New laptop

[Master of the Game]

So, I need a new laptop, and I was looking for a little advice. Basically I just need something to watch movies on and for a bit of gaming. Nothing big, but I'd like to run NWN2, Battlefield 2142, Oblivian, that sort of thing.

Anywho, I have a hard cap of about $1800 that I can spend, and I found this:
Gateway NX860XL
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.00 GHz, 667MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache)
Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition w/ XP Media Center Backup CD2
2048MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-1024MB modules)
80GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive
6-in-1 media card reader
Integrated 8x Multi-Format Double Layer DVD Writer (DVD±R/±RW/CD-RW)
One type II PC card slot
(4) USB 2.0, VGA, S-Video (TV Out), IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
17" WUXGA TFT Active Matrix (1920 x 1200 max. resolution)
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS Graphics w/ 256MB DDR Video Memory
Full-size keyboard w/ integrated 10-key pad and EZ Pad® pointing device
Integrated sound and stereo speakers, headphone/speaker jack, and microphone jacks
Primary 8-cell lithium-ion battery with AC pack and 1 yr. limited battery warranty
Integrated Intel® 10/100/1000 Ethernet adapter
Integrated Intel® 802.11a/b/g wireless networking card
Bluetooth® Wireless Networking Module

Cost out the door including shipping and tax: $1,769.87

Good deal? Is this a decent build at all?

 

[3catcircus]

So, I need a new laptop, and I was looking for a little advice. Basically I just need something to watch movies on and for a bit of gaming. Nothing big, but I'd like to run NWN2, Battlefield 2142, Oblivian, that sort of thing.

Anywho, I have a hard cap of about $1800 that I can spend, and I found this:
Gateway NX860XL
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.00 GHz, 667MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache)
Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition w/ XP Media Center Backup CD2
2048MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-1024MB modules)
80GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive
6-in-1 media card reader
Integrated 8x Multi-Format Double Layer DVD Writer (DVD±R/±RW/CD-RW)
One type II PC card slot
(4) USB 2.0, VGA, S-Video (TV Out), IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
17" WUXGA TFT Active Matrix (1920 x 1200 max. resolution)
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS Graphics w/ 256MB DDR Video Memory
Full-size keyboard w/ integrated 10-key pad and EZ Pad® pointing device
Integrated sound and stereo speakers, headphone/speaker jack, and microphone jacks
Primary 8-cell lithium-ion battery with AC pack and 1 yr. limited battery warranty
Integrated Intel® 10/100/1000 Ethernet adapter
Integrated Intel® 802.11a/b/g wireless networking card
Bluetooth® Wireless Networking Module

Cost out the door including shipping and tax: $1,769.87

Good deal? Is this a decent build at all?

You mentioned NWN2:

Here are the minimums:

# - Windows XP
# - 512MB System RAM
# - 2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
# - 128MB Direct3D compatible video card with DirectX 9.0c compatible driver
# - CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive
# - 4.6GB free hard disk space
# - DirectX 9.0c (included)
# - DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
# - Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework for toolset (included)
# - Broadband connection for multiplayer online play
# - Keyboard, Mouse

The one thing you wanna make sure of is the video card capabilities - NWN2 requires a video card with Shader Model 2.0 capabilities.

 

[drothgery]

If you want a very good gaming machine that doesn't take up much space and you can move around occasionally, it's pretty good. If you want something that you're going to frequently run off of batteries and use in highly space-limitted locations (like coach class airplane seats), get something else; for a laptop, it's big, heavy, and won't last long on batteries.

 

[Thanee]

Yeah, that's more like a portable desktop.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Man that makes the 1.6Ghz Celeron-M unit I just bought seem so crappy.

I hate you.

 

[drothgery]

Man that makes the 1.6Ghz Celeron-M unit I just bought seem so crappy.

The one I just bought was a more portable type;
Dell Lattitude D620
2 GHz/667 MHz FSB/4MB Cache Core 2 Duo
2 GB DDR2-667
80GB 7200 RPM hard drive
8x DVD+/-RW
14.1" WXGA+ display (1400x900)
Quadro NV110M graphics (pretty much a rebadged GeForce 2 Go 7300)
...
and a docking station that's hooked up to my old desktop's keyboard, mouse, and 20" widescreen LCD when I'm at home.

 

[Master of the Game]

Thanks for the help all.

I don't really mind that it's not terribly portable. I do plan on taking it with me to work, but I also bring two backpacks full of gaming books so I can work on my campaigns, so a ten pound laptop really isn't that bad

Just so long as it does what I need it to do

Anywho, just placed the order. Now I just have to wait until 12/12 for it to get built

 

[Ferghis]

If you want something that you're going to frequently run off of batteries and use in highly space-limitted locations (like coach class airplane seats), get something else; for a laptop, it's big, heavy, and won't last long on batteries.

Anyone have an opinion about the Tablet PCs? I find the mousepad pretty annoying, but am considering looking for a truly portable computer (small screen, decent battery life, light weight), so I remembered this technology. They seem relatively expensive, so I'd really like some research to form an educated opinion about them.

 

[Master of the Game]

Heh, just a quick update... I was told mine would enter production on the 12th... Acording to FedEx it'll be here on the 6th It's in the Philipenes now.

Anywho, tablets are pretty darn expensive for what they are. Ever thought about getting a bluetooth system with a optical mouse? My wife's computer (which I'm using while I wait) has a tiny little bluetooth mouse that I use on my pants leg while sitting here on the couch and surfing.

 

[Ferghis]

Yeah, I have, but I'm interested in something I can whip out and use quickly if I need to. So, for a first look at what's out there, I want to discard any consideration of external devices (including power cords while I'm up and about). Even those 10.4 inch screened tablets are becoming rare, now that the "slate" portables have been introduced.

The other thing is, when using laptops, I find myself constantly trying to move the curser or pointer to a distant part of the screen by touching it. I don't know why it's such a reflexive instinct. Maybe because laptops have keyboards that are close to the screen, so it seems easier. And this was my first reason to examine the idea of a Tablet PC. Then I learned that one has to use the special digital pen, and the original reason was gone, but the interest remained.