Laptop Recommendation from Best Buy

[darksurtur]

Hey all,

I am trying to nail down a replacement laptop from Best Buy. I can only buy from their store/online site, which drastically narrows my choices, I know, but I should be able to find something, right?

My preferences: Centrino Duo, mid- to high-end dedicated graphics card, 2 gb ram, decent hard drive, directx 10 compatible if possible. I can spend $1400-1700, though that can adjust upward some.

Right now I'm looking at the:

Asus G1-AK020C-B vs. HP dv9335nr.

Any comments on the company's warranties/build qualities?

The Asus G1 seems like a great deal, with the 7200 processor and the better video card, so my gut says to go with that one. But is the video card good enough to last a year or two (or til Starcraft 2, the only game I really, really want to play on the PC). Too bad the next version (G1S0 isn't out yet.

The HP does have some advantages - it's bigger, got Lightscribe, a PVR, and a lot of other side features, and it's gotten decent reviews.

I know some MacBook Pros meet my requirements, but I'm looking for a PC in this case, as I have a Mac I am happy with.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Links:
Asus:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...50043&id=1168045345063

HP: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...50028&id=1174092131053

 

[darksurtur]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: Weight and battery life aren't huge factors, since this will mostly be sitting on a desk.

And I don't really expect to play Starcraft 2 on any laptop I can buy at the moment, alas ...

 

[Fraggable]

haha let me guess, your last laptop from them needed 4 repairs and now they're replacing it under the 'no lemon' policy stated in their extended warranty?

Yeah, been there 4 times.

Anyway, the G1 has a go7700 with 1GB of RAM. I'd upgrade that to 2GB and it will play current games pretty well, considering it's a 15.4" LCD and most of the go7900 and 7950's are in 17" laptops with higher resolutions. I think a 7700 is the best you can get in a 15.4" laptop.

The dv9335nr is a nice laptop all around. I have the 8235NR which is the same laptop, just last generation, so mine has a Core Duo T2300 and 1GB of RAM and runs XP MCE. It would come with a TV tuner, a very nice feature and a $180 value. If you don't mind 17" laptops, you'll love that one. Remember the video is going to be weaker because it's only a go7600 and a higher res. display.