Gaming laptop

[Dorkenstein]

Would a Macbook pro booted into XP and with the graphics card OC'ed make a good gaming laptop? Thanks, I am looking into desktop (gaming desktop) replacement options. Thanks again.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

When you consider what kind of proper (ie, non-Apple) gaming laptop you could get for the money - not even close.

- M4H

 

[Brainonska511]

You're better off going with a Windows Native laptop if you want to game. Going with a Macbook with the intent to game is ridiculous.

You're better off looking at other notebooks with graphics cards of at least a MR X1600 or a 7600 Go.

 

[AmigaMan]

As a MacBookPro owner who games, I'd have to say no. While it's doable, most of my time is spent in OSX doing software development. If I needed a straight gaming machine, I'd get either an SFF with a nice graphics card or some other cheap windows laptop. Don't get me wrong, I can play the latest games just fine, it's just I could have saved a bundle if that's all I did. The value in the MBP lies not in it's ability to dual boot into windows, but in the power of OSX. It doesn't hurt that it's a sexy machine too

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511
You're better off going with a Windows Native laptop if you want to game. Going with a Macbook with the intent to game is ridiculous.

You're better off looking at other notebooks with graphics cards of at least a MR X1600 or a 7600 Go.

he said a macbook pro, which has an ATI x1600 256MB in it.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: AmigaMan

Originally posted by: Brainonska511
You're better off going with a Windows Native laptop if you want to game. Going with a Macbook with the intent to game is ridiculous.

You're better off looking at other notebooks with graphics cards of at least a MR X1600 or a 7600 Go.

he said a macbook pro, which has an ATI x1600 256MB in it.

Either way, a Windows Native notebook with that card would be better off in the gaming department.

 

[Hyperlite]

That X1600 MR is neutered, one of the 15.4 options being 128mb and clocked at 350/350 IIRC, and the other 15.4 (256mb) clocked at 400/400 IIRC. to the OP, were you talking about the 17" or the 15.4"?

If you want a 15.4" solution, I love my Acer Travelmate 8200. X1600 256 @ 476 core/526 mem, 2 ghz duo, 2gb ram,1680x1050 rez....$1999 on newegg now.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
When you consider what kind of proper (ie, non-Apple) gaming laptop you could get for the money - not even close.

- M4H

the dell 1705/XPS is hardly a laptop... it'd put your leg to sleep and burn a hole in your pants (when i worked at dell, training told us, 'don't call them laptops, they're too hot for that.' true story). and anything bigger is hardly portable.

only the acer is similar in portability. and it isn't *that* much cheaper if you can grab an edu discount.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

take a look at the asus w3j+. it combines portability with a solid asus build not to mention the x1600. you can get it for around 18-19. and in my opinion it is better than the acer travelmate.

course none of this matter if you just want a dtr.

 

[AmigaMan]

Originally posted by: Hyperlite
That X1600 MR is neutered, one of the 15.4 options being 128mb and clocked at 350/350 IIRC, and the other 15.4 (256mb) clocked at 400/400 IIRC. to the OP, were you talking about the 17" or the 15.4"?

If you want a 15.4" solution, I love my Acer Travelmate 8200. X1600 256 @ 476 core/526 mem, 2 ghz duo, 2gb ram,1680x1050 rez....$1999 on newegg now.

From my experience, Acer quality isn't that great for the amount of money you're spending. The Travelmate has a lot of nice features though. And the MBP's x1600 isn't "neutered", it's just underclocked. It has the same number of pipelines as any other x1600, same featureset and everything. But the lower clockspeed allows for the fans to not have to run constantly leading to a quiet and compact machine.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Nice, thanks for all the good replies. That Asus looks good, but my question now is, is SLI in a gaming laptop worth it? I know the Asus doesn't have SLI but if its a good move I will dump the extra money into a higer end laptop. Thanks again.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Dorkenstein
Nice, thanks for all the good replies. That Asus looks good, but my question now is, is SLI in a gaming laptop worth it? I know the Asus doesn't have SLI but if its a good move I will dump the extra money into a higer end laptop. Thanks again.

SLI in a laptop basically means you are no longer working with a laptop. If you want a really good GPU for gaming in a laptop, you'll have to look at those 17" monstrosities that have limited portability.

 

[Dorkenstein]

So it's worth it? Portability means only a little to me, as long as I have an outlet for power I think I'm fine. Which company makes an SLI gaming laptop besides voodoopc alienware and falcon? Voodoo is the most aesthetically appealing but they cost a limb. Thanks.

 

[HomeyFoos]

I have been doing quite a bit of looking lately for a laptop replacement. I have a Toshiba P4 (it gets HOT) w/a crappy GPU and a pretty good everything else. I.E. I can't game on it so it's useless to me. I'm gonna give it to my mom and buy a new one. I have been looking at the Dell 1705, the AlienWare 15.4" w/ the core duo that starts around $1399, an Acer w/ the x1600 at New Egg that goes for $1069 (that's right, it's a crazy-insane deal...T2300E 1.66 Core Duo, x1600 128, slot-load super multi dvd, wifi, bluetooth, 1 gig of ram, SVideo and DVI out and scored about 3600 in 3DMark 05), and lastly, the HP dvt8000 build-your-own from Costco.com (I'm a member).

Of all of these machines, the HP seems to be the best deal. Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo processor T2500 (2.0 GHz), FREE Upgrade to 1.0GB DDR2 SDRAM (2x512MB), 100 GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive, Super Multi 8X DVD+/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support, 256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600, Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network w/Bluetooth, 17.0" WSXGA+ BrightView Widescreen (1680x1050), FREE Upgrade to Genuine Windows XP Media Center, Microsoft(R) Works/Money, 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery, 2-yr Extended Service Plan with HP Express Repair. This is all customizable and this particular build is $1506. The only problem is the 7600 is the only GPU available. It is, however, the 256 flavor. Originally, this machine came w/ the GeForce Go 7400 turbocache so all the reviews are based on that gpu. The reviewers report usability in bf2, fear, COD2, etc. But I'm not sure 'usability' is what I'm after. I have a 7600GT in a desktop that performs nicely but this is not a GT and it's a Go-model.

For this reason, I am leaning towards the Dell 1705 build, but that is about $400 more expensive. HOWEVER, it will be a 17" desktop replacement with a 7900GS which scores around 6600 in 3DMark 05. On the down side, it will be the T2400 Core Duo (1.83ghz) if I want to keep it JUST under $2k. Otherwise it's closer to $2100.

I WOULD go with the 1505 or the AlienWare 15.4 but they won't offer me an x1600 or better. You can get an x1800 in the Alienware machine (I think but it may only be the 17" Alienware that has the x1800 which starts at $100 more) but I'm not really hip to the ATI line so I don't really know what a vanilla x1800 go version performs like. There is also the Acer which is VERY inexpensive and would do what I want it to but it has some knocks as well. It comes w/ XP Home and the screen rez is 1280x800. Yuck. Otherwise, it's a SPLENDID buy.

It seems to me through my research that by the time you get a 15.4 machine pumped up to what you want for gaming, it's $2k and barely has enough video card (the x1600 is great but you will probably lose a year off the end of it gaming-wise compared to the 7900GS in the Dell). So, if portability is not a concern, it only makes sense to look at the 17"ers. They start at around $1100-1200 at Dell and HP@Costco.com, they come with eveyrthing you want (except RAM...it seems to be expensive but from what I gather, it's very easy to change the ram and much less expensive - plus, you know what's in your machine and it's almost always better than builder's-grade). You get ALOT more for your money and are only adding about 10-15% in size. My 15.4" toshiba is large. This Dell or HP will be larger. I'm fine with this. But it's portable (compared to a desktop), it's powerful, it's a good value, and most importantly, it's exactly what I'm looking for, just a little bigger than I'm used to.

Good luck,

 

[HomeyFoos]

Couple more things to note:

The Acer has a few more problems but they are minor. I've already mentioned the poor resolution and the XP Home OS. Beyond that, they come with 2 partitions on the HD and are FAT32 so you would probably want to use partition magic or the like and then change the file system to NTFS.

The HP offers a very nice screen as an inexpensive upgrade (like $65 I think) but it's only WSXGA (1680x1050). However, you can upgrade to a 100gig 7200rpm drive for only $100. The cheapest 100gig 7200rpm 2.5" sata drive I found at the Egg was $159. You also get a free lightscribe drive. Again, this build-your-own is a fantastic value. The reviews are VERY favorable and HP does have some cool little features. I have never thought much of them since I had a bogus HP desktop about 15 years ago but I have to seriously consider them for the price. The $1500ish price tag includes an extended 2yr warranty that, I believe, covers accidents. It was $133 extra so if you want to live dangerously, you can get this laptop for under $1370. But the point is, even if HP is not that great, you are covered. Cause I have news for you...laptops break. I keep mine in a soft, padded bag in a cool dark place. No scratches, no scrapes, no drops, no spills, etc. Every one I've had has broken in different ways, all within 3 years. Besides, in 3 years I'm gonna need a better one anyway. So do look at this model seriously.

The dell seems pretty cool. Looks like it's built to survive. It has the video card I'm looking for. The only problem is it's damned expensive. Not as expensive as, say, Sony or Toshiba. You really get nothing for your money with those companies besides a cool light or 2 and their logo. But they are expensive. The nice thing, however, is you literally get exactly what you are looking for. I've heard some bad things about the dell screens but favorable things with the upgrade to the WUXGA. That would be included in the $1900ish price-tag. Right now they have a base model for $1199. I cranked up everything except the HD (for now, there is a free 2 gig ram upgrade, otherwise it comes w/ 512meg) and this made it just like the HP but with the better video card.