Why do my laptop dreams keep getting shattered?

Argh, why did the D900F have to axe SLI support? I was counting on that to be my dream laptop. They did so well with the D901c, that all they neededto do was offer HDMI support and X58. But no SLI? Come on!

The M980NU and the Asus W90 are just too huge and doesn't support the new X85 chipset. Each of these comes close to my ideal laptop, but seem to fall just short.

My wishlist:
17"
SLI! (2xGTX 280m)
2x HD support, 3 just seems excessive
X58 chipset
DDR3 Triple Channel Support
DVI/HDMI

That doesn't seem like too much to ask for, if the D900F could only trade one of the hard drive bays for SLI capability, it would be the king!

Just wanted to vent...sorry if I sound whiny. I've just been waiting for about 8 months for the right gaming laptop to come out...I need to play!

 

there will never be a i7 with 280m gtx sli in a notebook - at least not in a reasonable timeframe. its not a matter of space - the tdp is to much to handle.

 

...... dreams are ment to be broken

 

The D900F is excellent as is! ...at least for me...wanting more performance out of that thing would just be greedy.

 

the 280m gtx is roughly as fast as a 9800m gtx. an i7 simply offers hyperthreading to quad cores, it's not trully 8 cores you are working with. besides, with 4 real cores in a quad you don't even need hyperthreading. doing general windows tasks doesn't even fully stress 2 cores as it is.

so why not just pick up a d900c?

 

I agree with LaptopFTW, I just decided to keep my dell untill nex gen gpu comes out: is not worth to upgrade to anything now in the market if you have a 8800sli. I hope there will be a new sli monster in late 2010

 

I do like what the d900c offers, but it is "last year's" model and my current mid-range laptop is almost 2 1/2 years old and I am ready to break into the latest and greatest. The d900c is as solid notebook and with 9800m GTX is very tempting, however, I need HDMI/DVI and would like e-SATA.

I considered the Flextronics/Arima/OCZ whitebook for awhile but held off on buying it because word was that the ATI 4870s were coming out. Then there was a bunch of drama with OCZ/Arima and the support of 4870 is still up in the air. *SIGH*

Oh, I forgot to add "Overclockable BIOS" to the list up there ^^^

 

Pick up the $1900 M1730 at the marketplace while you still can.

 

you can get a dvi to hdmi converter adapter and that solves your hdmi issue. the system can carry 3 internal hard drives so why even need esata?

and so what if it is "last years model"? they look identicle and the d900c is faster for gaming than the d900f.

 

But the D901C isn't MXM3.0b which will most likely be required to upgrade to Nvidia's Q4 release of the mobile 40nm 200+ stream processor GT212/GT300. It is a shame the D900F is not SLI capable because I've decided there is no way in hell I'm buying an 18.4" laptop.. you hear that clevo!!??

 

To run a desktop core i7, 2+ hard drives and 2 GTX280M's would take a power supply that is the same size as the moon. It isn't going to happen.

 

d90xc is mxm 4

 

It is do-able.

 

I think you misunderstood my post, I said MXM (3.0 b) not MXM III..

 

I hear you there, Crylo. I don't know how the industry gravitated in this direction (Dell, Asus, Sager), but an 18.4" "Laptop" (they really need to re-evaluate that word...) is just ridiculous. When the details of the D900F first leaked, I was watering at the mouth. It would have been my dream machine.

I guess I'm not too familiar with the power requirements of the core i7 and the GTX 280M but hopefully someone out there will think of something soon! I would rather hump a ridiculous-sized power supply than a ridiculous-sized laptop!

With the D900F starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth, I've had to hunt for other options:

Sager/Clevo NP5797: GTX 280m (yay!) but no SLI or RAID
Flextronics/Arima W840 DI: Crossfire support, RAID, but still unknown if it will support the new ATI 4870.

So the hunt for a gaming laptop continues...thanks for the replies and information, everyone!

 

Why isn't the M980U in the hunt for you if you have the kind of funds for the D900f?

 

Funding is not the problem, it's the ginormous 18.4" dimensions of the M980U that just make it impractical for me. 17" widescreen is the Goldilocks of laptops forme.

 

Don't worry. It is very likely that when Calpella comes out combined with the new Nvidia cards, Clevo will update the M570 platform with 3.0 and all the goodies you want. It is sad because it will probably be the end of the upgrade path for the M570TU but it couldn't last forever.

 

It is my personal hope that Sager/Clevo or some clever reseller will add a ATI. I heard a rumor that at some point ATI will deliver an MXMIII type card that has two cores. They have already die shrunk their next gen mobile parts to 40nm. (Sorry, no sources to post)

 

At first I read "Why does my laptop keep getting shattered?" and was like LOL

 

well I never thought I would hear anyone complain about an extra 1.4"

seriously though, with the bulk and Weight of the D900 series, why would the 18.4" models be such a strain?, you are already in the realms of Luggable DTR.

having build a desktop core i7 system, I can certainly see the appeal of them for multitasking.
the user Imported a 30gb Oracle Database, Ran a backup, encoded a video and watched a video (all high def) simultaneously without even so much as a hiccup from the system.
he did have 12gb Ram, and 4 TB hdd's (in 2 raids)

so yeah for crunching the D900 machine will rock, but for gaming the core i7 probably wont offer anything above what the x9 series mobile quads can do.

also noting that waaaay back 17" was as small as an 8800M gtx would go, then clevo brought out a 15" with it in there, so I wouldnt rule out smaller machines especially if further die shrinks happen.

as for ATI cards, I want to love them, I want to trust them, but I keep getting my fingers burned by their terrible drivers.

 

I dunno, maybe I need to SEE the thing in person before I make any final judgement but my experiences with 17" is that is about as big and heavy of a device I'm willing to carry on a daily basis. A 17" can still be used on planes and trains but I can't fathom fitting a 18.4" beast on the tray table!

 

The M98 has about 3 1/2 pounds and some inches on the M570's, it certainly makes a difference. Then again you're comparing 1 HDD and 1 GPU to 3 HDDs and 2 GPUs...

 

The Core i7 D0 revision is due out very soon, rated at 95W same as a Q9650 and with dual 280M's using around as much power as 2 9800M GTX's, and considering Nvidia's upcoming 4th quarter beasts will be 40nm and probably use as much power and make as much heat as a 9800M GTX there really is no excuse for Clevo to make the D900F non SLI.. Other than the fact they probably feel the need to compete with Asus in the 18.4" market. I really wished they had stuck with the D901C format as it is do-able for them without a bigger power supply as some have suggested.

Lets hope for a quick D900xF revision.