Help me choose a laptop

[Ash]

I just got off of chat with an Alienware rep.
They told me that on all of their laptops, the graphics card can be changed or upgraded but it's not the easiest thing to do.
I still recommend Alienware. Really, they are a bit expensive, but in the end you may be happier with a laptop that was built for gaming.

 

[jeffreythe00]

I wish I could afford an alienware. They denied me because I don't have any credit. So I mightbsave up for one... idk though.

 

[Dawinzi]

You can´t go wrong with Asus G73 as long you need it only at home. It is defenetly to heavy to transport it often.

 

[DJNY]

I´ve heard good things about the Samsung R780-Hooke

 

[borgqueenx]

i have the GX740 notebook. with intel core i5@2,26GHz, ATI HD Radeon 5870 with 1gb DDR5 VRAM, 4gb DDR3 ram, 500gb 7200RPM hard drive, windows 7 home 64bit.

it was 1200 euro. that makes it about 1500 dollar.
very nice notebook that can still play any game released on usally high graphics
already got it for a long time(since release) and still plays everything i want.

 

[DJNY]

i have the GX740 notebook. with intel core i5@2,26GHz, ATI HD Radeon 5870 with 1gb DDR5 VRAM, 4gb DDR3 ram, 500gb 7200RPM hard drive, windows 7 home 64bit.
it was 1200 euro. that makes it about 1500 dollar.

Amazon.de has one in new condition for $1000.

very nice notebook that can still play any game released on usally high graphics
already got it for a long time(since release) and still plays everything i want.

Since I bough my SyncMaster P2770 for ~$400, I would never be able play any games on 15-17" screens again! :bowdown:

 

[borgqueenx]

i should add that in america the gx740 comes with a i7 processor.

 

[DJNY]

i should add that in america the gx740 comes with a i7 processor.

There are two version of the GX740 available, one with a i5 and the other (more expensive one) with a i7 processor.

 

[Dr_Evil]

Check out Sager. custom gaming laptops - Welcome to Sager Notebooks

I plan on buying from them when it comes time to replace my laptop. One of my co-workers has one and loves it. I don't know which model it is. I just know it has raid, a quad core CPU and a 17" screen.

 

[Ezcal]

For what it's worth, I'd suggest avoiding Alienware; I think they look tacky as hell, and are usually overpriced for what they are.

I'm in love with my ThinkPad, and I'd suggest one for anyone looking for a new computer. At this point in time though, with Intel's newest Core processors, I'd go with an IdeaPad from Lenovo rather than a ThinkPad. I hear the latest generation of Core processors are the biggest leap in terms of processing power since the original move to the Core brand.

Check Lenovo - Laptops, Notebooks, Netbooks, Desktops, Computers, & Accessories out, here's an example of one of their better machines, for a great price:

Whatever you get, I'd highly recommend sticking with Intel's newest generation of Core processors.
Hope that helps some!

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Good hell! That screen resolution is complete shit. 1366x768? What kind of number is 1366?! It's like a slightly wider 1024x768 monitor. How do people tolerate using a computer with such a small resolution? It's bad enough they make laptops with that stupid 16:9 aspect ratio instead of the correct computer 16:10 wide-screen ratio. People just look at the inch number and not the resolution--which is the real important factor.

In that laptop in particular, you're spending money on top-notch supporting hardware only to degrade the experience with some goofy 1990s-laptop resolution.

Edit: It looks like ASUS is one of the few manufacturers that doesn't (always) insult your intelligence with Fischer Price-sized pixel resolutions that don't require an 18" monstrosity for the privilege. Buy the smallest hard drive, the least RAM, and then buy an SSD and RAM elsewhere for cheaper and install them yourself.

 

[Prototype]

Good hell! That screen resolution is complete shit. 1366x768? What kind of number is 1366?! It's like a slightly wider 1024x768 monitor. How do people tolerate using a computer with such a small resolution? It's bad enough they make laptops with that stupid 16:9 aspect ratio instead of the correct computer 16:10 wide-screen ratio. People just look at the inch number and not the resolution--which is the real important factor.

In that laptop in particular, you're spending money on top-notch supporting hardware only to degrade the experience with some goofy 1990s-laptop resolution.

My screen resolution is 1024 x 576.

Edit: ^That's at max

 

[Bionic-Badger]

My screen resolution is 1024 x 576.

Edit: ^That's at max

What the hell? 576?! Even my Dell Mini 9 has a 1024x600 screen. Those manufacturers bent you over and screwed you out of 24 pixels so you can treat your computer as a glorified DVD player.

 

[Eudaimonium]

You all are overdoing it, guys. Bionic, first of all, I am not too keen on listening to people essentially saying "Wow you guys are so lame for not having the state of the art apsolute best laptops". I had a friend who does that. Purchasing like, new graphics card every week. I always hated his ranting on my "old" hardware.

Second, if you're looking for a gaming laptop, you'd damn better have a good reason for it. For the same amount of money you're buying that laptop for, you can assemble a PC so powerful that'll dim the lights in your house when you crank up the most hardware demanding games and proceed to play them at 60 FPS at all times.

I have a Lenovo 3000 N500 (59G) model. I need it since I'm living in a dorm, and moving home for weekends, I have continuos work to do for college. I purchased it 2 and something years ago, and it's still a beast.

If you ask me, the apsolutely most important feature in a laptop is the ability to access the main airway on cooling heatpipe. Mine takes two screws removed, and you're free to clean out everything from the airway.

This dude at the dorm wanted to clean out his Toshiba. We removed aproximately 20 screws and disassembled the lappy almost TOTALLY to finally access it.

You don't want a gaming laptop, you want a gaming PC.
If you want laptop, it's not inner components you should consider, but overall quality and ability for it to maintain "portable" which is what laptops are for, not weighting like a damned refrigirator with all them gaming components inside.

And oh yeah. My laptop is still pefrectly capable of playing COD4 and COD6, I just played some Far Cry on it, and I enjoy Left 4 Dead (1 and 2) in LAN with buddies.

Just a heads up on my two cents before you throw rather enormus large sum of money on something that'll later make you wonder "Hmm, what if I bought a PC..."

 

[Bionic-Badger]

Eudaimonium, Jeffery specifically stated that he needs a notebook, and that he wants to be able to play games smoothly. Also, don't rail on me for damning inferior resolutions on laptops. I will indeed call out peoples' laptops for their terrible resolutions, because in my mind they are unacceptable. Manufacturers have been needlessly regressing laptop resolutions for the same sized screen, and even older laptops will have superior screens to do work on the laptop. I'm not calling for the absolute state of the art hardware, but rather a laptop with a decent screen so you can at least do more with it than watch movies.

On all other points I agree with you, especially about what I see as wasting money on gaming hardware for laptops. I'm a desktop person, with a 2-year-old Thinkpad T60 as my laptop. As far as I'm concerned, it will be the last laptop I will ever need, and I only lament that it does not accept more than 3GB of RAM because of a chipset issue. I've managed to extend its life and its viability by upgrading its hard drive to an SSD, and upgrading its screen too. For gaming, I leave that to my desktop, because why spend extra for inferior laptop video cards and processors?

But hey, some people want a laptop that they can use to replace their desktop as well, even for gaming. If you're going to do that, get one with a damn better screen because working on abysmal netbook-class resolutions will degrade your experience as a whole.

 

[Prototype]

What the hell? 576?! Even my Dell Mini 9 has a 1024x600 screen. Those manufacturers bent you over and screwed you out of 24 pixels so you can treat your computer as a glorified DVD player.

It's an HP Mini 110-1033CL, didn't buy it direct though, got it refurbished by HP through Tiger Direct.