here in Aus so not worth it imo. Apple also carries a huge premium here aswell, not to mention I'm a PC guy and have only ever used a Mac a handful of times.

 

I know what some of you are saying about spending so much on a Laptop but what I failed to explain was that average 17" Laptops start at around $2k here, so its not too far to stretch for a great spec one. With no fancy car here to go for a blast in, I have no other source of entertainment apart from my Xbox so please allow me this one indulgence. At the end of the day I'm not paying for it, I just want the right one for the budget.

 

Brian I did consider pocketing the difference as you say and I still might do that but I still want to know which of the ones I should go for incase I do end up keeping it.

 

I'm personally leaning towards the Dell because it looks cool, the solid construction and it's higher gfx spec compared to the rest, however the HP in terms of value with all the extra's like the 2 bags, keyboard & mouse, 2 year warranty etc looks like a great package. I could probably pocket the difference from that one. I have a few days to decide while waiting for my cheque to arrive but I defo need to get one ordered by the end of the week...

I have both PC and Mac. Mac out performs any PC!!!

 

If I were you, I'd get a Macbook Pro.

MacBook Pro. This is coming from a loyal PC supporter until I jumped ship to Mac...

From what I've heard Voodoo computers are insane when it comes to performance; however, they cost quite a bit.

 

 

I would stay away from HP.