Looking for a good laptop, help

[D3adcell]

Ok so next semester theres a good chance i'm going to be moving on to another college. With that move i'm going to be getting a laptop to bring to classes and what not.

So I got into looking at one now becuase I could use the upgrade and have been wanting one for a while. But i'm having trouble finding a really good one and knowing what to look at as far as brand and what is a good graphics card for laptops.

Specs i'm looking at:
-1024mb ram
-processor I dont know, most laptops i looked at have like 1.8 ghz, is that going to be sufficent? I know that the processors used in laptops are different then in desktops, but the computer i have now useslike a 1.8 ghz and its 4 (maybe more) years old.
-Nvidia or ATI video card, prefferably 256mb dedicated
-atleast 60-80 gig hdd, I also have an 80 gig external hdd to use.
-DVD RW drive
-Wireless card, i assume G is the best?

Looking in the price range of 1000 - 1500

This is one i'm looking at now
A gateway http://gateway.com/products/GConfig/proddetails.asp?system_id=nx860xl&seg=hm

I also saw an off brand from New Egg that had pretty much the same but a lower quality video card. Didn't know if it would be realible or if its better to go with an established brand name with the warranty.

And help would be rewarded with some thanks and positive rep.

[Garfunkel]

gateway is a good brand

and yes unless you are real hardcore the 1.8 ghz should be fine (it is like how AMD mhz dont equal intel mhz)

as for graphics cards, the 6800gs's are pretty good value, but i dont know if they make em for laptops

[D3adcell]

^that gateway I listed uses this video card which seems good.

NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 Graphics w/ 256MB DDR Video Memory

I was basically wondering if there is a cheaper or better way I can go then that one there.

[Garfunkel]

yeah that is far better than the one i put in my above post, i didn't realy have a good look at that laptop.

EDIT; no accualy i think that card is using gddr1 ram, very bad thing

http://www.nvidia.com/object/go_7_series_techspecs.html

[D3adcell]

Just so I dont lose this information:

nintndrule: MRVM1Z69TC782P
nintndrule: That is for 10% all Dell XPS systems coupon code.
nintndrule: http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m170?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
nintndrule: That is the XPS system, that ships with a 7800GTX card.
nintndrule: One up from the 7800 Go.
nintndrule: it is about 1519$ with the coupon.

[Brady]

I just bought a Toshiba Satellite for $700 and I'm quite happy with it.

1.60ghz
512 GB of Ram (before I spent $70 and upgraded to a gig)
40 gig HD (small so I got a 100 gig external with it)
Completely wireless out of the box (yay! wisp broadband!)

As far as the graphics go I'm not entirely sure how nice it would be for gaming, but it plays GTA: San Andreas with no troubles.

[D3adcell]

^Were did you buy it from, got a link?

[Brady]

I got mine from Walmart, and I cannot find it anywhere on the site or any other now. Discontinued maybe? Anyhow this is a very similiar model. A little nicer too. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7631315&type=product&id=1130986501579

Below is a shot of San Andreas running on my laptop with a screen resolution of 1024x768x32, MIP mapping, Visual FX settings maxed and the draw distance all the way up. Simply put, this is as pretty as San Andreas gets. I had to cut off a little of the screen to fit it into attachments..

The game DID sputter a little with 512MB RAM but it was completly taken care of after I upgraded to a gig.

One last thing: The videocard in my laptop isn't terribly powerful for games, and a videocard is next to impossible to replace in a laptop (everything being intergrated and all). Though it plays about anything I want it to I believe it may have a little trouble with the likes of Oblivion. It wasn't really designed for gaming, it just plays games.

[Moses]

iBook. 14". Enjoy!


Ught, the off center track pad on that gateway would drive me crazy in a matter of seconds. is a num pad that important?

[D3adcell]

I'm really thinking of getting that XPS. Although how much battery life does it have nukeblaze? With the battery it comes with...

Oh and nukeblaze with that 10% discount that only lowers it to $1709 still a little much. 1500 is about as much as i'm willing to pay.

[Garfunkel]

the XPS looks good

[Oddyssey]

Yikes thats alot for a pc laptop. I bought a Dell 9100 maybe a year ago, right now it's a paper weight, because the DVD player died. Battery life for that was only 2 hours if you are looking at a "Gaming Laptop" don't worrie about battery life since I doubt it last you an hour.

Right now if you willing to pay $1,500 to $2,000 go with a intel based mac . Then you can play all the games/ apps as a norrmal pc user.

[D3adcell]

^I don't do macs. That is out of the question. And i'm not looking to spend more then 1500 really. I want a laptop that can game and be used for other things. I don't need a top of the line, but I want it to be able to play the games I want.

[=NukeBlaze=]

^ The price on the dell XPS went up by 300$ on the unit itself. I guess the base price was limited time.

Here is a nice mid range notebook with decent battery life, good company that made it, and some nice specs.

http://www.abs.com/app/mayhem_compare.asp

Mayhem G3 eclipse.

I posted the dell because it was just somthing I found that was a good deal for what you got. For acedmic, I will agree with Oddyssey with comment on battery. Battery life on large notebooks only for moving from outlet to outlet.

Dell has some really good deals on notebook, however, the graphics of the 1400x radeon are "ok"...much better than intergrated video anyway. PLease review some online coupons to see if anything catches you attention. Make note of the expanded capacity main battery option.

http://www.meanbargains.com/dell/

I only wish dell used the 1600x instead.

If you want to venture to the mac side, you could use boot camp to install windows and would have it set there was well. Check university for student copies of Xp pro, usually $10 for students.

[Backlash]

I'll vouch for Dell. I have a Dell laptop and I've had it for over a year with absolutely no problems. I don't have any experience with any other brand of laptop though. Just don't get HP, I've had nothing but trouble with my HP computers... And their tech support sucks.

[D3adcell]

Well damnit, now that XPS is out of the question. They changed the specs around and now the cheapest m1710 is 2600$. Why the hell would they do this? Increase the price by nearly 1,000$? Certainly not incentive for me to buy their products now.