"Future-Proof" Laptop

I know this, but they still only get like 3-3.5 hours on battery, and only included a 6-cell battery instead of 8-cell. Stupid decision IMHO. The reason someone buys an Optimus laptop is to extend battery life, not just to have Optimus.

So you need to run your laptop at full potential all the time? It's like owning a Corvette and saying you have to accelerate at full throttle and drive at 150 mph.

Also, switchable doesn't have to mean Optimus. I'd prefer manual switchable through a BIOS switch a la "press F6 for iGPU, Press F7 for dGPU". That way users can have the best of both worlds.

I've run the netbook + notebook route for a while and it's not convenient. To me the point of a laptop is portable computing, yet so many laptops only get less than 2 hours battery life.

Exactly. I use my netbook around the house around my kids primarily because it's inexpensive and if it breaks or gets damaged I'm not out much money and not likely to give them a timeout for two weeks

 

Still, better than the 1 hour battery life, or less, than you get on the P150HM and P170HM. Hopefully the new Ivy Bridge reboot will have a better battery, and a backlit keyboard.

I prefer this method too, Optimus doesn't work 100% of the time like it should.

 

the reason i use a laptop is not because it has a battery, but because it is portable, and i can take it with me wherever i go. i dont need to use it on battery, i have my droid og for that.

 

Same here. I will never get a desktop again. Takes up too much space and i cant take it with me when i go somewhere or visit family, or even just go in the other room. If i ever use it on battery its usually only for a few minutes but there is almost always a plug handy. I dont care how much the thing weighs as long as it can be moved from location to location Ill man it up and carry it around.

 

That's my viewpoint. My current gaming rig is going to be the last desktop I ever build.

 

I thought that too until I hooked up my 24" IPS monitor and realized how cramped 15" or even 17" screen is and what crap quality they are, even the better laptop screens are junk compared to a good desktop monitor. Even if you use an external monitor and keyboard, the laptop takes up twice the desk space as a desktop, especially something small like a SFF Shuttle PC.

Spoiler

Heck I used to tote around a Shuttle PC with a 15" monitor for the occasional LAN meet or for travel. Everything fit nicely in a duffle bag with computer, keyboard, mouse, and attached something to the side of the bag to hang the monitor off of. I just bought a new Shuttle with Sandy Bridge CPU too, i5-2400, GTX 460, 8GB DDR3, all in the size of a 4-slice toaster. It's footprint is half that of a 17" laptop, and uses common desktop components, cost a third as much for similar performance. Laptop is definitely more convenient for on the go use, which is why I'm looking for something cheap with long battery life and ability to play games decently on occasion. But desktop is excellent for gaming on a regular basis, and the Shuttle is a good option if I end up going to a LAN meet where I'll game for hours on end.

 

@htwingnut yeah but you cant use a shuttle on your lap. and you obviously haven't had a laptop with the screen like mine has. its brighter and has better color than any screen that i have seen in stores or own. you had the p170hm, but i think you had the stock screen.

 

I have the NP8130 in my hands right now with 95% gamut matte screen. Side by side the NP8130 doesn't hold a candle to an IPS monitor. It's a nice screen don't get me wrong, but also the size issue. I realized that 15 or 17" is ok on occasion, but when I used the NP8170, even that was too small for extended use especially doing desktop work.

I know a Shuttle can't be used on your lap, but the comment was made that it didn't matter what it weighed you'd man up and carry it to wherever you had to go and plug it in. Obviously something like a Shuttle takes some time to plug in, an extra monitor, etc, but if it's just an occasional thing or from one desk to another, not a huge deal.

 

I too have a shuttle, and the main problem with it was the psu wasn't powerful enough and it only had two smal pci slots. lol it had an amd athlon 1500+ 1.33ghz 180nm process 256kb l2 cache woot! right now im looking up how to overclock it.

 

Have you seen the RGBLED on the Alienwares? Over 100% color gamut

http://www.techinferno.com/2011/05/...p-alienware-m18x-is-alienware-worth-the-cost/

 

Now that's old. Heck I always maxed out and never had an issue with the PSU. The PSU's in the Shuttles were always high quality. My new one actually has a 500W PSU in it. System draw is about 300W at peak, so more than plenty juice.

I have a few other older Shuttles too. One with Core 2 Quad and HD 4670, Two with Athlon64 X2's 8600 GT the other with 4670, and one with a Sempron 2400+ and 6600GT. I love those things. One is used as a streaming and video PC for my kids, the other a PC for my kids to play on and the Sempron box just for nostalgia more than anything.

 

how much did you get your new one for, just the barebones? and do they have one with an i7? oh also have you considered using and egpu?

 

I bought barebones and built it myself, and it supports LGA 1155 i5/i7 quads.

eGPU's are just more bother and clutter, and less of an option with external slots going away. Again, I have a setup with a desktop, no reason to have a high end gaming laptop. I actually can tuck my desktop away somewhere and clear up desk space than a laptop that takes up half my desk, and LCD mounted to the wall. But each person's use varies.