About to purchase (NP8662), just some last reservations...

I was so confident last year when I purchased the parts for my desktop PC, I knew exactly what I wanted and what I wanted to pay I was able to research every part and get multiple reviews/tests/opinions to evaluate regarding every aspect of my build.

That said, I'm finding myself infinitely less confident with my laptop shopping. I really need a new laptop but I keep putting it off over and over again because I can't seem to find one that doesn't make me wonder if I'm making a mistake with nearly $2000!

Anyways here are the issues I'm running into at this time.

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Made For Blu-Ray??

Blu-Ray looks best in WUXGA on a glossy screen (or so my research has led me to believe??). Being that this isn't offered on the NP8662 I'm not sure what to do.

A. Glossy + BluRay w/WSXGA+
B. Matte + BluRay w/WUXGA
C. Glossy and just forget the BluRay altogether

Choice A lets me watch BluRays w/substandard resolution and costs about $125. Choice B lets me watch BluRays w/substandard coloration/sharpness and costs about $300 and Choice C doesn't let me watch them at all but costs nothing extra. I consider all 3 choices to be unacceptable but what I can't decide is which is the lesser of all evils? I'd love to be able to watch Blu-Ray but I'm not gonna pay $300 to watch crappy Blu-Ray.
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The Great HDD Heat Issue

I have traded emails with Justin W. over at XoticPC (who is very polite and prompt BTW) and he has assured me that while the NP8660 had some warmer running HDDs due to the older hardware in place there are no issues with the NP8662 whatsoever. This has me a bit vexed because I was hoping for a sales rep I could trust. Maybe to assure me that the problem had been isolated and addressed rather then flat telling me there was never an issue in the first place.

I know the NP8662 has heat issues with the HDD, theres dozens of people complaining of it on this very forum!

Anyways question is, has anybody gotten the 7200RPM 500GB Seagate Momentus 7200.4 they are offering as an option and do you have heat issues? I'd rather save myself the shipping because if I drop $2k on this thing and I get it and the HDD tops 58C (max operating temp listed by Seagate as 60C) I'm just gonna throw the thing right back in the box and return it.

Here is the exact quote btw, am I misinterpreting? "The older 8660 model used some of the previous generation HDD’s which did run a little warmer than the current HDD’s offered. This wasn’t a major concern though as it didn’t cause overheating issues. However, the HDD’s used nowadays do run cooler and use less power than the previous generation of HDD’s."
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Anyways guys, any help or anything else you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I'm just freaking out a bit here, I can comfortably afford the laptop whatever the configuration but I want to feel like I've made the right purchase and that I'm not being duped.

 

just get the 5797, problem solved hehe

 

also check out this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=384679

 

Well that statement about the HDD should make sense. However, I didn't see anywhere where he said that there are no issues of heat in the NP8662 at all. To tell you the truth, the hard drive will run warmer than on a regular laptop, however, the heat felt will not be any greater than what is felt on a normal laptop.

As for the blu ray question, from the HD footage I have watched on my laptop, its all good, losing 30 pixels isn't really that much to take away from the experience. I mean, I edit HD on this laptop, that would mean it supposed to look good for me to bear with it right?

 

I don't want the 17" model, I have to take this thing all over the place.

But thank you folks, I was getting myself all worked up and I'm already feeling much better only moments after posting.

The thread Gophn linked leads me to believe the Seagate HDDs are running within the proper temperature range and Deathwinger's thoughts on the Blu-Ray question have helped as well. So Deathwinger, to be clear you think getting the WSXGA+ w/Blu-Ray is my best bet? You don't miss the true 1080P at all?

 

Read this post I made just a few minutes ago:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=385309

I was in the same exact boat as you man, I've been building my own comps since pentium 3's were brand new. Read on, you won't be dissapointed about pulling the trigger.

 

Honestly, you still see the footage in HD, crystal clear as it can be, just not at the full resolution that HD would normally fit.

Think about it this way. Imagine fitting an 800x600 picture in a just slightly smaller frame of say 720x480, it would look sharp, even sharper than an image made at 720x480, the only thing is, it won't be 800x600....does it take away from the experience if thats the case? Well, that's for you to decide knowing that reality.

 

Actually, that's not true, the image would look better if it was made at 720x480, as the 800x600 would have to be scaled down and scaling down images introduces blurring/defects