Dell Vostro

[pontifex]

Is the Dell Vostro still pretty much the cheapest option for a decent laptop with a decent video card (8600 256mb)? I think I priced out a 17", 2gb RAM, 8600 256mb, some other decent options for about $1000.

 

[Zap]

If you can get in on the deal and can afford another $200... BestBuy had a Gateway FX series notebook for $1200 - including your choice of any game they carry up to $49.99. Well, looks like the free game deal is dead, but BestBuy is still advertising the notebook for in-store pickup.

$1200
Core 2 Duo (really slow one, but it is the slowest of the best)
3GB RAM
250GB HDD
8800GTS
17" widescreen
etc...

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: Zap
If you can get in on the deal and can afford another $200... BestBuy had a Gateway FX series notebook for $1200 - including your choice of any game they carry up to $49.99. Well, looks like the free game deal is dead, but BestBuy is still advertising the notebook for in-store pickup.

$1200
Core 2 Duo (really slow one, but it is the slowest of the best)
3GB RAM
250GB HDD
8800GTS
17" widescreen
etc...

is a 1.67Ghz processor good enough for most games?
any idea how long that deal is going to last?

did a little research and found that the CPU is upgradable, so thats not really too big of an issue. 1 of the 2 local Best Buys has 2 of them. Now to decide if I really want it or not.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: Zap
If you can get in on the deal and can afford another $200... BestBuy had a Gateway FX series notebook for $1200 - including your choice of any game they carry up to $49.99. Well, looks like the free game deal is dead, but BestBuy is still advertising the notebook for in-store pickup.

$1200
Core 2 Duo (really slow one, but it is the slowest of the best)
3GB RAM
250GB HDD
8800GTS
17" widescreen
etc...

is a 1.67Ghz processor good enough for most games?
any idea how long that deal is going to last?

did a little research and found that the CPU is upgradable, so thats not really too big of an issue. 1 of the 2 local Best Buys has 2 of them. Now to decide if I really want it or not.

Do you really want to lug around a 17"? I think a 15.4" is bad enough... If you are fine with it, I'd go with the Gateway hands down.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: Zap
If you can get in on the deal and can afford another $200... BestBuy had a Gateway FX series notebook for $1200 - including your choice of any game they carry up to $49.99. Well, looks like the free game deal is dead, but BestBuy is still advertising the notebook for in-store pickup.

$1200
Core 2 Duo (really slow one, but it is the slowest of the best)
3GB RAM
250GB HDD
8800GTS
17" widescreen
etc...

is a 1.67Ghz processor good enough for most games?
any idea how long that deal is going to last?

did a little research and found that the CPU is upgradable, so thats not really too big of an issue. 1 of the 2 local Best Buys has 2 of them. Now to decide if I really want it or not.

Do you really want to lug around a 17"? I think a 15.4" is bad enough... If you are fine with it, I'd go with the Gateway hands down.

I just bought a 1500, it's huge & weighs a ton...

 

[pontifex]

well here's my dilemma...

I don't think I'll really use it all that much. the main reason for getting it is so i don't have to lug my whole desktop pc setup to my friends house when we get together. this doesn't happen very often though, maybe once a month if we're lucky. i could use it at home while i'm doing stuff on my desktop pc, but again. i don't really see me doing that much. i mean, i might use more often since i have it but who knows.

if it was like $600 or so, i wouldn't have a problem. but $1200 is a lot.


oh, the other thing is that if i do get a laptop, i want one that can play games and is pretty decent. otherwise i'd just get one of those $500 ones.

 

[Tempered81]

i have a 1400, the 14inch screen is nice, however I did want the xpsm1330 with the 13 inch screen. It's thinner and lighter. My 1400 weighs about 5.4 pounds. Its pretty plain jane average.

I like it though, and I overclocked the 8400M GS from 400/600/400 to 600/1200/734 and it runs cod4 now.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: Zap
If you can get in on the deal and can afford another $200... BestBuy had a Gateway FX series notebook for $1200 - including your choice of any game they carry up to $49.99. Well, looks like the free game deal is dead, but BestBuy is still advertising the notebook for in-store pickup.

$1200
Core 2 Duo (really slow one, but it is the slowest of the best)
3GB RAM
250GB HDD
8800GTS
17" widescreen
etc...

is a 1.67Ghz processor good enough for most games?
any idea how long that deal is going to last?

did a little research and found that the CPU is upgradable, so thats not really too big of an issue. 1 of the 2 local Best Buys has 2 of them. Now to decide if I really want it or not.

Do you really want to lug around a 17"? I think a 15.4" is bad enough... If you are fine with it, I'd go with the Gateway hands down.

i won't be lugging it around very much and it's gotta be lighter and less cumbersome than lugging around my desktop pc, 20" widescreen monitor, speakers, keyboard, mouse, etc.

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: jaredpace
i have a 1400, the 14inch screen is nice, however I did want the xpsm1330 with the 13 inch screen. It's thinner and lighter. My 1400 weighs about 5.4 pounds. Its pretty plain jane average.

I like it though, and I overclocked the 8400M GS from 400/600/400 to 600/1200/734 and it runs cod4 now.

Can you show me proof? I am not calling you out, I am just curious because if that is the case, I would consider that 14" Vostro too... I just have a very difficult time you can run those overclocks without a lockup or artifacts or something like that. That brings the gap close to the 8600m GS, perhaps even surpassing it.

 

[Tempered81]

yeah, let me take a ss

k, it's up on my picasaweb. its actually 600 1200 721. Still one hell of an easy overclock all done through rivatuner.

http://picasaweb.google.com/ja...singT7100RamHDDAndWifi

its a vostro 1400 with an 8400gs 128mb gddr3

edit: I played a little cod4 to warm it up, and went back into windows to take that ss. When its on window mode 2d it goes down to like 100/200/150 for power saving. that 75 c temp is about 10 mins of cod4 played, and then exited into windows, it probably cooled for about 5 seconds before i snapped that ss. If i play cod4 for about an hour and monitor temps real time, it will go as high as 88-91C on the GPU core. Also, If the memory clock and sometimes core clock are higher than 585core/720-725mem it can lock up. shader easily does as high as the rivatuner bar will let me go. wonder if it will do higher?

 

[Shlong]

My friend bought the Dell Vostro 1500. It was originally $599 but he upgraded some of the options. C2D T7250 2ghz cpu, 15.4" widescreen w/ TrueLife, 2GB Ram, 8600M GT 256MB, 160gig 7200rpm HD, 8x dvdrw, 1390 802.11g card, 2 megapixel webcam. It came out to about $1000 after taxes (free ground shipping). I played around with it the other day & I was impressed with it, I was thinking about getting my own. It's not fancy looking, it's more standard. It's a bit heavy though compared to other laptops, especially with the 9 cell battery -but if I bought it I wouldn't have much trouble carrying it around since I'll just carry it from house to car - car to destination (work / friends place / etc). But if your currently carrying a desktop & 20" monitor then this will be nothing. The truelife or glossy made the screen look more sharp imo. I only noticed the reflections when the screen was completely black. I didn't game much on it. I played a little Unreal Tournament 3, Gears of War, and Counter-Strike Source. It ran everything smooth at 1280x800 and all the settings pretty much maxed out. It's a good laptop, I'm really thinking about buying one myself.