Radeon 8970m in LG1710?

[AlexDarby]

Yeah, the power is definitely a no brainer, but on the other hand having played games like Arkham City and Borderlands 2 with hardware PhysX enabled they look quite barren without it. It's weighing up whether prettier graphics are more important than vibrant interactive worlds. I keep deciding on one then changing my mind the next day! If only the 780m was in my price range haha.

Mine will be a replacement for my older 17" Clevo x7200 based laptop. Even the 17" will be half as heavy that thing! It's a beast and not at all pleasant to use on my lap. The sheer size of it makes my want to use a smaller laptop and the 15" seems about right. Then again when I'm using it on my desk the screen may well be too small next to the 21" monitor.

Space is always a problem for me haha. My current one only has a 64gb SSD for the OS and a 500gb HDD for the rest. The SSD keeps getting full up by programs refusing to give the option to move their data out the user folder, particularly whenever iTunes updates it finds a new way of filling it up when it backs up my 32gb iPad without even checking if there's enough space, I've currently got at least 3 symlinks set up to combat just iTunes. My storage drive keeps hitting the limits from music, videos, development software and games, so I'm constantly having shift things around, delete games and so on. In the new machine I'm going for a 256gb SSD and as big a HDD as I can get, or if I go of the 17" 2 of the biggest haha.

[Skidmark]

With that much SSD hardware, you might be better off starting small, getting the 780M and then upgrading the SSDs later.

I found that setting up links from my SSD to the HDD a great way of just letting my programs do what they want without having to muck around with settings - so while my programs think Steam is on my C drive, all the data is actually hiding on D. Works a treat - I can't remember the technical term for the links! Steam Mover also works wonderfully - if you use Steam, that is

[AlexDarby]

Going for a 128gb SSD only saves around £50, that still leaves the 780m about £120 out of my price range Theoretically I could also drop the RAM to 8gb and remove the Cyberlink software and that would make it fit my price range affordable. Hmm... decisions decisions decisions...

There's a few names for the links, common one is "symlink" or symbolic link, there's also "hard link" and another is "junction." They all mean pretty much the same thing: "this folder/file is in another location but is handled by the system as if it's in this location."

Steam's not a problem at all with the SSD, if you install it to the D drive (or E in my case as there's a 100mb "system reserved" partition set as D) then it installs all the games there. All programs should work like that, not install 3mb to where you tell it and then multiple gig to the users folder. I think Steam even lets you pick between libraries on different drives now, so you can install important games on an SSD and unimportant ones on a HDD.

GFWL is a pain in the arse as it's settings for download location and install location are buried and require everything to be redownloaded. Origin doesn't seem to be much of a problem either. The biggest pain are saved games, as many games pick an arbitrary location in the user folder (despite there being a Saved Games folder structure in Win 7/8 which nothing seems to use) and iTunes being deliberately obnoxious as I said before. The problem with iTunes is you never know if it's going to change where it stores things until it's trying to store things there, by which point it's eaten up the 10gb I leave free on the C drive and complaining it doesn't have room for the other 20gb so I have to find where it's eaten the space, move it to the other drive and symlink to it. It does my head in just how awful that software is.

I try my best not to use symlinks where possible, they're a last resort if the software doesn't actually let me move their data to a different location. Though another option is to just use a symlink to redirect your user folder to a different drive and be done with it.

[Skidmark]

Junctions, that's them - they work wonders. Set them up once, occasionally use Steam Mover to shift Steam games to the SSD or back and whoosh - all done!

That's a rather good reason not to use iTunes!

As for the 780....RAM, Cyberlink, SSD....those are things that are far easier to upgrade further down the line - or in the case of Cyberlink, replace with something cheaper.

That said, I apologise if I've made your decision any tougher! It was hard enough getting down to the buying of a Clevo laptop, then selecting Scan was an even bigger decision for me! Mind you, I think they should look at more regular updates for their customers - as a general rule - I would really like to know what's happening!

[AlexDarby]

Haha I'd rather not use iTunes at all, unfortunately I have no choice if I want to backup my iPad, update it to newer versions of iOS or add media to it. It doesn't help that they require you to upgrade to the latest version of iTunes every time a new version of iOS comes out.

That's very true, definitely far easier to upgrade the RAM & SSD than the GPU. You've definitely given me a lot more to think about haha!

It was an easy decision to go for a Clevo for me, I've had a couple of Dell laptops in the past which were decent for their price, but you just can't get the power in them unless you go for Alienware of course, which are quite overpriced. MSI and Asus gaming laptops aren't exactly much better, the only reason to choose one of those three over a Clevo is if you just have to have an extravagant case and a brandname. Having had a Clevo for 3 years now I'm very pleased with the quality and the choice of components for the price.

Scan was also an easy choice for me this time around too, as they're definitively the cheapest Clevo builder in the UK and I've used them many times before when buying components, both personally and professionally when I've worked in computer shops. I was flirting with the idea of using a different company as they offered the 95% Gamut screen in the 15" but they're quite a bit more expensive on all the components and they're the P157SM/P177SM variations of this chassis, not the P150SM/P170SM as Scan have, so they're also a bit heavier. I have settled on Scan, though, and I think I've settled on the 780m with less RAM and smaller SSD.

Hope I don't change my mind before I order it haha.

[Skidmark]

I reckon Scan should be paying me commission!

Unexpectedly, or perhaps not, my build has encountered an issue - so I'll be waiting a little longer for mine. Booooo!

Also a negative, it's getting delivered to work, so there is a chance I'll be sat there with my new laptop sitting on my desk all day, watching me thinking about it. Sadly, it's not small enough for me to get it out without someone noticing

[AlexDarby]

Haha you're definitely a good salesman. Ever thought about selling cars? "You don't want that little Ford Focus, you want this Lamborghini Diablo!"

It always sucks when delays happen, when I got my current machine from a company called Kobalt Computers (now closed after their payment gateway withheld their money a year or so ago) one of the 460m GPUs in it died during testing so I had to wait for a month or so for stock to come in as they weren't getting deliveries so close to christmas. Even had to send it a few weeks after I got it due to one of the GPUs dying (though on the plus side I also got an unstable OCZ Vertex SSD swapped out for a Crucial one at the same time.)

Haha having stuff delivered to work is both a blessing and a curse. At least you get it on the day it's delivered without having to hang around at home, but it just sits there taunting you Mine will also be delivered to the company I work for as they will be ordering it for me, but the problem with that is, I moved to Gloucester a year ago and work from home, but the company is based in mid Wales where I used to live. Not easy to just pop in and pick it up the day it arrives!

[Skidmark]

A good salesman, but a poor customer - I actually bought a Ford Focus in January - I negotiated for 17 days before I finally agreed a price! Scan should consider themselves lucky I only sent them two emails before I ordered. I'm also extremely demanding - I want constant updates and emails letting me know what's happening. I don't think that's too much to ask when a company has already taken £1k plus from me. In fact, they have an email waiting from me right now

My last two orders have been for built systems - I no longer have the patience for building my own in case something breaks! Having a delay isn't the best start to my pre-built relationship with Scan, but it's early doors.

Work deliveries are the best option for me - if I don't get a DPD delivery to the house, I have to cross the Tyne to get to the local depot - and it's a pain to find - well-hidden!

[James @ Scan]

Hi to both Alex Ds

I've been off work for a while moving house. It sounds like you both have already placed your orders now?

[Skidmark]

Hi to both Alex Ds

I've been off work for a while moving house. It sounds like you both have already placed your orders now?

Hi James,

I have put my order in - but sadly there is an issue, so it may well not meet the expected delivery date.

[James @ Scan]

Hi James,

I have put my order in - but sadly there is an issue, so it may well not meet the expected delivery date.

Sorry to hear that there's a potential delay to your order. If you PM me your invoice number I'll see what can be done.

[Skidmark]

Sorry to hear that there's a potential delay to your order. If you PM me your invoice number I'll see what can be done.

I would - but I believe that I'd need to spam posts in order to have the ability to use the PM function of the board. I'm not sure how else to let you know my invoice number without plastering it all over

I have sent a couple emails since the notification on Friday that there was a delay, but I've not heard anything.

[Skidmark]

Sorry to hear that there's a potential delay to your order. If you PM me your invoice number I'll see what can be done.

Ok, so I have the number of posts required, but it will take a while before I can PM you. I'll try to send you the requisite info shortly.

Apologies for hijacking your thread, AlexDarby!

[AlexDarby]

Hi to both Alex Ds

I've been off work for a while moving house. It sounds like you both have already placed your orders now?

I haven't placed my order yet, still waiting for funds to get sorted but hopefully will be placing it soon. I did see you have a buy now pay later option, does that incur extra costs like interest?

[James @ Scan]

I haven't placed my order yet, still waiting for funds to get sorted but hopefully will be placing it soon. I did see you have a buy now pay later option, does that incur extra costs like interest?

Hi Alex, we do offer a finance option, essentially 'buy now, pay later', but there are costs attached.

The following webpage has more details (it varies depending on how you much and your credit history)/

[AlexDarby]

Hi Alex, we do offer a finance option, essentially 'buy now, pay later', but there are costs attached.

The following webpage has more details (it varies depending on how you much and your credit history)/

Ah, so am I correct in understanding that initially 10% is paid plus the £20 arrangement fee, then if the balance is paid in full before the 9 months is up it doesn't incur further charges? So if my LG1710 costs £1600, I would pay £180 when the order is placed then pay £1440 within 9 months?