New Gaming Laptop

[Xtopher]

So, I'm looking to buy a new laptop this summer. The make or break with me is performance... I want this thing to be a beast, but under $2,000... because I am working off of a college student's summer budget... I'm also making this topic to give myself a better comparison of my options..

Anyway... here are some rigs I'm looking at... if you guys have any suggestions or thoughts please let me know!

#1: Alienware M15x Cosmic Black

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

WARRANTY AND SERVICE: 1 Year Basic Service Plan

VIDEO CARD: 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M

LCD PANEL: 15.6-inch WideHD+ 1600x900 (900p) WLED

MEMORY: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz

HARD DRIVE: 320GB SATAII 7,200RPM

INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

PRICE: ~$1,850 after tax & Shipping

Pros: Alienware has a great reputation. Dell support has always been awesome for me. Complete customization.The computer actually looks BADASS.

Cons: Heavy.. about 9LB, expensive.

#2: HP ENVY 15 series

Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Processor: Intel® Core i7-720QM Quad Core processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz

Memory: 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)

Hard drive: 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection

Graphics card: 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5830 Graphics - For i7 Processors

Display: 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)

External optical drive External Tray Super Multi 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support with 2 USB Ports

Personalization: Webcam Only

Networking: Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth

Included Software Bundle: HP QuickWeb, Corel VideoStudio Pro X2, Corel Paintshop Pro X2, Stardock My Colors

Keyboard: HP Keyboard

Primary battery: 6 Cell Lithium Ion Polymer Battery (standard)

Productivity software: No Productivity Software

Price: ~$1,800 after tax & shipping

Pros: It looks pretty sexy, very mobile and light weight.

Cons: HP's reputation right now is horrible, the disk drive is external... I hate when laptops don't have disk drives.

#3: Dell Studio XPS 16

SYSTEM COLOR: Obsidian Black High Gloss Finish edit

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core Processor 1.6GHz (2.8GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

WARRANTY AND SERVICE: 1 Year Basic Service Plan

MEMORY: 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz

HD DISPLAY: HD+ Widescreen 15.6 inch WLED LCD (1600x900) W/2.0 MP, XPS 1647

HARD DRIVE: 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

BLUETOOTH: Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.1+EDR)

WIRELESS CARDS: Intel® 5300 WLAN Wireless-N (3x3) Mini Card

INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)

SECURITY SOFTWARE: McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months

DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP: Dell Online Backup 30GB for 1 year

VIDEO CARD: ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 4670 – 1GB

BATTERY OPTIONS: 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

SOUND OPTIONS: Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def Audio - Software Enabled

Studio XPS 16: Studio XPS 16 Notebook

Network Card: Integrated 10/100 Network Card

Price: ~$1,400

Pros: Cheap, Comes with anti-virus(never had a virus before anyway), Larger Hard drive, Dell support

Cons: I have a Dell computer now and the build quality/durability is kind of crappy, I can't change the graphics card (Big Con)

#4: Macbook Pro 15''

2.4GHz Intel Core i5

4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB

320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm

SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

MacBook Pro 15-inch Glossy Widescreen Display

Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide

Microsoft Office Mac 2008 - Home and Student Edition

Price: ~$2,000

Pros: It's hard to mess up a Mac (software wise/viruses) I get to be a total toolbag with all the other Macbook users.

Cons: Its expensive, they don't allow as much customization... The above info was ALL apple.com gave me... I feel like I'm being tricked when shopping for this.

#5: Toshiba Qosmio X500-S1801

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)

GRAPHICS ENGINE: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 360M

GRAPHICS MEMORY: 2782MB total: 1GB GDDR5 discrete memory + up to 1758MB shared memory w/NVIDIA® TurboCache™ technology

MEMORY: 4GB DDR3 1066MHz memory

HARD DRIVE: 500GB HDD (7200rpm)

OPTICAL DRIVE: Blu-ray Disc™ ROM and DVD SuperMulti drive with Labelflash®

DISPLAY SIZE: 18.4" widescreen

DISPLAY TYPE: HD+ TruBrite® TFT LCD display

DISPLAY RESOLUTION: 1680x945 (HD+), Supports 720p content, 16:9 aspect ratio

Price: ~$1,700 after shipping & tax

Pros: Its a very pretty looking laptop, very good specs for the price. Blu-ray player! 18.4'' display

Cons: Heavy (9.7LBs), Toshiba's reputation is questionable

#6: Sony Vaio F-Series

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ i7-720QM (1.60GHz)

OPERATING SYSTEM: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit

DISPLAY:Features: 16.4" Full HD LCD

MEMORY: 6GB RAM

HARD DRIVE: 500GB HDD 7200rpm Serial ATA

OPTICAL DRIVE: Blu-ray player/burner

GRAPHICS ENGINE/MEMORY: NVIDIA® graphics (1GB VRAM)

OTHERS: HDMI™ out, Bluetooth, 1 year of tech support

Price: ~$1,600-1,700 (I'm guessing, it's out of stock atm, hard to tell)

Pros: It's lightweight: right at 7LBs, Blu-ray!... Somewhat cheaper for the specs. 16.4'' display.

Cons: It's kind of ugly in my opinion.. especially compared to the competition... I did some research and the track-pad mouse still has the really loud annoying clicking buttons... This is a big turnoff for me because I don't want everyone in the room staring at me whenever I'm clicking things... This model is also out of stock on the Sony website... They didn't allow me to customize it, this may be because its out of stock.

Feel free to give me your opinions/input! Keep in mind the computer I want will be used for gaming.

Edited May 28, 2010 by Xtopher

[Kittie]

Macbook. Tools ftw.

[Xtopher]

That can be a pro or con I suppose, depending on how you look at it.

I don't hate Mac, I hate Mac fans....

[Annie]

I want dem all.

[Xtopher]

I want dem all.

I know right.... Its a hard decision to make...

[Genesis]

Your choices (if your options are for a gaming computer) are the toshiba or the alienware. Dell has shit support though, you can forget about portability with either of these computers, I have a m17x and it's battery life is roughly 1~2 hours.

[Annie]

I haz acer predator, orange gaming machine. :3

[Nadtorious]

I haz acer predator, orange gaming machine. :3

^

/

\

/

Whoa Annie I've seen that Orange Predator desktop machine. Omg. It looks so sexy. It runs on 6 Gb Ram?

At first I thought it was a freaking Transformer, watchu' call it? Bumble Bee?

*

Anyways.

About the laptop. In my opinion Alienware looks hot.

But I'd get the Toshiba Qosmio, tight ass for gaming. ./rice. :thumbsup_still:

[Xtopher]

Your choices (if your options are for a gaming computer) are the toshiba or the alienware. Dell has shit support though, you can forget about portability with either of these computers, I have a m17x and it's battery life is roughly 1~2 hours.

Man, I'm jealous. The new M17x is sexyyyy but its def out of my price range for now... Battery life isn't much of a deal breaker for me because I'll most likely be plugged in all the time.

I have a Dell now and the support has always been good for me. I had repairmen come to my dorm room on my campus and replace a motherboard & screen... That doesn't say much for Dells build quality though... I guess everyone has different experiences.

[bankai`]

Want something in your budge? look at the Asus g73 Stealth Fighter its $1200 at bestbuy and a kick ass machine, Alienware m15x is good but that is expensive Asus does everything the m15x does

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+...p;cp=1&lp=1

[Rayray]

Alienware or Toshiba. :))

[bankai`]

Alienware or Toshiba. :))

Don't listen to him he don't know what he is talking about lol j/k

Buy a laptop from a gaming company, and i have and Asus G73 Stealth Fighter and i personally thing the laptop is great hey its a gaming laptop you're asking for so i don't think you'll be taking it anywhere. Don't get me wrong you can travel with this thing you'll just be carrying around a 11lbs power machine, you're a man so i dont think 11lbs is a big deal unless you are a pussy lmao..j/k

[Genesis]

Here's a thought, if it's going to be plugged in all the time why don't you buy a gaming desktop. It will be better, cheaper, and you can learn from it.

[Kittie]

It'll keep a helluva lot cooler and usually has a bigger screen too.

Not to mention upgradeable components...

[Xtopher]

Because I will have to move it around some. I guess I didn't clarify that... Being physically portable helps in school/meetings. A lot of these are heavy but I can deal with that. And I don't want to leave it at school when I come home for a few days...

@bankai' It has some good specs, but it's kind of ugly... and I'm a strong believer in that you get what you pay for... if it has the same specs as a computer a couple hundred bucks more than it and its not custom built there has to be a catch somewhere...

Edited May 28, 2010 by Xtopher

[Levis]

Here's a thought, if it's going to be plugged in all the time why don't you buy a gaming desktop. It will be better, cheaper, and you can learn from it.

I think he wants a Notebook/Laptop because of it's portability, if I am not mistaken. This topic is quite interesting for me, bcause I wanted to post such a topic too for the same reasons... Nice that somebody already posted such.

Is there any reason why you didn't mentioned a Sony Vaio Notebook? I thought it's currently as good as HP. Maybe Genesis could know... I think those Notebooks you've showed, could be cheaper in europ, since I live in germany and it's really cheaper. I think you can get a very good Notebook for 1000$ - 1500$. And yea with the same how to say abilites?

[Xtopher]

I think he wants a Notebook/Laptop because of it's portability, if I am not mistaken. This topic is quite interesting for me, bcause I wanted to post such a topic too for the same reasons... Nice that somebody already posted such.

Is there any reason why you didn't mentioned a Sony Vaio Notebook? I thought it's currently as good as HP. Maybe Genesis could know... I think those Notebooks you've showed, could be cheaper in europ, since I live in germany and it's really cheaper. I think you can get a very good Notebook for 1000$ - 1500$. And yea with the same how to say abilites?

Glad it's relevant to someone else's interest! Well I REALLY DO NOT LIKE the mouse buttons on Vaios... they're so freaking loud and obnoxious. I'm going to be using the computer primarily for gaming and using a mouse but during the times I'm just browsing the web I don't want to deal with that annoying sound.... HOWEVER... I could do some research and see if they're changing it or if there is a Vaio that would fall in this category. Thanks for the suggestion.

~~~~EDIT~~~ VAIO ADDED

About the prices between US& Europe... Well I've heard mixed things. Some computers are much more expensive in Europe for some reason... like the parts (graphics cards/memory) are more expensive... There's also the fact that the USD has been appreciating in comparison to the Euro over the last few months... so 1USD is worth more than it was before... so the price may seem less but the exchange rate may have something to do with it.... I mean 1usd is still like .811 euros but thats better than like 5 months ago in January 1USD was only worth like .695 Euros.... Theres a lot of variables that go into international pricing strategies...

Edited May 28, 2010 by Xtopher

[Annie]

Acer Predator. :3

[Adamxd]

HP envy wins if it's for games.

[Levis]

Glad it's relevant to someone else's interest! Well I REALLY DO NOT LIKE the mouse buttons on Vaios... they're so freaking loud and obnoxious. I'm going to be using the computer primarily for gaming and using a mouse but during the times I'm just browsing the web I don't want to deal with that annoying sound.... HOWEVER... I could do some research and see if they're changing it or if there is a Vaio that would fall in this category. Thanks for the suggestion.

~~~~EDIT~~~ VAIO ADDED

About the prices between US& Europe... Well I've heard mixed things. Some computers are much more expensive in Europe for some reason... like the parts (graphics cards/memory) are more expensive... There's also the fact that the USD has been appreciating in comparison to the Euro over the last few months... so 1USD is worth more than it was before... so the price may seem less but the exchange rate may have something to do with it.... I mean 1usd is still like .811 euros but thats better than like 5 months ago in January 1USD was only worth like .695 Euros.... Theres a lot of variables that go into international pricing strategies...

1. You can use a Notebook mouse costs around 10 Euros maximal and it's not a big one...(that's what I am always doing because I dislike the mouse on notebooks

2. The currently exchange is 1€ = 1,2284$, the euro is and was always more worth then the US Dollar.

http://de.finance.yahoo.com/waehrungen/wae...UR;to=USD;amt=1

3. The Sony Vaio you have found is in my eyes the best one. Maybe I am going to buy that one, if I find it here in germany and see the price in euros... I think it's possible to turn the mouse click sound off? Isn't it possible?

Edited May 28, 2010 by Levis

[Xtopher]

1. You can use a Notebook mouse costs around 10 Euros maximal and it's not a big one...(that's what I am always doing because I dislike the mouse on notebooks

2. The currently exchange is 1€ = 1,2284$, the euro is and was always more worth then the US Dollar.

http://de.finance.yahoo.com/waehrungen/wae...UR;to=USD;amt=1

3. The Sony Vaio you have found is in my eyes the best one. Maybe I am going to buy that one, if I find it here in germany and see the price in euros... I think it's possible to turn the mouse click sound off? Isn't it possible?

Ok, I think you misunderstood my post...

1. I know you can buy a notebook mouse but I won't be be using the mouse the whole time and when I don't use it the track mouse is obnoxious. And if I did use a mouse 100% of the time do you know how much that would hinder portability?

2. Theres no reason to post what you posted, Of course 1 Euro is 1.2284 USD, but the converse is also true: 1 USD = .815 Euro.... http://de.finance.yahoo.com/waehrungen/wae...SD;to=EUR;amt=1

The Euro is worth more right now, and has been for a long time, I don't know about "will always be" though... seeing here as of lately the dollar has been appreciating in comparison... Just FYI I'm getting my BS in Finance/Econ next year so yea... I study this stuff a lot... Things cost different amounts in different locations around the world... There are a lot of variables that go into it (political stance, law, and culture just to name a few).

3. If you like it then purchase it, I don't want to talk you out of buying something you like. I don't think its possible to stop the clicking sound without manually going in and changing it physically (replacing the parts with different parts) which would void any warranty you have.

[Levis]

I know it's your decision, just said I would like to have that one. The keyboard should be also one for gamers...

Yea and about the mouse you're right, but I would use a mouse if I am going to play =] I don't think you're playing while you're in class. And yeah you're in right with the exchange.

[bankai`]

I guess you have the money and care about looks so i think your best solution is the m15x, looks good and extremely powerful, hope you find what you're looking for.

[Genesis]

Portability is not an option with an alienware laptop, trust me.

[bankai`]

Well i had a nice time playing fro guys. The Pvp and The event were epic. I hope that Fro gets better and gets more player so it could be more fun.

Well Bye Destiny,Parody.I'll Miss you guys and everyone else So later :)

M11X is really a portable and a 2nd version is coming out with i3, i5, i7 processor, coming out in 2010 in June so you might wanna check it out do some research I'm planning on getting that laptop for summer, traveling with laptop is a must for me. =]