New Gaming Laptop

[Sedition]

I'd assume that most of these laptops aim to avoid any bottlenecking of parts. For high-end products, that would seem somewhat silly if they did bottleneck

Also, clearly these guys are giving slightly more bang for their buck than the Dell/Alienware equivalent

Yeah this model is aimed at the Quadro/32GB RAM folks, so fair enough for not letting me cheap out on the processor. I think it's worth the extra to go with it and thus the dual cards.

I'm cheaping out on the delivery, standard 4-day for $22 Only $30 for the extra 250gb on the SATA drive, so that seems fair. I read that the Intel 520 SSD has a less return to manufacturer's rate than the Crucial M4, so another $30 extra for me there.

$3458 is the total damage. Hopefully I can talk them down some when I mention Alienware and their rival custom site. Damn I'm glad that I posted here, I owe you a couple of cartons

 

[puddleduck]

Yeah I figured as much. Essentially the top processor with a quadro is for someone trying to use CAD and stuff to design some seriously detailed 3D modelling.

If I'm ever over in Australia (unlikely unfortunately until I can afford to go for 3 months and take in an entire Ashes tour) I'll hunt you down and you can buy me a beer (not a crappy English Fosters either, a proper beer ).

Haha, I love how you're cutting costs on the delivery having happily added in another $50 worth on the hard drives

Glad to help though, because in the end, you're paying $500 less for a machine that is much closer to what you'd want in regards to having a quicker hard drive, dual SLI of the top range GFX cards.

Heh, just went to the dell site and built an Alienware 17.3inch laptop, and tried to get it as close to your specs as possible.

For 3,900 Aus dollars I currently get -

A worse processor.
A single Gfx card.
A bigger hard drive...

 

[Sedition]

I had a look around the forum, but I think I'm sold already on this Metabox. I saw something about 3rd generation intel chips, and 680 graphics cards coming soon on my travels, but it's kind of never-ending with hardware. Once they get here, hard drives will be updating, higher RAM speeds and processors.. I think I'll just pull the trigger and be happy that I dodged a bullet with the Alienware.

Also, it's probably worth spending the extra $40 on 24 hour delivery rather than 4 days in a truck..

 

[puddleduck]

This new information at least gives you a potential chance to try and get some money off though

Yeah, I would probably pay the extra $40 just to get it to me quickly ha

 

[Sedition]

Yeah I figured as much. Essentially the top processor with a quadro is for someone trying to use CAD and stuff to design some seriously detailed 3D modelling.

If I'm ever over in Australia (unlikely unfortunately until I can afford to go for 3 months and take in an entire Ashes tour) I'll hunt you down and you can buy me a beer (not a crappy English Fosters either, a proper beer ).

Haha, I love how you're cutting costs on the delivery having happily added in another $50 worth on the hard drives

Glad to help though, because in the end, you're paying $500 less for a machine that is much closer to what you'd want in regards to having a quicker hard drive, dual SLI of the top range GFX cards.

Heh, just went to the dell site and built an Alienware 17.3inch laptop, and tried to get it as close to your specs as possible.

For 3,900 Aus dollars I currently get -

A worse processor.
A single Gfx card.
A bigger hard drive...

Yeah I had to go the 18 inch Alienware (m18x) to have the option of dual cards. Processor wasn't in the same league, and a less than optimal hard drive setup.. all for $500 more. I wouldn't pay $500 for an extra inch of anything

Where I'm at isn't exactly on the way to anything Unless you're a country music fan? I should put the $500 towards a couple of days at the SCG if you come during an Ashes and a few cartons of nothing but the best, Tooheys New.

 

[puddleduck]

Hmm I like all music to be fair, but before I ever go to Australia to tick off one of my things to do before I die I have some other test playing nations to visit first heh.

Windies, India and/or Sri Lanka, and boxing day test in Australia is the order I'll be doing them... in about 10 years when I've actually got the spare money.

Besides, isn't everywhere in Australia not on the way to anything

Let me know your Steam ID when you get setup, I'll send you a fun little game called Renegade Ops that I got a 4 pack of a while back because it was in the sale

 

[Sedition]

Those places are all a bit ----. I mean, they're alright, but nothing you can't see on the telly at home. (Carl Pilkington reference if anyone else is reading).

I'll check out Ren Ops and maybe have another stab at Total War for some multiplayer games if you won't be available for that beer anytime soon then.

 

[puddleduck]

Ren Ops is a twin stick shooter. So definitely best if you have a control pad to use. It's decent fun, but more fun with a mate (can be played split screen on the same PC). As I said I have a copy spare, so add puddleduck on steam at some point and I'll gift it to you.

I've never played the Total War games multiplayer. I just love sinking into them like a Civ game. Slowly nurturing my generals and building up individual character units with the massive amount of traits it has.

To this day I'll never forget Quintus, general of my armies that went from the bottom of Italy, all the way through France and Spain before he died of old age at the bottom of Portugal. Nearly every trait he picked up along the way improved his generalship in some way. He was not a man who was loved.

Which Total War game did you play? Some of them are weaker than others. You'd be able to find Rome for next to nothing, and I still think it's one of the best. Although Shogun 2 (the newest one) is supposed to be really good.

Heh good ol' Karl

 

[Sedition]

I must be one of the few that prefers gaming on a keyboard over a control pad. Just feels unnatural having something so small in my hands I usually throw them too whereas my keyboard doesn't receive such abuse.

That kind of depth sounds interesting with Total War. I have Rome Gold Edition, but admittedly didn't spend much time on it. Civ III was the same when I first played.. took me a long time to get the hang of it, but something about it just kept bringing me back to try to figure it out.

 

[Justin B]

Sexy but if it was mac it would be better as I feel.

 

[puddleduck]

Sexy but if it was mac it would be better as I feel.

Then you're an idiot and have fallen for the Apple hype machine.

Idiot is maybe too far, but yeah, you couldn't be more wrong. Unless you're a graphics designer or music producer I see no reason to own a Mac other than because Apple keep telling you how amazing they are, and how you have to own one

Apple are basically Alienware, overcharging for stuff that is generally technically inferior.

Except their Ipads, which are cool. Sort of.

----------

I must be one of the few that prefers gaming on a keyboard over a control pad. Just feels unnatural having something so small in my hands I usually throw them too whereas my keyboard doesn't receive such abuse.

That kind of depth sounds interesting with Total War. I have Rome Gold Edition, but admittedly didn't spend much time on it. Civ III was the same when I first played.. took me a long time to get the hang of it, but something about it just kept bringing me back to try to figure it out.

Civ is literally the definition of "one more click... ok just one more. Alright just research this tech. Ok, just replace this units. What bastard! He declared war. Ok, wipe these guys out, then bed.

Wait, it's what AM?!?!? I had work ... yesterday apparently. Oh, well, just one more click

I would highly recommend taking the time to get into Rome. Absolutely awesome game, and even if the battles are a bit daunting, you can play it like Civ and sim the battles and just enjoy the detailed campaign map and building your family. Quintus' sons were always a continual dissapointment, but then I guess he was never around to help raise them

 

[puddleduck]

Sedition -

Before you click purchase, these articles might be worth a read in regards to just confirming what you're going for -

AVADirect Clevo P270WM Review: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M Powerhouse - A review of a new laptop that probably comes near to what you're looking at getting.

A little piece about SSD hard drives SSD vs Hard Drives: A Beginner's Guide to SSD Upgrades

This article may be the most useful of all - Notebook Buying Guide: How To Buy The Right Laptop

 

[Sedition]

Thanks for those links man, reading through them now.

The SSD article confirmed what you said about them being ideal for a boot drive and core software. Kind of weird they didn't include the Intel 520, but the previous model Crucial rated highly and the Intel 520 is faster than the newer C4 Crucial, so I'm pretty happy with that.

The review had some good information, a couple of standout paragraphs:

The P270WM is very easy to upgrade, a benefit of Clevo designing this for resellers who install virtually all internal components. All the primary internals are accessible through panels on the bottom of the notebook.

Being easy to upgrade is a plus, but by the time my hardware is getting a bit dated, I'll probably be better off just getting a new machine I guess.

The four giant circular grills on the bottom of the notebook are actually air intakes for the cooling fans although one of the grills is blocked; probably to give users a place to rest the notebook on their leg in the event they are crazy enough to use this almost 14-pound machine as a "laptop."

Okay, I was expecting maybe 5kg.. but 6+ is getting up there. I have an exercise bike, time to start working out

It handles the intense heat output from the powerful processor and graphics cards very well. That being said, the desktop processor and dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M GPUs aren't exactly cool customers... All of the internal components remained within their recommended operating temperatures and the bottom of the notebook didn't get too hot.

Pretty happy about this. The processor they're using is the higher end one and a couple of other components are a step above, so mine should be pretty sweet.

The other downsides with the battery life and fan noise don't bother me and are to be expected with this kind of hardware.

Still reading through the other article, so I'll address anything from that in a bit. Getting a Mac would never cross my mind in a million years, useful as a doorstop I'll check out some strat guides for Rome and try it again. We seem to have similar tastes so I'm sure if I devote the time to learning like I did Civ, I'll get into it.

 

[puddleduck]

Trust the Aussie company to put a better processor and hd in. Everything's a bleedin' competition haha

I genuinely hate how Apple have managed to gain such a massive market share. Completely and utterly part of this whole celebrity and image culture. The whole looks over substance thing. Basically people get told by the person trying to sell them x,y,z how amazing x,y,z is and they go and buy it. In terms of people, they get told this celebrity is amazing, so they go and buy his merchandise and scream when he's within a postcode.

Someone asked what would people recommend to replace their dead laptop, to which I obviously asked what they would use it for and what they wanted to spend, then I was going to recommend him some various things to have a look at.

Within 3 hours 9 people had all posted saying "DUDE, get a mac, they're so cool!" "Mate, get a Mac, they're wicked" etc... He of course went and bought a Mac, essentially spending ?200 more on something that he just didn't need, all because all his mates were as stupid as he was

Just from taking a bit of time, you've knocked off $500 and got a much better machine I really don't know why so many people are currently sucking on the Apple co..... re... Some strange need to feel like they're part of something. Don't get me wrong though, they're sexy laptops, but spec wise they're never particularly good value and like all Apple products they are invariable limited and tied into only being able to make Apple money.

I'm ranting though, I'll stop haha (essentially though, that post earlier is exactly what I'm talking about). "It would be better if a Mac" with no evidence and nothing but believing what Apple told you to believe

Always more exciting putting the thing together and ordering than it is owning it though Even I'm excited for you, so you must be like a paedo at a swimming gala. Or a fat kid in a cake shop. Whatever, both work

Yeah, Rome really is awesome, I'd suggest playing through the tutorial first, then if I remember correctly the start is fairly tutorialish anyway. You could sim the early battles if you aren't confident, and just take ones where you have the definite numerical advantage.

The strengths of the Roman families is always their order. Keeping nice solid lines of infantry that advance slowly and together should allow you to hold most enemy lines and give you the chance to punch holes with your cavalry or flank the feckers and get them routing Also there's something immensely satisfying about taking out an army 3 times your size with nothing more than clever positioning up in some hills or when defending your massive citadel with 3 levels to fall back to

 

[Sedition]

The processor and other high end components were in the American reviewed one, but other than the heat not being a factor in theirs, this information will help more in getting discount - $4350 for their spec'd out one. They also go on to say that obviously Asus, Dell, Sony etc. will be out with similar models (namely dual 675's) this year.

I could wait, but as I said it's never-ending. I'm going to write an email now about the availability of current/future parts and get a dialogue going, then maybe go for over the phone pressure when getting a discount

As you said, Mac's only purpose is multimedia related stuff. They carried the dull name of Macintosh and occupied a niche market that suits the name. All they've done since the 90's is up the sex factor and now they're a powerhouse. But hell, any competition is good for consumers, so more power to them