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Laptop with good video card

J

Joerg

Member
Ok this is probably going to be one of those things where i would have to be living in a perfect world for this to exist but i figured i would ask anyways.

So here is the situation. I am going to be off the college next fall as an architecture student. Basically i will have probably a desktop and a laptop. The desktop for architecture work and there by it will by the work horse. Problem is it has to remain in studio and i probably wont be lugging it around to lan parties and stuff. So i need a good laptop that can game, record dvds, and surf the net.

Problem is all the companies like dell assume that becuase i am a gamer i need a bunch of other featurs. All i want is a low end A64 or Pentium M with a decent graphics card. I could careless about harddrive size, memory, battery life, screen size, and all that crap.

Now my final dilema is that my grandparents are buying this for me so i would like to stay under 1500. That is the absolute max and being under that would be great to.

If only i could just build my own laptop the specs would be something like this.

A64 2800+
512 megs ram
30gig hard drive
dvd burner
wireless network
mobility 9700 pro
13in lcd

of course as stated above this isnt the perfect world and for some reason to get my 9700 pro or equivelant i have to pay for the 100gig hard drive, the 3.5ghz processor, 1 gig or ram, and the 17in widescreen super duplex modulator monitor.

So can anyone help?
 
Dude... you just missed out on the best deal ever... Dell had $750 off $1500 coupon on laptops. You could've gotten a low-end 9300 for ~$800.
 
Dell has a $750 off a $1999 out now. You could configure a pretty nice 9300 with that now. Since it starts at $1599 you'd be getting close to $2000 with upgrades so it'll be close to the deal that ran out so early yesterday morning.
 
Inspiron 9300
Date & Time: April 15, 2005 12:48:30 AM

SYSTEM COMPONENTS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Inspiron 9300 Qty 1
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB), Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition Unit Price $2,230.00
Dell Home Customers
LIMITED TIME OFFER! Remove Coupon
- $750.00

Catalog Number: 29

Module Description Product Code Sku Id
Inspiron 9300 Intel® Pentium® M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB) SM17HN [221-7307] 1
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition WHXP [420-4766][463-2282][412-0689][420-4928][412-0706][420-4830] 11
Display 17 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife? 17UXGAS [320-4256] 2
Memory 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm 512MB2D [311-3730] 3
Video Card 256MB NVIDA® GeForce? Go 6800 256NV [320-4185] 6
Hard Drive 60GB Hard Drive 60GB [341-1805] 8
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem INTNIC [430-0493] 13
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0 ADOBER [430-1048] 15
CD/DVD Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive 24COMBO [313-2580][420-5111] 16
Wireless Networking Card Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps) IP2200 [430-0996] 19
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) WordPerfect® 12 - Word processor only ICORELM [412-0714] 22
Security Software No Security Subscription NS [412-0755] 25
Digital Music Dell Jukebox - easy-to-use music player and CD burning software MMBASE [412-0741] 26
Primary Battery 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr) 9BAT [312-0283] 27
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options No Extended Service, Support or Ltd Warranty NW111N [950-9057][950-3337][950-3550][412-0361][960-2780] 29
Internet Access: Dial-Up 6 Months of America Online Membership Included AOLDHS [412-0585][412-0625][420-3224][412-0687] 37
Digital Imaging Photo Album? SE Basic DPS [412-0744] 38
Financial Software No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial QBSSP [420-5139] 83

TOTAL: $1,480.00
 
Yah i am aware of dells deals. I could have never gotten in on the 750 off 1500 thing though. But the 750 off 2000 is pretty common. The problem i have with the 9300 is how expensive memory is for it. I cant stand ddr2 right now especially for a laptop. If i have to then i could go with the 9300. Personally from dell i really like the 600m but it is limited to the 64meg 9000.

The dell setup i am looking at is the 600m
1.8ghz pentium M
64meg radeon 9000
1gig ram
dual batteries
dvd burner
60gig harddrive

With the 750 off 2000 deal i can have this for about 1250 plus tax.

In my opinion this seems like a decent laptop except the radeon 9000.

Also how good are these I buy power people? They seem to have pretty good deals.
From them i like the Battalion 101 S turbo from them

2800+ A64
512megs ram
9700 pro
wlan
60gig 7200 rpm
very nice shiny blue (color choice is really hard here i like them all)

total of about $1446.00 so just under my budget.

Does anyone have one of their laptops? Are they decent quality? How is battery life and the keyboard?

Oh finnally anyone know of a site with coupons for ibuypower?
 
Hmm yah i kind of figured that with the 600m beings it has the radeon 9000. And Ibuypowers reviews on resseller ratings is kind of scary. I also checked out sager. Sagers prices are insane though and none of their laptops come with built in wireless so their prices get even worse.

Im really lost at this point.

Ohwell i have till the start of school to keep looking and who knows my grandparents might surprise me and spend more than i expected. Any further suggestions would be great. Maybe a company like ibuypower but with better ratings.
 
Ok the 9300 looks pretty good after looking more closely at it.

How do you guys think this would be for gaming.

1.6ghz pentium M
512 megs of ram
40 gig drive
6800 go
dvd rw
17in

Seems like a decent setup to me. Price after coupons would be about $1350
 
1 gig of ram to game? Are you crazy i have a gig in my desktop and farcry and doom3 never user more than 512.
 
My favorite place to buy laptops is here, fully configurable and made to order:

www.rjtech.com

I own one and my friend owns the same laptop, the CL-56 at the bottom of the page.
Was top of the line with a 9700 until recently.

 
Originally posted by: Joerg
1 gig of ram to game? Are you crazy i have a gig in my desktop and farcry and doom3 never user more than 512.
Click to expand...

Even on a very very very (must I repeat, very?) streamlined XP installation, I see a noticeable difference at the highest texture levels in Half Life 2/CSS and SpellForce when loading and when running the game. 1GB is minimum I'd recommend for a new system.
 
You would might also want to check this out ABS. I got my laptop from ABS. It can game well, you might want to take a look at the Mayhem G2 Notebook, I believe it will be meeting all of your needs. T'care and they're cheap for the power they sell.
 
Originally posted by: jewno
I can suggest you to try PCTorque.com.
Click to expand...
Another vote for PCTorque. Purchased a DTR and have yet to experience an issue.
Originally posted by: Ben88
Display 17 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife? 17UXGAS [320-4256] 2
Click to expand...
Be aware a number of performance and quality control issues on present WUXGA displays from Dell are being reported. More information here.

More than one manufacturer and model display is being utilized, and thus the instances are very hit or miss. Exercise caution and be certain to thoroughly examine the display prior to the return period expiring.
 
Im seeing alot of barebone laptops around. I really like the idea of choosing a barebone but im unsure on the waranties and stuff.

Anyone here go through RJ tech and other barebone companies experience a problem with the waranties and such?

Right now im torn between a laptop from ABS and one from PC torque

they are very similar setups really.

Only difference is harddrive size, graphics card, and one has an OS.

The sager from PC torque
1.7ghz Pentium M
512 megs of ddr333
x700 256meg
40gig 5400RPM
DVD RW
12 cell battery
15" SXGA+ LCD 1400x1050
buil in intel pro wireless
No OS
1yr waranty and lifetime tech support

$1462

ABS system
1.7ghz Pentium M
512 megs of ddr333
9700 128megs
60gig 5400RPM
DVD RW
12 cell battery maybe?
15.4" WXGA LCD 1280x768
mini pci intel pro wireless
XP Home
1yr waranty

$1399

So what do you guys think
 
Originally posted by: Joerg
Im seeing alot of barebone laptops around. I really like the idea of choosing a barebone but im unsure on the waranties and stuff.
Click to expand...
Bareboned notebooks typically isn't very cost effective. Mobile components are typically still very costly, unfortunately.

You might try pricing out the full purchase of a barebone machine and the components versus a customized machine from one of the better retailers. For the Clevo based machines from RJ Tech, try this one.

One added benefit of purchasing through a retailers it the added layer of protection and consumer advocacy it affords. The retailer/reseller can often swing a lot of weight in your favor from an OEM/ODM as their volume purchasing affords such.
 
Originally posted by: Joerg
So what do you guys think
Click to expand...
Must have caught you mid-edit of the post above. I thought you were looking at an AMD based machine. The specifications above appear to be from the NP4880, no?
 
Yah that is the 4880. I was leaning towards AMD at first but im beggining to think the 1.7ghz Pentium M might be pretty good aswell. Slightly less power but im guessing it would run alittle cooler and have alittle better battery life.

I would still prefer AMD but the price being cheaper makes me wing alittle more in the centrino direction.

Any ideas on when AMD's Turion stuff is coming out? And will it be worth waiting for? ive heard the architecture isnt going to be very different, only slight power saving features and stuff like that.

Also wich would be more powerful the x700, 9700, 6600? Also the dell i mentioned above with the 6800 is still and option.

Of all the systems here which would one of you guys prefer.

Dell 9300 with 1.6ghz pentium M and 6800
IbuyPower Batilion 101-2 with 2800+ A64 and 9700
RJtech Asus z80 2800+ A64 and 9700
PC Torque Sager 4880 1.7ghz pentium M and x700
ABS 1.7ghz pentium M and 9700

They all have their slight differences but i can live with most of the differences and the price really is to close to call for all of these.

What im lookign at now among these mostly is brand name and performance. Im sure the Dell 9300 would be the fastest but i would also assume it runs the hottest, has the worst support, and would be the most expensive to upgrade memory. Where as the Battallion looks the best and seems to have a great price the ratings on the company are not to amazin. The sager seems to be my favorite becuase of the support they have, but im not sure if i could bring myself to spending more on it for a system that isnt as powerful as the dell. The rjtech asus has the A64 and i love that but their website and the warranty scares me alittle even though their ratings are amazing. Finnally the ABS seems to offer more goodies like a faster harddrive and an lisenced OS.

One more thing is can i overlock any of these setups? I did alittle searching but didnt find much on it. I know the Pentium Ms probably have an easy 400mhz in them and from what ive seen of desktop reviews a 1.7ghz Pentium M at 2.1ghz would be pretty fast. The reviews ive seen showed them in the 2.5ghz area and at those speeds they were coming close to an FX53 or 4000+

Final question for this post. How much is harddrive speed going to matter? Most of the drives im seeing are 5400rpm but i see a few 4200 and 7200. Last time i gamed on a 5400 rpm drive it was slow as can be and im pretty sure that the hardrive was causing it, but i could be wrong. Finnally how would gaming on an external firewire drive be? Seems to me a firewire connection should be similar to and IDE connection?

Thanks a ton for all the help so far guys.
 
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