pulled the trigger

[Roger]

Well, I pulled the trigger on the lenovo w520. I did comparisons of benchmarks between my current laptop's cpu and the one in the w520, the 2720qm in the 520 blows my p8400 core duo out of the water. More than twice as fast. 7 hours real-world battery life on a quad core, too. Hopefully, there will not be any issues with the quadro graphics - I can return it but there would be a restocking fee, which would be a bit painful. Hate to think I wouldn't be able to use it. Suppose I could just run with the integrated graphics, worst case scenario. Might be possible to set up a profile in the OS specifically for AM. Hopefully won't have to do that, would be a shame to not be able to utilize the 192 shader processors of the quadro.

[NancyGormezano]

Yay Roger! - It will be very interesting to see what you get for this A:M benchmark test.

 

I don't know if there have been any laptops included in that thread yet.

 

(I want a new computer...I want the biggest baddest cheapest computer in the universe...I am jealous)

[Roger]

Yay Roger! - It will be very interesting to see what you get for this A:M benchmark test.

 

I don't know if there have been any laptops included in that thread yet.

 

(I want a new computer...I want the biggest baddest cheapest computer in the universe...I am jealous)

 

I wish fast, cheap, and high build quality were not mutually exclusive (i.e pick 2, and forget the other). I must admit, I wrestled a lot with this purchase, since whatever I got was most likely going to be it for some time to come. I was also looking at an HP envy, was considering them but the 14" models had low-res screens and no Sandybridge updates yet. The 17", while having a nicer screen was also lacking the newer cpu. Macbooks were also something I was looking at, but I just don't know it would have worked for me. Just something about OS X that I can't get used to. My current laptop is an Asus, I'm happy enough with it, but there is one thing in particular that makes it a pain to use: when typing fast, keyboard lag is a problem. Forums I've checked suggest this may be due to a conflict with the trackpad, if it is disabled the keyboard issue will go away. Would have thought in the 2+ years I've owned the system, they could have put out some type of driver update, I don't think I should have to disable the built-in trackpad as a workaround. Not an issue for AM, but anything where I'm typing (wordprocessing, internet chat, this forum post) is a chore. I was reluctant to get another Asus for this reason. That, and the comparable model Asus I was looking at is gigantic - 17" that is probably more like 18 or 19, and looks to weigh 10 pounds easy.

 

Hopefully, the Quadro graphics will not be a problem and I will not have to pay a crazy restocking fee

I'll post benchmarks when I get it, should be interesting.