P150HM vs P150EM.. GTX560 vs ATI 6990M

Hi guys first post.. great forum I, like many others, have heard nothing but good things about Clevo and the P150HM but now is the time to decide. I have had a hp piece of **** for about 5 years and right as it was celebrating its 5th birthday.. blowing out the candles and what not.. it just suddenly collapsed and never woke up.. a funeral was held in hp’s honour in which i delivered a short but sweet eulogy..

now it’s time to get a new computer.. but like many people in the same boat, is it the right time to buy a Clevo P150HM? or is the different keyboard, the backlight, nvidia optimus and possibly even ivy bridge on the P150EM worth the wait?

short answer is no it’s not worth the wait because i’ve been without a computer for just over a month now and already i feel like i’ve been living in a cave.. but it all depends on a couple of factors..

first of all, (1) how easy is it to upgrade the graphics card on the p150hm? (2) Is that even possible? (3) are the gtx 6 series going to be compatible with it? (4) will I be able to utilise optimus technology?

At first I had wanted to buy from either affordable laptops or logical blue one because I live in australia but after stumbling across this forum, I am seriously considering malibal, mainly because they have the option to not put branding on it and the fact that they offer the gtx580m as an option. Depending on the answers to my first question regarding the upgradability of the gpu, I will either go for the 560m with 8gb 1600 ram or the 580m with 16gb 1600 ram, however the price difference is just mind blowing. For $500 I really need to know if it is going to be worth it in the long run to get the 580m or just wait for future upgrades and save some cash..

on AL, they are having a “special” on the P150HM which includes the intel 2760QM 2.4ghz processor, 16gb 1333mhz ram with the Radeon 6990M and a 128gb SSD for AUD$1979.. for around the same price on malibal, I get the same processor, 16gb 16000mhz ram with the gtx 560m and an intel 520 120gb SSD along with a lot of negligible extras such as the better wifi card, blue ray..
So the question is.. (5) which is the better deal? Is it better to go for the 560M with 8gb 1600mhz ram now and upgrade both later or get a 6990 which is comparable to the 580M at a fraction of the cost? And just to complicate things even more, I’ll throw in a third option, the gtx 485M, which is available on LBO with the intel 276QM and 8gb 1333mhz ram.. (6) Out of the three graphics cards, which one has the best value for money? In terms of which one can last the longest to run the latest games.

What it all comes down to is, I want a computer that will last me another 4-5 years but can still be able to keep up with the games that are going to be released. I know for the same amount of money I can easily buy a monster desktop but it’s like comparing division one teams to division two, of course they are going to be much better.

Anyway sorry for the long post.. was going to post it in the “Buy P150hm now or wait for P150em???” thread but this got too long.. hope someone can shed some light on this issue soon because I am lost without a computer..

 

6990m from the last generation is the best bang for the buck card, however with the new refresh coming in next month it's really advisable to wait for the latest nvidia cards as well.

same with the new features of the latest p151hm having a backlit keyboard and other new features.

although if you do buy now the new cards coming out will also be supported by the p150hm so technically you can buy a better card than the 580m and 6990m in a few months time.

 

There are really no new cards coming until June/July.

The 670M is a 570M with a slight OC to push it a little more above the new 660M...
The 675M is a renamed 580M with identical clocks.

The new EM models should be ready for shipping by mid April.

 

Don't forget to think about shipping and warranty. If you buy from the states or Europe and have a problem, you're going to be looking at a $500 bill just to send it in and get it back. If you buy from out of you own country look to MSI, Asus, or Toshiba as they all have a global warranty.

 

hmm does anyone know how much of a price difference the 6990M will be vs the 560M offered by malibal?

I can get the 6990M now from AL but it doesn’t give me all the specs I want even though I’m paying around the same price.

Can anyone confirm whether the HM model will even be stocked after the EM comes out?

 

The P151EM won't be having the illuminated keyboard, sorry.

 

what do you mean 560M vs 6990M???? please do some research before comparing honda and BMW M series

 

some resellers are having a hard time getting/keeping stock of 6990's.. 6990 is beast of a card btw! capable of some serious fps.. HM models won't be stocked after the EM models are released. Many resellers have stopped selling the HM models in anticipation of the EM models.

I'd say you're best bet is Logical Blue One. They have a worker visit this forum, and the people that buy from them seem to be quite pleased.

And you don't necessarily have to accept the price on the website. Most sellers have a little wiggle room, so I'd call them or email them to see if maybe they can sweeten the deal a bit for you. (Although, their website says they don't offer an further discounts so maybe not....)

If nothing else, the local warranty is worth it. Shipping internationally is nerve racking when you're shipping a $2000 laptop, and you're probably looking at 2-4 week turn around time. If you go locally, it should be much quicker.

 

I believe he is only comparing as to what is being offered at the end of production line, seeing as the GTX580M is no longer being offered.

I did have a good laugh with your analogy though and I would have to concur.

 

Wait, the P151EM is synonymous to the Sager 8151, right? Isn't it coming with a back-lit keyboard?

 

I myself am in the same situation, but I've come to the conclusion that waiting isn't the option . Go ahead and purchase it and stop thinking about it. Buy the P150hm

 

ok before you point fingers and start ridiculing me.. you should at least read my entire post and not just the title..

In my post I did state that the 6990M is comparable to the 580M.. not the 560M... the only reason why wrote 560M vs 6990M was to see which one you guys think is a better deal.. I also wanted to know which is better in terms of temperatures and lifespan.. not so much the performance because obviously the 6990M trumps the 560M hard..

 

yeah but buy it with what specs though... that's the question.. what specs will allow the best performance for the longest time..

did you get yourself one yet?

 

Make the smartest decisions:

1. Buy locally. The machine from the US is more expensive with worst specs, and international warranty is never as comfortable as putting it in the local post.

2. No one can tell you, without any doubt, whether the P150HM will be upgradeable with the 680M and 7970M, so going with just the 560M for now is a gamble. If you win, you will probably be able to buy a 7970m for around the cost of what you'd spend for the GTX 580M upgrade today. If you lose, you can either pay aftermarket (at least in USD) $490 for a 6990M or $800 for the GTX 580M.

3. The only "bad" decision you could make, would be spending those heaps money for the GTX 580M. It was a bad purchase six months ago, and is nearly a dumb move today, this close to the next generation. The 6990M equals it for hundreds less. Since the 6990M is still available in AUS, take it.

And are you sure AL and LBO won't give you an unbranded machine? I mean like, you've gone as far as asking them, and they declined?

 

I live in NZ but bought mine from australia too.
First of all, even though the option isn't there for no branding I just emailed logical blue one AFTER i had made my order and it was being built, and asked for no branding. they gladly took off the branding.

Secondly, seriously buy from logical blue one. AL had good specials on at the time i wanted to buy from them, but they wouldn't reply to any of my emails when I asked questions for about 3 or 4 days and I found them really unhelpful. I decided to just email LBO and see if they could match it. They gave me a coupon to type in during the order process which upgraded my ram to the 12gb AL were offering etc. So everything ended up being the same as the AL special but from LBO, who were so helpful the whole time I was ordering. They email back within a few hours and built and shipped mine perfectly.

I would consider emailing LBO and asking to match AL's specials like i did. good luck

 

Hmm thanks for your input.. I am definitely considering buying from aus then if they offer no branding.. but considering the exchange rate and looking at the prices offered by the aus companies compared to malibal, I can’t help but still want to look towards the states rather than buy from aus.. anyone who the rep is for lbo on this forum? I would like to pm him to negotiate a deal..

ezulz, did the 500GB seagate momentus XT hybrid come from LBO or did you install it yourself? I don’t see it offered as an option but if they could throw one in it would be a real deal close-er because AL has a pretty sweet deal for a 128gb ssd along with free ic diamond7 thermal compound and free upgrade to either 16gb 1333mhz ram or 8gb 1600mhz ram.. all for around the same price as LBO which is with a 500gb hdd, 8gb 1333mhz ram and no option for the thermal compound (either they don’t perform that service or it comes as standard.. can anyone confirm this?)

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/member.php?u=375563 this is the rep on the forum, he is also the guy I was emailing when i bought mine. I thought about the states too, but if i need to get something repaired shipping from aus to NZ is around $50, compared to $150 from USA to NZ...

the seagate momentus xt hybrid drive came from lbo. it was an offer they had at the time for a free upgrade to the hybrid drive.

When i was emailing jack he said the diamond ic7 paste is standard on all laptops.

Like i said, copy the information from AL website and email jack and ask him if they are able to match it somehow. He will most likely give you a good offer.

 

Based on your analogy, I can derive that the 560M will function flawlessly for years and years, but the 6990M will have numerous issues, especially when the warranty is expired.

 

years and years? who keeps laptops for so long? I am changing mine in 6 months .

My bad did not read the whole post! I was like another 560 vs 6990 comparison? arhh

 

The 6990M is almost a 100% increase over the GTX 560M.

 

6990 for sure

 

hmm well I pm’ed Jack detailing the specs I was looking for as well as inform him of the AL deal for the SSD so we shall see what he says....

 

Got a reply from Jack! you guys weren’t kidding about the customer service.

This is what he offered:-

P150HMA
Intel I7-2760QM
ATI Radeon 6990m 2GB
95% Gamut Matte Display
8GB 1600Mhz
Intel 520 Series 120GB SSD
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Intel 6230 Wireless
Bluray Combo Drive

for just under 2200. Originally I had wanted to get it all for under 2k but this seems like a good offer for the parts I am getting. I am just not sure whether I should get a HDD caddy for the optical bay drive or the bluray combo drive. As cd’s become more and more obsolete, is it better to use the drive for a secondary HDD or stick with the bluray player.

 

Why the 2760QM? It's a waste, unless you need it for virtualization.

As far as the BRD goes, only get it if you intend to watch BRs through your notebook.

 

Yea you could drop the cpu, save quite a bit of money. My 2.0ghz runs perfectly and i see hardly any difference compared to my AMD 2.8ghz cpu in my desktop.

 

No unfortanetly, it will not. The P150EM will include a illuminated keyboard, but the P151EM will only include the new keyboard layout (no lights sorry) and the new mobo and some others nice things, still no lights sorry

 

No, that's the P150EM. The P151EM is the NP 8131... Don't look at me, it was Sager's idea to use different model numbers than Clevo.

 

Temp wise that 560m wins because it has a lower TDP. These cards haven't been out long enough to effectively determine their lifespan, there are lots of people who still have 9800GTX's in good working order