General

[quote=Xbl1tz3rX]So I could use an SSD to stream a video onto someone else's slower HDD.[/quote]

Yes. You could copy+paste files from the SSD onto the HDD or straight up play the video. Pretty much what a USB flash drive or external hard drive could do.

@Burning Oh wow, that's pretty cool. So I could use an SSD to stream a video onto someone else's slower HDD.

Besides that, I think that's it. Thanks again for all your help

[quote=Xbl1tz3rX]I don't fully understand what you mean by internal network :$ Do you mean moving files from one laptop to another wirelessly?[/quote]

Yes.

It is also possible to stream video from one computer's hard drive to be played on another computer. This is the idea behind a NAS - an in-house dataserver that hosts files to be shared on all computers connected to the internal network.

@Burning Yeah the ranges do look similar. I don't fully understand what you mean by internal network :$ Do you mean moving files from one laptop to another wirelessly?

$50 on a network card is not terrible idea like if you need to move files between computers on your internal network without the use of a USB flash stick of external hard drive. It's not like $37 for IC Diamond.

The range isn't too different from other wifi cards.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4590/bigfoots-killern-1102-wireless-networking-vs-the-world/7
http://images.anandtech.com/doci/4590/2.4GHz%20Range%20-%20Cisco.jpg
http://images.anandtech.com/doci/4590/2.4GHz%20Range%20-%20Netgear.jpg

@Burning Oh I didn't know that Guess that proves what I said on the previous page about me not knowing anything about networking I googled it, but I skimmed it too fast.

I'm just worried that it's going to be slow. I can't be bothered with it disconnecting, you know? Most of the routers at my Uni are in the classes, so if I'm on a chair in the hallway, the extra range would be nice.

A?

A is old...1999 old. Don't worry if the stock wifi chip doesn't support A, because that's obsolete. N is the newest finalized 802.11 wifi standard and is what your Linksys EA3500 mainly broadcasts.

@Burning The Intel 6235 doesn't support AC, just A B G and N. The only one that supports AC on this laptop is the Intel AC 7260.

I'm hesitant to jump to 802.11AC wifi mostly because the standard has not been finalized. It could change and future AC routers/devices would become incompatible with the current AC-draft devices/routers. The Linksys EA3500 is an 802.11N wifi router anyways so you can't really make use of the AC wifi network card's faster data rate.

@Burning You're right about the IC Diamond being overpriced, I can get 1.5 grams of it for $6.77 on amazon lol.
Should I at least get the Intel 6235? It's $30. It supports 802.11A.

Then that's not so bad as your router has 3x3 on the 5 GHz band. Again, the bigger determining factor of internet connection quality is going to be outside the house where the majority of the cable is laid. It's highly unlikely your ISP contract gives you a download speed that can saturate a 150 Mbps data rate. Personally, I would drop the upgrade because I rarely stream data between my home computers and when I do, it's just MS Word documents that need to be printed on the computer with the printer.

The SSD is fine. That amount of money for both the part and service is quite reasonable.

That IC Diamond is super overpriced. I personally don't see the point since "diamond" compounds don't do much better than what's usually included in high-end laptops.

@Burning I'm pretty sure my router can handle a 3x3, it's a Linksys EA3500. You think I should completely drop it to stock? Cuz the stock is a 1x1 card (Qualcomm Atheros Ar9485wb-eg) :$ The Bigfoot card is $49, which isn't that bad. There are a few other upgrades.
When you say streaming data, do you mean watching youtube or live streams?

Qwan's knows more about the gaming laptop market than I do, but because I specialize with benchmarks around here on Basilmarket, I can at least guide you on finalizing things.

The reason why that laptop is way more expensive than say the Lenovo Y510p is because of all the premium features thrown in. While $1200 could snag a Y510p with dual GeForce GT 750Ms in SLI, the ASUS N550JV-DB72T you have configured has other things such as the touch-screen.

If you are set on buying that model, there is only one change I would make:
*Drop the Bigfoot Networks Killer card. It offers no performance advantage over plain-old wifi chips. The Bigfoot card would be useful if you had a 3x3 wireless router like the ASUS RT-N66 or ASUS RT-N66AC(?) and stream lots of data on an internal network. The Bigfoot card does not offer benefits for gaming because internet bottlenecks will occur outside the house/apartment/dorm.

Alright well thanks for all the help! Really appreciate it Have fun on your trip.

This may be my final build. With free shipping and the 2% discount, it comes out to about $1361.22 if I'm not mistaken. So expensive ._. But it seems really good for all the specs I'm getting. I bolded the things that I upgraded.

[quote=XoticPC]ASUS N550JV-DB72T Touch
- FREE! - U.S. UPS GROUND SHIPPING (Use Coupon Code "FREESHIP" in Checkout) [U.S. Lower 48 ONLY / Restrictions Apply]
- 15.6" FHD 16:9 (1920x1080) Glare-Type (Glossy) IPS Touch Screen
- ASUS Zero Bright Dot (ZBD) 30 Day Pixel Guarantee - (Included on ASUS Standard NON-Upgraded Displays)
- NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
- 4th Generation Intel Haswell Core i7-4700HQ (2.4GHz - 3.4GHz, 6MB Intel Smart Cache) (SKU - X2Y914)
- [b]IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU (Cools better than all Compounds) (XPC Service)[/b]
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M (2.0GB) GDDR3 PCI-Express DX11 w/ Optimus Technology
- No Copper Cooling Upgrade
- No Video Adapter
- No External Mobile Display
- 8GB DDR3 1600MHz [SKU-422P] (Dual Channel Memory (2x4GB SODIMMS)) - Default
- Standard Laptop Finish
- No Laptop Laser-Sketch
- [b]256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD (Read 540MB/s - Write 520MB/s (SATA III - 6GB/s)) (SKU - SSD018)[/b]
- Slim - 8x Super Multi DVDRW/CDRW Combo Drive (Dual Layer w/ Software) (SKU - ODD046)
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- Bluetooth Included *With select wireless cards only* (See "Wireless Network" Section Below)
- [b]Bigfoot Networks Killer Dual Band Wireless-N 1103 - 802.11A/B G/N Wireless LAN Module | Up to 450Mbps (3x3) [NO BLUETOOTH] (SKU - WIFI06)[/b]
- No Network Accessory
- Internal 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO)
- Integrated Digital Video Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (4-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- No Spare AC Adapter
- Standard US Power Cord
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- No Headset
- No External Keyboard
- No External Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Operating System Redline Boost
- WINDOWS 8 - 64-Bit (Pre-Installed + Drivers & Utilities Disk)
- Keep factory installed operating system
- No thanks, do not create backup recovery DVD's
- None
- No Antivirus Essentials Software Bundle
- No Back Up Software
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- No Global Anti-Theft Protection (Options below require an operating system)
- 1 Year ASUS GLOBAL OEM Warranty 24/7 Support / 1 Year North America (N.A.) Accidental Coverage (Accidental Requires Registration) (SKU - WTY015)
- * 24/7 LIFETIME U.S. based technical support
* Extreme QA testing by dedicated technicians
* 24-72 Hour stress testing and benchmarking to ensure top performance and stability
- Standard Production Time
- No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
- No thanks, standard double boxed packaging is okay with my order
- No XOTIC PC Gear[/quote]

Sorry, I've been quite busy and wasn't able to reply back.

The copper heatsink seem like something they added in attempt to make easy money. Buying like $8 worth of copper, taking out a few screws to take out the bottom panel, and spend two minutes sticking it on the heatpipe (those two minutes will be mostly taken up by you taking off the plastic film of the adhesive). Thermal paste installation is harder than that and that cost a bit less... If they had provided something like a blower fan that is installed in the optical drive bay to provide airflow to into the laptop for it to be effective, it may have been worth considering. But for only the copper heatsink for $60? Hell no.

IMO, a SSD is worth it, but it is not a necessity. I have numerous of laptops/desktops in the past with the standard HDD and have been fine with it. You can see increase performance / responsiveness during you during productivity such as load up times of Windows, programs, and game maps, as well as quicker virus scans, extracting zip/rar files, etc. However, don't expect to see like increase in FPS rate in games, quicker load speeds of websites (that's your internet connection), and such. There's also the benefit of reliability, as the SSDs are more resilient to accidental bumps and drops as there are no moving parts.

Anyways, Apparently, I had overlooked the time and now I'm late in going for my trip where there's limited internet access (my buddies are yelling at me to hurry up... LOL), so I have to go and this my last post here for a while. Burning can further assist you with the other questions, if she got the time. I also suggest you make an account at [url=http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-notebook-should-i-buy/]Notebook Review[/url] for more assistance, as well as qualify for any potential [url=http://www.xoticpc.com/notebook_review_members.php]NBR Discounts[/url]. Once you got everything you want down, contact a sale rep of XoticPC about this purchase. They are very responsive and may provide you in with any further information of their services, discounts, and finalizing your purchase. Good luck.

I feel like this Asus is perfect It looks really nice too.
On the subject of that Asus, do I want/need the copper heatsinks and the upgraded thermal compound? .
How much of a difference does an SSD make?
Is the bloatware removal worth it? Because I feel like I could do it myself lol.
What else do you recommend in the customization section?
And yeah, I can definitely ship it to the US

Edit: Looked around at some reviews for this laptop, mostly on Amazon. Here's what I've seen:
The 5400RPM HDD is slow. I know nothing about part-pricing, but upgrading it doesn't seem like it's too expensive?
The network card is slow. This is also upgradeable, but I know literally nothing about network cards.

Edit2: If I upgrade just the hard drive to the 256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD and the network card to the Bigfoot Killer 1103 (3x3), it comes out to ~$1354.00 USD. $1313.38 with the 3% discount. For the specs that I'm getting, is that a good price for this laptop?

[quote=Akaizer]I cant tell whether youre looking for something you can take to class and work with, or whether youre trying to find a desktop "replacement."
Which wont happen at 800-1000...[/quote]

Well, he is looking for something to take to class as well as be able to play certain games but stated that weight and battery life isn't a huge concern (so the benefit of an ultrabook is not much of an importance to him). It does not need to be a desktop replacement laptop such the AW17, Clevo P157SM/77SM, MSI GT60/70, Asus G750, etc. If that's the case, it is indeed possible to get a <$1000 to accomplished his needs. The Lenovo Y510p is a good example of that, as it allow him to do his class work in college and play a large range of games thanks to that the GT750M (of course, he is only playing two not so intensive games atm).

[quote=Xbl1tz3rX]I don't know to be honest, I haven't really looked into Steam that much. I might not even bother with it actually, with having just started school and how time consuming LoL and Maple are

About XoticPC, you don't pay taxes in Nebraska? If I were to order it from there, I'd ship it to either Ontario or Michigan.[/quote]

Well, start looking into it. lol Get a handle on everything you need and want before making the before purchase. The last thing you want to regret your purchase within a few weeks just because you didn't put enough thought into it.

You pay taxes in Nebraska. Outside of it, you do not. However, for you, even if you didn't buy it in Nebraska, you are still subject to paying tax on it when it arrive. Like this [url=http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-notebook-should-i-buy/469547-can-i-buy-xoticpc-gentechpc-canada.html#post6046071]person[/url] in Vancouver having to pay 13% tax on the item.

But yeah, if you can get it shipped from XoticPC to Michigan and pick it up there, then you would get free shipping, avoid tax and brokerage fees. If that's the case, I would try to go with the Asus over the Sony.

[quote=Xbl1tz3rX]@Akaizer That only has a 128GB storage :$ All the specs are fairly basic also.[/quote]
I cant tell whether youre looking for something you can take to class and work with, or whether youre trying to find a desktop "replacement."
Which wont happen at 800-1000...

I don't know to be honest, I haven't really looked into Steam that much. I might not even bother with it actually, with having just started school and how time consuming LoL and Maple are

About XoticPC, you don't pay taxes in Nebraska? If I were to order it from there, I'd ship it to either Ontario or Michigan.

Ah, so the price went up. That sucks.
Something also seem to have escape me. I'm so used to that if as you don't live in Nebraska, you don't get tax when buying from XoticPC here in the US. Apparently, you still have to pay the local tax of your purchase along with shipping and brokerage fee (which can be avoided by using UPS Express for ~$130)...Yeah, if that's the case, my recommendation just got toss out the window.

Anyways, another thing to consider whether you should get the Sony (GT735M) or the Lenovo (GT750m) is what "other games" you are planning to get off of Steam? I mean you could get games like Bioshock Infinite and Skyrim off of there. Touchscreen is nice and very convenient for Win8, but there are conventional means where you make make Win8 have a start menu and such. However, you can't really do anything about the limiting factor of the GPU in the Sony. So it's best to have a handle on what kind of games you wish to play before you invest in one or the other.

@Akaizer That only has a 128GB storage :$ All the specs are fairly basic also.
@qwan456 Actually that Sony that I was looking at was $200 off earlier ._. I was planning on buying that... Actually, I can still pick it up straight from Sony for $1049.99.
That Asus that you posted is looking really nice. I'm loving the look of the IdeaPad Y510p, but you can't get touch on it

That xotic site lets you customize EVERYTHING o_o

Samsung NP900X4D $250 off:
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=81777&vpn=NP900X4D-A03CA&manufacture=Samsung&promoid=1282

Go for Samsung or Asus, they usually offer good bang for the buck. Sony and HP tend cost more for the same thing.
I suggest paying more attention to construction material, battery life, weight, and keyboard/trackpad layout, Since the price more or less determines the hardware capabilities, Whereas those few things are more flexible. Also, take time to research customer reviews (ie: amazon) to check for any major/common flaws.

[quote=Xbl1tz3rX]
I saw [url=http://www.bestbuy.com/site/VAIO+Fit+15.5%22+Touch-Screen+Laptop+-+12GB+Memory+-+1TB+Hard+Drive+%2B+8GB+Solid+State+Drive/9172521.p?id=1218994545291&skuId=9172521&st=sony%20vaio&cp=1&lp=2#tab=specifications]this[/url][/quote]

If you were to get it at NCIX, that would be a $1174.99. http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=84209&vpn=SVF15A17CDB%C2%A0&manufacture=Sony%20VAIO&promoid=1349
Are you planning on buying that, despite your budget being $1000 CAD? If so, a possible alternative is the Asus N55JV-DB72T: http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-n550jvdb72t-touch-p-6116.html?wconfigure=yes
It offer same performance of the Lenovo (4700MQ+GT750M), the functionality of the Sony (touchscreen), and a 1 year NA Accidental warranty. It's $1040 USD, but XoticPC does ship to Canada. The shipping and broker fees that you have to pay will put it around the same price point, I believe.

Alright, thanks for your help! I really appreciate it

Either will be fine since $1000 usually allows the manufacturers to step up the quality. I rarely see serious complaints from owners of $1000 laptops to begin with.

Pick whatever you like. There's no point in getting a computer you'll regret having.

I've taken pretty good care of this current one. It may be a bit slow due to age, but I've never had a real problem with it.

It's hard to say how long a computer will last since it comes down to how well it's taken care of and luck. I'm still rocking a decade-old garbage-tier computer for that matter.

The two laptops in this regard have different features aimed at different audiences. The Lenovo Y-series have been recognized as gaming laptops and Lenovo has designed them with fairly aggressive cooling systems.

So I can go with the Sony or the Lenovo. Differences are the touchscreen(Sony), the processor(Lenovo), the graphics card(Lenovo), the storage size of the SSD(Lenovo), and the RAM(Sony).
Hardware-wise, how much of a difference is there between Sony laptops and Lenovo laptops? Lets limit this to ~$1000 priced ones since you said sub-$500s have poor quality. How long can each last?

[quote=Xbl1tz3rX]I was thinking about an Ultrabook, but they seem a lot less powerful than normal laptops.[/quote]

This is mostly true, but the one you are looking at right now can handle League quite well.

[quote=Xbl1tz3rX]I noticed that the Sony I linked above has a duo-core processor. If I'm paying $1000 for it, I think it should have a quad-core, no?
I saw [url=http://www.bestbuy.com/site/VAIO+Fit+15.5%22+Touch-Screen+Laptop+-+12GB+Memory+-+1TB+Hard+Drive+%2B+8GB+Solid+State+Drive/9172521.p?id=1218994545291&skuId=9172521&st=sony%20vaio&cp=1&lp=2#tab=specifications]this[/url] just a bit ago, and it seems perfect? I'm not 100% sure that the processor is quad-core, but the intel site says that all 3rd gen i7s that can overclock to 3.1GHz are quad.[/quote]

Since you've explored quite a bit, I really can't provide much more insight since you've discovered your personal preferences. This Sony Ultrabook makes sense despite weighing nearly 6 lbs.

Regarding your concerns about the number of processor cores, the i7-3537U is technically a dual-core, but hyper-threading creates two additional virtual cores and Windows will treat it is as a quad-core.

If that is a concern, you can fall back to the Lenovo Y-series which scales everything back up including a true quad-core processor with hyper-threading (Windows will treat it as 8-cores) and a more powerful GPU (GeForce GT 750M.)

USA http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y510p/
CAN http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops/ideapad/y-series/y510p/

edit:
[quote=Xbl1tz3rX]One last question to anyone, is HP really THAT bad? If it is, why?[/quote]

HP has traditionally done the worst in laptop failure surveys, but much of this has to be with HP being the biggest seller of laptops globally and that most people buy low-end laptops. The thing about low-end laptops (sub-$500 usually) is that their construction and quality is going to be the trade-off for the lower price and that doesn't matter which brand. Lenovo's and ASUS's low-end laptops do have signs of cheaper construction.

For size I think I want a 15.5" because it has a number pad and a 1920x1080 resolution, two things that a 14" don't have. I'd like it to have a touch screen because of how Windows 8 works.
Weight and battery life aren't THAT big of an issue. I can carry my charger in my backpack. For weight I just don't want it to be terribly heavy.
I don't want a gaming laptop because I honestly think I won't utilize the amount of power that one provides. Just a basic laptop with proper specs to play average games at an average speed.
If possible, a 750GB~1TB HDD with an SSD attached. RAM can be 8GB.
Graphics card can be anything that's not the basic Intel ones.

I was thinking about an Ultrabook, but they seem a lot less powerful than normal laptops.
I noticed that the Sony I linked above has a duo-core processor. If I'm paying $1000 for it, I think it should have a quad-core, no?
I saw [url=http://www.bestbuy.com/site/VAIO+Fit+15.5%22+Touch-Screen+Laptop+-+12GB+Memory+-+1TB+Hard+Drive+%2B+8GB+Solid+State+Drive/9172521.p?id=1218994545291&skuId=9172521&st=sony%20vaio&cp=1&lp=2#tab=specifications]this[/url] just a bit ago, and it seems perfect? I'm not 100% sure that the processor is quad-core, but the intel site says that all 3rd gen i7s that can overclock to 3.1GHz are quad.

One last question to anyone, is HP really THAT bad? If it is, why?

If you can give a more concrete response to laptop weight and size, battery life, and other features, that would be great. $800-1000 is within the realm of high-end laptops, where specialized features become available.

Laptop technology has advanced to the point where decently powerful systems can be built into an ultra-portable design. I'm talking about laptops that weigh less than 3 lbs such as Ultrabooks. The Sony laptop linked above is roughly in this category.

On the other hand, there are affordable gaming laptops such as already mentioned Lenovo Y-series. Gaming laptops in general, sacrifice portability to house supporting hardware to hand more powerful internal components.

Simply put, there are many types of laptops aimed for different purposes and different people. Because I realize that computers can be very personal, I am careful with what I recommend.

[quote=Burning]"You were told." That's the thing, because it isn't entirely true. All sub-$500 laptops are made with cheap materials. The Lenovo Y500 however, is technically a high-end laptop. That thing has copper heatsinks which is a pretty big deal of an indicator of its build quality.

However, the two games you play run fine on modern low-end systems. You express interest, but no commitment to DOTA 2, which like all Source-engine games, is playable on low-end computers, but massively scales up to mid-range systems. Therefore, I don't want to recommend the Lenovo Y500 because its a (heavy) 6 lb gaming laptop and there's no guarantee you'll need the discrete GPU.

They're big, heavy, and possible too costly for you.
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-G750JW-DB71-17-3-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B00COQIKB[/quote]

What would you recommend then?

[quote=Xbl1tz3rX]Oh what about the hardware that certain companies have? I was just told that lenovo uses really cheap materials So now I'm thinking either a Sony or an Asus.[/quote]

"You were told." That's the thing, because it isn't entirely true. All sub-$500 laptops are made with cheap materials. The Lenovo Y500 however, is technically a high-end laptop. That thing has copper heatsinks which is a pretty big deal of an indicator of its build quality.

However, the two games you play run fine on modern low-end systems. You express interest, but no commitment to DOTA 2, which like all Source-engine games, is playable on low-end computers, but massively scales up to mid-range systems. Therefore, I don't want to recommend the Lenovo Y500 because its a (heavy) 6 lb gaming laptop and there's no guarantee you'll need the discrete GPU.

[quote=Xbl1tz3rX]How are Asus ROGs? Someone mentioned one on the previous page and they look pretty sweet although a little big.[/quote]

They're big, heavy, and possible too costly for you.
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-G750JW-DB71-17-3-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B00COQIKB

[url=http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SYCTOProcess?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&LBomId=8198552921666558662&categoryId=8198552921644944498]How is this?[/url]
Customized to have:
Intel Core i7-3537U 2.00 GHz
Touch Screen
NVIDIA GeForce GT 735M 2GB hybrid graphics
1TB (5400rpm) + 8GB SSD hybrid hard drive
8GB RAM
Comes out to about $1049.99 US.

How are Asus ROGs? Someone mentioned one on the previous page and they look pretty sweet although a little big.

Kobe Bryant supports lenovo

Oh what about the hardware that certain companies have? I was just told that lenovo uses really cheap materials So now I'm thinking either a Sony or an Asus.

Check out asus laptop. I have an entertainment laptop with god specs, been playing ms and lol alot.

Hi I'm in almost the exact same situation as you, except I'm in Australia.

So commenting to keep updated with this thread. Hope you don't mind.

I've been told to not get HP.

Asus and Acer I've heard are pretty good and last quite a long time. (My Asus has lasted me a good 4 years, and is just starting to show issues now).

[quote=qwan456]What country are you from?
What sort of games do you wish to play?
Screen size preference? Weight? Battery life?[/quote]

I'm in Canada, but I can order it to the US which is a TON cheaper.
Maple and LoL for sure. I wanna try Dota 2 since I have a key(my current laptop can't run it). I might start using Steam for other games.
My current one is 15.6" and it's pretty nice. Not sure about a smaller or bigger size. Weight and battery life aren't too much of a concern.

@xchanx
Those look pretty good. How are Lenovo laptops?

What country are you from?
What sort of games do you wish to play?
Screen size preference? Weight? Battery life?

[quote=Rationale]ssd's dont have as much storage space so i wouldnt recommend it for you since games and possible schoolwork will take a lot of storage capacity unless you have an external hd maybeh[/quote]

While I was looking at HP laptops I noticed you can go dual hard drive so you would have an HDD for storage and SDD to run your laptop. Not sure how efficient that is though.