Looking for help choosing a new laptop

**cdahl4** · 07-29-12 at 05:46 AM

I'm looking for some advice on a new laptop to get. For starters, I know I can get more pc for the money if I go with a desktop. I don't want a desktop. That said, I would like the advice of members here as my pc knowledge is limited.

Some things to consider-
I want a 17" screen

Need to play current games on lowest settings, but frame rate high (I figure if it can play games, photoshop, and other power hungry programs will run great) Right now, photoshop cs6 is a little slow on my NV79, not unusable, but slow.

No Dell's!!

Cost, around $700-$800

Also, I would like some reasoning behind anyone's suggestions. No just, "This one rocks!!!"

Thank you so much for any insight you can give me.

**blaxroze** · 07-29-12 at 06:09 AM

I'm not familiar with 17" price range but afaik, 17" with gaming capability will cost more than $1000. Check this out if you still interested in 17"
asus G75V ($1.4k)

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http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=71893&vpn=G75VW-RS72-CA&manufacture=ASUS

or this 15.6" lenovo Ideapad Y580(less than $1k)

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http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=73015&vpn=20994CU&manufacture=Lenovo

Sempronia · 07-29-12 at 07:04 AM

but my husband bought a 17"-screen Fujitsu laptop about six months ago, and miraculously, it's still working! My spouse is a complete 'newbie', so perhaps he's under some special care from the faerie (we're Irish & in Ireland), but he's had not a single problem. And the display is simply amazing! The only downside to his Fujitsu is that it comes with only 50G, split into two partitions-one is 40G, and the other is 10G & labeled "Drivers". This laptop came with an excellent carrier, a cordless Logitech mouse, an 8G memory stick, a one-year subscription to Bullguard, a set of nice Sony headphones, and a three-year warranty, all for a grand total of 400 Euros.

I realize that you aren't looking for a total package, but the laptop itself seems to be unbreakable. My husband was not allowed to learn to type here in Ireland--that was strictly women's work, and he bangs on his keyboard so hard that I can hear him when I'm downstairs and on the other side of the house, and he slams the cover down, and tosses the thing onto a chair, yet everything works perfectly.

I have a Macbook Pro & and Acer, I've been working with computers since 1981, I treat them with kid gloves, run utilities regularly, install the highest-rated software, make regular backup and clones, but one of my laptops is always in for warranty work, and I've spent a fortune on my beloved machines. But watching my husband banging away on his Fujitsu, I feel like an eejit for the thousands of Euros I've spent.

So take a look at the Fujitsu 17" laptops. It certainly can't hurt, and you just might like what you see!

Cheers!

**PhenomIIX4** · 07-29-12 at 08:02 AM

cdahl4, whats your currency?

**cdahl4** · 07-29-12 at 08:15 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by PhenomIIX4

cdahl4, whats your currency?

USD

**Oamey** · 07-29-12 at 08:43 AM

Try this.

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http://www.fatwallet.com/Dell-Consumer-coupons/code-566480/

It's a 17" XPS with half decent specs for $800 after discount.

Still, I never understood why people purchased such massive laptops. You may want to consider purchasing a smaller laptop and connecting it to a monitor.

**PhenomIIX4** · 07-30-12 at 08:14 AM

Honestly, if you're going to play games on the low settings but with a high frame rate, you will need to spend more and buy a good laptop ($1,000 minimum) now. A gaming laptop with a Nvidia GeForce GTX level graphics card will set you a good 3-5 years without upgrading or buying an entire new laptop.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (20994CU) Notebook Intel Core i7 3610QM(2.30GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 1600 750GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M
$949.99 + free shipping

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http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246628

Sager 17" 1080p screen, Intel Core i5, 8GB of ram, Nvidia GTX 660m, 500GB HDD, no OS (MUST add it for $80) total: $1,027

Any other option will cost you $$$.

Code: Select All

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np6370-clevo-w370et-p-4796.html?wconfigure=yes

**Journalz** · 07-31-12 at 08:34 AM

A side note if you are getting the Lenovo Y580. Get the 1080P screen if you can afford it, much better than the 768. Both screens are glossy (main reason I picked them.. I hate matte screens). Great Speakers, seriously they are very good, better than Harmon Kardon or ASUS's SRS. Only gripe is I wish they had more bass, but for laptop speakers they are one of the very best. Backlit keyboard, strange touchpad (no real traction feel leads to accidental swipes), and chiclet keys. No display port, and some versions of the Y580 get 1 USB 3.0 instead of 2 (very weird).

Hard Drive is a little cramped being next to the graphics card and processor (will generate a lot of heat close to hard drive threshold/max). I recommend replacing the hard drive with a SSD. Last but not least, the WiFi card on this model lacks dual band support, but supports 2.4 Ghz @ 300Mbps. I have a dual band router, and ordered a WiFi card. (I dunno if it will be compatible with the BIOS).

Other than that the support is lofty, but its there. Decent build, and very affordable for the performance. If you don't get a lemon then you should be good for awhile.

The 660M GTX cannot play all the high end games at 1080P resolution on high settings. Drivers are still coming out, so Nvidia might tweak the performance a tad bit.

**Xanth1942** · 07-31-12 at 10:09 AM

Sorry for that money I can't think of any specific laptops. However purely from a performance the main bits I would concern myself with are the quality of the screen, the power of the CPU and graphics card , the amount of RAM and the speed and capacity of the hard drive.

Screen:

Since you into photoshop you really need to go an actually look at the laptops your considering and check out the screens.

At the end of the day your eyes are the best judge of how good a screen is. Depth of colour, crispness. Is it glossy and will that add too much glare for outdoors, near windows etc. Try testing the field of view by looking at the screen from the side. If it still looks good then it's probably a quality screen.

CPU:

For photoshop performance 2nd Gen i7 is good for CPU (3rd Gen better)

RAM:

Photoshop really needs ram so 6GB good. 8GB if you can get it.

Graphics card:

Anything thing nowadays with dedicated 2GB of ram is plenty. Good enough certainly for gaming at reasonable frame rates.

Hard drive:

At least a 7200 rpm hard drive which is better than 5400 rpm. It's simply faster.

Regarding SSDs:

A SSD (Solid State Drive) while very fast, are expensive and add a lot to the cost of the laptop. You would also have to have an external storage if your going to have a lot of large video or image files as SSDs have a much more limited storage capacity.
Really depends of your needs as to whether an SSD is worth it.

Regarding 'No Dells':

Guess you must have has a bad experience with Dell, so I won't make any recommendations except to say they make good gear and rubbish. We've been lucky to always get quality dell. Their warranty service is the best I've seen bar none. But that's just my personal experience.

Recently got my sister in law a 17" Dell inspiron (not even XPS) with 3rd gen i7, 2GB Graphics, 1.5TB 7200rpm drive and 8GB ram. She uses it for video editing which it handles extremely well. It's a very powerful laptop. Cost $1400 AUS with 3 year fixed in your home warranty. The quality of the warranty is important to me. Now I realise that is outside your budget but I was hoping to give a better idea of what you may have to consider to get a laptop that you will be happy with.

Best of luck cdahl4. Hope my waffle was of some use to you :)

**cdahl4** · 07-31-12 at 02:22 PM

Well everybody, thank you for your input. I went with a Acer aspire v3 771-6601. It has a nvidia 630M. For the price, $699, it was really all I'll need. I look forward to posting how things go. So far, Photoshop runs great!

**Xanth1942** · 08-01-12 at 03:19 AM

Seems Pretty good mate, and you stuck to your budget. Glad you found something your happy with. :)

07-29-12 at 06:09 AM	#2
blaxroze Expert Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 950	I'm not familiar with 17" price range but afaik, 17" with gaming capability will cost more than $1000. Check this out if you still interested in 17" asus G75V ($1.4k) Code: Select All http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=71893&vpn=G75VW-RS72-CA&manufacture=ASUS or this 15.6" lenovo Ideapad Y580(less than $1k) Code: Select All http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=73015&vpn=20994CU&manufacture=Lenovo

07-29-12 at 08:43 AM	#6
Oamey Professional Garden Gnome Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: USA Posts: 200	Try this. Code: Select All http://www.fatwallet.com/Dell-Consumer-coupons/code-566480/ It's a 17" XPS with half decent specs for $800 after discount. Still, I never understood why people purchased such massive laptops. You may want to consider purchasing a smaller laptop and connecting it to a monitor.

07-30-12 at 08:14 AM	#7
PhenomIIX4 Banned Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Socket AM2+ Posts: 3,564	Honestly, if you're going to play games on the low settings but with a high frame rate, you will need to spend more and buy a good laptop ($1,000 minimum) now. A gaming laptop with a Nvidia GeForce GTX level graphics card will set you a good 3-5 years without upgrading or buying an entire new laptop. Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (20994CU) Notebook Intel Core i7 3610QM(2.30GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 1600 750GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M $949.99 + free shipping Code: Select All http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246628 Sager 17" 1080p screen, Intel Core i5, 8GB of ram, Nvidia GTX 660m, 500GB HDD, no OS (MUST add it for $80) total: $1,027 Any other option will cost you $$$. Code: Select All http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np6370-clevo-w370et-p-4796.html?wconfigure=yes

07-31-12 at 08:34 AM	#8
Journalz Novice Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: California Posts: 104	A side note if you are getting the Lenovo Y580. Get the 1080P screen if you can afford it, much better than the 768. Both screens are glossy (main reason I picked them.. I hate matte screens). Great Speakers, seriously they are very good, better than Harmon Kardon or ASUS's SRS. Only gripe is I wish they had more bass, but for laptop speakers they are one of the very best. Backlit keyboard, strange touchpad (no real traction feel leads to accidental swipes), and chiclet keys. No display port, and some versions of the Y580 get 1 USB 3.0 instead of 2 (very weird). Hard Drive is a little cramped being next to the graphics card and processor (will generate a lot of heat close to hard drive threshold/max). I recommend replacing the hard drive with a SSD. Last but not least, the WiFi card on this model lacks dual band support, but supports 2.4 Ghz @ 300Mbps. I have a dual band router, and ordered a WiFi card. (I dunno if it will be compatible with the BIOS). Other than that the support is lofty, but its there. Decent build, and very affordable for the performance. If you don't get a lemon then you should be good for awhile. The 660M GTX cannot play all the high end games at 1080P resolution on high settings. Drivers are still coming out, so Nvidia might tweak the performance a tad bit. Last edited by Journalz; 07-31-12 at 08:44 AM.

07-29-12 at 08:02 AM	#4
PhenomIIX4 Banned Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Socket AM2+ Posts: 3,564	cdahl4, whats your currency?

07-29-12 at 08:15 AM	#5
cdahl4 Watching, and waiting Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: It's not cold until it's below 0 Posts: 1,319	Quote: Originally Posted by PhenomIIX4 cdahl4, whats your currency? USD

07-31-12 at 10:09 AM	#9
Xanth1942 Expert Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Land of OZ Posts: 633	Sorry for that money I can't think of any specific laptops. However purely from a performance the main bits I would concern myself with are the quality of the screen, the power of the CPU and graphics card , the amount of RAM and the speed and capacity of the hard drive. Screen: Since you into photoshop you really need to go an actually look at the laptops your considering and check out the screens. At the end of the day your eyes are the best judge of how good a screen is. Depth of colour, crispness. Is it glossy and will that add too much glare for outdoors, near windows etc. Try testing the field of view by looking at the screen from the side. If it still looks good then it's probably a quality screen. CPU: For photoshop performance 2nd Gen i7 is good for CPU (3rd Gen better) RAM: Photoshop really needs ram so 6GB good. 8GB if you can get it. Graphics card: Anything thing nowadays with dedicated 2GB of ram is plenty. Good enough certainly for gaming at reasonable frame rates. Hard drive: At least a 7200 rpm hard drive which is better than 5400 rpm. It's simply faster. Regarding SSDs: A SSD (Solid State Drive) while very fast, are expensive and add a lot to the cost of the laptop. You would also have to have an external storage if your going to have a lot of large video or image files as SSDs have a much more limited storage capacity. Really depends of your needs as to whether an SSD is worth it. Regarding 'No Dells': Guess you must have has a bad experience with Dell, so I won't make any recommendations except to say they make good gear and rubbish. We've been lucky to always get quality dell. Their warranty service is the best I've seen bar none. But that's just my personal experience. Recently got my sister in law a 17" Dell inspiron (not even XPS) with 3rd gen i7, 2GB Graphics, 1.5TB 7200rpm drive and 8GB ram. She uses it for video editing which it handles extremely well. It's a very powerful laptop. Cost $1400 AUS with 3 year fixed in your home warranty. The quality of the warranty is important to me. Now I realise that is outside your budget but I was hoping to give a better idea of what you may have to consider to get a laptop that you will be happy with. Best of luck cdahl4. Hope my waffle was of some use to you :)

07-31-12 at 02:22 PM	#10
cdahl4 Watching, and waiting Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: It's not cold until it's below 0 Posts: 1,319	Well everybody, thank you for your input. I went with a Acer aspire v3 771-6601. It has a nvidia 630M. For the price, $699, it was really all I'll need. I look forward to posting how things go. So far, Photoshop runs great!

08-01-12 at 03:19 AM	#11
Xanth1942 Expert Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Land of OZ Posts: 633	Seems Pretty good mate, and you stuck to your budget. Glad you found something your happy with. :)