Recommendations for a new laptop please. Alienware v ASUS ROG

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I have been given the green light for a new Laptop. to replace an ageing home office pc.

I want to get as much out of this laptop as I can so would like a desktop replacement with some grunt while I have been looking at what is on offer from the top manufacturers its seems the spec I am after all fall within the Gaming category. I am not a gamer and so some of the specs on the video cards seem ott for me but the combo of the other hardware I am after seems to dictates its a gaming machine I need to look at.

I am after..

Intel i7 quad core cpu 2.5 ghz plus
16 gig ram
Graphics GPU can be onboard - but most seem to be seperates at this level of machine
256 ssd as the main drive
750 gig - 1 TB secondary Hdd preferable sata 3 7200 rpm
Blu Ray diss drive / DVD-R CD-R WR drive
17inch (as a minimum) inch screen preferable for IPS panel LED back lit
HDMI in/out if possible

OS - I would like Win 7 64bit professional - But it may be a hope as almost all higher end laptops have 8.1 ( not 100% positive some of my older software will work on 8.1 )

I had bought a DELL ALIENWARE 17 a few months ago - it had ideal specs, it was bought from the outlet store and arrived with different specs than advertised...when I tryed to sort it is became obvious it was going to be an uphill struggle to get what was advertised I was more than spooked by the experience and sent it back under the distance selling 14 day time period for full refund.

I started looking again last week and DELL outlet had a large amount of ALIENWARE laptops in the store.....I suppose after the Christmas returns have landed - Not wanting a DELL warranty issue and its telling when Domestic and General Will not give an extended warranty on DELL Alienware products...


I am looking at the ASUS ROG line up......at the moment, they seem to tick most boxes.

Does anyone have any experience of these ASUS offerings and where did you get yours from - as thats the other dilema who to trust when buying..

I would appreciate any help - thanks
 
[QUOTE="I had bought a DELL ALIENWARE 17 a few months ago - it had ideal specs, it was bought from the outlet store and arrived with different specs than advertised...when I tryed to sort it is became obvious it was going to be an uphill struggle to get what was advertised I was more than spooked by the experience and sent it back under the distance selling 14 day time period for full refund.
[/QUOTE]

28 days minimum under the sales of goods act I.e. not as advertised.

I'm also looking for a new laptop so will be watching with interest
 
Peter69 said:
[QUOTE="I had bought a DELL ALIENWARE 17 a few months ago - it had ideal specs, it was bought from the outlet store and arrived with different specs than advertised...when I tryed to sort it is became obvious it was going to be an uphill struggle to get what was advertised I was more than spooked by the experience and sent it back under the distance selling 14 day time period for full refund.
Click to expand...

28 days minimum under the sales of goods act I.e. not as advertised.

I'm also looking for a new laptop so will be watching with interest[/QUOTE]


Another reason to not choose DELL then woman on phone said 14 days.......Looking at the regs I see you are correct!


ANY pointers on choices for a power laptop would be great....

I forgot to add - I want to use the machine for..

Video editing on the fly and encoding
Photo Editing on site
Running event with LR and tethered shooting and printing
All different printing, and publishing of graphics using a few different packages
I will need it to last a long time and be reliable.

Thanks
 
Have been using a Mac Book Pro 2.6GHz Intel i7 with 16Gb of Ram to good effect for the past couple of years but would look at the top of the range MS Surface Pro, which is available in a similar flavour. Needing a decent amount of processing power usually means I pay a bit more but can expect performance for at around 10 years, which is better than upgrading every 18 months.
 
I have a laptop that is virtually what you are speccing - got it from pcspecialist.co.uk. Go to their website and you can design it yourself. Prices are good and so is customer service.
 
Thanks for replies - I like the look of pcspecialist.co.uk I will have a look at them.
 
Looking Like the ASUS ROG G771JM has most of what I want.....Decent CPU, GPU 256SSD and 1 TB HDD along with 12 gig rm and a 17.3 in IPS screen allbeit 1920x1080 DVD wr drive and a 2 year warranty from John Lewis.......

Domgen will also warranty this make unlike the Dell Alienware they wont touch, telling if you ask me. I like the fact I am dealing with JL to be honest too! - Now just need to save up.

Only drawback is windows 8.1 - although I see it has a redifined win 7 like user interface ......


Any other ideas while I save a little more........
 
Any idea what colour rendition is like on the Asus?

The 256gb ssd is a touch small too. My current PCs system drive is this big and it has +200gb on it. All data and swap file are on different drives.
 
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Peter69 said:
Any idea what colour rendition is like on the Asus?

The 256gb ssd is a touch small too. My current PCs system drive is this big and it has +200gb on it. All data and swap file are on different drives.
Click to expand...

Hi the the 256 GIG SSD is for the OS only and other software. There is a 1TB additional HDD inside and room for another if need be. Apart from going apple - too small, I wanted a larger screen. Colours looked natural (On the one in PCWorld) but I will test that once I get it home........This week nothing looks correct under shop lighting does it.

I have bought this on its merits and how it fits in with what I want to do with it and the deal was sealed when JL stocked it - so 2 years warranty with a company that has a good track record of not screwing you over in the event of an issue......
 
IMHO Alienware is overpriced - have you looked at some smaller custom manufacturers? I got mine from pc specialist and it had been great, a fair saving against very similar Alienware specs at the time.
 
I wouldn't necessarily write off Dell, although your recent experience doesn't sound ideal! Check out the Dell Precision M6800 here . It's a mobile workstation and aimed at the business/cad user which means it's built like a brick outhouse and has the benefit of easily accessible bits so you can buy a base model and then add your own additional SSDs etc if it works out cheaper. Plus the standard support/warranty is general very good with these machines. If you register as a VIP member you can get an additional 10% off Dell stuff too.

I've got a M4800 (15.6" version) and whilst I wouldn't want to lug it around all day I love it's power and connectivity.
 
I would see if anything the smaller custom suppliers like Scan Computers have to offer is to your liking, ultimately it's bound to be better than what ASUS has to offer and certainly Dell: http://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/

Personally, having been down the "quality 17" gaming/workstation laptop route" several times before I now stick to a MBP for portability and build my own desktops. However I can appreciate if you find a 15.4" screen a limiting factor a MBP isn't going to be an option, in addition it may struggle if you're going to be doing some serious encoding.
 
PorcupineFloyd said:
I would see if anything the smaller custom suppliers like Scan Computers have to offer is to your liking, ultimately it's bound to be better than what ASUS has to offer and certainly Dell: http://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/

Personally, having been down the "quality 17" gaming/workstation laptop route" several times before I now stick to a MBP for portability and build my own desktops. However I can appreciate if you find a 15.4" screen a limiting factor a MBP isn't going to be an option, in addition it may struggle if you're going to be doing some serious encoding.
Click to expand...


I have built many desktops and I have a desk based hex-core edit machine that I do the bulk on, mainly HD video and LR, PS - this will be my portable workstation all be it not as portable .......as it could be! still its cheaper than a dell of the same spec - unless you go the outlet route - but I dont want the DELL maze of warranty and the recorded issues with dell have put me off, along with my own experience.
 
don't buy too much into those IPS screens on the laptops, not many of them are good for colour critical works.

you will be looking at business laptops if that is your priority. Dell M4800 the last tie i looked into mobile computing had the best screen and specifications etc. and the bonus is the Nvidia Quadro cards :)
 
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