Which of these three notebooks?

[Les Nagy]

I am interested in buying a new notebook for video editing and am torn between three options:

#1
MSI
Canada Computers | Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets | MSI GT70-004US, Gaming Notebook (Black) - 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3610QM (2.30GHz, Quad-Core), 17.3" FHD (1920x1080) non-Glare, 16GB RAM, 2 x 64GB SSD (RAID) + 750GB HDD 7200rpm, NVIDIA GeForce
All reviews say it is a great machine, it has eSATA at least for connection, but some reports are that the screen is a bit low quality. It also has two SSD drives in RAID for very fast operation.

#2
Asus
Canada Computers | Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets | ASUS G75VW-DS72, Gaming Notebook (Black) - 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3610QM (2.30GHz, Quad-Core), 17.3" FHD (1920x1080), 16GB RAM, 750GB HDD 7200rpm + 256GB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M 3GB, Blu-r
All reviews say it is good, screen is not bad, but only as USB3 as its highest storage connection option. Another minus for me is Have had some bad experience with a G73

#3
Samsung
Samsung NP700G7C-S01CA Intel Core i7 3610QM 16GB 1.5TB 17.3in FHD GTX675 Bluray Win7 Notebook - Samsung - NP700G7C-S01CA
What reviews exist say it is as fast as the others, has the best screen of all, but gets very hot and has only USB3 again.

I would buy the MSI without hesitation if it weren't for the reported screen quality. I would buy the Samsung next if it didn't get to a reported 110°F on parts of the keyboard. My experience with my G73 has left me a bit cold on Asus.

Any opinions? I hate analysis paralysis.

[Mark Watson]

I recommend #2. It has a large enough SSD to use as your primary drive. It has 4 USB 3.0 ports. I have moved all my video editing projects onto separate 1TB portable USB 3.0 drives and like that arrangement. If you're planning on getting some acceleration benefits out of the graphics card in these 3 laptops, be sure to check with the manufacturer of your NLE to see if it's supported. It has a BD drive. It's a good looking laptop also. Price looks fair.

#1 has 2 64GB in a RAID, but even assuming this is a striped aray configuration, then you would have a very fast 128GB primary drive, but for me that is a little too small for all my programs and the OS. Also, I'd prefer not to introduce one more area of risk to my C drive, so I'd avoid having RAID there.

Mark

[Oren Arieli]

I purchased the GT-70 with the single 750GB drive (empty slot for 2nd drive). Used it on a mission-critical edit only 2 days after purchase. It handled CS5 and AE like a boss. Screen quality was good. No glare and wide viewing angle. Audio was decent, not great (but I have yet to hear excellent audio from a laptop). I edited to external drive via eSata, but have recently installed an SSD as my boot drive. Startup time is around 28 seconds (cold start). I would prefer having a BluRay burner installed, but doubt I would make too much use of it (optical media is on it's way out anyhow).
Backlit multi-color keyboard is a nice bit of bling. Battery life is excellent for a gaming/editing computer (approx 5.5 hours, although I haven't had the chance to verify that). If you don't mind the portly dimensions and the 8.6 lb weight (10lbs with power supply), you might like this one.

[Les Nagy]

Thank you both of your replies. I have had some bad experience with an ASUS G73 and was trying to find anyone with experience withe the MSI. I am leaning towards the MSI at this point.

[Mark Watson]

If you can't find the laptop with all the features you want, you might want to take a look at Sager laptops. They offer several "base" models and allow you to choose between various options for things like CPU, RAM, graphics, etc.

I think their pricing is competitive, and I've had no issues with the quality (I own two of them). I've attached a sample of a custom build which came out to $2,174.

Specs are similar to what you're considering. In addition to what's listed in the attachment, it has: color progammable backlit keyboard, eSATA, DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, USB 3.0 x3, USB 2.0 x1, IEEE 1394a, 9-in-1 card reader.


Mark