Sager NP 2090 -- will it last me 5 years?

Hello,

Very soon I'm going to purchace an all-in-one desktop replacement (but 17" is too big), and my budget is up to $2500. Basically I can get an almost maxed-out Sager NP2090 (Compal IFL90) from Powernotebooks.com for $1900. I can get the Macbook Pro 15.4" with the maxed-out configuration for $2300 with a free Ipod Nano and printer (until Sept. 16th), minus the extra warranty which is probably a good investment for a Mac.

Both the Sager and Apple have a 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680x1050), and the Intel Santa Rosa T7700 (2.4GHz), and both have a 160GB SATA x5400 HD. Both have an nVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT; the Sager has 512MB memory and the Apple has 256MB. The Sager is configured with 4GB DDR2/667S memory (very inexpensive at powernotebooks.com), while the Apple has 2MB.

Is it worth it to switch to Mac / Office X with all its features and software, even though I'm not too familiar with it, for the extra price? Will the Sager give me problems (drivers with Vista, hardware, etc.) and will it last more than a few years?

 

The Sager might have some driver quibbles, but it's still an awesomely powerful laptop. I'd ask owners of them, or look around on the forums here, to get the general idea about that. As to the durability, that's the precise same question I'm facing, but it seems to be that this is an extremely durable laptop. Even so, 5 years is pushing it for any piece of technology. At least count yourself lucky that you have a bigger budget. This is my only choice for this kind of performance, as the MBP and pretty much anything in the 17" range is just way too expensive and/or big for a college student. Maybe one of the owners can tell us more.

 

The answer to that question depends much more on you than on the laptop. No laptop has ever lasted me more than 3 years. I use them on the road a lot which means more wear and tear than if they sat on a nice desktop all the time. I also end up filling my hard disk no matter what size it is. During the life-time of the laptop I also use more and more CPU and RAM intensive applications. Usually after 3 years I find that my HD is too small, my RAM is too small and my CPU is too slow. The machine is also generally showing signs of age after 3 years. I don't usually max out a new laptop because when you max out, you pay a premium. That premium is not recouped in the long run and wear and tear always happens no matter how much RAM, HD and CPU you have. (My previous laptop is so banged up after 3 years of use that if I had maxed it out in the hope that it would have lasted me more than 3 years, that would have been money thrown out the window. No question about it.) I've also decided that my laptop would be my gaming machine from now on and that adds another dimension to obsolescence. So I'm not even dreaming of having a laptop last me 5 years.

My mother on the other hand never travels and requires very little of her machine (which is currently a 7-year old desktop computer I gave her). A laptop could easily last her 5 years or more.

I can't say anything about Vista because I use Ubuntu and XP on my 2090.

 

In my experience a computer's life span depends on how good the owner is at configuring there OS, keeping it clean, Defrag's etc. Too many ppl. get full of spyware and think they need a new pc....So yeah that hardware will be good 5 years from now.

 

If I had your budget I personally would not even consider the Compal IFL90 since there are better notebooks around... I answered in your other thread anyway.

The Macbook Pro has more powerful video card than the Compal since it's GDDR3, but it's not offered with a WSXGA+ screen, it's only WXGA+

 

Well, lets put it this way. I can still game hardcore (FEAR, Half-life 2, etc) on a Radeon 9250 128mb video card, and a 4.17 ghz Intel extreme edition CPU with HT.

Considering the massive step up a Sager 2090 is from this ancient hardware, it will indeed be serving you well in 5 years, if you take good care of it.

 

With that budget, go for Lenovo or Asus

 

Five years ago we were using Pentium 4 processors, which would still work fine for basic computing. I think that it is reasonable to say you could surf the Internet and do other basic computing tasks in five years with a laptop you buy today. However I would not expect to game much in five years. I can tell you right now that you will most likely end up getting a new laptop before five years - things are going to start to go. The battery will die for sure in 2 - 3 years depending on how well you take care of it, and the hard disk might go too.

 

I agree with many of the posters here that 5 years is a long time for a computer in general, much more so for a laptop. Keep in mind laptops have less space for cooling and proper airflow than desktop machines which equates to more damage to your hardware, no matter how well the design is. Even if all of your hardware is fine most applications will surpass the capabilities of your hardware to run them efficiently. If you want it around for e-mail/web browsing in 5 years then you could probably do it (although you will likely need a new battery). If you want to do much more than that with never applications or games then you could have a problem.

Build quality on it seems sturdy, and it is very professional looking. Unless you have a habit of tossing it around you will definitely after to worry about more about it becoming outdate or hardware going than anything physically with the machine.

I am using Windows Vista 64 on my Sager NP2090. I don't have the specs you are looking at, and only spent $1,550 on mine from Xotic. My specs are in my signature. With 2 gigs of RAM I find that my desktop idling uses about 1 gb of ram alone. I have only 1 stick being used for RAM so I can add another later as the 4 gb will definitely be needed for me long term.

My processors is not upgraded nearly as much as yours yet it handles my using several intensive processing applications at once without issue. I would honestly say you aren't getting your money's worth upgrading the processor as much as you did on this machine if you compare the price of the upgrade with what you will get in increased performance. I know you are well below your intended budget, but it is just something to keep in mind if you want to save a few bucks or look for another laptop that has better prices with the larger processor in place. I liked the NP2090 since it is a very powerful laptop for such a low price, and the best deal I could find.

I will say that the WSXGA+ as compared to the WXGA is DEFINITELY worth having. Combine this with the extra ram and it would seem like a much better deal than the mac. That is just my opinion of course looking at your post and not the detailed configurations. If you have a preference of OS that should be the determining factor if you choose the Mac, since the Sager seems to win on the hardware/price factor.

As for the driver issues, I am running Vista 64 and have had no driver issues at all with it. All of the hardware drivers are supported. I haven't tried all of my software out yet but so far have been able to get everything working either with default installs or using a compatability mode. The longer Vista is out the more support most manufacturer's will give to it, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. If there are any specific applications you are worried about trying to run on Vista then you may want to check with them about it first. Also, you have the option of running XP (may have some driver issues initially getting it set up if you do not have it installed at the factory from the sound of some posters) or Vista 32 if you plan to stick with an MS OS.

Hope that helps, but when it really comes down to it, this decision will depend on your needs and not what works for any of us. Do you have a preference for the OS? What do you need to use it for? What applications will you be trying to run and what will they require? Do you plan to game on it?