which sager?

I'm going into graduate school to pursue an M.A. in Political Science. Even though the NP8662 in my sig has served me well, I'm looking to update it with another 15" (I'll keep my NP8662 for archive purposes). Anyway, while I will be doing work (research papers, studies, seminars, a 100pg thesis, etc.), I do want a machine that can properly game. Optimus is not an issue because due to my disability and the requirement to have a laptop at all times (dysgrafia), I get seated near an outlet. Anyway, I was looking at the following systems

Sager NP8150 / Clevo P150HM
- 3% Cash Discount, 8GB RAM Promotion & Price Match! Ask us about our Current Specials! We GUARANTEE we have the lowest price for the same configuration!
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (New Sager Option)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- - 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 485M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable)-
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)
- Standard Finish
- ~ 500GB (w/ 4GB SSD Memory) Seagate XT 7200RPM NCQ Hybrid (Serial-ATA II 300 - 32MB Cache)
- ~ 6X Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Special
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- No Back Up Software
- None Standard--
- Intel® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- Sager 3 Year Parts & Labor Warranty w/ Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Customer Support - Special!
- No Xotic PC Gear
$2,348.00

Sager NP8130 / Clevo P151HM1
- 3% Cash Discount, 8GB RAM Promotion & Price Match! Ask us about our Current Specials! We GUARANTEE we have the lowest price for the same configuration!
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (New Sager Option)-
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- -2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2820QM, 2.3-3.4GHz, (32nm, 8MB L3 cache)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 560M 1,536MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)
- Standard Finish
- ~ 500GB (w/ 4GB SSD Memory) Seagate XT 7200RPM NCQ Hybrid (Serial-ATA II 300 - 32MB Cache)
- ~ 6X Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Special
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- No Back Up Software
- None Standard--
- Intel® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- Sager 3 Year Parts & Labor Warranty w/ Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Customer Support - Special!
- No Xotic PC Gear
$2,253.00

If pushed between the two for a work / gaming computer that doesn't break the bank (I have a $2,500 limit), which one would you choose. I am open to suggestions / modifications so long as they don't break the bank or hinder gameability too badly. Any help would be appreciated.

Jason

 

For the small price difference, the P150HM is a much stronger machine since you've added in the 485m. Since we aren't talking a huge difference in price, it's a no brainer to go with the 485m over the 560m for a nearly 50% increase in speed. The 2820 versus the 2630 depends entirely on your workload. If you plan to game, the 2630 is more than you'll ever need (you'll be GPU bound first). The 2820 is useful if you run multiple virtual machines or run other highly threaded and intensive applications.

I'm sure you know about them, but these two charts are fantastically helpful when deciding:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Processors-Benchmarklist.2436.0.html

 

the extent of my work is more typing papers and spreadsheets, I don't think i'm going to be doing any sort of 3-D molecule or germ sims (that's my cousin's job as a med student ). Question for M-Bal, do you have any comparisons in Benchmarks as to the differences between the 560m and 485m. 3d06, vantage, 3d11, Unigine, etc. Just to get an idea how big of a jump we're talking?

Thanks

Jason

 

If you go through malibal it will be cheaper, also you won't need the 16gb of ram, and I suggest that you contact malibal and ask about the ram promotion and free shipping. in addition malibal will price match their 6x blu-ray to pro-star's 4x blu-ray found here

Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit 95% NTSC Color Gamut GlassView Display
$30.00
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.0-2.9GHz
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM - $35
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 485M 2GB GDDR5
$295.00
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300 Hybrid w/ 4GB NAND Flash
$65.00
Optical Drive Bay: 6X Blu-ray Reader 8X DVD+/-R DL Super-Multi Drive with price match
$45.00
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium; 64-bit
$80.00
Wireless: Intel® 6300 Ultimate-N 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card
$35.00
Cooling: IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU
$40.00
Warranty: 3 Year Ltd. Parts and Labor Warranty with 24/7 USA-Based Support
$149.00
free shipping
Product Subtotal: $2,048.00

also ask malibal to price match pro-star's glossy 95% color gamut display

hope this helps!

edit: u posted while i was writing check here to compare the 485m and 560m. just scroll down and click show comparison on the chart you want.

 

Sure, here are links to the individual cards on notebookcheck with full benchmarks on both. The 485m is roughly 50% faster in most.

485m: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

560m: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Aduy,

I want 16GB so that it will survive through 3 years of Graduate school. I may start with 8GB if need be. Im also buying in sept. or oct. Other than that, I like what's there that you've put down!

Jason

 

well if you are waiting that long the 6990m will be out by then so those will be similar in price to what the 485m is at now. also you could upgrade later easily to 16gb if you needed to as there are 4 ram slots and only the 2 under the keyboard are used.

 

oh quick question @malibal, will you price match the 2720qm upgrade price that mythlogic has or does it not apply because they aren't a sager reseller.

 

Hi, price match usually only applies to the overall total price of the system... and not individual parts. We've made a couple exceptions in the past but it's not part of our normal low price guarantee.

 

Was wondering if it better to keep the 2630 and get SSD or upgrade to the 2720?

What does upgrading to the 2720 give me, extra fps?

 

The 2720 offers 200mhz higher clocks (2.2 instead of 2.0) which means that it will run slightly faster all the time, as well as a higher possible turbo. In addition, it's also got Vt-d and AES (if you don't know what they are, you probably don't need them ). Overall, the 2720qm adds about a 15% boost compared to the 2630- but probably not in games, which are, except for a rare few, mostly GPU limited (Starcraft II is one that is CPU limited).

If you have to choose and you're mostly getting the machine to game, the 2630 with the SSD will be a much more noticeable upgrade choice. The 2720qm doesn't really add anything for someone just looking to game.

 

I wonder if this statement is true for online games. I had an old PC with a Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q9550 @ 2.83GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.8GHz and a GTX 280 card. The warranty company sent me a free i5-2400 3.1GHz (a better processor) with a GTX 550Ti ( a worse card) and WOW Cataclysm seemed to run smoother on the latter. That had me wondering if processor/card combinations should be measured completely different when measuring online games versus single player games. Though in all fairness, the older system had a lot more loaded on it, both had Norton 360.

PS In case your curious, they sent me a new PC because they thought it was a HW problem when it really was a corrupt vista issue that was fixed by me installing WIndows 7.

 

That is interesting but does the SSD do anything for games as well? It just boot up the computer faster right?

 

Boot times would be (significantly) faster, but load times of games would also be faster. Open world games (Fallout 3 or NV, Borderlands, etc.) would run smoother with shorter load times on transitions between areas. I'm not certain (as I've only put Fallout: NV on my desktop's SSD so far) but I don't know that the frames per second benefit would be very large.

 

As far as SSD goes, most likely I'm going to take my vital files and pictures and offload them to a 500GB HDD. Then transplant the SSD to the new sager. I have a 160GB X25-M G2. Or should i just go for either the G3 or the 510? (And if so, which?).

Jason

 

It's not. PC Gamer did an SSD/HDD comparison in their most recent issue. The maximum difference in frame rate across the games they tested was 3 in favor of the SSD.

 

I will never buy an ATi card. Not because of fanboy-ism, but because every ATi-based computer I have ever owned or had an instrumental role in (Dell XPS GEN I laptop, Dell Inspiron m5030, Dell inspiron i580) that had an ATi card or ATi graphics board, was nothing but misery when it came to updating or upgrading the drivers. ATi may be cheaper, but as a student I also need reliability as well. I'd rather pay more for a more mature and easy-to-upgrade infrastructure than save a few bucks to get a bit more performance and have driver misery.

MALIBAL, most of my gaming is in auto-racing such as NFS: Shift (and Shift 2), Race ON series, and the F1 series. Less the RPG / FPS / MMORPG stuff. I'm starting to think the 485m / 2630qm may be the best bang for the buck combo, but is 8GB really enough with windows 8 on the horizon?

Jason

 

so far

Sager NP8150 / Clevo P150HM
- 3% Cash Discount, 8GB RAM Promotion & Price Match! Ask us about our Current Specials! We GUARANTEE we have the lowest price for the same configuration!
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (New Sager Option)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- - 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 485M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable)-
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)
- Standard Finish
- ~ 500GB (w/ 4GB SSD Memory) Seagate XT 7200RPM NCQ Hybrid (Serial-ATA II 300 - 32MB Cache)
- ~ 6X Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Special
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- No Back Up Software
- None Standard--
- Intel® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- Sager 3 Year Parts & Labor Warranty w/ Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Customer Support - Special!
- No Xotic PC Gear
$2,348.00


seems to be winning. Anything on this I should modify / tweak?

 

Only thing I would suggest changing is the screen. Swap the glossy for matte.

 

OOPS, missed that! thanks

Sager NP8150 / Clevo P150HM
- 3% Cash Discount, 8GB RAM Promotion & Price Match! Ask us about our Current Specials! We GUARANTEE we have the lowest price for the same configuration!
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (New Sager Option)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- - 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 485M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable)-
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)
- Standard Finish
- ~ 500GB (w/ 4GB SSD Memory) Seagate XT 7200RPM NCQ Hybrid (Serial-ATA II 300 - 32MB Cache)
- ~ 6X Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Special
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- No Back Up Software
- None Standard--
- Intel® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- Sager 3 Year Parts & Labor Warranty w/ Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Customer Support - Special!
- No Xotic PC Gear

 

I didn't see it the first time around, but I'd also skip the Momentus XT hard drive in favor of a standard 500 or 750 GB 7200 RPM unit. The XT works best if you're performing the same tasks over and over. The drive "learns" your usage pattern and is able to access your most frequently used data from the built-in flash memory. If you're doing a variety of things, the drive can't fully learn your usage and you'll see no benefit. In my case, when I used the drive, it actually caused performance to degrade. Some of my games (mostly Source-engine based) would stutter quite badly. Now I don't know if Seagate addressed this with a firmware update, but instead of going through that hassle, I just swapped the drive out for a traditional one, and it solved the problem completely.

 

Sager NP8150 / Clevo P150HM
- 3% Cash Discount, 8GB RAM Promotion & Price Match! Ask us about our Current Specials! We GUARANTEE we have the lowest price for the same configuration!
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (New Sager Option)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- - 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 580M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable)
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)
- Standard Finish
- ~ 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- ~ 6X Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Special
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- No Back Up Software
- None Standard--
- Intel® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- Sager 3 Year Parts & Labor Warranty w/ Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Customer Support - Special!
- No Xotic PC Gear

RIGHT under my $2,500 limit ($2483 before 3% cash discount) . What think? If it's good, i'll order it.

Thx,

Jason

 

As others have mentioned, I don't think you need the 16 GB of RAM right now. It's an extra $140 for something you can easily buy and install yourself. I'd go with 8 GB right now and then upgrade it later.

 

The cool thing about the P150HM is that it's designed to be easily upgradeable. Only four small Phillips screws seperate you from accessing the CPU, GPU, and 2 of the ram slots (of course, you'd have to remove more screws to change the CPU and GPU but you get my point). You could always get more (or faster) ram if you want.

But, I like the configuration. It looks a lot like mine

 

If you're doing actual gaming and less of the online type games, then yeah, the 2630/485m is the best price/performance combo. The 485m will be your limiter before the 2630 in a majority of games out there. You can always get the 8GB RAM now and add more later when you need it- it's got 4 slots for RAM, so 2x4GB is plenty to start with. Unless you're running VM's, video editing, or other memory hogs, games alone won't suck down 16GB.

As for Windows 8, I'm not sure what the specs will be. But considering they announced that it will run on ARM architecture for phones/tablets, I bet if anything it'll be even more lightweight.

 

So change the 580m for the 485m and if i need 16, get the difference down the road? (16 - 8 = 8). If so, that just lopped $340 off the price

 

Yep. Just be sure you order it with 8GB (2x4GB) so that you have 2 free slots to use later (they'll install the factory 8GB under the keyboard, so that the remaining two slots are easily accessible) As for the 580m vs 485m, most people have only noted a 10-15% increase in performance, which also comes at $200 more. You can upgrade to the 580m down the road though if you ever decide you want it anyway.

If you had a higher budget and wanted the best right away, obviously something like the 2720 or 2820/580m/SSD/16GB 1600mhz RAM would be ideal- but not everyone can afford to go all out

 

I find this odd that I am also a grad student heading for my masters in Poli Sci and I also just ordered what practically amounts to the same machine from the same company. I am in agreement with everyone else on the RAM, as for the SSD, a full on SSD would be the way to go but they are insanely expensive, which is why I just decided to go with a 500 GB HD. I keep all of my documents and such archived on an external anyway. Other than that, it sounds like a great machine, one the you and I will apparently be doing very similar things with lol

 

UPDATE: due to books costing way more than planned, I'm going to have to step down to an 8130. My question with the 8130 is, if at some point down the road I wanted to make a ramdisk, would i be able to (after saving up for a while) put in 32GB so that I could run apps and games off it?

Jason

 

you could, but you're gonna have to wait until 8GB ram stick prices plummet.

 

Hi, we can do 32GB in this notebook, but it is very expensive.

 

yea, i saw the new crucial sticks at $400 a pop and went "yeesh". I think I'm going to stick with an 8130, 2630qm, 16gb 1333 and a killer 1103 for now. Although Ivy Bridge is interesting too..... .

Malibal, quick question. Is the 560m enough to play NFS: Shift (my favorite game)? and if so, at what setting?

 

according to notebookcheck. ppl were getting 49 fps on ultra. So im sure you will be happy if that is what your mostly interested in.

 

yup, and i would only be able to play it @ 720p on high on my sager np8662. Can't wait

 

I'd get the Sager NP8150 because the Nvidia 485M beats the snot out of the Vidia 560M. I think that this is more important than the CPU bump (for Games). It is about a $100 more, but I think it will stay relevant as a gaming machine for about 6 Months longer making it a good deal.

 

Let's compare the specs i want, to what you say.

Sager NP8130 / Clevo P151HM1
- 3% Cash Discount, 8GB RAM Promotion & Price Match! Ask us about our Current Specials! We GUARANTEE we have the lowest price for the same configuration!
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (SKU - S1R302)
- NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache) (SKU - X2R201)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 560M 1,536MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (SKU - X3R452)
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)
- Standard Finish
- ~ 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- ~ Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/ Software (When selecting a Hard Drive in the Optical Bay, No Optical Drive is Included)
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- No Back Up Software
- None Standard--
- Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 (3x3) (SKU - X8R054)
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- Sager 2 Year Parts & 3 Year Labor Warranty w/ Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Customer Support (SKU - S9R206)
- No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
- No Xotic PC Gear
Total: $1,653.00 before shipping and discount

Now an 8150
Sager NP8150 / Clevo P150HM
- 3% Cash Discount, 8GB RAM Promotion & Price Match! Ask us about our Current Specials! We GUARANTEE we have the lowest price for the same configuration!
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (SKU - S1R301)
- NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache) (SKU - X2R201)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 485M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable) (SKU - X3R502)
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)
- Standard Finish
- ~ 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- ~ Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/ Software (When selecting a Hard Drive in the Optical Bay, No Optical Drive is Included)
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- No Back Up Software
- None Standard--
- Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 (3x3) (SKU - X8R054)
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- Sager 2 Year Parts & 3 Year Labor Warranty w/ Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Customer Support (SKU - S9R206)
- No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
- No Xotic PC Gear
Total Cost: $2,113.00 before shipping and discount

Now let's say i do an S1 package...
Sager NP8150-S1 / Clevo P150HM
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 95% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (SKU - S1R302)
- NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache) (SKU - X2R201)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 485M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable) (SKU - X3R502)
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)-
- Standard Finish
- 750GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache) (SKU - X5R307)
- ~ Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive w/ Software (When selecting a Hard Drive in the Optical Bay, No Optical Drive is Included)-
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- No Back Up Software
- None Standard--
- Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 (3x3) (SKU - X8R054)
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- Sager 2 Year Parts & 3 Year Labor Warranty w/ Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Customer Support (SKU - S9R206)
- No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
- No Xotic PC Gear
Total: $2,068.00 before shipping and discount.

At MINIMUM, we're looking at a $415 difference, and without the S1 package, $460. I do have to buy books and pay for fuel / parking / food while trying to get a laptop that won't take a perf. hit from my 8662.

Not trying to be confrontational, just stating the facts.

Jason

EDIT: the extent of my gaming is auto racing games, I like NFS: Shift in particular.

 

It is, and the fact that the way i want my laptop spec'd, there's a $400 diff... that's goes to academic stuff like books (which when it comes to it, a 485m is nice, but a degree with honors is even better ).

Jason

 

xoticpc. most likely