I love my desktop PC. I built it myself and it has served me well these last few years. At 3GB RAM, 1GB Video RAM and a dual-core AMD 64-bit CPU running at 2.6 Ghz, it was built to play games and play games it has, from Tiger Woods, to NHL, to Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines to World of Warcraft - I have been entertained aplenty, and even managed to keep track of my finances and write a few blogs. Alas, I can’t tuck ye ole PC under my arm and carry it downstairs or take it with me when I go to North Carolina for holidays and visits or on vacation.
While it is true that I have a work issued laptop, there are two problems that present themselves. The first being rather obvious - it’s not mine; sure I’m allowed to use it for personal stuff, but if I ever had to turn it in for any reason, I wouldn’t want to have to remember to remove personal data from it. Secondly, not being intended for games it doesn’t have the power for it (I know, I’ve tried to play WoW on it and it was horrible). So I finally decided that having my own personal laptop where I can keep Quicken, World of Warcraft or anything the hell else I want and have access to those programs whether I’m home or not. Once I determined for a certainty that my tax refund would cover the cost, I headed out to buy a laptop.
Seeing as how whatever laptop I was going to buy would ultimately end up being a complete replacement of my desktop for everyday use, I determined that, even though I could get one with similar processor speed and RAM as my desktop for a few hundred dollars, it would make more sense to splurge a bit and get something with enough power to not have to worry about upgrades for quite awhile. That being said, here’s the side by side comparison for the desktop (tower) that I built several years ago and the laptop I bought three weeks ago:
| Desktop | Laptop | |
| Brand & Model | Self built - using an Asus Motherboard | HP Envy dv7-7292nr (full data sheet) |
| CPU | AMD 64-bit Dual Core 2.6Ghz | Intel i7 Quad Core - 2.4Ghz |
| RAM | 3GB DDR2 (4GB max) | 12GB DDR3 (16GB max) |
| Dedicated Video RAM | 1GB DDR3 (NVIDIA chipset) | 2GB gDDR5 (NVIDIA Chipset) |
| Hard Drive Space | 3 total - primary internal (contains OS and apps) =150GB, secondary internal (used for documents and music) 500GB; external (videos and movies) 500GB | 1TB (NOTE: the document and multimedia drives on the desktop have been setup for network sharing so are accessible to the laptop via the home network) |
| Other Stuff | USB ports - 4 on the back, 2 on the front and a 7 port powered hub. NIC - 10/100 | USB ports - 4 (3x 3.0, 1x 2.0) Multi format Digital Media Card Reader NIC - 10/100/1000 WiFi - 801.11 b/g/n Bluetooth |
My desktop PC still works just fine, and in fact still serves as a file share on my home network and media player whenever I’m gaming on the laptop. The performance when playing things like World of Warcraft has been outstanding. It’s amazing to me just how much of a difference the two extra CPU cores and nine more gigabytes of RAM has made in gaming and multitasking. There are, of course some other considerations when evaluating a new machine.
Screen Resolution
The screen resolution on the HP Envy is phenomenal. My desktop has a video card with DVI outputs, but the laptop’s resolution is very impressive. It’s quite amazing to play a video game in HD.
Battery Life
Battery Life is advertised as “Up to 3 hours and 30 minutes”. I’m not stupid enough to actually let a laptop battery (or any Lithium Ion battery for that matter) drain completely dead if I can avoid it. But, I did allow the laptop on at least one occasion to run on battery until it was down to around 16%. That took roughly 3 hours, while also running WiFi connection to the Internet as well as powering the cooling mat I had it sitting on. So, apparently the advertised battery life is pretty accurate, but I don’t bank on it staying that way (batteries do, after all, wear out over time).
Software
One of the primary reasons that I started building my own PCs a few years ago rather than buying “off the rack” was all the preinstalled software; what has become known as “bloatware”. The manufactures, as a selling point, add a bunch of “free, included” software. The new laptop is no different. The upside, of course, is that it can be uninstalled. It’s pretty rare that I find any of it useful. With the exception of the included software for the built in webcam and a few games, I’ll likely shitcan the bloatware on this thing.
Accessorizing
Naturally, with a new laptop, it was necessary to pick up some new accessories. I despise using the touchpad on a laptop, so I had to buy a mouse. Laptops tend to get hot, so I picked up a cooling pad. Since it’s being used to replace the desktop, I picked up a HDMI to DVI adapter cable so I could extend the desktop to one of my other monitors when I’m in my home office.
Logitech Performance MX Mouse -
- Comfort: A - not quite as comfortable as the MS Ergonomic Mouse 7000, but since my MS mouse died a horrible death over a year ago (don’t drink whiskey and troubleshoot your WiFi, kids; the result is a shattered mouse) and is not purchasable without buying the whole keyboard+mouse combo, this is the closest thing to it’s shape and comfort level I’ve found without also paying a ridiculous amount of money.
- Performance: A+ - I’m not sure how one would rate performance on a mouse, per se. But this one works very nicely. I appreciate the extra buttons which can be programmed to my liking.
- Battery Life: C (?) - only 3 weeks and I have change the battery? Every other mouse or keyboard I’ve owned has kept battery life for months. On the plus side, it has a built in recharge circuit to be able use use NiMH rechargeable batteries. While the online reviews of the recharge feature have been pretty bad, the upside is that the mouse will work with it plugged into the USB port of the computer even without a battery in it. I’ve given it a C rather than a D or F for now because, to be fair, I’m using cheap ass dollar store batteries, which could be the real culprit here. I also haven’t tested the rechargeable feature yet.
Targus Chill Mat + - Some reviews of this cooling pad have been less than stellar, but so far it’s done a pretty good job. When gaming, naturally, the laptop heats up a bit, so having an extra set of fans underneath it as well as a mat that tilts up to allow better airflow (and also helps with bringing the screen up higher) is definately a good thing. This cooling pad also includes a four port USB hub which comes in handy for me since I can leave my keyboard dongle attached to the mat’s hub - essentially, it’s probably as close to a docking station as I’ll get.
In all, I'm very confident in my choice especially considering that I had looked at Dells and other brands that cost the same or more for slightly lesser specifications.
~ JC
Footnotes:
1. Previous Blogs in this series:
Footnotes:
1. Previous Blogs in this series:
- "Windows Ocho - Day 1" - Sunday, January 27, 2013
- "Windows Ocho - Week 1" - Sunday, February 3, 2013
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