Series 7 Notebook "NP700G7C-S01US" Advice needed =)

[nayaminfenrir]

Hello BG geniuses. My household needs another laptop asap for my kids schoolwork so Im giving them my older duo core dell that I usually use for work. That gives me an excuse to get myself a newer more powerful laptop and I would love some advice from people much smarter than me when it comes to making such decisions.

Id like to use the laptop for both gaming and work, basically word/excel and invoicing software

My first though was to search the Alienware site which im guessing was a noob thing to do. They seem kinda overpriced. After more searching I found this:
http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/l...7C-S01US-specs

It seems very well priced at 1900.00 when comparing it to a similarly build Alienware laptop. Am I missing something? Is this a POS? Or is this the "deal" ive been looking for?

Any advice would be super welcome, thanks in advance!

[The Stig]

My first though was to search the Alienware site which im guessing was a noob thing to do.

It's not really, the overpriced thing I agree with somewhat, but those laptops do look fancy. I own one and I just like the stealth like look.

So, this laptop.

Judging by the CPU and the GPU, this is actually in the higher end of my "tier 1" laptops. Good deal or not I am not sure (I'm not familiar with $ pricing), but considering how http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230195 is cheaper but with this Samsung one you're getting a bit more ... it is quite a nice deal I suppose.

[nayaminfenrir]

Probably a dumb question butI keep reading about this new Ivy Bridge version of the i7's. Is the i7 processor in that Samsung an Ivy Bridge?

[Anakron]

Your link seems to freeze my computer, but going by your thread title, is it this one?
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series...7487794&sr=8-1

If it is, then IMO it's overpriced from the hardware perspective unless you want it for the style or the brand. It is Ivy Bridge though. Either way, I think that's the standard price, so it's not on sale or anything if that's what you're looking for.

A similarly equipped Sager would run you around $1700-1800, but you have a lot more options (e.g. a much more powerful GPU, don't want blu-ray, can install the second 750GB drive yourself, etc.) :
http://www.lpc-digital.com/sager-np9170.html

[nayaminfenrir]

Hmm, I didnt even know about that sager brand. What did you mean about the GPU though? I thought the GTX 675M was the newest and best for laptops as of right now.

[Anakron]

The 675M is the strongest Nvidia card, but it is a rebranded 580M (last gen). The AMD 7970M that just came out is about 30-50% faster than the 675M.

Also, IMO you don't really need 16GB of RAM for gaming and the work you described.

[nayaminfenrir]

Noted. Thanks a ton for the information. You're right, that other rig you recommended does seem to be the best deal.

[Anakron]

If you do decide to go with them, and want an extra $50-80 off, make an account at the NBR forums and make 5 posts, then email Larry @ LPC-Digital asking for an NBR-specific discount.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/