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Looking for alternatives to Mac since Arrandale won't come out thread

Check ou the new W700's

complexcommunic said:
What is the best laptop out there with i7? I'm talkin' quality and specs. As far as I'm aware, HP's and Dell's are really low quality, and Toshiba doesn't have very great specs... So I guess it kind of comes down to a Sony, yeah?
How does a vaio F series compare to the rumored specs of the MBP? Also what's the quality like? I know it isn't anywhere near the quality of a mac, but I at least need something.
Click to expand...

The new Lenevo W700's kick some serious hinny... http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4638

Of course starting prices are $2500 on up. I spec'd one with the i7 configuration and it was almost 5k.. I would use it for photography not gaming but I think the spec's would work fine for gaming as well...

from the review...
"If absolute top-end performance is your primary concern – whether or not you're looking to do illustration or edit photos – there's not much out there that we've looked at that bests this particular ThinkPad."
Just a thought... :cool:
 
kny3twalker said:
Whether they have some plastic or are all plastic is my point.
All of those notebooks I referred to use either partial aluminum construction and/or magnesium chassis's. Most also incorporate aluminum or carbon fiber in the outer shells.

The Sagers and Asus are plastic crap; you can deny it, but its the truth. And if you want a high quality display, I listed off several models which would be without a doubt the best you will find in any notebook.
And whether you have seen tons of cheap HPs and Dells with problems is largely irrelevant, since I in fact suggested you look at a premium notebooks.

And while you might have a hard time believing Lenovo are quality notebooks, you do realize that they are IBM's desktop and notebook company now? And Thinkpads are still some of the best notebooks you can buy.

And seriously GTFO of here with this. This is an apple message board.
Click to expand...



Hmmm wow look at this....

Dell Studio XPS 16

SYSTEM COLOR Obsidian Black High Gloss Finish edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz edit
HD DISPLAY Full HD Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD (1920x1080) W/2.0 MP edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
BLUETOOTH Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.1+EDR) edit
WIRELESS CARDS Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) edit
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
VIDEO CARD ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB
BATTERY OPTIONS 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
SOUND OPTIONS Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def Audio - Software Enabled
Studio XPS 16 Studio XPS 16 Notebook
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card
Adobe Reader Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9, Multiple Languages
ACCIDENT AND THEFT PROTECTION 1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection

Only $1200... only problem is it ships 4/9
Which is like a month....

How is the Radeon 4670 compare with the GT 360M?
 
SoCalRich said:
The new Lenevo W700's kick some serious hinny... http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4638

Of course starting prices are $2500 on up. I spec'd one with the i7 configuration and it was almost 5k.. I would use it for photography not gaming but I think the spec's would work fine for gaming as well...

Just a thought... :cool:
Click to expand...

The W700 is actually a year old model; the W510 is the update to the W500 and maybe soon there will be a W710.

Nevertheless, the W700 is not the only quality built, quad core, 17" high spec notebook, the HP Elitebook 8730w, the Dell Precision M6500, and the new MacBook Pro 17" (if it receives a quad core) should all be fairly comparable.
 
ZSamuels28 said:
Hmmm wow look at this....

Dell Studio XPS 16

SYSTEM COLOR Obsidian Black High Gloss Finish edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz edit
HD DISPLAY Full HD Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD (1920x1080) W/2.0 MP edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
BLUETOOTH Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.1+EDR) edit
WIRELESS CARDS Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) edit
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
VIDEO CARD ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB
BATTERY OPTIONS 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
SOUND OPTIONS Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def Audio - Software Enabled
Studio XPS 16 Studio XPS 16 Notebook
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card
Adobe Reader Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9, Multiple Languages
ACCIDENT AND THEFT PROTECTION 1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection

Only $1200... only problem is it ships 4/9
Which is like a month....

How is the Radeon 4670 compare with the GT 360M?
Click to expand...

It appears to be a great PC notebook, the RGB LED display would be nicer (but its not an option on that particular build of this XPS; I checked), and I prefer matte finish over glossy (Latitude/Precision vs Studio XPS).
Also unless you ever plan to use WiMax (its not the same as WiFi), do not waste your money; instead just get the advanced N card by intel. The 4670 is more than likely slower, you will have to read benchmarks.
The best thing I can say about this is that you are at least not spending 2k on a cheaply built notebook.
 
Wow... look at this
HP ENVY 15-1150NR
http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/...Y15_series/rts/3/computer_store/WA843UA%23ABA

That is incredible... and it's upgradable to 16gb ram... wow.... and the gfx card is also really good....

LOL looks like HP copied some apple look there too

ZSamuels28 said:
Wow... look at this
HP ENVY 15-1150NR
http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/...Y15_series/rts/3/computer_store/WA843UA%23ABA

That is incredible... and it's upgradable to 16gb ram... wow.... and the gfx card is also really good....

LOL looks like HP copied some apple look there too
Click to expand...

It's funny HP puts
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830 Graphics with up to 2779MB total graphics memory with 1GB dedicated
in the $1500 computer cause it's newer....

They put
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4830 (M97) with up to 3835MB total graphics memory with 1GB dedicated

In their i7... ew
The 5830 supports DX11.... and is significantly faster to the 4830 despite total graphics memory....
 
ZSamuels28 said:
It's funny HP puts
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830 Graphics with up to 2779MB total graphics memory with 1GB dedicated
in the $1500 computer cause it's newer....

They put
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4830 (M97) with up to 3835MB total graphics memory with 1GB dedicated

In their i7... ew
The 5830 supports DX11.... and is significantly faster to the 4830 despite total graphics memory....
Click to expand...

You can get the 5830 with either the i7 quad core or the i7 arrandale.

Your ENVY 15 series
Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Quad Core processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz edit
Memory 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Hard drive 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit
Graphics card 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5830 Graphics - For i7 Processors edit
Display 15.6" diagonal Full High Definition LED HP Anti-glare Widescreen Display (1920x1080) edit
Personalization Webcam Only edit
Networking Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth edit
Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard edit
Primary battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Polymer Battery edit
$1,774.99
Click to expand...

The quad core is a $300-$400 option.
 
kny3twalker said:
You can get the 5830 with either the i7 quad core or the i7 arrandale.



The quad core is a $300-$400 option.
Click to expand...

Dunno if it is worth the $300-400?
I mean it's mostly for gaming... you think it really is worth it?

I got the envy to 1824, just cause I want the 500gb hard drive...
Also, do you think anti-glare is better or the ultra bright?
 
There's a $300 coupon you can use on the envy out there if you look for it (try techbargains or slickdeals), but it doesn't help the fact the HP is an expensive machine:

To be exact, the new i7s have:
Radeon 5830 (config this)
4 memory slots (16gb max)
USB3

The i5s have the 5830, but 2 memory slots and no USB3.

Don't forget the slice battery ;)
 
JoeG4 said:
There's a $300 coupon you can use on the envy out there if you look for it (try techbargains or slickdeals), but it doesn't help the fact the HP is an expensive machine:

To be exact, the new i7s have:
Radeon 5830 (config this)
4 memory slots (16gb max)
USB3

The i5s have the 5830, but 2 memory slots and no USB3.

Don't forget the slice battery ;)
Click to expand...


Ty so much for showing me the coupon...now I can get the quad i7 with the slice battery for like 1600-1700 awesomeeee

I'm thinking of going with

HP ENVY 15"
* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Quad Core processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz
* 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5830 Graphics - For i7 Processors
* 15.6" diagonal Full High Definition LED HP Ultra Brightview Widescreen Display (1920x1080)
* Webcam Only
* Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
* HP QuickWeb, Corel VideoStudio Pro X2, Corel Paintshop Pro X2, Stardock My Colors
* HP Color Matching Keyboard
* One 6 Cell Lithium Ion Polymer Battery + One 9 Cell HP Envy Slim Fit Extended-Life Notebook Battery
* $10 OFF! System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* No Productivity Software
* HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

Only thing I'm disappointed with is that it has no dvd drive, but w/e I need to get an external one anyway for my netbook and stuff.....

That all comes out to $1,875.15

That's with Tax....

$1,693.99 without tax


Those of you who want the design of a macbook pro, but gaming power.. check out this computer...

It has a unibody design and is lighter than a mac....

And just as durable....
 
$1875! $400 more than I paid for my Sony, that's why I didn't go the HP route.

Well, not entirely - be careful when you order with a coupon (if you do that) - put the coupon in again before you check out!!!

PLEASE.

I almost OD'd my bank account doing that, HP had my money a week, and in the end they were not apologetic about it so I ended up not buying the Envy (I was pissed off that after all of the monkeying around to cancel the order because they "dropped" the coupon while checking out, they offered me nothing).

They're kinda repulsive. Just saying :)

Also, the Envy has no backlit keyboard.
 
JoeG4 said:
$1875! $400 more than I paid for my Sony, that's why I didn't go the HP route.

Well, not entirely - be careful when you order with a coupon (if you do that) - put the coupon in again before you check out!!!

PLEASE.

I almost OD'd my bank account doing that, HP had my money a week, and in the end they were not apologetic about it so I ended up not buying the Envy (I was pissed off that after all of the monkeying around to cancel the order because they "dropped" the coupon while checking out, they offered me nothing).

They're kinda repulsive. Just saying :)

Also, the Envy has no backlit keyboard.
Click to expand...


Hmmm... you sir, are right...
The envy is very expensive...compared to the Sony....
The sony I can get these specs...

*
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor (1.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.80GHz
*
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
*
Black
*
500GB Hard Disk Drive (7200rpm)
*
4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
*
Blu-ray Disc™ player
*
16.4" VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080) with NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)
*
No Fresh Start
*
Microsoft® Works
*
Norton Internet Security™ 2010 (30 Day Trial)

*
No Engraving
*
Large Capacity Battery
*
Keyboard Backlight
*
No Additional Video Editing Software
*
No additional Photo Editing Software

for $1469....
The only thing is the gfx card... how much of a difference is the 330M compared to the HD 5870?
Also.. the weight, but it kinda pisses me off that the envy has NO CD/DVD drive!

This almost made me nut myself...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127055

Amazing deal....
 
For $100 more the best buy one has blu-ray and 2gb more ram.

The newegg one has a faster HD, but you can get a 7200rpm 500gb drive for $80-ish (a good one!). The blu-ray drive costs much more, lol. That said, you can order a SILVER F series from Newegg, but can't buy one from best buy.
 
Lots of great choices. You can't go wrong with any of them.

The 330M is still a good graphics card. The 5830 is better, but it all depends on what types of games you want to play.

Most of the current games will run fine on the 330M. If you want to play Crysis with decent fps though, you'll need the 5830.

If your budget is upwards of $2000 though, I would seriously look at the Sony Vaio Z.

It's an absolutely beautiful machine. Extremely light, and fast and very good battery life.
 
:confused:
JoeG4 said:
For $100 more the best buy one has blu-ray and 2gb more ram.

The newegg one has a faster HD, but you can get a 7200rpm 500gb drive for $80-ish (a good one!). The blu-ray drive costs much more, lol. That said, you can order a SILVER F series from Newegg, but can't buy one from best buy.
Click to expand...

Hmmm this is true....

The newegg one comes out to
$1,419.62 with tax

And the bestbuy one comes out to
$1,496.60 with tax

ZSamuels28 said:
Hmmm this is true....

The newegg one comes out to
$1,419.62 with tax

And the bestbuy one comes out to
$1,496.60 with tax
Click to expand...


Dunno about it... I might get the newegg one... I don't really care that much about blu-ray

And I really don't wanna put down an extra 80-100 for the faster HD... I'd rather just buy it with it in there...
 
I would never buy a laptop or laptop components without setting a deal alert for "laptop" on slickdeals for a week or two.

You can get one for half that price.

I got the Hitachi Travelstar 7200 RPM 500 GB hard drive with 16 mb of cache that everyone raves about here, for just over $50 a couple of weeks ago on newegg.

Just set a deal alert for a 500GB on slickdeals. It comes on sale atleast twice a month.
 
R.Perez said:
The studio XPS's are really nice for the $$$.
Click to expand...

hmm you're right....

Dell Studio XPS 16

SYSTEM COLOR Obsidian Black High Gloss Finish edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 2 yr In-home Service after remote diagnosis + Your Tech Team edit
MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz edit
HD DISPLAY Full HD Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD (1920x1080) W/2.0 MP edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
SOUND OPTIONS Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def Audio - Software Enabled edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive) edit
My Accessories
OFFICE SOFTWARE No Microsoft Office edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months edit
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year edit
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
VIDEO CARD ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB
BATTERY OPTIONS 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
WIRELESS CARDS Intel® 5300 WLAN Wireless-N (3x3) Mini Card
Studio XPS 16 Studio XPS 16 Notebook
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card
Adobe Reader Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9, Multiple Languages
ACCIDENT AND THEFT PROTECTION 1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection


And as a student...
$1404... I hate that the prelim ship date is APRIL
But it is $1,520.51 after tax... and the Vaio beats that....

Also, I think that the geforce 330M is better than the 4670...
 
The screen seemed better than any MacBook Pro screen.

I haven't seen a Dell XPS 16 in person so I can't compare those, but the XPS 16 runs a lot hotter from what I've heard.
 
nimski62 said:
yea.. but the screen you use to view the 330M on is absolute **** on the sony. no LED = BUST.
Click to expand...

What's the advantage of an LED screen?
Also, people are saying the 4670 is about 5-10% better than the GT 330M, but still doesn't render DX11 games, not that it really matters since there aren't many out there atm

Another selling point is the prelim ship date for the Dell is april... OUCH

What do you guys think of the...
Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q870
It's got a great graphics card and it is a little big... but that's not a big deal...
And it's a good price....
Toshiba generally makes a solid computer....
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...?EdpNo=5581200&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs

The screen isn't as good on the Toshiba though
 
Get the HP seriously. Its made of magnesium and aluminum, it has a white LED backlit display, and weights a pound or so less. Also you can choose if you want an Anti-Glare or a Glossy display. You will be hard pressed to find anything comparable; most would be expensive $2000+ workstations or plastic notebooks. Also I am sure with the 6 cell + 9 cell, you will get much more battery life than anything Sony offers. How much did that cost as an upgrade?
 
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