I just bought an expensive laptop - was it a $2500 mistake?

[Soul Reputation]

Note that I have not yet booted up this laptop and I am not a gamer.

The base price for this laptop is $1300. I paid $2500 for it because I'm a speed freak. No, I don't need a drug intervention, but thanks anyway, Dr. Drew

I customized my brand new laptop for speed. I customized it for work and school projects....9 to 5 stuff. I'm a little schizo. Between 9 to 5 I'm a madman. Or maybe, thanks to genetics and coffee, I have a type A personality between 9 to 5. I'm all business between 9-5, The words "lighten up - take it easy" aren't in my vocabulary between 9-5. America was built with great men who possess the same demeanor. Christopher Columbus was addicted to coffee.

All I know is that when I use the computer to work on a school or work project and I experience a slowdown or blockage, I go mad. I go nuts. I scream. I act like a racehorse who's stuck in quicksand. I have a little meltdown is what I'm saying.

So that's why when I ordered this computer I told myself to emphasize speed, speed and more speed. So I built it with 8 gigs of RAM and a quad core processor. That is the main reason why it went from being a $1300 laptop to a $2500 laptop. (no desktop, thank you - I bought a laptop so I could get out of the house and work away from home 3 or 4 days a week).

So did I make a mistake in ramping up a $1300 laptop to the tune of $2500?

Before you answer that, you need to know what I'll be using it for: I'm going to build websites with Wordpress and Dreamweaver. I might be using several programs at once. Programs like Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash. I might even have a web based video tutorial open when I'm using Photoshop or Dreamweaver. In a nutshell: I'll be using a lot of Adobe software.

I'll note that there's no need to point out that I could've gotten far more for my money by buying a desktop. That's a given. That goes without saying. I already have a high performance desktop for work and school. I bought the laptop because I need a portable computer that is easy to transport, a computer that I can place in the back seat of my car, or carry on my back when I ride a bicycle or chopper to work or school.

So now that you know all there is to know, don't hold back with your answer. If I made a mistake just say so. Or maybe I bought the perfect laptop, one that has the type of speed that a busy body like me can utilize? A laptop that'll handle anything a worker bee can throw at it 5 years down the road?

Either way, tell me what you think, because I want THE TRUTH, and unlike Tom Cruise, I can handle the truth!



Hard drive: 7200rpm
Memory: 8 gigs of RAM
GPU: 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M
Processor: Intel® Core?2 Quad Processor Q9000 (2.00Ghz)



Text

 

[Lonyo]

Did any of that $2500 include a warranty upgrade?

 

[Soul Reputation]

Originally posted by: Lonyo
Did any of that $2500 include a warranty upgrade?

Came with a 2 year accidental coverage plan. If a car runs over it it's covered for damage. Came with LoJack for theft recovery.

 

[betasub]

Originally posted by: Soul Reputation
Note that I have not yet booted up this laptop

Buyer's regret can kick in even faster than a SSD boot these days.

 

[Burrich]

Don't let other people tell you if you made the right choice - only you can do that in situations like this. A quad core laptop is fairly unique. That, along with 8 gigs of RAM will allow this laptop to be a powerhouse for the foreseeable future.

Just think, the next time you buy a laptop quad core might be the standard. You're just ahead of the curve.

 

[Soul Reputation]

Originally posted by: Burrich
Don't let other people tell you if you made the right choice - only you can do that in situations like this. A quad core laptop is fairly unique. That, along with 8 gigs of RAM will allow this laptop to be a powerhouse for the foreseeable future.

Just think, the next time you buy a laptop quad core might be the standard. You're just ahead of the curve.

Thank you, Burrich, I appreciate your point of view. There's a lot of truth to what you say. A few others tend to think otherwise. They say that "It's foolish to try and future proof a computer". Me, I'm not so sure how foolish it is as it pertains to this matter.

 

[zerogear]

Bragging thread...?

 

[Soul Reputation]

Originally posted by: zerogear
Bragging thread...?

Re: Bragging thread

That viewpoint is irrelevant to this thread.

And stupid.

I'm seeking opinions on hardware.

Take your act elsewhere - and don't hijack this thread.

 

[lxskllr]

If you have to ask, you paid too much.

Edit:
I'm against high perf laptops on principle. You pay way too much for the performance returned. As a general approach, I lowball the easy to replace components, and would go high end on the hard to replace parts. Ram, HD, gfx(if replaceable) are good candidates for buying low end, and replacing yourself. CPU is a good part to go high end on.

 

[CrimsonWolf]

If you wanted a fast laptop, you got it.

A "mistake" I suppose would be upgrading to 8GB from the manufacturer. They usually charge a ridiculous margin for memory "upgrades". It's usually cheaper to get the laptop with the default amount of memory and replace it yourself. And then you also have spare sticks to keep around. If you didn't check this time, try it next time. (Hard drives can also fall in the same boat.)

Yeah, see lxskllr's edit too.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
If you have to ask, you paid too much.

Edit:
I'm against high perf laptops on principle. You pay way too much for the performance returned. As a general approach, I lowball the easy to replace components, and would go high end on the hard to replace parts. Ram, HD, gfx(if replaceable) are good candidates for buying low end, and replacing yourself. CPU is a good part to go high end on.

I would agree with this.
Getting 8GB RAM arguably was overkill, and even if you need it you might have been better going with 4GB or even 2GB and then buying and installing the upgrade yourself (or waiting if you don't need 8GB now and buying it when prices have dropped, assuming it uses DDR3).

The other things, like quad core processor, not so easy to do after the fact, since it may be that you need a different setup to cope with the thermals, so high end is a good idea.
Buying 8GB RAM preconfigured was probably one thing which really drove up the price and wasn't worth it at this stage, so that's the main issue I would have (that, and not getting a 3 year warranty).

 

[0roo0roo]

% of salary

 

[VinylxScratches]

Is it really portable? Sounds like it has a 17 inch LCD screen. I think it's overkill to be honest.

 

[Hacp]

Big mistake. It didn't even come with a freaking SSD.

 

[vshah]

should have just gotten a quad core, and then gotten an aftermarket SSD and 8gigs of mem for way, way less than what you paid. return it and do it right.

 

[Proximon]

Also, it's going to suck juice like crazy. Don't expect to multi-task like that for very long on the battery.

 

[skulkingghost]

Sounds to me like a great laptop, who makes it / what is the model, and how big is the hard drive? My brother jsut spent aroudn the same for a macbook pro, and yours is faster! I wouldn't kick yourself, sounds like it will be great!

 

[aatf510]

I feel like a 3GHz Dual Core Chip would be faster in most circumstances.

 

[zerogear]

Originally posted by: Soul Reputation

Originally posted by: zerogear
Bragging thread...?

Re: Bragging thread

That viewpoint is irrelevant to this thread.

And stupid.

I'm seeking opinions on hardware.

Take your act elsewhere - and don't hijack this thread.

What I don't really get is why you're asking for 'advice' after you've already ordered, which is why I am inquiring that if this thread was created solely for bragging sake.

 

[yhelothar]

my friend just got a 2GHz core2duo w/1GB upgraded to 4GB(for like $30), and a 320GB 7200RPM WDC Black hard drive($80), quadro graphics 1920x1200 widescreen for $500 total.

So yes, it was a mistake. You'd probably see 10% gain over a $1000 laptop.

 

[tcsenter]

You bought a gaming notebook for business road warrior usage. Pretty much flushed $1000 down the toilet, yes.

The only $2500 notebooks that make any sense are ruggedized notebooks, unless the price is inclusive of something else with considerable objective value such as pricey software package (that you would have acquired separately, anyway). Now if money isn't really an issue for you, there are non-objective reasons to spend $2500 (i.e. subjective gratification).

But you are here asking about the objective value of your purchase. And objectively, you flushed $1000 down the toilet. Have a nice day.

 

[wwswimming]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
% of salary

2 month salary guideline. does it apply to laptops as well as diamond rings ?

this is the laptop i'd like to get
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834147924

HP quad core.

buyer's remorse happens. it's probably even normal.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: zerogear

Originally posted by: Soul Reputation

Originally posted by: zerogear
Bragging thread...?

Re: Bragging thread

That viewpoint is irrelevant to this thread.

And stupid.

I'm seeking opinions on hardware.

Take your act elsewhere - and don't hijack this thread.

What I don't really get is why you're asking for 'advice' after you've already ordered, which is why I am inquiring that if this thread was created solely for bragging sake.

what part of -- Take your act elsewhere - and don't hijack this thread. -- don`t you understand??

 

[TheStu]

I agree with some of the others that your best bet would have been to get the system with base RAM and then upgrade later. Quad Core in a notebook form factor is excessive at least to my taste, but if you must have a system that is as powerful as can be but still be 'portable' then that would be what you get.

What are the other specs on the system? Things like weight, thickness, that sort of thing.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: TheStu
I agree with some of the others that your best bet would have been to get the system with base RAM and then upgrade later. Quad Core in a notebook form factor is excessive at least to my taste, but if you must have a system that is as powerful as can be but still be 'portable' then that would be what you get.

What are the other specs on the system? Things like weight, thickness, that sort of thing.

7200 rmp hd didn't help either. He shoulda gotten the base 80gig one and then upgraded to a vertex.