Computers & Electronics

All I want is a Blu-Ray & Full HD 15" Laptop - please

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  • Sep 29th, 2010 4:46 pm
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Aug 10, 2010
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Calgary

All I want is a Blu-Ray & Full HD 15" Laptop - please

So i've ordered 2 laptops (nearly 3) over the last 2 months only to be sitting here today with no laptop and not sure what to try next.

Since starting the shopping process I've decided I'd like Blu-Ray and a Full-HD screen which is pretty much only doable on configurable laptops. The few blu-ray laptops available from big box stores, like Sony Viao EB, don't ship with full-HD. Specs have been in the range of Core I5 -450 to 540, 320 to 500GB HDD, 4GB Ram.

My first order was with Dell for a Studio 15 which get cancelled shortly after for "hardware conflict" reasons even though I could build it and submit an order. Was $1050.

Dell then switched their site shortly after and the Studio 15 now required a graphics card to run a Blu-Ray. I was about to re-order the laptop above with a GPU for $1200 (included upgrade to I7-720) when Dell switched their site again and now only offer Studio 15 with Intel graphics which means no Blu-Ray (though you can still pick it, wierd/useless!)

Then came the 40% Lenovo sale and 2 weeks ago I ordered a T510 with blu-ray for $1200ish. Today called to find progress on order to find out it had been cancelled for unspecified hardware issues and they couldn't offer an alternative.

So i'm back to the drawing board looking for a laptop with blu-ray and Full-HD screen for about $1200.

The 2 options I can find are more expensive, either Studio XPS 16 for about $1400 or Sager 5125 which would need shipped from the US so probably ends up costing close to $1400 after shipping, FX and brokers etc. Does anyone have any suggestions or am i out of luck and either have to find more cash or just compromise and drop some of my requirements?
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www.GenTechPc.com and get the Asus G53jh ... one of 'em had bluray, and all have 1920x1080i screens.
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_Allan_ wrote: www.GenTechPc.com and get the Asus G53jh ... one of 'em had bluray, and all have 1920x1080i screens.

Thanks for that link, I'd not been to that site before and didn't realise you could customise Asus laptops. The cheapest I can get FHD and Blu on that site though is about $1500 which is more than I was hoping to spend.
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Can try GenTech for other models that have FHD at 15.6 ... like N61JQ and add 6x bluray for $200 (that'll be $1295+shipping)
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I only saw the G51JX-X5 & G53JW-A1 with FHD. I don't see anyway to upgrade the screens on the others and all are 1366*768.

The G51 is $1395 before adding Blu-Ray and upgrading the wireless card. I'm going to e-mail them to see what price they would source the Sager 5125 for. I think it may be too expensive still as it's about $1150US with the configuration I'd like on the US sites, but maybe they have some good way to get it into Canada with minimal added costs.
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Aug 10, 2010
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Another day of playing around and I can't get FHD and Blu-ray for under $1400.

So compromise options:
Blu-Ray no FHD
- Sony Viao for $899 - I5 430, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD
There is also an Asus A52F-X1 $799.97 - I5 450M, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD but not much to read about that

FHD no Blu-Ray
- Dell Studio 15 $1019 - I5 450M, 6GB RAM, 500GB HDD
- Lenovo T510 $1022 - I5 540M, 4GB RAM, 320GB HDD

The Sager 5125 from Reflex still ends up being too expensive as does any Asus I can see with Full HD.

What would people buy - leaning towards the Lenovo as the specs are the best and if I really want Blu-Ray I can attempt it manually later. Whereas, upgrading the screen isn't really an option
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_Allan_ wrote: XoticPC is another place to try.

Their "name" brand w/ Blu-Ray and FHD for $1017

*EDIT* you have to 'customize' it a b it.

Yup - been playing on Xotic with the Sagers so had seen this one, once you get up to 4GB Ram, add wireless card & windows OS price is $1098, then conservative $150 or so for delivery and brokers fees plus conversion to CAD and its sneaking over my budget for a latop I've not heard much about.
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Hobbess wrote: Yup - been playing on Xotic with the Sagers so had seen this one, once you get up to 4GB Ram, add wireless card & windows OS price is $1098, then conservative $150 or so for delivery and brokers fees plus conversion to CAD and its sneaking over my budget for a latop I've not heard much about.
I am ALMOST tempted to offer you a one month old Asus G73Jh-1A ...

It's very very much like the RBBX05, but it only has 4GB RAM, and has a Seagate Momentus XT 500gb HDD w/ 4GB SSD.
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_Allan_ wrote: I am ALMOST tempted to offer you a one month old Asus G73Jh-1A ...

It's very very much like the RBBX05, but it only has 4GB RAM, and has a Seagate Momentus XT 500gb HDD w/ 4GB SSD.

Thanks - sure that would be a nice laptop, but I'm keen to stick to 15" since I'll still be travelling occasionally with it and it's going to float around the upstairs of our house so want to remain portable"ish" 17" is that bit bigger that just tips the scale to more stay in one place, if I was going that size BB has a Studio 17 on for $1099 with FHD and BD right now that someone else posted about which sounded interesting.

Lifelayer - I know about the XPS 16 (see OP) but I'm already pushing the budget to get to $1200 as I'd originally started at $1000. Once I started shopping though and thought I could do FHD and BD for $1200 I upped it. Now I'm at the point of not being able to do it for $1200 so hoping to stay around $1000 with my compromises.
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Dec 20, 2006
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Ah, oops. I think you are better off with getting a laptop with FHD and then perhaps swap the drive out later on. I think there is someone in BST selling an internal BD drive for laptops for like $80... lol
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Dec 21, 2005
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Hobbess wrote: So i'm back to the drawing board looking for a laptop with blu-ray and Full-HD screen ...
half of the HD experience is HD audio; not too sure whether the above mentioned notebooks support Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.
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emacs wrote: half of the HD experience is HD audio; not too sure whether the above mentioned notebooks support Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

Hadn't thought too much of the audio as I'd thought when outputing the HD signal that the HD audio would output too without any extra hardware, more of a software thing. When watching HD content on the laptop the speakers would be ok and chances are I'd be using headphones which would be passable but I'm not ready to spend money on the more expensive headphones so any upgrade in audio hardware wouldn't be worth it.

The T510 that I think I'll get now doesn't have any audio upgrade options that I can see.
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What's the point of 1080p on a 15" screen? If you're using that for a regular screen (e.g. text), I hope your eyesight is good. That said, I'm waiting to order my Sony Z which has 1080p on a 13" screen... :p

I test and compare HDTVs frequently as part of CanadaHiFi.
The vast majority of people can't distinguish between 720p and 1080p on anything less than 42" at 3ft away.

Also, Blu-ray drives are expensive -- especially miniaturized for a laptop.
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JPTN wrote: What's the point of 1080p on a 15" screen? If you're using that for a regular screen (e.g. text), I hope your eyesight is good. That said, I'm waiting to order my Sony Z which has 1080p on a 13" screen... :p

I test and compare HDTVs frequently as part of CanadaHiFi.
The vast majority of people can't distinguish between 720p and 1080p on anything less than 42" at 3ft away.

Also, Blu-ray drives are expensive -- especially miniaturized for a laptop.

So here's my thought process...

We need a laptop to replace our aging desktop and for some travel... I have a budget of about $1000 what the best I can get... oooh I can maybe get a Blu-Ray player since I like movies... if I'm getting blu-ray wouldn't a nice 1080p screen be a worthwhile upgrade plus it looks like I can get it for close to my budget ... I can do all that for $1200, get a CPU that's going to work well for me and everything else, yippee!

Once I added stuff and got excited about doing it in my budget (twice) it's hard to listen to rational thought and scale back my expectations! Also it's about getting best bang for my buck, if I get the T510 for $1050 which is just on my original budget with the FHD screen why not.

I could spend the money on the screen on something else, but don't need a bigger HDD or extra RAM etc, this seems the best fit for my cash.
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JPTN wrote: What's the point of 1080p on a 15" screen? If you're using that for a regular screen (e.g. text), I hope your eyesight is good. That said, I'm waiting to order my Sony Z which has 1080p on a 13" screen... :p

I test and compare HDTVs frequently as part of CanadaHiFi.
The vast majority of people can't distinguish between 720p and 1080p on anything less than 42" at 3ft away.

Also, Blu-ray drives are expensive -- especially miniaturized for a laptop.

+1!!!

It take 2 days to finally have someone comes to some sense.

Small screen is small screen, it does not matter if it is 1920x1080 or 1366x768. It still sucks major watching anything on it.

The OP's rationale only makes remote sense if Blu-ray players were still $500+.

I know 2 people who has fool-HD laptops with Blu-ray drives. Neither one really uses it for BD disc LOL. The moron who has 1920x1080 Vaio squints like a mofo using the laptop because of the small text :)
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ppl4golf wrote: +1!!!

It take 2 days to finally have someone comes to some sense.

Small screen is small screen, it does not matter if it is 1920x1080 or 1366x768. It still sucks major watching anything on it.

The OP's rationale only makes remote sense if Blu-ray players were still $500+.

I know 2 people who has fool-HD laptops with Blu-ray drives. Neither one really uses it for BD disc LOL. The moron who has 1920x1080 Vaio squints like a mofo using the laptop because of the small text :)

I say BOO to you for telling me I should be smart with my money and only buy what I need and not what I WANT!! ;)

Quick side-note anyone know where I could actually see a FHD... I'm just going on peoples various recommendations and not been able to find one in the wild on a 15" to see what it would be like. (Realise this backs up the above persons post a bit!)
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I think Canada Computers has some FHD laptops on display. check BB and FS
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JPTN wrote: What's the point of 1080p on a 15" screen? If you're using that for a regular screen (e.g. text), I hope your eyesight is good. That said, I'm waiting to order my Sony Z which has 1080p on a 13" screen... :p

I test and compare HDTVs frequently as part of CanadaHiFi.
The vast majority of people can't distinguish between 720p and 1080p on anything less than 42" at 3ft away.

Also, Blu-ray drives are expensive -- especially miniaturized for a laptop.

this is a great point. IMO it is a complete waste of money to get a 1080p laptop. Who wants to watch crystal clear HD on a small screen? it makes no sense logically and is a waste. I would definetly purchase the SOny for $899. Sony makes awesome laptops IMO

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