i5 laptop for media work with HD+ or 1080p lcd, usb 3.0, and esata?

G

grenadier

Limp Gawd
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May 5, 2002
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I'm a filmmaker / multimedia guy and am looking for a relatively portable laptop (14, 15, or 16") with at least:

Display: 1440x900, 1600x900, 1920x1080
Processor: i5 430M, i5 520M, i5 620M, i5 640M (need hyperthreading so no i3)
Ports: USB 3.0, eSata
Graphics: <15W if dedicated (i.e. 5430, 5450, 5470, 3100m, etc.)

The HP elitebook 8540p is the only laptop I can find that comes close, BUT it weighs almost 8 pounds with the huge AC adapter, starts at $1300 (with 1600x900 screen), and has a NVS 5100m graphic chip (35W) that destroys the battery life. Any other ideas??
 
If you demand USB 3.0 your options are going to be severely limited. USB 3 is brand new and little supports it. Intel doesn't have chipsets with 3.0 on them yet. If you are willing to go with 2.0 and eSATA, you've got a lot more choices.
 
Well in genreal I'm prone to suggest Dell and Lenovo since at work I find their tech support to be high quality. Lenovo is off the list since they are all low rez screens.

A Dell Studio 15 would do the trick. You've got options of Core i5 430 or 520, or even i7s if you want. For video you can have Integrated Intel, Radeon 4570 or Radeon 5470. For screen you've got a 1280x720 or 1920*1080 option, LED in both cases (they also have a 1600x900 in that size, might have to call about that one).

It has a combo eSATA/USB port which I'm given to understand there are drives that use the USB for power, the eSATA for transfer giving very high data rate.

With a 520m, 5470 and 1080p display it is looking like $1100 or so.

Should do the trick. Still not super light, figure probably 6 pounds with a 9 cell, but not too bad, will do full HD, and should have reasonable battery life.

I was considering one, but decided I wanted more graphics power, and so opted for an MSI GX640 instead.
 
If you can wait I would take a look at the just announced Envy 14 Inch. Sad part is it does not go on sale tell next month.
 
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def wait to check out the new HP Envy line.

Powered by Windows 7, the HP Envy 14 can be configured with Intel Dual Core i5, i3 or Quad Core i7 processors, up to 640GB HDD or 256GB SSD, as well as up to 8GB DDR3-1333 memory. Furthermore, the HP Envy 14 incorporates a 14.5" 900p screen (350nit brightness), DVD drive, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n and an integrated Web camera. The HP Envy 14 also sports a Qualcomm Gobi chip, meaning that wireless broadband with GPS can be enabled when signing up for a wireless plan.

The HP Envy 14 is also powered by an ATI Mobility Radeon 5650 graphics card with 1GB DDR3 RAM. When configured with a Dual Core processor, power consumption can be reduced when switching to integrated graphics (Intel GMA HD). Additionally, the HP Envy 14 offers the following ports: 3x USB 2.0 (1x shared eSATA), Ethernet, HDMI v1.3c, Mini-Display Port, 2-1 Digital Media Reader (SD, MMC), Beats Headphone Jack and Second Headphone + Microphone Combo Jack.

The HP Envy 14 measures 14.01 by 9.33 by 1.09 inches and weighs in at 5.25 pounds. Like the Envy 17, it also features a HP Clickpad with multi-touch gestures enabled. Lastly, the notebook will ship with a 59Whr, 8 cell, Li-Ion polymer battery (promising up to 6 hours of battery life).
Click to expand...
 
ASUS G51: i7, 6GB(up to 8GB DDR3, 15.6" 1080p, 360M 1GB, 500GB SATA, Dual Layer DVD Burner, Wireless N + Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, webcam, eSATA, 4x USB 2.0, ExpressCard 52/34 slot (for USB 3.0 controller)... about $1500.

Update: Your requirements list squarely puts you above the $1k mark for your requirements, closer to $2k from most manufacturers. Likely your best bet is to get something with the right CPU, RAM, and GPU with an eSATA port, and add a USB 3.0 ExpressCard controller to it. You're likely looking at a gaming laptop to fulfill you're requirements.
 
For some reason I just couldn't purchase HP. I'd go with the Dell Studio man.
 
I'd go for the EliteBook myself, or find one of the ProBooks with similar specs. I've never seen anyone that did "media work" on the go for any extended lengths of time; they're always going to be someplace near an AC socket so, great battery life is great, of course, but nobody is going to be doing a full blown Hollywood movie-type amount of work completely on battery juice alone. ;)
 
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