Need Laptop Buying Advice.

[Siddhartha]

I am about to buy a new\used\refurbished 18", duo video car, hybrid, etc Alienware laptop. It costs $1400 including tax. I decided to get some advice on other options for about the same money.

I will use the laptop for everything, for example mobile workstation, multimedia, etc, except gaming. I have always used Thinkpads and I am considering something else laptop. I prefer a windows based machine with at least a 15.6" screen.

Any help would be appreciated.

Siddhartha

 

[Ketchup]

The Thinkpad W530 I am using now has been a great laptop (had some issues with the T510) and the W has a much brighter screen. In my situation, I love having the dock at the office as well. Having the Intel/Nvidia graphics is good too for power savings.

The only problem I know of with Alienware is that they are really hot. Personally, I don't understand why someone wouldn't just get a desktop, but if you wanted to game from several different locations, I guess I could see the appeal.

 

[Siddhartha]

The Thinkpad W530 I am using now has been a great laptop (had some issues with the T510) and the W has a much brighter screen. In my situation, I love having the dock at the office as well. Having the Intel/Nvidia graphics is good too for power savings.

The only problem I know of with Alienware is that they are really hot. Personally, I don't understand why someone wouldn't just get a desktop, but if you wanted to game from several different locations, I guess I could see the appeal.

I considered a Thinkpad W but it does not have a HDMI port. The Alienware is a "gaming" laptop. I am not into gaming but it has enough grunt to do what I need.

 

[holden j caufield]

If you are doing CAD my gf has done some CAD work on a gaming laptop and if the gpu doesn't have certified drivers for her CAD program she sometimes gets weird errors.


I prefer the displayport on my w530, I just have a $10 mini displayport to hdmi adapter. The reason I prefer mini displayport is at work and at home I have 30 inch monitors it displayport gives me full 2560 x 1600 QXGA resolution.

I've got a nearly new w530 that has full warranty and accidental warranty coverage till May 2016. I actually prefer the old school keyboard of the w520.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=114950

i7 3740qm
10gb ram
240gb SSD
K2000m gpu (this gpu has twice the shaders of the k1000m I think)

 

[Ketchup]

.....I actually prefer the old school keyboard of the w520....

Yes. Although it isn't as bad as I initially thought. I still miss the keyboard from the older models.

I forgot to mention I love the lighting features on this one, there are three settings:
low keyboard, high keyboard, and overhead (it's next to the camera on the screen).