Spiderjericho
Member
I've seen the Alienware a few times at Best Buy. It's a decent little machine for the price.
I'm disappointed that Acer never released the Acer Aspire 3820TG in the US. It's a real beast with the I3-I7 processor and 5650 GPU. If anyone is out of the US, it can be purchased in Europe, Asia and Canada for a real decent price.
I agree with the 14" choices. It's either the Lenovo Y460, Acer Aspire 4820TG or Envy 14.
The Aspire 4820TG can be had for $799 on Amazon in the U.S.:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZUXX10/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Great price, but if you read the reviews, there have been complaints of a crappy keyboard, poor build quality, flex, heat, poor viewing angles and no bluetooth but no one can't deny the performance that comes in this cheap package. It's packing more power than the Alienware for, several dollars less. Also, the battery life is supposed to be pretty decent. Obviously running on the 5650 is not going to get you the 8-11 hours of life.
Then we have the HP Envy 14 Beats edition. This one is $1,150 at HP Direct (you can get a decent config on Amazon through Microsoft or other third parties, be careful of taxes and shipping):
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...ategory=notebooks&series_name=ENVY14be_series
I have to say this looks to be my favorite, since it features Beats technology, an aluminum frame, a 14.5" screen. The cons are it's more expensive, heavier, the 5650 is underclocked when compared to the Lenovo and Acer, the touchpad has gotten complaints (unless you install customized drivers) and HP is no longer offering the Radiance screens (the high-def, LED screens that came with the first wave of Envy 14s).
And lastly, we have the Lenovo Y460 for $999 (plus tax and shipping, depending on where you're at):
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000000F3:00002BE9:&cid=us|cse|df|amazon|063346U&
This is the in between the Acer and HP. It has the 5650, I5 processor, etc. The only cons are, without a deal, it costs more than $1,000, the battery life is worse than the Acer, no aluminum frame, alright LCD, Beats and okay wireless radio.
I wanted a replacement for my several-year old HP 13" and ended up getting the Lenovo for below $1,000 (It cost $850 but the Cali taxes got me).
I wanted a cheaper replacement, decent build quality and good performance. But there's nothing wrong in going for the tax-less, cheap shipping and cheaper Acer. A lot of positive reviews on notebookreview.
But if you want greater power (a 5650 has okay performance when married with the 1366 resolution but 1920...no), get one of the Clevo/alienware/MSIs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152207
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152205
A coworker of mine just got one of the 15" Clevos with I7 and mobility 5870 and is happy with the performance for FFXIV.
I'm disappointed that Acer never released the Acer Aspire 3820TG in the US. It's a real beast with the I3-I7 processor and 5650 GPU. If anyone is out of the US, it can be purchased in Europe, Asia and Canada for a real decent price.
I agree with the 14" choices. It's either the Lenovo Y460, Acer Aspire 4820TG or Envy 14.
The Aspire 4820TG can be had for $799 on Amazon in the U.S.:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ZUXX10/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Great price, but if you read the reviews, there have been complaints of a crappy keyboard, poor build quality, flex, heat, poor viewing angles and no bluetooth but no one can't deny the performance that comes in this cheap package. It's packing more power than the Alienware for, several dollars less. Also, the battery life is supposed to be pretty decent. Obviously running on the 5650 is not going to get you the 8-11 hours of life.
Then we have the HP Envy 14 Beats edition. This one is $1,150 at HP Direct (you can get a decent config on Amazon through Microsoft or other third parties, be careful of taxes and shipping):
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...ategory=notebooks&series_name=ENVY14be_series
I have to say this looks to be my favorite, since it features Beats technology, an aluminum frame, a 14.5" screen. The cons are it's more expensive, heavier, the 5650 is underclocked when compared to the Lenovo and Acer, the touchpad has gotten complaints (unless you install customized drivers) and HP is no longer offering the Radiance screens (the high-def, LED screens that came with the first wave of Envy 14s).
And lastly, we have the Lenovo Y460 for $999 (plus tax and shipping, depending on where you're at):
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000000F3:00002BE9:&cid=us|cse|df|amazon|063346U&
This is the in between the Acer and HP. It has the 5650, I5 processor, etc. The only cons are, without a deal, it costs more than $1,000, the battery life is worse than the Acer, no aluminum frame, alright LCD, Beats and okay wireless radio.
I wanted a replacement for my several-year old HP 13" and ended up getting the Lenovo for below $1,000 (It cost $850 but the Cali taxes got me).
I wanted a cheaper replacement, decent build quality and good performance. But there's nothing wrong in going for the tax-less, cheap shipping and cheaper Acer. A lot of positive reviews on notebookreview.
But if you want greater power (a 5650 has okay performance when married with the 1366 resolution but 1920...no), get one of the Clevo/alienware/MSIs:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152207
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152205
A coworker of mine just got one of the 15" Clevos with I7 and mobility 5870 and is happy with the performance for FFXIV.