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UPDATE 07/08/2012 – There is an updated version of this post on our sister site, click here to view the newer post.
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If you’re looking for power on the move you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s now possible to pick up a second generation i7 powered laptop for less than you might imagine. We’ve taken a look round all of the major retailers and picked out a couple of the best deals available in February 2012.
Best Buy»
1) Asus X53E-SX1330V
What we like – Second generation i7 2670QM CPU, HDMI, Very fast, LED Screen
Best deal – View Deal at Comet.co.uk
Details – The Asus X53E-SX1330V is by far the best value i7 powered laptop deal available at the time of writing this article. In fact, we couldn’t find anything anything else that could come close to the value offered by this machine.
Importantly, it uses a second generation i7 2670QM CPU. One common trick that manufacturers tend to use at the moment to reduce the cost of their laptops is to use the inferior first generation chips. No such issues here, the second generation i7 2670QM will provide enough processing power to keep even the most power hungry users happy.
To round up the specification you’ll find 4GB of ram, a 500GB hard drive, a decent LED screen and importantly a HDMI socket. The 500GB hard drive might prove to be a little small for some but can be easily upgraded at a later date if needed.
It’s also worth noting that Asus laptops have consistently ranked well in reliability surveys and as such the Asus X53E-SX1330V is not only good value it’s also likely to last you a while.
2) Toshiba Satellite L750-17P
What we like – Dedicated GT525M Nvidia Graphics, Build Quality
Best deal – View Offer at JohnLewis.com
Details – If you’re looking for a laptop that’s got the power of an i7 CPU and also need a laptop that can handle gaming on the move the L750-17p is a great choice and represents fantastic value for money.
The Nvidia GT525M found in the Toshiba L750-17P is essentially an underclocked GT540M, it’s exactly the same chip and has the same number of cores. As a result, it’s far more capable than the GT520M and will play most modern games at medium or high settings.
You’ll also find a 640gb hard drive in this machine which is twice the size of the drive found in the X53E above.
It is possible to find other laptops with a similar specification to this Toshiba, they might even be slightly cheaper but the fact that Toshiba consistently tops the polls each year when it comes to laptop reliability means that it’s worth paying that little bit extra for a machine that’s going to last.
