Enigma II alternative?

[BMC]

I know I'm being odd here but I'm going blind using the configuration tool so figured I'd cut the grief and just ask.

I know more or less the parts I'm looking for but am struggling to find a base unit to accommodate other than the Enigma II range.

Regarding the specs, I'm really looking for something along the lines of...

CPU: i5-540
RAM: 4 GB 1333 (2x2GB) - 8 GB 1333 (2x4GB) highly preferred
Video: 5650
HDD: 500 GB 7200
Wireless: N'Card

Fluff I would probably add would be the Blu Ray so something with a native of 1280x720 or higher (aka 720p).

I'm sure the Enigma II is a fantastic piece of kit but their are a couple of personal issues with it that just put me off, primarily aesthetically, at least from the images I've seen it doesn't "grab me" for the want of a better way of putting it.

I realise I'm being difficult so I apologise for that but can anyone suggest a base to build from that allows for the sort of components I've listed above?

Additionally before I forget, 1920x1080 (aka 1080p) while a lovely idea is not necessary particularly as I'm yet to see a flat panel scale down really well which I'm sure will be a requirement for most new/newer PC games but as long as its at least 1280x720 for Blu-Ray playback and has the HDMI so it can be whacked up to 1920x1080 (aka 1080p) for the telly.

Oh, and one other small query, many laptops come with some sort of "kick it" button to push the CPU on the fly (specifically for gaming it seems), was wondering if you folks at PCSpecialist do something similar on your custom units as I didn't see a mention of it.

Anyway, I better post this before I ramble on any more, again sorry to be a pain in the backside.

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UPDATE

Doing some more twiddling found the 18.4" Viper II to be very interesting.

Only concerns here are max memory of 4 GB 1066 (2x2GB) and instead of the 5650 its a 5156, knowing how model range numbers tend to work I would usually dismiss it out of hand but noticed on a few sites and benches people noting the difference between the 5156 and 5650 is almost nothing more than DirectX11.

A good example of where I'm seeing this information is the benchmarks listed here once you expand them:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5165.24579.0.html

Seeing as I won't be playing games on higher settings with a laptop anyway I wouldn't be using DirectX 11 so...

Back to the RAM though, that does concern me a bit, I've been using 8 GB of 1333 on my desktops for a while now since I went 64 bit, I know many think its unnecessary but it really seems to help with "chugginess" when using apps like Photoshop or in general with games.

It's also 1066 rather than 1333.

Am I overreacting, will it make much of a "real world" difference? I couldn't care less if one of them gets a 0.00000216% performance increase over the other in an artificial benchmarking tool, its day to day use that concerns me and the "go and stick the kettle on" while waiting for something to happen reality.

PS, I know I'm being shallow but the Viper II from my personal aesthetic standpoint looks lovely, wish they had a 15-16" model.

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[Meds]

Hi BMC,

First of all, don't worry about asking too many questions, you need to make sure that you get the the correct specification for you!

I will say now though, laptops are not as flexible when it comes to specifications. Each chassis has a specific Motherboard, Graphics Card, Screen which cannot be changed or replaced for an alternative model. When purchasing a Laptop or PC I would ALWAYS put specification at the top of the list when choosing what to buy. All chassis we stock are available to buy on our website we do not plan to stock any newer chassis within the near future.

From your post, I understand the following;

Enigma II - Pros: right size (15.6"), HD screen, support for 8GB 1333MHz, ATI 5650, HDMI
Cons: not the best looking

Viper - Pros: aesthetically pleasing, HD screen, HDMI
Cons: max 4GB 1066MHz RAM, a bit on the large size, ATI 5156

Both Laptops support the same size HDD, wireless, bluetooth etc and unfortunately none of our Laptops have any sort of "boost" button to increase the performance when playing games etc so I have not included when drawing my conclusions.

A Laptop with a better graphics card and twice as much RAM (at a faster speed) will perform the best in benchmarks and "real life" applications such as games and photoshop.

I would say the Enigma II is the laptop for you. I covers all your hardware needs and will cope with all the applications you throw at it, I'm afraid I can't sit here and recommend you take a substantial performance hit just because you prefer the look of the other laptop.

Hope this helps

 

[PCS]

Pretty much all the notebooks in the world are manufactured by a small number of companies based in Taiwan/ China. The Enigma II notebook is made by a company called Compal, based in Taiwan, with 16,000 employees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compal_Electronics and they manufacture for Dell, HP, Acer, Fujitsu, etc.

You can see some alternative images on this website here: http://www.purepc.pl/urzadzenia_mob...otebook_z_ati_mobility_radeon_hd5000?page=all

 

[BMC]

Thank you both for the feedback and additional link.

I'll admit, I was hoping the compromise for aesthetical reasons wouldn't be too dire but your quite right I will be frustrated a great deal more by something that's not giving me the performance I desire over an outer coating that looks nice (subjective).

I suppose the only thing holding me back from the Enigma II now is the keyboard, for clarification I'm 6'4" with the stubby mittens to match so the smaller more compact keyboards inherent with laptops have always been and I guess will always be an issue for me, this seems to be unavoidable with these devices not just this particular device though.

Thanks again for your time, I'll probably spend the next week or so humming and hawing until my funds are available and proceed with an order for the Enigma II based model.