[BlueMak]

I have noticed some companies having the exact same case for their laptops and I thinking that perhaps they buy the laptops from another company.

Example of this is the laptops from Vigor Gaming Computer: The Gaming PC with Extreme Vigor™

and

Notebooks & PDAs : Notebooks : ??? ?? Notebooks : Turbo-X Dominus GN93-432GTX - Plaisio Computers

Both have similar configurations too.

Then there is this one
MULTIRAMA

Which though I haven't seen it elsewhere, the case screams oem (or just bad taste).

Last, this Alienware
[1] Area-51® m15x

Display: 15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Fuchsia
Operating System: Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium - English
Graphics Processor : 512MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 2048MB
Turbo Cache Memory: Intel Turbo Cache Memory 1GB – Accelerate Data Transfer Speed
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 320GB 5400 RPM SATA
Smart Bay: None
CD/DVD/RW: 8x Dual Layer Writer (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Sound Hardware: Intel® High-Definition Audio (24-bit, 192Khz) with surround sound
Keypad: Alienware® Area-51 m15x AlienFX® Keyboard - English
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Warranty: AlienCare 1-Year Free Phone 24/7 and Collect & Return
AlienContact: Added Bonus with any AlienSupport Selection
AlienContact - Remote Alienware Support
Monitor: (None)
Mobile Transport: Alienware® Odyssey Backpack
Security Locks: Targus Combination Notebook Security Cable


Mind you I am not going to buy right now, but still looking.


Interestingly enough, apart from the Vigor laptop, none has an option for Vista 64. (I include several other laptops in this, from Toshiba, to Dell, to Lenovo etc)

[Tipstaff]

There's only around 10 or so ODMs out there that make the casings, and the key components such as the motherboard and display. Guys like Quanta, Asus, Acer, Samsung, LG, Clevo, Compal, and Mitac (to name a few) are probably the biggest. Some sell their own units, such as Asus, LG, and Acer, or they sell these to OEMs, such as Dell, HP, Compaq, and such. Some OEMs buy exclusively from one ODM, or buy from different ODMs for specific lines. Dell, for instance, buys from Asus (previously Compal although they still migh) and Quanta at the moment.

In the case of the first 2 links you posted the units look like it could be from LG (it looks very similar to the T1 and S1 chassis).

[BlueMak]

So you don't think I should worry much about build quality?


What do you think of the third one, with the Q6600 CPU. I didn't know there were laptops with quad core cpu.
I wonder which would be better, a penryn t9300 (2.5Ghz) or the Q6600, speed wise, not battery life.

[swimtech]

With a laptop - support is a huge concern.

Take a look at the companies' support pages, checking bios and driver updates, and warranty performance - the odds are about 1 in 3 or 4 you'll need to use the warranty during the first three years. If it doesn't come with a three year warranty, I would recommend you buy the warranty extension to extend it to three years - if you're planning on using it for three years, and most folks do.

[Tipstaff]

Originally Posted by BlueMak

So you don't think I should worry much about build quality?

What do you think of the third one, with the Q6600 CPU. I didn't know there were laptops with quad core cpu.
I wonder which would be better, a penryn t9300 (2.5Ghz) or the Q6600, speed wise, not battery life.

I'd still be worried about build quality. Even if a trusted guy makes a laptop for Dell, like Quanta for instance, and makes a laptop for someone else, doesn't necessarily mean that non Dell is good quality. It doesn't necessarily mean it's bad either though, but a question of quality will come to mind due to a number of factors. It may use the same chassis, maybe even the same LCD, but the board could be designed to a different spec (using cheaper components), the OEM/seller could be using crap hard drives, crap ram, and just plain old crap everything else to get the cost down.

The main reason to go with a name brand, like Dell, HP, LG, Acer, or whomever it may be isn't because of the name, it's because of consistency of quality and reliability, customer service, support (as swimtech pointed out), and warranty.

If I had a choice between the 3 you posted I would go with Vigor as it's a name I recognize, and have heard most positive than negative about. The company was started in 2004 by former employees and management of ViciousPC who went out of business in 2002. Unlike Vicious, Vigor has been getting better than average reviews, are geared more towards the enthusiast market, above average support, and all their machines come with a 3 year warranty. 'Course, that means nothing if they aren't around in 3 years (RIP ViciousPC).

As for the 3rd link, I can see it having a quad core. Intel announced that they would be putting out quad core CPUs for laptops about a year back with the first ones being the Q6600 and the Q6700, so it's very possible. I don't remember if they were the first, but I do remember that Dell at one time had one under their XPS line, however I haven't seen one from any of the name brand guys for quite some time.

[BlueMak]

Interesting.



I found one more, but it is from Germany and crazy enough it is in german, that I don't speak. It sells the same laptop chassis as Vigor and Turbo-X (but in a grey and not orange colour stripe), and when I custom build it to very similar components it is almost 500 euros cheaper...
mySN® Schenker-Notebook

Do you know them?


As you both mentioned, I am all for getting a cheaper with faster components, but if the support and/or build quality is not as good then what...

I mean, is there a reason why Toshiba gives a 4 year warranty for free, where the others give 1? Then the Toshiba is not as fast as the others, with just a radeon 2600 and a T7xxx CPU.

Meh, I wish I had few thousand dollars for this without caring- worrying about it.

[Tipstaff]

Never heard of mySN.

However, I did find out who the ODM for all the laptops you've linked to is. Its Clevo (HERE is the 17" notebook page from them). Took me a bit, but I thought the one from Multirama looked familiar, and I was right as it's the same one that VoodooPC sold last year as the Envy H 171.

One thing to note is that usually the build quality is the same as you'd get from everyone else that sells that exact unit as far as chassis, lcd, and motherboard goes. Makes more financial sense to maintain quality throughout a production. However, it's not always the case. A I said earlier the ODM could use different components to make the board depending on the client. They could use more expensive ones, such as better capacitors, per request by the OEM, or they could use cheap ones, or even use cheaper plastic for the casing to keep the cost down for other OEMs. For the most part, though, it's pretty much the same. So, in a way you could read up on the reviews of laptops from guys (particularly name brand guys) that sell that particular unit to see how it fairs. Only problem is that this is only useful as far as those 3 components go in most cases. Everything else however, is left up to the OEM. Ram, hard drive, optical drive, processor, wireless card, and video card (if it uses an MXM card that is) are almost always left up to them.

BTW, the warranty is a perfect example of how ODMs treat their choice OEMs. With Dell, HP, Toshiba, or any high profile company that deals in volume, ODMs will put a lot of effort into keeping these guys happy. So, they will make long term deals for service that they would not make with some, or they will use choice parts that they will not use with others. This doesn't always translate into a longer OEM warranty though. They will get a long term warranty from the ODM as their laptops will be on the market a long time, but some OEMs don't pass that along to a customer unless you pay for it. As well, most companies will stick to a 1 year life cycle, so offering 3 years for most of their laptops is not financially smart, because they want you buying a laptop from them every year.

[BlueMak]

Very interesting.
I checked the site and they have drivers for both vista 64 and xp, they look recent too. That's one fear away. Of course they could still have a problem with Vista SP1, I wouldn't know.


As I said, the Toshiba I can get with 4! years warranty for free, which is a huge bonus, but with a slower CPU and a x2600 graphics card instead of a 8800m gtx.
So far the Q6600 system (the Multirama one) looks like the winner, apart from the horrible chassis. It's ugly.
I don't know though if the Q6600 is worth it, if the cpu is that faster than the t9300 (dual core though), plus it has 2gb of RAM instead of 4, but it is 100 euros cheaper.

But, I have another 3-4 months till I buy a laptop, so I guess prices could drop more.

Thank you for your help.

[Tipstaff]

Not a prob, Bluemak.

In regards to the drivers, while the ones on their site are not up to date, thankfully they use pretty standard drivers. Take that M570RU (the ones you linked to in your first post). That particular laptop seems to be using the Realtek HD audio chip, so getting updated drivers for that is pretty easy. The other drivers you'd have to go through to see who makes what.