4 contenders remaining

[StevethePirate]

After dedicating a reasonable amount of personal research and receiving recommendations via other tech forums, these four models appear the most sufficient contenders, each with its advantages and shortcomings:

--- ASUS N61JQ-X1 or A1
pros:
>optional HDD capacity
>7200rpm HDD
>DX11 compatible ATI Radeon HD 5730; NVidia 330GT is not & is generally
lesser performing
>USB 3.0
>matte finish
>most inexpensive
>reputable customer service
cons:
>lesser i7 720QM processor
>4gb RAM
>low native resolution

--- MSI GX740-079US
pros:
>DX11 compatible middle performing ATI Radeon HD 5730
>7200rpm HDD
>high native resolution
>USB 3.0
cons:
>lesser i7 720QM processor
>4gb RAM
>gloss finish
>uncertain customer service

--- SONY VAIO F Series VPCF123FX/B
pros:
>better i7 740QM processor
>PhysX compatible NVidia 330GT
>6gb RAM
>blu-ray compatible
>high native resolution
>USB 3.0
>matte finish
>reputable customer service
cons:
>5400rpm HDD (custom order VPCF1190X has optional 7200rpm HDD)
>DX11 incompatible & least perfoming NVidia 330GT

--- TOSHIBA Qosmio X505-Q870 or 887
pros:
>optional i7 processor
>PhysX compatible & highest performing NVidia 360GTS
>7200rpm HDD
>18.4" screen
>USB 3.0
cons:
>DX11 incompatible NVidia 360GTS
>18.4" screen
>gloss finish
>most expensive
>uncertain customer service

For purposes of elucidation, here is my criterion:

aesthetics: insignificant; something not ostentatious i suppose

battery life: 3-5hrs

brands: preferred = Asus, Dell, Lenovo, MSI, Sony, and Toshiba; chosen from personal experience and others' recommendation. disliked = Acer & HP; chosen from reviews holding them low in reliability or customer service

budget: ~$1-1.5k

expected purchase: whenever I have gathered sufficient information to winnow the remaining contenders to a singularity

finish: preferably matte; gloss is bearable

graphic performance: Op Flashpoint: Dragon Rising... I think that is taxing enough for a benchmark

HDD capacity: 500+gb

longevity: I would prefer that it remain adequate for my entire 4-5year undergrad endeavor; however, I do prospect that I shall built a high performance desktop in a few years. My emphasis on this laptop's abilities is underscored by versatility and practicality.

mobility: the advantageous particularity of practically all laptops is that their mobility surmounts that of a desktop; the heavier it is, the more of an exercise. That's my philosophy

operating system: preferably Win XP or 7; Vista is bearable but a burden

optical drive: CD/DVD read & write; blu-ray compatibility is an augment, but more superfluous

other features/ tasks: sound hardware near FLAC standards, HDMI compatibility, and ability to run Rhino & Solidworks

refurbished/redistributed: meh... it will take convincing

resolution: 16:9/16:10/15:9 aspect ratios

sites: amazon.com, compudirect.com, directron.com, evertek.com, mwave.com, ncixus.com, newegg.com, pcdirect.com, tigerdirect.com, zipzoomfly.com, et cetera

size: 15-18"

 

[FishAk]

aesthetics: insignificant; something not ostentatious i suppose

But then you put aesthetics at the top of your list, mention appearances twice in your criteria, and put the best looking laptop at the very top of that list. Hmmm... Maybe it's more important to you than you want to admit...


On a serious note though, it looks like the Acer is the only one with two drive bays. You could put an SSD in one, and the 500GB Momentus XT hybrid in the other for a real screamer. Check out AnandTech's review of the hybrid.

 

[Emulex]

qosmio has that cool transcoding board that works with CUDA in TMPGENC. you can transcode to x.264 high def 4x+ faster iirc. The CUDA is used for filters and the doohickey the qosmio has does the meat of the work for encoding.

that is slick.

here is my advice:
1. Backup backup backup - whatever drive fits in the machine throw it in an external and backup
2. Get a good warranty for as long as you plan to use it actively.

 

[StevethePirate]

But then you put aesthetics at the top of your list, mention appearances twice in your criteria, and put the best looking laptop at the very top of that list. Hmmm... Maybe it's more important to you than you want to admit...

The vertical order in which I arranged them is irrelevant to importance; it is merely alphabetical. And the mentioning of aesthetics twice was concerning the question prerequisite for notebookreview's forum, from which I copied and pasted. If this assumption persists, I shall edit it. Sorry guys