greenrvgreen wrote:
As for Xotic (and similar), this is a great option for somebody who knows exactly what they want (and why) and is willing to pay a little more for well-tested high-performance parts that are not quite as current as the major brands can afford to offer. Their core customers are enthusiasts and hard-core gamers.
I don't think this is what the OP is looking for, but for someone who is looking for the highest performance, search for "Clevo" and "Sager", along with "Asus". I had a Sager laptop in the early days (it ran win95) and I was well pleased with it. But if you're looking for a mid-range laptop (I believe the OP is), I don't think the price/value is there, compared to the $5,000 laptops that you can't get anywhere else.
The sales folks there are pretty knowledgeable, and actually answer the phone in English you can understand. They will spend as much time as necessary to figure out what is best for you - they also sell Sager and Clevo as well. On the low end, a 14" Sager i7 Intel w/500gb HD at under $800 ... That's a pretty top end processor.
I know you can buy the consumer brands for less (and less quality) but then, you can always "buy two" for much more $$$ when the C/brand breaks and you can't get CS on the line, and once you do, you can't get help or answers you understand.
Sometimes it's a good idea to do it once at a little more expense. Just offering that option to the OP ...
