Gaming Laptops

[mALX]

Still, if you're really invested in the idea of getting a laptop, you can't go wrong with an Alienware, except that you're going to be shelling out a lot of cash for it. You're going to have to figure out your priorities before making a purchase, because once you put the money down, that's it.

Yes, you bloody can go wrong with Alienware. When you're spending extra money on the name and the aesthetics, you're being a blithering idiot.

Never buy Alienware!

Have you ever owned an Alienware, or are you just going off the fact that they cost a shit-ton? They cost too much, but good gaming laptops aren't the most common thing out there, and Alienware makes solid gaming PCs at ludicrous prices. Yeah, the money's an issue, which is why I suggested getting a desktop instead, and first suggested an HP as a cheaper alternative. Alienwares are reliable, but you have to figure out if you want to spend that much on a laptop. For a desktop, Alienware can fuck off, as you can just build one on your own.

I have a gaming desktop, it plays Oblivion well on medium, and with a slight graphics upgrade it will also play Fallout 3 well. I had it customized by a geek for me with better graphics, a better power supply, better cooling. It is an HP, so I had to go thru H to get the developer's console up, but now that I have it works.

I want the laptop for playing Oblivion and Fallout 3 on the road. I have been socking away money, but it looks like I will have to keep saving longer in order to get the laptop I want I guess. I was really stupid to get the HP laptop, and wish I could trade it in, it does nothing!

 

[akmarksman]

if your looking for one avoid laptops with Intel processors and chipsets. they have this problem of having their graphic drivers stopping and resulting in your game crashing. also gaming laptops are going to cost you around $800-$1500 for a good one.

you wish..

a decent Alienware or Dell XPS laptop for gaming costs about 2x that amount.

I've got a "old" Toshiba Satellite with a 1.6 Intel Core Duo with 2GB RAM and the motherboard is broke..thing still works..onboard intel video chipset and it does ok.

 

[akmarksman]

oh and the most expensive alienware or dell xps gaming laptop is still $3000 cheaper than getting a mac laptop

 

[mALX]

My Dell XPS M1530 laptop can handle Fallout 3, Oblivion at full (as well as several other games), and surprisingly Farcry 2. It has:

Intel Duo Core CPU
4GB RAM
VISTA
NIVIDIA GeFORCE 8600 GTS

Fallout 3, keep at medium, or just below. Turn off anti-aliasing too. (Actually, this is true of every game you know you can't max. Hell, even the ones you can. Anti-aliasing doesn't realy improve the graphics that much, and it can decimate an otherwise perfectly fine framerate.)

Oblivion you can max, or set just below max if you want slightly better framerate.

My laptop would run you about $1600 right now, all told.


Honestly the iggest problem wth gaming laptops isn't the power - its the cooling. A lot of the power of destop computers has been shrunken down into a laptop form, just as good as its full-sized brethern. Hell, if I wanted to, I could probably play Crysis on my laptop.....but thats not something I want to put my laptop through. See, the size of the laptop means you have to sacrifice the cooling systems of larger computers, meaning that your laptop will get really, really hot, possibly damaging your compenents. If you're getting a gaming laptop, make sure to invest in a good cooling pad - it'll be worth it.

Thanks! Really great review and tips!

 

[mALX]

Would this make a good gaming laptop?

Memory Size: 4GB
Memory Speed: DDR2 800
Hard Drives Included: 1x 320GB
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Class: Core 2 Duo Processor
Processor Type: Dual-Core
Processor Speed: 2.26GHz
Processor FSB: 1066MHz
Processor Cache: 3MB
GPU/VPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GS
Video Memory: 512MB GDDR3 VRAM
USB Ports: 4

$729.99

That sounds better than my PC, lol !! Great price, more info? (brand and model name?)

 

[Aethren]

Would this make a good gaming laptop?

Memory Size: 4GB
Memory Speed: DDR2 800
Hard Drives Included: 1x 320GB
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Class: Core 2 Duo Processor
Processor Type: Dual-Core
Processor Speed: 2.26GHz
Processor FSB: 1066MHz
Processor Cache: 3MB
GPU/VPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GS
Video Memory: 512MB GDDR3 VRAM
USB Ports: 4

$729.99

That sounds better than my PC, lol !! Great price, more info? (brand and model name?)

Asus G50VT-X1 (refurbished)

 

[TOGSolid]

http://www.xoticpc.com

/thread


No, seriously. These guys have gaming laptops to fit any budget and they beat the pants out of all the other major labels (DO NOT BUY DELL/ALIENWARE). I have a Sager 9262 that works great and runs everything (and I do mean everything) on high without a hitch.

Do note that their new generation of laptops have better specs, i.e. DDR3 RAM, core i7 processors, etc.
3.0 Ghz Intel Quad Core
2x 512MB GeForce 9800M GT
4GB DDR2 800mhz RAM
2x 256 GB 7200 RPM HDs (I'm upgrading to 2 500GB 7200 RPG HDs and a 64GB SSD but that's because I'm sea-proofing my laptop)

The best I could get through Alienware cost a thousand bucks more at the time, and fell short of this thing's specs. They're a ripoff and to be avoided. You're paying for a brand name and a fancy case.

A nice piccy of me installing windows when I first got this behemoth:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v407/dracofyre/noname.jpg

 

[Riza]

Acer aspire 6935g is the one i'm getting... that can play it and is "cheap"

 

[TOGSolid]

No, seriously. These guys have gaming laptops to fit any budget and they beat the pants out of all the other major labels (DO NOT BUY DELL/ALIENWARE). I have a Sager 9262 that works great and runs everything (and I do mean everything) on high without a hitch.

The problem still remains that you're spending over $2,000 for a computer; for that sort of money, I could have a Core i7 desktop with dual GTX285s and the provisions for future installation. You've also got massive issues with battery life, meaning that you're essentially tethered to a power socket all of the time. As laptops go, though, these are more reasonably priced than the products of most proprietors.

I don't have much of a choice though. I'm a sailor and I'm constantly away from home. For me, buying a gaming laptop and a utility desktop for when I'm home was a far more logical choice then getting a decent laptop and a super pimped out desktop.

A gaming laptop is not something a normal person needs, but if you've got a situation like me, they work great and it's important to be aware of what's there beyond crap like Alienware if you're seriously looking at getting one. There are cheaper models than the one I got that will still run most everything decently though if you're just looking for something that'll work well without busting the bank.

 

[mALX]

Would this make a good gaming laptop?

Memory Size: 4GB
Memory Speed: DDR2 800
Hard Drives Included: 1x 320GB
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Class: Core 2 Duo Processor
Processor Type: Dual-Core
Processor Speed: 2.26GHz
Processor FSB: 1066MHz
Processor Cache: 3MB
GPU/VPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GS
Video Memory: 512MB GDDR3 VRAM
USB Ports: 4

$729.99

That sounds better than my PC, lol !! Great price, more info? (brand and model name?)

Asus G50VT-X1 (refurbished)

Thanks! How did you find one refurbished?

 

[mALX]

http://www.xoticpc.com

/thread


No, seriously. These guys have gaming laptops to fit any budget and they beat the pants out of all the other major labels (DO NOT BUY DELL/ALIENWARE). I have a Sager 9262 that works great and runs everything (and I do mean everything) on high without a hitch.

Do note that their new generation of laptops have better specs, i.e. DDR3 RAM, core i7 processors, etc.
3.0 Ghz Intel Quad Core
2x 512MB GeForce 9800M GT
4GB DDR2 800mhz RAM
2x 256 GB 7200 RPM HDs (I'm upgrading to 2 500GB 7200 RPG HDs and a 64GB SSD but that's because I'm sea-proofing my laptop)

The best I could get through Alienware cost a thousand bucks more at the time, and fell short of this thing's specs. They're a ripoff and to be avoided. You're paying for a brand name and a fancy case.

Thanks!

A nice piccy of me installing windows when I first got this behemoth:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v407/dracofyre/noname.jpg

 

[Tharwen]

I know mine can play Oblivion, with minimal problems on max settings. But it's ANCIENT.

What kind is it?

Toshiba Satellite. I only imagine they could run it even BETTER now. Of course, a few years ago it was pretty much the best lappy publically available BY Toshiba.

By a few years ago... you mean about eight?

I have one too and it's so old it can't run halo.

(More) on topic: Try [a href="http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/"]Cyberpower[/a]

 

[mALX]

I know mine can play Oblivion, with minimal problems on max settings. But it's ANCIENT.

What kind is it?

Toshiba Satellite. I only imagine they could run it even BETTER now. Of course, a few years ago it was pretty much the best lappy publically available BY Toshiba.

By a few years ago... you mean about eight?

I have one too and it's so old it can't run halo.

(More) on topic: Try [a href="http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/"]Cyberpower[/a]

Nice site! Thanks!

 

[Aethren]

Would this make a good gaming laptop?

Memory Size: 4GB
Memory Speed: DDR2 800
Hard Drives Included: 1x 320GB
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Class: Core 2 Duo Processor
Processor Type: Dual-Core
Processor Speed: 2.26GHz
Processor FSB: 1066MHz
Processor Cache: 3MB
GPU/VPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GS
Video Memory: 512MB GDDR3 VRAM
USB Ports: 4

$729.99

That sounds better than my PC, lol !! Great price, more info? (brand and model name?)

Asus G50VT-X1 (refurbished)

Thanks! How did you find one refurbished?

Friend of a friend kinda thing.

 

[mALX]

Would this make a good gaming laptop?

Memory Size: 4GB
Memory Speed: DDR2 800
Hard Drives Included: 1x 320GB
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
Processor Brand: Intel
Processor Class: Core 2 Duo Processor
Processor Type: Dual-Core
Processor Speed: 2.26GHz
Processor FSB: 1066MHz
Processor Cache: 3MB
GPU/VPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GS
Video Memory: 512MB GDDR3 VRAM
USB Ports: 4

$729.99

That sounds better than my PC, lol !! Great price, more info? (brand and model name?)

Asus G50VT-X1 (refurbished)

Thanks! How did you find one refurbished?

Friend of a friend kinda thing.

Good friend! I am going to do some digging, and thanks!