07-04-2011 at 04:28 PM
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#1
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Xps M1730
So does anyone have any experience lugging a Dell XPS M1730 or similarly sized gaming notebook around campus?
I game ALOT, and my desktop will be staying at home so I am considering upgrading to a M1730 from my Latitude E6400 with Quadro NVS 160M for school, but I am a bit concerned about the practicality of using such a behemoth for daily lectures. I don't mind that it's 11 pounds, but I'm worried about the battery life of the M1730. My current notebook gets about 5 hours battery life with 9-cell battery, whereas I read the M1730 gets a measly 90 minutes. So does anyone know first-hand whether such a graphically capable notebook is worth the compromises in practicality?
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07-04-2011 at 04:33 PM
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#2
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Gaming laptops = absolutely not for notes. Get a 2-300$ notebook if you really can't get by without a computer to take notes.
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07-04-2011 at 04:54 PM
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#3
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Gaming laptops are a generally bad idea if you're planning on carrying it around.
I can't speak about the M1730 specifically, but Gaming laptops tend to be expensive, run hot, have horrible battery life, and not be all that upgradeable. You can usually build a desktop system with the same performance as a gaming laptop for <$800 and unlike your laptop, all you'll need to do is upgrade the GPU of the desktop in about 2 years to keep up with tech rather than upgrading the entire laptop.
If you want a computer for notes, get a netbook or ultraportable. If you can find one with a discreet graphics card (Usually the ones >$400), you'll have decent performance while maintaining a relatively low price and great battery life
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Honours Biology and Psychology
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07-04-2011 at 06:20 PM
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#4
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first off, those laptops would last like 1-1.5 hours max. besides, dont bother with taking notes on pc i find it inefficient but thats me.
Also, dells suck these days including XPS. i would recommend an asus or msi.
Dont worry about battery life, u cant game on pure battery ull die so fast. but as u expect, powerful pc eats up battery. besides, the batteries these days cant keep up with power consumption
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07-05-2011 at 11:19 AM
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#5
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M11x + 23" all you need
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08-07-2011 at 05:29 PM
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#6
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my buddy did it and his bag, along with his engi boosk probably weighed close to 30 pounds
also, quadros arent really for gaming, those are more streamlined for graphic design.
what games do you play? i know wow can be played on an intel based gpu(integrated) because i've tried
as for games with actually demanding graphics, your best bet would be one of the acer/asus
"gaming" laptops that are spammed from hell out on ncix
good luck!
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