Question:
Cheap Gaming Notebook (Dell?)
Hello everyone. I'll be off to college this fall, and I'm interested in purchasing a notebook computer mostly for its portability (as driving 6 hours to college can be a pain with loads of gear).
General Questions
1) What is your budget?
Around $1500
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
One of these two
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
The usual internet-surfing, but I'd also like to use it to play games
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
I'll probably take it to the library, but an outlet will usually be nearby
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
I'd like to play Half-Life 2, Oblivion, and Far Cry
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Dell seems to give me the best deal for what I want; see far below. Other than that, since when did brand ever matter?
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
2-3 is fine
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
Yes, but I can only hope that I'll like it
9) What country are you buying this in?
United States
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
I don't care
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer? See below for more information.
Standard
a. XGA -1024x768; Largest text with least amount of screen real estate.
b. SXGA - 1400x1050; Middle ground.
c. UXGA - 1600x1200; Smallest text with the most amount of screen real estate.
Widescreen
d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Largest text with least amount of screen real estate.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Middle ground.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Smallest text with the most amount of screen real estate.
I really don't care; anything is fine
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? See below for explanation.
I'll have to see these for myself to decide, but I'm the type of person who adjusts well
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
No. Brawn > Beauty
14) How long do you want this laptop to last?
Three years would be nice
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?
80GB is fine
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
A DVD burner would be nice
This is probably the best deal I've found for what I want:
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...=E1705S2&s=dhs
Any opinions on this? I tricked this one out with a T2400, 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, a 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS, a 80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive, a DVD burner, and a 3-year warranty, and the total came to $1,633.00. This deal with Dell will expire in two days, so I feel like I'm under a lot of pressure to decide soon. :(
It's difficult to get a concrete answer on the best model when everyone has his or her own nuances when looking for a notebook. Mostly, I just want a good video card (256MB seems good) with at least a T2400 and at least 1GB of RAM (I can always upgrade later if the company wants to hose me).
Oh, and I doubt my mother would let me purchase a notebook from a random online distributor. She seems to distrust anything outside of the company itself or Best Buy/Circuit City.
Thanks a lot for reading my post!
Answer:
Re: Cheap Gaming Notebook (Dell?)
Unless you are in a really urgent hurry, don't let the coupon codes pressure you. Dell always has good deals which seem to come around periodically. As far as gaming goes, that looks to be a killer system.
Answer:
Re: Cheap Gaming Notebook (Dell?)
i would consider the asus s96j. the resellers geared2play.com and powernotebooks.com are VERY well respected in these forums. you can check their ratings at resellerratings.com, if your mother feels uncomfortable about them.
Answer:
Re: Cheap Gaming Notebook (Dell?)
Looks good to me too: a good price for that configuration and the 3-year warranty. I guess if I were in your position, I'd be looking at what you've got there or the Asus s96j with the ATI x1600, though your mother might object to buying from one of the Asus resellers. One thing about the e1705 is, it's big and heavy and, realistically, you'll probably need the 9-cell battery to get 2 or 3 hours.
Answer:
Re: Cheap Gaming Notebook (Dell?)
I see now I'm not the only one who thinks the s96j might be a good choice. I was a little slow to pull the trigger, I guess.
Answer:
Re: Cheap Gaming Notebook (Dell?)
well theres the dell e1705.
if you dont like that you should consider the dell e1705.
on the other hand there is also the inspiron 9400
9 out of 10 people who bought a core duo laptop with a 7900 gs for under 1500 chose the dell e1705.
the other one went for the inspiron 9400
all things considered though i would go for whichever is cheaper. I might check a numerology chart though tool,
Answer:
Re: Cheap Gaming Notebook (Dell?)
The E1705 with the 7900GS will offer better performance than the X1600. I would say the 7900GS is around 1.5x the power of the X1600. The Asus S96j is a better built notebook, has a built in camera, and is in general better looking. If your going to be using the notebook at college the smaller, the better. You won't want to lug a 8lb 17" notebook to school every day.
Answer:
Re: Cheap Gaming Notebook (Dell?)
ya i did actually forget one thing
if youre going to pay dell for a 3 year warrantee
powernotebooks.com gives a 3 year free next day shipping warratee with all of their s96j and z96j machines. so that does get the machines much closer together in price
the e1705 is large and thick even for a 17 inch laptop, but its light.
for setting up on a coffee table a lot the 17 inch is too large, youll use it less
for setting up on a large desk like at home its fine even better.
all of these things youll need to consider, which one are most important to you.
I think if you want to play games like oblivian the 7900 gs is what you need really.
Answer:
Re: Cheap Gaming Notebook (Dell?)
Looks good to me too: a good price for that configuration and the 3-year warranty. I guess if I were in your position, I'd be looking at what you've got there or the Asus s96j with the ATI x1600, though your mother might object to buying from one of the Asus resellers. One thing about the e1705 is, it's big and heavy and, realistically, you'll probably need the 9-cell battery to get 2 or 3 hours.
or the e1505
Answer:
Re: Cheap Gaming Notebook (Dell?)
Oblivian runs great on the X1600. The E1505 only offers the X1400, a relatively weak card when compared to the X1600 and 7900 GS. I would opt for the s96j from powernotebooks. Great price, great notebook, great warranty!