Is it worth getting the M860TU now or wait instead?

For everyone out there who is up to date on the developments in Clevo and other similar brands, is it worth getting an M860TU based laptop right now or waiting a month or so if there are some major changes coming soon for 15" laptops... e.g. newer processors/gpu's supported?

I just bought one of the M860 based laptops and it ended up being faulty, so I am going to have up to 2500USD to spend again on a laptop. I was thinking of getting the same specs, i.e. T9600, 9800M GT/S, 4GB DD3 & 320 GB. However, I've been reading that the M860 might be supporting the new Extreme processors soon... So, how likely is it that prices on the specs above will drop very soon or better machines will come out for the same amount?

A.

 

Which extreme processors are you speaking of?
The quads?
As far as I know there is nothing in the works for the near future.

 

TBH I may have been reading old posts, I was mostly checking. I do wonder however why most resellers do not offer the X9100 or more than 4GB as an option if the M860 can support them. I see that you have both, are they worth the price?

Off-topic, but why does EuroCom charge for "optional" things like webcam/fingerprint reader/bluetooth - I thought those were integrated on all M860's?

 

there is a revision motherboard being tested right now to fully support mobile-quad core CPUs.

so thats pretty much it.... still the same system.

if you do not care about quad-cores (especially since they are quite expensive for the mobile ones), then you should not need to wait.

 

Have the hard drive temperatures gotten better at all?

 

as far as I know, there has not been any recent issues with temps for the M860TU... hard drive, CPU, GPU, etc.

the harddrive temp issue appeared in the initial release of the system and with new drivers (Intel/SATA for Vista, XP does not have the issue) and different HDDs being used for the system... there does not seem to be anymore issues.

 

As far as I know the HD problems have been dealt with.
I love the X9100 it is quick, just very disappointed that I cannot overclock this cpu. But it is the fastest one you can but. The t9800 would be worth looking into as well, Eurocom didn't offer it when I ordered mine.
The 8GB ram is nice too but only really uses over 4GB when I am editing Full HD video/audio. I can't comment on intensive games as of yet because I have yet to play crysis or supreme commander or anything. Only played Far cry 2 and left for dead right now.
As far as the listed "options" of fingerprint and such I cannot comment. Might be a good question for the fine folks at Eurocom.

 

Cheers Gophn, I know this is kind of a repeat, but just in case - are there any other non clevo 15" laptops in the making that could offer a better bargain in the near future?

 

have you seen this?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=331870

it was even on Engadget.

 

Now I did, cheers once again. Looks like I'll be good for at least a few months. Another try at 860 it is then.

 

I will give them a shout for sure, especially given that I will be buying in Canada this time. You know T9800 is also rarely given as the option and I was actually looking at it as more preferable in terms of price/performance. Thanks!

 

So basically, there will be no updates available (on the market) to the M860TU for another 9+ months? I was planning to buy in 6-8 months or so.

 

nope.

No replacement for the M860TU for 2009.

there is only that minor revision for quad-core support that is being tested now.

 

Ok, so because I don't value quad-core, I guess the main advantage to waiting is that the price will continue to drop until the next revision, as the recession deepens. And that's still pretty important, me being a college student.

 

doubtful if there is going to be any price change.

its just going to transition over quickly without even consumer noticing.... since its still the same exact notebook.

 

Well, the price both dropped $50 and bumped up the processors a week ago, unexpectedly. So anything can happen. I personally would not be surprised to see the prices drop a bit more in response to the economy.

 

Oh Gophn, you " crazy kid". That's pretty hilarious.

 

man ill be sad if m860tu gets a replacment motherboard for the quad core but mostly happy for the part about no complete replacment for the rest of the year XD

sry if i am going off topic

 

It won't add up to an additional charge overall. Basically they are allowing you to remove some of the costs for things you may not need. Eurocom fully customizes and builds the units. I ordered mines without webcam, fingerprint reader, bluetooth, and a few other 'downgrades' to save some money. I didn't see a need for a few of the options, so I ended up saving a few hundred bucks by removing some pieces I didn't need. BTW, I did not order or pay for a webcam, and they still included it for me though. I guess it's too much of a hastle to replace the screen with one without a webcam installed. Bonus! hope this helped.

 

That's what kinda surprised me as I assumed that all of those Clevo chasis (chases?) came with the components by default and it would actually cost more money to remove them instead of just keeping them. So I thought that either Eurocom makes extra cash from charging for components which would have been there anyway, or there are in fact bells-and-whistles-free M860's sold by Clevo. It's probably the latter, but still interesting.

As for the option of removing them, I agree that it's nice to have that... it kinda sucks not to have the option to save on things like bt or webcam when you are mostly looking for a high-performance machine.