Sager Laptops: Worth it or overpriced?

[SnakeCharmer]

I need want to replace my work laptop, and since over the next couple of years I am going to be doing a good bit of travelling, I want to be able to take my gaming with me.

I've looked at Alienware, Sager, and kiting out a Dell or Gateway.

Enter Sager.

This is a work purchase/expense, so I don't have to clear it through the wife, but I'd like to keep it at abt 2500 or less.  Their prices seem inline with everyone else.  Every Dell/Gateway/Alienware/Sager I build comes to about 2500 or so, all with comparable specs - 2.5ish dual core with 6MB cache, 4 gb RAM, 8800M GTX, Vista Premium, 17" screen, 100ish GB 7200RPM harddrive, etc.

Is the 8800M GTX t h a t much better than the 8700M GT?  I'm not quite looking for +60fps on max settings for CoD4, or Crysis full tilt.  But I would like to run the 'nex gen' games at med to med high settings and still get great framerates.

[Mrbloodworth]

I have an Acer, i game, 3d model/render, work with large imagery, and have never had an issue.
Good machines, good prices.

[murdoc]

I need want to replace my work laptop, and since over the next couple of years I am going to be doing a good bit of travelling, I want to be able to take my gaming with me.

I've looked at Alienware, Sager, and kiting out a Dell or Gateway.

Enter Sager.

Is the 8800M GTX t h a t much better than the 8700M GT?  I'm not quite looking for +60fps on max settings for CoD4, or Crysis full tilt.  But I would like to run the 'nex gen' games at med to med high settings and still get great framerates.

I would say YES. I have the 8700 GT and everything I've read puts the 8800 GTX miles ahead of it. Sager makes some pretty sweet laptops. If I were to do it all over again, I'd probably go with them.

Some pretty decent info can be found at http://forum.notebookreview.com/, including display drivers and SLi tweaks, if you decide to go that route.

[Dtrain]

I did a lot of research on this topic recently and ultimately decided against Sager due to the needs of the laptop user I was helping.

Sager makes the best performing laptops out there - the NP926X even uses desktop CPUs. Compared to other "high end" laptops, it's at about the same price level, for a much better computer. And yes, the 8800M GTX really is far and above any of the earlier mobile GPUs.

The tradeoff is in battery life and portability. The thing is 12 to 15 pounds if I recall correctly and has a web browsing battery life of about an hour.

If you're the type of person who is willing to pay for a premium part (and actually get a premium part,) demands the best gaming performance, and does not plan to transport your lap top a lot, the Sager is for you.

If you want to remain thrifty, game only in addition to productive work, and you plan on being somewhat mobile with your laptop on at least a semi-daily basis, drop the sager like it's hot.

[SnakeCharmer]

The laptop will spend 80 percent of the time at my desk, using MS Outlook, Word, Excel, and Adobe Acrobat reader.  The other 20 percent of the time it will spend at a hotel room desk.  So portability isn't all that much of a concern.  I won't be putting on an old pair of courdaroys, my favorite Beatles tshirt, and going and hanging out in coffee shops with wi-fi access.

I'm not looking for premium performance, really.  I'm not looking to run Crysis at max and get +60 FPS.  If I can get really good performance for 500 or 1000 dollars less, I'll do it.  I'm not that frivolous with my money. 

As such, I did stumble across this Gateway.

Points of interest on the P-172S FX:
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor2 T5750 (2.00GHz, 667MHz, 2MB L2 cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit) SP1
3072MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (1-1024MB & 1-2048 MB module)
160GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ 8MB cache
8x Multi-Format Dual Layer Slot Load DVD-RW w/ DVD-RAM
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
Intel® PM965 Chipset
17.0" WXGA+ Ultrabright TFT Active Matrix (1440 x 900 max. resolution)
Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Web Cam
Integrated Realtek 802.11b/g Wireless Networking

Price is 1,399 USD.  Seems like a snazzy deal to me.

[Dtrain]

Yes, I was actually going to suggest that one based on your response to the Sager.

The CPU is a little weaksauce, but it's replaceable (google search will probably yield more details,) and the native resolution is fairly poor. Having a display at a docking station wouldn't be a bad idea with this one.

[SnakeCharmer]

That's the plan.  I've already got two monitors at work, just need the docking station to go with it.

I figure if I'm not happy with the proc down the road, I can replace it, as you said.  The notebook website you (i think?) mentioned said something about it.

Gonna sleep on it a day or two, not in a huge rush to buy one yet.