15" or less Laptop with Discrete Video Approx $1k

[stoneysilence]

Anybody have any experience with ZT Systems? It looks like they have the best laptops with the best video cards for the cheapest price. Am looking to buy a decent gaming laptop for around $1k (including a 3 year warranty). I also DO NOT WANT 17". They are just too big/heavy, would rather lug my desktop with it's 21" CRT around.

The one I am looking at is the 300 series which I believe has the 7600 Go:
http://www.ztshopping.com/Defa...id=895&productid=19910

The Home systems all have GMA 950 or X3100's or cruddy ATI's. The 7600 Go looks like the best they got with a monitor smaller than 17". If possible would like a DX10 card.

Some others that I am looking at:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220236
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834210003

This one has the card I really want with lots of dedicated ram but it is a 17".
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834210007

If I absolutely have to I will get a 17" but would rather do my best to avoid it.

What this system is for:
Programming in Visual Studio 2005 or higher
Programming in Torque Engine (3d rendering engine)
Working with Maya (I am a programmer just learning how to use it so not extensively)
Some light MMO gaming (EQ2, LOTRO, COH)

 

[onlyCOpunk]

The 8600M is the best card obviously. The 8400 and 7600 will "play" games, but I don't anticipate their longevity to be huge.

 

[secretanchitman]

how about the dell vostro 1400/1500? They have 8600GT in them (i think, i know for a fact they have the 8400GS in them).

 

[stoneysilence]

Anybody had any experiences with building your own laptop? I thought I might try it because I can get what I want this way.

This is what I am looking at:
Asus C90S $950 (comes with a 8600M GT with 512mb ram):
http://tinyurl.com/33ngol
2GB Crucial DDR2 $100:
http://www.crucial.com/store/listparts.aspx?model=C90
Hitachi 80GB 7200RPM HD $80:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16822145194
Intel C2D E6750 $195:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115029
Intel A/B/G/N Wireless $45-5(combo with the C90S):
http://tinyurl.com/3aqttg

After shipping, etc... Approx ~1400.

A bit more than I wanted to spend but it has great expandability. Comes with NO OS but I can get one easily.

Built hundreds of desktops but never touched laptops before. From what I have read the C90S is the premium system to use for building your own (at least for 15").

 

[skriefal]

You can get something quite similar -- but with a mobile CPU -- from ZipZoomFly:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/NBmicro/BIYConfig.html

Click the third button (labeled "Show Stopper"). It's a Compal IFL90 (aka Sager NP2090) with 15.4" 1680x1050 screen, bluetooth, webcam, etc. With a T7500 processor, 8600M GT 512MB GPU, free 1GB SO-DIMM, free 60GB hard drive, free shipping, Intel 4965 a/b/g/n, and no O/S you'll be at $1009. Add another 2GB SO-DIMM from their main site (or cheaper from NewEgg, Mwave, etc) and a faster hard drive and you'll be at about $1200. It doesn't have an e-SATA port (the C90S does) but otherwise is quite similar to the C90S.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

I was looking into building a laptop, but in the end it doesn't save you that much more money, if any. Also I found configurations to be limited. Just go with the Sager, you wont be dissapointed.

 

[bigal40]

Same here, I was looking at building a laptop but it wasn't much cheaper and I had never done it before, so I just went w/ sager. Sager pretty much just buys the whitebooks and puts what you want in them. It doesn't cost much mroe than doing it yourself and you get a warranty

 

[skriefal]

The Sager equivalent to the laptop I ordered would cost about $1500-$1600. That's quite a bit more than the approx $1150 that I paid.

 

[bigal40]

what do you have in your laptop. I paid $1500 for the one in my sig from xoticpc.com. The only thing I did myself was add the 2nd gig of RAM

 

[skriefal]

Ordered the following: C2D T7500, 3GB DDR2-667, 60GB 5400rpm drive (yeah, but I already have a bigger & faster drive that I'll use), Nvidia 8600M GT 512MB, DVD+RW, WSXGA+ 1680x1050 screen, Intel 4965 a/b/g/n, plus the usual built-in stuff (webcam, ethernet, modem, etc).

 

[bigal40]

When I go to the zip zoom fly site, and get the same thing you listed except w/ 2gb of RAM and a WXGA screen the total comes to $1285. (I don't even see the screen resolution as an option.) After You buy the extra gig of RAM and the faster HD, your up to $1500 w/o a warranty.

 

[skriefal]

You need to go through the link in my first post, above...

 

[bigal40]

Originally posted by: skriefal
You can get something quite similar -- but with a mobile CPU -- from ZipZoomFly:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/NBmicro/BIYConfig.html

Click the third button (labeled "Show Stopper"). It's a Compal IFL90 (aka Sager NP2090) with 15.4" 1680x1050 screen, bluetooth, webcam, etc. With a T7500 processor, 8600M GT 512MB GPU, free 1GB SO-DIMM, free 60GB hard drive, free shipping, Intel 4965 a/b/g/n, and no O/S you'll be at $1009. Add another 2GB SO-DIMM from their main site (or cheaper from NewEgg, Mwave, etc) and a faster hard drive and you'll be at about $1200. It doesn't have an e-SATA port (the C90S does) but otherwise is quite similar to the C90S.

You talking about this link right.

So after 2gb of ram a HD, and an OS, your over to $1300.
Also, from zipzoom fly, your it comes with a WXGA screen.

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/1945/65797215py5.jpg

In any case, it is a nice laptop your getting, enjoy it.

 

[skriefal]

Yes and no. I hadn't intended to carry on a long conversation about this here, but since there are some questions...

Select the Show Stopper option. Immediately after clicking the Show Stopper button you'll see an overview page that states the screen is WSXGA+. The screen cap you included shows the summary page immediately before adding to the cart, and it incorrectly states WXGA (should be WSXGA+). If you click Add to Cart, view the cart, and then click the barebones FL90-S item and look at its specs... it'll again state the correct WSXGA+ resolution. I'm typing on the system now, and can verify that it is indeed a WSXGA+ panel.

I forgot to mention that I purchased the system without an operating system, as I already own Windows Vista & XP licenses. Also already had a 200gb 7200rpm SATA laptop hard drive. So a configurable, build-it-yourself laptop was a good choice for my needs. The same may not be true for others who want a complete system. There should still be some savings even then -- especially if you resell the free 60gb hard drive that ZZF includes -- but of course it'll be less than if you were using a couple items that you already own.

Oh... assembly of the system was quite easy. The only items that need to be installed by the purchaser are the CPU, wifi card, RAM, and hard drive. The same should be true of most build-it-yourself laptops, so if you're considering such a laptop from any vendor and are worried about assembly complexity... don't be. If you can assemble a desktop PC then you can easily handle this.