Willy waving thread: show us your laptops!

[DutchSchaeffer]

Thanks!

I really like the non-garish, sleek look of the laptops.

I know some find them plain (boring?) but to me they are so much smarter looking than say the alienware and MSI equivalents with lights everywhere!

I have a Clevo (M860TU) at the moment, time for a little upgrade though, I've had it since summer 2009. It has been fantastic, very impressed!

 

[blueshift]

Thanks!

I really like the non-garish, sleek look of the laptops.

I know some find them plain (boring?) but to me they are so much smarter looking than say the alienware and MSI equivalents with lights everywhere!

I have a Clevo (M860TU) at the moment, time for a little upgrade though, I've had it since summer 2009. It has been fantastic, very impressed!

you dont like lights everywhere??

 

[Fallen god]

Loving those Clevo laptops! Any chance of some more pics?

I am thinking of buying one, can't decide between the 15 and 17 inch.

Neither are particularly portable, so not sure if I should get the larger screen...

Any news on a Clevo refresh coming up?

Would love a backlit keyboard for example.

From what Ive heard there is a fresh but back lit keyboard isnt in the works, the keyboard really is the only weak point to let these great laptops down.

 

[Gazb]

From what Ive heard there is a fresh but back lit keyboard isnt in the works, the keyboard really is the only weak point to let these great laptops down.

That's a pity. I really do find the back lit keyboard on my Dell XPS Studio 16 can be quite helpful when chilling out in low light for example.

I'm guessing the refresh may also include the option of the upcoming Nvidia GTX 600m series, though from what little I'd read about them they will be die shrunk 500 series chips. Still if the GTX680m turned out to be the equivalent of a desktop 570 or 580 then that would be great.

On a side note, how do you find the Clevo laptop's heat wise? Actually this could be a general question. My XPS can get pretty damn hot if getting pushed at all.

 

[Tobeornottobe]

The cooling on my P150HM is great, under full load there are no hot spots on the case or keyboard. The CPU and GPU are in the 80's when playing games but all of the heat is chucked out of the back by two big fans and heatsinks. The intakes for the fans are on the bottom so you have to keep these clear, so basically no gaming on your lap.

 

[Sin_Chase]

I was more surprised by how many use windows 7 with the taskbar buttons with no label's and (probably combined too). The proper taskbar on my Vista rig is one of the main reasons I prefer it to any of the Windows 7 computers I use or my laptop.

@Tobeornottobe
Liking the Clevo P150HM, pretty much the spec I may be getting on in (including the matte screen) in the near future.

Desktop real estate is not something afforded with most laptops.....stacked label-less taskbar icons are an absolute godsend on a laptop.

Why do you need labels if you even have half a clue what you are doing?

A 'proper' taskbar (Read - Windows XP) is a total waste of space on a laptop, especially portable sizes.

 

[Tobeornottobe]

Loving those Clevo laptops! Any chance of some more pics?

P150HM

 

[ninja2000]

I like Clevo laptops, but until they improve the keyboards and speakers I won't buy another one!
Not bothered about backlit keys, its the terrible layout, nasty clatter and feel.

I have never been a dell fan, but the one thing they normally do well is the keyboard!

 

[Gazb]

I like Clevo laptops, but until they improve the keyboards and speakers I won't buy another one!
Not bothered about backlit keys, its the terrible layout, nasty clatter and feel.

I have never been a dell fan, but the one thing they normally do well is the keyboard!

Speakers I'm not worried about but are the Clevo keyboards really that bad?

 

[Tobeornottobe]

Not that bad. I believe the new models coming out this year have a new keyboard with backlight.

 

[Dead_Assassin]

Dell XPS 17

2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.10 GHz
English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
17.3 FHD WLED TL (1920x1080) 1080p with 2.0 Mega Pixel
3GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M Graphics Card
8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x4096]
DVD+/-RW (DVD, CD read and write)
500 (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
500 (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000

 

[ninja2000]

Speakers I'm not worried about but are the Clevo keyboards really that bad?

There is not too much flex which is a positive but...

Check the layout, its terrible. The number pad merges with the keyboard making easy to hit the wrong keys, especially enter and arrow keys. Also the layout isnt great. I have had keys sticking and not registering (space bar is a common problem). And the keys have a nasty clatter as you hit them.

All in all it feels like a cheap acer keyboard rather than a premium gaming laptop keyboard.

Its a shame really as for me the priotities for a laptop are screen, keyboard and performance and the screen and performance is great.

 

[Gazb]

There is not too much flex which is a positive but...

Check the layout, its terrible. The number pad merges with the keyboard making easy to hit the wrong keys, especially enter and arrow keys. Also the layout isnt great. I have had keys sticking and not registering (space bar is a common problem). And the keys have a nasty clatter as you hit them.

All in all it feels like a cheap acer keyboard rather than a premium gaming laptop keyboard.

Its a shame really as for me the priotities for a laptop are screen, keyboard and performance and the screen and performance is great.

Think I'll wait for the refresh then. I do kinda like the Alienware laptops but I'd rather have a 'more portable' 15.6 inch form factor than a 17 inch and Alienware don't really do that anymore, plus they are somewhat bulky and very expensive. My friend loves his though, so they seem reliable.

The Razor Blade caught my eye, but unfortunately the specs let it down. (plus I'm sure it will be prohibitively expensive)

 

[Too Tall]

I like Clevo laptops, but until they improve the keyboards and speakers I won't buy another one!
Not bothered about backlit keys, its the terrible layout, nasty clatter and feel.

I have never been a dell fan, but the one thing they normally do well is the keyboard!

To be fair the speakers on my p170hm are not that bad at all. most reviewers dont know you have to press fn+5 to enable the THX mode and it makes a world of difference.

Regarding the Keyboard, i agree it is a bit clattery and not as good as the one i had on the XPS L702X but i've had no issues with the layout. Agreed it does need a backlight and improving though.

 

[ninja2000]

Think I'll wait for the refresh then. I do kinda like the Alienware laptops but I'd rather have a 'more portable' 15.6 inch form factor than a 17 inch and Alienware don't really do that anymore, plus they are somewhat bulky and very expensive. My friend loves his though, so they seem reliable.

The Razor Blade caught my eye, but unfortunately the specs let it down. (plus I'm sure it will be prohibitively expensive)

well the m15x wasn't much smaller than the current m17x. I would have prefered a decent 15" form factor but I love the power of the 17x.
They are bulky, but they are not expensive if you keep your eye on the outlet you can get some amazing deals.

My m17x cost £975 delivered for:
1080p screen
ati 6990m
intel 2630qm 8gb ram
320gb 7200 HDD
killer n wireless

Try getting a clevo, asus or msi for the same price with those specs

 

[phill1978]

Compared to desktops, they're worse. My experiences with arch on my laptop was pretty negative compared to the one that runs on my desktop, laptops involve a whole load of extra configuration regarding power usage/saving, function keys, trackpads (I.e multitouch).

It works fine, it just takes more effort.

didn't find this. every time ive run a popular well supported distro ive had no real issues (bearing in mind its completely free)

i would still only advise linux on a laptop to extend its life if you have bought one with a beefy gpu i suppose its for gaming so windows is the obvious choice

 

[Alexrose1uk]

They are bulky, but they are not expensive if you keep your eye on the outlet you can get some amazing deals.

My m17x cost £975 delivered for:
1080p screen
ati 6990m
intel 2630qm 8gb ram
320gb 7200 HDD
killer n wireless

Try getting a clevo, asus or msi for the same price with those specs

It's a good deal, but the outlet is what it is, there isn't exactly a comparison for the other brands, except sometimes companies reselling on eBay. Compared to Dell's new prices (as outlet are cancelled orders, repaired [or supposedly repaired] faulty etc) though the other brands aren't bad. Some people prefer to pay a premium for it being 100% new, which I can understand.

Clevo does have a subtle look that will appeal to some compared to the others though; whilst they look nice they're subtle about it in a way most performance laptops aren't

 

[Gazb]

Pretty good article comparing mobile graphics cards to their desktop counterparts on Tomshardware.
Most of it is public knowledge but the benchmarks do kind of show that at 1920*1080 is a on the limit for some games for the current top of the range mobile GPU's.

I would have liked to see where the very common GT555m would compare.

 

[betty_middle]

I've bought Asus N73SV-V2G-TZ684V and I just love it.

 

[ThePirateHulk]

I'm running a Lenovo IdeaPad Y560P

CPU: i7-2630QM
RAM: 8GB
GPU: HD 6570M
Screen: 15.6" Glossy (1366x768)
HDD: 128GB OCZ someting-or-other + 750GB 5400rpm storage drive (sacraficed optical bay for this)
Speakers: JBL Speakers (best laptop speakers I've heard).

I'm pretty happy with this as I got it for a steal ($600AU). The screen is a bit disappointing but for a basic workhorse laptop with some light gaming thrown it it is ideal.