Buy a new laptop now or wait?

I get a new laptop every 3 years for "work." For the money it seems P170EM is the way to go for me (this is what I got last time). I am just wondering if it's worth waiting for a new graphics card model or new P170EM iteration at this point or if I should try to get approval and bite the bullet on the system now? Do we know anything at all about the next models or when they will be out or if the graphics cards will be significantly better the next round?

One thing I really want to do is 2x SSDs in RAID 0 with trim and can't seem to find out of the HM77 supports this

 

Age old dilemna - to buy now or buy later

From the rig in your signature, you could certainly wait. You could maybe spend a few bucks and upgrade your RAM, processor, or GPU. With that being said, now wouldn't be a bad time to buy if you are in the market for something with a 680m or 7970. And with THAT being said, there are new CPUs and GPUs right around the corner, but probably 6 months or so away from consumer release.

 

As Ajfountains mentioned the new releases are a few months away. No official timelines have been given but it's likely we'll see new models drop around the Haswell and new Nvidia launches near June. You'll likely see 680m-like power in a less expensive option in the next go round so if you wanted to hold out a little longer probably wouldn't be a terrible idea.

 

There's very little news on the Haswell chips; only unofficial news leaks. But with the advent of them anticipated for sometime this year, you can most likely expect new machines to follow the release of the new generation of Intel CPUs. It's your call as to whether you want to hold out or not, but depending on what you need the system for, it's speculated that the new HD 4600 graphics could be the "kiss of death" on the -$200 graphics market.

 

Thanks guys, I think I am leaning toward waiting now. My beast is still holding up and it seems every year new models are out around June/Julyish. I think I will reformat my machine so it feels like new for a bit.. that should at least tide me over haha. Since I can only upgrade every 3 years, I may as well wait the 4-5 months. Hopefully my money will go a bit further then.

 

Wise choice. Good comes to those who wait.
The CPUs come at the end of May and GPUs sometime in June.
That means if you buy in August, you will be bullet-proof, since you will be able to read reviews and ask owners about their machines and stability.
August is the best date to buy. No surprises and you will have tons of benchmarks by then to choose your GPU (AMD or Nvidia).
You will have all the information to make the right choice.

 

Anything bought now looks like it will be relevant for some time, we are getting some new tweaks and even chips but it's going to be pretty incremental by the looks of things.