Gaming Laptop

Time to replace my two year old Dell Inspiron 14
Budget:
1500-1900

Expectations:
gaming laptop for the next 2-3 years

Usage:
gaming ( Tropico 4 star trek online, Train sim 2012, gta 4 Strategy games , simulations and RTS)
Photo and video editing ( mostly a gaming rig, anything else would be a plus) will be using this during 12 hour car trips to Michigan and back to Nebraska, so i wonder about sun glare? kinda an issue with the dell i have now.

Saved Ticket #: [Please Type Here]
675078

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Digital Storm x15E Laptop (Model: 9150)
Display: 15.6 Inch (16:9) (Resolution: 1920 x 1080) (Glossy Surface) LED-Backlit Display
Processor: Intel Core i7 2760QM (2.4 GHz Turbo Mode to 3.5Ghz) (Quad Core) (6MB Cache)
Thermal Compound: Premium IC Diamond CPU and GPU Thermal Compound (Reduces Thermal & Laptop Noise) <b></b>
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1866MHz <b></b>
Primary Hard Drive: 750GB 7200RPM (SATA 3Gb/s)
Secondary Hard Drive: - Not Available
Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Player (Blu-Ray 6x) & DVD/CD Writer <b></b>
Wireless Card: 802.11 B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
Video Card(s): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M 1.5GB with NVIDIA Optimus Technology (Pre-Order ETA April 20th)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Warranty Plan: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

Questions:
what are the boards opinions of the hybrid hdd/SSD drives?
Thanks!
John W

Originally posted by Alex Thank you for your interest in Digital Storm!   After looking over your configuration, going with 1600MHz memory instead of 1866MHz will save you some cash that you could use on something else on your laptop, the performance difference is very, very small.   A glossy screen can help reduce sun glare as it won't absorb light like a matte screen. You just need to make sure you have the laptop screen <span style='color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-: EN; mso-fareast-: EN-US; mso-bidi-: AR-SA;' lang="EN">angle </span>so it doesn't reflect other light sources at you.   The hybrid drives are cool and can definitely help speed up general multi-tasking.

Doesn't glossy increase glare? If you have a glossy and are playing with an strong lamp behind you, you will see the lamp on your screen. Not so with a matte screen. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.

I actually think I know what Alex means but I think a matte screen would be better in most situations. Just a personal preference thing though.

You guys are right, I had it mixed up, matte would be better if you're constantly in the sun, etc...

The CPU and GPU are upgradeable, but, the upgrade must be within the same thermal limits of the laptop's cooling system. The x15E does have a beefy cooling system, so you should be perfectly fine.

This is what i have settled on. Any other thoughts?I still wonder if the extra 500mb on the video card is worth the ~100 dollars. I hope to order next week.


Chassis Model: Digital Storm x15E Laptop (Model: 9150)
Display: 15.6 Inch (16:9) (Resolution: 1920 x 1080) (Glossy Surface) LED-Backlit Display
Processor: Intel Core i7 2760QM (2.4 GHz Turbo Mode to 3.5Ghz) (Quad Core) (6MB Cache)
Thermal Compound: Premium IC Diamond CPU and GPU Thermal Compound (Reduces Thermal & Laptop Noise)
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz
Primary Hard Drive: 750GB 7200RPM (SATA 3Gb/s)
Secondary Hard Drive: - Not Available
Optical Drive: DVD/CD 8x Multi-Drive (Writes and Reads DVDs, CDs)
Wireless Card: Bigfoot Networks Killer Wireless-N 1103 (Reduces Latency for Online Gaming)
Video Card(s): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M 2GB with NVIDIA Optimus Technology
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Warranty Plan: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

Thanks again for all your help!
John W