Looking at laptop 4k 15/17inch

[smash3d]

Never bought a laptop before but finnally the time has come where I need one.

Its going to be used primarily as a tool to run Ableton Live 5 and be incorpated into my DJing equipment. Because of this I want a large screen and need a bit of grunt. Storage on the machine isn't crucial as it will be linked to my pc most of the time, but a bit of space is cool (esp for recordings etc).
With soundcards im going to need something special with say 2 outputs and at least 1 in. Can a pcmia card or similar (not on good terms with lappie terminology atm) offer this, or will i need to go usb?

I will also need a midi to usb converter, no hassles there I think?

Secondly, it will be used for gaming, so the latest and greatest card will be best here, whats that?

Thats all I can think of atm, better getting it online? cheaper?
Thx for any help.

EDIT: inbuilt digital TV tuner would be v nice too

[smash3d]

Can someone also give me a good oz website where i can look at laptops online?
Cant seem to find many places that sell them.

[Gus the Mus]

For what your talking about, I'd check out dell. I'm in the process of looking for a fairly beefy machine atm also & I've pretty much decided now on a Dell 9400 with core-duo(dual-core) cpu, 2Gig ram & a 7800go graphics card. They've got $500 off until 6th March I think & includes delivery. If you option up the screen, you can get a WUXGA screen with 1920x1200 resolution. That'd be my suggestion.

[Kelvin]

For 17" Notebooks, the Dell 9300/9400 is the way to go.. make sure you wait for the 7800Go, get the bluettoh, and SPDIF cable and the 9 cell battery...

What sold me ont he notebook is the lack of complaints about it... just about everyone who buys one is really happy with it (Myself included)...

Other than minor light leakage problems, it s magnificent Desktop replacement..

Plus there is lots of people with them.. and lots on information on have to mod the machines. PArts are aviaalbe reasonably easily from dell... unlike most other notebooks...

Originally Posted by Gus the Mus

For what your talking about, I'd check out dell. I'm in the process of looking for a fairly beefy machine atm also & I've pretty much decided now on a Dell 9400 with core-duo(dual-core) cpu, 2Gig ram & a 7800go graphics card. They've got $500 off until 6th March I think & includes delivery. If you option up the screen, you can get a WUXGA screen with 1920x1200 resolution. That'd be my suggestion.

[smash3d]

Thanks for the advice guys. Ive been reading elsewhere and people say 17inch screen is too big to carry around. This laptop wont be moving much but will a little (obviously its a laptop!). How do people find that size screen for portability etc?

Does dell offer a page to customize the laptop when buying? ie adding 9 cell battery, whats that?

[axxian]

I've have had a 17" notebook for 7 months, initially it wasn't a problem, i would just go to the CBD to work, sure it was a bit bulky, but short travel was ok (this is catching trains to work etc)

Recently work has made me travel every week (Sydney -> Melbourne) - 17" is too big to carry around travelling, so i've just invested in a smaller notebook.

I would go to far as say a 15" notebook is too big to travel comfortably - its nice and all, but most 15" screens come with crap resolution anyways.

My asus w2v does everything well, and i think its quite a bit lighter than a 9(3/4)00, it weighs just over 3kg if i remember correctly - so weight while an issue, is not the only thing, its just sooo unwieldy.

[smash3d]

Originally Posted by Gus the Mus

For what your talking about, I'd check out dell. I'm in the process of looking for a fairly beefy machine atm also & I've pretty much decided now on a Dell 9400 with core-duo(dual-core) cpu, 2Gig ram & a 7800go graphics card. They've got $500 off until 6th March I think & includes delivery. If you option up the screen, you can get a WUXGA screen with 1920x1200 resolution. That'd be my suggestion.

Thinking about maybe going 15inch. Probably go to harvey normals soon and check out the size difference. Anyway to the point tho, I can't seem to be able to choose a 7800go as the graphics card when customizing dell pcs. Are these out yet?

Also do any laptops ever come with inbuilt tv tuners, that'd be nice?

[axxian]

Originally Posted by smash3d

Thinking about maybe going 15inch. Probably go to harvey normals soon and check out the size difference. Anyway to the point tho, I can't seem to be able to choose a 7800go as the graphics card when customizing dell pcs. Are these out yet?

Also do any laptops ever come with inbuilt tv tuners, that'd be nice?

The 17" one i have does ... its a hdtv builtin. Asus W2V.

I'll probably sell it in a week or so hehe

[Draco32]

Hey dude,

try www.p4laptops.com.au i looked mine up there. They have some really good desktop replacements and you can customise pretty much everything.

Cheers

Adrian

[Gus the Mus]

Originally Posted by smash3d

I can't seem to be able to choose a 7800go as the graphics card when customizing dell pcs. Are these out yet?

There's an evalue code you need to enter. I think it's N510445.

I just ordered one with the lot(minus a couple of bits of software) & it's come to $3961.10 delivered.

[draculr]

Dell just released a precision M90, which has a quadro equiv. of a go7900gtx.

[BlaYde]

Originally Posted by draculr

Dell just released a precision M90, which has a quadro equiv. of a go7900gtx.

Isn't NVIDIA Quadro FX a high end workstation graphics card which is not suitable for gaming??

Originally Posted by smash3d

Secondly, it will be used for gaming, so the latest and greatest card will be best here, whats that?

[timmay556]

Instead of getting a Large screen (physical size) you can get one with a lot of pixles. Ie my Old laptop Nx7010 had a 1600 x 1050 Reso and it was only like a 15-16screen (widescreen format) but mates dell only had 1024x768 reso and about the same physical size. Mind you the screens arnt cheap!

[chaps]

Isn't NVIDIA Quadro FX a high end workstation graphics card which is not suitable for gaming??

My Precision M60 has a Quadro FX 700 card that runs every game i have used on it.. I started off with Lego Star Wars and Eve and then went up to Doom 3 and now Empire at War... While not playing F.E.A.R or Far Cry at top resolution, it has managed everything i have thrown at it... and this one is 2 years old now...

Then i got a 19" Dell Ultraharp LCD Monitor at work..<evil grin>... and now "working late" takes on a whole new dimension !!!!

I couldn't imaging a 512Mb Quadro not handling most games...

[Kharn]

Originally Posted by smash3d

Thanks for the advice guys. Ive been reading elsewhere and people say 17inch screen is too big to carry around. This laptop wont be moving much but will a little (obviously its a laptop!). How do people find that size screen for portability etc?

A 15" screen is a good compromise between size and portability. As you have a decent budget i'd recommend a Macbook Pro

* 15.4-inch widescreen display
* Up to 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo
* 667MHz frontside bus and main memory
* PCI Express architecture
* Up to 120GB Serial ATA hard drive
* ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with up to 256MB memory on 16-lane PCI Express
* ExpressCard/34 slot
* Dual-link DVI, VGA adapter included
* One FireWire 400 port, two USB 2.0 ports
* Optical digital and analog audio I/O, built-in microphone and stereo speakers
* Slot-loading SuperDrive
* Illuminated keyboard, Scrolling TrackPad
* Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11g), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and Gigabit Ethernet
* Mac OS X Tiger with iLife ’06 featuring iWeb, iWork ’06 trial and more


It includes Optical Digital Audio Input & Output for your DJing work. Its only 2.5kg and 2.5cm thin. As for games check out Bootcamp which will let you run Windows XP for all your gaming needs. It even has drivers for the backlit keyboard.