New laptop suggestions, Programming & Gaming

[Kingsc23]

I actually posted about a few good PC/laptop's on my blog. http://entertainmentcove*************/pc-cove.html. I still can't say what the best are, it really depends on needs.

 

[sze5003]

Tech never showed up Friday when I had off from working an 18hr shift so I asked that he come Tuesday so I can work from home that day. I have his number so I can call him Monday and make sure.

They will be replacing my screen again, the left and right hinges, the whole assembly basically of the top, and left and right speakers.

 

[Estex]

I actually posted about a few good PC/laptop's on my blog. http://entertainmentcove*************/pc-cove.html. I still can't say what the best are, it really depends on needs.

Hey Kingsc, your link doesn't work! I'll gladly take a look if you can link it.

Sze5003, I don't even know what to say at this point. Keep us posted, but god damn...Can't believe you have to go through all this trouble just to get what you paid for.

 

[sze5003]

Hey Kingsc, your link doesn't work! I'll gladly take a look if you can link it.

Sze5003, I don't even know what to say at this point. Keep us posted, but god damn...Can't believe you have to go through all this trouble just to get what you paid for.

I also wanted to take a look at that list.

What sucks is part of the plastic of the bottom part of the laptop that the screen assembly joins to is chipped so I don't think that part will look like new although its very tiny. As long as he puts the new screen on correctly it should be flush and the chip not so noticeable.

If I'm not happy with this guy's repair work I don't think I can return it for a refund but I sure as hell request a replacement.

It really is sad no other company followed suite with the design, especially the screen win no bezels.

 

[sze5003]

Another update:

The tech that is suppose to come today is in court and doesn't know when he's getting out. No clue if he will come today or not. This is the third day I've worked from home to try and be here so it can get fixed.

If he doesn't show up, I'm calling dell and demanding a replacement. If they can't replace it I'm going to box it up and just return it to them. I don't even care at this point now.

 

[Estex]

...The tech is in court? I wonder what for. Yeah I'm sure you've had enough of this.

 

[sze5003]

...The tech is in court? I wonder what for. Yeah I'm sure you've had enough of this.

I'm not sure for what but the tech that was suppose to come last Friday got my parts from him and showed up today.

Upon opening up the laptop he found out the WiFi card had a damaged port, most likely from the last tech that took it apart. He did fix the port up for me. Dell didn't send him the plastic pieces he needed to replace the cracked plastic either, called the antenna cover that goes in the center on the swivel part of the screen.

He was pretty cool and professional unlike the last tech. He called dell and told them all the issues and Dell told him I would need to mail the laptop to the depot. He was pissed himself and demanded they send him the parts and schedule him again to come back or I get a replacement machine or refund.

I opted for an exchange and after checking that they documented everything, they set up for an exchange. I'll have to mail this one back when the new one comes.

This is the piece I was talking about which they didn't send. I'll be sending that back with this machine.

 

[linkgoron]

Well, I finally got my XPS 15.

So far so good, I had one problem - the second time I started the laptop it said "no hardisk" or something like that, but it worked afterwards. I've seen other people complain that it happened once and then never happened again.

No mushy spacebar or anything like that, the computer is dead silent and no coil whine so far.

 

[sze5003]

Well, I finally got my XPS 15.

So far so good, I had one problem - the second time I started the laptop it said "no hardisk" or something like that, but it worked afterwards. I've seen other people complain that it happened once and then never happened again.

No mushy spacebar or anything like that, the computer is dead silent and no coil whine so far.

Glad you don't have any issues. I'm waiting for my replacement which I think is being built from scratch, according to one of the support reps.

 

[Estex]

Looks good, Linkgoron!
Glad to hear everything is going well

I really wish it didn't take so long for these units to be built. Maybe one day they'll just have them stocked in stores.

 

[MysteriousRJC]

MSI all the way........ Dell u pay way more for the same specs...... I have this monster for about 1.5 years now

http://www.msi.com/product/notebook/GT72-2PE-Dominator-Pro.html#hero-overview

awesome, was $800 cheaper at the time vs the comparable alienware model

 

[linkgoron]

MSI all the way........ Dell u pay way more for the same specs...... I have this monster for about 1.5 years now

http://www.msi.com/product/notebook/GT72-2PE-Dominator-Pro.html#hero-overview

awesome, was $800 cheaper at the time vs the comparable alienware model

I travel every day. The MSI weighs much more (the internet says ~8.35lb), and the battery life isn't as good. If you want something which is lighter - I considered the GS60, however the battery life is still quite bad, and I've heard bad stories about fan noise (So far my XPS15 has been very quiet - except when gaming which also wasn't that bad).

 

[MysteriousRJC]

MSIs aren't meant to be portables, they're plug-in desktop replacements that can go cordless for short periods...... u r not going to high-end game on ANY battery for long durations pushing a laptop to it's max

 

[linkgoron]

MSIs aren't meant to be portables, they're plug-in desktop replacements that can go cordless for short periods...... u r not going to high-end game on ANY battery for long durations pushing a laptop to it's max

Sure, I'm just saying that specs (CPU/GPU etc) aren't everything in a laptop. Weight and battery life are important too.

 

[MysteriousRJC]

Sure, I'm just saying that specs (CPU/GPU etc) aren't everything in a laptop. Weight and battery life are important too.

yah, depending on the balance you're going for and desired use

 

[daxzy]

I've been reading the MSI GS40 Phantom have loud fans. The Gigabyte P34 V4 (not the Skylake V5) has throttling problems.

The Sager/Clevo seems like a viable alternative. Unfortunately, it's 0.7 lbs heavier. However, I believe that ODM's stuffing GTX 970m's with QC Skylakes in <4 lbs chassis is just unrealistic. I'd rather have a GTX 965M or a DC i7 in a thin chassis than being stuck with something that throttles or loud.

https://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP8640.html

 

[Estex]

Yeah, MysteriousRJC, those are awesome units. Unfortunately it's so, so far removed from what I'm looking for that I can't consider it. What we're trying to find is the sweet spot between power and portability because, like I mentioned initially, the laptop will be used on-the-go quite a bit (during classes each day). Weight-wise, that restricts me to something around or under 5 lbs, with a thickness no more than 1 inch, and size of 15.6" or less. I'm definitely not ruling out something like the MSI GS60 or GS40, but they have a HUGE drawback for me in that their battery life is sub-par, to say the least.

Daxzy, I've been bouncing around the idea of going with either the P34 V5 or one of the Clevo P640RE models, but I'm not totally sold yet. The Gigabyte P34 V5 is so new that I've only found one or two reviews on it, and the Clevo/Sager, as I understand it, doesn't have great battery life either. Granted, I'm not expecting miracles here, but 4 hours of battery life is a must for me considering it will go down over time.

Anyone played around with either of these laptops recently, by any chance?
Gigabyte P34 V5 (or V4, just for interest's sake)
Sager NP8640 / Clevo P640RE

 

[Estex]

Man... yet again, battery life is a killer. Granted, we won't know until the full retail model has been released, but the various models of the Clevo P640RE are reported on at least a few sites as having 180 minutes of battery life ON POWER SAVING MODE. Also the view of the internals shows just how dinky the battery is. If that's honestly the case, I'm sticking with the Dell. What a shame.

 

[daxzy]

Ah yes, another caveat of the Clevo 640RE, the terrible battery life. It has a 45 WHr battery (the Gigabyte has a 62 WHr). I'm still waiting for a review of the 640RE, but if you're browsing the web and hitting up around 10W usage (which seems normal for a throttled Skylake with the d-GPU off), I suspect it should be around 4 hours life. Still terrible though.

The Dell XPS 15 was one of my first choices... but they have LOADS of issues so far (check notebookreview's massive XPS 15 9550 thread). Much of it has been resolved with firmware updates, we'll see.

 

[Estex]

Yeah eh? It's such a shame that the Clevo 640RE most likely has crap battery life. One of the local custom laptop distributors (Eurocom) gives incredible options for that laptop. For example, they put in the Killer AC 1535 which is the range-extended wireless card, and give the option of an Intel 6820HK instead of the 6700HQ, and all sorts of other options. I only wish they carried Gigabyte laptops as well.

That being said, the Gigabyte (P34W V5) actually might have decent battery life. I can deal with 4 hours, as long as it's no less. I'm currently using an ultrabook that has under 3 hours, but it's just not enough for trips and 3 hour classes if I don't have an outlet nearby.

I still haven't ruled out the XPS 15, but the Gigabyte really is looking more promising at this point.

 

[sze5003]

My xps 15 replacement showed up at my door yesterday. Pretty much a month after I asked for it to be exchanged. It was not refurbished, I got a new model.

No issues that I can see with this one and speakers do not crackle on this model like the last one did. I'm sending the old one back I just hope they don't screw me over becuase of the damages the technician did.

 

[Estex]

That's great. Glad to hear it's a perfect unit (so far).
I mucked around with the XPS 13 at my local Best Buy, and it was definitely nice. Nothing spectacular though, because it's so small. Even the keys seemed smaller than normal laptop keys. The construction was beautiful though - I'll give it that.

Still, I think the Gigabyte P34W V5 is the front-runner for me at the moment.
It's a shame Razer's next rendition of the Blade hasn't even been announced yet... Honestly, the feel and construction of the Macbook Pro is exactly what I want, but somehow only Razer makes use of it. Sure, the price is greater than a bloody mortgage, but if you use it every single day at home and out, I think it ends up being worth it.

 

[Estex]

Hey sze5003, quick question for you:

I noticed on the XPS 13 that the keys are somewhat smaller than larger laptops. At least they seem to be. Is that the case with the 15 as well?

 

[linkgoron]

While you asked Sze, I can say that I don't feel that they're smaller. I *DO* kind of miss my home/pgup/pgdown/end keys, but I've started using vimium for chrome, and at least my browsing hasn't been affected. I've actually started using vimium on my desktop, as I find that using Vimium I need less movement to browse now, and browse a bit faster.

BTW, as a competitor/alternative to the XPS15 I would actually look at the P34G v5, and not the P34W v5.

 

[sze5003]

I think they are fairly normal size keys for a laptop. They are chiclet style. I would say they are the same size as in the macbooks. There is no number pad so maybe that's why it appears smaller. My hands have enough room it seems.