HELP! Looking into new laptops...

tl;dr - What laptop should I buy to get the best bang for my buck? It needs to have an HDMI port, numeric keypad, and SD card reader, and it needs to handle HD multimedia with no problem. Added bonus if it can run current games fairly well, but not the most important feature.

The Current Situation
I currently own a 3.5 year old HP Pavilion dv9930us and its fan seems to have died, causing overheating issues. For the most part, I've been very happy with this laptop. The keyboard is configured well and easy to type on, and it's still reasonably powerful and runs well considering it was at the high end of the spectrum when I bought it. Unfortunately, though, this is not the first time I've had a hardware problem with it. I've had to send it back for repairs a couple times since I bought it, and if I remember correctly one of those times the issue was the fan, similar to what I'm facing now. The laptop is no longer under warranty, and HP tells me it would cost about $400 (after shipping) to send it in for full repairs. (Important note: If I send it in to HP, they would not only replace the fan but also check that all other parts are in working order.) Alternatively, I could purchase a new fan from here or here and try to replace it myself, but I'm slightly hesitant to do that only because I've never replaced a laptop fan before. That said - for those who may not know - I'm generally quite comfortable dealing with computer hardware and have built each of my desktop computers. On top of that, I've already had a bad experience with unofficial parts that are allegedly "compatible" with my laptop. A little while back, I bought an extra battery that was supposed to work with my laptop from a site like those linked above, and while it fit into the laptop it did not work. On the other hand, if I were to purchase the official fan for my laptop, it would apparently cost 3 times as much, which just rubs me the wrong way since it's a total ripoff for a fan.

Considerations
There are two fundamental questions for me to consider: 1) Should I repair this laptop, and 2) If not, what should I purchase as my new laptop?

Cost:
One thing for me to consider is cost. Despite common impressions to the contrary, working in politics does not pay well at all. I'm not a member of Congress, so I don't get the benefit of insider trading. That said, I can manage purchasing a new laptop if that's the better long-term decision. If I do so, purchasing from Newegg would be my best option because I have a good line of credit there and I would be able to pay it off in 12 months to avoid being charged any interest (this applies to any purchases over $500). Dell is another option as I have a good line of credit there as well, but it would require a larger purchase to qualify for 12 months of no interest (a purchase of $700 would get me 6 months no interest, so I think I could count on that, but a $1300 purchase would be required to qualify for 12 months of no interest). While I am theoretically open to purchasing an Apple laptop, I am unable to justify the extreme overpricing compared to performance, so that option is out.

Obviously, replacing the fan - even if I send my laptop in to HP for $400 and comprehensive testing and repairs - is cheaper than buying a new laptop. I will probably try buying one of the ~$25 fans and give it a shot, and the worst thing that happens is I've added $25 onto the cost of the new laptop. On the other hand, my laptop is getting somewhat old (again, the specs are still decent by current standards, so it's not as out of date as its age might suggest) and if I have to spend hundreds of dollars each year to keep it working it might just be better to get a new laptop with fresh hardware.

Since I'd almost certainly be buying this from Dell or Newegg, immediate cost is not terribly important so long as I can reasonably pay all or at least the vast majority of it off by 12 month's time. Because of that, my ideal price range is $750-1500, but I'm most interested in finding that sweet spot of "bang for buck" and those are not hard limits. In the past, I've found that around the $1000-1250 price range for building my desktops and buying my current laptop, but I have no idea if that's still the case now.

Features:
When I bought my current laptop, it was a pretty easy decision. As you can see from the Newegg link at the top of this post, it was very well rated by the people who purchased it. If I buy a new laptop, I'd obviously want to make sure that I am getting something better than what I already have. Some of the features that are important to me, in no particular order:

• Numeric keypad on the keyboard
• Easy-to-use arrow keys
• At least 17" - It's possible that I could be persuaded by a 15" laptop, but I have not seen many that size with numeric keypads. I also generally like larger screens because I do a lot of work on may laptop and larger screens feel more comfortable and productive.
• HDMI port
• SD card reader
• I prefer an optical drive with a physical eject button
• I rarely use the touchpad, but when I do I appreciate having two buttons and a scrolling function on the side. A physical button to turn the touchpad on and off is an added plus
• 3+ USB ports
• I'm pretty sure I want a dedicated video card for playing HD video and so that I have the potential for gaming (see below), but I could maybe be persuaded to go for a laptop with integrated video if it's the best choice in all other areas (and if it's good enough to at least play HD video and connect to the TV via HDMI).

Specs:
I like to buy computers with long-term use in mind, so I generally like something on the high end of current specs. That said, perhaps I should have a different attitude about laptops since they seem to have shorter lifespans even if you take good care of them. It seems that if I were buying the equivalent of my current laptop today, it would be quad core and have 6-8GB of RAM. On one hand, it would be nice to have something capable of playing current games, but on the other hand I just haven't had much time for gaming lately so it's not a necessary capability. The most demanding thing I've used my current laptop for on a regular basis lately is multimedia - streaming/playing HD video, connecting it to the HDTV via HDMI, etc. Other than that, I'm mainly using webapps and word processing for work. Point is: I'd love to get a laptop with lots of RAM and a good processor and video card if I can, but it's not strictly necessary.

Conclusion
The biggest issue is that I just don't know what's good these days when it comes to laptops (or even desktops for that matter - I did my research and built my desktop in Jan 2007). I'm not too familiar with which brands are currently more reliable, nor am I familiar with what is considered low-end vs high-end. I can get a general idea by comparing the specs and prices of laptops on Newegg, but that only goes so far. For example, my current laptop has 4GB DDR2 RAM while I see laptops now with 4GB of DDR3 RAM. I have no idea how big a difference that makes, so it's difficult for me to judge how much of an improvement that is for the price of a new laptop.

Using my usual "what has the best rating on Newegg" criteria, there seems to be only one standout product which is the Samsung RF711-S02. Unfortunately, laptops don't receive as many ratings as most other products on Newegg, but this laptop is rated 5 eggs with a respectable 21 reviews. I have no idea, though: Does Samsung make reliable laptops? Is its 4GB of DDR3 RAM really that much better than my current 4GB of DDR2? Is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M w/NVIDIA Optimus a significant improvement over my current NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS? And what the hell is NVIDIA Optimus anyway?​

Then there's the ASUS G73SW-XN2, which is about the same price (normally $200 more expensive) and has a solid 4 egg rating with 68 reviews. It has twice as much DDR3 RAM (8gb), and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M with 1.5GB of video memory as opposed to the Samsung's 1GB. But does that make the GTX 460M better than the GT 540M? The ASUS also has a nice 1920x1080 resolution, a 7200RPM hard drive, a larger battery, and it supports up to 16GB of memory as opposed to the Samsung's 8GB max. For the same price (and actually $50 less), it would seem that the ASUS is clearly better than the Samsung... but maybe there's something I'm missing about the quality of each brand.​

Not to mention all the other options, such as the MSI G Series, Dell's XPS, Precision, or even Alienware models, and HP's current offerings (Envy, ProBook, EliteBook - none of these existed when I bought my current Pavilion. Are they any good?).​

So, before I spend tons of time reading all sorts of reviews on Tom's Hardware and other sites, I'm hoping some of you might have insights to share and spare me some time.​

 

We've been using HP laptops for quite a while. They only seem to last 2-3 years. I have an iPad2 and now am strongly thinking about getting a MacBook Pro

 

Thanks Martian, that's really helpful. As you correctly inferred, I'm not terribly concerned about mobility. I use my laptop more like a mobile desktop: I bring it to work, where it generally stays in one place all day, and then I bring it home, where I also use it on a desk. I'm not one to use my laptop while sitting on the couch watching TV or bring it with me when I go out or anything like that. Given that, I'm more concerned about having the most enjoyable experience I can while I'm using it rather than making it easier to carry in between uses.

If it weren't so costly to get an Apple laptop fitting the specifications I want, I'd definitely consider it. Unfortunately, you're not kidding when you say I'd have to sell a kidney for a 17" MacBook Pro!

Of course, naturally it's the most expensive laptop you linked to whose keyboard layout made me go "Yes! That's what I want!" - at least in terms of the arrow keys and number pad. I haven't done much typing on keyboards with separated keys like that, so I'll have to test that out a bit first.

 

A very good post by Martian, it's spot on. I would like to add to it that I'm told that Lenovo make good laptops. I have a 11 year old (IBM) ThinkPad that still works, can't say much about the current models since I have no experience with them.
Since you plan on using it as mobile desktop I recommend that you read up on the manufactures guidelines on battery handling and if you should remove it. People tend to have different opinions about that. I have had terrible short life of batteries because I use my laptop as mobile desktop and didn't think about removing it or discharging it regularly.

 

Interesting, I hadn't heard about that. I'll definitely have to look into it.

 

My son bought an Alienware M17x last fall. Dual processor, quad core, 8GB memory, 1920x1080 resoluiton, 1.5 TB RAID 1 hard drive, numeric keypad. It's a great machine (my other son has an Alienware M15 x), but it is way over-priced. I have what is now an old HP HDX 16 that's still good enough for me, but I don't think I'd go HP again. I've had several repair issues with this one, and the LED cable refuses to stay well seated, leading to flickering screen or even blackout.

Our old Toshiba satellite laptop was a piece of crap. I'm leery of most Toshiba electronics anyway, but that's pretty much a personal issue with some of their business practices. Most people seem to have good things to say about them.

Asus is a bigger company than most people realise, but I've had issues with their desktops in the past. Never had an Asus laptop, so I can't say much about them.

Those are my personal experiences, but if I were you, I think I'd put a LOT of weight on what Martian has to say... his review looks pretty good, and I offer my 2 cents only as personal experience.

 

How does your son like the 1920x1080 resolution on a 17" screen? I love my HD desktop monitor, but it's also 23". I'd imagine that resolution might make things appear a little to small on a 17" screen, but I haven't seen what it looks like for myself.

 

You can get 18 months of 0% financing at Best Buy with a purchase over $429

 

He likes it, but I have trouble with text that small... my account has a much larger font than he uses. He loves that he can play Blu-ray movies on it in full HD. If I were using the machine, I'd reduce the resolution down to the 1366 x 768 range.

Another thing about the Alienware... even with the lighter materials they use now, the machine weighs a ton.

 

Snowy: I haven't, but I'm definitely skeptical that I'd like it. I don't do specific tasks with the number pad like an accountant or anything like that. I just prefer it when I do type numbers like phone numbers or zip codes, which I do a lot but not all at once. So I wouldn't be in a position to use my laptop without a number pad and then say "ok, time to do task X which requires the number pad, guess I'll plug that in." I'd be plugging it in every time I use the laptop.

Derwood: Interesting. Of course, it would also mean I have to buy my laptop through Best Buy Do they have their own card? How does that work?

 

yes, they have their own card. You get 6 months of 0% financing for purchases between $149 and $428, and 18 months for $429+ (assuming you qualify). There is no penalty for paying off the balance early. I got the card for the laptop I just bought so I could get double Reward Zone points (I plan on paying it off in less than 18 months). You can also make payments right at the store.

 

OK, well I might have to look into that, assuming I don't take advantage of this....

I know Martian indicated Dell makes mediocre laptops, BUT this seems to be a good deal. I don't know how long it will last. Any thoughts?

For the link-challenged, here are what I think are the basics:

Dell XPS 17
$1,200

• Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit
• Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.20 GHz w/Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.10 GHz
• 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory (this is, unfortunately, set in stone with this deal, otherwise I'd upgrade it a bit - seems a little underpowered considering everything else)
• 750GB 7200RPM HDD
• NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M 3GB graphics w/Optimus
• 17.3" HD+ (900p) LED Display w/2.0MP HD webcam
• Tray Load Blu-Ray Triple-Writer (reads and writes CDs, DVDs, and BDs)
• 2 years basic hardware support
• Bluetooth 3.0
• 90 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion battery
• Backlit keyboard

 

The only caveat I have to Martians post above is about SSD. I do a lot of disk intensive stuff (getting data from our SVN repository, compiling software). Swapping the HDD for an SSD made a huge difference to my productivity.

Sure the disk is 1/3 of the size, but seems easy enough for me to keep a big chunk of it free.

You can always have a external drive if you need extra capacity, but the SSD really speeds up so many things.

 

SSD's have their tradeoffs as well, it's worth looking into depending on whether you do a lot of disk thrashing or just a lot of large reads. I can second Toshiba being a company that's worth being leery of, although personally I have an old HP dv6000 that I am beginning to think is indestructible given what it's survived. I've got a lot of friends with Asus laptops that are very pleased with theirs though so they're obviously doing something right.

As far as apple's hardware quality goes... foxconn has always been considered the absolute worst PC hardware manufacturer behind only proprietary shenanigans and as far as I know they're the only maker still using leaky electrolytic caps instead of much longer lasting solid state capacitors. Even if they have switched over though you're still paying a LOT of money for a pretty case with an intel processor and foxconn motherboard running a *Nixalike OS. You're NOT getting anything special. Unless you need iOS steer clear of apple. If you like it that much but don't need it just slap a linux distro skinned to look like iOS on there.

 

Thanks a ton everyone. Right now I'm leaning heavily toward the Toshiba Qosmio X775-Q7170 - $1099.99 but I'm not quite ready to make a decision yet. I'm hoping I'll be able to see some 1920x1080 resolution laptops at Best Buy or HH Gregg or something, because I'd love to have that resolution if it's usable, but I'm skeptical of 1080p even on a 17" laptop screen.
--- merged: Feb 6, 2012 9:55 AM ---
One thing I find interesting after reading the Anandtech review of the X775 Qosmio and looking up the model they reviewed on Newegg is it's mostly the same (though it has an i7 processor, Blu-Ray drive, and two hard drives for more storage) and yet it's about a pound lighter. Doesn't really matter to me, but I'm curious why it's lighter despite being basically the same and, if anything, having more internal parts with the second hard drive.

 

OK, here's a puzzle for you....

The Qosmio X775-Q7380 is originally $1,199, on sale for $999.
The Qosmio X775-Q7170 is originally $1,149, on sale for $1,099.

As far as I can tell, the only difference between them is that the Q7380 - the one with a starting price that is $50 higher - has a slightly less powerful CPU (2.4GHz compared to the Q7170's 2.5GHz). I can't find anything else that's different to indicate why it has a starting price that is $50 more despite having a slightly slower CPU. The one other difference I noticed in the Newegg specs - that the Q7170 is not said to have a backlit keyboard - I found out to be a mistake. Looking on Toshiba's site confirms that both models have a backlit keyboard. Am I going crazy or blind? What's the difference here that makes the Q7380 have a higher starting price with a slightly slower CPU?????