Q: Hello,
I am looking to buy a new laptop and I was wondering if you can help me choose the right one. Here are my requirements -
1. I want something that can run Windows 7 really really fast with MS Office applications like Word, Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint, and Project.
2. I DONT care for big hard disk space - 50GB is enough for me.
3. I DONT care for CD R/W or DVD R/W just CD/DVD read drive would do.
4. I already have Windows 7 and Office so I don't want it preinstalled.
5. I don't care for built in camera.
6. Did I say I want it to run really fast for basic MS Office on Windows 7.
What can you offer and for how much. I have looked at Costco prices and Dell prices but after looking at your website I feel like I can get a better offer from you.
thanks
Ekta
A: Your request is still a little vague. M-Tech is known as the fastest laptop in the world. Not just on one laptop but on nearly every laptop. Of course the fastest means against other CPUs of the same speed. Except for the D9F. That laptop not only beats all other laptops of any CPU range but most desktops as well, it really is the fastest notebook computer in the world. Lets talk about the "Fast Laptops you want. Speed is a byproduct of high quality components. You can test for speed and the end result is you will have also found the strongest motherboard of the batch. Or you can test for motherboard integrity and after you build the laptop you will find that sure enough, you also have the fastest laptop of its kind. No two laptops test the same, that is why we find it vital to segregate laptops by quality. This way only the best or fastest laptop ever becomes a M-Tech laptop. If you are looking at DELL or any Tier 1 laptop then you're looking at so low a quality that your perspective on what prices for a laptop should be, will be way off. The laptops sold by major brand names are at a all time low in quality. In the last ten years failure rates for Tier 1 laptops has risen from 5% to 33%. No effort to stop this increase is being made because the Major brands have finally convinced most people that a laptop is disposable, so don’t worry about failure rates since you have to buy another laptop next year anyways. Now you may be okay with this, but the problem is, you're never going to get that "fast" you want. The same quality that makes their laptop start to fall apart in nine months also makes the laptops run at a fraction of the speed they should run at. Most people never know because what do they compare the speed against? another Tier 1 (major brand) laptop. All the major brands have the same problem. The 33% was a industry average published by yahoo. the best Asus was 25% and the worst HP was 36%. I am sorry but the word "best" should never be used in conjunction with a 25% failure rate on laptops. M-Tech strives for a 2% or less failure rate. the proprietary testing M-Tech as done to its laptops models before, during and after the build, has dropped our failure rate to 1% and DOA (Dead On Arrival) rate to 0%.
Why do I say all of this? quality isn't cheap, time spent on testing isn't free to M-Tech, the time spent on a laptop that after three days of having hands on production and quality control, only then to be rejected to be sold as a different laptop brand by someone else, well that costs M-Tech Laptops a lot of money. Not to mention the personal service, when you need someone to talk to about your laptop purchase, or to ask a question that you just don’t know who else to ask, that kind of support is priceless. Which is why we don’t charge for it. You couldn’t afford that service. So we just give it away as out time allows. never the less, no other laptop company encourages you to call if you have questions that are not directly related to your laptop or to purchasing another laptop. Still though, someone has to [pay the employee, this all contributes to M-tech's overhead.
All of this msn that if you are conditioned to expect the price of junk, our prices might be more than you want to go with. Quality is the best upgrade money can buy , but it isn't free.
Give me a idea of your price range and I will tell you if I have something to help you. just asking for fast, isn't good enough. Do you want fast, fastest, fast enough or fast as it can get for X amount of $$?
See my problem? Please give it some thought and let me know.
Q:Just looking at your future laptop the M9800. After
discussions with our designers there was a consensus to ask if there was the
possibility to up the number of USB ports on this model to 6.
Faithfully
yours
Paul
A:No,
the reason is because , as you probably know, you can Already daisy chain USB
devices. So when we configure a laptop to have USB ports we have to take into
account they may take one USB port and turn it into many. So each port
multiplies it number. Now I tell you his so the next point makes sense. Once you
have enough USB devices running to use 11% computer resources, Windows will
crash. Just a fact of life. Windows give priority to software stability (I know,
don't laugh) rather than hardware. Every device, unlike IEEE1394, needs to have
some CPU time and attention. Once the CPU is using 11% of its time, it will by
design crash. So , if we put more than 4 ports on the laptop and encourage use,
and the laptop keeps crashing because of a drawdown of resources then we would
be contributing to the crash of the laptop. If you called and asked why your
laptop crashes, and we tell you it is because you are using all 6 ports, you
would then ask , " why did you put 6 ports if I can't use them all?"
You can of course get a port
replicator and daisy chain them out yourself but then that would not be our
fault if the laptop crashes. Also there is a issue of space. Everything has to
be from the motherboard and thru the case. In many cases No pun intended) there
simply is no way to add everything and have the chassis maintain its structural
integrity.
This also begs that I mention
that you should never have any USB devices plugged in and running that you are
not using. Every USB device that is on will slow your computer down and
eventually when enough are running your laptop will crash. Only turn on what you
need to use. IEEE1394 (AKA Firewire does not suffer from this because it is BUS
Mastering, so you can chain two hundred devises together and the CPU could not
care less. Of course this means the device itself is mastering so they are more
expensive to buy since no matter what you put into line, whether it be a mouse
or a printer, it has to be able to master all the other dev ices inline. That
technology costs a pretty penny.
I hope this helps clear up any
questions.
Q:Thanks Jerry.
I am a little confused. Are the dual
280's good for CAD? Are they as good as Quadro FX3700? As far as Ram goes,
wouldn't I be better off with the max amount of Ram(8gb)? How about the CPU,
wouldn't a quad core be more effective than a dual core?
Could you explain
the differences between the dual and quad core? What does each one do best or
which is better for my personal agenda? I would like a GPU that is both perfect
for CAD and will also serve as a good gaming card. Is there such a GPU?
Any
input from you would be greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Peter
A:This would be easier to explain in a
phone conversation. I type terrible and there is a lot of info to discuss. In
short though (figure of speech, this won't be short), The 3700 is not the same
type of card as the 280M. The 280M is a general use/gaming card. The 3700 is a
OpenGL card. It is a very specific card for CAD/Drafting/Engineering/Solid
words/3D/Rhino etc. It will not ever be a good gaming card. The uses for a 3700
would not be able to generate the type of work that needs or could ever benefit
from two video cards. For this reason the OpenGl cards were not designed to
function in a SLI environment. So even if there was a possible benefit for a
OpenGl card to be doubled, no technology was created for the cards to work in
tandem. In fact the cards that can do SLI WILL NOT be of any help AT ALL for
anything other than gaming. Not photo editing, video editing, surfing, nothing…
The only time the extra card will be of value will be when you are gaming and
only when the game is in the most extreme portions. Until then the extra card is
simply a non issue. Of your gaming only 20% of that time will the SLI be
helping. So if you are someone who needs OpenGl then you have to have two
different platforms. Because OpenGl is a terrible gaming card and the 280M does
OpenGl through software rendering only, not hardware as the OpenGl is designed
to do. NVIDIA has never put hardware OpenGl on a gaming card. They keep the two
separate for marketing reasons.
You need to decide, are you buying this for
gamming or for rendering. If you want both then your only option is to go with a
280M and use the OpenGl 2.1 software rendering and live with its slower speed.(
I may have a solution bit that come later in this letter) If you need the
rendering more than the gaming , then you go with a single 3700M and know that
your games may not even work with that card.
As for RAM, currently
programs can use only 2GB of RAM. So you need to sum up your RAM requirements
and see if they would need 8GB to cover it. You should know that 8GB will be
slower across the board then 4GB. The more RAM you have the larger the memory
map and the more time the CPU has to set aside to address that RAM. However, if
your RAM needs do exceed 4GB then 8GB will be faster because having a faster
system with 4GB, but having to cache to the hard drive because you ran out of
RAM is now super slow. So while in a system were both examples have ample RAM
the 8GB will be slower, that changes when you have a scenario were one computer
has enough RAM and the other does not. The minute you run short of RAM then it
no longer matters that your slower with 8GB because at least you can run with 8
vs. not running with 4. So in short, if your RAM requirements exceed 4GB then
you should go with 8GB. You should also know that most people that feel they
need 8GB can usually drop this to 4GB by just not running two or more heavy
programs at one time. This will give you the best possible speed and save you
hundreds of $$.
Get all the RAM you need and no more.
Do not think that
by having 8GB you will be giving your programs more RAM, you will not. Their 32
bit architecture limits how much RAM they can use. So having 4,6 8 or 12GB makes
no difference to the one program because it can only see and use 2GB. Also know
that the programs that say they are 64 bit versions, do not mean that they are
64 bit in architecture. It only means they run in a 64 bit operating system. We
call this a 64 bit virtual environment. They are still 32 bit so they still
carry the limitation of 2GB.
If you wish to run multiple heavy programs at
once then it will cost you in dollars and in base operating speed. However you
will at least be able to run them as compared to the speed hit you will suffer
by running that many programs with too little RAM. That speed hit is severe and
you would hate the performance. At that point you would gladly take a overall
slower system because the fact that it has enough RAM to run all your programs
from memory will make it feel like a faster machine.
Quad Core vs. Dual
Core. Pretty simple really. If you look at your computers processes right now (crt+alt+del)
you will see you have about 75 to 100 little programs running. Each of these
programs needs one on one time with your CPU. The more CPU's you have running
the more time each program gets. The more time each program gets the faster each
program runs. You perceive the increase in speed because you are seeing less
wait time between each visit from the CPU. Kind of like juggling balls. A
juggler only has his hands on one ball at a time. So the fewer the balls the
more time each one has to be handled. Since we don’t like reducing the programs
we run the only thing to speed up our computer then is to increase the number
hands doing the juggling. So four cores runs 100 programs faster than two cores.
Also with the new I7 cpu, each core can do two processes. So in fact when you
have a four core I7 you pretty much get the benefit of running a eight core CPU.
I7 can do this because Intel brought back multi threading. This means that while
all others CPU's can only do one thing at a time, a I7 can do two things at a
time. So four cores doing two things at a time gives you the felt speed of 8
cores.
Your best option overall, is to go with the D9F and the single
280M. The reason is, you need the 280M for your games and you need the extra CPU
power of the I7 to run the software OpenGl. This way you hopefully won't notice
any drop in speed since there is plenty of power for the CPU to run you OpenGL
as opposed to the GPU doing it through firmware. Don’t worry about that fact
that you can only get one 280M in the D9F. The 280M is such a good card it would
not be a very good value to get a 280M SLI since you could only expect about a
10% performance increase and this increase would only be during a small portion
of your games. In fact you would need a benchmark program to know you are even
getting any benefit from it. If you go with the M9800 you can do SLI and this
may give you a teeny benefit for your games but you drop out of the I7 CPU and
go back to the Montevina CPU. This is a great CPU but does not have the multi
threading you need so you can run all your programs and still have enough power
to seamlessly run your Open GL when you need it. With Montevina having only four
cores you will have to suffer with slower rendering because you are asking the
CPU not only do 100 little processes but also at the same time juggle the load
of having to do OpenGL rendering. It really depends on what is the most
important thing to you. Games or CAD. Games, maybe the M9800, CAD then the D9F.
I excluded any mention of choosing the 3700 because you won't be able to game
with it while with the 280M you can do both. Not perfect but still better than
nothing. And if you get the I7 you may not even notice the difference between
the hardware OpenGL and the software.
You need to walk away with three
points
1: Only get SLI if you are a very serious gamer and know you will only
be using the extra card 20% of the time you are gaming.
2: Assess your RAM
need realistically and buy that much, overkill is of little advantage to anyone
but the RAM manufacturers.
3: 280M is a awesome gaming card and can CAD,
3700M is a great CAD card but a terrible gaming card.
Many laptop
companies don’t know these things because they just sell laptops and sure will
not explain them because it hurts how much you will spend with them. They likely
do not even know these things because why train your sales staff for something
you won't let them say. So even if they did know these things they still won't
tell you. M-Tech is a very different company in this way. We are a technology
company, not just a place to buy laptops. You can come to us for information as
well as hardware. Once you are a customer you can call up and ask any type of
question you want and we will be glad to teach you. No charge. We are
professionals and will not steer you wrong just so we can make extra money from
you. This is why we do not make commissions, it would be crazy for me to tell
you don’t waste your money on SLI or 8GB of RAM if it meant I lost money. So we
teach you, then advise you to get the best laptop for your money. We hope this
loyalty to you benefits us by you making M-Tech the only place from now on you
buy a computer from. We don't want to sell you a laptop once and then have you
be so upset later on once you find out we oversold you or let you believe false
advertising hype. We think making less from you know will benefit us both when
you keep coming back because of our quality and honesty. Who else would have
taken the time you actually try and teach you why you can spend less and not
feel bad about it?
Take care, I hope this helps more than confuses.
Q: I am planning on buying a laptop and I am having some difficulty in deciding exactly how it should be configured. I am a gigantic "electronics junkie" and I want to have the best for the price I pay, and your company is number one in that aspect as far as my searching has gone.
I do have a few questions though before I order a laptop. The primary use of this laptop would be for gaming. Video games like Black and White 2, Starcraft 2 (when it is released, soon I hope), World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online (also, whenever it is released) and other video games that take up a lot of system resources. I would also like to be able to run all of these games at maximum graphics without any FPS issues and hopefully be able to play future video games without too many problems (although I know that is near impossible to predict). On top of it being a gaming rig, I will also be using it as a video editing suite (I sometimes record footage of my games and/or home movies and edit them into compilations) as well as a multimedia suite (playing large files and re-encoding audio and video). I am also enlisted in the Navy so portability is a must, although battery life is a non-issue for me (I consider laptop batteries to be more of an UPS than anything else).
So, from that description, I know I need a relatively powerful laptop, but how powerful does it have to be to meet those needs? I already have a 1 terabyte external hard drive (and I intend on getting at least 1
more) so storage space is not much of an issue for me, so I intend on getting RAID 0 for performance. What would be the optimum Display and Video Card? Optimum RAM? OS? CPU Speed? Although cost isn't really much of an issue, the cheaper it is the better I feel about buying it (theres just something about buying a laptop that costs as much as a used car that is rather off putting, but it won't stop me if I have to spend that much), which leads to my final question, just because I can't resist. Do you offer military discounts? :)
Thank you in advance for your help. I am nothing but impressed by your website and your marketing philosophy and I have already recommended this company to some friends.
A: OK, What you want to do is get the D900C as I suspect you already knew that. Then we need to know if you run multiple serious application at a time or are you a single application at a time type of person. If you boot clean and run your game then you want the 3.16 Core 2 Duo because it has excellent latency and has a large L2 cache and fast FSB. If you have more than one serious application running at a time then you would choose the 2.83GHz Quad core. It has the same L2 and FSB but the extra cores will give you some flexibility. My gut says Quad Core. Don’t bother with anything higher than the 2.83. they all have the same L2 and FSB above the 2.83 and the latency kills any advantage you would hope to gain.
Next is go with 4096 RAM
Then the most important thing is your hard drives. Get three drives, 200GB or above two of the drives should be matched for the RAID 0. The 20o0GB has a larger buffer than the 120GB that is why I want you to go 200 or above.
Go with for example 2X 200GB in RAID 0 and a third drive any size as long as it is SATA II and use that as a TEMP/Scratch drive for your photo editing. Your photo editing applications run much better when they are running from one drive (Your c:) but have a secondary drive to do the work on. This way they don’t have to juggle with your bandwidth. So you have the best of both worlds. You get peak performance with the RAID C: drive and then you get an added boost for your Photoshop by having that third drive. Also if you are clever you can find a way to put your games scenery data on that third drive so access time is increased. another boost.
Go with XP, VISTA is a FPS killer. I don’t want to hear any arguments here or you can just go to your room and think about what you have done wrong.
Video card, Conservative would be the 9800M GT with 512MB. This will give you 90% full potential, to fill that last 10% you would have to spend another $500 and go with two for SLI. SLI will help the FPS but only during the most severe times. All other times the single card handles it just fine. That has to be a choice b you because I can't easily justify you spending $500 to get 10% extra performance 10 % of time. SLI does help but the 9800 is already such a good card there isn't not much room for a second card to help.
Resolution, Games works best with WSXGA+ WUXGA may be nice for photo editing but not nice enough to sacrifice game looks.
So in a nutshell.
WSXGA+ with 9800M 512MB (or SLI)
2.83 GHz QC Q9550
4096MB RAM
2X 200GB 7200 RPM SATA II in RAID 0
1X 200GB 7200 RPM in SATA II Standalone
Windows XP Pro
8X DVD
Hopefully you can see that I gave you the fastest laptop for the money but you certainly could spend more for this laptop if you did not go with my advice. I just don’t think you would benefit if you spent more for the CPU 3.0 GHz QC or going with the 9800M GTX as compared to the 9800M GT. Let me know if I can be of any more help.
Q: First, I'd like to say: you guys rock! Love the machines
you are building. Great web site too.
As I am planning my next laptop, I have
a few questions regarding some recent developments in hardware and software.
Will you have the SATA 6 Gig available for the D900C? If so, what will be the
price difference?
My business no longer affords me the luxury of keeping up
with stupid operating systems like Windows. Since windows seems to be designed
with spinning disks in mind (from what I gather, windows is optimized for hard
disk storage, swapping short chucks of data) will I get better operational
performance on your machine's solid state drive running Linux?
Don't know
enough about Linux really. Can that be run dual on your machine with Vista?
Thanks,
A:Before we can do SATA 6 somebody needs to produce it in a
9mm or12.5mm 2.5 inch drive. Once they do that we will start the long process of
testing it. It isn't as simple as putting it in and seeing if it boots. We have
to make sure that it won't have other issues, many drive do. But yes, if it can
be made in a mobile form factor then we will carry it. To the best of my
knowledge the drive does not exist yet for a laptop.
I cannot begin to guess
on prices for a drive that isn't made yet, Performance is as the name implies.
6GB from buffer and 600MB sustained from the drive. Of course you can get that
now by going with two SATA 3G and doing a RAID 0, you can get even better by
doing three drives in RAID 0.
SSD is not yet ready for prime time. They have
a fast access but once they access the data they only transfer it at 20MBS.
(Oct 11 2008 insert OCZ and Intel both have
provided M-Tech for testing SSD models that are far better (in transfer rates)
than the SSD mentioned in this email. While they do not come close yet to
matching a SATA II drive they are better than the SSD this email referred to)
This is 15 times slower than SATA II drives. The battery life isn't not much
better (9 minutes longer) and the temp is not much lower (5 degrees F). So for
the smaller capacity and huge price tag I would says SATA II 3G drives in RAID0
is the only way to go.
We don’t know anything about Linux or officially
support it. Many customers on their own use it but we can't encourage it since
if you don’t get it to run it would not institute a reason to return the laptop.
You can find a lot of other websites that cater to Linux users and they can get
you drives and tips on almost any laptop.
You can run Dual XP and Vista if
you choose to. I still prefer XP to Vista because XP is 25% faster. However if
you want to play around with Vista you can do a dual boot.
Q: I have a couple of questions about my order:
- Is
there anything I need that I did not include?
- There is no way I need this
much horsepower in a computer (you told me such), but I am utterly disappointed
with the performance of my current Sony.
- Will I be positively shocked and
impressed by the super fast performance?
- I want to confirm that the OS is
64bit?
- Will the Blu-Ray Drive read and write CD & DVD also?
- Why would
a sane person spend so much money on a notebook computer?
- I was
milliseconds from buying the 18inch widescreen HP computer but I came back to
the M-Tech site? Why?
- Will the computer be loaded with a bunch of junk
software when I get it?
- Is it possible to over clock the processor? Is this
something I should be considering?
A: I would maybe have chose the 3.16 since the core speed to bus ratio is better, still you will like it either way. If I wanted blazing speed I surely would not have chose a 64 bit OS, 64 bit O.S.'s are slower than 32 bit because the extra over head. Since you only need a 64 boot system for 64 bit programs and there are no 64 bit programs I would not have made that selection. The programs that say Vista compatible are still 32 bit programs made to work with Vista. At this point in time we know of no true 64 bit programs. Just 32 bit programs running in 64 bit virtual mode. So you lose quite a bit of speed to go with Vista. I like to build the system to be able to run Vista later, but now I still go with XP Pro.
You also should know that the free shipping for repair is only if you are in the United States. I assume you read the small print and already know but I can tell you we do have a repair depot in Germany so that should be quite a bit easier for you.
For a Vista based system it will be the most powerful, if you have a friend with the same system in XP you will be envious of his speed. Also if you want blazing fast speed, you need to take care to use a Anti Virus that allows you to turn on and off modules. Today's all encompassing virus programs check every program, every file, every web page every IMP chat every outgoing email. So these cause a lot delays (latency). To you this looks like a three second pause after you try to open a file, start a program etc.. To get blazing fast speeds you need to shut off your antivirus. So of course you need to plan this when you are not on the internet. Personally I use Avast antivirus and I turn off all modules except incoming email. I do potentially expose ,yourself to risk but I feel that 98% of the real risk is from incoming email and not IMP, web sites pre existing files and programs I installed myself. There are a lot of people disappointed with their desktop /laptop for no more reason than they are using a good antivirus and spyware software. Stay away from Norton and MacAfee. Norton can slow you down and cause freezes and crashes. Mac can slow you down and lately my testing shows that if you use Zone Alarm security suite, (firewall, AV and Spyware all in one) it can make you internet speeds 30% slower. No firewall is fastest, MS Firewall is 90% of full speed and Zone Alarm is 70%.
A fast computer starts with the right hardware but many other factors play in here. You did good by going with 4096 RAM and really good by doing RAID 0. I think you should either go with a 3.16 or 2.83 for the best CPU. The 3.16 is a dual core. That is fine as long as you don’t run multiple serious applications. If you do run multiple programs than the 2.66 or s.83 is your best choice. They may be a little slower buy you can dedicate a single core to a single application. This is better than having a faster 3.16 be divided amongst four programs.
Yes Blue Ray Burner will burn both DVD and CD, the Blu Ray Player with DVD Burner also can do DVD and CD but not Blu Ray. FYI, Blu Ray can burn 50GB of DATA, DVD 4.7GB and a CD 700 MB.
Why would someone spend this much, I can only speak for myself but I do know many customer can't afford not to. They need to make sure that the money they do spend is not on a system that does not live up to their hopes. To spend $3000 for a laptop that is a Alienware or Dell or any other "Top" names would means you purchased a laptop that was made to a standard too low for M-tech to even consider carrying the same laptop. (Yes we can sell those laptops if we wish, Uniwill/ECS makes them) That would be $3000 virtually wasted since the return rate is incredibly high and the two year user rate for those laptops in very low. However the majority of M-Tech owners are using their laptop well after four years. Why Two reason I think. One, the laptop is the finest quality to begin with then M-Tech as some special processes we incorporate into the build and burn in procedure that weeds out the weaker units, These get sold under other brand names. The second reason people use out laptops for four or more years is because we try to help you buy a laptop that works for your needs. This means you don’t buy the laptop, get frustrated because it just is speedy enough or can't handle your software pr whatever. So you end up retiring the laptop and trying it again. With M-Tech, we would prefer you send us your list of programs and the way you personally use the laptop. Then we can advise you to what we think is the best laptop specification for you money. If that means advising you to buy a less expensive CPU or Video card, then that is what we do. We don’t care how much you spend. What we do care about is if the laptop is appropriate for your needs. While DELL and Alienware only care if the laptop works, we care if it works for your needs.
Later on, let's say you decide to get into a hobby that in some way involves your laptop. (video editing, audio editing photo editing, gaming....) you can call or email and ask for help and advice. You won't be buying something so you can't call DELL but you can call us. We will research your hobby and make suggestions on what camera to buy where to buy it what web site you should visit for more info, etc.. or let's say you just want to know what some new technology is. Call us up and ask. You will be given as much time as you need to understand it. Try paying any amount of money to DELL or Gateway or HP and calling them up two years after you buy their laptop. Can you imagine what they will say when you ask them for advice on what software you should use to do professional audio editing (buy the way, Q Base or Sonar are our favorite) They may not laugh at you but you can be sure they will ask you why you are calling them up and bothering them with these questions. Call them back when you want to spend money. Not with M-Tech Laptops though, we think of ourselves as a technology company, to our way of thinking technically does not mean we just sell laptops. Technology is 90% information. So if you come to M-Tech (the Tech being technology) you should expect to not only buy technology but get the other 90% as well. If by now you still have to ask why people spend so much for a laptop, well then I just can't help you. But if you want to call me directly I will give it a try. (;
No junk ware...junk ware is what other laptop companies do to keep your laptop cost down. These essentially sell the ad space on your laptop to other companies. BTW that is why you never get a actual O.S. CD from DELL and others like them. They have to sell you a restore disk so if you ever have to reformat (something you should be doing once a year) all that junk ware gets loaded back on your laptop.
Don’t over clock, just to be sure I am not being misunderstood. DO NOT OVERCLOCK!!! Over clocking will not help you at all. We tried over clocking and the speeds drop. The basic mentality out there still thinks that clock speed is the most important thing. It isn't. You can have a slower clock speed and still be faster. You need to make sure you clock speed a good multiple of the RAM Bus speed and you need to have the correct L2 and FSB. These all need to be matched, not just to the computer but also to your specific needs. How do you know. Well you can spend thousands in eructation or you can call us and we will help you get that info for free. As I mentioned we over clocked and the speed did not go up and in many cases it went down. Why down? Because the temperature spiked higher. When your laptop runs warmer the speed gets slower. Basically it goes like this. Clock speed goes up and so does the heat, heat builds resistance and resistance chokes speeds. This holds true for normal CPU speeds that are higher than we advice, a 3.6 can and is slower than a 3.2. ( based on a 800MHz RAM MB) Did I mention not to over clock. Why over clock when you can just buy the faster CPU. It does the same thing. generates a lot of heat and shortens your laptops life span.
You made the right choice by not going with HP. No kidding when you lift up the M-Tech D900C and feel if quality as compared to a flimsy built HP you will understand. Until then I can't possibly explain it. Not to mention that HP as well as all the other major brands are all in a price war. When you get in a price war the only way t fight and win is to spend your budget on advertsing and then find the cheapest hardware you can so you can sell it for less. I kid you not when I say there is not a single major laptop brand who's laptops we would ever consider putting our name on. The difference in quality cannot be overstated. It has been years since there was a major laptop brand that we thought was any competition to the M-Tech lineup. Not o mention the fact you can't call up HP and ask them to explain what HDSPA is. (Need to know? call) They just want to sell you a laptop. For that matter do you think anyone there would ever have an employee ( that’s me) that would care enough about you to write this long of an email? Especially since you already placed the order! Most only put that kind of time into you to get you to spend with them. We will spend this much time as many times as you need for years to come. You can't buy that kind of service. What do we ask in return? other than maybe telling your friend s about M-Tech Laptops..nothing at all.
I hope I answered all your questions satisfactorily. If you wish to make the changes to your laptop that I suggested just email back your order number and I can take care of it. The way I figure it. if you drop Vista Ultimate and go with XP that should pretty much pay for the upgrade from 3.0 to 3.16.
Q: Dear MTECH, I'm looking for a new laptop
and would welcome your
recommendations.
Firstly, I live in Spain and would
need an EU power supply and shipping
to Spain - a Spanish keyboard would be
an advantage but not essential
(I'd need the OS in English).
I'm
looking for a laptop to replace a desktop for music production. The
laptop
will be running an external DSP, a software workstation and
another piece of
software. In all I'd be running three software's
packages at a time, a
recording app., kyma dsp and software, and
Max/Msp.
Here is what I
think I need, maybe you can correct me, I'd like to avoid
bottle necks.
The fastest processor I can get - 2.8?
Two firewire ports to run the Kyma and
the dsp. Ideally 4 usb ports,
ideally 6
Vista 64 and 8 gig of ram (no dual
boot needed), all software and
hardware is 64bit compatible.
Two solid
state disks in RAID 0 for the system drive with a third fast
disk for backup
and data streaming. The Sonar recording app writes to
disk during the
recording process, whilst the other apps are 'playing'.
Can you spec a
system for me?
A: Well the best we have that most all our music editors use is the D900C. The areas you need to be concerned with.
Only one fire wire. Fire wire is a bus mastered port so there should only be one since all other devices are bus mastered thru a single device. We use the TI chipset with 4 isoqs which according to all sources if fine for your needs. An external Ieee card can be purchased for use in the express card slot that can give you more isoqs if you feel it necessary.
The unit has 4 USB ports, you can do Vista 64 but your software provider and Yamaha who makes a lot of the software assures us Vista is a poor choice since all programs are still 32 bit. A 64 bit OS will slow you down about 25%.
You should choose a 2.83GHz QC CPU because the multiple cores and large L2 cache and fast FSB. Then go with three hard drives. two should be either 200GB SATA II or 320GB because they have larger buffers. Then RAID 0 them. The third drive is a standalone drive for use as an external data source, which Sonar would ideally like to use.
Keep in mind if you use an Anti Virus you will always have a lag time, so if this laptop is going online then you either need to selectively stop your AV or not install one and keep the laptop virgin. Most latency issues stem from malware protection. A necessary evil.
This link is the D900C build page. You can build one up to spec to see what your cost will be.
http://www.discountpcsales.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=MTECHD900C
Q: Does the D900C generate too much heat with the desktop processors.
A: As for the heat, you have
three hard drives in the D900C and that makes for 5 separate heat sources, three
hard drives each producing over 100 degrees, and GPU and a CPU that put out over
180 degrees each. However while there is a good amount of heat coming from the
D900C there is nothing to worry about as far as safety is concerned. The D900C
has four cooling fans and two large heats sinks. As log s these stay clean the
system has more than an adequate method for dealing with thermal buildup.
Something you may like to do is get a cooling platform to give additional
assistance to your laptops own cooling system. The best I have seen is the one
made for M-Tech by www.xbrand.com. It has a
large
fan blowing up to the laptop (down pulling away from the laptop as most others
do) and the platform have a concave shape to allow a more natural air flow as
compared to others that have a flat base that only allows a 1/4 of an inch of
air flow. This may well make the laptop more comfortable for you. Don’t worry
about the laptop though, it can with stand more than what you feel. However,
anytime you can drop the temperature you do increase your performance.
Also remember to keep the fan blades clean and the heat sink clean. If you are
careful this can be done with a small can of compressed air. Blow gently over
the blades towards the air exhaust port on the side or back of the laptop. You
will see dust from the blades and heat sink come flying out the side. This dust
needs to stay off the cooling system. When you don’t remove it, it acts just
like a blanket and insulates the heat in the system which will cause erratic
behavior.
Same email thread several replies back and forth, try to keep up.
Q: looking for a recommendation on a
laptop.
uses are listed in prioritized order greatest to least
#1 mobility- I'm looking for something I can take with me when I leave in
morning and use for anywhere internet access, streaming media, and GPS. I hope
to buy some kind of mount that I can drop the laptop into when I get in the car
and take it out of when I leave the car. I want to have quicken home and
business on it so I can keep track of my money on the go. I plan on getting a
sprint data package. I hear sprint has the fastest connection. what
hardware/software is best for getting the fastest mobile internet connection?
will it be rough on the computer being powered intermittently with a 12v lighter
power source?
#2 AutoCAD- need something that I can use for AutoCAD programs at home and at
work. a desktop replacement. needs to be fast. I don't like having to wait for
different programs to load. would prefer a keypad that has a numeric pad on it.
#3 entertainment- I'd like to be able to use this in the car so the kids can
watch movies and TV on trips. I'd also like to be able to connect it into the
wide screen TV at home and watch internet TV and blue-ray discs. would like to
be able to record TV and burn DVDs on occasion.
I like the 900c because of the quad core and raid 0 options. but I am wondering
if maybe I should wait for the m570tu which seems to have a better Quadro
graphics card and more/faster ram. how much does the Montevina processor help
with Wi-Fi speed? when will the Montevina quad core processors be available?
will I be able to upgrade the m570tu to a quad core processor later?
what is the difference between a 900c and 901c?
I am looking to spend in the $5000 range(SSD drives), but would be willing to go
higher if it meant a significant performance increase.
thanks for the help!!
A:Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2008 08:51:29 -0400
The D900C (D901C) is a very powerful laptop, the most powerful made.
However it is not the best choice for mobility. It is heavy and get lousy
battery life. So I think the M570U or the M570TU fit that criteria better.
The Quad Core will never be out in Montevina since Montevina is a small mobile
chip design at first with sub notebooks in mind. The Quad Core is a Desktop CPU
and thus none of the Montevina technology needs to go into it because Montevina
was designed with laptop and power consumption in mind not a desktop
environment. The desktop chips will always be faster because they have the
luxury of unlimited power consumption without any heat issues.
The new Quadro core will be a long time in coming since the market is spending
all its efforts on the new 9800M GTX card. It may be January before we really
have that new card. I was told we won't have any Quadro card for the new M570TU
at all until the new Quadro comes out later this year or early next. That card
is a low priority to some other projects.
I would say if you used a AC outlet and or a ACDC converter for your car the
D900C is always the best option because of it total power with QC CPU and RAID 0
hard drive set up. However if you cannot plug it into something then the M570U
at this point is the best option because it does have a Quadro card available
for it.
In any event I don’t see you needing to spend more than $3380 for thD900C (which
is the D901C) I would go with the QC CPU, Three HDD in SATA II (two in RAID 0
and third in stand alone for programs that use external data or programs that
say they need a temp or scratch drive , all Adobe products prefer this method).
Also I would go with 4096MB of RAM but stay away from Vista and go with XP. You
won't get all 4GB but you will still be better off than Vista when it comes to
overall speed.
The problem with solid state drives is the small storage capacity and the large
cost. In reality the SATA II drives are a pretty fair match to current SSD's.
The SSD gets the nod for battery life and heat. Neither of which is something a
D900C owner concerns himself with. If these are of concern to you the D90C is
not the laptop to look at. We hope initial M570TU laptop will ship out by July
1. Please note that they will ship with the Montevina CPU but not the new Intel
Wireless LAN. They have been backed up and we have no date as yet. However it is
safe to say everybody wants the CPU and nobody really cares about the WLAN.
If you are looking for power the Montevina is not going to rock your world. It
is designed to run longer with comparable performance. it is not a higher
performance CPU. We look forward to it for the smaller die size and thus cooler
running and ;longer battery life. also for Vista user it will be able to use 4MB
Intel Turbo cache which will be nice because Vista can load up about 20% faster
with this.
would it be better to get 2 solid state drives in raid 0 and a third 7200 rpm
drive as backup? when is the m570tu going to be available?
2ndQ: the thing I really liked about the solid state drives was that I read they will not slow your computer down with time like a platter drive will. I plan on using this laptop for a good long time and would like to keep it running fast for as long as possible. I know the 1900 x 1200 display isn't always better from reading the FAQ's on your website. would it be better for cad stuff, watching movies, or internet browsing? I certainly don't want to make everything look smaller. is there a way to change the settings in windows to keep everything the same size, except with more pixels per square inch?
A: If you reformat with a full indexing
(not the quick one) you do not lose any speed over time with a hard drive. A
platter changes sizes slightly as conditions in the environment change. This can
make the low level indexing off by a small margin which can cause slow down or
errors. However every hard drive manufacturer has always recommended a reformat
at least once a year to re-index the hard drive. However the biggest reason for
performance loss is not that but rather just the accumulation of junk , corrupt
file and registry errors. A SSD is just as susceptible to these as is a platter
drive.
The 1920 can be better if you work environment is larger than 1680. For movies
1680 is best because it is the closest to the native resolution of movies,
unless you go Blu-Ray. Then neither is a perfect match. Blu-Rau is 1080 vertical
pixels while wsxga+ is 1050 and wuxga is 1200. So one will lose 50 pixels the
other will make the image smaller than the screen. If you expand it to full
screen then you will have lost clarity while the laptop tries to make 1080
pixels look normal in a 1200 environment. Internet browsing is best with WSXGA+,
in fact most web pages are formatted for much lower res. than that.
You can change the setting in window to have fonts and icons be larger and this
can make WUXGA more viewable or you can tell the WUXGA screen to pretend it is
WXSGA+. However this would again make you lose clarity because anytime you ask a
monitor to pretend it is a resolution it is not you lose image quality. CAD
programs may or may not be better suited to WUXGA. It just depends on your
project and how many pixels it has horizontally. If it is greater than 1680 than
WUXGA will show the full project as long as the project is under 1920 pixels
wide. The thing to do is not think of the LCD resolution as high res. or low
res. When you do that you automatically think of one being better than another.
IT is all about viewable space. WUXGA gives you more, if you need more space
then you use WUXGA. If you need less then you should use less. Otherwise
everything will be smaller than it was intended to appear. Match the screen with
your work. If you have needs in both areas then go with WUXGA and make it larger
as you need. Smaller pixels render into larger pixels better than larger [pixels
render into smaller ones.
Q: Hi, I have been looking for a new pc, and have stumbled
across your site. I am very interested in the D900C, because it has so many
options. This will be my only computer when I go to college next year, so it
needs to be able to function normally as well as run programs such as AutoCAD.
However, I am also very heavily into gaming and am looking for a computer that
will be able to run all the new graphics intensive DirectX 10 games that are
coming out at the highest level of graphical quality. I don't really know a lot
about how upgradeable or permanent everything is in a laptop since i have always
used a desktop (ex. Can another graphics card be added later in SLI if I feel I
need it?). I also don't know how valuable the RAID setups are. If you could
please help me get a general idea of what type of setup I will need to plow
through these games and programs, it would be greatly appreciated.
A: HDD performance. This does more for your laptop performance
than any other thing you can do. If you use SATA II drives and not SATA drives
you can double your performance again. So SATA II with a RAID 0 will blow away
anything else. The best CPU would be the 2.4GHz Quad Core. I would really like to
see you use XP but that is your choice. Vista is 24% slower on any machine than
XP. If you go with Vista then make sure to get 4GB of RAM So your system would
be
WSXGA+ with 8800M GTX with 512MB (can be doubled if you want)
2.4GHz QC
Two SATA II drives in RAID 0
4096MB of 800MHz RAM
Vista Ultimate (your choice not mine)
Q: Hello, I’m in Australia and not having bought anything over
the web I’m wondering about backup service, warranty tech probs etc. We are a
television production and use Panasonic P2 and Adobe CS3. I would like to know
why I should buy your D900C over a Apple Pro. Also I would like the maximum hard
drive space, memory and graphics display. Does the laptop take the P2 cards
directly or do you need an adapter?
A: I am always amazed at how many we sell to Australia. Your
prices there must be very high because it is for certain that if you have a
warranty issue it won't be nearly as easy for you as it is for a domestic
customer. If there is a repair issue you will have to call and get what we call
a RMA number. Then you have to pack up the laptop and ship it back to us with
this number displayed on the box. Unfortunately if you are outside the USA you
have to pay for shipping to and from us. That is why I say I am amazed at how
many people still choose to buy from M-Tech. On the brighter side though, we
have by far the lowest return rate of any laptop brand, so the likelihood of you
needing to use the warranty within the 1st year is 1% or lower. Most other
laptop brands are closer to 22% even their best laptops still have a 5% return
rate.
As for backup, if you send the laptop in for repair you will be responsible for
backing up the data prior to shipping it to us. Your P2 cards will need a
converter because only older laptop still use the PCMCIA Type II cards that P2
cards generally use. You can find them easily enough. Here is a link to assist
you in that. http://www.expresscard.org/web/site/
As to why you should buy the D900C, that is by far the easiest question. It is
rugged, dependable and the fastest laptop out there. In the past we have had
other version of the D900 series. At in their time they too were the fastest
laptop made, however because they were the fastest the heat was always a ongoing
struggle to tame. With the D900T and the D900K and tutors we have made
unbelievable strides in stability. So much so that our D900C has a 1% return
rate. As mentioned no other laptop company comes even close to that. I cannot
recall anybody ever sending the D900C because they did not love it. Once you get
one in your hands and use it for a day or so, you become a M-Tech believer. No
Kidding!. I hope this answers your questions, if not feel free to email or call
with any additional questions.
Q: How can I determine my shipping costs?
A: We do not have flat rate shipping costs. The reason is
because we would have to set a rate that is the highest possible in order to
cover any location you may be from. The way to know your shipping cost is to
start the order process just as if you are actually ordering the laptop you
desire. Once you have the laptop built, add it to cart then proceed to secure
checkout. There you will be given a page to enter in your billing and shipping
address. After you fill this in, UPS then has enough information to give you the
precise cost of shipping. There is no obligation for this, you do not have to
enter a credit card until the final page of checkout.
Q: I live in the UK, what will be my costs for taxes and
shipping.
A: No matter what country you live in outside of North America
you may have to pay additional taxes. These taxes are from your country, not
M-Tech so we really have no way of knowing for any particular country what they
may or may not charge you. Please check with your country Customs department.
Q: I wanted to order an M570UR with XP rather than Vista but I
notice that some of your options require Vista. What does this mean, are those
for people ordering Vista?
A: No you are correct, if you want to use Turbo RAM or a TV
Tuner then you have to choose Vista as your O.S. However if you want XP just
choose XP and leave alone the two options that require Vista, these are Turbo
RAM and TV Tuner
Q: I am looking for the fastest laptop that can be built! I run
all of the windows programs and also some other programs like AutoCAD for
drafting. Primavera P-3 for construction scheduling. and a lot of photo software
for construction pictures. I normally have 5 to 6, 44 inch X 60 inch very
detailed drawings open at a time and after I do my up-dates to them I send them
over a T- 1 internet line to the department of energy for their approval and
when they get their work done they send them back to me and I plot them out on a
HP T1100 Plotter. I would like to have the fastest Laptop available! When I am
waiting I like to play games that require the best (and fastest) video card
available.
A: Well no question, the D900C is the laptop that you need. I
would go for a 2.4 GHz Quad core CPU, two SATA II drives in RAID 0 and a third
drive as a standalone drive because some of your program like to have a
secondary drive to use as a scratch drive.
The video card is your problem. If you want the card that is best for your work
software , then the 1600M is the best because it is OpenGL. However , it will
not be a good gaming card. So I guess I would say to go with the 880M GTX. It
has OpenGL but it isn't firmware like the 1600M is. However it is a great gaming
card. The 8800M will use the CPU and a software driver for your OpenGL and since
the D900C has plenty of power it should do it relatively decently. It just won't
benchmark on your CAD and such as well as a true firmware OpenGL video card.
* By firmware I mean the card has a chip built into it that handles the OpenGL
calls rather than the CPU running a software driver program)
A: Hello, I have been searching for a gaming laptop for a few
weeks now. I have been looking at major brands (dell) until I came across your
website. I am looking for a gaming laptop to play World of Warcraft and other
games on. I am no computer expert, but I know some general specs that are good.
I will be not be porting it around very much and will be keeping it plugged in
mostly.
Q: It depends a great deal on how serious a player you are. As
you know the requirements for WOW are quite easy. However many players will tell
you that you want as much backbone to your video card as you can get. The reason
we need to know just were you are is because we can place you in a 665SR with a
NVidia 8400 or a IFL90 in a NVidia 8600 or M570UR in 8700 or 8800M GTX. Of
course price is the big deciding factor in this area. Have you set a budget.
That may give me an idea which card you need to be looking at.
Q: I'm looking at the MTECH D900C. I want to seriously buy one,
but I see that it is lacking an HDMI Output port.
Is there any way I can get this laptop model with one?
A: We will be adding one in the future but the models right now
have DVI
Q: Now that sounds like the machine for me! Try to remember
that I am Not a computer guru and only load and use software and totally rely on
your recommendations. With that said I will have a few questions as we go along
and suddenly I will have a question like the 3 that I just thought of!
#1: Will I be able to use a phone card that the company has supplied to me for
the remote job sites?
#2: Will I be able to install a wireless keyboard and mouse?
#3: Will I be able to use 2 monitors?
#4: Will the D900C be wireless so I can get on the internet when I am in a Motel
that has wireless service?
A: 1: If you phone card uses Express card slots then yes, if
not you simply by a PCMCIA to Express card converter.
2:Sure
3:You can use the LCD as one and an external as a second monitor. Should you
require two external monitor without using the LCD then you use a product called
Dual Head 2 Go or Triple Head 2 go. They allow 2 or three external monitors as
separate monitors or they can stitch together to make one big monitor. Go to
www.matrox.com for this product.
4: Yes it uses a/b/g/n/ technology so you are covered under all situations.
Q: Where are your computers manufactured?
A: Barebones produced in Taiwan and we assemble and finish them
ourselves in City of Industry California. Tech. support and warranty repair is
also done by us in City of Industry California USA
Q: Why do you recommend XP before VISTA? and why only 2gig ram?
Also I've read up on some gaming benchmarks and just general bench marks and it
appears as tho the e6850 does just as well as the quad core processors... So why
do you recommend the Quad Core? Is it the L2 Cache? Or is there an expected
change in how gaming engines are processed? Able to utilize that kind of
multithread processing?
Is 200gigs an option with RAID 0? and how much of a noticeable difference would
you say striping w/ RAID 0 gives?
Why do you not recommend 2 graphics cards? for the full Gig of graphics?
Thanks for these answers ahead of time... that's all i have for now. ;)
A: XP is 24% faster than Vista. A 64 bit program and OS are
always slower due to the fact that 64 bit mathematical algorithms are larger and
thus put more of a work load on the CPU. At this time there are are true 64 bit
programs out there so everything you run is either 32 bit or 64 bit virtual.
Either way this means you are not gaining any added features from a 64 bit
program to offset the slower environment. When some true 64 bit programs come
out that truly exploit a 64 bit environment, then you won't mind the loss in
speed. However, right now the hit in speed without any gain in features make
Vista a poor choice.
A 32 bit program can only use 2G GB of memory and most need only 1GB. So for
most people 2048MB of RAM will be more than enough for XP and the program to
share. Some people have programs that really need as much as they can get, in
this case it makes sense to go to 4096MB of RAM. That way XP can have the .8GB
to work with leaving a full 2048MB for the application to work with. Also, if
you think that in a couple of years you may switch t Vista, then it could also
make sense to use 4096 now so you do not have to discard the 2048MB of RAM and
buy another 4096MB.
The 2048MB recommendation is based on what the majority of our users need but
plenty of people can legitimately go with 4096MB and not have it be a bad idea.
We recommend the Quad core specifically in the 2.4GHz not because it is a Quad
core but because it has a nice clock ratio to RAM speed. 800 (speed of the RAM)
divided into 2400 2.4GHz is a 2400MHz CPU) gives you a even 4 as a ratio. This
is always a peak performer as compared to a CPU that would be 3. ?? or 4.??.
That ?? represents a mismatch in the efficiency of communications. So there can
be no single CPU recommendations because some benchmarks are with different RAM
speed so that formula would have to change. The 2.4 QC is the choice fore the
D900C only. Our recommendations would change if you were looking at the M570UR
or the IFL90 or the M72S. We balance and match a single Cu for peak performance
to each separate laptop. Generic benchmarks are helpful but not of a tremendous
value when it comes to a specific laptop.
Approximately 40% increase. Some application won't benefit much while others
more. The programs that really tax the IDE channel will benefit greatly while
others that are smaller programs working primarily in memory and not using the
hard drive, won't see as much gain. In any event every time the hard drive is
accessed. it would be much faster.
Two graphic cards are for most people a waste of money. Statistically only 20%
of the people who buy laptops will ever be in a situation capable of exploiting
the two card scenario, of that 20% only 10% of the time do they need it. Since
two cards carry twice as much RAM as a single card you will for some of the
memory mapping capabilities of the OS to be used up on the extra video RAM. This
could impact performance in areas were the systems RAM is concerned. When a OS
says it see and map a certain amount of memory, that includes the video memory
as well. So if you need two video cards then go ahead and get them, but getting
them and not needing them is very costly and can impact your performance if you
use programs that need maximum RAM amounts.
Q: Kingston brand vs not..
A: Personal choice, some feel that Kingston is more long term
stable than other brands. If I had the money I may go with Kingston, but that
would also be the first place I would cut back if I had to. We always use good
RAM so that isn't a real concern of mine.
Q: how about your recommendation of WSXGA+ and not WUXGA...
A: WSXGA+ is a resolution that makes everything looks brighter
and cleaner while the WUXGA makes everything a little small and darker. You
would choose WUXGA if you needed more virtual desktop space. However the space
has a price, everything is smaller. Imagine you had a real desktop. You have it
completely filled up with papers. You need more space, you cant make the desk
bigger but you can make it seem bigger if you used smaller papers. Then you
would have more room. You can see the problem now, you may have more room but
now you have to work with smaller papers.
Don't get confused as many do with the term high resolution. In computers only
the background gets the resolution not the images. Your images stay the same
resolution. So if you start off with a 1000X 1200 image, that image will still
have 1000X 1200 no matter what resolution screen you have. the difference will
be how big an area does it take up. With WUXGA the pixels are a bit darker as
well, pixels in the LCD screen act as light apertures for the back light of the
screen. When you squeeze in more pixels you make them smaller, smaller pixels
let trough less light. So now you have smaller images that are slightly darker.
This is why if you game or use that LCD for any type of quality image viewing,
you would want the WSXGA+. it has enough res. to fit a reasonable amount of
things on the screen without pinching your pixels too much.
Image quality =WSXGA+
More workable desktop real estate =WUXGA
I don't blame anyone for being confused about this since in every other aspect
HR usually means better views. The problem is that all other laptop vendors and
mfg's' do not bother correcting the misnomer because they can up sell you on
this. Always remember, every other company out there cares more about how much
you spend then they do about your needs being filled adequately. M-Tech stands
alone in this field and that is why most others are struggling in this economy
and we are growing. we absolutely will never up sell you or make a commission
off your sale. You get what is best for you unless you say otherwise. Always our
concern is making sure you got what is best for you while not wasting a single
penny.
Q: Alright so I'd definitely like to go with 200gig RAID 0
option... thanks for clarifying.
Would gaming be a justifiable reason for the two graphics cards? Or is it
something more intense like 3d rendering that would need that type of power?
Thanks and by the way... you're bad ass.
A: Picture any graphic that has non stop evolving 3D graphics.
It is not just the 3D environment but the constantly changing 3D scenes that
stress the card. A static 3D view can be handled then it can rest but make that
a fast changing 3D scene and it then benefits from two video cards sharing the
workload. This can be many of the newest games. However even these games don't
always have a fast changing 3D scene all the time. At those times your dual
video is overkill. I would say, if you ever find yourself having to pull your
graphics back a notch or more to get your FPS back were you want them, then SLI
can help you.
I like to see someone start out with a single 8800M GTX and then if he needs to
he can add that second card later. This way he may find the one card is all he
needs and has saved some money.
Q: Hi and thanks ahead of time for your time and help,
I'm looking to purchase a laptop within the next month or so and I had a couple
questions about your products and the buying process as well.
What are all the steps involved in purchasing? Any buyer verification? I'm
deployed in Iraq right now and the simplest solution would obviously be the
best. Ship to APO's?
My goal is to purchase a top of the line gaming computer as most of my
activities will include: Gaming, Browsing the internet, and online messaging.
Almost all if not all of the games i play are 3d Graphics intensive... I would
however like to avoid an extreme jump in price just to have the
latest-and-greatest if it's not a worth the $$ buy.
I suppose with what I'm looking for I'm leaning towards the D900C, but i
wouldn't mind having a lighter laptop if the performance aspect isn't sacrificed
too greatly. I've owned a 17'' screen laptop before and loved it... although it
was a bit of a load to carry as far as laptops go.
If you wouldn't mind throwing a few options at me and let me know what the cost
would be (shipping included if possible)... also with whatever combos you put
together... give me a "best possible" combo as well so i can compare what you
get vs how much more I would be spending.
A: Buying is easy enough. If you are in IRAQ then we do ship
APO. You will want to make sure that your credit card has that address on file
or can at least be verified for us as a valid address to ship to. This can be
done easily by just contacting your issuing bank and asking them to make a note
on your file that you called and informed them of this address and purchase. We
will call and tell them we have a alternate address to ship to and can they look
to see if there is a note of this address anywhere. They say yes or no. If they
say yes, then you are good to go.
The D900C is a great choice if you are looking to avoid that extreme jump in
graphics. The sub system on the D900C is so strong that it really is not
necessary for yo to go with two video cards. If you get the D900C in the below
configuration I doubt very much that you could ever want a better laptop.
WSXGA+ with 8800M 512MB
Q6600 Intel 2.4GHz Quad Core
2048MB of 800MHz RAM 1066 FSB
two 120GB SATA II drives in RAID 0
XP Home or Pro
You can configure the D900C to cost twice as much as the configuration below but
really after this anything else is not going to be any faster, only more
expensive.
If you think the D900C is too heavy then look at the M570UR.
WSXGA+ 8800M GTX 512MB
2.5GHz with 6MB L2 Cache
2048MB 667 MHz RAM 800 FSB
1- 120GB SATA II Drive
XP Home or Pro
Both of these would be classified as gaming laptops. The D900C is the worlds
fastest laptop while the M570UR is what us mere mortals would still be more than
happy enough to own. If it were not for the D900C the M570UR would be the best
laptop for everything. In fact if you balance the cost out the M570UR can still
make s good argument for being the overall best laptop just because it has
plenty of power and is so much less expensive than the D900C. But to set the
record straight, , the D900C has no equal in performance. we will benchmark this
against anything DELL/Alienware currently has. In fact many of our customers
already have and call and email us every day day say how much faster their
M-Tech is than their friends Alienware or Voodoo.
Look at those two, before you make any changes to the configuration please call
or email me to make sure it is a smart move. many times people think they will
go up one notch in CPU speed and don't realize they are not any faster because
of the physics involved. Check with me or another analyst before you think to
spend any more money on either of the laptops quoted above. The only way I can
see spending a dime more would be if you wanted a third drive in the D900C or if
you needed larger HDD space in the M570UR.
As for shipping cost , I have no way of knowing. However our system will give
you the precise UPS cost if you just go far enough in the order process. Build
the laptop, enter your name and addresses and the next page will have your
costs. There is no obligation for this.
Q: Primary purpose of laptop Nothing special. Some casual
games. Not
needy in graphic.
Software to be used. (Please be specific, include versions,
software support web address etc..): Programming tools. Photoshop CS3
Features you want to have in a laptop as well as features you need
to have in the laptop.: I usually want one that runs smoothly. 17"
screen.
If you have a budgeted amount please include that as well: around
1200$ total? ..I would really like to have some help upon choosing a laptop
I really need to find a good price laptop
Please help me
A: I would say if you need to stay around $1200 then the M670UR
is your best bet. It has a dedicated video card which should allow for some
games as long as they are not graphic killers. CPU choice would be 2.5GHz as a
first choice or 2.1GHz if that throws the price too high. Try to get at least
2048 of RAM but don't worry too much if 1024 is all you can afford.
Go with a 7200 RPM drive if possible.
XP home or pro, stay away from Vista at this point. Too slow and no real
advantages just yet in going with it.
Here is what I configured at $1249. Click the image and it will take you to the
page were you can build one yourself. As you can see I cant do $1200 at my
preferred specification but I still like what I have done for you. I would
rather see you with this high quality laptop and this specification that a
cheaper quality laptop and the specifications I originally mentions
ed. A low quality laptop cant run as fast with faster components as a high
quality laptop can with slightly less specifications.
Q: Do you ship laptops to Ireland ?
I need a Laptop with, fastest speed, XP PRO (no Vista), fastest and biggest HDD,
big screen all ports etc. Fastest processor and max RAM (maybe 4GB), DVD R/W,
USB, Wireless LAN, Ethernet LAN, etc.
Note, we are in 240V land over here in Ireland.
What do you recommend ?
A: Yes we ship anywhere our cart accepts data for. Just enter
your address as if you are placing and order, it will give you the shipping cost
without any obligation.
The D900C is the fastest by far, You can get 3X 320MB drives but they are SATA.
I would go with the 200GB SATA II drives because they are twice the transfer
rate as a SATA drive. Since you can put in three you should have enough drive
space. AC is auto switching to 240V all you need is a plug adapter for your wall
outlets.
I would go with the
D900C
WSXGA+ with single 8800M GTX
2.4GHz quad Core q6600 1066 FSB
4096MB RAM 800MHz (Kingston may be a good idea since you are overseas. Kingston
users feel it's more long term stable)
2 or 3 SATA II drives in RAID 0 for fastest possible hard drive speed. SATA II
is double the sped of SATA and RAID O doubles it again
XP Pro or Home
Q: Does M-Tech have any recommendations on docking stations?
A: We have a Trendnet USB Docking Station. They call it a
Docking Station but it is really a USB Port Replicator. You get copies of all
your ports except Video and LAN in one box and this box plugs into the USB port.
I know of no true docking station right now because they take up so much more
desktop space. In the past they were needed because the laptop itself had no
space for the ports so the docking station gave your ports the laptop itself did
not have. Today our laptops have all available ports so a docking station is not
needed. The Port Replicator gives you port replication with east plug in and out
for printer, scanner, keyboard, mice and anything that may use a serial port,
parallel port or USB port. Hopefully something like this meets your needs.
Q: Hi , I'm a senior in high school and going to Rochester
Institute of Technology in September. I am in need of a laptop. I enjoy playing
games like warcraft the frozen throne, f.e.a.r and looking forward to Starcraft
2. I'm going to be studying Engineering. I've always wanted a gaming laptop and
after doing some research I came across the M-tech D900c. I've compared it to
other laptops out there and it seems yours stands alone. I have questions
regarding Raid 0,5,1 etc. I'm confused as to what that is ? Also if I just get a
single primary 120GB hard drive would I be able to add a second and third one
for extra memory later on in the future and would the graphics cards be
upgradeable?
A: RAID (Redundant array of inexpensive disk) is a means of
taking multiple hard drives ands either making your laptop faster or more stable
as regards to data integrity.
RAID 0 takes two hard drives and makes your laptop see them as one. Then
whenever you have a file to write to the drive it splits the file into halves
and sends one halve to each drive, Because it does this sending for both drives
at the same time your speed of the hard drives is doubled.. It t is faster to
send two smaller files at the same time then it is to send one large one.
RAID 1 takes two drive and hide ones in the background. You don't see it but it
is there making a mirror image of everything you do to your primary drive. That
way if your C: drive crashed you would be able to initiate the background drive
and be up and running again without any lost time or data.
RAID 5 takes three drives and does the same to the three drives as RAID 0 did
with two drives. So initially the reading and writing is a third faster than
RAID 0. However RAID 5 is still not as fast as RAID 0 because after the reads
and writes to the drives which are very fast the system then stops and writes
backup information for the other two drives on the third one. So the information
stored on drive one has parity backup information for that drive written to
drives 2 and 3. The information for drive 2 has backup parity information
written to drive 1 and 3 and drive three has it backup parity information
written to drives 1 and 2. This way if any one of the three drives should crash,
the other two drives could , through a restoration process) restore the missing
data from the third drive.
Pro and cons of each are as follows
RAID 0
Pro's Nothing is faster than RAID 0, it goes a long way to open up the
existing bottleneck in the IDE system. If you want true performance boost than
RAID 0 should be considered.
Con's If one drives goes down all your information on both drives will be
lost since the file is split in half. A backup routine is a must.
RAID 1
Pro's Very safe for your data integrity and eliminates down time should your
primary drives happen to crash.
Con's Slow, since every change to your hard drive must be done twice it does
put additional over head on your systems
RAID 5
Pro's Faster than a stand alone single drive system or RAID 1 and safer for
your data since there is a way to restore data missing on a single drive.
Con's Not as fast as RAID 0 since after the really fast writes the systems
must then write down the restore parity information. Requires three drives so it
is more expensive as well.
Summary, RAID 0 if you want top speed and have the discipline to make backups,
RAID 5 if you want some boost in HDD speed but don't like the thought of losing
all the data should one drive go down. RAID 1 if you cannot suffer loss of data
or any down time.
Yes you can add additional drives later, you can also switch to RAID later as
well but you will have to reformat your drive so you don't lose your data when
converting to RAID. All drives must be matched if you are to use RAID.
memory can be pulled out and more RAM put in later but it is not cost effective
since in a Dual Channel system we have to use all the memory slots if you want
the speed boost Dual Chanel RAM offers. The graphics card can be upgraded as
well but there is no guarantee that any new card coming out will be compatible
with the BIOS on your current motherboard. It may or may not work. Any card
currently available will be available to upgrade to but we cant promise upgrades
in the future since sometimes the new technology is just not compatible with old
technology. the card will fit in the motherboard for sure but crashes could
occur. Currently the D900C can take the 8700M, 8800M GTX , 7950, and the 1600M.
Q: Wait, I can upgrade the video card later? That's fantastic -
I was under the impression that all laptop video cards were pretty much
non-upgradeable. If that's the case, I'm perfectly happy with the 8700M for now.
I'm far less concerned given that it can be upgraded at a later date. Will I be
able to upgrade to later cards after the 8800 as well? Regardless, either are
better than what I'm currently running on my desktop, and I was expecting to be
stuck with whatever I got to begin with anyways.
A: You bet you can. M-Tech uses MXM video modules just for this
reason. However you need to know that any future video card still has to be
tested to be compatible with the BIOS chip sets. So while it may plug in , there
is no guarantee that some video card not yet created will run. At this point the
the M570UR can run the 8800M GTX, the 8700M and the 1600M FX Go Video cards.
You can order the laptop without the O.S. if you already have your own free
copy. Any parts or repairs are available directly through us. We do not sell off
the support and warranty work to other companies such as Phillips or Micro
Medics and most laptop companies do. We did this for years because it was the
industry standard but we got tired of having customers poorly treated buy these
companies and us having no recourse to help them. So since 2006 all technical
support and warranty repairs are done by us at our facility in City of Industry,
CA
Q: Hello! I'm looking to purchase a laptop PC around the middle
of next month. I'm looking for what amounts to a desktop replacement, as I work
very, very long hours and rarely have access to my desktop PC. Primarily, it'll
be used for gaming, so performance - particularly graphically - is very
important to me. I'm working within a budget of $2000, and want to get a solid,
running system in there, but I have no problem with getting bare minimums in
areas that are expandable later such as RAM and the hard drive.
I'll be using the laptop virtually exclusively - my desktop runs my home network
and provides the bulk of "long term" HD storage, DVD burning, and is pretty
intimately connected to my home theatre setup. The desktop is a solid machine,
but is AGP based and thus capped for graphical ability without considering
extensive upgrades I'm not particularly interested in doing. So, it's being left
as a server. I'm running a wired and wireless network (802.11n) which is
supporting my fiancée's (hideously slow and uninspiring) Dell notebook, VOIP
telephone service, game consoles, etc.
I don't mind - in fact, I prefer - a moderate screen resolution. LCD's
definitely look best in their native resolution, and I'm finding that high
resolution displays end up really taxing graphics cards that could otherwise
perform much better. So, a lower resolution display is fine for me. For screen
size, I'm flexible between 15.4" and 17" widescreens. I suspect that I'd need to
go 17" to physically fit a high end graphics card into the chassis, though, so
that's probably the answer there.
Are the processors readily upgradeable? If so, I don't mind going with an entry
level to midrange processor to start out with, and upgrading it later. I'm
comfortable doing this sort of work on a desktop, but I've never owned a laptop,
so I'm not sure if they're hardwired in or not? If not, then what would you
recommend to fit into my budget?
As I said earlier, I'm fine with going with minimum ram and hd and replacing
both over time.
A point of contention I've long held with laptops is sound. Most sound really
tinny and generally terrible. What sort of sound components do you use?
I plan on running Vista eventually, though as I have XP presently I may
initially set it up with XP, then go to Vista later when I get more RAM (it's
kinda clunky and slow, in my experience, with 1gb). Likely, I'd upgrade to vista
after replacing the HD. I've no idea how your pricing of Vista compares to
simply buying it in a store, though? If you can offer it noticeably cheaper, I'd
just go with Vista from the get go..
So, basically I want to get as much as I can that's not upgradeable into my
$2000 budget and still get a working system. Any advice you can offer would be
very appreciated :)
A: The big problem I keep coming up with is that by the time I
put in the most awesome gaming card ever (800M GTX) the price jumps to over
$2000. You know the 8700M while not the equal of the 8800M is a nice card and
has not let me down. If we use the 8700M in the M570UR we can go with a CPU that
has a very large L2 Cache. The 2.5 has 6MB of cache and that will be as
important to your performance as having a good video card. L2 cache really
smoothes out multi media events. You can upgrade the 8800M later but I suspect
that if you try the 8700M you may find it worth sticking with.
I know you said you would be willing to upgrade the CPU later but that won't
change the price as much as changing the Video card will.
I have the M570UR and as for sound I think it sounds very nice. You have to be
aware that any laptop with speakers won't have much more than 3W speakers because
of space issues. However the M570UR has the speaker pointed out at the hinge
point so they are unobstructed.
The biggest point to know is that the quality of the M570UR is way beyond
anything you may have experienced before. Really, M-Tech is the place people go
to when they are fed up with the DELL and Alienware mythology. I will copy and
paste a screen shot of a laptop that fits your budget and one that is a little
beyond but would be the best for gaming. After this please feel free to email me
direct if we need to proceed from here. BTW not a good sign your fiance` has a
DELL. Of course you said you may want to go with Vista at some point and that is
just about as bad as owning a DELL.
Seriously, do not be in a rush to go with Vista. If you care to call Monday I
can detail out the reason why but trust me when I say it will be about two years
before you will want to switch.
Q: Regarding the warranty options, what does the warranty cover
exactly?
A: All your questions can be answered from this page or a link
on this page. http://www.m-techlaptops.com/guarantee.htm
Q: I am an experienced notebook and PC user but I am not very
familiar with all the hardware and best configuration setup in and outs.
Therefore, I like to request help in selecting the best hardware configuration
(price/value) regarding a D900C for my needs as an internationally working
architect and designer. Nevertheless, I am not looking for a configuration which
I might have to update in 2 years to keep optimal performance, I rather go for a
setup now, which in 2 years time will still be the master blaster ;-)
*Primary purpose of laptop
Work and Private daily use (I travel a lot), Internet, Presentations, CAD, 3D
Visualizations, handling a large amount of pictures, Games, burning Cd's,
*Software to be used. (Please be specific, include versions, software support
web address etc..)
Windows XP SP3 2003 and MS-Office 2003 (which I like to update to the newest
Versions together with the new laptop), Symantec Internet Security, MS Project
2003, MS One Note, AutoCad 2008, Nemetschek V.16a, SketchUp 5, Primevera,
Photoshop 8.0, I use Live Messenger and Skype regular (Net-meetings), Power DVD
XP, Windows Media Player, Nero 7 Ultra Edition (I regular burn drawings or
files/pictures onto disks),
*Features you want to have in a laptop as well as features you need to have in
the laptop.
Fast Internet, Fast and strong wireless, extreme Speed for large Programs like
CAD drawings, 3D Visualizations and Presentations as well as Movies and Games,
lots and lots of storage space (I am used to work with two partitions C for XP
and D for Programs, private and work stuff etc.; I would like to hear your
recommendation on this please, too), In build Video Camera for net-meetings, I
need at least 3 USB connections, excellent DVD CD-RW or better, I connect laptop
and PDA a lot to synchronize,
A: You are correct in looking at the D900C.for a couple of
reasons. 1st is that if you do CAD and Game you will need the 8800M GTX video
card. Your CAD needs a strong OpenGL and your games need a completely different
aspect. The 8800M is the only video card option that could do the gaming and the
CAD reasonably.
Now your Photo shop can be made to perform better by using a second hard drive
as a scratch drive. However for top performance I would do three drives, the
first two drives I would couple in a RAID 0 for maximum performance on all the
programs then the third drive could act as the scratch drive for your Adobe
products.
If you could to the 2.4GHz Quad C ore it is the best possible CPU and since it
is a Quad Core down the road t he CPU will be more current as more and more
programs are written to address more than a dual core. Do not go to any CPU
above the 2.4GHz. You won't get any faster and just spend more money. Stay with
the 2.4GHz.
Make your hard drives SATA II., SATA II is twice the bandwidth of a SATA drive,
then when you RAID 0 these SATA II drives you almost double your speed again.
No question on the operating system. I think you should go with a version of XP.
I hope this helps you, to recap
D900C
WSXGA+ with 8800M GTX 512MB
2.4GHz QC
2048 - 4096 MB of RAM
three SATA II drives RAID 0
XP Pro
Let me know if you have any further questions.
A: I must say your website is very crazy, but nice. I am
looking at lot of website for my next computer purchase I like yours. I have
some questions for you. I am looking to spend nice amount of money on one and I
don’t want to get raped. I am looking for a good gaming laptop, See I am here in
Iraq and there is not a lot to do in the off time. A lot of my friends play
there laptops. They told me I need at least a 17in 1920 x 1200 and 8800 GTX
graphics card. So I am wondering if you guys/gals ship APO and if you have any
good suggestions. Thank you for your time.
Q: I would disagree on the screen resolution but do agree on
the video card choice of 8800M GTX. The WUXGA will make all items smaller and
less clear and bright. Many people choose this screen thinking that a high res.
screen means better images but that is not the case with computer screens. Your
images displayed on the LCD get no extra pixels when you use a high res. LCD. So
if you have a 600 pixels wide image it will still be 600 pixels no matter which
screen you choose. The difference is if you use a high res screen, your 600
pixel image takes up less space. So you get a smaller image not a better image.
In addition the image will be slightly darker as well since pixel also work as
light apertures for the background light. So when you go to a WUXGA 1920 X 1200
LCD you lose image size and image brightness. So hopefully you see that WUXGA is
not the choice for you if you want image quality. You would choose the WUXGA if
you needed extra desktop space. Since everything gets smaller you can get more
item side by side on your LCD.
So WSXGA+ for image quality
WUXGA for desktop space.
Unfortunately it sounds as if your friends purchased from someplace other than
M-tech. No other place explains the difference and they are always happy to have
you assume the WUXGA is a better screen since they make more money on it.
Hopefully now you know better and won't choose it unless you specifically need
more desktop real estate.
This is not to say if you choose the WUXGA 1920X 1200 LCD that you won't like the
look of it. I am simply saying that each screen should be chosen like you would
choose a tool. More expensive does not make it better. Each tool has it intended
purpose, if you go with the WUXGA you will need a bit of time to adjust to the
fact that everything is smaller than looks normal. Once you adjust to it though
you can get use to it. However if you do not need the extra desktop space that
WUXGA offers than you are better served with WSXGA+ 1680X1050 . Things looks
more normal in size and are slightly brighter.
Yes we ship to APO, you simply choose APO while you are at the shipping page.
Q: I liked to say thank you for the quick response on the
subject and for being honest. So the texture of the games will only be as good
as the coding and graphics card can push, not the screen size. What is the
better OS for gaming, because that is the majority of the reason I am buy the
system. What parts on the laptop are upgradeable? Do you guy offer the 8800 GTX
in 1 gig. I am really looking for a beast of a machine.
A: I think that XP is still your best option for at least two
more years. If you put two 8800 is the laptop you will have 1024MB. However
video RAM does not aid your performance at that RAM level. It can take away from
your system ability to map memory since video ram counts as part of the system
total ability to map memory.
More video RAM does not increase your sped. In some cases game makers can make
use of this RAM to store textures for the game but 1024MB is too much to be of
value. Much past 128MB and you are just paying for something that you don't get
any benefit from. For all other application you will never use more RAM than
your pixels across times your pixels down, divide by 8 and then times by color
depth. For example:
1680X1050 = 1764000 takes this and divide it by 8 for the bit to byte
conversion. 176400 /8= 220500 Take this and times it by your color depth. lets
say you go the maximum of 32 bits. 220500 X 32 = 7,056,000 or rounded up to 8MB
of video RAM. Unless you are using a handful of top end games this is the most
RAM a computer can use. To make sure you don't buy too much RAM always check
with your game maker to see if they recommend a certain amount. If they say
256MB then going more will not help. The only reason to go with 1024MB is if you
felt you wanted SLI and to get SLI you have to end up with two 512MB video
cards. You may benefit from SLI (about 10% of your total computing time) but you
won't benefit from the 1024MB of RAM. This is done by NVidia and ATI to make you
feel as if you are in need of a new video card. Don't buy into it. When you buy
a video card buy the card and not the memory. By this I mean get the card you
want and don't be concerned about the amount of RAM. Most cards today haver way
more than you can use.
Q: I am going to school for video game design. I have looked at
the laptop offered in a student program by my college and have decided its
overpriced, however I need to have the features of this laptop. I have been
researching laptops online for the last couple of weeks and have decided that
your company would best help me accomplish a quality laptop within my budget.
However I am unsure at what I can get with my budget and am asking advice. The
budget I am looking to stay within is $2300.00. I need to pack as much as I can
for a processor, Memory, hard drive and video card. The following is the current
specs on the laptop that the school wants me to buy for the same budget. It is a
HP Compaq 8510w. Specs:
Intel duo core 2.0 ghz processor
4mb L2 cache
15.4 inch wsxga+display
Nvidia Quadro FX 570 Turbo Cache
2048 MB ddr sdram, 1dimm
120 GB Hard Drive
Windows XP
internal 56k modem
internal 10/100/1000 Ethernet Network Interface card
internal intel Pro/wireless WLAN (802.11a/b/g/draft n)
DVD+-RW +DL Drive also burns cds
Integrated Blue Tooth 2.0 and finger print scanner
integrated Smart Card reader
One PC Card, Type I or type II slot
Integrated SD memory card reader
One HDMI connector
Integrated microphone
four USB 2.0 ports, and one Mini 1394a (firewire port)
So they've got me paying 2500.00 for this rig and everything i've seen says this
isn't worth that, maybe 1500-1800 dollars. What I would like to do is take the
$2300.00 and see if I can get a rig better than this. (its 2300 because they
have to check to make sure the non student laptop fits school requirements and
costs $225 dollars to do review the non student laptop; what a rip! ($2500-$225
gives me a budget of roughly 2300 bucks). Again this comp will be for Game
Design and development. What do you suggest for an M-Tech computer to fit in
this budget? Thanks, in advance for your time and I look forward to hearing from
you.
A: Thanks Jerry! Very thorough explaining everything. I am
definately going to get one of the 2 computers you've attached. I'm hoping I can
afford the more expensive one. I'm discussing the finances with my wife.
Unfortunately, I won't be able to solidify anything until early next week. I'll
be in touch.
Trevor Vaughan Williams
On Sun, Apr 27, 2008 at 4:00 PM, Jerry Michrina <jerry@mtechlaptops.com> wrote:
Lets first look at why the HP is not the best for your needs. Shame on them for
pushing this laptop.
Intel duo core 2.0 ghz processor
4mb L2 cache Too small of L2 Cache you can do with this but if you are buying
specifically to do gaming you want larger 6MB or 8MB
15.4 inch wsxga+ display, A little small for you to work in detail. 17" would be
better
Nvidia Quadro FX 570 Turbo Cache WHAT? A FX card for games. Everybody knows FX
is for OpenGL and OpenGL sucks for games playing. You should have a NVIDIA 8
series. Preferably the 8800M GTX and the Turbo cache is a fancy way of saying
that your system has to share video RAM. This KILLS you speed. Terrible. And
this school is going to teach you gaming. I think someone there is getting a
kickback from HP and did not base the selection of laptops on gaming but rather
what HP pushed to them. If for some reason they need a FX card we can do that
but anybody that games will tell you the FX chipset kills gaming performance
2048 MB ddr sdram, 1dimm You want 2048 MB at least but if they are putting it in
single dimm then that means you have a single channel laptop. Much faster is to
have Dual Channel architecture . It is twice as fast with your RAM and RAM speed
trumps all other concerns.
120 GB Hard Drive This does not say if this is a ATA or SATA. Doesn't matter
though since if you are buying this to be a game laptop then you should have
SATA II not SATA.
Windows XP Good choice
internal 56k modem Good choice
internal 10/100/1000 Ethernet Network Interface card Good choice
internal Intel Pro/wireless WLAN (802.11a/b/g/draft n) Good choice
DVD+-RW +DL Drive also burns cds Good choice
Integrated Blue Tooth 2.0 and finger print scanner OK but I bet you won't use
it, I don't use mine
integrated Smart Card reader Good choice
One PC Card, Type I or type II slot PC Card slots are no longer made. This tells
me that you have a old laptop being sold to you. maybe not used but old in
technology. PCMCIA slots got replaced with Expresscard slots
Integrated SD memory card reader Good choice
One HDMI connector I wonder what you have in this that can send High Def? I
don't see Blu-Ray In any event DVI is more common but can be converted to HDMI
Integrated microphone Good choice
four USB 2.0 ports, and one Mini 1394a (firewire port) Good choice
I would only get the laptop above if you had no other choice. What blows my mind
is that this is the laptop a school that is going to teach gaming to you
suggested. I would bet if the teachers know their stuff they did not have a say
so in what the school offered to you.
The best way to go and stay within your budget is the M570UR, the D900C is the
best laptop but we can't stay in the price range, Doesn't matter though. The
M570UR is more than enough and many times better than the HP they are trying to
push.
Here is what I think would work. I will do a screen shot of the web page I built
it on. You can look it over and if you like it just click the image and go to
the web site and duplicate there what I sent to you on the image.
OK, actually I am going to give you two options. The first one is my prime
choice with the best gaming card made, the second is the same laptop but with a
cheaper video card that will still be about one hundred times better than the
card they wanted to sell you. The prime choice is over budget and the next
choice is well within your budget. I am including the prime choice just so you
know what the best option would be. Do not be afraid to go with the second
option thought, it will still be just fine for your needs.
Q: Hi,
I'm looking for a 17 inch laptop. Apart from web browsing and email the main use
will be video editing of DV movies using Avid Liquid 7. I may also use Adobe
Premiere Pro version 2. I am archiving the edited DV movies to external hard
drives then converting them to MPEG-4 and burning DVDs. Below is the
configuration I've chosen from your website but I am not certain as to its
suitability to my needs. Please let me know if these components are the best for
what I want to do and also tell me if there would be any advantage in having two
hard drive with RAID 0.
Your advice will be appreciated.
A: I think your selection will work, however after reviewing
both software versions I can recommend a much more powerful configuration for
around the same $$ Drop the video card and go with the FX card Drop the 2.66 and
go with the 2.4GHz Quad Core Add in another 200GB SATA II and change standalone
to RAID 0 Stay with XP (our or your own copy) This will be by far the best
config for your work especially Adobe.
However, if you plan on gaming then the FX won't work and you will need the
8800M. For video editing the FX will work best for gaming the 8800M works best
and can also do gaming. However the 8800M is a very expensive card and it won't
do your video editing as well as the FX will.
The 2.66 is not any better than the 2.4 and saves you money
Hope this helps.
Q: Hi Jerry,
Thanks for your reply, it is very helpful. I have one further question.
Regarding the LCD display, I read on your website that the WSVGA+ display gives
the best resolution. Is this a better option for my video editing where the main
thing I am wanting detail but also a true image of the final product?
All of your advice makes sense
A: As long as you will be editing under 1050 WSXGA+ is best for
you. If you are doing 1080I such as Blu-Ray then you can go either way. WUXGA is
1200 and of course WSXGA+ is 1050. Either way you are not dead on, but some
would prefer too much and scale down then too little and have to drop lines. 30
lines is so small a difference I still think that WSXGA+ is best even if you
have HD editing in 1080I
Q: I am looking for a price on a Good Gaming / School laptop. I
want something that will play crisis on higher settings but it does not have to
be perfect..
I would prefer
AMD / ATI
over 2.4Ghz dual or 2.0 quad if available 320Gb HDD a nice 512MB video card with
512 on board not shared with ram if available I Dont know if I want 2 video
cards if one can do the job keep the laptop smaller and have a longer batt life
then 1 it is!
built in web cam
17" widescreen
illuminated keyboard would be nice too.
vista ultimate 64bit ed or 32 bit ed or no OS at all is ok wireless and
Bluetooth and a red case if available..
A: Well at this time we only have NVIDIA and Intel. AMD has
nothing worth considering in a mobile CPU and NVIDIA pretty much dominates the
video card market for gamers.
We have two laptops that have the power for gaming properly. The D900C and the
M570UR. Based on our comments I think the M570UR is your best bet. It is a
slimmer chassis and that seems to be the important based on your comments.
However if you want a Quad Core then you have to go with the larger D900C.
The D900C is the most powerful and because of its size allows for more power and
options.
The M570UR has plenty of power by anybodies standards and is lighter and
slimmer.
In the M570 the best choice would be the WSXGA+ with 8800M GTX Video using a
Intel 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo with 6MB of L2 Cache. The 6MB of L2 cache is really
going to help your multimedia aspect of gaming.
I would do either 2048MB of RAM or 4096MB is I was thinking that down the road I
may have to or want to go with Vista. Then I would choose the SATA II drive. The
SATA II drive is twice as fast as a normal SATA drive and will probably do more
for your gaming then any other single element.
If you do the D900C I would go with the same video screen and card, I would use
a 2.4GHz Quad Core CPU, two SATA II drives in a RAID 0 configuration with a
third drive as a standalone drive so your games could have the data files on
that drive and the program on the primary drive. Again either 2GB or 4GB of RAM
depending on your future needs.
I hope this gives you some guidance on your choices.
Q: System will not boot to windows. After initial "Black" Windows Screen, a brief "Blue Screen Appears (too fast to read) and the system attempts to reboot.
A: These reboots are because of a Windows error. Unfortunately Windows by default has itself reboot on errors. This causes the problem of not being able to read the error message because it just reboots over and over again. You can try tapping the F8 key as it is rebooting and try to catch the screen that allows you to boot into "Safe Mode". Then you can go to "MY Computer" and then to Advanced setting and uncheck the box that says "reboot on windows system error" Then you will be able to see what program or driver s causing the rebooting. That will give you a starting point for troubleshooting. Then you can talk with Tech support if any hardware malfunction is indicated. However 99% of these errors are caused my software/drivers. So there may not be anything specific a technician can do other than to suggest reinstalling the O.S. and see if it cleans up the problem. Then if it does, pay attention to what programs you install and when you install them. This way if the problem comes back you can know the cause of it and either contact that company for a fix or decide not to use that program.
Q: Thank you for the reply, there is no doubt that you build strong machines. I will be buying a 15.4" since I need to take it occasionally for travel. However, I am not sure I can justify the extra $1200 or so Am I missing something?
A:Overall laptop quality always plays a factor in prices. Many
people find our laptops that are years out of date still benchmark faster than
current models the competition offers today. Many times this is a combination of
starting with a better laptop base and after that it comes back to the fact that
we use special burn in processes that I.D. motherboard components that pass but
pass weakly. These get sold by other laptop companies because they do "Pass" ,
we dot sell units that have a weak pass on the open market. We sell them to a
Mexico client who doesn’t need M-Tech quality. So even companies that start off
with the same base case as we do still have a 5 times higher return rate. The
reason is these weak chips will fail eventually and until they fail they drag
down the whole laptops performance. So when older customers test our six year
old M-Tech Pentium 3 against a brand new Dell, we still beat them. Dell will
sell you a laptop because it passes the burn in, we will not. That difference
means Dells or any other brands laptop cannot run any faster than the slowest,
weakest component. This is true for any mainstream laptop. They are all in a
price war with each other. So they have to spend a fortune on advertising and
the only place left to reduce their prices is the laptop itself. It is pretty
basic. You have to advertise to let your customers know how inexpensive you are,
you can't cut costs there. So the only place left to cut costs is the laptop
itself, and as long as that laptop passes a burn in test it will get sold to
you. There is no guarantee that it passed as a 100% tough, it likely passed as a
weak 50%. The weakness will slow you down until the day it will fail. And it
will fail sooner than a chipset that passes with a 100%.
A:
You did not mention what size LCD you were looking for. In
general the M860TU is as fast a 15.4" as can be purchased, I like it in the
P9500 CPU with 4GB of RAM and make sure the 200GB SATA II drive. The 200 has a
larger buffer than the 120 or 160. You can carry this same configuration over to
the M5700. This is a 17" laptop that is second in power only to our D900C. The
D900C is too much for your needs, (overkill) the M5700 has plenty of power and
will actually become more current as the next year or two comes around. It is
using technology that is of little benefit now but as programs get updated then
all of a sudden the technology in the M860 and the M5700 will come alive. Until
then it is still faster than anything out there. (excluding the D900C of course)
Q: How do I guarantee that my new M-Tech continues to run as fast next year as it does today?
A: Every computer, EVERY Computer, will start to slow down the minute you star to use it. This has to do with several aspects. First is the hard rive platter itself changes its size minutely as it ages and atmospheric conditions change. This causes the low level formatting to change which changes the hard rive indexing. When the indexing changes then references to the hard drives changes and now you have programs and files that are not were the operating system thought they should be. This results in corrupt files. For this reason all hard drive manufacturers recommend that you reformat your hard drive once a year. Doing a full reformatting will re-index the hard drive and make sure all pointing references are accurate. Additionally Windows will occasionally damage or corrupt files. Then you have spyware, viruses, Trojans , worms etc.. All of these things will cause a computer to run slower and slower. Here are three types of programs that you may want to look at for performance preservation and protection.
http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/zonealarm_internet_security_suite.jsp
The first link if for a software removal tool that exceeds the normal level and efficiency of program installations. Most computer errors are due to programs confliction with each other or drivers. However many time just removing the program does little to erase the issue. Registry changes and .dll files still remain and cause the problem. A program .like this or any that claims to be as good, can do a more thorough job of cleaning off your hard the remains of a conflicting program.
The second link is a program I like and use. In time your laptop will accumulate files errors, registry errors and junk a bunch of junk. Fix-It 8 has the tools o keep the laptop fine tuned. Mind you that every laptop should be reformatted every year or two, but in between this program can keep it sailing smoothly.
The third link is for the all in one security package we talked about. It had firewall, antivirus, anti spyware and email protection. Please note that Fix it also has some antivirus abilities and Micro Soft has a firewall. You should only use one of each type of program and disable the others. Extra spyware programs is not a problem and may be a good idea. You can download Spybot S&D from our site and use it along with the fixit spyware and the zone alarm spyware for extra levels of protection. Again, Spyware is the only type of protection you should use multiple versions of.
You should have in a prior email the hard drive imaging software I found but if your computer guy has one he likes then you should go with that because he can help you set it up and maintained it, since he has knowledge of it.
Hope this helps get you started and keeps you practicing safe computing.
Q:I want fastest 15" laptop possible...
A: No question then . The M860TU is going to be as fast a 15.4" as possible. It uses Montevina CPU, DDR3 not DDR2 RAM FSB is 1066, go with SATA II 200GB or larger for the best HDD.XP is faster than Vista also.
Q:I ran into your website while trying to find the fastest laptop made I am glad I searched as I was about to go with Alien-ware I didn't even know laptops could have a Quad Core Processor or 8GB of memory. Anyway I just had a few questions I am interested in purchasing the fastest laptop possible but, I was wondering if the keys light up on your models, as I really like that feature on Alien-ware laptops as sometimes I need to type in the dark and love being able to see the keys since they glow, do you offer this in any way? Also how much does this type of notebook weight as I don't want to be carrying a dinosaur on my back... Please let me know...
A:Right now R&D still tells me that they are not satisfied the safety issue has been resolved. I am not aware of what exactly the safely issue is but I also know that they will be reluctant to go with anything that would damage our extremely low return for failure rate. Other companies integrate products that they know will have a high return rate if they feel the extra sales will make it worth it. We don’t use that philosophy. The good news though is that they are still working on it and if we ever do go with a back lit keyboard it will be rock solid. Also keyboards are very easy to change so when we get backlit keyboards you could swap out easily. A Quad core capable unit does weight quite a bit, anywhere between 12 to 14 pounds. Anything that can use QC needs to have several fans and large heat sinks. This really adda to the weight as does the huge battery it needs. If you want lighter weight you have to drop back to mobile CPUs, something like the M5700 is awesome and Alienware has nothing to match it. We use the NVIDIA 9800 for video. The Montevina CPU which nows allows M-Tech to be the first laptop to use DDR3 as system RAM not just video RAM. DDR3 uses half the wattage and runs cooler and is up to 4X faster bus speed than DDR2. Now keep in mind that DDR3 is so new and advanced that programs and benchmarks are not even able to register it yet. Sometime in the future when program are re-written to register DDR3 to it potential, you will all of a sudden wonder what the heck just happened. Your speed will scream. Until then though you are still faster than any other mobile based CPU laptop. Faster FSB and the Montevina is also a 25 watt CPU for cooler running which helps keep a laptop long term healthy
Hope this aids you a little bit.
Q: Why doesn’t a 64 bit OS outperform a 32 bit? Is it just that Vista is so large?
A:64 bit systems are potentially more powerful but slower because
of the extra CPU load a 64 bit algorithm generates. The fact that Vista is only
24% slower tells us that Vista is not actually using a full 64 bit algorithm.
Think of it as a tank. Nobody would ever tell you it wasn’t as powerful as a car
but nobody is surprised that a car still goes faster. Speed is not indicative of
power. A Ferrari is faster than a M1 Tank but the tank is more powerful. If you
are not using the system to its potential you may not be seeing the difference.
The same as if your Ferrari was limited to driving the same speed as the Tank.
The reason for delaying Vista is because Vista is designed to run
64 bit programs. The issue at hand is that there are no 64 bit programs to run.
The 64 bit virtual programs. In other words they took the same 32 bit program
and just re-wrote it o be compatible with a 64 bit O.S.
The day will come when programmers will figure out something that
when put into effect will require more than 32 bit algorithms, at that point the
program will be so outrages you won't care the switching to Vista costs you
speed, you will be happy with the trade off of features for speed. Your power
will increase but your speed will decrease. BTW this has been the case ever
since we left DOS. When Windows went from 8 to 16 bit you lost speed but gained
function then again when you went from 16 to 32 but. It will never be any
different.
Have I cleared this up or just muddied the waters?
A: If you are asking about specs. for gaming on the TN12R then I
would have to be discouraging and say the video card in a 12" laptop will never
be what you would deem adequate for gaming. The cards give off too much heat to
fit in a small chassis. The larger the laptop the better it is for gaming
because the faster CPU and video cards we can put into it.
A 15.4" is just adequate and will never benchmark as well as a
17" even if it has the same specifications because small size traps more heat
and more heat means slower performance from the same CPU.
The TN12R is a very nice laptop for students but I just cannot
allow you to think it will be a gaming laptop. You can split the size difference
and go with the M860TU for gaming or you can go up to a M5700 and have a 17"
that will be geared for gaming but you may find a 17" is larger than you want
for note taking.
Decide what the priority is and then get back with me. Then we
can build it up to be perfect for your games or programs.
A:The dual is slightly faster 14% but only during the most stressful times of gaming. All other times a dual card is of no advantage. I recommend the single card with 512MB for performance vs. value. The GTX is now the same as the GT (in the 9800) the only difference now is the amount of RAM. In fact the 9800GT is the same as the 8800GTX and the 9800 GTX is the same as the 8800M but with double the on board RAM. Do not bother with 1024 of RAM. That is just a waste of money.
Q:I am looking at buying a new gaming laptop, and am
currently looking at mtech as the most probable company to go with. What
I’m looking for is a machine with 64 bit Vista along with 8GB RAM, either a good
DUAL core or Quad core chip (not too sure which to go with but perhaps you could
advise me there). Since it’s a gaming machine, I really need graphics
cards that can handle the latest games in high settings mode and possibly SLI if
this is worthwhile and a True HD screen with 1920x1200. By looking at your
site, it’s the following sort of spec I want:
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17" WUXGA GlassView Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTX w/1024MB DDR3 Video RAM (Back Ordered) |
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Core 2 Quad 2.66GHz (Q9450)12MB L2 Cache 1333MHZ FSB (Best choice for power users, most powerful CPU for the money) |
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4096MB 2 DIMMS (800MHz) **4GB Memory useable only on Vista 64 Bit - XP uses only 2.8GB |
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RAID 0 setup - with third drive as standalone Requires three drives, two drives must be identical |
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Primary Hard Drive 200GB (7200RPM) SATA II 3Gb/s HDD |
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Secondary Hard Drive 200GB (7200RPM) SATA II 3Gb/s HDD |
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Third Hard Drive 200GB (7200RPM) SATA II 3Gb/s HDD |
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8X DVD±R/RW/4X DL Max. |
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Bluetooth, Web Cam,56K Modem/Ethernet,4 in 1 Card Reader, Intel Pro/Wireless 4965 AGN |
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Smart Li-Ion Battery |
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M-Tech Laptop Cooling Tray USB Powered |
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No Operating System - Drivers CD is included |
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Targus 17" Laptop Backpack |
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Lifetime Free Technical Support 626-243-3284 |
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One Year Warranty **Including UPS 3-day shipping both ways for repairs.(restrictions apply, please read below) |
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Microsoft Office 2007 (Basic Edition) - $200 |
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Not really sure if you could recommend me a better
machine, or whether the price is negotiable a bit. I live in the UK so I
would need a UK power supply, and also need to know whether you ship to the UK.
If you could help me, or give me some advice I’d appreciate it. I’ve heard
a lot of good things about your company which is why I’ve decided to contact
you. Looking forward to hearing from you.
A: 1 1/2 to 2 hours max is about the limit for the size of battery in the M570. Your laptop is too powerful to get 4-6 hours. Any laptop that could get 4-6 hours would be pathetically weak in performance. The claims by some of 4-6 hours are generally big lies based on the slowest CPU possible in a standby state, not actual usage. Most people using laptops of decent power no matter the brand find the facts of life are 1.5 is average and 2 hours is a gift from god. Your best bet is to keep your battery in top condition. This is done by using the battery as little as possible ( a battery has only about 500 recharges before it is dead) and when you do use it make sure you only use it when AC power is not necessary. However at least once every month or two, you should use the battery as far down as possible. This will require more than just running the battery in Windows. When using a battery in Windows the power management feature will shut the computer down somewhere around 10 to 13 percent. So if you only run a battery down thru Windows then you will have 10 percent of your battery never getting refreshed and it will eventfully die from lack of being refreshed. Then what is really 90 percent of your battery will be seen as 100 percent by Windows and then only 90 percent of that amount will get recharged. Then eventually that 10 percent of your remaining 90 will die, and so forth until you have a useless battery. So what you need to do is once every month or two drain the battery as far as Windows allows then shut down, reboot, hit F2 and go into your BIOS setup and turn the boot up routine from C: drive first to D: drive or any drive that can be left empty. What we are trying to do is have the computer be told to boot off a drive that does not have a bootable sector. You want to see the message No boot drive , or something to that effect. Then let the computer set at this blank screen until the battery is as drained as it can be. Then turn off the laptop, plug it back into the wall (did I mention unplug the laptop) and let it charge while the laptop is off. This done very month keeps the battery conditioned. If you have a battery that the life has become really short, then do this discharge recharge procedure three times and you will rest the technology in it and will have it as long of life as is possible for that battery Hope this helps.
Q: We got our daughter a M-tech laptop- Model : M66SRU What type of security would you suggest for her at college....laptop lock and recovery? Data backup?
A:Physical theft is hard to prevent because unless your daughter is diligent about the Kensington lock and cable she is likely to not like the laptop being bound in one place and not us it which makes its effective somewhere around 0%. There are a number of thing to retard the Likelihood. The cheapest is to put in a BIOS password and let everyone see that she uses it. This was even if someone were to steal the laptop and replace the hard drive the BIOS would still render the laptop DEAD. This is easy and free on your laptop. However if she forgets the password then she is locked out as well. There are also some companies that have a program that resides on a low level of the hard drive that broadcast it location VIA IP. address when it goes online after the theft. These are a neat idea but don’t work out well in the real life. Most internet providers would never provide you with the user ID of whoever belongs to the IP address you are looking for. So even if the laptop is saying here I am at I.P. 192.168.9.3 you could only find out what internet provider and possibly section of the country your daughters notebook ended up.
I think two things can be done to reduce the attractiveness of
your daughters laptop to theft. 1st, is make sure everyone knows you use a BIOS
password (then keep that password secret) and possibly think of getting a
paint job and personalized graphic applied to your laptop. These are permanent
and if you went 100% unique on your graphics nobody would dare steal the laptop
because it now does not look like any laptop ever made. It is 100% unique. If
she works at a desk or is very reliable about it she can get a Kensington Lock
and cable. At least she could lock up the laptop when she is not in the room. If
you want a customer paint job just contact someone here and we can out you in
touch with the division that does the customer work for M-Tech Laptops
I have bought already a computer that doesn't
really fit my needs. Tired of having to buy what they "recommend" and seeing the
incredibly bloated prices for regular machines, I would want you to help me on
choosing the correct system with the following characteristics:
A: You ask for things that are counter to each other. I can sell you a laptop that will run these programs and be light but it would NEVER be the laptop you should run these programs with. Programs like Sonar and heavy duty programs and they need serious power and more than one hard drive. These two items means you can go slim or light. When you increase CPU power you increase heat. When you have a slim laptop you cannot get the heat out very easily. Any laptop manufacturer that is responsible will not out the proper ZCPU for your needs in a slim laptop. The laptop would generate too much heat , that heat would kill the laptop in short order. In additional what heat builds up in drops your computing speed. So even if you had somebody that did you the disserve of putting a faster CPU onto a slim laptop you would not get the extra speed because of the increase resistance the heat would generate and then you would lose the laptop itself once the laptop motherboard got brittle from the constant heat. Once that MB gets brittle then all it takes is a slight twist of the laptop frame, which happens very easily in a slim and light laptop, and the MB now has a hairline crack that will be the end of the computer.
What you ask for is the same as asking for a great big vehicle with lots of power but still gets great gas mileage. I can understand why you want it but anybody tells you you can have it either is ignorant of the technology or is trying to sell you something. You buy a slim 17" for programs like Sonar and we both lose. Even the place you purchased from loses because you will be so upset with them later you won't ever buy from them again. Our job here is to match you a laptop for your needs, desires are secondary. Your desires are not consistent with your needs.
You need the D900C, a big and heavy laptop. However it has the power and the features to run sonar as fast as any desktop. We have full recording studios using this laptop with programs like Qbase and Sonar and they love it. They love it because it is what they need to have for the programs they run.
You may be interested in knowing that just last week the studio that works with artist like David Bowie, Isaac Hayes, Michael Jackson and many more also became a M-Tech customer. They appreciate our information and product so much they put us in contact with the Yamaha corporation. Yamaha informed us they have been watching our site for years to see what technology is capable of. To get even more exciting starting in December of this year the Yamaha corporation will be sung the D900C as the laptop that runs their heavy music equipment. You can see this at all the trade shows starting this Dec. 2008. The important thing is they know and so should you that while it would be nice to have your cake and eat it too, the physic and engineering aspect of computing just does not make what you want practical. Any laptop you buy with a CPU that can safely run in a slim and lightweight laptop has not the power to run your programs efficiently and no slim and light laptop can take the three hard drives you should have so you can tweak the laptop to run audio editing software. You need RAID 0 which in itself requires two drives and then you need a third drive as a temp drive for the data drive in Sonar. The D900C is the only laptop that can accomplish this, otherwise you have to sacrifice or go to a desktop.
While you speak about the D900C, it is way too expensive
for what I would like to spend now on a new travel laptop.
I like to spend time with the machine
I buy. Last one (three years ago) was a 1.7 Centrino with 2Gb RAM and it worked
great for my needs. It now died and I'm looking a good system to last at least
three more years. I have other friends who are waiting for me to buy their own,
same model.
While I thought I was being clear enough on this on my previous email, I
apologize for making you think I'm falling on the "impossible" spot.
At the same time, I would like to
modestly offer you my website design and coding skills to help you on the site,
should you consider that.
Hope you can now help me better to decide.
The best option for you without going to a full blown editing
system would be the M5700. Go with the standard Video screen, choose the
P9500 Intel 2.53GHz CPU, 4096 MB of 1066 RAM, a 200 or 320 GB SATA II (not SATA)
HDD. The 200 and larger has a bigger buffer than the 120 GB and 160GB.
Of course stay with XP Pro not Vista. If you ever think that
you may go with Vista then you can add the Intel Turbo RAM for that future day.
It won't help XP but you won't have to send the laptop back to get it installed.
Howe3ver right now you need to stay with XP. We talk with the
companies that make these programs and they dislike Vista and see no good reason
to switch. We agree.