Notebooks Which is Best?

[Fallen Seraph]

I plan on this summer purchasing a laptop for college, it will also be my main work-station and entertainment/games-station.

So I am wondering what is the best laptop or customized laptop around $1000-$1500 built for college-work, games (I would like to be able to run Half-Life 2: Episode 2 on fairly reasonable graphics) and not so incredibly heavy that it would be a burden to take to class.

Thanks for any help you provide, it is so much more confusing buying a laptop compared to a PC so any help is welcomed

 

[Wystan]

www.ibuypower.com

This is where I buy my computers, and their price is good for the value of the machine you get...

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Thanks, hmm... Their laptops seem to be either the Geforce 8600GT (for Intel laptops) or the Radeon HD2600 Express (for AMD) are they basically same level of graphics card?

 

[Wystan]

Quoted from: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=150512&page=32
I played same games on different laptops,while (i read from you) on 3dmark hd2600 is better in real games 8600gt is 5-10% faster(counted with fraps).But hd2600 has better image quality and resists better to filters that cause heavy drops of frame rate on 8600gt

So the answer is yes, they are equivalent.

However, also note that the AMD seems to be the only one that offers a 17' monitor. (Ah, there is an Intel option for such, but it is 400$ more than the AMD one.)

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Yeah, oh notebook shopping it truly is alot more annoying then PC-shopping.

Of the one's listed there I think this one: http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=274

Is closest to what I want.

 

[Remus Lupin]

Macbook. Run Windows on it with Bootcamp, and you're golden.

 

[drothgery]

How big and heavy is too big and heavy? I think 14.1" widescreens are about as big as you want to go for anything you'll actually use in class or in a coach class airplane seat, but they're a bit small for long-term use. 15.4" widescreens seem to be the default 'consumer' model size; the 14.1" models are usually business-targetted.

Are you uncomfortable typing on a notebook keyboard and using a touchpad for extended periods? If so, you'll want to factor in an external keyboard, mouse, monitor, and possibly a docking station into your budget.

Second thing is that with very few exceptions, reasonably portable and reasonably priced notebooks don't have the graphics to handle most recent games. They either have integrated graphics or low-end graphics cards. So I think if you want a relatively portable laptop, you'll probably want a console for your gaming needs.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Well, I am someone who ALWAYS has his backpack with him, so weight is not so much of a issue since I will be carrying it in my backpack.

As for the mouse/keyboard already have a spare wireless mouse and keyboard from the current old-PC.

I also don't need a insanely powerful rig for my games, I will be happy playing games from last-year on mid-graphics range. Also as for space, I plan to store most games/files on a separate external hard-drive at my apartment, so that may lessen weight/price.

 

[Thanee]

For carrying I'd not get anything above 15.4", even those are not small anymore but still ok with an appropriate bag or backpack.

Bye
Thanee

 

[LightPhoenix]

I can't really comment on notebook gaming, as I'm an admitted anti-laptop gamer.

However, I can suggest doing a little research on Tom's Hardware. There's a bunch on laptops there, and you may find something informative. I highly recommend the site, and they really do test stuff - there's benchmarks for most everything they review. Hopefully it'll be helpful.