Looking to get a new laptop, advice?
I'm looking to purchase a new laptop within the next week or two for use with school work, general multimedia, and gaming. As far as gaming goes, I'm looking for something that can run games like Skyrim, SC2, LoL (Though that's hardly worth mentioning in this context), etc. on med-high settings. My budget is around $1100, though the more I can save the better.
One possibility I'm currently looking at is HP Pavilion dv6t quad edition with:
-Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
-NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory
-8GB DDR3 System Memory
-1TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
-32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
-15.6-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
Which will end up at about $1001.
I'm rather new to the computer hardware world, and I know a few of those pieces may be a bit overkill, but I was wondering if there were any recommendations for upgrades or downgrades in the hardware, or any other brands/models I should take a look at. General advice on the subject is appreciated as well. Thanks!
One possibility I'm currently looking at is HP Pavilion dv6t quad edition with:
-Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
-NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory
-8GB DDR3 System Memory
-1TB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
-32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
-15.6-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
Which will end up at about $1001.
I'm rather new to the computer hardware world, and I know a few of those pieces may be a bit overkill, but I was wondering if there were any recommendations for upgrades or downgrades in the hardware, or any other brands/models I should take a look at. General advice on the subject is appreciated as well. Thanks!
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Oh, and out of curiosity, do you think the 32gb SSD cache and 2gb gfx card are good to have? From what I've read, they both seem to be decent additions for $50 apiece.
Edit: After further searching, it appears to come in a metal shell by default, so disregard my first question.
Edit: Sorry, got ninjaposted and didn't realize it. When's the release date for that MSI? That 7970m looks glorious, but I don't know much about the A10. Would it be considerably better for me to wait for that?
While the A10 is a good processor design from the info I have (limited to what is public knowledge), it is not yet out for laptops that I know of-- what I have heard about so far on it was in desktop machine implementations.
HP or Lenovo would be my choice of brands. I am an ex-OEM and part-time consultant in IT. I also favor Intel due to bad experience with AMD stuff (way back, 20 and then 8+ years ago).
MSI has had a history of using plastic cases, and one of the folks here (IIRC, fatcat) had a all-plastic hinge on one MSI laptop that looked mashed beyond belief in the photo he posted. He went with an HP when MSI would not help him out, saying that the computer was out of warranty (IIRC).
Check out long-term warranty prices also please, unless you plan on only having this laptop a year. HP offers long-term warranties now, spurred partially by Dell and Lenovo offering same economically.
Suffice it to say, the AMD A10 chip is every bit as good as a Core i5, but the CPU matters less than the GPU at 1080p, which I believe the MSI laptop is. The 7970M, as you seem to know, pulls its weight incredibly well.
I can find out the launch date of the laptop on Tuesday if you're interested.
@Lincoln Suggestion for the forum, for people that work in the industry just something in their signature that clarify's this, so they don't feel obligated to post it over and over. So guys that work for hardware or game companies don't have to explain themselves every time they post.
Both 1080 with discrete graphics.
Neither of them as powerful as what you are looking at.
They are nice machines, I love the screens.
I have a Pavilion dv6t quad edition (albeit with a Radeon GPU, not Nvidia) and I love it so far. Would definitely recommend it. Also, if you check retailmenot.com you can probably find a nice juicy coupon code to use on it (I found one on there for 33% off when I ordered mine).
EDIT: and just to throw some extra info at you to back up what I have to say, see this:
http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/tech-support-showdown-2011.aspx?page=14
Laptops in general are unreliable. The average two-year failure rate is something like 12% last I checked. ALWAYS buy from a company that stands behind their products (and get the extended warranty FFS).
However, you are right that the industry failure rate for laptops is about 12%.
The only laptop brands I'd buy from at this point are Lenovo, Toshiba HP or Dell. In descending order based on what I've read about their reliability and support. Those or Apple if you really want to pay their tax (though it's not worth it in my opinion).
Yeah, that's actually a major draw for me with this laptop. It takes about $500 off the "original price" (Though its really only $250 off their instant rebate.) I think I would stay away from a non-metal shell, to avoid that kind of thing happening to me. And as a general rule, I take incredibly good care of my stuff, especially if I'm tossing $1000+ at it.
I have two more questions, by the way: With the coupon, upgrading from a 2.3 ghz i7 to a 2.7 ghz i7 would cost me about $115. While this might put me a bit over budget, It would be small enough that I could deal with it. Would it be worth it to go for this? What potential advantages would it have?
Also, I know this is PC hardware and this is a software question, but since its still rather relevant to the thread topic: What should I do about antivirus software, firewall, etc? I've heard that it's really not worth paying for with the laptop, but do you guys have any recommendations in that category?
Don't buy any software from your laptop manufacturer, with the possible exception of Office (and even then, only if you absolutely know you NEED microsoft office and that Libre Office, Open Office or Google Docs won't do). For Antivirus, always remove whatever crap they pre-install and install Avira Free Antivirus. For the firewall, you're going to have Windows 7... it has a passable firewall preinstalled. You don't need a 3rd party one, just make sure you don't turn the Windows Firewall off.