Looking for new laptop - lightweight but powerful, is this too much to ask?

I currently own a Dell Inspiron 1720, as seen here [notebookreview.com]. It's been with me for... wow.. over three years now. It's been a champ, really great and durable laptop. Outlasted longer than I had anticipated. However, I suspect my video card is going and I really would just like a new laptop before this coming Christmas. As I've learned with first, I would like something much lighter in weight(I know the 1720 is more of a desktop replacement laptop, but I really needed a beefed-up system at the time). I will mainly be gaming, watching Hi-Def movies, web browsing, and lots of multitasking. I wouldn't mind going with a Dell again, but I've heard good things about other makers such as MSI, Asus, and Acer.

My requirements are:

+Needs to last me at least another 3.5+ years.
+Dedicated graphics card easily capable of running Source games and others in highest settings(DoDs, Portal series, CSS, HL2DM, CoD series, Crysis, etc)
+Widescreen support (at least 1600x900 resolution)
+Lightweight(to a degree) My Dell laptop now weighs in at a whopping 7.5-8.0lbs, depending if battery is in place or not. Looking to shave maybe 2-3lbs off.
+17" max, 15" min
+USB 3.0 port
+HDMI port
+Blu-Ray drive(Would definitely like this, but not absolutely necessary)
+At least 4GB of memory
+HD size is not a factor
+Windows 7 Home Premium or better
+Preferably Intel Core i7 processor
+Price range: No more than $1,500

If you have any other suggestions of helping me make my final decision on a new laptop, please do say so. I have been off and on in the laptop-buying scene for a couple years now.

Thank you.

This is where to look!
http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfh/not...=dfh&cs=22

Alienware M15x Laptop
Processor: Intel Core i7-740QM Processor (6M cache, 1.73 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
Slot Load Blu-ray Disc Combo (DVD+/-RW & BD-ROM)
1 GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
1499.00

I wouldn't say the M15x is lightweight, but it certainly is very powerful. The M15x weighs 9.4lbs and the AC adapter is another 1.5lbs, not to mention that you're basically paying a large premium for the brand.

I would recommend looking at the new line of XPS laptops from Dell, specifically the XPS 15. You can get them in an i5 or i7 configuration, with an SSD and discrete NVIDIA graphics cards, and it weighs a little over 6 lbs. I think this is a good choice.

Dell XPS 15 Laptop:
Intel Core i5 or i7
Up to 8GB DDR3 Memory
NVIDIA GT420M or GT435M
15.6 inch display (1366x768 or 1920x1080)
256GB SSD or 640GB HDD
Weight: Starting weight of 6.14lbs with 6-cell battery; 6.51lbs with 9-cell battery

Thanks guys. Both great recommendations, though, as kev mentioned, the weight of the M15x is a deterrent.

I am delving further into Dell's selection of laptops and am customizing the XPS 15. I have come across the decision between a traditional 640GB SATA HD or 256GB Solid State Drive. Now I am not familiar with this Solid State Drive. Could someone brief me on this new technology? There must be a good reason behind the 400GB less storage space and a $510 price jump.

Additionally, how is the NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 435M 2GB for gaming?

Quote from mindraider : Thanks guys. Both great recommendations, though, as kev mentioned, the weight of the M15x is a deterrent. I am delving further into Dell's selection of laptops and am customizing the XPS 15. I have come across the decision between a traditional 640GB SATA HD or 256GB Solid State Drive. Now I am not familiar with this Solid State Drive. Could someone brief me on this new technology? There must be a good reason behind the 400GB less storage space and a $510 price jump. Additionally, how is the NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 435M 2GB for gaming?

I would never own a Solid State Drive yet, it is good in theory, saves weight (usually) but is way over priced and just not practical enough....yet. When the ~true 3rd generation drives come out and drop in price I might re-consider. After 17 years of building my own Desktop PC's I would never use one again! Once the entire computer can benefit from the speed jump of the SS drives this will be a good upgrade but not until then. If you run a quality 10K HD you will NEVER notice a difference!

Quote from mindraider : I currently own a Dell Inspiron 1720, as seen here [notebookreview.com]. It's been with me for... wow.. over three years now. It's been a champ, really great and durable laptop. Outlasted longer than I had anticipated. However, I suspect my video card is going and I really would just like a new laptop before this coming Christmas. As I've learned with first, I would like something much lighter in weight(I know the 1720 is more of a desktop replacement laptop, but I really needed a beefed-up system at the time). I will mainly be gaming, watching Hi-Def movies, web browsing, and lots of multitasking. I wouldn't mind going with a Dell again, but I've heard good things about other makers such as MSI, Asus, and Acer. My requirements are: +Needs to last me at least another 3.5+ years. +Dedicated graphics card easily capable of running Source games and others in highest settings(DoDs, Portal series, CSS, HL2DM, CoD series, Crysis, etc) +Widescreen support (at least 1600x900 resolution) +Lightweight(to a degree) My Dell laptop now weighs in at a whopping 7.5-8.0lbs, depending if battery is in place or not. Looking to shave maybe 2-3lbs off. +17" max, 15" min +USB 3.0 port +HDMI port +Blu-Ray drive(Would definitely like this, but not absolutely necessary) +At least 4GB of memory +HD size is not a factor +Windows 7 Home Premium or better +Preferably Intel Core i7 processor +Price range: No more than $1,500 If you have any other suggestions of helping me make my final decision on a new laptop, please do say so. I have been off and on in the laptop-buying scene for a couple years now. Thank you.

Take a look here, the weight is 5.5 lbs and my discounted price is $1,250 so yours will vary but still will be under $1500: (HP DV6 Special Edition)

*Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
*Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Quad Core processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz
*Graphics card 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 Graphics [HDMI, VGA] - For Quad Core Processors
*Memory FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
*Hard drive FREE Upgrade to 640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
*Office software No Additional Office Software
*Security software Norton Internet Security(TM) 2011 - 15 Month Subscription (activation required)
*Primary battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 5.25 hours of battery life +++
*Display 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
*Touchscreen No TouchScreen (includes HP TrueVision Webcam)
*Primary optical drive Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
*Networking Intel Wireless-N Card
*Keyboard Standard Keyboard

There are a ton of other options, I just through this together in a minute of so.

Good Luck!!

I thought the main purpose of using SSDs on a laptop is to reduce the risk of drive failing due to shock or vibration?

I know how you feel about your Dell Inspiron 1720. I am still a happy user of Thinkpad X41 Tablet (mid-2006 product) and in 2009 I was still using Thinkpad 240x daily (mid-2000 product).

Comparing to my X60 with Core Duo L2400, my X41t (P-M 1.6Ghz) is a little bit slower but nothing I need it can't handle. I use it to surf web, write small programs, do homework assignment with openoffice and watch movies (720p and under) without issues.

My x41t has a cheapo SSD in it (16GB with custom-made interface) so I don't have to worry using it in the car or in the class. I teaches and with wireless epson projector I can walk around with the tablet and stylus in my hand and use the projector screen like a white board. The only difference with the real one is erasing becomes wicked easy for tablet.

I guess what I am trying to say is: instead of looking for something cutting-edge, you might want to be more reasonable. Use power-consuming program/software on desktop computers only and choose a light-weight and multi-purpose laptop for your mobile needs. I always tell myself:

1. The instant I purchase a laptop (or any computer for that matter), it becomes outdated.
2. No matter how fast the machine is, there is always something faster.
3. waiting for a newer model to come out is pointless (only buy something when you need it)
4. No matter how powerful a thin-and-light laptop is, the heat dissipation is always an issue.

The most important thing (IMO) is to always think a way to use a computer (laptop/desktop) at its full potential. I guess I always like to out-smart the computer so it would be my disadvantage if computers are too fast!

Oh and I use linux (Fedora) as my daily OS w/ XFCE GUI. I have winXP on the same drive but I rarely use it. It's pointless to have fancy GUI. it's counter productive and I hate (with a passion) those sugar-coated, confusing interface while everything is basically the same underneath (Yes. I am talking about win7). I did not have the patience to adjust myself for VISTA so win7 is out of the question. However I eventually will get used to it according to my w2k-xp transition experience LAST YEAR!

Have you considered something smaller, like the Alienware M11x [dell.com]? Tiny machine, huge power.

If you want a larger screen you might also consider a Lenovo T410 (14") or T510 (15") [lenovo.com]. Both are very powerful, very durable & way lighter than the machine you're carrying now.

Quote from mindraider : I am delving further into Dell's selection of laptops and am customizing the XPS 15. I have come across the decision between a traditional 640GB SATA HD or 256GB Solid State Drive. Now I am not familiar with this Solid State Drive. Could someone brief me on this new technology? There must be a good reason behind the 400GB less storage space and a $510 price jump.

It's worth doing a bit of research if you're completely unfamiliar with SSDs. They are definitely one of the "next big things" in computers.

Here's a TomsHardware article with some great info:
http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...,2741.html

That said, I would definitely NOT get that one from Dell. It's an older Samsung SSD and for the same money you can buy a much better drive and install it yourself. I wouldn't drop that money on one right now regardless though because 3rd gen drives should start hitting the market in the next few months.



You don't mention battery life as one of your criteria, but it's worth mentioning that Core i7 processors aren't compatible with Optimus, which will definitely impact battery life.
http://content.dell.com/us/en/hom...px?ref=CFG

Quote : NVIDIA Optimus technology (available only on Intel® Core™ i3 and Intel® Core™ i5 processor options; not available on Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core processors) NVIDIA® Optimus™ technology automatically optimizes your battery life while maintaining the graphics performance you expect — completely seamlessly and transparently — whether you’re watching a movie, surfing the Web or playing a 3D game. How does it work? * This intelligent graphics technology switches between discrete and integrated graphics processors automatically whenever it determines what kind of application is being used. If you are simply surfing the Web, the GPU switches to the integrated version, therefore helping to extend your battery life. It's that easy to experience long battery life and amazing visuals without having to manually change settings. * Watch an HD movie, surf the Web or play 3D games knowing you can get the long battery life you need and the performance you expect from NVIDIA Optimus technology.

Really is a shame you can't currently configure the XPS 15 with a i5 and the 435m.

Quote from DHSFed : I would never own a Solid State Drive yet, it is good in theory, saves weight (usually) but is way over priced and just not practical enough....yet. When the ~true 3rd generation drives come out and drop in price I might re-consider. After 17 years of building my own Desktop PC's I would never use one again! Once the entire computer can benefit from the speed jump of the SS drives this will be a good upgrade but not until then. If you run a quality 10K HD you will NEVER notice a difference!

I would agree with alot of what you said except the performance side. 10k consumer drives are overpriced, run hot, tend to have shorter life, and just dont offer that much benefits over some of the faster 7200rpm drives that are today. 7200rpm drives have made large performance jumps with these denser platters, and 4k sectors. I predict the current generation of consumer 10k drives will be the last. Look now and all the enthusiasts are going with SSD's not 10k consumer drives. A quality SSD is faster by far, to the point they are beginning to saturate SATA3. As you mentioned as the new generations come out they just get better. They are still expensive and not a good choice for mass storage but if you have the money they make a great OS drive, especially in a laptop where you lessen your chance of failure from moving parts.

can also check out the HP Envy 17, but again anything in the 17" range is gonna not be lightweight.

Quote from azianai : can also check out the HP Envy 17, but again anything in the 17" range is gonna not be lightweight.

I would agree for the most part the large segments of laptops and many of the 15.6" market is really designed for desktop replacement. These are large, powerful machines where performance and screen size are the biggest things. Weight savings is just not a market driver in this niche. You can probably get something that is lighter than what you have now but it wont be considered a "light" laptop by any means.

Quote from LiquidRetro : I would agree for the most part the large segments of laptops and many of the 15.6" market is really designed for desktop replacement. These are large, powerful machines where performance and screen size are the biggest things. Weight savings is just not a market driver in this niche. You can probably get something that is lighter than what you have now but it wont be considered a "light" laptop by any means.

in my view, the notebook lines now are ultra portable, portable, and desktop replacements.

The higher end the hardware, the more likely its a desktop replacement.

Also any notebook running an i7 720 is gonna be a drain on the battery.

HP ENVY 14. On their site it is 999 with an i3 and led display
and from them:

A super thin (1.1"), light (starting at 5.25 lb.) case with elegant, micro-etched design
Simplified daily PC activities with genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit§§§
An Intel Core i3‡ processor, upgradeable to Core i5 or Core i7 with Quad Core1
A 14.5" diagonal edge-to-edge HD+ Infinity LED display
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphics (1GB dedicated)
4GB DDR3 system memory (expandable to 8GB)
A slot-loading DVD burner2
A comfortable island-style, backlit keyboard with numeric keypad and oversized clickpad
An 8-cell Lithium-Ion battery

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp...Y14_series