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[Nemo]

Asked a while ago, but is this still a good option for the price? Would it run stuff like Metro 2033, and The Witcher on medium to high without lagging, or framerate problems? Planning to get it sometime this month. Must admit I'm also confused about the new Sandy Bridge stuff.:lol

Yeah, it should run those games nicely at 30 fps. Seems like a good deal to me. I'd only check out customer experience on issues like heat/noise etc. You might find a cheaper version with an i5 if you want.

My current laptop (around same specs) is getting hot as hell and I'm afraid it'll start shutting down automatically soon, turns out I have a model notorious for these things so just check for some experiences first

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

^I'll compile a full list for you on Monday or Tuesday.

Every manufacturer is moving over right now.


Did you already order it?

Asus is upgrading its machines to Sandy Bridge across the board, at the same pricepoint.

Not yet. How soon are we talking?

 

[Somnium986]

Yeah, it should run those games nicely at 30 fps. Seems like a good deal to me. I'd only check out customer experience on issues like heat/noise etc. You might find a cheaper version with an i5 if you want.

My current laptop (around same specs) is getting hot as hell and I'm afraid it'll start shutting down automatically soon, turns out I have a model notorious for these things so just check for some experiences first

Thanks. I've heard about the heating issues in some reviews, but I suppose I could always get a cooling pad.:/ So any of the intel's i cpu's would be fine then? A lot have said they got it for the i7 for faster video editing. Don't think I'll be doing that.XD

 

[K.Jack]

Not yet. How soon are we talking?

About a week or so, for the new G73SW.

If you don't like the price, you can always just order the older model.

Which version were you currently planning to buy, and at what cost?

The new Dell XPS 17, yay or nay?

Hmm, that depends on how much a la carte upgrading you are doing.

Out of curiosity, what has you leaning towards the XPS 17?

Oh, so even the model I want will have these new chips soon?

About two weeks for the full Asus refresh to go live.

Thanks. I've heard about the heating issues in some reviews, but I suppose I could always get a cooling pad.:/ So any of the intel's i cpu's would be fine then? A lot have said they got it for the i7 for faster video editing. Don't think I'll be doing that.XD

If reviews say it overheats, don't buy.

 

[Nemo]

Thanks. I've heard about the heating issues in some reviews, but I suppose I could always get a cooling pad.:/ So any of the intel's i cpu's would be fine then? A lot have said they got it for the i7 for faster video editing. Don't think I'll be doing that.XD

Ah yeah, then get the i5. I think even the i3 will be enough for things like videogames. As long as the vid card is above the HD m5650 it's OK!

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

About a week or so, for the new G73SW.

If you don't like the price, you can always just order the older model.

Which version were you currently planning to buy, and at what cost?

Hmm, that depends on how much a la carte upgrading you are doing.

Out of curiosity, what has you leaning towards the XPS 17?


About two weeks for the full Asus refresh to go live.

If reviews say it overheats, don't buy.

Looks like im going for the older model as the new one its a bit too much dough.

I'm looking at the G73JH-BST7 for 1200

I keep reading different things about the price. Will the new g73 be available without blu ray for 1300 or is that just the other model mentioned in every article i just googled?

 

[Somnium986]

About two weeks for the full Asus refresh to go live.

Nice.

If reviews say it overheats, don't buy.

Well I was mostly referring to customer reviews. Looking over them some say it just gets warm, others say it gets hot after long use. Not really anything saying overheating or shutting down. Just read some site reviews with no mention on heat issues. So looks good. Can't wait to play all those games I bought on the last steam sale. XD

Ah yeah, then get the i5. I think even the i3 will be enough for things like videogames. As long as the vid card is above the HD m5650 it's OK!

Nice.

 

[Cosmo Clock 21]

^I'll compile a full list for you on Monday or Tuesday.

Every manufacturer is moving over right now.

Excellent, thanks.

 

[Shrennin]

If we're still talking about the G73JH still then I will merely say that I got the G73JW because of the very specific reason that the problem with the H model is its tendency to get hot - the G73JW is pretty tame in comparison (and you can buy laptops from certified sellers that will further modify laptops to your specifications - like getting the IC Diamond compound).

 

[K.Jack]

Looks like im going for the older model as the new one its a bit too much dough.

I'm looking at the G73JH-BST7 for 1200

I keep reading different things about the price. Will the new g73 be available without blu ray for 1300 or is that just the other model mentioned in every article i just googled?

Asus always releases in tiers, so expect a baseline G73SW with i7-2630QM, 4 or 6GB RAM, 320GB HDD, no Blu-ray, etc., to come out shorty after the high-end SKUs.

You can pretty much take this SKU, but replace the CPU, and that's what you'll get.

 

[K.Jack]

The new Clevo machines are up for preorder.

15".

17".

I'm getting the 17", with i7-2630QM and GTX 485M.

The 15" is an amazing deal. They're way cheaper than I was expecting.

 

[kai3345]

So I went into device manager and it detected four of the same processor.

This means my processor has four cores right?

 

[K.Jack]

Two cores / four threads

I'm working on a 2011 thread, guys. It will be ready within the next few days, with updated info for the new year's hardware.

 

[Minsc]

Two cores / four threads

I'm working on a 2011 thread, guys. It will be ready within the next few days, with updated info for the new year's hardware.

Wish there were good reviews for gaming performance benching all these recently released and upcoming cards.

I know laptop gaming performance has improved tremendously recently, over the last year or two, and am always thinking about them in the back of my mind, really love the lack of external wires running all over the place, size and weight, and portability. It's just usually the price/performance that always brings it down, but finding benches of modern games on laptop cards comparing them to current desktop cards is usually a challenge, unless Anandtech or somewhere reviews a particular model of laptop, but that's nearly impossible to search for since it's extremely unlikely you'd know some random model of laptop when you go to search for benches and reviews.

tl;dr, I look forward to your 2011 OT, and your laptop advice!

 

[ZERATUL PL]

I wanna buy new laptop for gaming. It needs to play all games that will never be released on consoles such as WoW, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Witcher, Witcher 2, Civ5 etc in HIGH Details with at least 30fps. Im playin WoW on low now and it sucks...
high

low

I wanna also buy a laptop that will least for 2-3 years so I dont need to change it again anytime soon, but I can upgrade it if necessary. Thats why I was thinkin of alienware and the build I found i below. But on the other hand $1900 is a lot and i dont really have this amount of money, so please gaf help me find cheapest and awesome laptop to play above games in high details for less.

Module 	 Description 	Show Details
Base System Color 	Alienware M15x, Lunar Shadow
Operating System 	Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Processor 	Intel® Core™ i7 740QM Quad Core Processor, 1.73GHz (2.93GHz Turbo Mode, 6M Cache
Memory 	6GB Memory (1x 2GB, 1x 4GB DDR3)
LCD Display 	15.6-inch WideHD+ 1600x900 (900p) WLED
Video Card 	1.5GB GDDR5 65W NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460M
Hard Drive 	500GB SATAII 7,200RPM
AlienFX 	AlienFX Quasar Blue
Avatar 	Alienhead 3D
Adobe Reader Acrobat SW 	Adobe Acrobat Reader
Optical Drives 	Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Sound 	Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Wireless 	Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
Automatic Updates 	Automatic Updates: On
Primary Battery 	Primary - 6-cell (56Watt) Lithium-Ion Battery
Service 	1 Year Basic Service Plan, DMLP
Factory Installed Games 	Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
Bluetooth 	Internal Bluetooth 2.1 Mini-Card - 2.1 Enhanced Data Rate
Standard Nameplate Trigger 	Standard Nameplate

 

[K.Jack]

I was saving it for the new thread, but this is the best 15" gaming notebook in existence.

Lol @ DAT ALIENWARE TAX

 

[ZERATUL PL]

this is a great deal and awesome laptop but can you really recommend this store or brand whatever that is?

 

[hteng]

1900 seems extremely expensive, you might as well throw another 200 for a Sager notebook that comes with extreme core and SLI/CF GPUs.

I was saving it for the new thread, but this is the best 15" gaming notebook in existence.

Lol @ DAT ALIENWARE TAX

im sorry the GTX460m is not the best GPU out there, the best single setup so far has been GTX470m (and it's even better than the 480m). Its found in the Sager NP8690 15incher. and extreme core CPUs are comparable to the new Sandybridges.

note: the most powerful single card GPU for now is the 485m but that only fits into 17inchers

edit: just checked xoticpc's site and they are offering 485m in some of its 15inchers, but its like +500 bucks, woah.

 

[ZERATUL PL]

what about

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246007

and this

Operating system	Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit	edit
Processor	2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz	edit
Graphics card	1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 6570 graphics [HDMI, VGA]	edit
Memory	8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)	edit
Hard drive	640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection	edit
Office software	No Additional Office Software	edit
Security software	No additional security software	edit
Primary battery	6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 6.0 hours of battery life +++	edit
Display	15.6" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366x768)	edit
Touchscreen	No TouchScreen (includes HP TrueVision Webcam)	edit
Primary optical drive	SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support	edit
Networking	Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN	edit
Keyboard	Standard Keyboard	edit

were talking about really good prices

 

[clashfan]

what about

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246007


were talking about really good prices

Sandy Bridge laptops already out?

 

[hteng]

what about

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246007

and this

Operating system	Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit	edit
Processor	2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz	edit
Graphics card	1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 6570 graphics [HDMI, VGA]	edit
Memory	8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)	edit
Hard drive	640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection	edit
Office software	No Additional Office Software	edit
Security software	No additional security software	edit
Primary battery	6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 6.0 hours of battery life +++	edit
Display	15.6" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366x768)	edit
Touchscreen	No TouchScreen (includes HP TrueVision Webcam)	edit
Primary optical drive	SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support	edit
Networking	Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN	edit
Keyboard	Standard Keyboard	edit

were talking about really good prices

better check the 6570's benchmarks and performance, that's way to cheap for a gaming laptop. even alienware m11x is close to 900.

if you are looking for decent prices for gaming laptops i recommend you look at

gentechpc
xoticpc

very reputable suppliers and you can contact them via notebookreview forums for further information.

Sandy Bridge laptops already out?

they are already available for order, i think they'll hit mainstream market in a few weeks.

 

[Quixzlizx]

Anyone have a reference chart for what 5xxx cards the 6xxx cards roughly correspond to?

 

[Kenka]

So should we stick to K.Jack's advice and wait for the upcoming AMD 6970M ?

If we can get a Sandy Bridge equipped laptop with what is an underclock 6850, it would basically be a weapon of choice ? For 1'000$ budgets.

 

[ZERATUL PL]

i like newegg...

what about
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214050

im a pest sorry...

 

[hteng]

So should we stick to K.Jack's advice and wait for the upcoming AMD 6970M ?

If we can get a Sandy Bridge equipped laptop with what is an underclock 6850, it would basically be a weapon of choice ? For 1'000$ budgets.

i doubt you can get a 6970m for only around 1k, at least 1.5k is probably more realistic, also the sandy bridges are quite new, don't expect it to be cheap.

 

[Kenka]

i doubt you can get a 6970m for only around 1k, at least 1.5k is probably more realistic, also the sandy bridges are quite new, don't expect it to be cheap.

I'll play The Witcher 2 later I guess. Probably around November between Skyrim sessions then. Thank you.

 

[hteng]

i like newegg...

what about
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214050

im a pest sorry...

that thing is pretty huge, it's a 18incher if i remember, if you don't mind lol, i think it's decent. check out its review at notebookcheck.

Screen
18.4"

always always find professional reviews for your laptop of choice, they are very useful.

try notebookreview.com or notebookcheck.net

edit: found it
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Toshiba-Qosmio-X500-Notebook-GeForce-GTX-460M.37088.0.html

 

[ZERATUL PL]

lemme check that website. thanks.

 

[ZERATUL PL]

now im thinking between 3...


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214050
+ price

- CPU and RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152192

+Graphics

= price

- RAM and CPU

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00486USL8/?tag=neogaf0e-20

+ RAM CPU GRAPHICS

- price

what would you recommend out of those?

 

[K.Jack]

this is a great deal and awesome laptop but can you really recommend this store or brand whatever that is?

Okay follow me.

The company that makes these machines is called Clevo. It's widely regarded as the maker of the highest quality gaming notebooks in the world. Thing is, Clevo doesn't directly sell its machines outside of China, so they allow other firms to distribute their machines in other countries.

In USA, Sager is the largest importer. Sager then allows the smaller reseller companies to sell Clevo's machines with the respective companies branding.

I've linked you to ProStar, because they're one of the largest resellers on the West coast, and I've bought my machines from them. I vouch for ProStar.

The best thing about Clevo's machines, other than the build quality and reliability, is that they're easily upgradeable. If a new GPU or CPU tickles your fancy, you can buy it and install it, as long as they've added BIOS support.

I'm about to buy the new 17" from them. I'm going to stick with the 460M and wait to see what GPUs come out later in the year.

im sorry the GTX460m is not the best GPU out there, the best single setup so far has been GTX470m (and it's even better than the 480m). Its found in the Sager NP8690 15incher. and extreme core CPUs are comparable to the new Sandybridges.

note: the most powerful single card GPU for now is the 485m but that only fits into 17inchers

edit: just checked xoticpc's site and they are offering 485m in some of its 15inchers, but its like +500 bucks, woah.

You are preaching to the pastor, sir. You don't think I know all of this? The exorbitant pricing of the 470M and 485M are exactly why I don't mention them to people who are on budgets.

XoticPC doesn't sell anything that the other resellers don't have, and everybody charges the same prices. They're all Sagers.

i doubt you can get a 6970m for only around 1k, at least 1.5k is probably more realistic, also the sandy bridges are quite new, don't expect it to be cheap.

The Mobility 6970M costs barely $100 more than the 5870M, and Sandy Bridge is offered to manufacturers for the same prices they pay for the previous generation of i7s.

Prices will stay the same.

what about

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246007

and this

Operating system	Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit	edit
Processor	2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz	edit
Graphics card	1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 6570 graphics [HDMI, VGA]	edit
Memory	8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)	edit
Hard drive	640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection	edit
Office software	No Additional Office Software	edit
Security software	No additional security software	edit
Primary battery	6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 6.0 hours of battery life +++	edit
Display	15.6" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366x768)	edit
Touchscreen	No TouchScreen (includes HP TrueVision Webcam)	edit
Primary optical drive	SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support	edit
Networking	Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN	edit
Keyboard	Standard Keyboard	edit

were talking about really good prices

the 6570M is a rebranded Mobility 5730.

 

[Azure J]

Just wondering, have there been any laptops announced recently with a Radeon 6970M configuration besides the Alienware M17x R3? As much as I'd be down to buy one, dat Alenware tax as K.Jack so eloquently put it is rubbing me wrong. If anyone has knowledge of some alternatives I can/should wait for, I'm all ears. (I'm praying for something like what happened last year with the Asus G73 & Mobility 5870 to happen with the 6970.)

Also, anyone know what's good with the MSI GT780? I love the design and the GTX 560 sounds intriguing if that's not a typo there.

 

[K.Jack]

Just wondering, have there been any laptops announced recently with a Radeon 6970M configuration besides the Alienware M17x R3? As much as I'd be down to buy one, dat Alenware tax as K.Jack so eloquently put it is rubbing me wrong. If anyone has knowledge of some alternatives I can/should wait for, I'm all ears. (I'm praying for something like what happened last year with the Asus G73 & Mobility 5870 to happen with the 6970.)

Also, anyone know what's good with the MSI GT780? I love the design and the GTX 560 sounds intriguing if that's not a typo there.

The new M17X is the first AW machine which is devoid of the AW tax. Dell must be adjusting to the economic times. The M17X R3 is actually going to be very interesting, once the 6970M comes out. The 6970M costs about the same as the GTX 460M, so it should only bring the M17X to about ~$1600. That's a nice machine, if you like the shiny pew pew.

Both the new Clevo machines I've posted and the M17X will be receiving the 6970M, in March. It's 6870M only, for now. Unfortunately, the 6870M is just a rebranded Mobility 5850 w/ higher clocks. It's still an 800 core, 128-bit GDDR5 chip, and has no relation to the desktop 6000 series or the 6970M. Boo AMD, booo.

Whether Asus also grabs it is up in the air, because we don't yet know the TDP of the chip. If it's >75W, Asus will probably stick with the 6870M.

RE: the GT780

Don't hold your breath. They announced and presented a vaporware machine at last years CES, the GT760. How's that selling? One report I read says the GT780's 6 months to a year from coming to market. Really MSI? That thing is beautiful, though. I hope it releases.

The GTX 500M series is coming in Q3-Q4. My sauces say that the chips will be optimizations of the current GTX 400M. They will have better power consumption, slightly higher clocks, and will be cheaper to produce and sell. I trust my sauce.

p.s. - the 2011 thread should be live by this time tomorrow. I'm trying to make a thorough OP.

now im thinking between 3...


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214050
+ price

- CPU and RAM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152192

+Graphics

= price

- RAM and CPU

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00486USL8/?tag=neogaf0e-20

+ RAM CPU GRAPHICS

- price

what would you recommend out of those?

Machines #2 and #3 have the highest build quality. I'd take the G53, unless you really, and I mean REALLY want an 18.4" machine .

 

[hteng]

the asus g series probably gets your money's worth the most but it really comes down to which GPUs you prefer. The 5870m (MSI notebooke) is bout 10% faster (in benchmarks) than the 460m but the G53 has been getting very good reviews all around.

oh take in mind that ASUS uses reverse MXM interfaces for their GPU so upgrading is almost impossible. not like clevo/sager/alienware notebooks, not sure bout MSI but i think they use standard interfaces too.

 

[kai3345]

Got some more M11x issues for you GAF.

Until today Starcraft 2 ran at a constant 30fps on medium settings, dipping slightly whenever there was a huge amount of enemies on screen.

Well today, it still runs at 30 fps, but will freeze for a couple seconds about every half minute or so.

I've tried switiching to low settings and it still does this. anyone know what might be wrong or how to fix it?

 

[dLMN8R]

Got some more M11x issues for you GAF.

Until today Starcraft 2 ran at a constant 30fps on medium settings, dipping slightly whenever there was a huge amount of enemies on screen.

Well today, it still runs at 30 fps, but will freeze for a couple seconds about every half minute or so.

I've tried switiching to low settings and it still does this. anyone know what might be wrong or how to fix it?

This sometimes happens due to HDD access - possibly due to an antivirus program suddenly thinking it's a virus or scanning excessively for some reason? I've had to set even Microsoft Security Essentials to ignore certain game directories from time to time.

 

[Mairu]

The new Clevo machines are up for preorder.

15".

17".

I'm getting the 17", with i7-2630QM and GTX 485M.

The 15" is an amazing deal. They're way cheaper than I was expecting.

The 15" looks pretty good but I'm weary of buying a laptop that I can't see in person before I pay

Any idea of sandy bridge making its way into 13/14"s?

I can't buy until February anyways likely, so I'll probably just wait for reviews. It'd be nice to have a laptop with a little bit of gaming power, but I have no idea what the battery life is like on a system with that kind of power

 

[Azure J]

.

Good shit, thanks for all the good replies and info.

Meanwhile, I am seriously thinking about taking the dive with the R3. It doesn't help matters much that I was always admiring the R2 from afar and now something drops that can be well within a good price bracket if I config it well. And yeah, the design for that MSI is fucking slick as hell. :lol

With what you said though, I think I'll forgo waiting for it and plan on a nice 3D screened, 6970M equipped M17x. I wonder what the weight for this revision's going to be like given all the talk about making the line slimmer/thinner...

 

[g23]

The 15" looks pretty good but I'm weary of buying a laptop that I can't see in person before I pay

Any idea of sandy bridge making its way into 13/14"s?

I can't buy until February anyways likely, so I'll probably just wait for reviews. It'd be nice to have a laptop with a little bit of gaming power, but I have no idea what the battery life is like on a system with that kind of power

So are both those Clevo laptops (15" and the 17") using the new sandy bridge models?

and

in light of the recent announcements from CES should i wait a little longer before buying a laptop in the $1000-$1400 range?

 

[prodystopian]

Did a new thread ever go up? I tried searching but couldn't find it.

 

[K.Jack]

I've been caught up in work and some personal issues. I haven't had a chance to get it done yet.

I'll have it up this week for sure. Sorry for the wait.

 

[sweetvar26]

The Mx11 with the Core 2 Duo SU7300 1.3Ghz can be had for $549. It coms with the Nvidia GT335M.

I think it is a great price and I am thinking to pull the trigger. Is the processor outdated or can it hold me off for another couple of years?

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2560647

 

[dLMN8R]

The Mx11 with the Core 2 Duo SU7300 1.3Ghz can be had for $549. It coms with the Nvidia GT335M.

I think it is a great price and I am thinking to pull the trigger. Is the processor outdated or can it hold me off for another couple of years?

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2560647

The Core i5/i7 models have better performance for sure, but probably not enough to make it worth paying almost double. The key here is the lack of Optimus in the original version. This means you don't get auto-switching between the integrated and dedicated GPU, and it also means much more limited driver updates in the future.

The Core 2 Duo version has the benefit of 1-2 hours extra battery life though!

 

[sweetvar26]

The Core i5/i7 models have better performance for sure, but probably not enough to make it worth paying almost double. The key here is the lack of Optimus in the original version. This means you don't get auto-switching between the integrated and dedicated GPU, and it also means much more limited driver updates in the future.

The Core 2 Duo version has the benefit of 1-2 hours extra battery life though!

Yeah I definitely sucks for not having Optimus in this revision. What do you mean by the availability of limited drivers? Isn't it supposed to based on the GPU than the technology?

My current Macbook battery is done and I need to spend another $150 to get a new battery which I think is absolutely not worth it.

I'm just in the market for a cheap laptop for now and may be a better one in the next couple of years. I will have the GPU turned off most of the time, so I don't think I am really worried about it.

I just don't think the SU7300 can hold me off until the end of 2012. What do you guys think? For the ones that already have this laptop, how do you guys feel about the performance?

$550 is a good deal for this laptop, my opinion.

 

[asdad123]

Yeah I definitely sucks for not having Optimus in this revision. What do you mean by the availability of limited drivers? Isn't it supposed to based on the GPU than the technology?

My current Macbook battery is done and I need to spend another $150 to get a new battery which I think is absolutely not worth it.

I'm just in the market for a cheap laptop for now and may be a better one in the next couple of years. I will have the GPU turned off most of the time, so I don't think I am really worried about it.

I just don't think the SU7300 can hold me off until the end of 2012. What do you guys think? For the ones that already have this laptop, how do you guys feel about the performance?

$550 is a good deal for this laptop, my opinion.

Check out the dell outlet if you want the R1 (Or even R2) cheaper.

Its $550 before a 20% off coupon bringing it for 440 before taxes. The R2s are around 650 after coupon.


BP6SM900JMH74L

I have a R2 and its great. If you get an R1, check out this thread on notebookreview. Some people have pinmodded the SU7300 and got it to OC to 2.0+.

 

[MoxManiac]

Seriously tempted by that $550 laptop. The gaming I want to do on PC isn't too demanding (Valve sources games, Blizzard games, TBS games, etc) so it might be okay for me?

 

[dLMN8R]

Optimus has the "side-effect" of sorts of unifying drivers between NVIDIA-powered desktops and laptops. So my R2 m11x can download and install any version of NVIDIA's graphics drivers, the same ones I would use if I had a desktop NVIDIA chip.

Before Optimus, the m11x worked like many other laptops work - drivers controlled and limited by the manufacturer of the laptop (Dell/Alienware), and generic drivers can't be installed without potentially unstable .inf hacks.

 

[sweetvar26]

Check out the dell outlet if you want the R1 (Or even R2) cheaper.

Its $550 before a 20% off coupon bringing it for 440 before taxes. The R2s are around 650 after coupon.


BP6SM900JMH74L

I have a R2 and its great. If you get an R1, check out this thread on notebookreview. Some people have pinmodded the SU7300 and got it to OC to 2.0+.

How is the battery life for regular usage without gaming and with?

Seriously tempted by that $550 laptop. The gaming I want to do on PC isn't too demanding (Valve sources games, Blizzard games, TBS games, etc) so it might be okay for me?

Valve games should be fine but I am not sure if this is good enough for Diablo 3, whenever that comes out.

Optimus has the "side-effect" of sorts of unifying drivers between NVIDIA-powered desktops and laptops. So my R2 m11x can download and install any version of NVIDIA's graphics drivers, the same ones I would use if I had a desktop NVIDIA chip.

Before Optimus, the m11x worked like many other laptops work - drivers controlled and limited by the manufacturer of the laptop (Dell/Alienware), and generic drivers can't be installed without potentially unstable .inf hacks.

I see.

 

[DSmalls84]

I ordered an M11x R1 a week ago. Its been a while since I have ordered from Dell but is it normal for your system to stay "In Production" for a while? My order has shown that status since 1/12/11.

 

[asdad123]

How is the battery life for regular usage without gaming and

It's long enough for me to never run out of battery before getting home lol.
I got 13-14k discharge out of the 69k the battery hold (so calculates to about 5-5.5 hours)
I had a ssd in there for about 2 weeks and the discharge rate was constantly about 11k (so roughly a little more than 6 hours)

Playing ME2 on battery gave me a discharge rate of about 29k.

I have an i5/4gb/250gb 7200rpm. I'll upgrade to one of the next gen ssd drives when they come out

 

[sweetvar26]

It's long enough for me to never run out of battery before getting home lol.
I got 13-14k discharge out of the 69k the battery hold (so calculates to about 5-5.5 hours)
I had a ssd in there for about 2 weeks and the discharge rate was constantly about 11k (so roughly a little more than 6 hours)

Playing ME2 on battery gave me a discharge rate of about 29k.

I have an i5/4gb/250gb 7200rpm. I'll upgrade to one of the next gen ssd drives when they come out

SSD's are too expensive right now, may be when I am done school.

However I am really considering picking up the SU7300/i5 version of the laptop.