This will be my first custom laptop and I'm not sure what the most appropriate spec is, would you guys be able to answer some question on the appropriate model and spec please?
Firstly, the not so technical bits, I use my laptop on my lap every day in mixed lighting conditions for mainly Internet, Office and CAD. I'm looking for something that is thin, light with a long battery life.
Am I correct in thinking that the OptimusII is the thinnest chassis available?
Will this model have a backlit keyboard?
Is the trackpad a "standard" pad or does it work in a similar way to Apple/New Samsung with the Gesture UI?
So now the (slightly) more technical questions:
1. What is the additional power consumption of i7 processors over i5 in "minutes"?
2. Are the Matte screens recommended given my mixed lighting conditions? Any drawbacks?
3. My last laptop (Samsung) had a 1TB (7200rpm) drive with 8GB SSD - what is the nearest available equivalent?
4. Is there a chassis available to hold both an SSD, HDD and Optical Drive? (Presumably I'd have to go to 17"?)
5. What are the speakers like? Anything to compare them to?
6. What other mods are imminent that you know of (such as back-lit keyboards etc)?
Sorry for the pretty lame questions, for me at this stage I'm looking for something comfortable, reliable, portable with a long battery life - not a high end gaming machine.
At the moment I've specced this below, is there anything glaringly obvious that I might have missed? Thanks in advance..
Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 15.6" Matte 95% Gamut LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Upgrade to 62.16WH 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (£39)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£12)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Firstly, the not so technical bits, I use my laptop on my lap every day in mixed lighting conditions for mainly Internet, Office and CAD. I'm looking for something that is thin, light with a long battery life.
Am I correct in thinking that the OptimusII is the thinnest chassis available?
Will this model have a backlit keyboard?
Is the trackpad a "standard" pad or does it work in a similar way to Apple/New Samsung with the Gesture UI?
So now the (slightly) more technical questions:
1. What is the additional power consumption of i7 processors over i5 in "minutes"?
2. Are the Matte screens recommended given my mixed lighting conditions? Any drawbacks?
3. My last laptop (Samsung) had a 1TB (7200rpm) drive with 8GB SSD - what is the nearest available equivalent?
4. Is there a chassis available to hold both an SSD, HDD and Optical Drive? (Presumably I'd have to go to 17"?)
5. What are the speakers like? Anything to compare them to?
6. What other mods are imminent that you know of (such as back-lit keyboards etc)?
Sorry for the pretty lame questions, for me at this stage I'm looking for something comfortable, reliable, portable with a long battery life - not a high end gaming machine.
At the moment I've specced this below, is there anything glaringly obvious that I might have missed? Thanks in advance..
Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 15.6" Matte 95% Gamut LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Upgrade to 62.16WH 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (£39)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Surge Protection
6 Socket Compact 2M UFO Surge Protector (£9)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs (£12)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days