Best option notebook with T9300 and 8600GT

[nübs]

Hi peeps.

I have had decided to bite the bullet and get a laptop to tide me over until I stop traveling and return back to Oz. As it's going to be my only machine, I am looking for a pretty high spec- but it doesn't need to be over the top.

The most demanding tasks that it will be used for is 3D modeling in Solidworks, and often at the same time as running Illustrator and Photoshop. The ability to play games would be a bonus. I've had a quick scroll through the forums to get some background and I reckon that a machine with 4GB of RAM, T9300 and 8600M GT would do nicely.

Portability isn't key, it will normally be deskbound at home- but I've ruled out any 22" beasts. The 13"s that I've seen are often either expensive or graphic card constrained- I'd have grabbed an XPS1330 if I could have specced a 8600GT to it. For a 13" I'd happily buy an external monitor to have on my desk.

For a 15" notebook, I *may* be able to live with the screen size, or could grab a 22" monitor once I start hammering my design programs. I've specced up an XPS 1530 on the Euro Dell site- but there's no reference to the WLED monitor option. Gah.

17" models are probably constrained by my pockets- I was originally looking to spend around 600 quid, but in reality that's up to around the 900 mark now due to an increase in spec. Anything over that price and I feel that there's a big drop-off in return for my cash. I think that 15"s are probably the sweet spot for me.

So... after all of that, has anyone got any better options for me than speccing up an (WLED) XPS1530? Please throw model numbers at me and I'll hop on the local staticice equivalents to dig up some numbers.

Thanks in advance,

Andy

[googlevich]

You not going to find the 8600gt in any 13' notebook. They put out too much heat for 13'.

The best you'll do is a nicely specced 15.4'. The dell XPS 1530 looks quite good, but make sure you get the new WLED screen. Maybe call them up and ask about it. Also get a nice 1680 x 1050 screen. I've got the m1330 and struggle with the limited desktop real estate (unless I'm at home where its plugged into my main monitor).

As for others with the same kind of specs and price, have a look at the asus 15' laptops.

[muck]

if you have the ability to buy laptops overseas in japan or hong kong

the LG xnote p300 is a 13" lappy that has the 8600M

if you can buy in japan then the epson endeavour n1 or something like that is a 13" lappy that has the 8600GT

[silver6]

Dell Precision M2300. Comes with NVIDIA Quadro FX 360M 512MB card suited for 3D modeling. Also has international warrenty.

[nübs]

Cheers for the input guys- thanks for the tips.