2nd notebook: 15" or 17"?

Yes, I'm thinking greedy thoughts here, but I saved so much on my HDX by using the previous 20% coupon that I'm considering a 2nd notebook, using the just-released 30% coupon (before it disappears again).

Those of you who read my original buying-advice request posts may recall that I struggled w/the decision whether to go w/the tremendous power and capability of the HDX, or get more portability and get the 9500. I ultimately decided on the HDX, as using it as my main laptop it wouldn't do more than get moved from room to room.

But now the magical 30% coupon has reappeared, and there is room left from my original budget to get a second, more portable notebook. I've configured both the 6500 and 9500, and the ultimate price diff after the 30% is applied isn't too great. Plus the 9500 has a lot more standard, higher-level components and more powerful free upgrades.

OTOH, the 6500 would be supremely portable, should I need that capability. But the config choices leave me a bit cold: only a 128 MB discrete video card to choose from?

You may remember that in my OP about the HDX, I said I was a pretty big guy, and I have carried the HDX around the house. It's heavy, and I certainly wouldn't cart it around outside the house, but manageable. How big am I? When I lay my fingers on the keyboard, my hands span the entire width of the keyboard, and them some.

The 9500 weighs about half the HDX, so it's reasonable portable. The 6500 weighs 1/3. What do you guys think? If I'm going to do this, I want to jump right away, before I miss another 30% coupon!

 

The HDX is by no means powerful for its price range or size. There are laptops from Sagar or Clevo that dominate the HDX.

However, for you second laptop, I'd go for a dv2500t. It's more portable, with the same power as the dv6500t.

 

it also depends on what you think of as "powerful"

 

At 17+ inches, there are SLI 7950 GTX's with desktop processors. I'm not saying the HDX is weak, just for that price range, there are much more powerful computers out there.

 

Before we get too far off the track here, let's assume the dv2500's screen is smaller than what I can deal with (old eyes)--not to mention the 2500 actually prices out higher than the 6500.

I'd also very much appreciate confining the replies to the question I asked in my OP: 6500 or 9500? I considered my choice on the first laptop for several months--including Sager--and ultimately made my choice based on several factors, and have no regrets. I.e., the HDX works very well for what I wanted.

So please, before the new 30% coupon disappears, help me decide, pros
and cons, 6500 or 9500?

 

Why not wait till Q1 of 2009 and buy Notebooks with Nehalem CPUs ? They're gonna kick ass.
Remember the longer you wait, the better technology becomes. Do you REALLY need that 2nd notebook NOW ? Think how much sweeter the 2nd notebook will be a year from now....

 

Well, w/a modestly-configured 2nd notebook, it will be reaching the end of it's useful life in mid-2009, so since I have the funds now, I thought I'd get a 2nd, more portable and cheaper unit now, and review my options again in a couple years.

Since I had originally done quite a bit of posting before I made my decision on the first notebook, I hadn't wanted to revisit all that again--you can just search on my user name and find them. And I had actually considered not mentioning that I got the HDX, since I know quite a few people don't care for it. (That's okay--different strokes, and all that...)

But I'm on the configurator pages of HP right now, and a 6500 vs. a 9500--w/the 9500 having better components in the discrete graphics, bigger HD, etc., after subtracting the 30%, the 9500 is coming out to be only about $180 more than the 6500. OTOH, the 6500 is a bit more portable, but I'm concerned by the somewhat anemic 128 MB nVidia card.

The 9500 weighs about a pound and a half more than the 6500, and has more ports, HD space, etc. And like I said in one of my previous posts, I always tend towards the Tim Allen, argh! argh! argh! "more power!" approach.

But I'd really like your opinions on which you would go for, given that w/the 30%, the cost is almost identical. Please forget the HDX. Seriously. It seems to be a hot-button issue for some, and i'd really like to confine this to 6500 vs. 9500.

So if you were going to buy one or the other, which would it be, and why?