New laptop on the horizon. What's new?

Ken C.

Ken C.

Jack of all trades, master of none.
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It has been several years since I bought a new laptop and with Windows 7 being released soon I'm in the market for a new one. Right off the bat I'll mention that I'm a gamer. FPS games are what I play the most and I'm looking for something with at least a 1GB video card. I'm so out of the loop I don't even know what the minimum requirements are for most new games out there.

I'm looking at HP, Gateway, Asus.....I may even go custom if I can keep it under $2000 (which I doubt).

So I ask you...


  • What's my most bang for the buck when it comes to a gaming intensive laptop?
 
I dont game anymore but I do use graphic intensive rendering software. CAD type programs. I would recommend at least 4GB of Ram, Vid card with at 1GB (like you already said). I have found that some* high end Dells are surprisingly pretty decent for gaming/Rending work but you pay for it. HP are ok and are not too bad of a deal all around. I have also been wanting a new laptop once window 7 comes out and thats what I have been looking into so far.
 
I am a big fan of Dells. You can get a Dell / Alienware M17x with a 1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 4870, 4GB of RAM and a 250GB HD for about $2,000. It will take another Radeon 4870 for $300 more. Toshiba has what they call a gaming laptop also.

This isn't an endorsement, as I have never used either one. I'm just saying that they are out there.

I know that you asked specifically about laptops, but IMO unless you REALLY need the mobility you are much better off with a desktop. If you need mobile computing for things other than gaming, you are almost better off buying a cheap laptop and dedicated gaming desktop.

- The vast majority of laptop video cards can't be upgraded.
- Much more for your money with a desktop
- Laptop video cards generally use system memory. This might not apply to the higher end cards, though.
- Seriously, have you seen a high end desktop video card? They are almost as big as a laptop themselves. They have their own fan and power connectors.

Here are a couple of links:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/102737-13-best-laptop-gaming-september-2009

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/52954-35-planning-gaming-laptop



Mike
 
I will not even entertain a desktop due to my need for it to be portable. If I want a desktop I'll build it myself as I've done in the past. :)

I was shying away from the Dell's but the Alienware laptops do look nice. I will have to research further!

Keep the ideas coming. :
 
Apparently Alienware has a different support structure than Dell. Whether that is a good or bad thing, I couldn't say. If you are patient and already know what the problem is, Dell support is pretty good.
 
I just bought an ASUS because I found figures on return for repair of various brands. The article said the good ones have a 12 % return rate but ASUS beats them all at just 6 % !!!
I also had two computer geek friends who make there own computers tell me that they will only use ASUS motherboards in their computers ! They get more and more capable and you should be able to get one for games at less than $ 2000.
I'm going for Win 7 as I'm told that will do what Vista should have from the beginning !
 
I've always owned Dells, but recent experience with their customer service and tech support has lost them a customer. About as bad as it gets. I plan on holding off for a bit on a laptop because I want these four things.
1) Solid state drive (that isn't going to break the bank)
2) USB 3.0
3) Windows 7
4) MSOffice 2010

Also, load up on RAM, it's pretty cheap now.

Check out cnet.com to get a good general idea of what's out there, what's good, what isn't good.
 
Solid State Drives need to improve before I will buy one (in addition to getting cheaper). When a $10 USB thumb drive dies, who really cares? SSD's have similar issues with read/write cycles.

YMMV,
Sid
 
I used Alienware as a benchmark of what a decent machine could do and then got similar elsewhere for less.

I went to Cyberpowerpc.com. Newegg.com and Tigerdirect.com for price comparisons.

The latest and greatest video cards are due out sometime after windows 7 comes out. Naturally then and right after Christmas are great times to buy as all the older video cards prices drop.

Like someone else said bulk up on ram, as it is cheap, or at least make sure you can expand to more ram at a later date. It is the easiest and cheapest upgrade, as you likely already know. Video cards are used dually a lot now. However the Nvidia 295 is more roughly twice as good as the 285 (thus 2x285 only compares to 1 x 295). The GTX 300 series will be even better and compatiable for Direct X11 which is also due out after windows 7.
 
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You may also want to check and make sure the games you already have will run in Windows 7.
 
ASUS has the G71Gx with a 17" monitor and a GeForce GTX 260M with 1GB VRAM.

Provantage has it for $1950 here.

B&H has it for $1900 here

I've used both vendors with good results, but never used an ASUS laptop.

Mike
 
JCavSD said:
I've always owned Dells, but recent experience with their customer service and tech support has lost them a customer. About as bad as it gets. I plan on holding off for a bit on a laptop because I want these four things.
Click to expand...

It depends on which side you buy it from and what line you are getting. I bought my XPS m1310 from the business side and have had fantastic support. I always buy from the business side when possible, and have probably bought 30-40 laptops and desktops from Dell over the years. Home customer service is definitely a mess, which is unfortunately where the gaming laptops are. Luckily, the XPS/Alienware laptops have a lot better support than the regular Inspiron crap from the Home side.

To answer the original question, definitely take a look at the Alienware line. They make some killer gaming laptops. The XPS units are no slouches either and can be found at lower prices a LOT easier thanks to the outlet. I paid $720 for my m1310 that was pimped out with the best of everything at the time. It was around $2600 retail.
 
I just picked up an ASUS G51VX-X2A from newegg for $1550 a couple weeks ago and I love it.

Specs:
15.6" at 1920 x 1080 resolution
Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8G
4GB RAM
320GB 7200rpm
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M w/ 1GB VRAM DDR3

2 year parts and labor warranty
1 year ASUS Accidental Damage Warranty - Drops, Fire, Spill, Surge

You can also get it with an Intel Core 2 Quad Quad-Core Processor Q9000 (2.00GHz) for around $100 more.

Overall, it's a pretty decent setup for the price especially when you consider the warranty.

If you want to go custom, give the Sager NP8662 a look. For $2000 you could have an awesome setup.
 
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