Gaming laptop (Best deal?)

Navid · 12-26-2006, 09:05 PM

I am going to buy a gaming laptop. I need help to know what is the best deal.

Of course I want the most for my money

I am going to spend $1,300 - $1,700

Here are the laptops I am currently looking at:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...nav=&brows e=

http://www.alienware.com/configurato...de=SKU-DEFAULT

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/n...nfigurator_top - upgrade to get to avarage price

http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/c...r.aspx?mid=190

http://flawlesscomputers.com/process...p?additem=3357

My questions are:

1. Which of these is the best deal? why?
2. How well will these play vanguard
3. Are thier any better deals out there?
4. Is there a better time to buy? (soon though 1-2 months)

Shambling · 12-26-2006, 10:02 PM

At that budget you would get more for your money if you built it yourself. You should take a look at Fozzik's $1,500 recommendation and compare it to what your ordering.

Shambling

Shambling · 12-26-2006, 10:03 PM

Bah,

Disregard my post I thought you were buying a desktop.

Shambling

Navid · 12-26-2006, 10:09 PM

you can build your own lappy?

Navid · 12-26-2006, 10:12 PM

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...nav=&brows e=

ok I am adding this, its looking good?

rabb1t · 12-27-2006, 02:33 AM

The Alienware has the best screen and best GPU. The 512 meg of ram is total crap though. You really want nothing less than 2 gig for smooth gaming these days.

Be aware though, you are going to start feeling some pain when DX10 games start coming out because you'll have dropped all that $ into a system that can't be upgraded.

Navid · 12-27-2006, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabb1t

The Alienware has the best screen and best GPU. The 512 meg of ram is total crap though. You really want nothing less than 2 gig for smooth gaming these days.

Be aware though, you are going to start feeling some pain when DX10 games start coming out because you'll have dropped all that $ into a system that can't be upgraded.

wait what? dx10 is part of vista right? I can't upgrade to dx10?

when does dx10 stuff come out?

Fozzik · 12-27-2006, 07:35 AM

DirectX 10 hardware (video cards) have arrived with the Nvidia 8-series graphics cards. They do not have a mobile version yet. The 7-series mobile chips are good for DirectX 9 performance...but will not be able to play DirectX 10 games. This should not be a problem for a year or so...but after that it may really hold you back since laptops are difficult if not impossible to upgrade. Your choices for upgrade will be very limited, and very expensive.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Gaming laptops are a bad idea. In the price range you are looking at, you can get a system that will do modestly well in current games. However, it will begin to show it's age quickly and won't play the games coming out next year nearly as well. Add to that the high price tag, the heavier weight and shorter battery life of "gaming" laptops, and the lack of upgrade potential... and you just have a bad situation all around.

For that same price range, you could get a desktop system that would play current and future games extremely well with high settings and resolution, and it would be easily upgradeable to future tech.

If you HAVE to have a laptop, here's what I would look for (understanding the things I said above...the performance is going to be modest on current games, don't expect a screaming machine for the price you're talking about):

Dual-core processor, preferrably Core 2 Duo, but AMD's chips would be all right as well.
AT LEAST 1GB of RAM, fastest speed you can get.
7200 RPM hard drive
Graphics system with its own memory (at least 128MB). From Nvidia- 7600, 7800, 7900. From ATI- X1600 or better.

Watch out for things like "hypermemory", because that means the graphics card is sharing memory with the CPU. Not a good idea if you can avoid it.

Out of the choices you posted, the CyberPower Xplorer looks like the best choice, with the following upgrades:

Core 2 Duo T7400 (2.13GHz)
2GB RAM
100GB 7200RPM SATA150 hard drive

The price comes to $1582 with those changes, unless you want to get a nicer bag or an extra battery (I'd get an extra battery). That looks like a pretty good deal, although I don't know anything about the quality of Cyberpower Notebooks. Also, did you check the big names like Dell, Compaq, etc? They often have sales that might get you more for your money, and their support is a little more of a known quantity.

Focii · 12-27-2006, 01:03 PM

I can't stress enough the fact only get a laptop if you ABSOLUTELY have no other choice. I thought I had to have a laptop because I travel. So I thought oohh I'll get one that I can game with. Now I dont travel as much and when I do I am either too tired or working to game. I would of been perfectly fine with a cheap laptop and a good desk system. Now my top of the line Laptop 1yr ago will struggle to play the new games coming out.

That said the Dell XPS and Inspiron Laptops are great and you can usually find pretty good coupons for Dell. When I got mine I had a 700.00 off coupon from couponmountain.com

nailfoot · 12-27-2006, 01:34 PM

As far as Dell goes, check thier online outlet store here. I found my old laptop there and got a really good deal. Desktops are sold there as well.

Navid · 12-27-2006, 02:35 PM

i did check the bignamers, dell's insperion was good, but my sister got one and they are toatal crap. I did not like it at all.

Other than that they are all over priced, even the XPS

that cyberpwer one I think is best as well. Another thing I would like to ask you wise tech people is when will those dx10 cards come out for laptops? Will it be in 1 month or 2 months?

Also, in regards to needing a laptop, I am torn, I need it to be portable, and then I don't.

It would just limit my play time considerably.

I really want to be able to take it where ever.

Also thanks for your help

rabb1t · 12-27-2006, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Navid

wait what? dx10 is part of vista right? I can't upgrade to dx10?

This is part of why many are confused about DirectX 10.

As Foz said, DX10 requires specific hardware as well as software. In order to run DX10 you need both the hardware (a DX10 compliant GPU) and Vista (which contains the DX10 code.)

Yes, your laptop could upgrade to Vista, however, you would never be running DX10 on it. You'd be using DirectX9 EX (previously called Legacy, which is Vista's version of DirectX9). So really, unless you wanted Aero or the security features, there would be no reason for you to move to Vista on that laptop.

Quote:

when does dx10 stuff come out?

Nvidia has already released high-end desktop cards (the series 8). The rest of their line will come out around February. Also, ATi/AMD are rumored to be launching all of their desktop DX10 enabled cards in February as well.

Quote:

when will those dx10 cards come out for laptops? Will it be in 1 month or 2 months?

Most certainly not within 1 or 2 months. We'd have heard about them being in the works by now. I'd expect closer to 1 year from now.

Navid · 12-27-2006, 07:40 PM

man I am so stuck.

desktop - awsome graphics & a crappy lappy

or

awsome lappy! no dx10 $$ through the shzzie

What to do!!!!!

rabb1t · 12-27-2006, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Navid

What to do!!!!!

Go back to the beginning - why do you want/need a laptop?

Tiesiaan · 12-28-2006, 04:58 PM

My ibuypower laptop build:

2 gigs ddr-400
80 gig 7200rpm hdd
2.2AMD MT-40 processor
x1600 mobility ATI

It can run:

BF2, FEAR, Oblivion, BfME, etc, at fairly good settings. Medium High settings from current gen games. Should hold up fairly well, but might just wait for the next gen gpu mobiles to come out.