http://www.sagernotebook.com/product_customed.php?pid=10641


should be better than Dell, you can customize it, and select xp pro.
Probably around $2500 with 2.4 ghz cpu, 7200 rpm drive, 2 gb of Ram Fastest nVidia card ( 7950 ) and 1920x1200 screen.

No complaints with mine ( running xp ). Not a single crash since I got it.

Thanks Bob. Thats a lot of options.
Grateful
Steven

deusx
Thanks, the sagerlooks cool, looks industrial srength. but I see its 1.4ghz compared with dells 2.8. did you get the matte or glossy screen? will the glossy make it look better on location at clients?
Thanks

whoops sorry 2.4 for the sager, the sony is only 2.2 and the dell 2.8
Steve

You mean 2.4ghz ( 1.4 would be a little slow )

I got the glossy one, but I think they had matte options too, although maybe you'd have to get 1680 x 1050. You'll have to ask.

Obviously glossy would have much more reflection ( if you are going to use it outdoors or in bright rooms it could be a problem ) , but I like colors on it better , looks closer to a CRT than any matte screen I've seen.

Just looked at the Dell. Do you really want to pay $1300 for a jump from 2.4 to 2.8ghz?

Youm know Sager offers a quadcore laptop :-) if you feel like spending that much ( or they will soon )

My laptop came with a glossy screen which surprised me at first. It only took me about 30 seconds to fall in love with it though and now i despise matte screens. The thing i realized so quickly is that while glossy is going to have a reflection, it's very easy to turn the screen slightly so that the reflection isn't visible. With a matte screen, no matter which way you turn it there's always a glow over the whole screen from any ambient light hitting it, washing out the image.

Glossy all the way, never look back.

Oh, and it's so much faster and easier to clean than matte too!

Quadcore would be fun, since vegas uses all 4 cores on my boxx computer
Thanks, ill see what they have in a couple weeks
Steven

ok you sold me on glossy with that description. Gotta have that then.
Thanks
Steven

Hi,

Just to clarify one point - the ability to "downgrade" from an existing Vista licence to XP is only available to volume licences. For retail licences this does not apply - so you would need to buy an XP licence to run it.

I recently bought a Vaio, which came with Vista. Luckily I had an XP licence I could use, and set up a dual boot. Beware though, I had to hunt thru the Sony support site to find the correct drivers for XP - this is worth checking if anyone is considering this. I found I had to look for the bottom of the range model, which shipped with XP, and use those drivers. Fortunately I got it working well.

Paul

Bob sent me a link to hypersonic. Quad, Quado 2500, 4MB and 400GB RAID 17" HD screen (WUXGA GLOSSY) for 3K. Make the Viao look like its worth $1500 at tops. I may get one but because of reasons beyond my control I just got an MSI; TL-66, Radeon HD2600, 4meg Crucial, Vista 64bit (Ugh!) and a single 7K200 6.5ns, 16m cache for well under 2K and that will do me for now. With the quads and RAID you must get a GOOD builder because heat damage is so easy. Cooling design and good warranty is very important.

Mike

Obviously glossy would have much more reflection ( if you are going to use it outdoors or in bright rooms it could be a problem ) , but I like colors on it better , looks closer to a CRT than any matte screen I've seen.

I have seen many glossy screens (since nearly all PC laptops ship with this since late spring), but am yet to see one that is even close to a good matte screen.

What machine and model was this exactly that you got with a glossy screen that was so good?

I'd just like to see it for my education.

I got an Acer Aspire 5400 series. There is simply no contest between it's screen and the matte screens. I line my notebook up with the others at work, and by comparison the matte screens all look like they have a layer of smoke or gauze over them. On their own, the matte screens look good, but compare them to a glossy screen and the difference really stands out.

>>>What machine and model was this exactly that you got with a glossy screen that was so good?<<<

Sager 5790 ( based on Clevo m570u) 17" WUXGA (1920x1200)

That's one version before the current one ( 5791 ), but spec wise seems the same. You never know though, screens change. I've heard people complain about graininess with Asus G1s screens, and my G1 ( before the s model refresh ) looks great, nothing grainy at all.

I know certain Dell models would come with a couple of different screens, and it was basically a matter of luck whether you got a nicer one ( supposedly one was noticably better than the other, even though it was the same model of laptop, you could check the back of lcd for manufacturer, and they were different on different machines )

Paul
It sounds like sony is not the way to go, besides being a slower processor and the whole vista debacle and top that off with a driver hunt. Geez, sounds like they dont want our money. So the Pro market will move to other brands even operating Systems.
Thanks
Steven

I certainly Apreciate everbodys thoughts on my question and would like to get that link to hypersonic. do you say somebody needs to assemble it for you? curious that I didnt hear one person say get the mac.
Grateful
Steven

curious that I didnt hear one person say get the mac.

Alright, I'll say it: get the Mac!

:O)

There may be an unspoken assumption that forum participants by now should have known to always look at MacBook Pro notebooks.

They really are very well designed, and with them you get both Windows and OS X.

The 17" 1920x1200 MacBook Pro is just flat out stunning in its image quality, and at least one major (non Apple affiliated) reviewer said the MacBook Pro is also the thinnest notebook on the market today.

There could always be unusual situations where some specific specialty Windows-only notebook could be more appropriate, but in general I have not seen a better notebook series overall.

Thank You CourseDesign. that might be the way to go so I may then I might transition to a new operating System as I am fearing service pack 3 is loaded with the music/movie bizzes redundent/bloatware copy protection schemeware, that kills vista. Is Apple got all that 25% system slo down overhead vista has, and arent they due for a new operating system and laptop model. I own two copies of vista, after purchasing and using, I saw the future of windows computing, and I bet its headed down the same path months after release. microsoft aint budgin for the pro community.
Thanks
Steven

Wired said "MacBook Pro was best-in-class at gaming" (using Windows) compared to a gazillion Windows-only notebooks. That also bodes well for Vegas performance.

Leopard will ship next Friday per Amazon (which is what everyone looks to as the most reliable source for software and book releases). It is a great OS and I hear from beta testers that it is rock solid already.

You're right about Vista overhead, this is most obvious in how much notebook battery life drops when using Vista vs. OS X (on the same machine).

This is being analyzed right now to see if there are any hacks that could bypass some of the most criminal bureaucratic performance obstacles in Windows.

Lenovo, maker of IBM Thinkpads, still gives you a choice of Operating System. You can get any of their laptops with XP Pro on them and they're having a big sale right now.

~jr

This whole "upgrading to XPpro" thing has grown into a movement. I've done it to a number of new machines I've purchased over the past 6 months. At first, the situation with some vendors looks hopeless, but a bit of effort invested in Google will yield websites and message boards populated with people who have taken the time to track down all the drivers needed to get the particular machine running in XP.

My latest project involves an itty-bity PC called the Sony UX380n. It's a "palmtop" not much bigger than a PDA but with a full complement of ports, memory, processor power, and an 800x1280 display. Problem is that it comes with Vista, which is probably why it's being sold at substantial discount. That, and the fact that the default installation is just loaded with CrapWare. But the users on one website have put together a beautiful self-installing package of drivers that makes the machine run great with XP. You would not believe the difference. This is my first experience with a Sony PC product, and I'd rate the hardware at 9.5 and the default software at 2.

If you can get a machine already spec'd for XP, you're home free.

Mac with 7200rpm , 160 gb screen 1920 x 1200 resolution is $3000

Same hardware on Sager I have and a better vid. card = $2500

For $3000 above you can buy Sager with same specs, but a quad core 2.66 ghz processor.

I'd say unless, you really, really ( spongebob voice ) really, really want to use OSX, it's no contest.


>>>Wired said "MacBook Pro was best-in-class at gaming" <<<<
Sorry, but Wired = morons. You can't beat dual SLI, 7950 GTX cards in any game using video cards Apple offers, Even a single 7950GTX is better, and you can configure quite a few brands with those.

Thanks JohnnyRoy, sales are nice, and thinkpads are tanks. but I think the writing on the wall from Microsft to pros is, we really dont care if it screws up your workflow, content creators are such a small user base.
Thanks
Steven