Laptop Buying Quest

**Ons** · 04-05-08, 05:19 PM

I'm heading off to school in a few months and I'm looking for a laptop that i can get with top end processor, 4gigs mem, and high end graphics (doesn't need to be dual). In short I'm looking for a highly customizable distributor or a company that makes laptops that are just power based, w/out the bose speakers, finger print scanners, can transform into cars, etc...

The kicker is i have 2k to spend. Figure i would kick this out to the community and see if anyone has some good suggestions / recommendations for everyone.

I have found a few good deals w/ the education discount on dells site but it seems like everyone is trying to provide mobile media centers these days.

-Onsy
BF2142 player

**SapiensErus** · 04-06-08, 01:11 PM

People will recommend Alienware; dont do it! They are nice, and have great parts but are very expensive.

I would look at deals on the Dell XPS line (Dell IS Alienware which is kinda funny) and pick one that has at least an 8600 GT Mobile GPU in it.

I was about to hunt for them for you, but something occurred to me...

What size do you want? Smaller costs more, bigger is more playable for gaming for sure. But for a school system, I discovered that lugging around my 15.4" laptop was really awful when I had a bag full of science texts at the same time.

So I recommend staying at the ~15" range or smaller, the 17s are just retarded huge even if they are better for gaming. Your choice, but size dictates cost. A gaming 17" will be around 11-1400, while a Gaming 12" will be at least 2k. A nongaming rig is substantially cheaper.. but who needs a computer that doesnt play games?!?

**WileECyte** · 04-06-08, 06:22 PM

ASUS has been putting out some competitive gaming notebooks.

http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=5&l2=61

They've got laptops with GeForce 9500, 8700 & 8600 VPUs as well has the ATI/AMD 2600 HD VPU. Prices on Newegg seem reasonable.

**cop1991** · 04-06-08, 08:10 PM

www.cyberpowerpc.com great company and you choose everything.

**Blue_Thunder27** · 04-06-08, 11:30 PM

I have THIS laptop and can not be happier. Core 2 duo @ 1.66 Ghz, 8800m GTS, 3 Gig Ram, Raid-0 support with 2 Hard drives. Great laptop for the money. I got it at Best Buy for $1,150, I'm sure you can find it for that price somewhere. At $1,150 you can easily throw a better CPU in there, upgrade to Vista 64 bit and get 4 Gigs of ram and still stay under your 2 grad limit. Fantastic laptop with Great customibility that i would recommend to ANYONE and yes i would pay $1,349.99 for it.

Oh yeah, with Stock settings i got 6,739 in 3dmark06. It can run TF2 @ Highest settings with 4x AA and 16 x AF and get 45-60 fps.

**SapiensErus** · 04-07-08, 12:40 PM

Originally Posted by Blue_Thunder27

I have THIS laptop and can not be happier. Core 2 duo @ 1.66 Ghz, 8800m GTS, 3 Gig Ram, Raid-0 support with 2 Hard drives. Great laptop for the money. I got it at Best Buy for $1,150, I'm sure you can find it for that price somewhere. At $1,150 you can easily throw a better CPU in there, upgrade to Vista 64 bit and get 4 Gigs of ram and still stay under your 2 grad limit. Fantastic laptop with Great customibility that i would recommend to ANYONE and yes i would pay $1,349.99 for it.

Oh yeah, with Stock settings i got 6,739 in 3dmark06. It can run TF2 @ Highest settings with 4x AA and 16 x AF and get 45-60 fps.

I was going to refer this post to you. This is a great deal for that mobile GPU. With a system that powerful and that cheap I do question it's quality, but power per dollar I have seen no deal on a laptop like this before.

**Blue_Thunder27** · 04-07-08, 01:53 PM

I have had this Laptop for a little bit over a month now, no problems in it at all. Battery life is fantastic, I can play TF2 on wireless for just over an hour and 15 minutes before i get the 10% battery remaining warning. In the long run i could see the touch controlls getting worn out (the volume controls and media buttons). The screen is quite nice for the price of the laptop, its resolution is 1440 x 900. Alienware offers 1920 x 1200 screens on their 17" laptops, but then again thats $3,000+ for a build like this from them. I have taken this laptop to many Lan Parties. It has even been pulled of a table when i tripped on the power cord, i thought i killed it, all i did was turn it back on and it was still rockin.

I can not tell you how this laptop would last in the long run, 2 - 4 years, but it does seem like a pretty solid build to me. Plus you have the one year parts and labor warranty from Gateway and you can always get and extended warranty from whoever you buy from.

KannaMigguent · 09-02-11, 06:55 AM

ALERT!

Someone has tried to register using the IP Address 217.199.134.54 which is MATCHED IN THE RBL DATABASE of the dnsbl.ahbl.org RBL.

This registration attempt has been allowed and the account has been permanently banned.

Registration Details: KannaMigguent ( dat31sd3+22@gmail.com )