I don't know which notebook to get!

Geeky1

I've got two, possibly three notebooks I'm looking at to replace my Sager 5620:

The Sager NP4750:
Display: 17" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) "WideAngles-Bright" LCD w/ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/128MB DDR
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3400+ w/ 1024KB L2 cache

The Dell Inspiron XPS:
Display: 15.4" WUXGA (1920x1200) "WideAngles-Bright" LCD w/ATI Mobility Radeon 9800 w/256MB DDR
Processor: Intel Pentium 4C 3.4GHz

The Sager NP8790:
Display: 17" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) "WideAngles-Bright" LCD w/ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/256MB DDR
Processor: Intel Pentium 4C 3.4GHz
Note: The 8790 takes 2 hard drives internally and has hardware RAID.

Everything else on them is the same- 1GB DDR400 (dual channel in the dell), 7200rpm Hitachi 60GB drives, 8x DVD/24/10/24 CD-RW, etc.

The Sager 4750 gets much better battery life (~2-3.5hrs/battery vs. 1-2hrs for the Dell and 8790) but its got a LOT less power too. The 9800m is based on the x800 series; the 9700m is based on the 9600XT. The Dell should hit about 20k in 3dmark2001se; the Sagers will be lucky to hit 13. Also, the Dell DEFINATELY supports hardware monitoring, while the Sagers may or may not.

So, I don't know what I want to do. My laptops end up being my primary system- I use them in class, for homework, to play games, etc. What do you guys think?

EMT

Voted for NP4750. Just use desktop for very serious gaming. Wish I had battery life like that.

primesuspect

Whichever one costs the most money, get that one. Hell, buy all three.....

qparadox

I know you're set in your ways, but I seriously recommend getting a desktop and a small and light laptop with ub3r battery life for your classes. Other than my ub3r screen I really wish I'd done that. The $4k I spent on my D800 could have bought a sweet small centrino and a high end gaming desktop. Since you won't be happy until you got the biggest shwang you might as well get the XPS and then worry about the size later

mmonnin

Yeah those are radio buttons and not check boxes. I want to vote for all 2!:)

Straight_Man

Geeky1 wrote:

I've got two, possibly three notebooks I'm looking at to replace my Sager 5620:

The Sager NP4750:
Display: 17" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) "WideAngles-Bright" LCD w/ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/128MB DDR
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3400+ w/ 1024KB L2 cache

The Dell Inspiron XPS:
Display: 15.4" WUXGA (1920x1200) "WideAngles-Bright" LCD w/ATI Mobility Radeon 9800 w/256MB DDR
Processor: Intel Pentium 4C 3.4GHz

The Sager NP8790:
Display: 17" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) "WideAngles-Bright" LCD w/ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/256MB DDR
Processor: Intel Pentium 4C 3.4GHz
Note: The 8790 takes 2 hard drives internally and has hardware RAID.

Everything else on them is the same- 1GB DDR400 (dual channel in the dell), 7200rpm Hitachi 60GB drives, 8x DVD/24/10/24 CD-RW, etc.

The Sager 4750 gets much better battery life (~2-3.5hrs/battery vs. 1-2hrs for the Dell and 8790) but its got a LOT less power too. The 9800m is based on the x800 series; the 9700m is based on the 9600XT. The Dell should hit about 20k in 3dmark2001se; the Sagers will be lucky to hit 13. Also, the Dell DEFINATELY supports hardware monitoring, while the Sagers may or may not.

So, I don't know what I want to do. My laptops end up being my primary system- I use them in class, for homework, to play games, etc. What do you guys think?

If your vision is real good, the Dell (everything will look smaller but sharper and cleaner edged). Everything is likely to be a bit smaller on laptop but it will let you plug in a monitor for at home or in the dorm and it has the better video. The XPS is also Dell's entry for a desktop replacement, though AFAIK there is an XPS with a 17" matrix screen available in the configurator options sets now.

If you wear glasses or are nearsighted, get the higher end Sager, or if durability is a major factor, get the higher end Sager. The other thing about the Dell that might make your decision for you, it does NOT have 256 MMB of dedicated video GRAM in it, unlike what a desktop would have if a video card were to be used (GPU can address that much, some of or most of it will be shared RAM if it does use that much). I would double the base RAM on that computer at least, especially for gaming.

For the average college kid who games one heck of a huge lot, would say its a toss-up Between the Dell exapanded as I said, partly would be depending on how close to the bone these options are now. For you, particularly, would say the Sager 8700 series. More durable than most Dells, reasonable if not hyper-good video. Also, Dell uses more 5400 RPM and 4200 RPM HDs to save on power consumption, Sager limits video for same reason.

If I knew both had 5400 HDs, would still say Sager, but you CAN get a 4200 RPM HD in an XPS. And 4200 RPM will seem and be too slow after using a desktop a lot. Yeah, I'm playing devil's advocate, but to make a point-- desktop replacements are not all the way there yet on laptops for those heavy into media or high-end latest gaming. The Sager is more balanced than the XPS you are talking about with that specific spec set shown. With options, the Dell COULD be better, though. Sapare battery, meking sure you had a fast HD, 512 MB RAM and not 256 (for same reason that a desktop needs more, plus extra for video chip).

edcentric

I am really torn. On the one hand I like qp's thinking, but I hate sycronizing machines. Is there no 1.6 P-M machine with high end graphics? The 1.6P-M will run with a 3.4P4 and have over double battery life.

Geeky1

I've looked, Ed, believe me, I've looked. No Pentium M notebook has the kind of graphics horsepower that even the Sagers do. Sure, there are some with Mobile Radeon 9700/128mb cards like Mudd's PowerPro, but they all use much lower clocked gpus and video ram than the sagers do.