Quickly... Need help ASAP on purchase thoughts

[Rakewell]

Help!

I've got this in my cart at the DELL outlet. I have only a few minutes to decide on this before it disappears from my queue.

It's refurbished, and today only is 30% off all outlet laptops.

Is this a good deal?

$950 free shipping. (Before tax.)

Processor Processor: Intel Core 2nd Gen i5-2450M Processor (2.5GHz)
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
Base Dell Outlet Alienware M14x R2 Laptop
Hard Disk Drive 750 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
Memory 16 GB, NON-ECC, 1600MHZ DDR3 (8x2)
Media Bay 8X DVD +/- RW Drive
Video 2 GB DDR5 NVIDIA GeForceGT 650M using NVIDIA Optimus technology
System Color Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish
Laptop Screen 14.0 inch HD (900p/1600x900) with WLED backlight
Laptop Battery 8 Cell Battery
Network Interface Card Killer Wireless-N 1202 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO for Gaming and Video and Bluetooth 4.0
Keyboard English keyboard
Hardware Upgrade AlienFX Color, Plasma Purple
150W AC Adapter
Software Upgrade Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1
64BIT Operating System

 

[pelov]

No SSD, an i5 Sandy and no Blu-Ray drive at $950 before taxes? No, that's not a good deal.

For ~$1000 you can find a 1080p Lenovo Y580 with a 660m Kepler card. If you want something thinner you can opt for a Samsung 7 series or the new Asus N56VZ which can be had around the ~$1000 mark brand new. All of these feature a quad core i7 Ivy processor and Kepler graphics.

 

[Rakewell]

No SSD, an i5 Sandy and no Blu-Ray drive at $950 before taxes? No, that's not a good deal.

For ~$1000 you can find a 1080p Lenovo Y580 with a 660m Kepler card. If you want something thinner you can opt for a Samsung 7 series or the new Asus N56VZ which can be had around the ~$1000 mark brand new. All of these feature a quad core i7 Ivy processor and Kepler graphics.

Thanks for the quick response, Pelov. I was wondering.

Kepler? Any good?

 

[Insomniator]

Is it 30% off that 950?

It looks like that config NEW a few months ago wouldn't be much more than 1100. You are paying for that 16GB of memory you probably don't need.

 

[Rakewell]

Is it 30% off that 950?

It looks like that config NEW a few months ago wouldn't be much more than 1100. You are paying for that 16GB of memory you probably don't need.

950 after 30%. prolly right on that 16gb huh.

 

[pelov]

Thanks for the quick response, Pelov. I was wondering.

Kepler? Any good?

I'd definitely take Kepler over anything else as far as gaming goes. The Fermi architecture was hot and drank power at an alarming rate while AMD's current GCN has poor driver support.

Just be wary of which card you choose. Some of them are rebranded Fermi cards while others are rumored to be Fermi cards at 28nm. The nVidia/AMD naming scheme is still as idiotic as it's always been.

 

[Rakewell]

I'd definitely take Kepler over anything else as far as gaming goes. The Fermi architecture was hot and drank power at an alarming rate while AMD's current GCN has poor driver support.

Just be wary of which card you choose. Some of them are rebranded Fermi cards while others are rumored to be Fermi cards at 28nm. The nVidia/AMD naming scheme is still as idiotic as it's always been.

Huh. Do you see anything out there ~1000 worth buying with authentic Kepler? Can't seem to find...

 

[pelov]

Sign up to Lenovo's B&N site to get discounts emailed to you, some of them pretty significant. A fully equipped Lenovo Y580 was going for under $900 just a couple of weeks ago.

Right now, through the B&N link, the Y580 goes for $950 before taxes. i7 Quad Ivy, GTX660M, 8GB RAM, 1080p 15.6" display, Intel Centrino and Blu-Ray drive. That's probably the best you'll get as far as gaming notebooks go for under a thousand bucks. Build quality is very good and cooling is pretty good as well, certainly better than the Asus NV56vz or Dell XPS 15.

That would be my recommendation.
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...3F27A84F5F5622D1AC7A&action=init#.UH7XYOClgiA

 

[Rakewell]

Sign up to Lenovo's B&N site to get discounts emailed to you, some of them pretty significant. A fully equipped Lenovo Y580 was going for under $900 just a couple of weeks ago.

Right now, through the B&N link, the Y580 goes for $950 before taxes. i7 Quad Ivy, GTX660M, 8GB RAM, 1080p 15.6" display, Intel Centrino and Blu-Ray drive. That's probably the best you'll get as far as gaming notebooks go for under a thousand bucks. Build quality is very good and cooling is pretty good as well, certainly better than the Asus NV56vz or Dell XPS 15.

That would be my recommendation.
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...t#.UH7XYOClgiA

Wow. Thanks again, Pelov. That's a good looking laptop. :thumbsup:

 

[naisanza]

Hope you didn't end up buying that.