Trouble finding a proper laptop

Hello,

Some time ago I decided I wanted to order a clevo d900f for myself. Since then I've come to relize, that it was more wishful thinking than anything else, as I can't afford one, and most of it's power would go to waste anyway, as I mostly watch tv series and movies, and do some gaming with my computer. I'd really want to get a clevo, but unfortunately my options are getting quite limited.

I was looking at the nexus laptop model at kobalt (equivalent to Sager NP2098), and it's got pretty much everything I want. The problem is that apparently it's only possible to get it with a 15" screen, and 17" really is a must for me. The resolution isn't as important, although atleast 1680 x 1050 would be preferable. I could get the following package from nexus for roughly 1650e:

Screen - :: 15" 1680x1050 WSXGA X-Glass 1
Intel® Core 2 Duo P8800 Dual Core Processor 2.66GHz 3MB Cache
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M 1GB GDDR3
4GB DDR3 PC3-8500 1066Mhz 8-8-8-27 2x 2GB DIMMs
320GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache
Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 64-bit With Free Windows 7 Upgrade Voucher
Warranty - 3 Year European Collect & Return

It's got pretty much everything I need, with a finnish/swedish keyboard to top it off. The screen is what ruins this laptop for me, though. I might get used to playing with a 15" screen, but for watching movies it's just too small imo. This computer is pretty much at my price limit also.

I've also been looking at the Mojave (equivalent to Sager NP5797) aswell. I could get it with the same specs as above, but with a 17" 1920x1200 resolution screen and an NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M 1GB GDDR3 instead. The problem is that it's over 300e more expensive, which just isn't acceptable for me, as I'm thinking the nexus model would be enough for me performance wise.

My question is, is there any way to get the nexus model (NP2098) with a 17" screen? If not, do I have any other viable options? Please note that the 15" screen really is a deal-breaker for me, so if there aren't any other options, I might have to go for another brand, or alternatively wait for the next models to come out (which I'm guessing wont be any cheaper).

Any help would be apprecaited, thank you for your time.

 

Hi Bob
the Nexus/m860tu sadly only comes in a 15" chassis so if you are defo sure you want a 17" then it will have to be the Mojave.

i have the Nexus like many other members on here and find it perfect.
the other option is to get a lower spec processor which of course will be cheaper which you could then put towards a mojave.

im at work at the moment so have got to keep this short.
have you visited the kobalt forum (in my sig) and spoken to the owners of the nexus and mojave who would be able to give you a better idea what spec to go for to fit into your buget.

 

Thank you for the reply. I haven't been to the kobalt forums yet, I'll have to check them out. I'd find the Nexus perfect aswell if it wasn't for the screen. The Mojave comes with a P8400 processor by default, which to me seems very slow for a modern computer. Surely all of these processors seem slow after considering to buy the d900f which comes with an i7, but still, a 2,26GHz dual core processor just seems very slow to me, especially as I've got a cheap (~850e) laptop that I bought roughly two years ago, and even it has a 1,9 GHz intel dual core processor. Surely there's a difference, but I'm thinking that the P8400 won't even be able to take full advantage out of the GTX 280M, or am I wrong? In any case, it costs like 60 euros to upgrade to a P8800 processor with 2,66 GHz, and like 40 euros to double the memory, so it would seem like such a waste to skip on that imo. Still, a 17" screen and a slightly better graphic card that I don't necessarily need is not worth over 300 euros to me. I guess I'll have to take a look at asus again, sigh.

 

Hello Bob,
You can always wait and save further or there's some great deals if you look at others selling theirs. Of course that comes with risks.
It would seem you prefer the larger screen and I don't blame you on this so settling for the smaller screen you will always be kicking yourself and IMO a 15 to 17 is a big difference.
I do agree you could go with a lower end CPU for now and the P8400 is no slouch of a CPU. GHz is not all it's about and you can OC a bit to raise that if it's an issue but I don't think it will be. It should perform fine for you based on what you will be doing (TV, Movies, light gaming).
Your current laptop CPU 1.9Ghz processor is probably a socket 478 older pentium with only 512 level 2 cache and the new core 2 duo's can outperform that without breaking a sweat IMO of course.
Hope this helps.

 

Thank you for the reply. I relize the two processors can't directly be compared, but I still feel the P8400 is slow considering what I'd be paying for the laptop. I've now mailed kobalt and asked if there'd be any chance to get the Mojave with a GTX 260M, and asked how much that would lower the price. I'm hoping for the best, as I really had my mind set on a clevo after reading so many positive things about them.

 

I have a P8400 and it plays video perfectly; your GPU will be handling a lot of the load anyway. I do plan to eventually upgrade to a quad when prices go down, but that's a ways off, especially since I haven't hit any bottlenecks with my CPU so far, but ymmv.

V Yeah, that's going to be a bigger impact on video playback enjoyment.

 

Maybe you already know this, but I'd just like to point out in case you didn't know.... If you're going to be watching alot of movies/tv, You should really get a WUXGA (1920x1200) screen if you want to make the most of HD video!

 

My CPU, although a Quad is only 2.0 Ghz speed and it has no problems at all in any applications that only use 2 Cores including games and applications.

I think that you are completely underestimating the real power that Core2Duos actually pack. The P8400 won't have any problems taking advantage of the GTX 260M at all and neither does my 2.0 Ghz, you can see this from the fps results in my performance thread since the vast majority of games I tested were Dual Core optimised.

Never underestimate the true power of Core2Duo

 

Thank you for your reply. It's good to know that the P8400 wont be slowing down the GTX 260M. Having said that, I still think it's a very slow processor for a computer that would end up costing over 1,8k euros. If there really is no other way around this problem (as I haven't really managed to find any other laptops that I would like from europe), I might actually rather buy a desktop, and get so much more out of my money. The problem is that I would be moving the computer around enough to make it a big hazzle to drag a desktop back and forth. Still, I'm really not willing to pay over 1,8k euros (which is what the Mojave would cost if I only upgraded the memory to 4gb) for a computer with a processor that I feel is very outdatet. To me atleast, that's a lot of money.

 

The laptops will always lag behind the desktop in terms of power and cost to performance ratios but people pay this for the privilege of being able to take it where ever they want to.

If you are a gamer, consider that in GPU intensive games, a 3.0 Ghz Core2Duo at higher resolutions such as 1680 X 1050 can end up getting the same frame rates as a 2.0 Ghz Core2Duo.

I am going on a trip in a few weeks and I am pretty sure I will not be worried about my underpowered CPU when I am playing GTA IV where ever I am staying.

With a desktop however, I would have no choice but to leave it at home for the entire stay of the trip.

 

The thing is that I would only move the laptop between two places, which is why I've started to think about getting two very cheap desktops instead. I did some research, and I put together the following desktop:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 (2,5 GHz)
ASUS Radeon HD 4870 1 Gb
6Gb of 1066 MHz DDR2 memory
Samsung 320 Gb, 7200 RPM, sata II HD
750W powersupply (known brand)
ASUS P5Q Motherboard (supports crossfire, so I'm assuming it wouldn't be too difficult to add another 4870 if needed later)
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
LG 22x DVD+/-RW, SATA
Antec case (might have to change this one, as I really didn't know which one to pick)

If I bought this computer in Finland (which generally has rather expensive electronics), I'd have to pay roughly 700 euros. Ontop of that I'd have to buy one more screen and probably a copy of windows (keyboards, mice and speakers I already have). Which means if I'd buy two of these, including a cheap screen and a copy of windows, it'd probably cost me roughly 1700 euros.

Now, I'm in no way trying to compare the effectiveness of this computer to the laptop I was considering to buy, as I'm well aware desktops are generally much more powerful than laptops, and if I bought the laptop I'd obviously save space, and IF I'd ever feel the need I could take it with me. However, when I compare the specs of the computer above to the laptop, even if I'm comparing a desktop to a laptop, I just can't justify the price. If I'd plan to take it with me wherever I go, I'd definitely have to get a laptop, but as I would be mainly using this laptop as a desktop replacement in two different locations, I don't think it's worth the money. As for taking it with me on trips. I'm a student, so I never go on business trips, and if I'm on a trip during my vacation, I definitely wont spend my time sitting infront of a laptop anyway.

This discussion has helped me relize that a new laptop probably isn't the best choise for me after all. I'll have to wait for a reply from kobalt, but if downgrading the graphic card of the Mojvae isn't an option, I'll probably go for two desktops instead, unless I manage to find a laptop to my liking that I feel is worth the money.

 

I can see your point, I don't actually move mine around that much either but having the option and that freedom is what makes it worthwhile for me but everyone will have a different opinion about that. You might also want to take a look at the Vidock http://www.powernotebooks.com/product.php?itemId=2893

That will allow you a portable setup with desktop graphic cards that can be used with a laptop.

I used to play a lot of games on my desktop but I got fed up of being confined to one area (like being at work) and not being able to game and do anything elsewhere so that's mostly why I prefer gaming laptops now.

I will be very surprised if Kobalt won't allow you to have the GPU downgrade in the Mojave since you can do different customisations if you require them and they are usually quite flexible.

 

i will help you out and answer some of your question, with a p8400 cpu you can overclock it up to 2.8 or 2.9 speed, and for nvidia video chipset does not affect its performance from the cpu its only the gpu itself, unlike ati's crossfire or ati 4870, ati video cards performance is affected by cpu's performance. so grab a p8400 and overclock it. your fine.

I see you took 4870 ati brand you shoudl be fine with a qx9300. and when you overclock your cpu you will gain a good performance on your 4870. the difference between 280m and ati crossfire nvidia video cards performance is not based on your cpu, but ati does. I know for a fact thaT P8600 CPU CAN BE OVERCLOCKED to 2.9 cpu speed.

 

p.s you can overclock your qx9300 to 2.93 or i some rare cases stable at 3.06
thats even good news for the ati 4870. again nvidia 260m or 280m performance is based off its gpu the cpu performacne will not affect 260m or 280m performance. However ati video cards can be affected by how good your cpu performance is