I Finally Found a Laptop! Just Need Some Technical Advice. T
by RussJames420 - 4/30/12 10:47 PM
So after about a month or so of searching, I believe I found myself a winner. It's the HP dv7tqe. I spotted a coupon that gets me $400 off if I spend over $1399 in Customization's. I'll be using the laptop mainly for video editing and gaming, so i'm looking to make it a pretty powerful machine. I prefer the laptop to end up costing around $1200 but if the upgrades are justified I may throw up to $1500 at it. Also just to let you know I'm not all that Computer savvy.
1. - I'll start with the processor. It comes with the new 3rd Gen. Intel Core i7 3610QM (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with the option to upgrade to the Intel Core i7-3720QM (2.6 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) for $170.00. Is this worth the extra $170 or will the 3610QM suffice?...
2. - The Graphic card that comes with it is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M Graphics with 1GB GDDR3 memory. Which if I'm not mistaken is a pretty nice GPU, but for just $75.00 you can upgrade to the NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory. Worth the 75 bucks?...
3. - On to the Hard Drive which is my main concern. I'm trying to decide between two different options. The first is a 750GB 7200 rpm HD with a 32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache. The second option is to just purchase the 750GB 7200 rpm Hybrid Hard Drive. Both options come out to the exact same price. It would be much appreciated if you could explain to me how the 750GB HD would work with the mSSD... I am completely clueless on how the two interact with each other and what the SSD is actually good for, feel free to explain it to me like I'm a 3rd grader.
4. - How about Norton Internet Security? i can get 15 months for $30, 2 years for $40, or 3 years for $50...
5. - Also, can all this cause some overheating? And if so, can I do something about it without having to use one of those Chill Mats.
So far I've come up with these specs unless you have any other suggestions.
The total comes to $1546.80
* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3720QM Processor (2.6 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
* NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory [HDMI, VGA]
* FREE UPGRADE to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* 750GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
* 32GB mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
* Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
* Norton Internet Security(TM) 2012 - 3 Year Subscription (activation required)
* 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* 17.3-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
* FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
* 720p HD video streaming webcam supports Skype + FingerPrint Reader
802.11b/g/n WLAN
* Backlit Keyboard
* Included 2 Year Warranty
* HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
Sorry for the length of the post. I'm pretty strapped for cash at the moment and I'm trying to ensure that I make the right decisions. The coupon expires on 05/05/12 so I need to make my decision sometime in the next couple of days. Any response will be much appreciated and I look foward to hearing from you. Thanks.

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