Gaming Laptop

J

jookalook

New Member
I want to buy a laptop that I can use for school, but that can also take care of my gaming needs. I mostly play world of warcraft and Half Life 2 mods. I would also like the computers gaming capabilities to last for a couple years at least so I can play new games if I want. I have been looking at the Alienware Area-51® m5550 with some customizations:

GFX - 256MB NVidia Geforce Go 7600
Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7200 2.0GHz 4MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Memory - 1GB Dual Chanel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz
MOBO - Alienware Intel 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
HardDrive - 80GB Serial ATA 1.5 Gb/s 5,400 RPM w/NCQ & 8MB Cache

I was also wondering if there is a noticible difference between 5400 and 7200 harddrive speeds. This comes out to be a little on the expensive side, I'm shooting for about $1,000 budget (give or take). If anybody has any suggestions on where I can downgrade without noticeable differences or another site where I can buy a similar system for less, please let me know. Thanks for your help in advanced.
 
i have the exact same specs as those, and my laptop runs games like a champ. i would strongly recommend a larger HDDi have a 120gb, and im running low on space. as far as HDD speeds, there is a difference, but i dont think it justifies the extra cost, unless its over 250gb in size. a smaller hdd doesnt need 7200rpm, unless youre doing some major computing.
laptop sounds like a good buy...i didnt think you could get such alienware specs for that cheap.
 
length

How long do you think a laptop with those specs will last before going out of date and not supporting new games.
 
Are cyberpowerpc.com laptops reliable, because I think if I customize one with similar specs it comes out a bit cheaper. Where did you get your laptop from and how much did it cost when you bought it? How long have you had it?

Heres what I came up with at cyberpowerpc.com for a couple hundred cheaper.

Processor - Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Mobile T7300 Dual-Core Processor @ 2.00GHz 800FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit
MOBO - NVIDIA PM965 + ICH-8M Chipset Mainboard
Memory - 1GB PC5300 DDR2-667 SODIMM Memory
GFX - Built-in NVIDIA Geforce Go 8400M-G 256MB Supports up to 1GB TurboCache Video
HDD - 160GB 5400RPM SATA150 HARD DRIVE

I'm not sure how good that video card is, better or worse than above?
 
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jookalook said:
Are cyberpowerpc.com laptops reliable, because I think if I customize one with similar specs it comes out a bit cheaper. Where did you get your laptop from and how much did it cost when you bought it? How long have you had it?

Heres what I came up with at cyberpowerpc.com for a couple hundred cheaper.

Processor - Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Mobile T7300 Dual-Core Processor @ 2.00GHz 800FSB 4MB L2 Cache 64-bit
MOBO - NVIDIA PM965 + ICH-8M Chipset Mainboard
Memory - 1GB PC5300 DDR2-667 SODIMM Memory
GFX - Built-in NVIDIA Geforce Go 8400M-G 256MB Supports up to 1GB TurboCache Video
HDD - 160GB 5400RPM SATA150 HARD DRIVE

I'm not sure how good that video card is, better or worse than above?
Click to expand...
this one is pretty good too. its hard to say which g-card is better. i think the 7600 has better "horsepower", but the 8400 supports directX 10, which has better shading and stuff. the geforce 8000 series means they support dX10, but i think a 8600 and a 8600 would have the same amount of power.

side note: the integrated g-card will leach RAM away from the rest of the computer, which would slow it down, most likely.
 
jookalook said:
How long do you think a laptop with those specs will last before going out of date and not supporting new games.
Click to expand...

it just depends how good you want your games to look in the future. you should be able to game for 2-3 years before you start running into problems...:(
 
Consider a Dell; you can get a pretty nice deal on an Inspiron 1520 with a 8600m GT card for under $1500 with the same processor, a 160 Gig HDD and all the add-ons which includes bluetooth, web camera, ect.......
 
luckyedboy66 said:
it just depends how good you want your games to look in the future. you should be able to game for 2-3 years before you start running into problems...:(
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The only thing is DX10 games are right around the corner, so he may run into issues when they become more popular.
 
[-0MEGA-];707588 said:
The only thing is DX10 games are right around the corner, so he may run into issues when they become more popular.
Click to expand...

crap...that means im in trouble with my dx9c machine........:(
 
jookalook said:
I saw your signature and decided to check out the HP site. This is what I came up with, which seems pretty sweet:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...eLink=true&bvLoadCart=1&action=add&disp_msg=0

The only thing I am sacrificing is the 17" screen for a 15", but I'm going to have a 19" monitor hooked up to it for most of the time anyways.
Let me know what you think about this one.
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sorry bro, the link is a dud. hp is a great choice. i personally am an HP fanboy, and would not recommend a dell to a gamer[or anyone, really].
a 15 would be ok. the 17 has a 2nd hdd slot, for later expansion, and 1 extra usb port, along with HDMI output. if it werent for the fact that you have a 19'' monitor, id say go for the DV9500. just make sure you get a DX10 g-card.
 
luckyedboy66 said:
sorry bro, the link is a dud. hp is a great choice. i personally am an HP fanboy, and would not recommend a dell to a gamer[or anyone, really].
a 15 would be ok. the 17 has a 2nd hdd slot, for later expansion, and 1 extra usb port, along with HDMI output. if it werent for the fact that you have a 19'' monitor, id say go for the DV9500. just make sure you get a DX10 g-card.
Click to expand...

The quality of the Inspiron 1520 is pretty good; better than other models I've seen. There's nothing wrong with Dells, yet they're not necessarily outstanding either. Keep in mind that companies change for both the better and for worse so even though you might have had problems with Dells in the past, you can't necessarily say that they're still a bad company......
 
bumblebee_tuna said:
The quality of the Inspiron 1520 is pretty good; better than other models I've seen. There's nothing wrong with Dells, yet they're not necessarily outstanding either. Keep in mind that companies change for both the better and for worse so even though you might have had problems with Dells in the past, you can't necessarily say that they're still a bad company......
Click to expand...

ya, true. i am definately biased towards dell...in my mind, they've built an image of catering cheap crap to less tech savvy people...then it breaks, and they either pay a geek to fix it, or buy a new one. i know thats not true, but thats what they portray to me:rolleyes:
 
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