wanderingjoe

Thanks Irask, that was super helpful, man. Man, it’s a tough choice, and good to know I’m not alone. Thanks for all the detailed info. I think you’re the straw that broke the camel’s back, Alienware 17R4 is officially out of my consideration. Too many people have had too many problems w/it, it’s underspec’d and overpriced. Done. And I’m in the US. What are your thoughts on the UHD? The main feature I’m interested in for the UHD it is the 100% Adobe RGB and the IPS. But you’re saying the TN is pretty good, wish I could see it on a retail floor to compare...

Thanks a lot for your help Imglidinhere. I agree about the Sager, it’s a beast, there’s nothing out there like it. The 67/7700K is an awesome feature, and the I/O leaves nothing to be wanted. I saw HTWINGNUT‘s Youtube video of disassembly, it’s beautiful. I guess the only real trade off for me was the weight and the power, that 330W brick, but that understandably comes with the territory. Great hardware. I wish there was a lite version with 1xThunderbolt, 1xDP, 1xRJ 45, lighter vapor chamber heatsink for 1 gpu, better battery life. I could even do with only 2 RAM slots and 1 M.2 2280. The NP9172 is nice, but only HDMI 1.4, and the reviews about the loud fans is a huge dealbreaker, and adding a UHD with GTX 1070 basically puts it only ~$200 shy of a NP9873 with a GTX 1080. I really don’t get Alienware. Not even including the QC problems, basically their main selling point was its thinness. They engineered a “performance” machine around a feature probably only a few people regard as important; and anyway, adding the extra depth for the cooling makes it too big for most bags too. And the 2 RAM slots are awkward, when they offer 16GB and you want to add, you max out at 32 and have that 16(8x2)left over; whereas the other laptops you add 32 and get 48. Still, I have to admit, it does look pretty, but too bad for the rest of it. Pendragon thanks for your help. Hey thanks for that! I’m giving it a look right now, but I can’t find it on XoticPC or Bhphotovideo or Newegg or Amazon yet. Thanks for the info, I had no idea. LOL. I do feel a little crazy, I’ve got all these old CDs and DVDs. And it sucks for Redbox. I’m only looking at 17 inch screens, I didn’t think UHD on 15 would be worth it.

Whoa, big thanks to everyone for all the information. I got way more help than I even expected, much appreciated. Electronics Wizardy, thanks for your help. It’s b/c some devices only have HDMI, and I don't want to keep buying every which adapter, and I already have all the cables. I hate that there’s these multiple standards, it’s so redundant. Wish they’d just ditch HDMI and keep Thunderbolt and DP. I only say that b/c most consumer cameras have SD cards, and they’re cheaper and smaller. Cfast cards require an external reader anyway, but the SD card reader is being taken away. Why not keep the SD reader there, and just attach a cfast card reader then? Won’t an internal Cfast card reader add more bulk than an SD reader? That was so mysterious to me, thanks for enlightening me. I just didn’t know what time frame DP1.4 and its support would happen, since desktops are just starting to roll out with them. I thought it might be weeks or months, but after reading yours and Pendragon’s post I guess it’s much longer. As for 8K resolution, I know its relevance has been debated to death. But Sharp had that prototype, and now Dell too, and Windows 10 is going to support it. And if Japan is pushing for 8K by 2020, I’ll probably still be using this laptop by then, if 8K is rolling out affordably for consumers. The lack of a DP 1.4 isn’t at all a dealbreaker for me, I was just ignorant of its release timing. And it’s nice to future proof, if the mxm can even take 8k... Hey NA_NotAvailable thanks for your reply. No, I meant that the laptops I listed had similar offerings for CPU/GPU, and the I/O really set them apart for me, ie, the Sager had the best I/O. The OLED 13 is great, but I want screen space, and probably UHD. LOL, I’m really sad about the optical drives dying out. What am I supposed to do with my CD library? Burning everything onto a HDD is just redundant, that’s exactly what CDs are, storage! So sad... and external drives just adds more clutter now. Cables and dongles everywhere... SD reader, optical, nas, mouse/keyboard, on and on...

Hey guys, I was looking to buy a new laptop recently, but none of them fit all my needs and wants. I was looking for a UHD screen, HDMI 2.0, Thunderbolt 3, Displayport(more on this*), M.2, SD card reader, and optical drive... but there doesn't exist such a laptop. I was going to spend up to $3K, but it pains me to spend that much money on a laptop that doesn't give me everything I want. I've looked at these so far: The GT73VR, like the rest of the MSI stuff, only has HDMI 1.4 and DP 1.2, no optical drive, and I hate the flamboyant red accents. The Alienware 17 R4 at least has HDMI 2.0, but only DP 1.2, and no optical drive, no SD card reader!!!, only 2 RAM slots, and only 2xUSB 3 ports, and seems to have QC and thermal problems and light bleed that may or may not be resolved yet. The Clevo/Sager NP9873 has awesome I/O, HDMI 2.0, 2xDP 1.3, 2xThunderbolt 3, 4xUSB 3.0, but no optical, and the laptop body alone weighs more than 12 pounds, include the brick and it's over 14 pounds. I came so close to buying the Sager, but since it'll actually be on my lap when I'm in bed, the 12 pounds gave me cold feet; and a lesser problem is that battery life is awful, but I fully expected that for what it is. OK, so it looks like the manufacturers are getting rid of optical drives, I really really hate that, but I can still deal with it. But getting rid of SD card readers is so stupid. That automatically rules the Alienware out, with only 2xUSB 3.0 ports, one of them will have to be a SD reader, and the other has to be shared between optical drives and wireless mouse/keyboard, and whatever else; otherwise I have to buy and carry around an addition USB C/3 adapter, or buy a new bluetooth mouse/keyboard; b/c of all this inconvenience, IMO the Alienware is overpriced. So the MSI seemed like a nicer(cheaper) all-around, except that HDMI 1.4 is a non-starter for me. Why does MSI put only HDMI 1.4 even on their flagship GT83? That's like getting a Ferrari with a plastic trim and polyester upholstery. Is MSI on the verge of any new releases with updated I/O? So now I'm thinking of just waiting until something comes out with DP 1.4, and wishfully an optical drive(however unlikely). Are there any laptops out right now with DP 1.4? Or do you know of any new models coming out? I'd hate to shell out $3K and find a new model a month later with DP1.4. I/O is so important to me. As for the guts, the CPU and GPU, their offerings are all sufficient for me, so no complaints there; just the I/O sets them apart. Am I crazy b/c I want an optical drive, am I alone in this regard? Thank you for sharing your thoughts on any of this.