"900p" or 1080p monitor?

[1212magicman]

I'm getting a laptop, with extremely exaggerated specs. I have 2 options, one has a 17.3" 1600 x 900 res monitor and has better specs. The other is a bit older has a 15.3" 1080P res monitor, and is actually more expensive by like 100$ despite being a bit slower and older.

Those two mentioned are quad core laptops with 2.3ghz --> 3.3ghz turbo boost, being the better one.

I could also get a dual-core laptop with 1080P res, but with a 2.5ghz --> 3.1ghz processor. So its 2 times slower processor wise.
It also comes with only 500GB, where as the two on top get 1TB and bluray players.

Better one: 916$
Not as good 1080P: 1000$

Dual Core 1080P: 875$

[megido-rev.M]

If you'll use it a lot with CPU-intensive proggies, quad-core will benefit you pretty well. In that case, I say you get the one with better specs over the smaller, costlier higher-res monitor, as you'd have less machine power to drive stuff to the screen anyway.

Also, it might help to disclose the actual models.

[Freedom Kira]

Full specs, man. CPU performance is not determined solely by clock speed/GHz. Screen quality is also not determined solely by resolution.

[1212magicman]

Full specs, man. CPU performance is not determined solely by clock speed/GHz. Screen quality is also not determined solely by resolution.

Fine Fine, I was hoping I wouldn't have to post all the specs. However I was able to go to best buy and look at the 1600 x 900 res screens, and they were AMAZING. Just saiyan', like AMAZING.

Dv7t Quad Edition Customized:
2.3/3.3ghz quad intel i7-3610qm 6MB l3 cache
8GB ddr3 ram clocked at who knows what
Nvidia GT 630m
1TB 5400 rpm hdd
17.3" 1600 x 900 led
bluray player
backlit keyboard

Price: 919$ tax and everything

dv6t customized
2.5/3.1 i5-2450m
6GB ddr3 ram
Radeon 7690M gddr5 1gb
650GB 5400 rpm HDD
no backlit keyboard
no bluray player
15.6" 1080P led

Price: 878$ tax and everything


At this point I've made up my mind since I got a chance to look at the 1600 x 900 and I really liked it. Not the same laptops, but it should look the same.

[Freedom Kira]

The specs on the $919 computer are excellent. These, however, don't seem to match your original description. Either that or your original description was too rushed; I seem to see three options in your original post compared to two here, and these two differ in price by about $40, not $100.

I highly doubt that the 1080p screen + ~$40 is good enough to justify sacrificing a newer and more powerful processor, 2GB of RAM, 350GB of disk space, larger despite lower res screen, blu-ray capability, and all the other bells and whistles you listed. One thing you should note, though, is that the i7 will suck up more power than the i5, even though the i7 was built on more efficiency-optimized architecture. According to recent news about Ivy Bridge, the i7 will likely also run significantly hotter than the i5.

If none of that really bothers you, I think your choice is set. I would go one step further and ensure you have a decent number of USB 3.0 ports on it though. Do also remember to think about how you're going to move around a 17.3" laptop.

By the way, one thing to consider after getting either laptop is removing the HDD and replacing it with a good SSD. If you need storage space, this is probably out of the question, but if not, both of these systems could really benefit from the upgrade.

[Saras]

Do you intend to game often? If so, it would be fair say that the 7690m is indeed better than the 630m. Also, do you intend to haul the laptop around? If so, don't even think about a 17 inch one.

[vuzedome]

Both look like crap in terms of gaming performance, go get something better if you want a bit of bling with playable FPS.
If you're just up for 10-bit 1080p anime with light gaming, grab that i7 and get a monitor plus keyboard and mouse.

But more importantly, HP laptops? Wow someone sure went for the high streets instead of looking more around.

[kitamesume]

i vouch for 1080p, it has a screen with a higher pixel pitch which means more crisp in the image, plus the build is balanced with the right GPU/CPU performance.

dont ridicule the mobile i5, thats like saying the desktop i3 is worthless.

wait, did they really paired the i7 with a GT630m? they could've paired it with a GT650m or GT560m instead... what a waste.
thats a rebadged GT540m if i remember correctly and it won't be as great for gaming as you may think.

[1212magicman]

i vouch for 1080p, it has a screen with a higher pixel pitch which means more crisp in the image, plus the build is balanced with the right GPU/CPU performance.

dont ridicule the mobile i5, thats like saying the desktop i3 is worthless.

wait, did they really paired the i7 with a GT630m? they could've paired it with a GT650m or GT560m instead... what a waste.
thats a rebadged GT540m if i remember correctly and it won't be as great for gaming as you may think.

Both look like crap in terms of gaming performance, go get something better if you want a bit of bling with playable FPS.
If you're just up for 10-bit 1080p anime with light gaming, grab that i7 and get a monitor plus keyboard and mouse.

But more importantly, HP laptops? Wow someone sure went for the high streets instead of looking more around.

The specs on the $919 computer are excellent. These, however, don't seem to match your original description. Either that or your original description was too rushed; I seem to see three options in your original post compared to two here, and these two differ in price by about $40, not $100.

I highly doubt that the 1080p screen + ~$40 is good enough to justify sacrificing a newer and more powerful processor, 2GB of RAM, 350GB of disk space, larger despite lower res screen, blu-ray capability, and all the other bells and whistles you listed. One thing you should note, though, is that the i7 will suck up more power than the i5, even though the i7 was built on more efficiency-optimized architecture. According to recent news about Ivy Bridge, the i7 will likely also run significantly hotter than the i5.

If none of that really bothers you, I think your choice is set. I would go one step further and ensure you have a decent number of USB 3.0 ports on it though. Do also remember to think about how you're going to move around a 17.3" laptop.

By the way, one thing to consider after getting either laptop is removing the HDD and replacing it with a good SSD. If you need storage space, this is probably out of the question, but if not, both of these systems could really benefit from the upgrade.

Fudge, I should've just been more specific my first post...

Okay, so HP lets you CUSTOMIZE, part by part your laptop. I was trying to be as conservative with my money as possible, getting good upgrades that were cheap.

I COULD get a 650M graphics card, but thats 100$ extra.
I COULD get a 1080P monitor on the i7 but thats 150$ extra.
I COULD get a SSD but that's 200$ extra.
I COULD buy other cheaper brands, but I have a 500$ coupon from HP.

Don't intend on gaming too much on it, I have a Xbox 360 and a Wii both are modded and I have thousands of games.

The laptop comes with a finger print sensor, 3 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 port, HDMI, VGA, webcam, the works.

I've carried around a 17.3 for 4 years, and I have to walk 3 flight of stairs every day with it, so I don't see why people say its hard to walk with a 17.3 laptop lol. It's only 5 pounds xD, fits perfectly in my backpack too.

Honestly I don't really need that fast of a computer since I won't be gaming on it too much. I do however like working on Adobe After Effects (like photoshop but for videos and more extreme), and of-course watching 10-bit 1080P anime. I also use CAD (computer-aided-design) like Solid Works.
___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ __________

I haven't bought it yet, do you guys have any suggestions for other laptops? I will post links.
I've ditched the idea of getting the dual-core. And I'm not to scared about the increase temperature in an i7.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-Pavilion/A3G47AV?HP-Pavilion-dv7t-7000-Quad-Edition-Entertainment-Notebook-PC

Notice that you can customize it.

[megido-rev.M]

How much battery do you require? AFAIK typical HP laptops drain out like mad.

[vuzedome]

How much battery do you require? AFAIK typical HP laptops drain out like mad.

Man what year are you from?
It's 20-freaking-12, HP's are reliable now but just still expensive in my opinion.

[megido-rev.M]

How much battery do you require? AFAIK typical HP laptops drain out like mad.

Man what year are you from?
It's 20-freaking-12, HP's are reliable now but just still expensive in my opinion.

I meant the more inexpensive ones, although I suppose >$800 does not count.

[xShadow]

How much battery do you require? AFAIK typical HP laptops drain out like mad.

Man what year are you from?
It's 20-freaking-12, HP's are reliable now but just still expensive in my opinion.

I'll have to contest that. One of my partners in a computer vision project had an HP that he got relatively recently (< 1 year back or so). I don't know if it was the tier of laptop or what, but the thing overheated like mad while we were compiling and running opencv  c++ code on it... not to mention it was built terribly in general. He hates the damn thing.

I'm a bit skeptical. I would search up that specific model on various forums to see if anyone has had any overheating issues with it. It's looks a bit thin.

When I consider your priorities (screen size, resolution, CPU), though, you don't have many alternatives (at least not on Newegg). Most of them are from Sony. Like this one. I don't know if it has any heating issues or something, so try to check it online beforehand out if you wanna consider it.

[1212magicman]

I did say they were customizable right?

You can customize the laptop so that it has a double 9 cell battery (18 hours of charge) thats plenty. I've opted to go with a the single 9 cell battery.

[1212magicman]

How much battery do you require? AFAIK typical HP laptops drain out like mad.

Man what year are you from?
It's 20-freaking-12, HP's are reliable now but just still expensive in my opinion.

Name 1 computer that is cheaper than the HP I'm talking about with the same specs. I have no idea where you're coming from.

[Tatsujin]

Full specs, man. CPU performance is not determined solely by clock speed/GHz. Screen quality is also not determined solely by resolution.

Fine Fine, I was hoping I wouldn't have to post all the specs. However I was able to go to best buy and look at the 1600 x 900 res screens, and they were AMAZING. Just saiyan', like AMAZING.

Dv7t Quad Edition Customized:
2.3/3.3ghz quad intel i7-3610qm 6MB l3 cache
8GB ddr3 ram clocked at who knows what
Nvidia GT 630m
1TB 5400 rpm hdd
17.3" 1600 x 900 led
bluray player
backlit keyboard

Price: 919$ tax and everything

dv6t customized
2.5/3.1 i5-2450m
6GB ddr3 ram
Radeon 7690M gddr5 1gb
650GB 5400 rpm HDD
no backlit keyboard
no bluray player
15.6" 1080P led

Price: 878$ tax and everything


At this point I've made up my mind since I got a chance to look at the 1600 x 900 and I really liked it. Not the same laptops, but it should look the same.

this is a no-brainer, the i7 with extra features has a nice price tag and it's like 30-40 dollars more. worth it.

[kitamesume]

pros and cons:
i7-Laptop vs i5-Laptop
i7-3610QM > i5-2450m
8GB ram > 6GB ram
GT630m < HD7690m
1TB 5400rpm > 650GB 5400rpm
blueray player > no blueray player
17.3" 1600x900 < 15.6" 1080p
backlit keyboard > no backlit keyboard
919$ < 878$

if you bump the GT630m to GT650m then pick the i7. otherwise even with all those blings... pick the i5.

[1212magicman]

pros and cons:
i7-Laptop vs i5-Laptop
i7-3610QM > i5-2450m
8GB ram > 6GB ram
GT630m < HD7690m
1TB 5400rpm > 650GB 5400rpm
blueray player > no blueray player
17.3" 1600x900 < 15.6" 1080p
backlit keyboard > no backlit keyboard
919$ < 878$

if you bump the GT630m to GT650m then pick the i7. otherwise even with all those blings... pick the i5.

okay so the i7 is faster, has more ram, more space, bluray player, and a backlit keyboard.

Yet you think I should choose the dual core because it has a better graphics card??? I have an Xbox 360 for gaming.... and I've seen 900P monitors and some looked better than the 1080P monitors at the store.

I'm currently on a 32" 1360 x 768 monitor, and a 1600 x 900 monitor will look gorgeous to me especially on a 17.3".

[kitamesume]

wait, how did a 32" 1360x768 become a 1080p monitor? pixel pitch makes monitor more crisp, huge monitors with ugly native resolution looks insanely blurred.
so a 17" 1600x900 < 15" 1920x1080. or if you dont understand it, pixel pitch is how much pixels you can fit in one square inch, the more pixels there the more detailed the picture will be.

and im saying that a balanced unit is way better than an overspec-ed unit with aweful balance, just like how pre-builts with i7 getting bundled with a GT520 get turned down. do note that once you buy the laptop you can't upgrade it's critical parts at all.

and why would you need a quadcore laptop if you're only gonna use it lightly? all it would do is eat more battery power.

[1212magicman]

wait, how did a 32" 1360x768 become a 1080p monitor? pixel pitch makes monitor more crisp, huge monitors with ugly native resolution looks insanely blurred.
so a 17" 1600x900 < 15" 1920x1080.

and im saying that a balanced unit is way better than an overspec-ed unit with aweful balance, just like how pre-builts with i7 getting bundled with a GT520 get turned down. do note that once you buy the laptop you can't upgrade it's parts at all.

and why would you need a quadcore laptop if you're only gonna use it lightly? all it would do is eat more battery power.

My 32" monitor is 1360 x 768 not 1080P, and everything is so pixely

Okay yea a 15" 1080P monitor will look better, but like BARELY. It will look like 1.2 times better if my eyes are even good enough to tell.

Also you're onto a good point, I don't see why I would need a quad-core laptop, my brothers dual core seems plenty fast to me. More so I'm a bit concerned that since it's only a 40$ difference I should get the more expensive one since its more bang for my buck.

But I really do want a 1080P or 900P screen, and everytime I try to customize a cheap laptop it ends up being around 900$. So not sure whether to go with
dv7t (its newer a bit slimmer) quad core would go unused. 900P. Blu-ray and backlit keyboard (really like the backlit keyboard part)
or a dv6t (not as new) dual core would be used fully. 1080P. 15.6" instead of 17.3". No bluray and no backlit keyboard. Barely any cash saved. Less ram and less hard drive space.