Anyways, regarding the Illlegear, if I were to get it as bare as possible though, wouldn't upgrading it myself void whatever warranty they give?

On a different note, is RM 550 really worth it for the bump to the display and GPU?

HD+        --> FHD
GTX 760M --> GTX 765M

I'll be using it mostly for work...and a bit of play. Somewhere in the 60/40 distribution? For work it'll be mainly used for Excel (Many many many open at the same time). For play; AI, PS, with a bit of gaming on the side. Mostly RPG, and old ones at that - Skyrim, D3, Dragonage (Not too demanding I think). Much later on I'll also hope to use it for Solid Works and AutoCad (not too much on AutoCad though). Finally probably some Matlab thrown in.

I need it to be as light as possible (within reasonable means of course) since there is a chance I'll be travelling a lot for work. I was from the old skool Inspiron 1520 (the only gen with a dGPU I think), and that piece of machine is not light...especially if you take the public transport. Especially so in Malaysia, with the crowd and heat.

Thank you for the feedback regarding the screen btw. Much appreciated. So the screen isn't so bad if you're out and about then? Is the difference moving from a FHD to an HD+ very jarring or is it acceptable?
Don't really have a budget? Though I think the most I would fork out for a lappie at this point in time is RM 4,000. Since I don't think anything more than that is justified for someone that's not really a hardcore gamer.

Why dont try the newest Alienware? Mx14 is around the same price range as illegear re-13.

If you are not a hardcore gamer, my advise is Lenovo Y410P. Cheap and good. But you dont expect top performance. xD

wow you can add parts to the laptop yourself? where to get the parts? is it as widespread as desktop parts?

Just a note.

We have been receiving many reports that inexperienced users failed to upgrade their system/ port over their own parts /installing their own OS.

If there is physical damage done by users when they are upgrading their laptop the warranty void.

ILLEGEAR guides users how to install their own OS/ parts but we hold no responsibility when users failed to do so.

Therefore it's advisable to pre-order everything you want when you order.

Bloody ell. I've had my GE40 for only a WEEK and NOW the Aspire V7 premium comes out. I very jelly now. Damn you Acer.

But seriously, here's my 50 cents to the matter.

WARNING, THIS GETS LONG! Even without the stuff in the spoiler.

<My take on the GE40>


TL;DR: The MSI GE40 is the spiritual successor to the Compaq V3000, but with hugely upgraded internals.

So, will I recommend the GE40 to someone else? I will, but with clear caveats.

If you're looking for an balanced blend of mobility and power at a great price, and you're ready to accept the compromises that come with it; then by all means, the GE40 is a great choice. If you want a bit more power at the cost of mobility, pick the RE13. Although running stuff at full HD with the RE13's 765 should equal running stuff on 900p with the GE40's 760 90% of the time. 

Plus the RE13 ALSO runs almost as hot as the GE40 -  so the only thing you're gonna get with the RE13 is a brighter, HD screen (that might suffer from IPS bleed, and is NOT the better one from ChiMei), better more robust construction (that is still, unfortunately, largely plastic) and less battery life (4 hours tops). Another plus is that you get on-site service.

As for the Y410P, NOT having the 900p variant come into Malaysia was the worse decision Lenovo ever made. Otherwise, it's cheap and you get a chance to SLI BUT that's about it. Well, IMHO it's being sold for below 3k for a reason.

As for the V7, as envious as I am, it's an Acer. An ACER! Oh the memories of broken hinges, subpar construction and drawn out warranty claims. It's the sexiest "gaming"  ultrabook I know of though, other than the Razer Blade and the Gigabyte Ultrablade (lol at the names)...

... BUT IT'S AN ACER!

I was made to believe that MSI has an international warranty for the first year? If that's the case, it's really just getting a reduced warranty for better specs. The amazon link you gave earlier didn't have a promotion anymore. So I guess prospective buyers should have it bookmarked.

--------------
Thanks again for the input guys!

edit: WTH? Click once and it double posts

The display on the RE13-Pro is so awesome until you can even play games at 1366x768 resolution, and still looks superb(no blurry).

Also, "supposedly" IPS screens ghost more than TN at this point - which was the main reason Razer stuck with TN for their Blades. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen though. ld look a BILLION times better than my shitty angles 900p panel lol - even if that shitty panel takes about 6 hours to die off.

As of right now and the sudden hike in unexpected expenditures, I don't forsee my self buying one anytime within the next two months

To answer your question though, it's either the GE40 or the RE13.

It all really boils down to what Eiraku has (so kindly) pointed out. Mobility in terms of battery life.

I love it when all these people pop in! I learn lotsa new stuff

Thanks again guys

PS: Unseen, why are you so intent on knowing which one I pick?

PPS: Lemme know if this thread should be closed. I think leaving it open is a brilliant idea

well if you ever wanted to actually  own big boy gaming notebook you come buy my notebook in 3 month time MSI GT70(gtx780m)  i probably selling around 5.5K... i buy high end notebook  twice or three time  a year... so i also sell my used notebook in 4-6 month...

x
Edit: i may buy Illegear 17 RX... seem Single powerful GPU not enough to my taste... maybe dual... try Alienware..Asus G series and now MSI GT series maybe Illegear next... 

oh my... when i say dual... dual GPU notebook..  

Going back on track, is a full HD on a 13/14 incher overkill though? Thoughts?

So in other words, get a FullHD for other utilities but when gaming, scale it down to a lower resolution? That'd work right?

IMHO, the idea of a gaming laptop has been oversold and not to mention, overused. For someone such as yourself, then perhaps it has it's merits...however my years in uni lugging around a 15" old skool Dell was really not pleasant. In retrospect, I didn't even need all that power - I spent more time with word and excel than anything else! The only saving grace was the dreadful cold of Aberdeen so you don't sweat much

So I've promised myself never again, to get something heavy and bulky. When I say notebook, I mean something not  likely heavier than a book. Portable means I can lug it around half the day and not worry about stunted shoulders

Sorry that last time I forgot to mention that mine is using Chi Mei LCD. 

Btw, just had a game of Battlefield 3 on 1366x768 on Ultra today in my office.
My colleague is so amaze that it play so smooth and it looks so sharp and beautiful.
Though he already own a GTX 780 gaming desktop rig at home.

Poisoning TS more. 

Way to go man. Seriously, my fortitude saving throw isn't good against poison of this type

Since you've used it for a while now, how do you rate the battery life of the RE-13? I'm talking in terms of non-gaming use - Excel, Office, Web Browsing etc.

Unfortunately the battery only last 2.5-3 hours on web surfing, microsoft office app.
Hoping that a BIOS will solve the battery issues.
Maybe I should change to 4702MQ if it does help a bit. 
He is using a normal 1920x1080 24".
Translate to 91.71 pixels per inch.

That must be one nice monitor you have there. Mine is only 1920x1080 on 24" at home like my colleague. 

So, a 2560x1440 on 27" is around 108.79 pixels per inch.
A 1366x768 on 13.3" is around 117.83 pixels per inch.
I'm guessing it should looks almost the same, if not of the slight blur due to the non-native resolution.
With Ultra settings on Battlefield 3, it enables all the highest Antialiasing features and so on, to make it look more sharper.

It actually looks much better than the sample.

I have actually many times thought of changing my current LCD(5 years old) to one like yours(27" 2560x1440).
But then I'm only using it to connect to my laptop(got no desktop), which is definitely not powerful enough to game on it.
Unless it still looks good when scaling to 1920x1080. Does it?

About my colleague, he bought the PC(not including monitor) from his rich friend at a very good price. Lucky him.

Yup, it most probably is because of the many pixels on the 13.3" LCD.

Will take note on the screen advice...though based on what Amal has posted...don't seem too bad tbh. Helps when I need the extra real estate on the screen (seeing as to how tiny it actually is).

As someone pointed out earlier, the slightly better GPU of the RE-13 would be better at handling FullHD as opposed to the the GE40.

Update : After putting on power saver mode, turning off unnecessary apps, reduce the screen brightness to a viewable level, based on the estimation, it can last around 3.5-4 hours of web surfing.

Yup, wait if you can wait. Buy when you really need it.

Hopefully the next batch of RE13 doesn't change the LCD to other than Chi Mei IPS.

Brightness were at 30-40%.
Though at 0% doesn't mean that you can't see anything at all.

Again, that is all just estimation.
Haven't done a proper test yet.
I'm only looking at BatteryBar. Not sure if it is accurate.

When browsing, it hover around 14W-18W.
Battery capacity is 62,160mW.
Tested with no peripherals connected, and no keyboard light.

Really jelly looking at your power draw. 

My Vaio S is around 6W on idle, 8W-9W web surfing. Good in terms of battery, but two times weaker. 

A comparison of the GE40 and RE13 LCD.

GE40 - AUO B140RTN03.0


So, you have to set your priority right.
Superb Screen Quality or Superb Battery Life?