Question:
Gaming Educated Decisions
1) What is your budget?
1400-1500 $
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
Bigger than 14" After that I really don't care I guess. I generally considered that the bigger screen would be better. However I'd rather sacrifice screen size than image quality or laptop performance.
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Gaming, Word, Net Surfing, etc.
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Generally leaving it inside the room and rarely traveling with it.
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
The new titles, 3d shooters, MMORPGs, RTS games, etc.
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
I'm completely new to the laptop market, this would be my very first laptop, so I'm open to all suggestions without any prejudices.
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
2-3 hours would be more than enough.
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
Not at all, I've ordered all of my desktops online.
9) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in?
United States
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
Widescreen sounds like more fun, however it depends on pricing.
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
No preference really. 1400x1050 or around that seems allright.
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
The one that looks better and the one that you can see the picture from all the angles.
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Nope, performance is much more important to me.
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
This week. A couple of years.
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 160GB?
80-100 GB.
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
DVD-CD/RW
Answer:
Re: Gaming Educated Decisions
Check out the:
For 15.4"
- Compal HEL80 (w/ nVidia 7600)
- Asus ZS96J (w/ ATI X1600)
- Asus G1 (w/ nVidia 7700)
For 14"
- Asus A8Js (w/ nVidia 7700)
- Asus A8Jp (from newegg.com) w/ ATI X1700
Check them out at www.powernotebooks.com and www.xoticpc.com and www.milestonepc.com
Answer:
Re: Gaming Educated Decisions
The compal hel80 might be a choice, but the graphics card is underclocked, theres some dells like the E1505 that might fit you as well. If you wanna bump your budget up to around 2k, the Clevo M570U (sager 5760) would set you for a while, and is better than most desktops
Answer:
Re: Gaming Educated Decisions
Thanks for the input. I'll definetly take a look at Asus and HELs. I've decided to go with 15.4" Option. My preferred specs are:
Core 2 Duo t5600 or t7200.
1-2 GB DDR RAM
256mb Nvidia Go7600-7700
80-100 GB Hard Drive.
I'd like to get it close to 1500$, definetly below 1600$. I probably can't get all of the specs I want for that kind of money. So the question is: which specs are most important for gaming perfomance? What could I sacrifice to fit in 1600$ budget?
Processor clockspeed? Processor cache size?
1 or 2 GB of RAM?
5400 or 7200 RPMs on a hard drive?
Is Go7700 drastically better than Go7600? Do you really need 512 mb Video card or is it an overkill even for the most recent games?
Answer:
Re: Gaming Educated Decisions
having 2gigs of RAM will give you better gaming performance than the small differences within the Core 2 Duo's.
The nVidia 7700 slightly performs better than the 7600, but not really significantly.
For harddrives: the 7200rpm does not really help gaming performance directly.. especially in-game.. it mainly helps the load times of the games and the software on your system. The 7200rpm is about 15-20% faster in overall performance (load times) than the 5400rpm.
Answer:
Re: Gaming Educated Decisions
The Asus Z96J sounds like a great choice for gaming. The Asus A8Js and the G1 mentioned above will probably not fit into your budget.
Z96J Reviews:
I'd recommend PowerNotebooks.com for the Asus Z96J, but be sure to check out other dealers as well. Many dealers, including MilestonePC and PROPortable, are active posters in our Asus forum.
Information on video cards can be found in the GPU guide.
Answer:
Re: Gaming Educated Decisions
Thanks for the advice. Can someone name any other websites that offer to customize 15.4" screen laptop with t5600 Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM, 7200RPM 80 GB Hard Drive and Go7600? If it happens to be less than 1600$ I might try to upgrade to t7200 processor or Go7700. I've checked out a few places and I'd really like to have more options to get rid off.. Long warranty times (1 year is enough for me), backpacks and other miscellaneous addons are adding on to the price.
Answer:
Re: Gaming Educated Decisions
Powernotebooks has that configuration (w/ T7200) for $1600.
http://powernotebooks.com/configure.php?special=353
Answer:
Re: Gaming Educated Decisions
Check this put:
Dell 9400
Intel® Core™ Duo T2250 (1.73GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533 MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows XP Professional
No Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Selected
17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Display
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
160GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Integrated Audio
Media Direct 3.0
All of these for only $1499 at http://www.dell.com/content/products...=04&l=en&s=bsd
It is bigger than your preferred size, though, but it is almost impossible to get a laptop with 7900 GS for less than $1500.
Answer:
Re: Gaming Educated Decisions
I think the Compal HEL80 or Asus Z96J are your best bets.
The Compal HEL80, Sager version (NP2080) is available with a 1-year warranty as opposed to the standard PowerPro 3-year warranty. I think you save $100 or so by doing that but I think it's $100 well-spent: extra 2-years of coverage + next-business-day shipping covered both ways.