Upgrade time!

I am looking to get myself a new Sager as mine just can't handle squat for gaming anymore, even on the lowest of settings. Since I've been out of the loop on laptops for some time, I have a few questions:

1. I notice all the 15in Sager models come with matte screens. While I have disliked glossy in the past, I have grown to love my current glossy screen and it's vibrancy. Will I be taking a step backwards in picture quality with matte?
2. How is Sager quality these days? Any models/components I should stay away from?
3. Any reason to wait? New models? New components? Possible holiday sales? I can wait, but I don't want to
4. I'm a little conservative. Will the 860M be enough for gaming needs on 1080p? I typically play Blizzard games and intend to play the new Overwatch game with this. I don't need ultra quality settings but I'd at least like to play at native resolution.

 

1. I have the 8258-S with the 95% gamut. Absolutely breathtaking. Sadly it's not available anymore but I believe you can get the 72% gamut, which my wife has, and is also very nice, crisp, and clear. The difference from the glossy is the vibrancy is a bit more subdued, but all the colors and depth is still there, and the winner for me? no eye strain. None. Zip.

2. Depends on the model. The built in speakers are average. Nothing to write home about, but not total crap either. For laptop speakers they are adequate. Just not great. The DVD drive is shabby, so go bluray. The built-in wifi is crap, get the Intel AC.

3. You'll have to ask some distributors this one, but I know black friday sales are happening now. The 900 series GeForce just came out and I strongly recommend them.

4. Seriously get the 970M. It's a bit more, but well, well, well worth it. Like 80% more performance than the 860M worth it. It's not so much that you want to play things 'now' you want something that can last the test of time and play things 'next year' just as well Plus, the 900 series geforce cards run much MUCH cooler, draw much much less power, and will likely have a longer lasting period because of that. Worth the extra cost.

You also have the random driver flakyness but that can usually be shuffled through with some elbow grease.

Overall, the current 15" and 17" models that have replaceable MXM GPU and CPU's are pretty solid.

 

Thank you for the information. Questions on the hard drive. It looks like mSata seems to be a big these days. For performance purposes, would it be wise to get a mSata drive over the regular solid state drive? Any recommendations on the drive brands (Samsung or Crucial)?

 

There are different types of M.2 drives..some that are PCI-E 2.0 and others that are sata III. transend/plextor are one of the few I've seen who even make PCI-E SSD's and their expensive. Even the M.2 Sata III ssd's are nearly double the price. From a cost perspective..its not worth it unless you really have no other choice.

 

Msata drives do not have any particular benefits. My msata however, does actually have pretty good benchmarks, with speeds in the 550mb/s range, which is more than good enough. If you value storage or have more than 1 drive in your computer, an msata is not a bad decision.

 

Go with 2.5" unless you need the flexibility of mSATA/m.2 as Djask has mentioned.

 

Is the lack of display selection due to supply, or cost? Is there a chance we will have better display selections in the near future? I am looking around and noticing people say they come with TN panels which makes me nervous.

 

Nervous? Why nervous?

The lack of display options is due to availability, both in the context of what's in circulation and actually available, and what is compatible. We're seeing IPS panels on the new P650, but not much else at the moment, so it could be awhile before a wider selection becomes available.

 

Exactly what options you have also depend on exactly which model you are going for.