Advice on a gaming laptop

[Ch@pS]

Hi all

Ive got a budget of around $2000 and im looking for a decent gaming laptop to last me for a while.

I dont need anything too fancy, its just for Lanning and University, but it needs to handle all modern games, and last me for a while.

The thing is ive never had a gaming laptop before and have no clue whats reliable etc.

Oh, and $2000 is my absolute max, if i can get anything cheaper it'll help since im waiting for Nehalem and thats going to be a rather expensive upgrade.

I want the following out of my laptop :

2GHZ Intel Core 2 (or laptop equivelent)
2GB RAM
160GB hard drive
15.4" or 17" screen
8600GT or above.

What can you guys recommend?

[Xphobe]

HP Pavilion HDX9494NR (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147750)

- 45nm quad core (less power consumption then other CPUs)
- 8800m GTS graphics card (2nd to best mobile gpu out there atm)
- 4gb memory
- 20" screen
- Blu-Ray drive
- 9-cell lithium ion battery
- Cost $1550 atm

[Ch@pS]

OMW thats nice :O

Thats perfect for what i need, only problem is it may be a bit to big for Uni use. :(

Is there anything like that in 17" size with a DVD rom instead to bring down price?

[Xphobe]

You can go to HP website to custom make your Laptop, but you wont get as good of a deal. HP also seems to be the best cheapest place to have one made too btw. I think Acer and HP are the best Performance/Price for Laptops.

[Ch@pS]

Ill pop over there and see what i can organise, hopefully getting it out here (South Africa) wont be too much of a hassle either. :(

[Jim Morbid]

Good luck on that. Had to Ebay my Asus EEE 701 and ended up costing me $500 with shipping.

Screw you South Africa. :'(

[brightwindow]

HP Pavilion HDX9494NR (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147750)

- 45nm quad core (less power consumption then other CPUs)
- 8800m GTS graphics card (2nd to best mobile gpu out there atm)
- 4gb memory
- 20" screen
- Blu-Ray drive
- 9-cell lithium ion battery
- Cost $1550 atm

That's good, but you can go to HP directly, they have some promotions on laptops recently.

[squilliam]

HP Pavilion HDX9494NR (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147750)

- 45nm quad core (less power consumption then other CPUs)
- 8800m GTS graphics card (2nd to best mobile gpu out there atm)
- 4gb memory
- 20" screen
- Blu-Ray drive
- 9-cell lithium ion battery
- Cost $1550 atm

I went directly to HP, piced out the exact same system Newegg has, and it was over $2000.
Go Newegg!

[MINIz guy]

The Gateway P-6860FX could be a good choice for you, if you want to spend an extra $200 for a CPU that fits your standards. The laptop itself costs around $1300, so with a better CPU, $1500.

You get:
4GB RAM
8800M GTS
320GB HD
17" screen - 1440x900 Resolution, not the best but does fine
Vista Home Premium 64-bit
T54XX - I forget the model

Also, people are saying a newer model will come out soon, so look for sales. The Gateway P series moves fast, as I bought my P-6831FX just 6 months ago and has been replaced by another model already. They are also great bang for the buck and being available at Best Buy.

[Ch@pS]

I'll keep a lookout for them MINIz guy, thx alot.

They seem to be the best price/perf ratio laptops around.

Im also browsing Ebay and bidding on a feew awesome laptops there, but i keep getting outbid. stupid rich people. :D

[Circaflex]

My advice would be to stay away from a gaming laptop if you want to use it for school, the battery life sucks, they are heavy, and nothing more embarrassing then hearing your laptop fans boost up during class, not to mention anything over 15" doesn't fit too well on a desk at school. This is just my personal opinion and the reason im getting a new laptop for school

[Ch@pS]

lol yeah, it was an issue, but thats just the cover so my parents help me out with the funds. ;)

I already have an HP 530 for University, its a 15.4" which can do everything... except play games. :(

[Newblar]

try a gateway fx or find a asus on newegg with a 9600M GT/GS
or dell 1530 =o

[Xphobe]

try a gateway fx or find a asus on newegg with a 9600M GT/GS
or dell 1530 =o

The 9600M is a decent card, but not the best for graphic intensive games.... you can find the list HERE (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html) .

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html


As you can see the 9600M is a bit down on the list. If you are playing graphic intensive games, I would suggest trying to get a card that is in the top 20.

[Ch@pS]

Damn that helped alot, thx Xphobe, you've totally changed my mind

[ziddey]

I don't know if nvidia or amd makes any chipsets for intel that also can be had with discrete graphics solutions, you'd be able to overclock most likely. It'd allow bsel mods or just straight clockgenning if the pll is supported. I believe intel chipsets also can allow clockgenning without being locked to 6x, but you wouldn't be able to bsel mod. Or get an extreme series processor. core2's overclock well even in the laptop realm, and high 2ghz's should be attainable easily.

[railmeat]

The 9600M is a decent card, but not the best for graphic intensive games.... you can find the list HERE (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html) .

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html


As you can see the 9600M is a bit down on the list. If you are playing graphic intensive games, I would suggest trying to get a card that is in the top 20.


"I would suggest trying to get a card that is in the top 20.'

umm ya..the basics..

the 9600m is so0o0 old ,its not even a option unless quake3 is your thing.

for a $2,000 budget im sure u can find a laptop thats using a 8800m gt card in it...

[Circaflex]

the 9600 is old?

[ziddey]

seems like someone is talking about ati 9600 and someone nvidia 9600

haha

The performance of the 9600M GT should be somewhere between the 9500M GS and the 8700M GT (depends if GDDR2 or GDDR3 memory chips are used).

Compared to desktop graphics cards, the 9600M GT is similar to the GeForce 9500GT (which also descends from the G96 core). The desktop CPU 9600 GT has a 256 bit memory bus and is therefore much faster.

hmm, how cruel nvidia. 9600m is similar to 9500gt, which is around 8600 in performance although slightly faster

[vengance_01]

Take a look at this new gateway. Smoking notebook for 1500$

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8892825&type=product&id=1211587727985

[Ch@pS]

Thx for the advice guys, but ive found a 2nd hand lappie that has the following :

Hp Pavilion dv9000 multimedia entertainment laptop

Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 2.00GHz

1GB Ram (upgradable)

200GB HDD

Nvidia Geforce Go 7600 (512 MB)

17" Widecreen LCD display

CD/DVD reader/writer - with LightScribe direct disc labeling

Bluetooth wireless

Duel headhone jack

5-in-1 card reader

USB/VGA/HDMI ports

Remote and laptop mouse

Hopefull for around $300!!!!!! :O (will be trading a bit of my stuff though, CPU and RAM)

I'll just upgrade the RAM to 2GB and im sorted for around $350. :D

The 7600 GT is all i need for now, then i can dump the other $1650 in my new car. Thx for all the advice guys

[squilliam]

All of that work for that type of result.

wow :ROTF:

[Ch@pS]

Weird eh? Still and all, im practically giving away my E8500 and 650MHZ 4-4-4-3 2x 1GB teams for it, i think i lose in the end. :(

[Quest_7F]

If that solution is functional for you then go for it, can't tell if you lose there or not.

[Ch@pS]

I Definitely lose out with the RAM, this is the best CL4 ocing set in South Africa (its not much but we cant compete with the richer countries (yet ;))) so im having 2nd thoughts. Ive put everything on ice for now though.

[marauder16]

you're talking about south africa being lousy, here in Croatia our biggest problem are laptops. I just calculated, this HP Pavilion costs 1550$ if I add 22% of our VAT and transfer it to our currency, I get like 9K kuna (croatian currency). Well, in our shops, for that money I can't buy anything stronger than Acer 6920G with a T5750 cpu...
got the picture? lol, they don't even offer gaming HP laptops, just some models with FX graphics :down:

[P8baller07]

Get a Macbook Pro - you wont regret it - all drivers are there for vista if you want to dual boot, and you can run VM's ontop of the OS if you want XP/vista without restarting.

They're not overpriced if you stay away from the upgrades and such.. get a basic one and buy 4gbs of ram and install it yourself.

[jcniest5]

Good luck on that. Had to Ebay my Asus EEE 701 and ended up costing me $500 with shipping.

Screw you South Africa. :'(

One of the Nigeria scams again. I have heard many people got scammed and not a single thing they can do about it. Nigeria is the center of scam, where lots of people run their scamming underground dirty tricks from. Sorry to hear that you are one of their latest victims. Be more careful next time.

[Jim Morbid]

One of the Nigeria scams again. I have heard many people got scammed and not a single thing they can do about it. Nigeria is the center of scam, where lots of people run their scamming underground dirty tricks from. Sorry to hear that you are one of their latest victims. Be more careful next time.

Um, I think you missed the point there.

It cost me so much not because I got scammed but because the shipping and import tarifs in South Africa are unreasonable (I live in South Africa and bought the lappy from someone in the USA via Ebay).

Plus Nigeria is northern Africa, and not in anyway related or to South Africa.

JM

[jcniest5]

Um, I think you missed the point there.

It cost me so much not because I got scammed but because the shipping and import tarifs in South Africa are unreasonable (I live in South Africa and bought the lappy from someone in the USA via Ebay).

Plus Nigeria is northern Africa, and not in anyway related or to South Africa.

JM

Hehehhehee....I guess I misunderstood your statement. :yepp: Glad you weren't scammed...

[Jim Morbid]

No problem. Although, trying to import stuff here is kinda like getting scammed - excpet its the customs officials doing the scamming.

JM

[EneergE]

I'm in the process of purchasing an ASUS G50v-1 laptop (http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-g50va1-order-p-2479.html). nVidia 9700, 15.4" screen, Montevina T9400, 6-cell battery (upgradeable to 9 cell) that runs about 2 hours (power saving mode), dual hard drives with hardware raid support - all for about $1700.00. The 9700 will play most games, but isn't going to be close to any top of the line desktop gaming rig with crossfire/sli.

You may want the Clevo laptop that has a 9800GT in it instead. They are also very solid laptops: http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8660-built-clevo-m860tu-p-2411.html

ASUS M50VM-B2 - Great multimedia laptop at a great bargain. 9600 video card
ASUS G50V-A1/2 - Awesome gaming/multimedia laptop at a good bargain. 9700 video card + hardware raid
Sager/Clevo M860TU - Awesome gaming laptop with a 9800GT

notebookreview.com forums have some good reviews you can also checkout before you buy. Good luck!