P170HM or P150HM (currenty own a ASI IQ 17 D2)

Hello all,

I am looking to get a new laptop and would appreciate if you can provide some your opinions on which model to get. I did some reading on the p170HM and p150 HM models and am summarizing the differences below.

P150HM
Lighter (Portable)
possibly worse cooling solution compared to p170HM (can anyone verify this?)
15.6" FHD LED screen with a <100$ upgrade to a AUO 95% NTSC Matte screen
One hard drive bay (No RAID option)

P170HM
Heavier (not portable, like my current laptop)
Better cooling because of bigger size, hence better ventilation (again, verify please?)
17.3" FHD LED screen with a $200 dollar upgrade to a 90% NTSC Matte screen
Two hard drive bays (RAID)

Now, the p150M will get a better quality, clearer image and this is important to me as i stare at cramped lines of code for long durations both outdoors and indoors. The portability of the p150M also works in its favor as i will probably be inseparable with my laptop at all times. However, i am also an avid gamer and It would really ruin my day if my laptop's circuits burn out because it overheated after a long session of gaming.

My current laptop does heat up quite a bit (~80-90 C) after gaming even though its a huge machine (but i still lug it around anyway). So, the extra weight and size of the P170M are not really an issue for me as i am used to carrying my heavy, clunky ASI IQ17 D2 around. So, if the P170M offers a far better cooling factor, i would definitely go for that.

Also, Malibal and Xotic PC seem to be the best resellers of these machines at the moment. Both of them are offering $100 off the price and free shipping. Are there any additional discounts that you guys might know of at either of the resellers? Any suggestions/advice will be greatly appreciated.

Edit: Dont know if it would help, but this is the configuration i want to go for

Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.4-3.5GHz
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-12800/1600MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card: AMD® Radeon HD 6990M 2GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300 Hybrid w/ 4GB NAND Flash
Wireless: Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card
Cooling: IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU

 

Most of my questions are answered in this thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/602324-clevos-p150hm-vs-p170hm-2.html

I guess the GPU heatsinks on the P150HM and P170HM are the same. So, the P150HM is definitely the better choice, right? I mean, when i take into account the better screen, protability and a similar cooling solution as the P170HM, Is there any other reason to consider the P170HM over P150HM?

 

In theory, yes, the P170HM has better cooling. But in application, both the laptops have very good cooling, especially with the added thermal compounds. The various reviews in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...607872-clevo-sager-notebook-review-index.html can attest to this.

 

Thanks man, for pointing me to the review thread. A lot of good information there. Would there be a limitation because of the architecture that the models use? For example, if i want to upgrade to a more powerful GPU in the future, would one model offer me more options than the other?

 

@ Malibal #3, Will you be able to tell me how long it would take to assemble and ship a P150M with the configuration mentioned in my post if i order from Malibal?

 

To be honest, if there were to be a limitation that would inhibit further GPU upgrades, chances are both models would have that.

 

Currently, the EST is 12/30/11. We have various shipping options. If you need to work around a specific date for some reason, I'd try contacting our main NBR rep, he should be able to help you out with that. His username is "MALIBAL", just send him a PM

 

Thank you very much. I will do that. Just one more question, If i choose to get the optical drive replaced with a hard drive caddy, Would i be able to install any SSD harddrive in it. Is there a compatibility list somewhere of SSD harddrives for the P150HM?

 

well if you'll be replacing the dvd/blu ray drive with a hdd caddy you'd be limited to SATA II, better to have the SSD on the main drive (SATA III) and just have a standard 500-750 7200 rpm hdd on the caddy

as for the brand, most suggested are the Intel and Crucial M4 drives.

 

You can install your own SSD, but I'd suggest moving the stock HDD to the caddy and installing your SSD in the primary bay for the reasons listed by Geekz above. Any SSD should work, though there have been problems in the past with Sandforce based drives like the Vertex series. Intel is highly recommended for reliability.

 

Thanks for the great information Geekz and Malibal #2. Do the P150HM or the P170HM builds support CrossFireX or SLI?

 

Nope, both of those machines only have a single MXM graphics slot. You'd have to look at the x7200 or P180HM if you wanted SLI/Crossfire. They're larger chassis because of heat and space requirements.