Double Check my build

I'm looking at pulling a trigger very soon, possibly in a few hours before the deals expire, on a new Malibal P150. Here are my current specs, any glaring ommissions? It will be used for some mild gaming (skyrim, Civ 5), moderate video editing and photoshop. My main reservations are whether the 2760QM is worth the $160 premium over the 2670QM, and whether I should stick with the 6970m over the gtx 560m, considering I edit with Adobe Premiere. Any thoughts?


5086 Lotus P150HM (P150HM)

Customizations:
Promotions: $100 OFF Configurations Over $1500
Promotions: FREE SHIPPING ($50 Value) UPS Ground to Lower 48 States
Promotions: FREE UPGRADE ($45 Value) Spyder 3 Elite Color Calibration w/ Profile Disc
Promotions: FREE UPGRADE ($75 Value) GeForce 560M to Radeon 6970M
Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED AUO B156HW01 V.4 95% NTSC Matte Display
Display Upgrades: Spyder 3 Elite Professional Color Calibration w/ Profile Disc
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.4-3.5GHz
Memory: (16GB) 16384MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 4 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card: AMD® Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 750GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300
Optical Drive Bay: Hard Drive Caddy For Optical Bay
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium; 64-bit
Wireless: Intel® 6300 Ultimate-N 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card
Cooling: Stock OEM Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU
Keyboard: English: US & Canada
Power Cord: US & Canada
Branding: None
Build Time: 5-7 Business Days
Warranty: LIFETIME Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)
Extras: Standard Black Carrying Case
Extras: Integrated 2.0 Megapixel Web Camera
Extras: Integrated 9 in 1 Card Reader
Extras: Integrated Fingerprint Reader
Extras: MALIBAL Software & Drivers Disc
Extras: Microsoft Windows 7 DVD-ROM

Total Price: $1,744.00

 

Looks solid, however I would downgrade the HDD for an SSD down the road, and upgrade to a 3 yr warranty.

 

I'm keeping that HDD for storage and leaving the optical drive out for a caddy so I can get my own SSD right away for a much, much better price then they are offering. It will be a little more work, but it should be worth it for the money I save.

 

The 2760qm is overpriced but if you're doing actual intensive work on the laptop then it's almost a necessity. As for AMD vs Nvidia, I'm sure google will turn something up in regards to editing software. The SSD, meh. I used mine half a year before realizing I didn't need it, despite the constant file transfers and photoshop work.

 

Interesting suggestion about the warranty, I had been thinking about getting the 2-year warranty on the system that I'd like to order, but I cut it out to save money. While there's probably a billion horror stories to be told where the warranty would be handy, it seems indulgently cautious. But then again, I've never owned anything more than stock Dells in the past, so I'm pretty ignorant about custom jobs. How often are people finding the need to invoke the 2 or 3 year parts warranty?

 

Build looks good to me especially the RAM and your aftermarket purchase of an SSD. They're the greatest technological advance the PC world has seen in a while.

 

Not often.....

I can replace just about every part on my NP8150 on my own without needing to go through a vendor or reseller. The only exception is the motherboard.... and to buy one USED is almost impossible, and the cost is equal to the warranty in my book.

Look at it this way....

If you shell out $1500.00 for an investment, do you want insurance on it for less than 10% of the purchase price? (I know I would).

That's why I have gap insurance on my car Lord knows it will be worth less than I owe on it, and I don't want to be upside down or over a barrel.

Go with the warranty on laptops, it's my standard rule.

 

I'd have to agree with SSX on this, an extended warranty is never a bad idea. Only other thing I would bring up is the RAM. Any reason for going with 16GB? I'd save the money and get 8GB 1600MHz instead if I can suggest it

 

@J.P.@XoticPC

Just curious what a ballpark figure is on a replacement board for an NP8130/NP8150. Assuming the worst happened and it needs to be replaced.

I bet dollars to doughnuts that it's over the cost of the warranty + shipping And the warranty covers EVERYTHING that might fail (HDD / keyboard / etc. etc. etc.).

I don't buy warranties typically.... but the only exception is on high priced purchases (typically over 1500.00)

 

FYI, a lot of credit cards also offer warranty extension programs. I know my Visa's service is called Warranty Manager. It automatically tacks on a year of warranty to the end of the original one for me at no cost. They also offer significantly reduced prices on warranty extensions beyond that. I'm pretty sure AMEX has a similar program too.

 

You're absolutely right that it is over the cost of the warranty. Mobo replacements for that unit can ballpark $400 from Sager

That's not including shipping and labor costs (out of warranty).

 

Mostly for photoshop, and for added head room for running several RAM intense programs at once as I tend to sometimes do.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I actually pulled the trigger last night to keep the cyber Monday deals, and ordered it pretty much as configured except for the RAM, which I decided to replace myself aftermarket for cheaper. Also ordered a crucial M4 128 gb for my OS/big program drive, can't wait to put it together!

Regarding warranty, I decided to stick with the base warranty since, knock on wood, I've never had issues with a laptop going bad within 3 years. I can also replace most parts myself, so I decided to take the gamble. Thanks again for the help everyone!

 

u also have 90 days to decide, ill probably buy the 2nd year warranty for $79 and the resale value will go up too ! good job on getting it last night, or you will be pissed that you missed it!