High end laptop

Fluffy88

Hey,

I am looking to buy a high end laptop. I am a software engineer so it will be used for Java development as well as web development, and I am the family IT specialist so I do a fair bit of tech support type work too. Other than that it will be used just for the regular stuff, Internet browsing, some music, downloading, etc... and since I'm a bit of a geek I might play the odd game on it

I have been doing my research the last few weeks and from what I can see the Intel Core i7 2670QM is the best bang for buck mobile processor around atm. Is this correct or would you advise me to go for a different processor, that's got a better price to performance ratio? I have pretty much focused my entire search on laptops with this processor, so I hope it is a good one.

So far the best value laptop I have found is this Dell XPS 17,
Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM
1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 550M
4096MB (2x2GB) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
500GB (7,200rpm)
17.3" HD+ WLED True-Life (1600x900) with 2.0 Mega Pixel Camera
It also has two hard drive bays, so possibility to add small SSD later.
Total cost: €752.34

What do you think of this, is it a good deal?
I know this will be a pretty good laptop, but I am so indecisive I can never make a decision like this until I know I have got the best I can get.

Thanks in advance for any help, I greatly appreciate it.
fluffy.

Hal Emmerich

It's a good offer alright.

Their's only a handfull of mobile chips better than the 2670 and they're not widely available (making them crazy expensive) so it looks like the one to go for if on a budget. The lesser chips in the range are similar price.

I'll have a look to see if I can better it for ya, couple of questions though...

1, Does it have to be 17 inch?
2, Are you up for installing RAM? Or just 4 or 8GB out of the box? No 6GB?
3, Does it have to have 7200rpm Harddrive? Although, this isin't always given.
4, Max Budget?
5, Any Brands you don't like?

Fluffy88

Thanks Hal for your comments,

1.) I think I would prefer 17". The main reason I am looking to get a new laptop is because I have no where to put a desktop at home and I hate working on small screens. I currently have a 15.6" Dell Inspiron 1525 and trying to work on such a small screen is annoying.

2.) I have no problem pulling this thing apart, right down to the motherboard. So RAM isn't an issue. I don't really use too much RAM so a laptop with 3GB would do me.

3.) It doesn't. I plan a future upgrade to an SSD so the HDD doesn't really matter. For this same purpose, if it has two hard drive bays it's a big plus.

4.) I set a limit to €800

5.) Not particularly. If I got a great deal for any brand I would take it.

And thank you for helping

Hal Emmerich

Had a look at Pixmania, komplett, elara, Saveonlaptops, dabs, Amazon, Laptopsdirect and can't better your find.

If you can get that Dell at that price, snap it up. I say it that way because I can't get your spec on the site for less than €962 using 10% off coupon.


This Acer may be worth a look for the bit better graphics Card. German Amazon site.

Fluffy88

When you look at the Dell homepage at the bottom left there is a "Employee Discounts - members only" link under the Shop menu. In there is where I found the laptop. Apparently I get an employee discount even though I have no relationship with the company :P

I bought it last night, but up'ed the graphics card to a nVidia GeForce GT 555M, added a backlit keyboard and a 9 cell battery, price was closer to 900 with all that, but it should be a great laptop.

Thanks for your help Hal, I really appreciate it.

Hal Emmerich

Ah right, I see it, Update the Thread when you get and let us know if all goes well, it'll be somewhere else for folks to look for a lappie. I do try and throw up recommendations for people when I have time.

A quick look at that price range and there was some similars but you def got an good deal.

Asus
Asus
Samsung

Smaller Asus

Fluffy88

The full HD resolution would have been nice to get but I think I will be okay without it, I hope

Again thanks for the help Hal.
Really when I up'ed the budget I should have spent another day or two doing more research but at least I know the XPS is a high quality laptop and it's a pretty good deal.

I might not actually get to touch the laptop until Christmas, so if I remember to get back to you I will But the order has gone through and they are in the process of building it atm so I think it is free for anyone to buy from.

daithijjj

I was looking for something similar so i tried out your spec on Dell.

With the 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 550M Graphics Card, backlit and 9 cell best i could get was E958,53.

Upgrading to the 3GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M Graphics Card was E1028.53.

Offer valid to the 14 Nov.

Fluffy88

When you look at the Irish Dell homepage
at the bottom left there is a Employee Discounts - members only link under the Shop menu(Scroll down to the end of the page).
On that page, in the centre there is a Laptop Deals link,
I picked the 17" XPS which is priced at €850.
Customize it however you want and once it's in your basket you can enter the coupon code LXLBB8X7Z$DXM5 to get 10% off.

If you make no customizations you'll have the i7-2670QM with a GT-550M for €752.34 (link)
Which will be a beast of a computer (I hope:D)

daithijjj

Fluffy88 wrote: »

When you look at the Irish Dell homepage
at the bottom left there is a Employee Discounts - members only link under the Shop menu(Scroll down to the end of the page).
On that page, in the centre there is a Laptop Deals link,
I picked the 17" XPS which is priced at €850.
Customize it however you want and once it's in your basket you can enter the coupon code LXLBB8X7Z$DXM5 to get 10% off.

If you make no customizations you'll have the i7-2670QM with a GT-550M for €752.34 (link)
Which will be a beast of a computer (I hope:D)

Yea, i figured that bit out alright , but it doesnt give me those customize options under that heading so i presumed you had gone the other route to make those customizations.

On that one that starts at E849.01 the only options under customize are

Colour Choice
Operating System
Office Software
Services Support
Accidental Damage
Protection Security Software
DataSafe Online.

Maybe im missing something?.

Fluffy88

Sorry, I picked you up wrong

I still have all the customization options, Processor, GPU, RAM, HDD ....

I had some big problems with the site caused by cookies, so maybe try clearing your cache and deleting all the cookies from the site and see if it helps.

If that doesn't work I can try building the system the way you want and e-mailing my basket to you.

Hal Emmerich

Fluffy88 wrote: »

I had some big problems with the site caused by cookies, so maybe try clearing your cache and deleting all the cookies from the site and see if it helps.

Considering it's Dells own site, it's surprising how badly laid out it is.

Fluffy88

Hal Emmerich wrote: »

Considering it's Dells own site, it's surprising how badly laid out it is.

I love the adventure of going through it though.

At first I thought an Inspiron 17R with a GT-520M was the best I could get at €750 then I found the Employee thing.

And if the site was organized the Employee section probably wouldn't be there

daithijjj

I put in the laptop with no customizations and it came to E737.09. There was a 2% discount over E749 and a further 10% with the coupon.

With backlit it came to E772.94.

I havent decided fully what i want yet and getting my brother to have a look at it. Got until the 14th. Whats the story with being able to buy under the employee or member? , just bad security?

Fluffy88

For me the €737.09 is before delivery, with delivery it's €752.34 having no customizations.
The 10% coupon code expires tonight.
It will most likely be replaced by another 10% coupon code tomorrow or in a few days time, but you might want to consider that.
And yeah I think it's either just a security mess-up or they are just being really nice for Christmas this year

I spent a few weeks looking at laptops with the i7-2670QM as I felt it was the best processor I could get in a laptop and I couldn't find anything in England or Ireland for less than €800.
So it's a fairly good deal
And the GT-550M is a very, very good GPU at that price.

Here is a review of the laptop,
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-XPS-17-Notebook-i7-2630QM-GT-555M.51949.0.html
and list of Mobile GPU's
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

And the reason I say England or Ireland is because you can find American sellers that sell for less than €800 but you will get caught for 20% VAT or something when it arrives in Ireland, plus if it's from America, Germany, Hong Kong, or anywhere else it will have a different keyboard layout.

Tar.Aldarion

looks lieka good laptop, I cant seem to find it again though, did the options change?
XPS 15z? and an inspiron duo?

daithijjj

The site layout is not exactly easy to use.

I tried several times today to get the same option back up but couldnt.

This link should bring up the xps 17 on page 2. But when you go to customise it has minimal options and not the ones i want.

http://www.dell.com/ie/p/popular-laptop-deals.aspx?3x_page=2&filterCollapsed=false&c=ie&cs=ieepp1&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

I followed through to the checkout anyway to see if the coupon worked but the coupon they ask you to use is not recognised.

Fluffy88

The 10% coupon ran out last night, so it won't work anymore.
Give it a few days and they should have up another coupon.

But the laptop does seem to be gone.
I kept an eye on it today aswell and it seems to have been removed from the site completely.

daithijjj

I had it saved in the basket and when i opened it up it said these parts were not available but could make another with similar parts. I didnt explore that option, guess i will give it a look over the next few days.

Fluffy88

Laptop arrived today, bought it on Tuesday so delivery only took 4 working days.
Pretty damn good

Laptop is huge It's so good.
Installed Battlefield: Bad Company 2 to try it out as it's the most demanding game I have.
Ran it maxed out with x16 AA and AF at 25-30 FPS which ain't bad

I only wish I wasn't being forced to put it away until Christmas, how will I last that long

Alanstrainor

Fluffy88 wrote: »

Laptop arrived today, bought it on Tuesday so delivery only took 4 working days.
Pretty damn good

Laptop is huge It's so good.
Installed Battlefield: Bad Company 2 to try it out as it's the most demanding game I have.
Ran it maxed out with x16 AA and AF at 25-30 FPS which ain't bad

I only wish I wasn't being forced to put it away until Christmas, how will I last that long

Hate that!

Best of luck with it:D