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Laptop Choice

post #1 of 18
11/5/02 at 12:12am
Thread Starter 
Hey all,
I'm really glad I found this site, it has definately made me choose Sager as my next purchase. The only problem is what model to get. I am looking at the Sager 8886 and the 5660. I am a big gamer that is going off to college next year so I want to get the fastest thing possible and I would rather spend $500 less for a Sager (w/ more features) than the Alienware A51m.

Anyway, I am trying to decide between the two models (btw, I do know that the 5660 is the same as the A51m) and only the screen is what is holding me back. I usually do not use a resolution that the 5660 is capable of, but I do do a lot of programming/gaming and I am wondering how much difference the two screens are, the 5660 being the UXGA and the 8886 being the SXGA.

Size and weight dont really matter to me, nore battery life, although the more is better. I do love the features of the 8886, video in, firewire, and it has a serial port, but I am wondering how much the difference between the two screens are.
Thanks so much everyone.

P.S. Has anyone here played UT2k3 or DooM ]|[ alpha (sorry if I am not allowed to mention it on here) on their Sager? How has the preformance been?

Anyway, thanks a lot!
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post #2 of 18
11/5/02 at 12:18am
Thread Starter 
Sorry I forgot one thing,

Will their be an updated Radeon in the Sagers anytime before December? I heard on TechTV a LONG time ago that the 9700 128mb chip was coming to the Area51m by Christmas. I am planning to buy this laptop before the 20th of December.
Thanks a lot!
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post #3 of 18
11/5/02 at 12:39am
Quote:
Originally posted by sunfighter
Sorry I forgot one thing,

Will their be an updated Radeon in the Sagers anytime before December? I heard on TechTV a LONG time ago that the 9700 128mb chip was coming to the Area51m by Christmas. I am planning to buy this laptop before the 20th of December.
Thanks a lot!
I highly doubt that. I wouldn't expect anything new from ATI in the mobile front until at least the 2nd quarter of next year...maybe sooner but I doubt it. That and right now I don't see it possible for them to get that technology in mobile form right now. However, it has been mentioned on a few occasions that ATI is excited in bringing the R300 (9700) in mobile form. Whether or not they can achieve this remains to be seen.
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post #4 of 18
11/5/02 at 1:23am

Re: Laptop Choice

Quote:
Originally posted by sunfighter
I do love the features of the 8886, video in, firewire, and it has a serial port, but I am wondering how much the difference between the two screens are.
The 5660 also has firewire and a serial port. I chose the 5660 over the 8886 because I was shopping for a UXGA screen. Nothing else was going to do. But that's me. Its a personal thing, really. I want this resolution for 2D applications, not games, and it makes a big difference for me.

I suggest you try to go to best buy or a computer store and compare resolutions of laptops to help you decide. Make sure you are comparing 1600X1200 (UXGA) and 1400X1050 (SXGA). There's no substitute for physically seeing the difference.

Just my two cents...

badluckboy
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post #5 of 18
11/5/02 at 1:44am
The 5660 does not have a serial port:

http://www.pctorque.com/comparenotebooks.html
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post #6 of 18
11/5/02 at 2:00am
Quote:
Originally posted by vanfanel
The 5660 does not have a serial port:
Daww! I always mixed up the serial and parallel, sorry.

badluckboy
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post #7 of 18
11/5/02 at 2:05am
Thread Starter 
I was looking at powernotebooks.com and it said the 5660 didn't have a serial port, anywho, thanks for the replys, keep em coming
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post #8 of 18
11/5/02 at 2:09am
I'm just curious, what do you use your serial port for? We bought two Toshiba 5105-S607 Satellites and they are realy good laptops except they have no legacy ports (serial, parallel).

We thought we wouldn't need them, but we were wrong about not needing the parallel ports (mainly for printers). But I don't know of many peripherals that use serial ports and not USB.

Sorry for the confusion, by the way.

badluckboy
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post #9 of 18
11/5/02 at 5:30am
Quote:
Originally posted by vanfanel
I highly doubt that. I wouldn't expect anything new from ATI in the mobile front until at least the 2nd quarter of next year...maybe sooner but I doubt it. That and right now I don't see it possible for them to get that technology in mobile form right now. However, it has been mentioned on a few occasions that ATI is excited in bringing the R300 (9700) in mobile form. Whether or not they can achieve this remains to be seen.
Hmm, Nvidia intend to launch nv30 simultaneously wih nv31 - its mobile variant in q1 2003 (at least I have seen it on nv roadmap). So it probably would be out before mobile 9700. nv31 should also support directX 9 shaders (radeon 9000 only support 8.1) it should be in range radeon 9700...

That is the problem for me. I'm sitting on the fence and can not deside, should I go for 5660 or 8886 or wait for NV31...
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post #10 of 18
11/5/02 at 8:21am
That's exactly my predicament serg3d. I was waiting back when the 9000 was upcoming and I almost broke down and bought a 56xx with a 7500. Now I'm stuck at the crossroads again, should I wait for the newer chips or just buy one now. The newer video chips are ALWAYS just around the corner, like only a couple months or so. It's never more than 6 months away, that would make it way too easy to buy one now. :-) I'm terrible at making decisions in the first place, especially on something this expensive since I can't upgrade the video chip (unless I bought a dell 8200, but you know the newer chips probably won't be compatible anyway). *sigh* Patience is a bitch (life is a virtue).

-Justin
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post #11 of 18
11/5/02 at 9:41am
Thread Starter 
About the parrallel and serial ports, I have to flash the bios on my Xbox with the parrallel port and i have a palm that uses the serial port to doc, although i could just get a usb cable for it, thats extra money.
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post #12 of 18
11/5/02 at 11:19am
Thread Starter 
An RJ45 jack is for networking, and I don't believe you could use a converter for a serial port, although I may be wrong. I know you can get converters for USB and Parrallel, probably a lot of other things as well.
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post #13 of 18
11/5/02 at 12:36pm
Quote:
Originally posted by serg3d
Hmm, Nvidia intend to launch nv30 simultaneously wih nv31 - its mobile variant in q1 2003 (at least I have seen it on nv roadmap). So it probably would be out before mobile 9700. nv31 should also support directX 9 shaders (radeon 9000 only support 8.1) it should be in range radeon 9700...

That is the problem for me. I'm sitting on the fence and can not deside, should I go for 5660 or 8886 or wait for NV31...
You realize of course that with your attitude you'll be waiting forever
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post #14 of 18
11/6/02 at 12:06am
Yes, best thing to do in this situation is get one and enjoy it. You can sell your old one and get a new one later when it gets slow.
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post #15 of 18
11/6/02 at 4:46am
I'm currently struggling with the decision of choosing which Sager to get. It seems that most people get the 56XX. Why is that? I really like the specs of the 88XX, but I'm still not sure of which to get.

Those of you who got the 56XX, why did you choose that over the 88XX?

- UkeNuke
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post #16 of 18
11/6/02 at 10:05am
Quote:
Originally posted by UkeNuke
I'm currently struggling with the decision of choosing which Sager to get. It seems that most people get the 56XX. Why is that? I really like the specs of the 88XX, but I'm still not sure of which to get.

Those of you who got the 56XX, why did you choose that over the 88XX?

- UkeNuke
I wanted the UXGA option. That and the 8886 is more $ for stuff I don't really need at all. Oh, and when I ordered the 8886 wasn't out, there was only the 8882 which had the 7500 video card instead of the new 9000 the 5660 and 8886 has.
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post #17 of 18
11/6/02 at 10:40am
There's more 5660 models out there because they were released earlier with the Radeon 9000. Since Sager announced the 8886 with the Radeon 9000 it's actually been outselling the 5660 by about 10-15%. People choose the 5660 because it's the same power and performance for cheaper and has the UXGA option. People choose the 8886 because it's a lot like the 5660 except has more features and a larger LCD. So, they look as though they will probably be equal in sales and a tough choice for many. Hopefully we'll be able to help out with it when we do the review on the 8886.
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post #18 of 18
11/6/02 at 11:41am
I'm wrestling between the two choices myself too. The price differential - while not that insiginificant - isn't as major an issue for me as is the weight and overall size of the 8886. I'm using a Rakgear Deluxe backpack, and am not sure if the 8886 is going to fit into the laptop compartment of the backpack. If it's not, then it's a no go for me...


Rob
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