There are definitely some supply issues going on in the upper end of the laptop market, but more on that later.
I started my search for a new gaming laptop with the Asus F3 series. As usual, this particular machine in my collection is predominantly driven by the requirements for the latest mobile video card chip on the market. The last machine, an Asus Z96J, had been equipped with an ATi Mobility Radeon X1600. The latest and greatest this time around was the nVidia 8600M series video processor. The M comes in 4 different flavors, each with one or two variants: the low end 8400M GS and GT, the 8600M GS and GT, and the 8700M GT. The 8700M GT is only available in North America in the Toshiba Satellite X205-series of laptops. These were initially ruled out due to their gargantuan 17" form factor. (While I went with a 17" HP temporarily to fit this purchase, I won't cover that decision as a previous post already covers it). Additionally, the X205 starts around $1999, and my desire was to find a replacement very near the cost of the previous machine, which I paid around $1350 for.
The 8400M series is barely game-capable, only meeting the minimum requirements for hosting newer games at low frame rates and low detail levels. The 8600GS, from the practical experience of the HP dv9548us, got by well with older games, but suffered under newer DirectX10 titles and even when running those games in DirectX9-mode had to have many of the detail levels of those newer titles cranked down.
I was firmly in the market for an 8600GT. Supplies these days are short. Of the available vendors I only have found Dell, CyberPower, iBuyPower, ProStar, and Sager offering models with the chip. Dell was only offering the 256MB version in its Inspiron 1520/1521 line of notebooks. Same for CyberPower and iBuyPower until recently, but even then those availabilities have fluctuated from day-to-day; one day the 512MB version is available, the next day only the 256MB version is available.
On all of the vendor sites, the lead times for models with the required video chip and higher resolution displays (1440 x 900 or 1680 x 1080) have been as much as 3 weeks. ProStar claims a 6-day lead time, but I had a hard time believing this when Dell's times were out so far. Additionally, when I originally contacted ProStar and Sager by phone and email, respectively, both were not very confident in meeting advertised lead times on the higher res screens. I was pretty much determined to go with a solution-in-a-box, preferably from Newegg.
Over on the 'Egg, the best-priced low end competitor was the Asus F3V-X1, at $1199. This model was hamstring by a 2.00GHz Core 2 Duo, 1GB of RAM, and the 8600M GS at 256MB. This model would have also required me to chunk down $50 extra to get an extra 1GB stick of RAM to bring it up to 2GB. The crux was that to make a jump up required an increased outlay of $500 to get into an Asus G1, and that model still only has the 256MB version of the 8600M GT.
About 2-weeks ago, the model I wound up purchasing was available at $1400, only a $100 premium over the Asus F3, and it had a faster processor, twice the video memory, and the next level-up video card. Additionally, the design aesthetic was much nicer than the F3, and at $400 less than the G1 and with a better video card. Newegg sold out of this model about three days later while I was still thinking about getting out of the recently purchased HP, which was chugging in many applications. They restocked about a week later. That stock remained available for about 3 days. Two hours after I pushed the 'submit' on my order, they sold out again, and still are as of this date. I'll wrap up this synopsis with my posting of this find over at the GameSpot forums:
"I am not a Newegg employee or an iBuyPower Employee. I am posting this just because I see a lot of people in this forum looking for gaming laptops in here in lower price ranges, so I just wanted to point this particular model out.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834227028
It comes in for about $100 to $200 more than the Asus F3 models for sale, but about $500 cheaper than Asus models equipped with the 256MB 8600GT, and is equipped with the 512MB version of the 8600M GT.
The screen is only 1280 x 800, which might matter depending on your requirements.
Fear of the iBuyPower brand-name: this is my second iBP laptop, although I have only ordered the direct-to-online-vendor models from Newegg, as iBP does not have a very high vendor rating for its own site. Consumer reviews of the buying experience direct from the website seem to be either gushingly positive reviews of the great deal the customer received, to horror stores of interfacing with iBP when something went wrong with an order. Newegg's policy will contend with certain issues of their own accord.
My last model is linked here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834227002R
There was about one week between the time I caught this model available at Newegg and the time it sold out the first time. The recent restocking lasted about three days. Two hours after I ordered mine they sold out again. The model is not available right now, and iBP's site shows the model only available with the 256MB 8600M GT, which is a change. When I was considering my purchase from Newegg, iBP had their configurable version available with the 512MB version.
The CRZ-90 is built on the Compal FL-90 chassis. ProStar sells a configurable version as well for about $50 more than the CRZ-90 at Newegg and was my fallback if Newegg had sold out before I ordered mine. Sager also sells a model on the same foundation, but the last I checked it was a good chunk more expensive. I also see the Compal chassis available as a whitebox that you install with your own components available at several sites online, if you are looking for other routes to purchase the same model that cause less concern over the branding.
If anyone wants to know the scoop, I'll post a couple of threads of initial impressions after I receive mine tomorrow or Tuesday, and maybe another after exercising it for a week or two, since there are no customer reviews on this specific model up on Newegg yet. As to iBP's track record, I can only offer anecdotal reports of my experience with the last model I had."
The CRZ-90 arrives tomorrow, so there will definitely be a posted report of the results upon its arrival. I may even try pulling off an unboxing video that will cover both the unboxing and the initial setup. It will wind up being pretty lengthy, so I'll make it available for download and you can watch at your leisure and skip ahead when you get bored. Until then, take care.
- Vr/Z.