Config check before purchasing (8130)

Hi all, I'm just about ready to buy a Sager 8130 (P151HM1) from Malibal after about 1.5 months of research (mainly through NBR). I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any obvious upgrades before pushing the button. I'm mainly going to be using it for school with some gaming on the side. Also, does anybody have an opinion on the hybrid HDD over a standard HDD for $70? Anandtech and Tom's Hardware both highly rate it, but I'd like some user input as well.


Config:
Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit 95% NTSC Color Gamut Matte Display
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.0-2.9GHz
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300 Hybrid w/ 4GB NAND Flash
Optical Drive Bay: 8X Multi DVD+/-R/RW RAM Dual-Layer Drive
Wireless: Intel® 6230 Advanced-N 802.11A/B/G/N LAN and Bluetooth Card
Cooling: Stock OEM Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU
Keyboard: English: US & Canada
Warranty: 4 Year Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)

$1,364.00


Thanks!

 

I'd not upgrade the hard drive, you're better off going straight up SSD. If you don't want to make the jump to SSD now, save the $70 towards an SSD for later. You'll thank yourself!

Nice config. My personal choice is to get the IC Diamond 7 compound on the GPU & CPU for that few degrees cooler effect. It is $40.

 

I agree on just getting a regular drive, and the IC7 as Tweak said. Also though, I'd add the Bigfoot Killer-N wireless adapter

 

You said "some gaming on the side" so I highly doubt that you would need to go for the IC Diamond. From my experiences, this laptop handles heat quite well.

 

I'm planning on doing the IC myself; I just posted in the Giveaway thread in the Hardware forum.

As for the Bigfoot adapter, I'd rather have an internal Bluetooth adapter, just in case. Also, I don't really want to spend $60 on it.


I'm starting to flip-flop on the hybrid drive now. I was planning on getting a plain HDD, but the Anandtech/Tom's Hardware reviews were highly in favor of the Momentus XT. An SSD is out of the question due to the cost right now. What to do, what to do...

 

Are you getting the NBR discount? If not, call them first.

I did a lot of reading and wrestling with configuration also, and you can see below what I decided upon. The only upgrades I made were the wifi and I needed Windows 7. Separately, I bought the SSD (NewEgg) and caddy (eBay). I also bought a cheap (eBay) external case for the ODD, so when I need it, it's just a matter of plugging it into USB.

I saw no point in the hybrid drive route for my use - mix of business and home including HD video editing. I use external monitors, so I couldn't justify spending extra on the screen. In the end, you have to consider what's best for YOU and how you intend to use your machine.

I ordered mine earlier this week, so hopefully will receive it next week sometime.

Enjoy,

AM.

 

They can be good, and you will notice some acceleration with the tasks you do most. Since the cache is only 4GB, you can't do a ton.

I'd stick with the regular drive and put the difference toward an SSD in the future. It will be the best upgrade you've ever done.

 

I use one of those hybrid hard drives and do like it. I had a 500gb 7200rpm standard drive for about 9 months. I upgraded to the Hybrid and there was definitely a noticeable increase in boot time and the programs i use everyday. When i get to work i start the same 7 programs every time and the hybrid helped with how fast they would all start. There's no beating a full SSD but if you didnt want to spend that amount yet the hybrid is a good choice.

Don't forget Windows if you dont already own a copy to put on there.

 

Just placed the order with the standard HDD. Now the waiting begins...

Thanks for all the help!

 

Are you sure about that price? I just build the exact same book on Malibal and the total is $1,269 before shipping from where I'm sitting.
See:

Lotus P151HM1
1,059.00

Customizations:
Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit 95% NTSC Color Gamut GlassView Display (LCD-FHD-15-U)
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.0-2.9GHz (CPU-i7-2630QM)
$80.00
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM (RAM-10660-DDR3-8GB)
$35.00
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5 (GPU-560M-GTX)
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300 Hybrid w/ 4GB NAND Flash (HDD-H500-7200)
$70.00
Optical Drive Bay: 8X Multi DVD+/-R/RW RAM Dual-Layer Drive (OPT-DVD-8X)
Wireless: Intel® 6230 Advanced-N 802.11A/B/G/N LAN and Bluetooth Card (WE-802.11-Blue-A)
$25.00
Cooling: Stock OEM Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU (T-OEMCO-1)
Keyboard: English: US & Canada (KEY-US-CA)
Warranty: 4 Year Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA) (WAR-4-YEAR-1)
Total:

$1,269.00

Edit - that's WITH the hybrid drive - should be even lower without it.

 

I had the Matte 95% gamut screen.

 

Hi, I believe he has the 95% Matte Display, which costs $95 more than the 95% Glossy.

 

Ohhh that's what I missed. Sorry. I hope it's worth the extra $100.

P.s. What kind of light gaming do you think you'll be doing? As I expect to be buying basically the exact same laptop in a couple weeks, and doing quite a bit of gaming on it, I'll be very curious to see how your experience goes with it. Any chance you might report back after you've received and played on it?

 

The place where I do most of my studying has a a lot of windows, and I wanted to avoid too much glare with the glossy screen. I'm hoping it's worth it too.

I'm planning on mostly playing Starcraft 2 for now and possibly Diablo 3 when it comes out (though the no offline singleplayer really annoys me). Probably some GTA4 and Civ5 as well.

I'll definitely try to write a review when I get it.