ITC Metabox 740??

OzJustin · 27th December 2005, 3:38 PM

Hey all

Ok well I've been looking into getting a pretty powerful laptop and just want some opinions. So far I've checked out:
Dell Inspiron 9300 [beefed up]
Alienware Area51-M [good but expensive]
"Whitebook" alienware versions from P4laptops etc [they seem the best value]

Currently top of the list is an ITC Metabox 740 - http://www.p4laptops.com.au/order-740s-special.htm

Who here owns one and can give me some feedback?
My only concern is the 5400rpm drives..good space but will they be painfully slow? Will having them in the RAID 0 combo negate the slow speed?

mystic_granny · 27th December 2005, 10:24 PM

iv sent you pms and yea but that company for some reason on their website doesnt let you customize that one which is llaaaaame

OzJustin · 28th December 2005, 2:32 PM

That's because it's a christmas special package. There are other almost identical models that are customisable but for that price the xmas one has pretty much everything I'd want and comes out cheaper. The only things I'd change would be the screen to the model up allowing 1900*1200 res and perhaps the hdd configuration. Are 5400rpm drives in RAID 0 similar speed to a single 7200rpm SATA drive?

Thanks to those who've PM'd with extra info.

browniezz · 28th December 2005, 4:05 PM

sort of justin,

oviously 2 hdd's in raid 0 are better than one in 7200rpm. However, if you can afford it, i get many people to buy 1 or 2 7200rpm hdd, then buy another one exactly the same and then run them both of raid 0. This makes the computer load applications alot faster. EG - Windows, games such as BF2. I would try and stay clear of 5400 rpm drives unless you are really looking for a budget desktop replacement

27th December 2005, 3:38 PM	#1
OzJustin Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Brisbane Posts: 1,018	ITC Metabox 740?? Hey all Ok well I've been looking into getting a pretty powerful laptop and just want some opinions. So far I've checked out: Dell Inspiron 9300 [beefed up] Alienware Area51-M [good but expensive] "Whitebook" alienware versions from P4laptops etc [they seem the best value] Currently top of the list is an ITC Metabox 740 - http://www.p4laptops.com.au/order-740s-special.htm Who here owns one and can give me some feedback? My only concern is the 5400rpm drives..good space but will they be painfully slow? Will having them in the RAID 0 combo negate the slow speed? __________________ Q6600 G0@3.6GHz (1.42v) (Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme + 2 Scythe SFF21F) \| 4GB G.Skill DDR2 800 5-5-5-15 \| Asus P5E \| Gigabyte 4870X2 \| Silverstone OP1200w \| 1.8TB Storage \| Stacker 810 \| X-Fi Platinum/z5500/Audio Technica AD700 \| Samsung 245B \| Compro E700 Tuner \| MX1000 + G15(Refresh) + G25 \| XP+Vista \| My Flickr

28th December 2005, 2:32 PM	#3
OzJustin Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Brisbane Posts: 1,018	That's because it's a christmas special package. There are other almost identical models that are customisable but for that price the xmas one has pretty much everything I'd want and comes out cheaper. The only things I'd change would be the screen to the model up allowing 19001200 res and perhaps the hdd configuration. Are 5400rpm drives in RAID 0 similar speed to a single 7200rpm SATA drive? Thanks to those who've PM'd with extra info. __________________ Q6600 G0@3.6GHz (1.42v) (Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme + 2 Scythe SFF21F) \| 4GB G.Skill DDR2 800 5-5-5-15 \| Asus P5E \| Gigabyte 4870X2 \| Silverstone OP1200w \| 1.8TB Storage \| Stacker 810 \| X-Fi Platinum/z5500/Audio Technica AD700 \| Samsung 245B \| Compro E700 Tuner \| MX1000 + G15(Refresh) + G25 \| XP+Vista \| My Flickr*

27th December 2005, 10:24 PM	#2
mystic_granny Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Northern Sydney Posts: 264	iv sent you pms and yea but that company for some reason on their website doesnt let you customize that one which is llaaaaame

28th December 2005, 4:05 PM	#4
browniezz Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 43	sort of justin, oviously 2 hdd's in raid 0 are better than one in 7200rpm. However, if you can afford it, i get many people to buy 1 or 2 7200rpm hdd, then buy another one exactly the same and then run them both of raid 0. This makes the computer load applications alot faster. EG - Windows, games such as BF2. I would try and stay clear of 5400 rpm drives unless you are really looking for a budget desktop replacement