What would you do? Buying deicion.

Howdy,
I love my Sager NP9150 that I bought from Xotic PC in summer of 2013, despite needing a new motherboard in 2016, it has served me well it is now time upgrade. I mostly surf the net, occasionally play games like GTA5, Fallout 4, and KOTOR. My main purpose for going with gaming rigs is that they last forever and the it seems to take years for them to be completely obsolete. As you can see, I do get my money's worth. I love Sager/Clevo and I really really want to stick with that brand, and I love that I can get it stripped of all branding.

I am currently in quandary about what to do, I am stuck in a hard situation that makes it hard for me to decide. Here are the main things I want:

1. 15.6-16" Matte Screen - Glossy annoys me
2. Thunderbolt 3 or at least USB-C.
3. Around 1" thick and 5 lbs.
4. Power in input on back or left side.
5. Ethernet on back or left side.The purpose of this and #4 is that my current setup next to my couch and my bed accommodate this the best.
6. Fingerprint reader! I love love Windows Hello and I find simply scanning my finger super convenient and secure for login and the like.
7. 2.5" inch bay for putting in a large SSD.

So, last year I was super stoked about the 8354, as it met dang near every requirement I wished for, and was ready to pull the trigger when it suddenly became unobtainable. The only left even close was the much more expensive 8454 which has the horrendous glossy screen that would only serve to annoy me as I sit around my house.

Figuring I would wait hoping that the 8354 would come back around, I was pretty excited to see the 8358 show up AND it still is a great price. But the biggest disappointment is no finger reader, so then I'm left wondering if I really should drop an extra $300 on the 8458 with the glossy screen I'm sure I'll hate but the finger print reader I want and maybe later downgrade the glossy 4k to a matte. Or should I just wait to see what is on the horizon, at this point waiting is all I'm doing and I just need to do something. But I've also thought I could buy the 8358 and plug in a small USB finger reader on the side, but that really cool finger print under glass is what I had in mind for the last couple of years. Maybe I'm just too dang picky, but it's just that I don't buy a new laptop very often and want something that fits all my needs and desires.

Also I do plan on going through either Sager or GentechPC, Hidevolution wants me to pay taxes that adds another couple hundred to the price tag. Xotic PC is good, I was happy with my service from them, but their focus on mostly appearance customization that I don't use makes them moot to me.

Anyways, just looking for suggestions, opinions, other ideas.

 

If you get a Clevo (meaning an identical laptop without Sager branding) from XOTIC PC, they are a PremaMod partner, so you can get something with superior firmware that is not available from any vendor that is not a PremaMod partner. You'll likely have to connect directly with someone at XOTIC to get that arrangement unless something has changed and it can be found on their web site. (I haven't checked to see if that has changed.)

 

I'd wait a bit for reviews and user experiences. It depends on how much you want an upgrade now. Check the "Official Clevo X170SM-G Owner's Lounge" if you want the forthcoming LGA CPU option.

 

If you intend to keep it for years, buy at the start of a real GPU generation.

 

I apologize for my ignorance, so are saying to wait a couple months or pull the trigger now?

 

Depends on your needs but for the longest life you get a machine at the start of a GPU generation.

 

I got me one specd out at sagernotebook.com, it almost has everything, matte screen, under glass finger reader, Thunderbolt 3, rear power input, etc. The only two things I'm giving in on is the ethernet port on the right side, I guess I can live with that because I can get a usb-C ethernet adapter to use on the Thunderbolt port. And I hate the lack of 2.5" SSD bay, but the 2tb m.2 drive makes up for this.