Laptop

[Ahtykk]

Hey forums.introversion.co.uk/introversion,

So, I've secured my new laptop, and since my dad agreed to let me purchase online, my choices have broadened significantly.
Thus, I come to you all in search for my next laptop.

Requirements would be..

International shipping (Or at least to Hong Kong)
Primary role will be for gaming, so the specifications should match that. (I don't know, say, 2GB+ and a Core2Duo?)
Would be preferable if no operating system was bundled, as I'm just going to stuff my own down its throat.
Looks are unimportant, but if you can help it, straight lines and dark, glossy colors.
Portability would be nice, as well as battery life.
I'm used to the Intel/nVidia pair.
I need a few USB ports and ethernet ports as well as a wireless lan.
No use for Bluetooth or Blu-ray or any of that new stuff.

-Tyr

[NeoThermic]

Primary role will be for gaming, so the specifications should match that. (I don't know, say, 2GB+ and a Core2Duo?)
Portability would be nice, as well as battery life.

With gaming laptops:

Fast, portable, battery life

Pick two.

NeoThermic

[Ahtykk]

Fast and battery life don't go well together, though.

Regardless, eh. Fast and battery.
If that doesn't work out, Fast and portable.

[NeoThermic]

Fast and battery life don't go well together, though.

Sure they do, you just have HUGE batteries, hence portable goes out the window.

Regardless, eh. Fast and battery.

Woo, with no portable restriction, your range is infinite assuming you're content with carrying around extra battery packs (most gaming laptops with good batteries last about 1.5 to 1 hour. Extra packs are needed for extra time). See Rock or Alienware or Dell.

If that doesn't work out, Fast and portable.

This depends on how you define portable. What weight (in kg) puts you over that limit? Once you know that, look at the above people and see which match.

NeoThermic

[Stewsburntmonkey]

Do you absolutely need a notebook and only a notebook? A good gaming notebook is generally very expensive and will only last a few years (if that). It's often better to get a decent gaming desktop, which can be relatively cheap and is upgradable, and then a lower end notebook which can be portable and have good battery life.

I used to use a notebook for everything, but realized that for the same price I could get a good desktop (iMac) and a good notebook (Macbook).

[MarvintheParanoidAndroid]

Regardless, eh. Fast and battery.

Woo, with no portable restriction, your range is infinite assuming you're content with carrying around extra battery packs (most gaming laptops with good batteries last about 1.5 to 1 hour. Extra packs are needed for extra time). See Rock or Alienware or Dell.

I have a Rock laptop for gaming (one of the Pegasus models) and would definitely recommend them (although I've seen whinging about their customer service - I believe recently they were nearly shut down, but have been bought up by a new company. Still, I've personally had no problems at all). It has a Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, nVidia GeForce 8 series something-or-other, and it's by no means their highest end laptop. Uh, as far as the other stuff you mentioned goes: 4 USB ports, ethernet, WLAN, fulfils the straight lines and dark requirements but not glossy, bundled with Vista Home. You'd have to look on their website for Hong Kong shipping.

However I barely ever use it unplugged, and the battery life is poor while gaming or watching movies. It'll probably get through one movie on battery power, tops. Only reason I went for laptop rather than desktop was to have at least some degree of portability - it's not much hassle to stick in a backpack and take to/from uni, to friends' houses etc.

I also have a friend who got a Dell XPS of some description for gaming, and he seems to like it, so take a look at those too.

[Pox]

Yeah, only get a high-end gaming laptop if you absolutely need to move it around a lot... if you're the kind of person who goes to a lot of LANs and will be taking it around to friends' places, then it's worth it, but otherwise it is a lot more expensive than a comparable desktop, and the sacrifice in portabiity and battery life will make it much less valuable as a laptop - it will become essenttially a very luggable desktop.
If you are set on getting a gaming laptop, have a look at Asus as well - they are reasonably priced (compared to the likes of Alienware) and I've heard only good things. The M50V (C2D 2.53ghz, 4gb ram, 1gb 9600, 15.4") is only AU$1600 here, so I'd expect it to be around $1000 or less in the US.

[LordSturm]

Fast and battery life don't go well together, though.

Of cause it does, massive (heavy) battery, and heavy/powerful/big hardware makes for powerful processing and long lasting battery.

Neothermic is very right.

With PC's you don't get portability, and you don't need to worry about your battery life, so you put your TWO eggs in the "fast" basket, and win?

[Ahtykk]

This depends on how you define portable. What weight (in kg) puts you over that limit? Once you know that, look at the above people and see which match.

Actually my definition of portability is more size-wise, not weight.
I just need it to be able to fit in my bag. >.>

Either way, I've found something that catches my eye.
The Asus F8Va, specifications are as follows:

Code: Select all

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 @ 2.53GHz (Centrino)
RAM: 2048 MB DDR2 SDRAM
Hard drive: 320 GB
Card Reader: SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, xD
Optical drive: Blu-ray Combo drive
Ports: 5 x USB 2.0; eSATA port; FireWire; VGA out; S-video; HDMI
Bluetooth: Yes
Ethernet: 10/100/1000
Wireless LAN: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n
Webcam: Yes
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD3650 (1GB)
Diagonal screen size: 14.1 inch (Widescreen, 1440x900 max.)
Weight w/battery: 2.6 kg
Dimensions: 340 x 244 x 37.2 mm


Thoughts?
I'm satisfied with its specifications, not entirely sure about the ATi graphics card as I've been using nVidia in just about every computer I've owned.


-Tyr

[Rkiver]

The graphics card is a let down.

The 3850 was mediocre. The 3850 Mobility is a bigger one.

But as long as you wont be playing Crysis overall it should be fine.

[Nimbus]

The graphics card is a let down.

The 3850 was mediocre. The 3850 Mobility is a bigger one.

But as long as you wont be playing Crysis overall it should be fine.

Um, I was able to play Crysis with an X1550.

[Ahtykk]

Well.

I went an got a display model HP Pavilion dv6711tx Special Edition.
Got it at half the price of everything else due to it being a display model. (Got it for 773USD, 453GBP or 571EUR.)

Specifications are:

Code: Select all

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 @ 2.20GHz
RAM: 3GB DDR2 SDRAM
GFX: nVidia GeForce 8400M GS (1.5GB)
HDD: 250GB 5400RPM
SCREEN: 15.4" WXGA (Max resolution: 1280x800)
DRIVE: HDDVD-ROM/SuperMulti DVD+R/RW
AUDIO: Altec Lansing
USB: (3x)
MISC: Bluetooth, HDMI output, VGA output, Remote control, Fingerprint scanner, Camera, Microphones


[/code]

[Nimbus]

Don't forget to leave a bit of money for a good portable mouse. Touchpad and gaming don't mix.

[Ahtykk]

I was supposed to spend double the price I paid for this laptop.

I have the remaining half to do whatever I want.


Yay!

[elexis]

The BEST notebook out there.

Reason, because it isn't a notebook. All the major components are interghangeable, ram, graphics, cpu etc. So you can upgrade it later when better stuff comes out.
This thing is designed to overclock. Currently capable of up to 2.93 GHz processing power. I would have bought one except supplies are very limited. There weren't any in Australia when I was on the market.
Just be careful with what you buy. What hardware it comes with depends on the distributer, so dont assume that the specs are the same from one shop to another.



Also, did you know that HP, Acer and BenQ laptops are all made in the same factory?