Question:
Help Me Help Myself - Dell E1705 vs. Asus S97J
I have narrowed down my obsesive search for the best laptop for myself down to two options: The 17 inch E1705 and the Asus S97J. If I chose the Dell I would of course get it from Dell, if I chose the Asus I would most likely get it from Powernotebooks, but thats not the issue.
Basically, i want a relativly powerful laptop for under $1700, whose main goal would be to game with the highest settings possible. From that, you would immediatly think the E1705 with its far superius GPU under the hood compared to the not-so-bad X1600 with the S97J. However, there are some other guidlines I would love this laptop to meet, the highest of those being portability and battery life.
So we come to the age old argument of power vs. portability/battery. What I invision this laptop being is a laptop which I can take on a plane or hotel, ect. and play games like Half-Life 2, Doom 3, Company of Heroes, the works, at not necassarely the highest settings, but up there. I am willing to buy spare and/or bigger batteries to get the job done. Still, would it be realistic to whip out a E1705 on a plane with two backup batteries? Would heat be to much of an issue? Could I acheive 3 hours + at LEAST with two - three batteries (including backup) with EITHER laptop? Am I asking the impossible?
Basically, I want to know if I can still play top games with the S97J, not necassarelly as powerful as the E1705, OR if the portability/battery issues, to a certain extent of couse (ie. its pretty **** heavy + not more then 3 hours max w/ backup batts + heat issues), of the E1705 are NOT to big of a problem. Big thanks in advance.
- Deepee
Answer:
Re: Help Me Help Myself - Dell E1705 vs. Asus S97J
You can definitely handle the latest games at very decent settings with the S96J (not S97J). The x1600 is a very powerful and capable GPU. Of course, the go 7900GS is quite a bit more powerful, but only available in a 17" system.
Now, as far as using either on a plane--I don't think it's very feasible. I would never take out my 15.4" system in a coach seat--there just isn't enough room to open it up, and if the guy in front of me reclines--my LCD would be crushed. I'd say go with a smaller system if plane usage is a priority for you.
Keep in mind also that a 17" system is not very ideal for taking on a plane or hotel as you envision this system being for.
I'd say go with the S96J or a 14.1" gamer if travel/mobility is a priority.
Good luck.
Answer:
Re: Help Me Help Myself - Dell E1705 vs. Asus S97J
After looking at some marks of the X1600, I must agree that it is more then capable to play current gen games at enjoyable levels. My bad about the type-o there, calling it S97J, haha. Anyway, thanks for the quick response and adding more resolve to what I think my decision should be. Lastly, concerning the Proc, would you recommend the 1.83 or the 2.0 (T5600 to T7200). The T7200 is less then $75 more, but if the upgrade is THAT insignifgant, there is no point in wasting my $75. Still, flexibilty and crunching benchmarks is definitly something I crave, so is the extra juice worth that $75 if I intend to use graphic intensive applications along with high end gaming.
Also, does anyone have any idea how much juice I could squeeze out of a 6-Cell battery on a S96J with a Duo 2.0, 7200 HD, ect. while playing top end games, like HL2, Doom3, ect., straight through? Thanks again in advance.
- Deepee
Answer:
Re: Help Me Help Myself - Dell E1705 vs. Asus S97J
If you want the S96j, an excellent choice by the way. Although when going from the T5600 to the T7200 your only getting 140mhz more speed, your also getting 2 more MB's of cache for a total of 4MB's. If you can afford it, I'd recommend the T7200 because of that. I would imagine that when gaming on the S96j with the 6 cell you wouldn't see anymore than 2hrs. Most likely more like 1:30.
Another smaller notebook option is the Compal HGL30. It's a 14" notebook with the 7600Go. It's quite a nice little notebook with a built in webcam and built in fingerprint reader. If you have not already done so, I'd recommend checking out both of these notebooks from powernotebooks.com.