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[Wedge7]

Ugh, stupid question, but does anyone know the phone number for Razor? I swear I looked all the over website for it, but either they do a masterful job of concealing it, or I'm just blind. I cant imagine a company as big wouldnt have a customer phone # to contact them. Ended up just sending them a customer report from the site, but I always hate dealing with customer support issues over email, and prefer speaking over the phone.

Just received my Razorblade 14 laptop today from them, and was pretty pleased when I took it out of the box. Main reason for purchasing it was the small and thin form factor, as I have a main dedicated gaming machine at home, but this is purely for when I'm stuck at University with nothing to do. Unfortunately, after using it for about 5 minutes, I realized that for whatever reason, the spacebar key was not really responding. This cant be normal right? Or am I so out of touch with laptop keyboards that its considered normal? Basically, the spacebar key wont respond to input unless I directly press it pretty much exactly in the center. Pressing and even holding it down on the sides gives me nothing.

Gah, just annoying, first time I've ever had a defective product or something that doesnt work as it should.

 

[pizzapizza64]

not trying to be pesty, I just don't know much at all about laptops. thanks, GAF!

 

[Hypertrooper]

Hey guys,

I need help:

Country: Germany
Maximum budget: $2200/2200€
Max size: I don't really care to be honest.
Planned usage: I'm looking for a laptop for the university. I'll take CS/Engineering classes and want to develop software/games in my free time. What's the best device you guys would recommend? Games I want to play on the device? Well, mostly indie games. Big titles will be played on my console and I'll build my Gaming rig next year.
Most of past students recommend the MacBook Pro because of great battery life. (According to them, they aren't many power sockets on the old campus ground) I won't mind the MacBook Pro, but I would bootcamp it to run Windows. Yes. I'm tending to Windows as OS.

 

[K.Jack]

Well, the specs I posted before are here, but that model seems to be for a more expensive ($1250) version then what I really want to pay for.
There is a 999$ model here, but I'm not sure how the specs compare to the ones I already posted. I don't need a graphical powerhouse, but running next gen games at a decent framerate is important.

Also, what would be the best time (and place) to buy a laptop like this? I'm thinking NewEgg and Amazon would have cheap prices around Black Friday, but I'm new to this, so I don't really know.

I recommend the Lenovo Y510p, as the minimum for next-gen gaming.

So a friend of mine has a $2200 budget from his University to buy a laptop for CPU intensive simulations, what is the best laptop category for that?

- Having good portability is good (weight / battery)
- Keyboard/Trackpad are very important
- Good GPU isn't required but preferable
- at least 1080p screen
- SSD is a must (256/512GB)
- Any screen size, but smaller is better
- looks classy and low profile..


Thanks

Maybe the MSI GS70? It's 17", but less than an inch thick and gets 5 hours of battery life.

I have a budget of $500 and want to get a Windows-based laptop that I can play a fair amount of games on.

Any advice?

Preferably something on Amazon if possible.

What games fall into this fair amount? A $500 budget doesn't buy a gaming laptop.

Ugh, stupid question, but does anyone know the phone number for Razor? I swear I looked all the over website for it, but either they do a masterful job of concealing it, or I'm just blind. I cant imagine a company as big wouldnt have a customer phone # to contact them. Ended up just sending them a customer report from the site, but I always hate dealing with customer support issues over email, and prefer speaking over the phone.

Just received my Razorblade 14 laptop today from them, and was pretty pleased when I took it out of the box. Main reason for purchasing it was the small and thin form factor, as I have a main dedicated gaming machine at home, but this is purely for when I'm stuck at University with nothing to do. Unfortunately, after using it for about 5 minutes, I realized that for whatever reason, the spacebar key was not really responding. This cant be normal right? Or am I so out of touch with laptop keyboards that its considered normal? Basically, the spacebar key wont respond to input unless I directly press it pretty much exactly in the center. Pressing and even holding it down on the sides gives me nothing.

Gah, just annoying, first time I've ever had a defective product or something that doesnt work as it should.

Try 888-697-2037

Hey guys,

I need help:

Country: Germany
Maximum budget: $2200/2200€
Max size: I don't really care to be honest.
Planned usage: I'm looking for a laptop for the university. I'll take CS/Engineering classes and want to develop software/games in my free time. What's the best device you guys would recommend? Games I want to play on the device? Well, mostly indie games. Big titles will be played on my console and I'll build my Gaming rig next year.
Most of past students recommend the MacBook Pro because of great battery life. (According to them, they aren't many power sockets on the old campus ground) I won't mind the MacBook Pro, but I would bootcamp it to run Windows. Yes. I'm tending to Windows as OS.

I have no problem with the MBP, depending on how much graphics power you actually need.

 

[brentech]

Since buying my Sager NP7352, I've noticed some noise that sounds like light chirping. I'm guessing its coming from the main system fan, as it runs regardless of iGPU or dedicated in use.

And is most easily heard when just browsing the web since otherwise, the system is quiet. I had a problem like this with my wife's Lenovo laptop and was able to just open it up and unplug the fan to see if that was in fact the problem. Cost like 30 bucks to replace, but that did the job. I guess I'm hoping that's the issue here, but annoying since it's brand new so I sent a message to Sager's support.

Anyone else come across this?

EDIT: I just said "hell with it" and opened it up and unplugged the fan and booted up. That is the problem. Will have to see if they're willing to send me one, but I imagine not likely and I'll just order a new one. I'll let you know, see if their support is willing to work with ya. To take it one step further, I pulled the fan out completely and use canned air to get it spinning fast, when I stop spraying I can hear the noise, so that's definitely the source. Looks like I can get a replacement on ebay for 10 bucks.

double Edit: Got an email back, they're actually going to send me a fan to put in myself. Happy.

 

[Elija2]

Hey, I'm looking for a laptop for university. I'll mainly use it for web browsing, taking notes, and programming, but it would be nice if I could play recent indie games on it at a good speed. My max budget is around $500. Don't really care about the size and I live in Canada if that matters.

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

My 5 year old Acer Laptop has died just now and i am looking for a mainly sturdy long lasting replacement that can occasionally play casual games (Bejeweled, Puzzle Quest etc.) indie and adventure games, Blizzard games that scale well etc. so light to medium end gaming!

My budget is maximum 1000 $

What will that get me? I was looking at ASUS since i hear good things about them being rather robust but i guess they're too expensive?

 

[bomblord]

I'll put this here to ask this I was going to make a new thread but I feel here is more appropriate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312830

This computer I'm almost positive it will game and I'm pretty sure it's probably the best deal for the money out there right now.

Also based on the gpu model it should be able to crossfire with thh integrated GPU am I wrong about this? Any feedback (or better deals for the price) would be greatly appreciated thanks.

 

[K.Jack]

Hey, I'm looking for a laptop for university. I'll mainly use it for web browsing, taking notes, and programming, but it would be nice if I could play recent indie games on it at a good speed. My max budget is around $500. Don't really care about the size and I live in Canada if that matters.

This.

My 5 year old Acer Laptop has died just now and i am looking for a mainly sturdy long lasting replacement that can occasionally play casual games (Bejeweled, Puzzle Quest etc.) indie and adventure games, Blizzard games that scale well etc. so light to medium end gaming!

My budget is maximum 1000 $

What will that get me? I was looking at ASUS since i hear good things about them being rather robust but i guess they're too expensive?

Go for this.

I'll put this here to ask this I was going to make a new thread but I feel here is more appropriate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834312830

This computer I'm almost positive it will game and I'm pretty sure it's probably the best deal for the money out there right now.

Also based on the gpu model it should be able to crossfire with thh integrated GPU am I wrong about this? Any feedback (or better deals for the price) would be greatly appreciated thanks.

This Lenovo is cheaper and faster.

But compared to yours, I'd spend an extra hundred on this. The GT 740M is 2x faster than the AMD GPUs of the above laptops.

 

[Femmeworth]

This Lenovo is cheaper and faster.

Ooh, perhaps this meets my needs.

 

[Elija2]

This.

$581 is a bit too much for me, but I'm guessing Lenovo is the brand to go for?

 

[Winnie the Pimp]

Never even heard of Lenovo, but admittedly i HAVE been out of the loop for a while now hmm, are they a newer brand? What is the general consensus of their build quality/longevity for Notebooks? I have found the Y500 on amazon EU for like 700 euro and it sounds almost TOO good to be true? hmm

 

[jamesinclair]

Buying a laptop is so fucking hard.

My dell xps is 4.5 years old an its done. Screen no longer goes to brightest setting, battery lasts all of 5 minutes, and it gets toasty.

Country where it will be purchased.: USA
Maximum budget: Im looking to spend $1,000 +/- $250
Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight). I need 15.5 inches
Planned usage:

Primarily sits at a desk, but must be small enough to travel on planes (hence the 15.5 inches).

Power wise, I need it to be able to run things like Civ 5 at giant map with 20 civs, Sketchup, GIS and maybe CAD. IE, it needs to be powerful, but FPS isnt my measuring point.

I'd like two headphone jacks (why isnt this required by law?). Apparently they no longer do this.

I want an optical drive.

I dont give a shit about touchscreen. But I do want Haswell.


My other main concern is brand...I need this to last 3-4 years. Can I trust no-name brands like Asus? And why do Lenovos all look like shit?

Im looking at:

Asus VivoBook V551LB-DB71T
Toshiba Satellite S55t-A5277
Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p
ASUS N550JV


I wanted to at a Samsung in the mix but none of them are Haswell....

Between the first two, this website says they like the Asus better, but the compare clearly shows the Toshiba is best...
http://www.pcmag.com/products/compare/1565?ids=315829,314294

 

[K.Jack]

$581 is a bit too much for me, but I'm guessing Lenovo is the brand to go for?

Nah I have no preference for Lenovo, it just fit the bill. So is a hard $500 CAD your maximum? Let me look around, and I'll PM you what I find.

Never even heard of Lenovo, but admittedly i HAVE been out of the loop for a while now hmm, are they a newer brand? What is the general consensus of their build quality/longevity for Notebooks? I have found the Y500 on amazon EU for like 700 euro and it sounds almost TOO good to be true? hmm

You've been out of the loop for a lot of years, to have not heard of Lenovo. Read some reviews, is my best advice.

Buying a laptop is so fucking hard.

My dell xps is 4.5 years old an its done. Screen no longer goes to brightest setting, battery lasts all of 5 minutes, and it gets toasty.

Country where it will be purchased.: USA
Maximum budget: Im looking to spend $1,000 +/- $250
Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight). I need 15.5 inches
Planned usage:

Primarily sits at a desk, but must be small enough to travel on planes (hence the 15.5 inches).

Power wise, I need it to be able to run things like Civ 5 at giant map with 20 civs, Sketchup, GIS and maybe CAD. IE, it needs to be powerful, but FPS isnt my measuring point.

I'd like two headphone jacks (why isnt this required by law?). Apparently they no longer do this.

I want an optical drive.

I dont give a shit about touchscreen. But I do want Haswell.

My other main concern is brand...I need this to last 3-4 years. Can I trust no-name brands like Asus? And why do Lenovos all look like shit?

Im looking at:

Asus VivoBook V551LB-DB71T
Toshiba Satellite S55t-A5277
Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p
ASUS N550JV

I wanted to at a Samsung in the mix but none of them are Haswell....

Between the first two, this website says they like the Asus better, but the compare clearly shows the Toshiba is best...
http://www.pcmag.com/products/compare/1565?ids=315829,314294

ASUS is "no-name" now? Yeesh.

Either way it's looked at, the Lenovo is the only one which will fulfill your listed needs.

 

[Odrion]

So a friend of mine has a $2200 budget from his University to buy a laptop for CPU intensive simulations, what is the best laptop category for that?

- Having good portability is good (weight / battery)
- Keyboard/Trackpad are very important
- Good GPU isn't required but preferable
- at least 1080p screen
- SSD is a must (256/512GB)
- Any screen size, but smaller is better
- looks classy and low profile..


Thanks

Sounds like what you need is a Retina Macbook Pro. Live the dream.

 

[graywolf323]

my new laptop will be here on Monday

 

[Azzurri]

So I bought my laptop and for some reason Alienware doesn't ship a copy of WIN 8 DVD with the system. So I call and they sent me a USB, but it isn't a typical WIN OS DVD, it's a resource and recover. The problem is I'm trying to wipe my 750gb HDD that came with the system and install the new OS partition on my 256gb MSATA HDD I bought separate, but it doesn't give me your typical WIN install processes.

So if I just went out an bought an OEM version of WIN, would it matter, or is there some kinda of proprietary thing of the laptop that wouldn't let me?

I downloaded all the drivers and what not off of dell's site and put em on a USB so once it's installed I can install all my drivers.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Country where it will be purchased : Ireland (so from UK online)
Maximum budget: €1000
Max size: 3kg
Planned usage: Dota 2, programming Java
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 I suppose?

It's comfort I'm also thinking about.

Currently leaning towards:
15.6" Optimus IV - €946.00
Core i5 3230 2.6GHz
8GB RAM
Nvidia 660M
500GB 7200RPM HD

Alternatively:
14" SkyFire III - €934.00
Core i5 3230 2.6GHz
8GB RAM
Nvidia 760M
500GB 7200RPM HD

Thoughts?

 

[52club]

Not saying this is a gaming notebook, but is close to that $500 budget some of you want to stick to:

http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/102...-750gb-hdd-17.3-1920x1080-led-6cell-windows-8

 

[Father_Brain]

Any particularly good values on laptops under/around $700? I'd prefer something smaller than 17 inches, and I'm not expecting a ton performance-wise. Just want 30fps+ on medium/low settings, 720p, for recent and upcoming games.

 

[News Bot]

My girlfriend's looking for a laptop that'll be able to run League of Legends well, with a max budget of £300 (£350 at a push). Anyone know of one?

 

[Elija2]

Nah I have no preference for Lenovo, it just fit the bill. So is a hard $500 CAD your maximum? Let me look around, and I'll PM you what I find.

Well my max isn't a hard $500, but taking tax into account as well and the price becomes $650+. That said, if it's really worth it I'd be willing to raise my hard max to $600.

I also would rather go to a store and buy one than order it online. Are there any brands that I should definitely avoid (I hear HP is bad)?

How are these laptops?

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/dell-dell-inspiron-15-15-6-touchscreen-laptop-intel-pentium-2127u-500gb-hdd-4gb-ram-windows-8-i15rvt-6192blk/10257575.aspx?path=9ce99af73e4914d7d0eb7e9a0e3c1d2den02&SearchPageIndex=1
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-v5-15-6-touchscreen-laptop-iron-amd-a8-5557m-500gb-hdd-8gb-ram-windows-8-v5-552p-8646/10254571.aspx?path=bf3295421b6f40044288e320f76e2496en02&SearchPageIndex=1 (I'm personally leaning towards this one)
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-ca/product/acer-acer-aspire-v7-15-6-ultrabook-gunmetal-intel-core-i5-3337u-24gb-ssd-500gb-hdd-12gb-windows-8-v7-581-6489/10254572.aspx?path=226359e5ff9e81e3595821eea0ca4579en02
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-ca/product/toshiba-toshiba-l70d-17-3-laptop-silver-amd-a10-5750m-750gb-hdd-8gb-ram-windows-8-l70d-a-009/10257002.aspx?path=5a4d95fafd364be604deb8670c2022cben02
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-aspire-v3-17-3-laptop-iron-intel-pentium-2020m-750gb-hdd-8gb-windows-8-v3-731-4654/10254568.aspx?path=928e4a8c66976054992d20c33d0e7a08en02&SearchPageIndex=1

 

[Madridy]

Sounds like what you need is a Retina Macbook Pro. Live the dream.

When are the Haswell Macbook Pros coming?

 

[kulapik]

So I have been waiting for SR4, and checking the requirements it needs a 1GB dedicated RAM. Mine has 512MB. Is it really that important? Could I use something to make it bigger or should I buy another laptop? Thank you.

 

[K.Jack]

So I bought my laptop and for some reason Alienware doesn't ship a copy of WIN 8 DVD with the system. So I call and they sent me a USB, but it isn't a typical WIN OS DVD, it's a resource and recover. The problem is I'm trying to wipe my 750gb HDD that came with the system and install the new OS partition on my 256gb MSATA HDD I bought separate, but it doesn't give me your typical WIN install processes.

So if I just went out an bought an OEM version of WIN, would it matter, or is there some kinda of proprietary thing of the laptop that wouldn't let me?

I downloaded all the drivers and what not off of dell's site and put em on a USB so once it's installed I can install all my drivers.

I see you posted on NBR.

Country where it will be purchased : Ireland (so from UK online)
Maximum budget: €1000
Max size: 3kg
Planned usage: Dota 2, programming Java
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 I suppose?

It's comfort I'm also thinking about.

Currently leaning towards:
15.6" Optimus IV - €946.00
Core i5 3230 2.6GHz
8GB RAM
Nvidia 660M
500GB 7200RPM HD

Alternatively:
14" SkyFire III - €934.00
Core i5 3230 2.6GHz
8GB RAM
Nvidia 760M
500GB 7200RPM HD

Thoughts?

Well, the 760M is significantly faster than the 660M.

Any particularly good values on laptops under/around $700? I'd prefer something smaller than 17 inches, and I'm not expecting a ton performance-wise. Just want 30fps+ on medium/low settings, 720p, for recent and upcoming games.

This will do that. For a bit more, this nets you a quad core.

My girlfriend's looking for a laptop that'll be able to run League of Legends well, with a max budget of £300 (£350 at a push). Anyone know of one?

Link me to some of your retailers, and I'll see what I can find.

Well my max isn't a hard $500, but taking tax into account as well and the price becomes $650+. That said, if it's really worth it I'd be willing to raise my hard max to $600.

I also would rather go to a store and buy one than order it online. Are there any brands that I should definitely avoid (I hear HP is bad)?

How are these laptops?

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/dell-dell-inspiron-15-15-6-touchscreen-laptop-intel-pentium-2127u-500gb-hdd-4gb-ram-windows-8-i15rvt-6192blk/10257575.aspx?path=9ce99af73e4914d7d0eb7e9a0e3c1d2den02&SearchPageIndex=1
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-v5-15-6-touchscreen-laptop-iron-amd-a8-5557m-500gb-hdd-8gb-ram-windows-8-v5-552p-8646/10254571.aspx?path=bf3295421b6f40044288e320f76e2496en02&SearchPageIndex=1 (I'm personally leaning towards this one)
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-ca/product/acer-acer-aspire-v7-15-6-ultrabook-gunmetal-intel-core-i5-3337u-24gb-ssd-500gb-hdd-12gb-windows-8-v7-581-6489/10254572.aspx?path=226359e5ff9e81e3595821eea0ca4579en02
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-ca/product/toshiba-toshiba-l70d-17-3-laptop-silver-amd-a10-5750m-750gb-hdd-8gb-ram-windows-8-l70d-a-009/10257002.aspx?path=5a4d95fafd364be604deb8670c2022cben02
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/acer-acer-aspire-v3-17-3-laptop-iron-intel-pentium-2020m-750gb-hdd-8gb-windows-8-v3-731-4654/10254568.aspx?path=928e4a8c66976054992d20c33d0e7a08en02&SearchPageIndex=1

The one you like is the only half decent machine of the bunch, so if it comes down to these only, choose that.

When are the Haswell Macbook Pros coming?

Some say October.

So I have been waiting for SR4, and checking the requirements it needs a 1GB dedicated RAM. Mine has 512MB. Is it really that important? Could I use something to make it bigger or should I buy another laptop? Thank you.

What matters more is whether your card supports DirectX 11. Which do you have?

 

[Elija2]

The one you like is the only half decent machine of the bunch, so if it comes down to these only, choose that.

It's only half-decent? How does it compare to the one you recommended before?

 

[K.Jack]

It's only half-decent? How does it compare to the one you recommended before?

The CPU in the laptop I linked is about 15% faster, and the 8650G has 384 shaders vs the 256 shaders of the 8550G.

 

[Elija2]

The CPU in the laptop I linked is about 15% faster, and the 8650G has 384 shaders vs the 256 shaders of the 8550G.

Well I can't seem to find your laptop for sale anywhere near me, so I might have to go for mine. It's cheaper anyway, so that's a good thing. Thanks for your help.

 

[Nickle]

So I've narrowed my choices down to the Lenovo y510p or the Lenovo y500 (if the y500 is significantly cheaper). But I figure that I should just wait for summer of next year, when the deals are usually the best. Will these two models be available then? And will they be significantly cheaper, or only like $100 cheaper?
Thanks for all the assistance. This thread has really helped me out.

 

[K.Jack]

So I've narrowed my choices down to the Lenovo y510p or the Lenovo y500 (if the y500 is significantly cheaper). But I figure that I should just wait for summer of next year, when the deals are usually the best. Will these two models be available then? And will they be significantly cheaper, or only like $100 cheaper?
Thanks for all the assistance. This thread has really helped me out.

Summer of next year? Are you for real?

No, in Q2 of 2014 there will be all new models, with brand new CPUs and GPUs in them. No one can say whether the Y510p will even be available at that time.

 

[Nickle]

Summer of next year? Are you for real?

No, in Q2 of 2014 there will be all new models, with brand new CPUs and GPUs in them. No one can say whether the Y510p will even be available at that time.

Okay, then in that case I'll get it during the holidays. Thanks for all the help.

 

[braves01]

Summer of next year? Are you for real?

No, in Q2 of 2014 there will be all new models, with brand new CPUs and GPUs in them. No one can say whether the Y510p will even be available at that time.

On a similar note, make sure you get the Lenovo as maxed out as you want it, because I doubt the advertised y510p ultrabay accessories are ever going to be sold separately.

 

[graywolf323]

When are the Haswell Macbook Pros coming?

rumor is next month with an event announcing them and the new iPads coming in early October

OS X Mavericks is supposedly launching at in late October so the new Macbook Pros would most likely release alongside it

 

[MogCakes]

Country where it will be purchased: USA
Maximum budget: $1500
Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight): 17" screen
Planned usage (what kind of games or specific games it must run, if heavily gaming at all): TERA, FFXIV:ARR at high settings
Whatever else you find relevant, misc. things such as desired battery life, screen resolution, fan noise, etc: 1920x1080 resolution, good cooling, decent speakers

Note: I will also be using programs such as AutoCAD and Revit, so it's not purely a gaming laptop. I'm not even sure I can find a laptop with the desired specs at my budget, this is more a 'is it possible' kind of question. I fall into the student category, so a laptop is more ideal for me than a desktop, although I am also looking at mini-ITX desktop builds.

 

[GraveHorizon]

Got my new laptop from UPS today, and I'm fiddling around with the settings and such. Weirdly enough, Chivalry runs better at default settings than it does on my desktop, where I have to turn everything down to get it running smooth.

Thank you to everyone for your help and advice, especially K.Jack. This laptop is really nice, and should last me quite a while.

 

[K.Jack]

Country where it will be purchased: USA
Maximum budget: $1500
Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight): 17" screen
Planned usage (what kind of games or specific games it must run, if heavily gaming at all): TERA, FFXIV:ARR at high settings
Whatever else you find relevant, misc. things such as desired battery life, screen resolution, fan noise, etc: 1920x1080 resolution, good cooling, decent speakers

Note: I will also be using programs such as AutoCAD and Revit, so it's not purely a gaming laptop. I'm not even sure I can find a laptop with the desired specs at my budget, this is more a 'is it possible' kind of question. I fall into the student category, so a laptop is more ideal for me than a desktop, although I am also looking at mini-ITX desktop builds.

MSI GT70 20C fits the bill nicely.

i7-4700MQ + GTX 770M are good for gaming and CAD work, best speakers of any gaming notebook, and the keyboard ranks in the top 2, only challenged by Alienware.

Got my new laptop from UPS today, and I'm fiddling around with the settings and such. Weirdly enough, Chivalry runs better at default settings than it does on my desktop, where I have to turn everything down to get it running smooth.

Thank you to everyone for your help and advice, especially K.Jack. This laptop is really nice, and should last me quite a while.

That's great, enjoy your new laptop.

 

[The Insane Dufresne]

Hey K. Jack,

Do you have any thoughts on the Acer Aspire V3-772G-9822?

 

[K.Jack]

Hey K. Jack,

Do you have any thoughts on the Acer Aspire V3-772G-9822?

Yeah, I've looked at that one. At first glance it seems great, but then I dug deeper and saw that they skimped in the most crucial area: The GTX 760M has DDR3 instead of GDDR5 VRAM.

Then I look at the price. $1,129.99, when MSI's GE70, with a much faster GTX 765M GDDR5 is just $1,268.99. So less than $150 more nets you a faster GPU and CPU, better build quality, a much better illuminated keyboard, and a standard 2 years of warranty, which includes one year of accidental as long as you register online within 30 days. Newegg video overview.

As if you couldn't tell, I recommend the MSI GE70 over the V3.

 

[MogCakes]

MSI GT70 20C fits the bill nicely.

i7-4700MQ + GTX 770M are good for gaming and CAD work, best speakers of any gaming notebook, and the keyboard ranks in the top 2, only challenged by Alienware.

Funny enough I was looking at the GT70 last night and was almost sold on it but didn't know how well it would run AutoCAD and the like. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Blablurn]

PES 2014 only detects the Intel 4000, not the GT650M. I hate it when games do this.

 

[inanutshell]

PES 2014 only detects the Intel 4000, not the GT650M. I hate it when games do this.

I'm pretty sure sometimes games will report only seeing the integrated graphics even when using the dedicated video card.

 

[K.Jack]

Funny enough I was looking at the GT70 last night and was almost sold on it but didn't know how well it would run AutoCAD and the like. Thanks a bunch!

No prob. I actually have a GT70, just the one with a GTX 780M. It's truly a great laptop.

I recommend you consider adding an SSD to be the main drive..

PES 2014 only detects the Intel 4000, not the GT650M. I hate it when games do this.

You should be able to easily set which card is used, in the Nvidia Control Panel.

 

[Saucy_XL]

Alright so my current laptop isnt cutting it anymore (3 years old) and the battery is pretty worn down anyway. Looking for a gaming laptop and my budget is $800-$1000. The Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p seems just out of my price range unfortunately. How is the ASUS G75VW-NH71?. How does it compare to the Y500? Also what are the better laptop brands at the moment? This is for the U.S.

Thanks guys.

 

[K.Jack]

Alright so my current laptop isnt cutting it anymore (3 years old) and the battery is pretty worn down anyway. Looking for a gaming laptop and my budget is $800-$1000. The Lenovo IdeaPad Y510p seems just out of my price range unfortunately. How is the ASUS G75VW-NH71?. How does it compare to the Y500? Also what are the better laptop brands at the moment? This is for the U.S.

Thanks guys.

So, to be clear, this Y510p SKU is out of reach? That's tough. If we're going with $999, the Y510p which is priced at that w/ free shipping on the Lenovo site is a much better deal than a 2 generations old ASUS. I don't like the Y500 because of the dual core CPU.

 

[Azure J]

How does the sound system in the newer Alienware 17s compare to the Dynaudio in the MSI GT70s? I know from testing the latter out that it's pretty much the best free, but I'd still like to know if the Alienware's within the same ballpark or not.

 

[Saucy_XL]

So, to be clear, this Y510p SKU is out of reach? That's tough. If we're going with $999, the Y510p which is priced at that w/ free shipping on the Lenovo site is a much better deal than a 2 generations old ASUS. I don't like the Y500 because of the dual core CPU.

Yea I can't go higher than $1000, and unfortunately going up to ~$1200 seems to give a sizable performance increase. Awesome deals on the Lenovo site though, thanks!

 

[Karish]

I finally got my MSI GS70! What should I flex its muscle with?

 

[MogCakes]

I came across a review for the GT70 Dragon Edition by AnandTech that listed temperature issues with the unit causing it to throttle performance of the 780m. Have you experienced hot temps with yours Jack? You might not have the Dragon Edition but you did say yours has the GTX 780m.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7076/msi-gt70-dragon-edition-notebook-review-haswell-and-the-gtx-780m/4

The review seems to place the blame on the single cooling fan design. I'm reading conflicting reports elsewhere about the cooling and thought I'd get some input from an actual owner of the laptop.

 

[K.Jack]

How does the sound system in the newer Alienware 17s compare to the Dynaudio in the MSI GT70s? I know from testing the latter out that it's pretty much the best free, but I'd still like to know if the Alienware's within the same ballpark or not.

They definitely compete with each other.

I finally got my MSI GS70! What should I flex its muscle with?

Congrats. What do you have installed? Something like Skyrim, XCOM, or Bioshock Infinite would be good for a run.

I came across a review for the GT70 Dragon Edition by AnandTech that listed temperature issues with the unit causing it to throttle performance of the 780m. Have you experienced hot temps with yours Jack? You might not have the Dragon Edition but you did say yours has the GTX 780m.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7076/msi-gt70-dragon-edition-notebook-review-haswell-and-the-gtx-780m/4

The review seems to place the blame on the single cooling fan design. I'm reading conflicting reports elsewhere about the cooling and thought I'd get some input from an actual owner of the laptop.

The Dragon Edition is the same as the standard GT70, on the inside. So, Anandtech got a bad GT70. In fact, they've recently received two more in from MSI, so we'll stay tuned for that retesting.

As far as mine, I rarely even run the fan on turbo, because temps stay in the mid-to-high 80s with the standard fan speed. I only use the higher speeds if I am running a CPU overclock via Intel XTU and need cooler temps to maintain the speeds.

I just tested Borderlands 2 with the fan speed on max, and @ 3.4Gnz my CPU cores maxed at 73C, while the GTX 780M topped at 68C. So the cooling is incredible, even with single fan. What someone pointed out was that the GT70 has a 12V fan, which is way more power than any other manufacturer is spending on their fans. And here's the community made Fan Control v1.2, It gives more speeds than MSI's default profiles.

 

[OverHeat]

I came across a review for the GT70 Dragon Edition by AnandTech that listed temperature issues with the unit causing it to throttle performance of the 780m. Have you experienced hot temps with yours Jack? You might not have the Dragon Edition but you did say yours has the GTX 780m.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7076/msi-gt70-dragon-edition-notebook-review-haswell-and-the-gtx-780m/4

The review seems to place the blame on the single cooling fan design. I'm reading conflicting reports elsewhere about the cooling and thought I'd get some input from an actual owner of the laptop.

No problem with mine at all.