Lightweight Gaming - 13"-14" IVB+650M Machines?

[ComradeNF]

I'm in the exact same boat as you. I need a 13-14" notebook with a GT 650M or better GPU that can still get 4+ hours of battery life, but still be fairly portable. The NP6110 is a little too small (I owned a 11.6" HP DM1z and my father owns an 11.6" Acer AO722-BZ454). The 11.6" display is very uncomfortable to do work on. 15.6" is too large and heavy for me since I will be transporting the laptop around often since I will be going to university (A desktop is not an option for me). That rules out the NP6165 and the NP9130.

As you said, the Y480's garbage GT 640M LE (which is basically a GT 630M) is horrible. I was expecting a GT 650M at release with a GTX 660M option later on.

I'm waiting for a notebook with a 13-14" display with a GT 650M or better (or the Radeon equivalent). 4+ hours of battery life is a must, and a dual core ivy bridge CPU would be great. I would prefer a 2.5" hard drive for storage and an optional MSATA slot so I could throw a Crucial M4 MSATA in there when they come out and use it as my boot drive. I would really prefer not to have a 128GB SSD soldered in there and no space for a hard drive. I don't care about optical drives, I don't even use them.

The Gigabyte above seems pretty promising though!

[HTWingNut]

Yeah I don't know why there aren't more 13" performance notebooks out there. Seems it would be a popular model as much as I hear people asking for it, myself included.

[VideSupra]

Yeah I don't know why there aren't more 13" performance notebooks out there. Seems it would be a popular model as much as I hear people asking for it, myself included.

No kidding - Macbooks carved out an entire market area with performance 13" and Ill put money on them having a new Macbook Pro 13" in June. Bummer that nobody wants to stick a good GPU into a 13"-14" laptop.

[Karamazovmm]

Im in the same boat as you, the s430 from lenovo is one that Im looking at, if it comes with a gt 640m, kepler core Im sold on it, however if it comes with th LE variant, I will just simply buy a egpu thunderbolt powered when they come out, it will still be fairly portable.

The new vaio SA should be one to be looking for, I dont expect the screen to be any better, although in terms of gamut, contrast and some other stuff it would be a downgrade for me, the added res would be very beneficial.

The t430u from lenovo is also another thing to look at, it will come with a nvidia gpu, dunno about what is as well, lets hope that it comes with thunderbolt too, not confident tough.

aside that I think acer is going to make another of their timelinex refresh, lets hope its throttle free, the past revision was hideous in that regard.

[Syrch]

Also in the same boat. Looking for something light that I can do some developing on as well as gaming. Nothing out there really strikes out at me. I've been on the fence with the sager NP6110, I think I've finally decided on just going with a 15" instead, since I need one in the next couple of weeks.

I'm sure they'll be out eventually, just not very soon. Maybe we'll hear some announcements come Monday?

[VideSupra]

There will be lots of announcements on Monday - XOTIC said ASUS may have a 13"/14" with 650M and IVB as well.

Also, Ive talked to several Lenovo reps and they said that the 650M is most likely coming sometime in May. They said that there will more likely than not be a 650M model, they just don't have anything built/configured yet.

If the 650M+IVB model is at the sale prices the 480 currently is (~1k) then I am totally sold. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Hope they don't screw it up again.

[jpsm]

6110 and 6165 have the 650 but it seems that alot of people are having problems pulling the trigger. I am coming from a 13' laptop which in my opinion is the perfect size notebook and ifeel that 11.6 is just small and 15 really bulky because. Anyway i am also facing this problem and i hope that i find a way to decide through reviews and gaming performance on both machines only then will i be comfortable purchasing my next laptop


Currently:Macbook unibody 13.3 late 2008.
Getting a 6165 or a 6110 as soon as i see reviews when playing games!

[VideSupra]

6110 and 6165 have the 650 but it seems that alot of people are having problems pulling the trigger. I am coming from a 13' laptop which in my opinion is the perfect size notebook and ifeel that 11.6 is just small and 15 really bulky because. Anyway i am also facing this problem and i hope that i find a way to decide through reviews and gaming performance on both machines only then will i be comfortable purchasing my next laptop


Currently:Macbook unibody 13.3 late 2008.
Getting a 6165 or a 6110 as soon as i see reviews when playing games!

I'm going to hold out as long as I can in the hopes that the Y480 comes around and gives me a damn 650M option. Failing that, I'll have to drop to 11.6" and go with the Sager. It's a great machine, why can't it just be an inch bigger!

[A_Grounded_Pilot]

Honestly. How about a 13" with only an mSATA SSD for storage, and use the extra space for a second fan to help cool a 75w GPU and a 45w IVB?

[Syrch]

Honestly. How about a 13" with only an mSATA SSD for storage, and use the extra space for a second fan to help cool a 75w GPU and a 45w IVB?

This. I want a 13-14" screen, no CD Drive, SSD, and 650M. I wouldn't even mind the 15.6" screen, but they are all big and bulky.

Heck, why not a 15" screen with a 650M, SSD Drive, No CD Drive, small 4-6 cell battery, with an optional 9 cell if someone really wants it. This keeps the weight down while still delivering on performance. With Optimus & IVB, the battery on a 6 cell should last a few hours.