sager 9880, laptop for university

Quadro is optimized for 3d graphics use, so 3dsmax and CAD etc. would benefit more from this. However, games will run faster on a 6800go ultra. I don't know if it's entirely accurate, but I've heard people say in terms of gaming performance the quadro is comparable to a regular 6800go which isn't exactly a piece of trash for gaming. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that comparison. So it pretty much comes down to what you intend to do more of. 3.6 GHz will do fine, 2Gb of RAM will do fine. Ironically, 3d modeling is one of the things that can benefit most from a RAID0 array, but yeah, you don't need it. If you're saving $200 dollars on your graphics card, however, you should just get 2 7200rpm drives. Heat isn't going to be an issue with the hard drives. There was a thread on here a while ago about the cheap quality of the bluetooth card, so you might want to search for that before you include that. And lastly, yes that's a good setup, but as you probably know, the AMD version is coming out probably before the end of the year if you can wait for it. God, talk about a stream-of-conciousness, run-on paragraph. I need to sleep more.

Oh, and there's no such thing as too much RAM. Blasphemy!

According to what I've seen people get on benchmarks, the Quaddro 1400 gets around 4,000 in 3DMark05, while the 6800 Go Ultra is capable of scores over 5000, sometims even 6000 (or so I've heard). Neither the Quaddro, the 6800 Go, or the 6800 Go Ultra are going to be trash for games, but the Ultra is by far the most powerful of the three. Between the other two, the Quaddro is slower than the 6800 Go.

I have to chime in with Blowfish64 and say that its a pretty nice configuration. Don't know when the 7800 card is going to be hitting mainstream notebooks, but I believe that nVidia cancelled any hopes of a 7800 Ultra, didn't they?

I would recommend the SATA. Your drive speed at this time might be faster the other way but SATA drives are getting faster. Hitachi has 7200 rpm drives out now(real expensive) but price will go down. I wish I would have went with the 80s as mine quikly filled. Now I'm running a 100g portable on the side. just my 2 cents.

The only thing about SATA at the moment is that between ATA vs SATA the main bottleneck isn't the interface, but the platters and heads. That only starts really becoming an issue past 7200rpm (hence no EIDE raptors). The bottom line for at least a long time to come is that the mechanical aspect of the hard drive is always going to be slower than the electronic interface.

For the price difference, there's just no way I can justify getting 7200 rpms in an SATA form rather than the normal ATA. Future upgradeability isn't really a big deal here, because when inevitably they come out with 10,000+ rpm 2.5" SATA drives, you'll just need to switch out the cables along with the hard drives. Not a big deal. But until that day, I'd save my money and just stay with the standard 7200 ATA drives.

For one analysis on this, check out

http://pcburn.com/article-Linux_SATA...rmance-pg1.php

I'm sure you could google for some more.


Edit: Oh, rereading your post I see you were telling him to go with the 5400 SATAs, not the 7200 SATAs. Still, for my two cents, I'd still say go with the two 60GB 7200s. That's 120GB @ 7200rpm vs 140-160GB @ 5400rpm. I think you'll notice the speed difference more than the storage difference, personally.

You sound exactly like me. I'm an architecture major, and I use my 9860 (3.6 processor, 2 GB ram) for CAD, Illustrator, 3dsmax, and Rhinoceros. The only game I have is Doom 3 - which I haven't played since the summer when I had the time. I've been very pleased with the performance of this machine and haven't had a problem with it. I'd definitely go with the 2 gigs of ram, in case there was any doubt about whether to get 1 gig or 2. Case in point: I've been able to open really large CAD files that would freeze a lot of my friends' notbooks that have only 1 gig. (Damn city plans )

All in all, it's a very good notebook. I never have a problem with excessive heat (probably because I don't spend my whole day gaming), and with the new fan firmware and BIOS the fans aren't nearly as loud as they used to be. If you don't mind carrying it around, it's a great machine. I lug mine around between home and studio everyday and it doesn't bother me.

I think I trailed off a little bit, but you should be fine with the configuration you have.



Edit: Oh yeah, I also bought from powernotebooks.com and I've been pleased with their service, too.

Actually the Targus XL is exactly what I use. It's probably a little bigger than it needs to be, but it has enough pockets to carry everything you could possibly need. It doesn't feel so heavy when it's on your back, as opposed to the shoulder bag that came free with the notebook when it arrived.

I have a targus backpack also. The benefit of the laptop squarely against your back as opposed to a sidecarrying pack are good. 1. The load is better on the body and I could carry mine all day it's so comfortable. 2. Greatly decreases the chance of bumping it into door jambs, tables etc. while your walking. Unless of course you fall on your back.

It also has a pocket located on the shoulder strap for your cell phone. Very handy and maybe a little nerdy.

I've got a 9860 and it will own for college. There are only three things I don't like about it, the battery life (1 hour, but our classes all have laptop power plugs on the desks when we need them), the weight (upgrade to targus), and the heat(left wrist gets hot when using the laptop). However the performance is definitely worth it, so is the screen. I used it in three 3DSMax classes and it pwned the school's desktops. I even brought Half Life 2 to class when it was first released

It's a great 3D laptop, but it's best at sitting on a desk, not being used while going somewhere (plane/car/submarine).

9880 & Spire Meta

I've got the 9880 and really like it. I strongly recommend purchasing the Spire Meta backpack to lug it around (I'm also at University); the pack carries extremely well, has very good notebook protection, and has plenty of room for my big-ass science/math text's.

http://www.spireusa.com/products/backpacks.htm

Yes, it's heavy, but so what....you'll just get a little stronger after a short break-in time...no harm in a little exercise now and then. I don't even recognize the weight anymore and always walk stairs instead of elevators.

Go for the 2GB's for sure...and that's enough. I went with SATA (single drive) and am still on fence if that was a good idea. Sure, SATA is new technology and all that but the price of ATA is cheaper and will continue to be so as SATA becomes popular...so I really think for the next 3 years or so ATA will be just fine and less expensive for similar performance. I listened to the Techs and have read the reports...nothing really stands out about the SATA's yet that is overwhelming evidence that it is "significantly" (ie: seat-of-the-pants) faster right now(comparing drive to drive, not a single ATA to 2 RAID'd SATA's). Also, the D900T BUS follows the SATA 1.5 (SATA I) spec and now SATA 3.0(SATA II) is out, so expect the HD manufacturers to focus on 3.0 for future releases. The Support Tech at PC Torque (a rather pompous fella with limited customer skills IMO, even though I stand by PCT as being a truly kick-ass company that I will continue to recommend to all) was pretty condescending about my questions of comparing practical aspects of SATA vs ATA in the 9880. At the end of the coversation I asked about SATA 3.0 drives for the 9880. He explicity stated that they DO NOT recommend/support 3.0 SATA on 9880. WTF? So we're left with the tiny selection of SATA-I's that will be archived as SATA-II's populate the shelves? The only regret I have about my purchase is that I didn't spend more time scrutinizing SATA vs ATA before my purchase....I would have prolly gone ATA since I'm [obviously] not convinced SATA's worth it on the 9880's current architecture.

Anyway, sorry for my digression, guess I'm still annoyed about it and took opportunity to vent about it here...

...and although I'm seeing evidence that clevo/sager is working on upgrading the bluetooth firmware, you might just be better off going with the wireless and finding a separate bluetooth component on your own. Do some searching in this forum...there's some frustrations going on with the Wireless/BT combo cards. BT is also going through it's teething stages so my suggestion is to keep it separate from others.

Otherwise, this 9880 ROCKS!!! I love this machine!! You will be very happy, and as I mentioned before, purchase it from PC Torque; an excellent reseller!

you prolly don't care but i went to school where a laptop was nessessary. i was in game design and i had an HP nx7000. something like that. either way, you don't want something that take a bit to set up and has a shitty battery life. and you want something small where you can pick it up and go with no problems. it's heavy trust me. but if you are used to lugging ALOT of weight on your back and don't mind small desks where your monster laptop won't fit then by al means. it'll be rockin'

i would honestly suggest something small. 15in widescreen and no more. but i'm just talking from experiance