Powerhouse laptop suggestions?

[Rafael Lopes]

Hey guys,

I have family coming from the US and I would like to take this opportunity to get a hardcore laptop (I mostly edit full HD video on Premiere and photos on Photoshop). Here is what I´m looking for:

- Expandable ram up to 32gb (I´m not saying I WANT it with 32gb ram straight away but I´d like to opportunity to upgrade in the future).
- Core i7 (preferably the latest generation)
- A good graphic card (it doesn´t have to be the ultra high end used for industrial applications)
- Full HD screen
- If it has enough space to allocate two 2.5 hard drives it would be cool, but it´s not a must as I can use USB 3.0
- Preferably a brand that has easy international support (stuff like Clevo, Xi and Alienware would be hard to get official support here in Brazil).
- Now here is the tricky part....I wouldn´t like to spend more than us$1500 (is this possible?)

Any suggestions?

So far I´ve my eyes set on this Toshiba X875-Q7190: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/924705-REG/toshiba_psplzu_06r002_intel_i7_3630qm_12gb_ddr3_1tb_hd_windows.html

P.S - Lets be objective. I´m a Windows guy and that is it. So please don´t try convincing me how much better my life would be if I had an IMAC instead of Windows.

[Jim Michael]

I recently bought an MSI laptop that appears to meet most of your requirements. They seem to sell a lot of gaming units but the one I bought was more of a business class model with Windows 7 Pro on it. MSI Notebook Official Website

[Battle Vaughan]

I bought a Sager 9170 that ticks all your boxes except for price and -- being a repackaged Clevo -- your concern for local support. Their support at their California location and via email has been very good, however, and many of the parts are generic and user-changeable. I have been quite satisfied with my purchase.

You can customize your purchase to suit your needs and budget: custom gaming laptops - Welcome to Sager Notebooks

[Jay Webster]

Yes,
Very much agree with Battle. Take a look at Sager.
Especially true if you need firewire.

[Rafael Lopes]

I might just do that, guys. Thanks.

[Trond Saetre]

I can agree on the Sager.
Mine is 5 years old (top specs at time of purchase), and I still use it for HD video editing without problems.
At the time, Sager customer service advised me that xoticpc.com would be the better place to buy, because of their superior customer service.
Not sure if it is like that today, but I will buy my next Sager from the same store when that time comes.

[Jon Shohet]

How would the Sager work out for those living outside the US in terms of warranty and repairs though?
Any experience? Is there a European retailer for Sager?

[Guy Caplin]

Clevo (Sager) laptop computers in the UK are formatted specifically for video editing by DVC in Brighton.

Laptops

I over the last few years I have bought three laptop editing systems from them. My current laptop handles multi-layer HD timelines in CS6 with no problems.

With their support and expertise, I can thoroughly recommend them.

[Jon Shohet]

Thanks Guy. So "Sager" is base on "Clevo", and any retailer around the world offering Clevo based laptops should be selling in essence the same underlying hardware?

The only thing notably missing from the Clevo based laptops seems to me to be an option for PCI express expansion cards ( I guess it's taken up by the mSata option?)
You would have no means to connect something like the Matrox MXO2 for example, right?

I'm also wondering why thunderbolt has not made it's way into high-end pc laptops already

[David Dwyer]

I have a Dell M6700 with:

Intel Core i7-3920XM
32GB RAM
2x Samsung 840 512GB in RAID 0
1x 750GB
Full HD Screen
Quadro K3000M but this is due to be upgraded to the K5000M

Its a barebones laptop so you can upgrade anything, mine was purchased from Dell Outlet and I have changed memory,CPU,HDDs, and soon GPU.

Precision M6700 Mobile Workstation Details | Dell UK

Edit just seen the last part, you can buy cheap ones with a more basic spec and upgrade when you have the money. Check out Dell Outlet store.

[Mark Watson]

Another vote for Sager. I got my first one in 2008 and another in 2011.

There's at least one model with an express card slot, which I guess would work with a Matrox MXO2 Mini Laptop Kit with ExpressCard/34(MXO2MINIL) as shown on the Videoguys site:

Videoguys.com - Matrox MXO2 Mini Laptop Kit with ExpressCard/34

Sager model NP9570 (one of their top of the line 17 inch laptops)

Inputs/outputs:
1 HDMI 1.4a output Port
1 DVI-I output Port (single link)
1 Display Port 1.1
2 USB 3.0 Ports
2 USB 2.0 Ports
1 eSATA Port (powered USB 3.0 (AC/DC) combo)
1 IEEE-1394b Fire Wire
1 RJ-45 LAN (10/100/1000Mbps)
1 Headphone Jack
1 Microphone Jack
1 Line-in Jack
1 S/PDIF output Jack

Slots:
1 Express Card 54/34 Slot
9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/SD/Mini-SD/SDHC/SDXC)

custom gaming laptops - Welcome to Sager Notebooks

RAM: up to 32GB quad channel DDR3 memory

CPU: choice of 3 CPUs (including Intel® Core™ i7-3970X Processor Extreme Edition (3.50GHz / 4.0GHz in Turbo Mode), 15MB L3 Cache, 6 Cores, LGA 2011)

GRAPHICS: nVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 670MX with 3GB GDDR5 Video Memory or nVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 680M with 4GB GDDR5 Video Memory (Available in Single card or Dual card in nVIDIA® SLI™ Technology mode) or nVIDIA® Quadro K5000M with 4GB GDDR5 Video Memory (Single card only)

MONITOR: 17.3" (16:9) Full HD (1920x1080) LED-Backlit Display featuring 90% NTSC Color Gamut with Super Clear Glare Type Screen

STORAGE: 3x Detachable 2.5" 9.5mm (H) SATA Hard Disk Drives, Hardware RAID-0 / 1 / 5 support
1 12.7mm (H) Optical Drive Bay, SATA Interface,
Interchangeable with DVD±R/RW Combo drive, Blu-ray/DVD±R/RW Combo Drive

This model will run up past $1,500, but I think their prices are decent.

I recommend you get the longest warranty they offer.