I'm soon going to buy a new laptop, but I'm stuck on what to buy. What I really want is a M1730 dell XPS with 4 gb dual 8700 and x9000 processor. But i have started to look around and I've found that in places like Ibuypower and Cyberpowerpc and so on, have better prices, although I don't have an inch of confidence on those kind of places. So if anyone knows where to buy a nice laptop or if those places are safe or if the dell is alright, please post. Thanks in advance, no flaming please.

Note: also wanted to know if 8700 256mb in sli are worst than 8800gtx.

Yes they are worse than the GTX. A system like the Sager NP5793 with a single 8800mGTX will be able to outperform the dual 8700 cards.

I would recommend you take a look at the 17'' models from Sager either at their site, www.sagernotebooks.com, or at www.xoticpc.com.

I also recommend you take a serious look at the high end sager models. They'll blow any dell system away.
What kind of budget do you have?

8800MGTX>SLI 8700MGT
As logan and frozenlead said go for a SAGER model like NP9262 or 5793,the difference between these 2 is that the first one has Inte desktop CPUs with 2 8800MGTX in SLI and the second one has Intel mobile CPU with 1 8800MGTX

Well, not if you bump the Dell up to dual 8800M GTXs. Of course, the Sagers are great too, especially on a slightly lower budget than a 1730 with dual 8800s requires.

The sager np9262 is cheaper than the dell 1730 with dual 8800m GTX's by several hundred dollars. With that, you can upgrade the sager to a quad-core, which dell doesn't even offer. (or you can always go dual and save what battery life you have...)

I would not go quad core on a laptop - the battery life (already short on a system like this) will go to basically nothing. Plus, I'm not sure how much I would trust a laptop cooling system with a quad core.

But u get a desktop in a laptop also the cooling of NP9262 is one of the best out there
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsId=4391

Its definitely worth it,i may get one too

I'm not sure how much I'd trust it either, especially considering it'd have to be a desktop class core.

But, it does say Sager on top. Most people complain about how their gaming notebooks get scorching hot.

My sager doesn't know what heat is.

Hey, just wanted to chime in and let you know that Toshiba is sponsoring a forum where you can ask independent laptop experts, like Joel Johnson of Boing Boing, for some advice. Buying a laptop obviously takes a good amount of research, hope the site is a useful resource for you!

Here's the link: http://laptopexperts.federatedmedia.net/

I work at M80, a social media company in LA, and we're working with Toshiba to help spread the word about the Laptop Experts site.

Thanks!

CaroonM80
Toshiba Laptop Experts Team

Thanks

Do you mean the temp of the components, or the temp of the outside of the computer?

My XPS M1710 runs on the hot side by the temp sensors on the components (at full overclock T7600 @ 2.83GHz + 7950GTX @ 650/740) - about 80C for both CPU and graphics at full load, but aside from the actual fan outlets, the outside stays perfectly cool at all times - the keyboard and bottom never get significantly warm.

I meant both, but on the outside, for the greater part.

My Sager runs cool - only the video card ever spits out hot air, the cpu is barely warm. I don't have temps available yet. The outside never even gets above room thep.