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[The Shadow]

I have just been made aware, of some pretty sick savings, on the new 6770M equipped DV6

1. HP.com

2. HP DV6 Quad Edition. Select $999 base.

3. Upgrade the GPU to the 6770M for $25 more. Leave the CPU @ i7-2630QM.

4. It comes with 6GB RAM and 750GB HDD. Solid.

5. At checkout, use Coupon Code 50TECHBARG, for $50 Off

6. Total = $974.99 + Free Shipping.

/////If the quad core doesn't matter to you/////

1. Choose HP dv6t Select Series

2. Upgrade to 6770M for $125 more

3. Checkout. Use Coupon Code NB2315

4. Total: $752.49 + Free Shipping

Coupons expire 4/30/11. Everyone on this page needs to jump on the latter!

Thanks for this. Looks like what I was looking for. My only concern is the build quality of HP. My last laptop was an HP and I actually liked it quite a bit. My roommate bought an HP last year though and HATES it. Overheats, the touchpad doesn't work anymore, etc. This is just after a year of usage too. She never takes it out of the house either.

So I don't know. I went ahead and ordered one although making the additional change of getting a 9-cell batt. I figure I have a few weeks to make up my mind and cancel as the build date is the 18th.

 

[firehawk12]

If a game is asking for an Intel quad core, it will also be asking for much more than the 5650 is capable of bringing.

So is it better to go for the cheaper AMD or the equivalent priced AMD with a 6550?

 

[Drinky Crow]

Uhm. I've checked the US Dell site and it lets me change the 555m, but on the Japanese one I have no options at all.

There's also this shop here in Japan called DosPara that has some quite awesome deals, but on their site the biggest thing I can find are 15" laptops, so I'll go to the store later.



Edit - Oh, and while I wanna play games, all I really wanna play on PC is Minecraft (for which I don't need all that much of a heavy laptop) and Diablo 3 whenever it comes out (and it doesn't seem to be very graphics-heavy either). I won't be playing all that much Crysis and stuff, though I will be working with the UDK (Unreal Engine) and CryEngine 3 (whenever it releases this summer for free) so I guess it counts as "games". But what I'd be doing most of the time would be light modelling and 2d stuff with Photoshop when I'm not at home.

then this rig will be very much more than satisfactory! just make sure you get the 1080p screen! ram can wait!

 

[Dilli666]

I've just received the Dell XPS 17 (L702X) with the 2630qm and a GT555M. The GT555M can easily be overclocked to 770Mhz coreclock. I haven't benched much yet but 3DMark06 results in 13,6k points.
It think the laptop is a good compromise between performance and battery power. The Intel Turboboost technology works like a charme and I can surf the internet for about 5 hours without recharging.

 

[Mik2121]

then this rig will be very much more than satisfactory! just make sure you get the 1080p screen! ram can wait!

In about 10 minutes I'll go and check on some stores.

I've just received the Dell XPS 17 (L702X) with the 2630qm and a GT555M. The GT555M can easily be overclocked to 770Mhz coreclock. I haven't benched much yet but 3DMark06 results in 13,6k points.
It think the laptop is a good compromise between performance and battery power. The Intel Turboboost technology works like a charme and I can surf the internet for about 5 hours without recharging.

How is the 17" screen?. I'm worried about how hard it might be to move the laptop around (compared to a 15" laptop, that is)...

 

[Kenka]

So though I'd ask again. :lol

So one of the systems has a P960 with a 6550 and that's the same price as the i7-720 with a 5650. The cheaper one is a P940 with a 5650... and I have no idea what's good. Notebookcheck says the 6550 is an upgraded 5650?

Numbers are so weird.

Well, if your main purpose is gaming stay away from the P960. It's about 15% slower than any first gen i5 (non sandy bridge) on the market. The 5650 is super mainstream and won't help you for upcoming games.

Also, if you really want a future-proof machine with a decent graphics card (aka a HD Mobility 5870), you have to pay a minimum of 1000 $ if you live in the US.

 

[Dilli666]

How is the 17" screen?. I'm worried about how hard it might be to move the laptop around (compared to a 15" laptop, that is)...

Very good (speaking of the 1080p 3D display). Nice colors, full blackness and a very high brightness to fight the glare panel
I calibrated it with a Spyder 3 and its one of the best screens I've seen on a laptop. The best feature are the 120hz though. Working with a Wacom is so much more fluent compared to the 60hz standard.

I'm taking the 17" model to work every day and can't complain. But that may differ by personal liking.
I couldn't disclaim the 2nd harddisk slot and the fullsize keyboard.

 

[Hazaro]

/////If the quad core doesn't matter to you/////

1. Choose HP dv6t Select Series

2. Upgrade to 6770M for $125 more

3. Checkout. Use Coupon Code NB2315

4. Total: $752.49 + Free Shipping

Coupons expire 4/30/11. Everyone on this page needs to jump on the latter!

I'm almost tempted to nab this.
Seems really nice, but I probably would like a 13-14" with a good GPU. Probably not going to happen.
Plus that 10% tax just kills it for me

 

[K.Jack]

I'm almost tempted to nab this.
Seems really nice, but I probably would like a 13-14" with a good GPU. Probably not going to happen.
Plus that 10% tax just kills it for me

The Alienware M14x will be the only decent 14".

The GT 555M is 192-bit DDR33 with 144 shaders. It will be faster than the 9800 GT.

 

[firehawk12]

Well, if your main purpose is gaming stay away from the P960. It's about 15% slower than any first gen i5 (non sandy bridge) on the market. The 5650 is super mainstream and won't help you for upcoming games.

Also, if you really want a future-proof machine with a decent graphics card (aka a HD Mobility 5870), you have to pay a minimum of 1000 $ if you live in the US.

Yeah, I'm limited by the choices offered more than anything else unfortunately.

 

[Anonymous Tipster]

So I'm in the market for a new Laptop, and in the interest of future proofing I'm looking to spend in the 2-3 grand range. (Though preferably on the lower end of that spectrum...)

What is LaptopGAF's opinion of Sager? I've been eying the NP7280-S1 which has recently dropped price slightly with a promotion. I'd probably stick with the "Dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 470M GPU with 1.5GB GDDR5 Video Memory in SLI Mode" since I'm not a big ATI fan, and don't want to shell out another grand for the GTS 485M, unless there's a major reason to.

Any other machines I should consider? I'm running a 5 year old Dell XPS (prior to the Alienware buy-out) and I've been pretty happy with it. I'm not interested in purchasing anything from HP.

I've taken a look at some ASUS machines as well, but the Sager's specs are hard to beat.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: I should mention that this is a desktop replacement and portability isn't really a huge factor. Now, I don't want it to weigh 100lbs or anything, but I'm not going to be lugging many places.

 

[K.Jack]

So I'm in the market for a new Laptop, and in the interest of future proofing I'm looking to spend in the 2-3 grand range. (Though preferably on the lower end of that spectrum...)

What is LaptopGAF's opinion of Sager? I've been eying the NP7280-S1 which has recently dropped price slightly with a promotion. I'd probably stick with the "Dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 470M GPU with 1.5GB GDDR5 Video Memory in SLI Mode" since I'm not a big ATI fan, and don't want to shell out another grand for the GTS 485M, unless there's a major reason to.

Any other machines I should consider? I'm running a 5 year old Dell XPS (prior to the Alienware buy-out) and I've been pretty happy with it. I'm not interested in purchasing anything from HP.

I've taken a look at some ASUS machines as well, but the Sager's specs are hard to beat.

Any thoughts?

EDIT: I should mention that this is a desktop replacement and portability isn't really a huge factor. Now, I don't want it to weigh 100lbs or anything, but I'm not going to be lugging many places.

With that level of budget, I guess the NP7280 is the only worthy choice. The 470M in SLI present an incredible value right now, because they'll be 40% to 50% faster than either the single 6970M or GTX 485M.

Check these:

And the GTX 470M is 10% faster than the 480M.

It's a total steal.

 

[K.Jack]

Alright. It's finally time for the 2011 thread. I'll start working on it today.

Any suggestions?

 

[MoFuzz]

Alright. It's finally time for the 2011 thread. I'll start working on it today.

Any suggestions?

I don't know how time consuming it would be, but perhaps a general roundup of the major brands/manufacturers as to reliability/price, etc.

Maybe even some specific picks for each notebook category? Subnotes, DTR, Netbook, etc.

 

[Meatpuppet]

I'm almost tempted to nab this.
Seems really nice, but I probably would like a 13-14" with a good GPU. Probably not going to happen.
Plus that 10% tax just kills it for me

Argh went for this but HP declined the order. Gits.

 

[Quixzlizx]

Alright. It's finally time for the 2011 thread. I'll start working on it today.

Any suggestions?

Ranking the most available mobile GPUs, and mentioning in which price range they'd be a good value?

 

[Sew]

Alright. It's finally time for the 2011 thread. I'll start working on it today.

Any suggestions?

I suppose the obvious thing is that most people come in here with a budget. So a 'best' of for each price bracket would answer most questions instantly.

Also, stemming from my learnings in the past month: The game changes completely moving from 1366x768 to 1920x1080 displays as you know. Making this distinction clear will help people people learn why a GPU can be great in one model and a bit crap in another.

 

[K.Jack]

Yeah, I'll definitely do a combination OP.

Maybe brief descriptions of what type of GPU power you can get in each price range, followed by the best notebooks within each range. Build quality will be of priority.

I'm mostly sticking to machines which can hold some semblance of gaming purposes though. I'm not rally interested in ranking or listing netbooks.

 

[Chris R]

Like how sager went from middle of march to late march to middle of april on screen delays

 

[Sew]

Maybe you could also include some information on Clevo and its derivatives. Many people seem unaware of these names until they actually start shopping for their first gaming laptop. Fantastic (albeit slightly dated) resource here, perhaps you could just link to that.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

Update on my G60JX... running great so far (other than the occasional shitty "Nvidia Driver Kernel has Stopped Responding and Recovered Error" which seems to plague all Vista/Windows 7 PC's). Got the Core i5 overclocked from 2.2 Ghz to 2.9 Ghz, GPU is overclocked as well, and the SSD is ridiculously fast. So far I'm playing Crysis on High with absolutely no problems or slow down, and I've got Assassin's Creed Brotherhood maxed @ 1366x768 with 4x AA, SuperSampling Transparency AA, 16x AF etc with the game at a solid 50-60 FPS.

Feels good man.

 

[Ledsen]

I suppose the obvious thing is that most people come in here with a budget. So a 'best' of for each price bracket would answer most questions instantly.

Also, stemming from my learnings in the past month: The game changes completely moving from 1366x768 to 1920x1080 displays as you know. Making this distinction clear will help people people learn why a GPU can be great in one model and a bit crap in another.

Very true, and important. In my 1366x768 laptop, my 5650m is doing a great job with games from the past few years. In 1080p it can't do shit, and when I play on my TV I do 720p.

 

[K.Jack]

Update on my G60JX... running great so far (other than the occasional shitty "Nvidia Driver Kernel has Stopped Responding and Recovered Error" which seems to plague all Vista/Windows 7 PC's). Got the Core i5 overclocked from 2.2 Ghz to 2.9 Ghz, GPU is overclocked as well, and the SSD is ridiculously fast. So far I'm playing Crysis on High with absolutely no problems or slow down, and I've got Assassin's Creed Brotherhood maxed @ 1366x768 with 4x AA, SuperSampling Transparency AA, 16x AF etc with the game at a solid 50-60 FPS.

Feels good man.

That definitely is not a widespread issue. Your GPU overclock is too high.

 

[gdt]

I'm just counting the days till I'm able to get my laptop. Should be like 2 weeks now.

Dear god, I want an in into PC gaming so bad right now, comfy couch style.

 

[Houston3000]

Anyone have an estimate how a laptop's Radeon 6770M would compare to a desktop's Geforce GTS450?

 

[K.Jack]

Anyone have an estimate how a laptop's Radeon 6770M would compare to a desktop's Geforce GTS450?

To put it into Nvidia terms, compare GTS 450 vs the 9800 GT, and that will give you a good ballpark of the difference.

The GTX 460M is a GTS 450, with lower clocks but the advantage of a 192-bit bus.

 

[Houston3000]

To put it into Nvidia terms, compare GTS 450 vs the 9800 GT, and that will give you a good ballpark of the difference.

The GTX 460M is a GTS 450, with lower clocks but the advantage of a 192-bit bus.

Where the 6770M is equivalent to the 9800GT in terms of performance? So maybe a bit slower than my desktop's GTS 450 but nothing major.

 

[BoobPhysics101]

That definitely is not a widespread issue. Your GPU overclock is too high.

I Googled and it seems to happen to people that aren't even overclocked. However, I do think you're right, because originally I had the GPU overclocked further than it is now and it would cause that error often, I backed off on the overclocks significantly and now it rarely happens. Only seems to happen if the laptop doesn't get sufficient cooling, which is why I ordered a laptop cooling pad (Zalman NC2000). Hopefully that comes soon.

 

[K.Jack]

Previous generations of Asus machines all had GPU cooling issues. I'm not surprised.

Where the 6770M is equivalent to the 9800GT in terms of performance? So maybe a bit slower than my desktop's GTS 450 but nothing major.

Yes, the 6770M about 10% faster than the 9800 GT.

The GTS 450 is about ~20% faster than the 9800 GT, at 1080p.

 

[K.Jack]

----BREAKING NEWS----

The AMD 6970M will be available for order in Sager/Clevo machines tomorrow.

Pricing is forthcoming, but it's at least $200 cheaper than the GTX 485M.

 

[Houston3000]

Previous generations of Asus machines all had GPU cooling issues. I'm not surprised.


Yes, the 6770M about 10% faster than the 9800 GT.

The GTS 450 is about ~20% faster than the 9800 GT, at 1080p.

Thanks, that's great to know! Looks like I have relatively comparative performance between my machines.

 

[MikeE21286]

The wait on these new Alienware M11x (and the rumored M14x) is killing me.

I'm teetering on those two and a 2011 MBP.

 

[K.Jack]

The wait on these new Alienware M11x (and the rumored M14x) is killing me.

I'm teetering on those two and a 2011 MBP.

Them being revealed at E3 is a safe bet.

 

[Sew]

----BREAKING NEWS----

The AMD 6970M will be available for order in Sager/Clevo machines tomorrow.

Pricing is forthcoming, but it's at least $200 cheaper than the GTX 485M.

Yessssss.

 

[MikeE21286]

Them being revealed at E3 is a safe bet.

damn, was hoping for much earlier than that....rumors have it pegged sometime this month. If it's E3 I'll be sad

 

[Sew]

For Aussies, Logical Blue One now has the 6970M up for order (ETA April 15th).

http://www.logicalblueone.com.au/store/449-clevo-horize-p150hma-ati-gaming-notebook-.html

Intel® Core™ i7-2720Qm 2.2Ghz Quad Core Processor (Sandy Bridge)
8GB DDR3 1333Mhz System Memory
500GB 7200RPM, Super Multi 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
15.6-inch FHD LED BACKLIT (1920x1080) MATTE FINISH
ATI Radeon XT 6970m (Blackcomb) with 2GB Dedicated Video RAM
802.11b/g/n WLAN, 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN, Bluetooth
NO OPERATING SYSTEM
BONUS CARRY BAG

$1799 inc GST. Fantastic price. I wonder why they're calling it an XT 6970M instead of HD 6970M though? It's the only website using that name.

[edit] Jack from LogicalBlueOne says:

With regards to the 'XT'. The codename for the new Radeon card was 'Blackcomb XT'. So we just listed it that way in case others were looking for the codename.

Seems a bit silly but hey, they've cornered the google results for 'XT 6970M'.

 

[Hazaro]

Alright. It's finally time for the 2011 thread. I'll start working on it today.

Any suggestions?

PM me when it goes up so I can cross link it from the PC thread.
Maybe someone can make you a nice (small) banner

 

[K.Jack]

Will do.

damn, was hoping for much earlier than that....rumors have it pegged sometime this month. If it's E3 I'll be sad

You know what.... I didn't realize E3 was in June.

They'll be announced before then.

 

[hteng]

fucking finally sager/clevo, get those 6970m CFed and blow everything out of the water.

 

[K.Jack]

fucking finally sager/clevo, get those 6970m CFed and blow everything out of the water.

Hype hype hype.

I can't believe I'm about to have a desktop 6850 in my next notebook. I still remember back when my Vostro w/ 8600M GT was thought to be pretty badass.

My mobile gaming evolution: GMA 950 -> 8600M GT -> 9800M GT -> GTX 260M -> AMD 6970M

I guess one could say, that I've been around since the beginning of gaming notebooks.

 

[The_Squirrel_Menace]

Any laptop BF3 'proof' yet? Or likely to run it at high settings? For comparaison, do you guys have links with benchs with Crysis 2 running on laptops?

 

[gdt]

I don't know what you guys are talking about. Will these new...whatevers...affect my purhcase choice? The quadcore dv6 with the...6770m for $822. That's my final choice. What are you guys all hyped about?

 

[K.Jack]

Any laptop BF3 'proof' yet? Or likely to run it at high settings? For comparaison, do you guys have links with benchs with Crysis 2 running on laptops?

Only the 6970M and GTX 485M are BF3 ready.

I don't know what you guys are talking about. Will these new...whatevers...affect my purhcase choice? The quadcore dv6 with the...6770m for $822. That's my final choice. What are you guys all hyped about?

I'm hyped about the 6970M. It's a desktop 6850, with a slight downclock.

It's way out of your price range, though. The base 15" Clevo w/ 6970M will be almost $1700.

 

[gdt]

Only the 6970M and GTX 485M are BF3 ready.


I'm hyped about the 6970M. It's a desktop 6850, with a slight downclock.

It's way out of your price range, though. The base 15" Clevo w/ 6970M will be almost $1700.

Ahh, ok.

Glad out done searching for a laptop :lol. I'll be ready to order it 2 or 3 weeks from today max. Hopefully 2.

 

[Sew]

Another couple of 6970M models are up.

AUS: http://www.affordablelaptops.com.au...box-clevo-p150hm-hd-6970-laptop-notebook.html

US: http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8150...ing-sager-notebook-p-2972.html?wconfigure=yes

I just optioned up the Xoticpc model to the same level as the local Aus offerings, and it came to $2000 USD. Add delivery and import duty and it could land anywhere between $2300-$2500. The two Aus sellers offering it so far are asking less than $2k shipped. It's not often that buying local in Australia gets you a much better deal - I'm stoked.

 

[K.Jack]

Ready to order.

Sager NP8170 (Clevo P170HM)

90% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080)
i7-2630QM
AMD Radeon HD 6970M
4GB RAM
6x Blu-ray
Window 7 64-bit

$2072

Another couple of 6970M models are up.

AUS: http://www.affordablelaptops.com.au...box-clevo-p150hm-hd-6970-laptop-notebook.html

US: http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8150...ing-sager-notebook-p-2972.html?wconfigure=yes

I just optioned up the Xoticpc model to the same level as the local Aus offerings, and it came to $2000 USD. Add delivery and import duty and it could land anywhere between $2300-$2500. The two Aus sellers offering it so far are asking less than $2k shipped. It's not often that buying local in Australia gets you a much better deal - I'm stoked.

Downgrade to the 2630QM.

 

[nilbog21]

guys how are those msi gaming laptops? are they rip offs like alienware? i was thinking about getting one o_o

 

[Sew]

Downgrade to the 2630QM.

I'm just using the 2720QM as a comparison point, because it's what LBO offers (and they don't have a downgrade option, although they would probably grant it on request).

Any reason to go for the 2630QM, aside from the fact that the 2720QM offers little performance gain for the cost?

[edit] I've done some homework, now I'm agreeing that the 2630 is the way to go. This thread was very helpful. You're not just getting poor bang for your buck with the 2720, you're virtually throwing $100-$200 into the wind. 2630QM it is.

[edit 2] Here are some essential links for Aussies seeking Clevos. You might want to include these in the new thread K.Jack, otherwise I'll just make sure they're posted on the first page somewhere.

Clevo sellers:
www.logicalblueone.com.au (selling Horize models)
www.p4laptops.com.au (selling Metabox models)
www.affordablelaptops.com.au (selling Metabox models)

Local discussion:
Whirlpool Forums: Notebook Section
-- Clevo/Sager megathread
-- New thread for 6970M refresh

Sellers on Whirlpool:
Jack from LogicalBLueOne
Jeff from AffordableLaptops

 

[Diomedes]

Thanks for earlier info, held off on buying and finding some well priced deals on Clevos with the 6970. Just reading this thread is helping me catch up on years on info/jargon that I didn't understand.

Question about ODD caddies, would any of the sellers sell one separately without an HDD in it? For example, buy the primary drive and optical drive as normal and the caddy separately in case I want to upgrade later? Also are the caddies generic; can I hold off and buy one later from anywhere, plug a HDD in it and go?

 

[Coverly]

I have just been made aware, of some pretty sick savings, on the new 6770M equipped DV6

1. HP.com

2. HP DV6 Quad Edition. Select $999 base.

3. Upgrade the GPU to the 6770M for $25 more. Leave the CPU @ i7-2630QM.

4. It comes with 6GB RAM and 750GB HDD. Solid.

5. At checkout, use Coupon Code 50TECHBARG, for $50 Off

6. Total = $974.99 + Free Shipping.

My wife's HP laptop finally died after 5 years of use. The game that killed it? MINECRAFT.

I went ahead and ordered the above as a replacement BUT I called and told them the story of " I have 2 30% coupons that don't work (NB4761 & another one), and without them it is out of my budget." The sales rep then looked around and found a coupon (didn't tell me the code) that was the next best thing, 20% off. So it went from $1024 to $824 before taxes. Total after tax was $915.