HELP! Asus M70VM vs Clevo/Sager M570TU/NP5796. What is so much better about the Clevo/Sager?

HELP!

It's down to these two. I am sick to death of researching on this forum.

Please tell me which one to buy. Please help me make my decision.

ASUS M70VM-C1 for $2599AU

http://p4laptops.com.au/order-m70vm3.htm

PRICE INCLUDES: Asus M70VM-C1. 17" WUXGA (1920 x 1200) Gloss Display, Intel Core 2 Duo Montevina T9400 2.5Ghz CPU, 4GB DDR2 800 RAM, Nvidia 9600M 512MB Dedicated VRAM (DX10.1) Graphics, 500G (250G*2) SATA HDD, BLURAY READER/DVDRW Dual Layer Super Multi, Vista Home Premium, 802.11A/B/G/N, 1.3MP Webcam (swivel) 10/100/1000 Network, Fax Modem, 8 Cell battery, 4x USB2.0, 1x Firewire, 1x HDMI, 1x E-SATA, 8-in-1/1x Express Card Slot, Black, 2YR Global Asus Warranty, Free Carry Bag, Free Optical Mouse, MS Office Ready. (60 Day Trial)

or

Clevo/Sager M570TU/NP5796 for $3099

http://p4laptops.com.au/order-m57ru-special.htm

PRICE INCLUDES: Metabox M570TU, Intel Montevina T9400 2.53Ghz 1066 FSB 6MB Cache CPU, 4GB DDR3 1066Mhz RAM, 17" WUXGA Glossy Display, 8x DVD-RW Dual Layer, 320GB 7200RPM SATA HDD, NVidia 9800M GT 512MB DDR3 Dedicated VRAM, 2.0 Megapixel Camera, Bluetooth V2, Basic Bag, Fingerprint Reader, WIFI 802.11 GN, No Operating System.


They both have the form factor I want which is

17 inch WUXGA
numberpad on keyboard

They both have the same CPU's and the same amount of RAM. Tey both have fingerprint reader, hdmi and e-sata and they both weigh about the same.

Pros and Cons

ASUS.

Pros

• dual hard drive bays
• CHEAPER
• bluray
• tv tuner
• swivelly camera
• comes with a mouse
• 2 years warranty
• looks great
• Splashtop
• It's ASUS
• virtually silent
• Peace of mind I am buying cheaper really well featured, solid build, good warranty.

Cons

• 9600M GS
• Will need to buy 64 bit OS as I want to go 64 bit as I think it only comes with 32 bit
• Can the 9600M GS cut it

Clevo/Sager

Pros

• 9800M GT
• Faster Ram
• 2 MP Camera
• Peace of mind that it can run any game for the next 2 years

Cons

• More Expensive
• Need to buy OS as well
• Unsure about looks - Orange stripe!???
• Only 1 year warranty
• Loud fans?
• Is it worth it?

I am completely totally and utterly confused between these two.

ASUS gives me the most fully featured laptop I have ever seen. My issue with it is the 9600M GS. Plus it's cheap!

Clevo gives me a 9800M GT but it's more expensive. Great for gaming and everything else but is it worth it. Will I play enough games on it to justify the better video card.



I rarely play games on my current laptop but I think that's primarily because it's only got a 7600GT and it's pretty crap for a lot of the games I want to play so I haven't really bothered. Plus it's Hard disk is pretty full and it's a pain to have to add/remove apps, other stuff to even install a game to try it out.

Plus I have a beast of a desktop where I do most of my gaming.

Can I game with the 9600M GS? I have asked that of many people on the forum and they all say yes. So I guess it can...why do I keep having doubts about it? Because I think for every good thing I read about it I read some negative as well.

For example from http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9600M-GS.9450.0.html

It says the 9600M GS is similar to an 8600GT

"The following values are based on the 8600M GT. As the core of the 9600M GS is similar (only slightly higher clocked), the following benchmarks should give a good impression on the gaming performance of the card.

Call of Juarez : 1280x800, DX10: 20 fps -> barely playable
Company of Heroes: 1440x900, high details-> playable (not completely fluent)
World in Conflict: 1024x768, medium details (DX9), Benchmark: 23 fps -> playable (DX 10 not playable)
F.E.A.R.: 1024x768, CPU max, GPU max: 24-40 fps -> well playable
Command and Conquer 3 (C&C 3): 1024x768, high details: 30 fps well playable
Supreme Commander: 1024x768, high details: 16-44 fps -> playable (large Multiplayer battles may need a faster GPU)
Colin McRae Dirt: 1024x768, high: 20 fps -> barely playable (reduce details)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: 1024x768, maximum quality: 18 fps not playable -> with reduced details playable
Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory: 1280x800 -> well playable
Oblivion: 1280x800, max details: 40 fps -> well playable
Half Life 2 - Episode 1: 1280x800: 70 fps -> well playable
Prey: 1280x800: 40 fps -> well playable
Anno 1701: 1024x768, high Details: 48 fps -> well playable
Doom 3: 1024x768, Details: Ultra: 67 fps -> well playable
Age of Empires 3: 1024x768, hohe Details (without footprints), Skirmish zu 8t: 30-40 fps -> well playable
Quake 3 Arena: 1024x768, max Details: 236.5 fps -> well playable"

Yes but those resolution are weak! And those games are OLD.

I want Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 looking great at 1650x1080!

I can afford either. I am frugal but the money is there.

If you had the money to buy either which would you get?

Hope you can help!

I am sick of the decision making process.

 

sager is considered the best in terms of build quality/reliability for laptops........

however asus is pretty awesome too.

The way I see it is....if you want the better gaming machine go with the sager.......down the road games will only demand more performance and in this case the gpu will be the bottleneck.

However if the pros (mostly relating to convenience and experience) which you mentioned under the Asus column are more important to you than the somewhat better gaming performance available in the sager.....go with the asus.

It really depends on you.

Edit: about the 64 bit vista...check with asus/your vendor b/c I have heard that some companies ship both....and that the serialcode is the same for both versions.

 

As much as I love my Asus (G50-A2) and the company itself, I do have to say go with the Sager if you're worried about gaming. The Sager's graphics card and ram will definitely be better in the long run. IMO, and this is strictly from what I have read, and not personal experience, Asus should be more reliable if anything goes wrong.

As to the orange stripe comment, if you've seen the G50V it has LOTS of orange, and it really seems odd when you look at a picture of it, but when it is in your hands, it actually looks really cool. The orange stripe will just add a bit of color to the plain old black look of a notebook. I can't say this is exactly true for the Sager, but in theory I can. Remember, it's a gaming laptop, it SHOULD stand out, cause it's not like the rest.

When it boils down to it, if you want to drop the extra dollars for better gaming, go Sager.
Hope any of this helps.

 

the Asus is a mid-range gaming notebook with 9600M GT

the Clevo is a high-end gaming notebook with a 9800M GT

In other words, the 9800M GT performs about twice as fast as the 9600M.

 

Thanks fully aware of the difference between the two cards - or atleast - I'm aware the 9800M GT is a great card and that I will get good Frame rates at good settings with it. Just not sure whether the 9600M GS is a "good" card for gaming or a "soso" card for gaming.

That is the key thing holding me back from buying the ASUS. My uncertainty about the 9600M GS's ability to play games. If I felt 100% certain that it would play SC2, Diablo3 and Fallout3 really playably that would help.

Otherwise I am interested in anything else people can tell about the two.

iBird's comments about ASUS support being better are very helpful me as well. Certainly a 2 year warranty is better than a 1 year warranty - inspires more confidence.

 

If you had the money to buy either which would you get?

 

Asus has there high end model coming out soon with 9800's

It will be expensive tho

The G70 may be a good option for you, it would fall somewhere right in the middle as a compromise the 9700gt is faster than the GS but slower than the 9800 but its just as fully featured as the M70.

 

why not hang tight for the G71V with the 9700GS? should have pricing + complete config/model info in a couple of weeks, to be followed by a late September release (in Canada, anyway). that's decent card, with a bit better future-proofing than the 9600. besides, you have a big rig for gaming, why splurge on a folder with a 9800?

for the extra $$$ you'd save, you could take your girlfriend/wife out for a good time, which would soften the blow of explaining how you just blew 2G - 3G on gear, instead of paying off your mortgage or taking her on vacation, lol.

"but honey, i didn't buy the one with the best gaming card! because i want to spend more time with you! see, my wallpaper isn't Crysis or Gears of War! it's a picture of you, baby!"

"oh lee, you're just the best."

"i know. i AM the best."

problem solved! lol.

seriously though, i'm in a similar situation to you. but i'm holding out for another month for the sweetness that ASUS will bring.

 

Thanks Vic and AM,

I've had one quote for the G71 and seen one advertised. One from cybershop.com.au and the other from affordablelaptops.com.au - both about the same price.



It's got a 9700GT but is wayyy too expensive.

Is there a different model coming out that will have the full features of the M70 with the 9700GS at around $3000AU.

I suspect that if the G71 is $4200ish Australian that other G71's will be around the same price.

LOL...actually it's my wife who has said buy what you want! I'm the cheapskate! She knows about both laptops and is happy with both prices and she knows that either one I get I won't be happy. She is used to my hardware purchases. Days, weeks, months of research followed by a purchase followed by buyers remorse and then days, weeks, months on forums getting things worked out. I buy a lot of hardware.

So you guys think there will be an ASUS coming out as fully featured as the M70 with a better video card within my price range? $3300AU.

 

Thanks Vic have you got a link to the G70? The only G70's I have seen have dual 8700M's and are over $4000 AU

 

i dunno. the affordablelaptops config is too pricey, IMO. and a little fishy. there isn't even an official ASUS spec sheet with config options yet for the G71V -- so what's their source? and do they have stock to back it up?

what i've heard (again, distributor speculation) is there's going to be at least two configs of the G71V in Canada. as long as one of them is a T9400 or T9600, that's plenty good enough juice for the price. who needs a Quad or an X at this time for a laptop that's going to bust the bank at 3G+?

ah, if only the M70VM-C2 came with a 9700GS, i'd shut up already.

 

AM...

right now today...

between these two...

M70 vs M570TU...

which would you get? Ignore cost.

 

hey, if you're buying? for me? the M570TU.

that said, a computer engineer advised me once that when i'm buying a box (or the parts to assemble myself), i should spend up to my budget -- and then spend 15% more for future proofing.

the best thing to do IMO is to see how product offerings will look like going into the last quarter of the year. what's your rush? there's likely to be much more Montevina goodness in a matter of weeks ...

 

Thank you all! M570TU has been ordered. WOOT! I feel good! Made the right decision. Rep ups for all will be coming shortly!

 

Is it worth spending another $89 to upgrade the CPU to the P9500 from the T9400? Only difference in performance I have read is the P9500 is cooler due to lower wattage which means overall the laptop is cooler therefore more OC'able.

Or are there other benefits to the P9500?

Or should I save the money and buy a good laptop backpack instead?

 

Tsk, you should have went with a G71V, just ordered mine for eq 3000 US $. In Norway it comes with the T9400 and DUAL 320 GB HD. Considered the M570, but when reading about noise problems togheter with just a single HD, and also the riddiclous power consumption of the 9800`s card, the choise was easy Also, backpack and mouse, total package

 

The difference in temperature will likely be minimal, the difference in battery life will be minimal. However, the $35 extra amortized over the life of the laptop works out to about 70 cents a month.

I would argue there's no compelling reason to upgrade from the one to the other, but you might just feel better about the world knowing you're shaving 1-2 degrees celcius of the temp, adding 2-3 minutes to battery life, and using 10 less watts at peak usage.

 

hey STeam6,

can you please post your complete G71V config? no peep yet on what us Canucks are going to be offered, but i'm very curious to see how your box is decked out.

thanks!

 

A bit lame but this is the only info from the webstore I ordered from:
ASUS 17" WXGA GL T9400 GF9700MGS-512MB 4096MB 2x320GB BluRay VHP-64B Cam BT Bag Mouse 2GB-TurboMem

Bit concerned about the WXGA, but I dont think that is correct as far as the official info from ASUS says either 17" WXGA+ Color-Shine or
17" WUXGA, High Brightness, Color-Shine. Guess its the first one, and hopefully it is, dont want a higher res. Its supposed to be in stock (confirmed) on the 8th of september.

 

Link please

 

Thanks. I'll buy the backpack instead.