Laptop Fanatics/Know It Alls, Help Please?

Are Alienware products overpriced?

Yes	100.0%	[ 3 ]
No	0.0%	[ 0 ]
Total Votes:			[ 3 ]

[Cemantics]

I am looking to buy a new laptop for schooling, as well as some gaming. I am going to

university for civil engineering, so I will be using Auto CAD and other programs that are a bit

strenuous on a system. So I was wondering what specs I should be looking for in a laptop. As of
current, I am interested in the Alienware 14, as it isn't too big but the specs on it are nice.


The specs I think I should be looking for as follows

- dedicated/discrete graphics chip set
- any quad core processor/4th Gen Intel i5 or i7
- 8GB+ of Ram Memory

I prefer

- 14" display, because I would very much like for it to be portable (Alienware 14 according to dell is approx 5kg, yikes :[ )
- a lighter weight laptop (lol at Alienware)
- NVIDIA GeFORCE GT 700 series or equivalent or better chip set

The laptops I currently am interested in are

- Alienware 14
- Lenovo IdeaPad Y410p
- HP ENVY Leap Motion 17.3" (not 14" but is an option)
- HP ENVY 15.6"
- Samsung ATIV Book 8 15.6" (not sure how good the AMD HD8770M is :s)

I am not worried about the price with the exception of anything costing over $2000. It may be

hard to find the best ones for under 2G but I'm looking for the best bang for your buck.

Remember, I am a future university/college student so I will be on a budget in the future, for sure

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

Also, in my area there is someone who is selling a Clevo P170EM used for $1550. I

looked at the specs and its performance and seems pretty good! Anybody have anything to add,

would that be a good deal? Thanks!

[MyNameIsKir]

The IdeaPad Y Series is currently, hands down, the best bang for buck spec wise. I own the Y510p and it is simply beautiful. I got mine for $1,000 USD and my friend's gaming laptop with the slightly better graphics card (according to benchmarks) but last gen processor cost him $1,750. Plus the Y series is not clunky like most gaming laptops because it's a multimedia laptop. Same as a gaming laptop but smaller because it's not made to be easily upgradable, no color changing LEDs, and the fan doesn't have an on/off switch. If you get a Y series, buy it directly off of Lenovo's website and I recommend getting a Y510p instead.

Alienware is overpriced but I hear that they are well built machines.

MSI is probably the kings of gaming laptops because of the build quality. I'm not familiar with their current models but look through their stock.

[Cemantics]

MyNameIsKir

The IdeaPad Y Series is currently the best bang for buck spec wise. I own the Y510p and it is simply beautiful. Plus it's not clunky like most gaming laptops because it's a multimedia laptop. Same as a gaming laptop but smaller because it's not made to be easily upgradable, no color changing LEDs, and the fan doesn't have an on/off switch. If you get a Y series, buy it directly off of Lenovo's website and I recommend getting a Y510p instead.

Alienware is overpriced but I hear that they are well built machines.

MSI is probably the kings of gaming laptops because of the build quality. I'm not familiar with their current models but look through their stock.

Thanks so much! So that being said, does that mean in the future, if I wanted to upgrade my

graphics chip, I couldn't? What do you think of the Clevo 170EM deal that someone is offering?

[MyNameIsKir]

Cemantics

Thanks so much! So that being said, does that mean in the future, if I wanted to upgrade my

graphics chip, I couldn't? What do you think of the Clevo 170EM deal that someone is offering?

I'll look up the specs. I'm on my phone so it'll take me a bit.

But yes, you couldn't upgrade the graphics. But considering the price to do so and the fact that you'd probably want to upgrade the processor and possibly/probably other hardware at that point, I don't see the point in doing so. You're not getting your money's worth by upgrading and even with gaming laptops you still have a high risk of damage when you take it apart. Just buy a whole new laptop. It won't cost much more (if it costs more) and your whole system will be upgraded.

[Cemantics]

MyNameIsKir

Cemantics

Thanks so much! So that being said, does that mean in the future, if I wanted to upgrade my

graphics chip, I couldn't? What do you think of the Clevo 170EM deal that someone is offering?

I'll look up the specs. I'm on my phone so it'll take me a bit.

But yes, you couldn't upgrade the graphics. But considering the price to do so and the fact that you'd probably want to upgrade the processor and possibly/probably other hardware at that point, I don't see the point in doing so. You're not getting your money's worth by upgrading and even with gaming laptops you still have a high risk of damage when you take it apart. Just buy a whole new laptop. It won't cost much more (if it costs more) and your whole system will be upgraded.

I see. I looked up the differences b/w the Y410p and the Y510p and there doesnt seem to be much

of a difference except with the highest model of Y510p has a 16GB RAM vs an 8GB RAM on the

Y410p, unless I'm missing something :/ Also the higher model of the Y410p has a NVIDIA

GeFORCE 755M vs a 750M ono the Y510p, but I chose the lowest 510p model...

Again thanks smile

[MyNameIsKir]

Looked your deal up and laughed. I assume you mean the P170EM. Last gen processor and the graphics card is also old. Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome laptop. But it's FAR from being worth $1,500.

[MyNameIsKir]

Huh. I'm looking and most of the Y510p models aren't listed anymore. They must have sold out. They sold dual 755 graphics cards in the Y510p models.

[Cemantics]

MyNameIsKir

Looked your deal up and laughed. I assume you mean the P170EM. Last gen processor and the graphics card is also old. Don't get me wrong, it's an awesome laptop. But it's FAR from being worth $1,500.

Hmm, well he dropped it down to $1400, like that makes a difference lol

MyNameIsKir

Huh. I'm looking and most of the Y510p models aren't listed anymore. They must have sold out. They sold dual 755 graphics cards in the Y510p models.

Interesting. How is the trackpad on yours? There's a lot of reviews about the Y410p saying the trackpad is god awful.

[MyNameIsKir]

Oh yeah the trackpad is awful for gaming, including on my brother's y410p, but I've yet to find a gaming laptop without that problem. The trackpad is all around awful until you reinstall drivers, then it's pretty nice for non gaming stuff.

No matter what system you buy, get a mouse. Seriously.

[Sitwon]

This one is worth considering. Not 14", but thin and light.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152443

[Cemantics]

Sitwon

This one is worth considering. Not 14", but thin and light.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152443

That is a beauty! From a first glance standpoint. Thanks for your input, I will definitely look into it more!