[motobrock]

good evening all. im wanting to buy a laptop for around 1400-1500 but that number is basicly one i picked out of thin air of what im willing to pay, i can stretch to more if i get more but id rather not.

so to the point, its for a petroleum engineering course so need to whatever ill need for that plus playing dvds and games like shogun2.

my thoughts are that a matt screen would be better that gloss due to wanting to use it outside when i get the chance etc. however ive not bought a laptop before always been PCs so thoughts and opinions on that would be great.

also i would really like a backlit keyboard due to it been way better when using in the dark.

and it needs to last 5 years really, so i want quality components

here the kinda think im looking at.. at a cost of £1456 any input would be great


Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" AUO Matte 95% Gamut Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB

change to....

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670M - 1.5GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

change to....
Memory - Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)m sata gone
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
change to ...
DVD/BLU-RAY DriveSONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£59)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
change to...
Thermal PasteSTANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORt

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

no office. i have office 2007 or about then already i can probably use


changes make the price 1330 better deal . i like the idea of ssd

[08rbut]

Well if you have that budget, I would say that a Macbook Pro is great and although I have not searched the details of it for you, I can tell you, its reliable. I have had a few laptops and they did not last long and all had a problem. I haven't had my macbook for 5 years, I have only ha it for two, but its performance is so good, its not going to die any time soon!

And if you wanted a backlit keyboard...

[motobrock]

yes i have been told mac are good and last a long time .. but my dads mac book lasted 2 year till it was fubar and now another year later the battery wont take a charge. i dont get along with them from the OS that seems to just do wtf it wants to the mouse pad the hardly moves then shoots to the other side of the screen lol. and i wanna play games and i as far as i know macs arnt much cop at that.. tbh i what to avoid a mac if at all possible.

to put it frankly id rather buy a new PC in 3 years then have lost my rag with a mac and it lives a week lol

please excuse any stuff i say that is convoluted or make little sense ive slept little and been racing all day, so my brains not working 100%

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by motobrock)
good evening all. im wanting to buy a laptop for around 1400-1500 but that number is basicly one i picked out of thin air of what im willing to pay, i can stretch to more if i get more but id rather not.

so to the point, its for a petroleum engineering course so need to whatever ill need for that plus playing dvds and games like shogun2.

my thoughts are that a matt screen would be better that gloss due to wanting to use it outside when i get the chance etc. however ive not bought a laptop before always been PCs so thoughts and opinions on that would be great.

also i would really like a backlit keyboard due to it been way better when using in the dark.

and it needs to last 5 years really, so i want quality components

here the kinda think im looking at.. at a cost of £1456 any input would be great


Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" AUO Matte 95% Gamut Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79) good for top end software and gaming

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB top end, though hyper-threading could affect gaming

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB) fine

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670M - 1.5GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11 remember that these m versions are weaker than the actually desktop version, checked shogun should play it on Ultra though not sure about some stuttering

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm) fine

mSATA SSD Cache / Storage Drives
40GB INTEL® 310 mSATA MLC SSD - (mini PCIe SSD for extra storage) fine, good for booting and some programs, space a bit limiting

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW) are you going to play blu-ray dvds?

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo) fine

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9) a tube of 6 applications costs £4, bump

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack fine

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH fine

USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD fine

Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORt fine

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH is this the upgraded battery?

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Office Software
Microsoft® Office University 2010 (Inc Disc, 1 License for 2 PCs (£69)

Seems like a lot, look at msi gaming laptops.......edit: wrote my opinions on the side, realised everythings in bold :/

[ieatcheeseyo]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
Seems like a lot, look at msi gaming laptops

Iqbal... Ga'in

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by ieatcheeseyo)
Iqbal... Ga'in

what does that mean

[motobrock]

must say msi is one ive not looked at yet ill look into that now. anything to say in terms of sticking to delivery time, customer service, and build quality?

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by motobrock)
must say msi is one ive not looked at yet ill look into that now. anything to say in terms of sticking to delivery time, customer service, and build quality?

Hence why I brought them up, though the latest models for MSI gaming laptops are hard to come by in the UK as their laptops primary market is the USA, they are well known for that and I would say very good build quality considering their a big name in components like motherboards and graphic cards.
I would also try to look up Asus gaming laptops, found this Samsung 700G7C , not sure about battery life, ssd is much less.

It's honestly hard when trying to get into laptop gaming. (remember to press quote for the person your replying to, so they know)

[SunderX]

Jesus Christ, that's a lot of money to spend on a laptop.

My Alienware M14X cost less than £750, and is round mid-range for gaming class laptops (slower i7, smaller screen). You could consider going up to a M17X, but really if you're getting a 17" laptop you might as well be using a desktop. It's also a bit useless going full HD on a limited size laptop screen - 1600x900 probably should be your upper limit.

Check out the MSI laptops as mentioned previously - the limiting factor for gaming laptops is the graphics card, which cannot be replaced usually as it has to be specifically fitted for the chassis. I don't know what the highest Alienware GFX card is now, mine is a GeForce 555M GT with 1.5 or 3G RAM, I can't remember.

Also, you really don't need that good of a computer to play Shogun. Consider spending half the money on a laptop now, and the other half on a replacement one in 2.5 years time, since technology decays so quickly anyway. You'll thank yourself later.

[motobrock]

(Original post by SunderX)
Jesus Christ, that's a lot of money to spend on a laptop.

My Alienware M14X cost less than £750, and is round mid-range for gaming class laptops (slower i7, smaller screen). You could consider going up to a M17X, but really if you're getting a 17" laptop you might as well be using a desktop. It's also a bit useless going full HD on a limited size laptop screen - 1600x900 probably should be your upper limit.

Check out the MSI laptops as mentioned previously - the limiting factor for gaming laptops is the graphics card, which cannot be replaced usually as it has to be specifically fitted for the chassis. I don't know what the highest Alienware GFX card is now, mine is a GeForce 555M GT with 1.5 or 3G RAM, I can't remember.

Also, you really don't need that good of a computer to play Shogun. Consider spending half the money on a laptop now, and the other half on a replacement one in 2.5 years time, since technology decays so quickly anyway. You'll thank yourself later.

Selling my few month old mx bike so I need something to cheer me up lol. Plus with that I've got the money burning a hole in my pocket. I have always felt and been told alienate is over priced what are your thoughts on the pricing for what u get?

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by motobrock)
Selling my few month old mx bike so I need something to cheer me up lol. Plus with that I've got the money burning a hole in my pocket. I have always felt and been told alienate is over priced what are your thoughts on the pricing for what u get?

serious over price.........for a desktop my graphics card costs like £150+, crossfire it costs £360+ or something........it would cost me £240 for a crossfire
heavily dislike Alienware, they basically trick unaware consumers into it

[Podcaster]

Slow down moneybags. A pc for half that can play shotgun fine. Cant take it to uni do I hear you moan? Good because you're supposed to be studying in term time. I say spend £300 upgrading your home pc and another £300 on a laptop for uni. Come home to play shotgun on weekends and holidays. Simple.

This was posted from The Student Room's Android App on my HTC Desire C

[Jammie_x]

I would say the price your willing to pay get a MacBook pro! They're great laptops tbh and a hell
Of alot more reliable then windows for a start


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

[Iqbal007]

(Original post by Jammie_x)
I would say the price your willing to pay get a MacBook pro! They're great laptops tbh and a hell
Of alot more reliable then windows for a start


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Comparing a Macbook pro's specs with the one above, the Macbook would be killed, in every aspect, especially gaming wise.....Apple are simply overpriced in terms of spec....the only reason to get Apple would be the OS and the video editing software, etc.


http://www.techpowerup.com/161001/Re...ty-Report.html
Also there was a recent stat that came in this forum which showed Macbook came 4th in terms of reliability. So you can't generalise reliability of laptops, as its dependent on the maker of laptops.

[Qxz]

(Original post by 08rbut)
Well if you have that budget, I would say that a Macbook Pro is great and although I have not searched the details of it for you, I can tell you, its reliable. I have had a few laptops and they did not last long and all had a problem. I haven't had my macbook for 5 years, I have only ha it for two, but its performance is so good, its not going to die any time soon!

And if you wanted a backlit keyboard...

oh dear oh dear

[motobrock]

ok, some interesting stuff been said i get what your saying about mac but i realy want to avoid mac if i can. i just dont get on with them.

i have already put alot of money into my pc at home and i need something i can move around. i will be at uni at the other end of the country to were i live and when im not at uni im either at my dads or at the track or in canada and not at home that much if i get chance. so i need something mobile.

had a look about at msi stuff and come across this looks pretty good to me anyone notice any down sides?

http://www.msilaptop.co.uk/proddetai...D-083UK_Laptop

[motobrock]

(Original post by Iqbal007)
Seems like a lot, look at msi gaming laptops.......edit: wrote my opinions on the side, realised everythings in bold :/

dont have many blue rays no blue ray drive not realy and issue. the msata is small but boot up was one of the main things i wanted to speed up, it on 40gb but a little bigger was alot more. so i also went for the 6gbs 7200rpm hard disk to make everthing run faster and was way cheaper the and kinda ssd as main drive.

[edit]also can u explain your thoughts on the processor?

[motobrock]

what about a 240 gb ssd over a 750 gb hdd?

[Inverse]

(Original post by SunderX)
Jesus Christ, that's a lot of money to spend on a laptop.

My Alienware M14X cost less than £750, and is round mid-range for gaming class laptops (slower i7, smaller screen). You could consider going up to a M17X, but really if you're getting a 17" laptop you might as well be using a desktop. It's also a bit useless going full HD on a limited size laptop screen - 1600x900 probably should be your upper limit.

Check out the MSI laptops as mentioned previously - the limiting factor for gaming laptops is the graphics card, which cannot be replaced usually as it has to be specifically fitted for the chassis. I don't know what the highest Alienware GFX card is now, mine is a GeForce 555M GT with 1.5 or 3G RAM, I can't remember.

Also, you really don't need that good of a computer to play Shogun. Consider spending half the money on a laptop now, and the other half on a replacement one in 2.5 years time, since technology decays so quickly anyway. You'll thank yourself later.

Alienware is an enormous rip-off, anyone who buys from them is technologically inept.

[motobrock]

(Original post by motobrock)
good evening all. im wanting to buy a laptop for around 1400-1500 but that number is basicly one i picked out of thin air of what im willing to pay, i can stretch to more if i get more but id rather not.

so to the point, its for a petroleum engineering course so need to whatever ill need for that plus playing dvds and games like shogun2.

my thoughts are that a matt screen would be better that gloss due to wanting to use it outside when i get the chance etc. however ive not bought a laptop before always been PCs so thoughts and opinions on that would be great.

also i would really like a backlit keyboard due to it been way better when using in the dark.

and it needs to last 5 years really, so i want quality components

here the kinda think im looking at.. at a cost of £1456 any input would be great


Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" AUO Matte 95% Gamut Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB

change to....

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670M - 1.5GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

change to....
Memory - Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)m sata gone
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
change to ...
DVD/BLU-RAY DriveSONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£59)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
change to...
Thermal PasteSTANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORt

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

no office. i have office 2007 or about then already i can probably use


changes make the price 1330 better deal . i like the idea of ssd

does this look like better value?