HEL80 and HGL30

I have narrowed down my choice between these two laptops? Who offers the lowest prices for these two models? and which of the 2 laptops do you recommend? Thanks in advance.

 

I know the Hel80 can be found barebones at a few places, which would save you some money. I haven't seen any place that sells the HGL30 barebones. First vendors that come to mind that have both models are Powernotebooks, Agearnotebooks, and Xoticpc.

I got my HGL30 yesterday, so I'm kinda biased, but I love it so far, it's great I'm sure the Hel80 is the same though, better if you like the bigger screen or need higher resolution.

 

Its a tough call as it is ultimately down to which screen size you want. IMHO, the jump from 14 wide to 15.4 wide is a big one, especially compared to say 13.3 to 14.1.

between the two, I personally like the HEL80, that brushed aluminum lid and borders really bring it out, not to mention the amount of port options (Tv tuner, fire wire, etc) and screen options (Wxga or wsxga, glossy or matte) make it more appealing to me, than the HGL30.

 

Thanks for the info guys, what is the big deal with the HEL80's 7600 being underclocked? Does it mean that the HGL30 has better graphics performance becuase of this? Anything that I should knoe regarding cooling issues?

 

it's a big deal for some.. particularly those who are over reliant on 3dMark scores as being the sole indicator of a video card's graphic performance.

I believe the HGL30's and HEL80's 7600 are clocked ta the same speeds. however, it is natural that a bigger laptop will handle heat better.

 

Since the HEL80 is bigger, I assume it has a better chance of getting an upgrade later on, such as a new graphics card, right?

 

not sure if this is you first laptop, but graphics cards are generally as is. No upgrades.

Yes, Nvidia did have that MXM thing going on where supposedly they could be swapped. But so far, I see no one doing it. it was introduced last year with the Sonoma models, and no one has upgraded their Nvidia 6600s to 7600s and no one has offered it eithre.

 

its not my first laptop, I was just asking since there is a good number of parts apearing in Ebay or other websites. Just curious. For instance, I saw someone in eBay selling an Alienware GFgo 6800. I recently even sold a MR X700 card. Regardless, I think its good to know that you can even add a tv tuner on the HEL80, whereas the HGL30 the options are limited.

 

you can ask donald what he thinks about upgrade potential on GPUs, but I think he'll say the same. but yeah the TV tuner is the cool thing about the HEL80..although you could always get an external one for the hGL30. I never used a TV tuner before.. does anyone know if there's much quality difference between an internal and external one?

 

Upgrading GPUs on laptops is not usually possible, even with MXM. This is mainly because when a new card comes out, it requires more power and generates more heat. Typically you would need a higher output AC Adapter, but surely the thermal solution won't be enough to handle it. MXM is also more expensive to build into the laptop. This is why you have seen most manufactures abandon MXM.

Whether the TV Tuner is internal or external won't have any impact on quality. However it has been reported that some brands are better than others. I have found that they all work well as long as you run them in their windows and don't run them at full screen.

 

Another thing about performance, you will actually see better performance frames per second wise with either: HGL30 or HEL80 lower res screen. I have the higher res screen (1680x1050), which means there are more pixels reducing performance (but looking very nice). If you would be sticking to the lower res HEL80 screen, I might just consider the HGL30 because it costs less.

 

i find that the 14.1 inch is deceptively big, i have the hgl 30 and the screen is so nice, and it provides so much real estate.

also, although my lan didnt work last night, it magically works again today...so yay for hgl 30

you may also want to take the keyboards into consideration, dont they have different keyboards?

 

The keyboards are the same

 

the hel80 barebone comes out cheaper than a hgl30 if you decide to put it together yourself. I happened to have an extra stick of ddr2 ram around here, so thats one thing less to worry about for me. I wish there were hgl30 barebones because it seems to me at least, that the hgl30 is quite smaller than the hel80. Has anyone assembled a HEL80 before?