Laptop (Work/Gaming)

I saw both the Alienware and the Clevo based Schenker at yesterday's Gadget Show.

The Clevo looks and feels much better than I expected. It seemed as good as any main stream laptop from the major manufacturers.

They are both roughly the same thickness and size (couldn't compare side by side but that is the impression I got).

The quality of the materials generally feels better on the Alienware. The 'soft touch' screen lid has a real quality feel about it. The keyboard on the Alienware is way, way better than the cheap feel of the Clevo's Chiclet keyboard and also has a proper UK sized Return key which the P170EM Clevo did not. The touchpad on the AW is also better.

I couldn't try out the built-in speakers or really compare the sound from headphones.

In terms of performance though, they both seem as good as each other, as you would expect if they are using the same internal components. In addition, I preferred the matte screen of the Clevo to the shiny screen of the AW.

In summary, I would say that the P170EM Clevo is a great competitor to the AW. It should perform just as well and looks like it will last. I think the difference is in the aesthetics/design and is where people need to decide what they want in terms of design from a £1,200+ laptop. A little like the MacBook Pro, in addition to paying for the name, you are also paying for design in order to get something that feels 'special' and justify the price.

An example of the design/ergonomic difference I noticed with the Clevo was the placement of the what looked like the microphone, right next to the touchpad which seems to be a silly position.

At the end of the day, I think most people would be happy with either one as they will both deliver the performance with good quality components. For me, I may be a little vain and would pay a little more for the design and quality feel of the of the AW. If the price difference is high, the Clevo wins hands down.
 
An example of the design/ergonomic difference I noticed with the Clevo was the placement of the what looked like the microphone, right next to the touchpad which seems to be a silly position.

I remember reading somewhere something about a fingerprint identifier (or whatever it's called) being situated next to the touchpad.

It could be the scanner you saw (unless I'm confusing it with another laptop!). :)
 
I remember reading somewhere something about a fingerprint identifier (or whatever it's called) being situated next to the touchpad.

It could be the scanner you saw (unless I'm confusing it with another laptop!). :)

Yes, it has a fingerprint reader between the two trackpad buttons.

It also has the microphone situated just above the trackpad.
 
Well after much research and help ice decided I'm going to save some cash and buy something cheaper.

Then only graphically intensive game in really play is battlefield 3 and have bought it for the Xbox I'm quite happy playing it on that and I'd imagine I'll buy a new Xbox/Ps on launch.

I would however like a laptop that's going to allow me to play the rest of my games and also be decent for photo editing.

I'd be looking to play stuff like Company of Heroes, Civilization 5 and Football Manager. Reading would suggest the a 660M should be sufficient for this and would even run BF3 if not on ultra settings, I've looked at the LenovoY500 (and Y580) along with a couple of MSI laptops but just wondered where I should look if I'd rather only spend maybe £800?
 
I have heard good things about the Y500 and having seen it at the Gadget Show, it looks quite nice. It also gives you the option to add an additional 650M via the Ultrabay port. Apparently the 650M in the Y500 is more powerful than the 660M they used in the end of line Y580.

The MSIs are also a good choice. If you don't mind AMD, you can pick up the MSI GX60 with AMD A10 CPU and 7970M for £720 after cashback.
 
I have heard good things about the Y500 and having seen it at the Gadget Show, it looks quite nice. It also gives you the option to add an additional 650M via the Ultrabay port. Apparently the 650M in the Y500 is more powerful than the 660M they used in the end of line Y580.

The MSIs are also a good choice. If you don't mind AMD, you can pick up the MSI GX60 with AMD A10 CPU and 7970M for £720 after cashback.

Thanks mate, I can get discount off the LenovoY500 which brings it down to just over £600 I actually thought the G650M would be worse than the 660M but if that's not the case then great!

I have seen the Gx60 and was very tempted but I've heard the AMD CPU really isn't up to it.
 
Thanks mate, I can get discount off the LenovoY500 which brings it down to just over £600 I actually thought the G650M would be worse than the 660M but if that's not the case then great!

I have seen the Gx60 and was very tempted but I've heard the AMD CPU really isn't up to it.

I am not sure about the A10 CPU but they do sell it as a gaming PC. You may want to look up and see how it performs with the usual photo/video editing suites.

That sounds like a great price for the Y500 - just check which screen and CPU it comes with as they offer it with different combinations.
 
THanks again mate, a quick search suggests the A10 isn't up to much Photoshop wise, theres certainly a suggestion that the CPU isn't a match for the GPU.
 
That's a shame as the GPU is a great performer
 
Yeah I was very attracted to it initially as your right the GPU seems excellent and theres supposed to be fewer issues with the GPU seen as its an AMD CPU as well, looking like the Y500 on Amazon.co.uk is the one I'd need (i7 and a Full HD Screen) its £750.
 
I've done a bit of reading and actually I think the AMD CPU would be fine for what I want.
The extra RAM (and I could add more) would be useful for Photoshop and it seems its OK for that sort of thing if not great.
However gaming wise it seems to be fine paired with the 7970M and will do all I want it to do, including running BF3 at 1080P. For just over £700 (£100 cashback) I'm not sure I'd get a better deal.
 
Hi Chris, Looks like Amazon now have some more stock of the Y580 back in at the previous price of £850. Good spec with 3630QM/660M/1Tb HD & 64Gb SSD/1080P screen & BluRay

Lenovo Ideapad Y580 15.6 inch laptop - Dawn Grey (Intel Core i7 3630QM 2.4GHz, 8Gb RAM, 1Tb HDD, Blu-ray, Nvidia Graphics, Windows 8): Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Double check the difference between the Y500 and Y580 but I am pretty sure that the 660M in the Y580 is restricted in someway that makes it slower than the 650M in the Y500
 
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Thanks! There is a version of the Y500 with a dual GPU setup which is better but it can't be bought in the UK for some reason.
 
Thanks! There is a version of the Y500 with a dual GPU setup which is better but it can't be bought in the UK for some reason.

Yes, there is an SLi version in the US but I was referring to a single 650M Vs a single 660M.

You may get lucky and pick up an additional 650M for the Ultrabay off eBay at some time in the future if you need more power.
 
The Y580 looks the best buy, a little more than I wanted to spend but only by about £100. The Y500 seems hobbled by an inability to use the integrated Intel HD4000 GPU when not gaming to preserve battery life and the speed of of the Y580 overall seems better.

Comparing the CPUS the Intel i7 is going to spank the AMD one in the GX60 for anything processor intensive.
 
Did you get the Y580 Chris ?

I see they have now sold out at Amazon

Edit: Actually they have a Used one in the Amazon Warehouse for £800
 
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Got the last one!
 
Well done Chris :smashin:

Let us know your thoughts on it when it arrives.

Also, I am intrigued to see if it has:
- 1Tb HDD
- 1Tb HDD + 64Gb SSD
- Dual 1Tb HDDs + 64Gb SSD

The Amazon description is not clear !
 
Yeah I'll be interested too, the page isn't the most clear.

Should get it tomorrow hopefully!
 
Hi Chris, how are you getting on, has the Lenovo arrived yet ?

My M17x arrived towards the end of last week so I thought you might be interested in my thoughts on it.

Firstly, here are some photos of the beast:

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004-1.jpg


005.jpg


006.jpg


Also, I ran some benchmarks just using standard config, no overclocking or even checking for updated drivers, out of the box performance. Temps were a steady 64 deg Celsius.

HEAVEN 4.0

003.jpg


3D MARK II

004.jpg


Not sure why it is showing an unapproved driver as it is stock, out of the box.

I have also put together an amateur unboxing video of it with a First Use video to come :thumbsup:

 
Spy

Your Alienware does look good!

Finally got my Lenovo on Friday.
Has the 1TB HDD and 16GB SSD which I may well swap, so far seems very good, not installed much but Battllefield 3 seems to run very well at Ultra Settings which I'm very happy about.

Only thing which seems dodgy is the trackpad but I'd read about that before and reality is I'd be using a wireless mouse for most stuff.
 
Glad to hear you are enjoying it. I didn't think the Y580 had any Trackpad issues, I thought it was just the Y500
 
Not sure why it is showing an unapproved driver as it is stock, out of the box.

That might be a new graphics driver, just released.

I think it takes a bit of time for Microsoft to register new driver versions, hence the 'not approved' tag.
 

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