Need help deciding between Studio 17 and XPS 16

Dell Studio 17 vs Studio XPS 16 vs Sager NP8760

All with core i7-820
All with 500 GB 7200 RPM HD

Studio 17 and sager with 4 gb ram
Studio XPS 16 with 6gb ram

All with 1920x1080 res
Studio 17 and Sager 17.3 in screen
XPS 16: Would get full 16in screen

Dells have 1 GB radeon where as sager has 1 GB NVidia

XPS 16 and Sager around $2250
Studio 17 is around $1850

I really can't decide if I want the 17.3 vs the 16 inch, so which one is the better machine considering the cost? When I say better I mean in terms of how hot the laptop will run as well as how long the hardware will last. I am hoping it will hold out for the next 7-10 years. I have heard customer service is great for Sager (powernotebooks.com) not sure about Dell's. I have also had bad experiences with Dell latitudes. Any suggestions/experience?

 

its all about video card. teh sager probably has a 260, or 280 both of which are better than 4670 imo. that being said, i game a bit more than casually, but not hardcore, and the studio16 xps with ati 4670 plays crysis, far cry2, modernwarfare2 and bf2, all at medium/high, or high settings across the board.

if you need the bigger screen, and wanna use AA/AF and very high grapics, spend a bit more and grab a sager.

if you want arguably THE best laptop lcd, and imo a build quality that rivals a macbook pro, grab the studio16.

if youre looking to hold out for 7-10 years i have two thoughts.

1. thats pretty f**king crazy man.

2. depending on your gaming needs, these laps are somewhat equal.

as for the studio 17, the graphics card is on teh weak side of things, it's not really in the same league as these other two.

 

thanks, you have been very helpful. Here are my new thoughts, I didn't realize until now that the studio 16 doesn't have a number pad on keyboard and since it will mostly be a development box I need the numeric keys so that one is out. I do not really play games, I am a software developer and do different types of application programming, some that can be multithreaded and written to use multiple cores, others that will benefit from the higher speed of the single core, which is why I want the i7.
So the graphics card really isn't all that important to me, I just like the idea of the different options with the i7.
I also found out the Dell has battery life of 5 hrs and the sager of 2. The dell is 7lbs and the sager is 8.4. Since I am taking classes I may or may not need to bring it to class with me and on the chance that I do the lighter and longer battery seem like a good choice. So I am kind of leaning that way. I am worried about the heat. I wonder if the Dell deals with the heat properly. I know sony and apple are pretty famous for melting desks and displays and what not. My dell latitude from work burns my lap after about an hour or so.

Any more advice?

By the way - 7 years because after the next two or so it will be replacing one of our many home pc's that is really just used to serf the net occassionally, so the last 5+ years will not be heavy use or really performance dependant operations.

 

well, if games aren't a req for you, and the studio 16 xps doesn't have the number pad you want. i guess the choice is made then. =D

you know what, ive never owned a studio before, i went form the latitude line to the studio xps. i just took a peek at the studio17, and if i were in your shoes, that is the one i would buy. seems like this to me.

Studio XPS 16 : mid to high level gaming, really nice lcd, leather accents.

Sager : possibly slightly lower build quality than studio xps, but higher gaming performance, less battery.

Studio17 : really nice all around lap, full number pad, nice big screen, and probably the cheapest of the three. with the info you've provided, studio 17 is a no brainer. =D

 

oops, had a bit of lag, please remove this noobish double post

 

so did you end up getting the studio 17? or did you find something better?

 

Btw, video card in Studio 17 is very similar to XPS 16. XPS has just slightly higher clocked card (yes, it has a bit more shaders).

 

how similar, frame rate wise?