College Laptop: Sager NP5165 vs. Alienware m14x (or something else altogether?)

[DJ898]

Background: I will a CompSci/EE major next year and so will be taking notes, watching movies, using the Internets, and some gaming. However, I will be bringing my full desktop rig with me so I don't know how much gaming power I will actually need. However, I want to make sure that when I go home/do research/etc. I can still game a little bit.

After doing some research, the choice seems to be between the Sager MP5165 vs. the Alienware m14x.

Sager specs:
15.6" 1080p 95% NTSC color gamut
i5-2520M
Nvidia 555M
8 GB RAM
120 GB Intel 510 SSD
DVD drive
Intel Advanced-N 6230
5.73 lb
$1437 delivered

m14x:
14" 900p
i5-2410
Nvidia 555M
6 GB RAM
600 GB 7200 RPM HDD
DVD Drive
Intel Advanced-N 6230
+$300 for intel ssd 510 (definitely) and optical bay hard drive caddy (maybe)
6.45 lb
$1644

Pros for Sager:
better screen quality 95% NTSC color gamut
slightly faster CPU (i5-2520M vs. i5-2410)
$200 cheaper
lighter

Pros for Alienware:
Better build quality (?)
Better support/warranty (?)
Smaller
better battery life
Get a 500 GB HDD as well

Which one does the forum recommend?

Also, seeing as I will have my desktop, are these laptops overkill (and should I instead get something like a macbook air)?

 

[Fayd]

if you're bringing your desktop, why are you considering a 5-6 lb gaming notebook?

you're probably not gonna have that much time to game if you're going comp-sci/ee anyways.

just get a mobility notebook for $600-900, 3~ lbs, 8+ hour battery life. a much better choice for school work, just accept that the most advanced game you're gonna play is counterstrike or a dota clone.

 

[xSauronx]

if you're bringing your desktop, why are you considering a 5-6 lb gaming notebook?

you're probably not gonna have that much time to game if you're going comp-sci/ee anyways.

just get a mobility notebook for $600-900, 3~ lbs, 8+ hour battery life. a much better choice for school work, just accept that the most advanced game you're gonna play is counterstrike or a dota clone.

this, really. my timeline x was 600 with an i3 1.3 ghz and has 6+ hours of usable life

id say look for another slim/light laptop, and get a faster cpu if youre going to do work on it, or keep a low power cpu if you just want to do light stuff like word processing, email, note typing (i love one note for this) etc.

the timeline x doesnt have amazing build quality, thats my only complaint. not bad, just not great. poke around this forum and the front page reviews for good suggestions for light laptops with long battery life; you dont want to carry something heavy for notes and doing mobile schoolwork/studying, it gets old fast

 

[Axon]

Well, both machines are good. I prefer the sleeper look of the Sager. It's also got a much larger (and sharper) screen. The m14x is more portable, however.

 

[DJ898]

Thank you for the advice. I've only ever had a desktop so I didn't know how much power I would need.

Looking at ultraportables, Lenovo is have a 15% sale this weekend on ultraportables so I was looking at either the X220 or the T420s.

X220:
12.5"
1366 x 768 IPS panel
i7-2620M (for the USB 3.0 port)
4 GB RAM
320 GB HDD (replacing with Intel 510 120 GB so doesn't matter)
No Optical drive (not a big deal)
9 Hour battery life
2.87 lb
$1019

T420s
14"
1600 x 900 display
i5-2520M
4 GB RAM
320 GB HDD
DVD Drive
4 Hour battery life
4 lb
$1019

I'm leaning towards the 14" as it would be more comfortable to type on and has a bigger resolution.

Comments?

 

[drizek]

Get a desktop and an ultraportable. Unless you are going to be moving around on a very regular basis and need your high performance PC with you at all times, don't fall into the trap of taking a performance laptop with you to class every day. You will grow to hate it within a week. Get a Timeline, a slim Vaio or a Macbook Air, as your budget dictates.

Edit: for your two Thinkpads, I'd get the Macbook Air TBH. Has an SSD, higher res panel than the X220 and is lighter than either of them. NOne of the machines are perfect, but I think you'll like the mac.

 

[Cheesetogo]

I have a 12" Lenovo. The size has never really caused a problem for me. It's really going to come down to your personal preference.

Keep in mind that Lenovo has a student discount (just search Lenovo Student on google). You should be able to do a fair amount better than those prices.

 

[DJ898]

Thanks for the help everyone.

At this point I'm leaning towards the T420s as it has a more powerful CPU than the MBA and better resolution and form factor than the X220. It has worse battery life (4 hours vs 9 (X220) and 5.6 (MBA)) but I figure there's not going to be too many places on campus that won't have power and I can always buy the bay battery if necessary.

I'm going in to a computer store tomorrow to see the X220 and T420s in person and then I can make a final decision.

Thanks Everyone!

 

[thescreensavers]

idk even if I had a desktop, I would get the sager.

My current laptop is 5.5lbs not a big deal to put in my laptop backpack and a book or two,

 

[Fayd]

Thanks for the help everyone.

At this point I'm leaning towards the T420s as it has a more powerful CPU than the MBA and better resolution and form factor than the X220. It has worse battery life (4 hours vs 9 (X220) and 5.6 (MBA)) but I figure there's not going to be too many places on campus that won't have power and I can always buy the bay battery if necessary.

I'm going in to a computer store tomorrow to see the X220 and T420s in person and then I can make a final decision.

Thanks Everyone!

i think you're overly downplaying the importance of battery life. going from 4 hours (expect 2-3 hours real world) to 9 hours (expect 6+ hours real world) is a difference of night and day.

 

[DJ898]

@Fayd, the 4 hour number is the "corrected" battery life.

Sad that laptops makers can't spec their products to real world number.

 

[imported_mystro]

Having both the latest 2nd gen everything plus Nvidia Optimus without overkill, the Sager 5165
makes a powerful gaming machine if needed with excellent batt life and it's solidly built. You may decide
not to bring your big box to the party after using it.
Excellent thread regarding this build:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-sager-np5165-clevo-w150hr-owners-lounge.html