Gaming Laptop

[Jeremy]

http://www.alienware.com/Configurator_Pages/area-51m.aspx

vs.

http://pctorque.com/builder.php?type=45

vs.

??

I've looked at the big marketing multicorps like Dell and Gateway but they didn't compare in specs. This is going to double as my desktop pc hooked up to all my gaming gear when I'm not at the table so it's gotta fly. And I don't want to upgrade a laptop so I'm looking at grabbing everything I can and laying out all the cash for it at once.

Of course in August the 800MHz FSB chips are scheduled to be ready for use in mobile rigs with HTT enabled, so maybe I should wait. But there's always a bigger better deal on the horizon...

What do you think? Besides get a desktop... (I've got 4, I don't need another. )

 

[jdavis]

You might want to wait for the Mobility Radeon 9600 to come out if you want to use it as a gaming rig too. http://www6.tomshardware.com/mobile/20030603/index.html

Some other manufacturers to look in to:

http://www.voodoocomputers.com/systems/notebook.aspx

http://velocitymicro.com/category.php?cid=3&PHPSESSID=2854a95e26cdec707578f2204912d697

http://www.ashtondigital.com/

http://www.winbook.com/index.html

(check out the Vision Laptops and the P3 Direct Laptops)
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_slc.asp?page=3&Id=1709

 

[drothgery]

Yikes. That Alienware box weighs almost ten pounds, and with a desktop P4 (or even a P4-M), it's got to have lousy battery life. If you want a desktop that you're carrying around, get one of those small form factor PCs and an LCD monitor; if you want something that's useful as a laptop, get a Pentium M (look for the funky Centrino logo) box, and don't be too scared that it'll be running at 1.6 or 1.7 GHz instead of 2.8 or 3 GHz. A 1.6 GHz Pentium M is pretty comprable to a 2.4 GHz P4, and uses a lot less power.

 

[Psionicist]

Yikes. That Alienware box weighs almost ten pounds, and with a desktop P4 (or even a P4-M), it's got to have lousy battery life. If you want a desktop that you're carrying around, get one of those small form factor PCs and an LCD monitor; if you want something that's useful as a laptop, get a Pentium M (look for the funky Centrino logo) box, and don't be too scared that it'll be running at 1.6 or 1.7 GHz instead of 2.8 or 3 GHz. A 1.6 GHz Pentium M is pretty comprable to a 2.4 GHz P4, and uses a lot less power.

I second that. Good funky small form factor PCs are the Shuttle XPCs. www.tech-report.com for reviews.

 

[Ristamar]

'Gaming laptop' has always been a bit of an oxymoron in my book. Admittedly, they are much better than they used to be, but so are LAN-friendly computer cases...

 

[Ristamar]

Double post.

 

[jdavis]

I love my laptop (when I can get it away from my wife), I have a P4 2.8 with 512meg and the radeon mobility9000 video. I really enjoy using it without having to be at a desk, but rarely do we use it unplugged anyway (I am on Dialup so it has to be plugged into a phone jack for internet anyway.) I don't use it for a lot of gaming because of the screen size (I got a 21 inch monitor on my other computer.). As far as gaming laptops go I'd have to say that it depends on what you are going to be doing with it, if you want to seriously game then you don't need a laptop, if you want a laptop but you'd like it to be cutting edge and able to play games then that is different. Battery life is only important when you are away from a outlet, heck I've even got a adapter for the car I rarely use it on battery power at all.

 

[Ds Da Man]

I have a HP with a 1.6gh, 256mb ram, 30 gb hd, dvd/cdrw, that I got from Sams Club for 799.00, and have never regretted that decision. It has an s-video out, and coupled with Microsoft Powerpoint, I make some cool adventures. I wouldn't worry all that much about fastest blah, blah, unless your going to be doing some serious work with it. I have about 8 programs running when we play, and have never had problems. Nor have I had a problem with any games (yet). Of course, if you have the money....why not get the best you can afford Good luck to you!

 

[Judas]

Jeremy, be aware that the Alienware Area-51M is a Sager 5670. Not an 8887. Also something to note, both the alienware and sagers use DESKTOP cpu's, not the low-power mobile counterparts. What this means is this: Battery life for these units will be less than the laptops that use the mobile cpu's. They are basically mobile desktops. Very good for gaming in my opinion. PCTorque has the best prices for the sager laptops.

 

[Jeremy]

As my current pc is starting to get cannot write to C: errors, this laptop is going to have to be pretty fantastic because it's going to be replacing (via docking station) my desktop.

Battery life and weight aren't going to be a problem because I'm only going to use it plugged in at the office, at the table, or at my desk. Maybe on the couch or in bed if I get a wild hair, but I don't know why.

*goes back to backing up files trying to remember strange places to look for important files*