Laptop Market question

I am looking to buy a new laptop but I'm wondering if right now is the time. I want something that is close to the power of my desktop. I want to be able to do my web design on the fly and a little 3d Max. I am looking at The Sager NP9262 right now. The Sager offers a Quad core and sli gtx. My only problem is that the thing is a beast at 11lbs and almost 3" thick! So do you guys think the market is going to shift soon and we will see specs like this coming in smaller packages and lower prices?

Thanks,
Ryan

You're not going to get the same performance on a notebook as a professional graphics workstation without some tradeoffs. I think you could get a very good notebook with some slightly lower specs and not give up too much. Web graphics and development really don't take too much power.

I would check out the Dell Precision M6300 workstation.

I don't believe you need SLI GTX's unless you need the best of the best.

I believe the 8600M GT comparative in the CAD side of nvidia would be perfect.

I would suspect it would get smaller, but that is when the cases get smaller. Those companies are not really looking for portability as much as a powerhouse desktop replacement.

When Dell or the other mainstream companies start using the GTX's and Quad core's will be the time that you will find a thin lappy.

I always feel like I need to buy the best and sometimes thats not always good! As far as the trade offs, I am aware I am going to lose some things but I don't want to lose a lot. My current setup which is in my sig will process a panoramic picture of 1gb in size in about 7 minutes in cs3 where as the highest end computer at my work which is a c2d 2.4 w/2gb ram takes about 40-45 minutes. I don't care to waste time and if I'm out shooting pictures for a client I dont want them to wait that long to see results.

My main reason for this thread was to see if any of you watched that market more than I have and know of changes coming in hardware. I would hate to spend $3k on the Sager and find out next week that Dell has a 13" version for $1800, know what I mean?

Thanks,
Ryan

fragged3d said:

I always feel like I need to buy the best and sometimes thats not always good! As far as the trade offs, I am aware I am going to lose some things but I don't want to lose a lot. My current setup which is in my sig will process a panoramic picture of 1gb in size in about 7 minutes in cs3 where as the highest end computer at my work which is a c2d 2.4 w/2gb ram takes about 40-45 minutes. I don't care to waste time and if I'm out shooting pictures for a client I dont want them to wait that long to see results.

My main reason for this thread was to see if any of you watched that market more than I have and know of changes coming in hardware. I would hate to spend $3k on the Sager and find out next week that Dell has a 13" version for $1800, know what I mean?

Thanks,
Ryan

Click to expand...

Please take note of my experience, I beg of you. I made a huge mistake and will NEVER buy a laptop like this again.

The 06 school year (when I went to college ), I got a Toshiba P100-9612. Complete with a CoreDuo 2.0ghz processor and a 7900GTX Go eek. Paid a nice 3.2k for it. This was supposed to be a desktop replacement as I had a HUGE Armor case with watercooled dual xeons.

Two weeks after being used (not even for gaming really), it started black screening, nothing in Windows was showing an issue. No blue screens, no logs, nothing.

Brought it in for repair locally...twice (within a week). Couldn't fix it. They told me to send it to Toshiba. So I did, twice. They fixed the issue for a little while and it started happening again coming up on the 07 school year. I sent it in a final time and they agreed to send me a "new" one (read: refurb ). This one worked great....for awhile. The GPU fan wouldn't run while in the OS (in the BIOS, it worked perfect) and it would reach 110c at the desktop. Brought this one in for repair, they fixed it (yay!).

Recently, it started overheating in games (while be elevated with active cooling under the laptop, yes, there was no dust; I keep it very clean) to the point it would stutter. Shortly after, the fan stopped working in Windows (AGAIN) and I have now just today sent it in for repair.

Conclusion: 3.2k gaming laptop purchased Aug, 2006; I still don't have a working laptop due to it overheating while gaming.

Sorry to ramble, but laptops just don't have the cooling to run high end hardware without lighting your pants on fire!

thideras, I think you just got a lemon. One of my friends had a toshiba that was a nightmare which is why I avoid them. I've had decent luck with Dell, HP, and dare I say it Gateway. I hope they send you a new one with upgraded parts. When my single layer DVD RW drive died on my dell they sent me a dual layer one. Your point is good about the overheating though.

I just got a new notebook (see my HP 6910p post). Right now I think it's awesome but you never know. My VW from hell didn't show it's evil side for a few weeks either. It is unfortunate when buying a 2-3K machine online for a major manufacturer is a crapshoot.

fragged3d, Buying from Dell is all about timing. Last week they had SC440 servers for $199. Sometimes you can save $1000 by buying on the right day. It's a bit rediculous but well worth it if you can wait.

I think you can probably do most of what you want with less and not notice much difference.

Ebola said:

thideras, I think you just got a lemon.

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Yes, two lemons; but it is still caused by the lack of cooling in the laptop. Wish I could ditch Toshiba...

I dunno I guess you got it a lot worse than me lol. I had my G1s from Asus for exactly six months before it decided to die on me. Luckily their customer support was amazing and exactly one week after sending it to them I got it back with a new motherboard and hard drive. Haven't had any trouble since then with it.

Slamjack said:

I dunno I guess you got it a lot worse than me lol. I had my G1s from Asus for exactly six months before it decided to die on me. Luckily their customer support was amazing and exactly one week after sending it to them I got it back with a new motherboard and hard drive. Haven't had any trouble since then with it.

Click to expand...

There is the issue though, it isn't Toshiba's support (it is actually very good), it is the design of the laptop. I have seen this computer apart (thanks to the local shop that fixed it) and the gpu and cpu have a 2 x 0.5 x 0.5 inch heatsink.....on those parts, that is way less than adequate.

thideras said:

But laptops just don't have the cooling to run high end hardware without lighting your pants on fire!

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QFT

Desktop replacements are always a compromise in some way and cooling has historically been problematic in these behemoths.

Toshiba BUSINESS class ultraportables, on the other hand, especially the Portege series, have build quality on a par with Lenovo (another brand we carry).

FWIW, Lemons happen in all brands. We've been selling Toshibas exclusively since 2001 and with over 100 units in the field have yet to see a single failure. We also have about 20 Lenovos and have had 2 of them fail completely (both X61s). It's all just the luck of the draw.

I just got my 2nd Laptop, it's an iBuypower one I got from newegg, got a good deal on it, as mentioned in another thread. It's a Compal FL90 laptop though with the iBuypower tag on it.

Anyhow I love it, it works great better then my Dell XPS M170 ever did. Really my only complaint is that the battery sticks out the back about 2" or so, but really it isn't a big deal.

It gets warm while playing WoW, but I don't think it's over heating, I haven't got any temps yet, I need to install something just haven't got around to it. Also it will run 2 accts of WoW at the same time & run them very well. Though I don't really do that much as I don't want to over do it, usually just do it when I need to transfer stuff between toons while at work or something when I'm not atm my home pc as well.

So do you think I can get pretty good speed from a 2.4ghz c2d, 2gb ram, 128mb video XPS1330?

My last laptop was a 13" Macbook and what a dissappointment for what I needed it for, loved the os though!

fragged3d said:

So do you think I can get pretty good speed from a 2.4ghz c2d, 2gb ram, 128mb video XPS1330?

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Yes, that will be a very nice system. What video card though?

I refuse to comment on the Mac since I would have my post edited

The only video card they offer in the 1330 is the 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS.

My Sony Vaio SZ series that has the 13.3" LCD and came with a 7400 Nvidia VC (I've had it about a year) - let me tell you, these smaller laptops are wonderful and much more powerful than they were two or three years ago.

I had a Sager laptop that was loaded will all the goodies about three years ago, and it was so heavy I hated it; it didn't matter that it was as powerful as a desktop.

You might consider stepping up to Dell's XPS line of notebooks with a larger screen. 13.3" is a decent size, but I wouldn't want to do any work on it for long periods.
Larger screened models in the XPS line will come with higher end video cards as well.

If you want something portable though the 13.3" screens are awesome. It's nice going on travel through airports and not dreading the fact that I have to lug my laptop over my shoulder everywhere I go. I barely know it's there honestly.

These smaller ones that are loaded up hold their value extremely well, so if you change your mind, you'll probably get a lot more of your investment back - especially with a Dell.

Get a C2D, 2GB RAM, best screen they offer, oh get the fast HDD too (at least 5400rpm). You should be good to go. Hell I'm typing on mine now I love the little dude so much!

I just can't see how the 1330 with a 128mb video card could do so much. The size does bother me, I work, go to school and do side work, portability is a factor but if I had to live with a 17" screen I guess I could. I just don't want to buy another laptop thats dwarfed and I'll never be happy with.

I'd compromise and go with a 15" widescreen - still probably about 8lbs loaded up. You'll be able to get a better graphics card as well. I was specifically looking for something powerful and small, but with the emphasis on small/portable. Seems like you want portable, but your emphasis is on power.
I did previously have a inspiron 9300 that had a 17" widescreen and it was a great laptop. Too big to carry around on a regular basis though. Get it with a 7200rpm drive with plenty of RAM and it'll run like a desktop.