P170HM or P150HM; opinions please.

Here is the build for both:

CPU Intel Core i7-2760QM
IC Diamond Thermal Compound
System Memory 16GB PC3-12800
AMD Radeon 6990m
Blu-Ray Combo Drive
Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300
Crucial 128GB M4 Series SATA III 6.0GB/sec Solid State Drive
Operating System Windows 7 Professional

Now the only difference is the screen. With the P150HM I can get the Matte 95% color gamut screen as compared to the standard glossy on the P170HM. The P150HM will cost around $15 more. Any opinions? This will be my sole computer as I'm getting rid of another laptop and my desktop. I'm in the military, so being mobile is key but at the same time do not see the 17 inch screen being to big. I also travel a lot. The plan for this laptop while not on the move will be my main entertainment, watching movies, playing skyrim, and school. It will be hooked up to an LCD TV while at home. Thanks for your help.

 

I like the setup, but it's really storage limited (only 128GB?) which I think would be a major drawback. I went P170 because I needed the dual hard drive space and an optical drive.

 

Thanks for the reply. I would only get a 128GB hard drive because of cost and that I'm simply the type of person that if I don't use it or I'm not currently using it, I will not keep it on there. For music, movies, and such, I have stored on a external hardrive; though the second drive bay would be usefull and less of a pain than dealing with an external. I'm also thinking that by the time I do need or want more space, a bigger SSD will be cheaper. If I did have the second hard drive bay I would eventually utilize it though.

I think if anything I'm more concerned about the screen (quality not as much size) and how hot these machines get. I do think gaming/watching movies on a bigger screen would be a lot nicer though.

 

Down the road you could always remove your blu-ray drive and replace it with another hard drive for storage. Then you could take your blu-ray drive and put it in an external enclosure, which might be a bit lighter than an external hard drive

 

It should be based on your usage.

If you are the type that carries around their laptop a lot, like a student, then get the P150HM.

If you are using this as an entertainment-type laptop, I'd go with the P170HM.

The dual HDD bays do play a role, as well as the potential uses of the Intel XTU.. with a bit better cooling too.

The screen is a bit of a problem. Is there any way you can wiggle some to get upgraded screens for the P170HM as well?

 

J.P.- Thats a good point and a good option that skipped my mind. Thanks.

Ryan- The only problem I have for the screen upgrade is, is a lot of the resellers are only offering the 72% gamut matte screen w/120hz/3D and you have to get an NVIDIA card; I would want nothing less than a 580m. Now your talking about $300+ for those upgrades. Not sure if thats really worth it. I do like better cooling and higher power the P170HM has though. What is the Intel XTU?

 

XTU is the ability to use non-JEDEC high clocked RAM. JEDEC RAM is plug and play, aka, you buy 1866 RAM and it does 1866 by default. XTU means that the RAM does 1866, but only after you run the XTU utility to set the clocks to that speed. Otherwise it may run at 1600 or 1333.

JEDEC RAM tends to be more expensive, though not by much.

 

Malibal #2- Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense as to how some people are talking about using the Kingston HyperX 1866 Ram when initially I thought these systems max out at 16GB of 1600. For now I will still only go as high as 1600 but the option for this upgrade later to make the system possibly last longer is a great one.

 

You can always hook up a nice 24'' 1080p monitor if you find 15.6'' too small. However there is no equivalent "downsize" to reduce the burden of carrying around a 17.3'' notebook.

 

XTU is a bit more, alienware users have overclocked even the non-XM processors by increasing the TDP, and I wanted to try them out on the P170HM as well.

This is done by the XTU, so yeah, lots of options, and you also get RAID if you feel like it.

Yeah, I am pondering getting a barebones P170HM with a 3D screen just for the 120Hz. I mean.. I probably won't use 3D but 120Hz would be pretty awesome.

As for the extra $300, is that after all the discounts you can get?

Ask Larry @ LPC-digital, and see what quotes he give you. His prices were unbeatable when I bought my laptop.

 

tbert03- You are right....to be mobile is key and lcd's are cheap. I'm starting to wonder how much lugging around I will feel comfortable with, with a 2-3k laptop though no matter if its a 15 or 17 inch.

Ryan- I figure when I'm ready to hit that purchase button....which is soon, I will PM all of the resellers on here and go with the best price. I am leaning towards the P170HM now. It opens up for more options and I'm starting to get the "If I'm going to spend this much money...might as well do it right" kind of attitude. No regrets later is key!

 

Yup, the problem is that with discounts, you will be able to think of a better config without hesitation, and you would know what you are in for..

580m may be out of reach now, but maybe after emailing a few resellers you would find that it may not be so far out of your reach!