Laptop for MCSA/E, CCNA and gaming

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Kitt3h

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Hi guys

I am starting at a local CTU college with my MCSA this year. As it's BYOD I contacted them and asked for minimum specs. The MCSE instructor also has a small IT business and gave me a quote with recommended specs. I want to do some gaming too, but the specs he proposed for the price doesn't seem good to me. His quote is R16 143 for:

No idea which model number Mecer Xpression 17.3" NB with Win8.1 Pro

Core i7-4712MQ

16GB DDR3 1600 RAM

SEAGATE 2.5'' 1TB w/8GB SSHD 64MB CACHE 9.5MM SATA3

It must have 16GB RAM and a Core i7. Doesn't need to be the 4712MQ specifically, any proper one will do. I think you guys understand what I mean. I also like the idea of a SSHD (hybrid drive) a lot, but if a HDD and SSD combo will be cheaper, or if you guys think it's not worth it then only HDD will do the trick. Remember I'm going to be running a metric **** ton of VM's at the same time, most of them Server 2012 and two Win7 VM's. And since I'm going to pay a lot I want to at least be able to game too. Also 17.3" screen isn't essential, 15.6 will do the trick. As long as the resolution is good. Although 17.3" would be really nice... :p

Question. Does anyone have a good suggestion of where to get quotes or buy this? I gave up on Incredible Corruption after they transferred me 8 times in 2 minutes and still had no idea what I wanted. Matrix Warehouse promised to send me a quote, uhm'ed and ah'ed a lot when I phoned them today. I'm out of ideas. CTU is already ******* expensive and while I realise this laptop isn't going to be cheap, I don't want to pay more than I have to.

Looking forward to replies!
 
Last edited:
ponder said:
The Lenovo's GTX860M is much better than the R7 M265 on the Dell. You did say you wan't to game on it I think.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

Wootware is a reputable & trusted dealer, sure many here can confirm.
Click to expand...

Yeah I just saw the Lenovo is the better laptop... But bear in mind I need 16GB RAM. The Lenovo has two slots, and both has a 4GB module. I'll basically have to throw out both and buy two 8GB sticks, which will push it over budget.

Thanks for the FYI on Wootware. Never heard of them before, didn't know it they are trustworthy. :)
 
Last edited:
Kitt3h said:
Yeah I just saw the Lenovo is the better laptop... But bear in mind I need 16GB RAM. The Lenovo has two slots, and both has a 4GB module. I'll basically have to throw out both and buy two 8GB sticks, which will push it over budget.
Click to expand...

Call them and ask if they can configure it with 16GB for you, it's worth asking.
 
Take care with the Lenovo. It's going for a fantastic price and the specs are great but I read somewhere that it has cooling issues. I advise you do your research on that particular model - Amazon reviews may be a good place to start.

I recently got an MSI GT60 Dominator from the US. A big plus is the 4x RAM slots and Dual-HDD bays which is nice for a SDD + Physical disk. I think the models available locally have the same but it's worth asking Wootware/Evetech for more details.
 
Napalm2880 said:
Take care with the Lenovo. It's going for a fantastic price and the specs are great but I read somewhere that it has cooling issues. I advise you do your research on that particular model - Amazon reviews may be a good place to start.

I recently got an MSI GT60 Dominator from the US. A big plus is the 4x RAM slots and Dual-HDD bays which is nice for a SDD + Physical disk. I think the models available locally have the same but it's worth asking Wootware/Evetech for more details.
Click to expand...

Will be used with a cooling pad 100% of the time anyway, but thanks for the heads up. I will definitely do more research on that. Also thanks for the suggestion, I'll check it out. :)
 
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