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Least-worst "cheap" laptop for gaming? [ORDER PLACED]

D

ddavis7279

Junior Member
Hello,

Update: Order placed. Dell Inspiron 9400. See below.

My old laptop may be in the process of dieing and I need a replacement pretty fast... It's really getting a bit slow for my needs anyway.

What is the "least worst" of the modern low-end 3D laptop chipsets? What's the pecking order?

We're talking sub-$1k laptop here.

The ~5 year old P4 1.7GHz machine has (had? 🙁 ) an ATI Mobile Radeon 7500 w/ 64MB dedicated vram. (DX7-Class Hardware T&L - It was a pretty fancy machine for it's time...)

How bad is the Intel IGP solution? Would it actually be a downgrade gaming-wise? What about the current low-end nVidia / ATI stuff?

I just have not following the market much lately...

Thank you,
David

P.S. I've really been wanting to play FarCry and Half-Life 2... will that be possible given my budget? These are old games, but not old enough to run on my current hardware...
 
it depends on what resolution/detail you play at. will the games run? yea, F.E.A.R. runs on my laptop, just at 800x640 and at minimum detail.

these days, $1100 can get you a real nice laptop. $1300 gets you pretty good gaming/business one. at under $1000, you'll get something real good for everyday use. my laptop was $900 after tax, shipping, etc. and i see no bottlenecks at all when i use it.

from what i understand, the MR X1300, 7300 Go, and 7200 Go really won't play many things better than the intel GMA950 (integrated graphics). the x1400 and 7400Go are a step up but if you really want to game, the minimum is a MR X1600 or 7600 Go.

are there any specific things you're looking for in this laptop purchase? bluetooth, webcam, card reader, etc.?
 
Hi,

Thanks for help... 🙂

Besides the gaming aspect, as a best case / ideally, I am looking for:

-- Itegrated blutooth/wi-fi
-- Reasonably fast Intel or AMD chip with virtualization support.
-- 15" non-glossy LCD @ sxga or better.... aspect ratio is irrelevent.
-- DVD burner
-- 2GB ram (or cheaply upgradeable later.. ie. ships with a single 1GB sodimm)
-- 7200 rpm sata HD, or ANY pata HD, as I already have a 7200rpm pata drive i can scavenge from my old machine.

I just purchased a car, and simply don't have the budget to purchase a high end machine right now... 🙁

Thanks,
David
 
look to your local Best Buy or similar trying to offload non-Vista machines.

Mine (Smyrna) still has p105-9722s for $1299, though I did not look to see if any were new in box anymore (17" 7900GB 2gb Ram, C2D at 2.0, 200gb hdd, wifi/bluetooth)

when I got mine last week they even gave me a $200GC



 
Originally posted by: ddavis7279
Hi,

Thanks for help... 🙂

Besides the gaming aspect, as a best case / ideally, I am looking for:

-- Itegrated blutooth/wi-fi
-- Reasonably fast Intel or AMD chip with virtualization support.
-- 15" non-glossy LCD @ sxga or better.... aspect ratio is irrelevent.
-- DVD burner
-- 2GB ram (or cheaply upgradeable later.. ie. ships with a single 1GB sodimm)
-- 7200 rpm sata HD, or ANY pata HD, as I already have a 7200rpm pata drive i can scavenge from my old machine.

I just purchased a car, and simply don't have the budget to purchase a high end machine right now... 🙁

Thanks,
David
Click to expand...

I would think you could get all of that for less than 1k, except maybe the 7,200rpm drive. Those usually only come on high-performance machines, and needless to say those aren't around the 1k price range. You might also have a bit of trouble finding a matte display...they're still out there, but it seems like most notebooks are coming with the glossy screens now.

I would recommend Dell, HP, or Asus...but I'm not sure that you can get all of that in an Asus notebook for less than a grand so it's probably Dell or HP ftw.
 
Originally posted by: lobbyone
will this do?
Click to expand...

Who are those folks?

Hmm... anyway after you add an OS and enough memory it's pushing $1500+.

Originally posted by: Imyourzero
Originally posted by: ddavis7279
Thanks for help...

Besides the gaming aspect, as a best case / ideally, I am looking for:

-- Itegrated blutooth/wi-fi
-- Reasonably fast Intel or AMD chip with virtualization support.
-- 15" non-glossy LCD @ sxga or better.... aspect ratio is irrelevent.
-- DVD burner
-- 2GB ram (or cheaply upgradeable later.. ie. ships with a single 1GB sodimm)
-- 7200 rpm sata HD, or ANY pata HD, as I already have a 7200rpm pata drive i can scavenge from my old machine.

I just purchased a car, and simply don't have the budget to purchase a high end machine right now...
Click to expand...

I would think you could get all of that for less than 1k, except maybe the 7,200rpm drive. Those usually only come on high-performance machines, and needless to say those aren't around the 1k price range. You might also have a bit of trouble finding a matte display...they're still out there, but it seems like most notebooks are coming with the glossy screens now.

would recommend Dell, HP, or Asus...but I'm not sure that you can get all of that in an Asus notebook for less than a grand so it's probably Dell or HP ftw.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the 7200 RPM drive i'm not expecting to find, but like a said I have a nearly-new 7200 rpm Parallel-ATA unit in my old laptop that works just fine..... i can just move it over assuming the new laptop is not SATA.

Any suggestions regarding specific models on sale this week via Best Buy, et. al.?

Thank again,
David
 
Originally posted by: ddavis7279
Yeah, the 7200 RPM drive i'm not expecting to find, but like a said I have a nearly-new 7200 rpm Parallel-ATA unit in my old laptop that works just fine..... i can just move it over assuming the new laptop is not SATA.
Click to expand...

i wouldn't limit yourself like that.

if you could get yourself a laptop with 1gb now, 1gb later, you'll broaden your selection by a lot. also, why the urge to get a 15.4"? if i were in your place, i would look in the 14-15.4" category instead of just 15.4" laptops.
 
Originally posted by: alimoalem

i wouldn't limit yourself like that.

if you could get yourself a laptop with 1gb now, 1gb later, you'll broaden your selection by a lot. also, why the urge to get a 15.4"? if i were in your place, i would look in the 14-15.4" category instead of just 15.4" laptops.
Click to expand...


Yeah... maybe i was not clear.... 14-15 display is fine... mainly I don't want a 17" incher since I do travel with the notebook.

I am looking at this weeks flyers, but I'm not sure what to get...

-- David
 
You can get a Dell 1505 with the ATI X1400 graphics solution for under $1000. That beats the Intel integrated graphics solution by a mile.
 
Originally posted by: deathwalker
You can get a Dell 1505 with the ATI X1400 graphics solution for under $1000. That beats the Intel integrated graphics solution by a mile.
Click to expand...

Good catch...

It's looking to be a bit over $1k with a decent CPU if I cut the battery and warranty.

The small battery I can live with, but what about the 1-year warranty? How is Dell's QA doing lately?

Thanks again to all,
David
 
Hmmm..... Those dell refurbished units seem pretty expensive....

Right now it's a toss-up between:

-- Dell: $1050 : Insp E 1505: C2 Duo t7200 2.0Ghz (Dual core) / 1GB/ Ati x1400 256MB/ 15" WSXGA+
or
-- HP: $599 : V6205NR: Turion 64 Mk-36 2.0Ghz (single core) / 1GB / "Integrated" Nvidia go 6150 / 15" WXGA

The idea of the HP being to save about half the cost now, and in one year e-bay it and buy a "then current" ~$700 machine. (Winding up for the long haul with a machine presumingly better than the $1050 Dell is now.)

What do you guys think?

Thanks,
David
 
i've been with this thread from the beginning and i can't help but notice you never truly stated what your intention for purchase is other than to replace your dieing laptop. what is it you'll be doing on this?

you're requirements of the laptop are very expensive upgrades. if you are willing to drop the gaming, you can get a laptop with a strong CPU and add the hard drive and ram at a later time.

i'm not sure your gaming would even be enjoyable on a X1400. i do sound pretty negative but laptops are a pain when it comes to personal needs; there is not nearly the amount of customization available to laptop users as there are to desktop users.

my guess is you're at least in your 20's (you've had a laptop for 5+ years and purchased your own car). you may have a desktop at home. if you can game on that, it would make your laptop purchase a much easier task.

if you could say what your specific needs are for this laptop (and how those needs would change in a year assuming you go the HP route), and give other preferences for your laptop purchase (would prefer build quality over gaming ability; prefer parts to appearance, etc.) then i'm sure i can, along with the help of the fellow ATers, can find you a top 3 list
 
Originally posted by: ddavis7279
Hmmm..... Those dell refurbished units seem pretty expensive....

Right now it's a toss-up between:

-- Dell: $1050 : Insp E 1505: C2 Duo t7200 2.0Ghz (Dual core) / 1GB/ Ati x1400 256MB/ 15" WSXGA+
or
-- HP: $599 : V6205NR: Turion 64 Mk-36 2.0Ghz (single core) / 1GB / "Integrated" Nvidia go 6150 / 15" WXGA

The idea of the HP being to save about half the cost now, and in one year e-bay it and buy a "then current" ~$700 machine. (Winding up for the long haul with a machine presumingly better than the $1050 Dell is now.)

What do you guys think?

Thanks,
David
Click to expand...


True.. their prices fluctuate sometimes to the point of being more expensive than the current retail distribution side.. but then there are times when that same machine you spec'd would only cost $800 in the outlet..

Some people know when the prices in the outlet drop.. I don't sorry I cannot be of assistance with that.
 
Originally posted by: alimoalem
i've been with this thread from the beginning and i can't help but notice you never truly stated what your intention for purchase is other than to replace your dieing laptop. what is it you'll be doing on this?

......

if you could say what your specific needs are for this laptop (and how those needs would change in a year assuming you go the HP route), and give other preferences for your laptop purchase (would prefer build quality over gaming ability; prefer parts to appearance, etc.) then I'm sure i can, along with the help of the fellow ATers, can find you a top 3 list
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help. 🙂

I think my laptop is finally dead...

OK, here is my full usage profile for the new laptop:

-- I am a full-time student. (Plus side projects... )

-- I do not have a desktop, nor do I have room for one even if I bought it. This will be my primary computer.

-- Aside from general e-mail/web surfing, I will be using the laptop for semi-frequent web development w/ Dreamweaver & Jedit, mass photo post-processing w/ Adobe Lightroom & Photoshop.

-- The laptop will be dual-boot Windows / Ubuntu, and I would like to try and finally make the switch to Ubuntu as my primary workspace when not using Adobe products.

-- There are a couple of Open Source projects I've been starting to explore in-depth and would like to start hacking a bit on soon, specifically: Xen and TurboGears.

-- Gaming: For the past few years, I've not had the hardware to play anything... My current machine has no games at all. But, purely for a bit of stress relief, I'd like to take up the hobby again. First person shooter is my genre of choice, and since I've been out of the loop for a bit, I presume there is a backlog of titles. (Starting with HL2 and newer?)

-- Size: Since I travel a few times a year with this laptop, I presume a 17" laptop would be unwieldy to pack in a carry-on.

Given the above, I came up with the following general specs:

-- CPU: Newer AMD/Intel with Virtualization support 2.0 Ghz+
-- Memory: 1GB for now, but will need to upgrade to 2GB to allow more/larger VM's for app testing.
-- HD: Fast is a must... size not critical. I am OK with pulling the new HD and selling it on eBay to buy a faster unit. I also own a notebook pata 7k100 I could use or sell on eBay.
-- Radio: Integrated wi-fi & bluetooth is a must.
-- Screen: I think that WXGA / XGA seems a bit tight... My current screen is a 15" SXGA, and it's OK. Matte surface would be nice too.
-- Video chipset: This is the big unknown... I'd like to do some gaming, but can I really get anything seriously playable under the $1K mark?

Since I'm not up-to-date on the 3D graphics front, how does the Ati x1400 in the previously suggested Dell laptop compare to a desktop PCI-e nVidia 6600GT paired with an Athlon 64 3000+. A friend has this setup, and I've seen it run HL2/Farcry "Reasonably OK".

Thanks for the help,
David
 
Originally posted by: ddavis7279
Since I'm not up-to-date on the 3D graphics front, how does the Ati x1400 in the previously suggested Dell laptop compare to a desktop PCI-e nVidia 6600GT paired with an Athlon 64 3000+. A friend has this setup, and I've seen it run HL2/Farcry "Reasonably OK".

Thanks for the help,
David
Click to expand...

Comparison shown here, but don't take it as gospel since there aren't any frame rates, just card specs. Still, it looks like the 6600GT is somewhat faster. I just don't think the X1400 will be very good for gaming unless you downscale the res (which you probably don't want to do on an LCD) or reduce some detail settings in the game.

Since gaming won't be a priority, you might be satisfied with the X1400. There are much better cards out there, but probably not for sub-1k. If you want GOOD game performance, you might consider increasing your budget just a bit. You can get a 17" HP notebook with the Go 7600 for $1099, and there are a couple of Asus 15.4" notebooks available with the X1700/Go 7600 for less than $1300 on Newegg.
 
Originally posted by: Imyourzero
Comparison shown here, but don't take it as gospel since there aren't any frame rates, just card specs. Still, it looks like the 6600GT is somewhat faster. I just don't think the X1400 will be very good for gaming unless you downscale the res (which you probably don't want to do on an LCD) or reduce some detail settings in the game.

Since gaming won't be a priority, you might be satisfied with the X1400. There are much better cards out there, but probably not for sub-1k. If you want GOOD game performance, you might consider increasing your budget just a bit. You can get a 17" HP notebook with the Go 7600 for $1099, and there are a couple of Asus 15.4" notebooks available with the X1700/Go 7600 for less than $1300 on Newegg.
Click to expand...

Hmm.. thanks for the link... even just in terms memory bandwidth & fill rate, the X1400 is quite a bit less than the 6600GT I'm using for reference.

I was not able to find that HP you were referring to...

I can probably stretch things to $1200 max out-the-door if needed... But it does not seem to be possible even with that since I can't comprise on the CPU or display.

It almost sounds like there is no way to do this with gaming GPU... 🙁

For the short term I could probably make due with a slower, non-virtualizable, CPU, but not for the long term.. (Given that machine virtualization is an area I'd like to research more... but probably won't have a chance to play with for a number of months yet...)

So the question is:

Do I buy the $599 HP now expecting to sell it in 6 months to buy the "by then hopefully fast enough, new enough, and possibly better" bargain laptop that would be for the long haul?

Or, do spend it all now on a $1050 Dell? (Dell charges me the hefty NY sales tax, so I could probably spend a bit more elsewhere... $1200 max out-the-door)

Thanks for the help,
David
 
i'm not sure but i think the 6600GT is like twice as fast as the X1400 (maybe less?).

imyourzero is right about the asus laptops. at $1300, you can definitely get what you're looking for. you may need to spend $150-200 down the road for a 2nd gig of ram and a 7200rpm hdd, but if you sell your PATA drive and the drive your laptop comes with, you should get $100-200 back. these asus laptops, as imyourzero stated, come with either a 7700Go or X1700 graphics card, which should be at least equal (i think better) than the 6600GT. they also come with a Core 2 Duo T7200 (2.0 GHz)
 
Originally posted by: ddavis7279
I was not able to find that HP you were referring to...

I can probably stretch things to $1200 max out-the-door if needed... But it does not seem to be possible even with that since I can't comprise on the CPU or display.

It almost sounds like there is no way to do this with gaming GPU... 🙁
Click to expand...

Well, here is the HP I was referring to. The $1099 gets you a Core Duo T2250 and a Go 7600 graphics, BUT I just noticed it only comes with a meager 512MB of memory. 🙁 Plus you didn't really want a 17", and it's a BrightView (glossy) at that.

I'd seriously look into the Asus 15.4" models that alimoalem mentioned. You get 1GB of memory, a fast CPU, and a good graphics card. I just don't know if they are available with a matte display, but personally I'd much rather have glossy + faster gfx card than matte + X1400...
 
Originally posted by: Imyourzero
Originally posted by: ddavis7279
I was not able to find that HP you were referring to...

I can probably stretch things to $1200 max out-the-door if needed... But it does not seem to be possible even with that since I can't comprise on the CPU or display.

It almost sounds like there is no way to do this with gaming GPU... 🙁
Click to expand...

Well, here is the HP I was referring to. The $1099 gets you a Core Duo T2250 and a Go 7600 graphics, BUT I just noticed it only comes with a meager 512MB of memory. 🙁 Plus you didn't really want a 17", and it's a BrightView (glossy) at that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link.... the CPU an that does not support virtualization anyway, a must at that price... ah well (cpu info found at: Here, Here, and Here )

I'll take a look at those Asus models now...

Either way, I am pretty much resigned to the reality of a glossy screen... no way around it.

Thanks,
David
 
Hey folks... what do you think of this laptop:

Dell 1705 / Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz / 1GB / nV go 7900 GS / 17" UXGA

$1500 out-the-door. (small battery & 1-yr warranty)

I am think that I may have to go with the 17" since a 15" "wide screen" is actually much shorter than a regular aspect ratio 15" as is in my old machine. I'll have to figure out how to deal with the extra width the few times I travel.

What do you guys think?

-- David
 
Originally posted by: ddavis7279
Hey folks... what do you think of this laptop:

Dell 1705 / Core 2 Duo 2.0Ghz / 1GB / nV go 7900 GS / 17" UXGA

$1500 out-the-door. (small battery & 1-yr warranty)

I am think that I may have to go with the 17" since a 15" "wide screen" is actually much shorter than a regular aspect ratio 15" as is in my old machine. I'll have to figure out how to deal with the extra width the few times I travel.

What do you guys think?

-- David
Click to expand...

Sounds good to me if you're comfortable stretching your budget that far, but that system will last a while. The GS will undoubtedly have the best gaming performance of anything listed yet, and you can always extend the warranty until the standard 1-yr expires. Plus the T7200 is one sweet CPU.

If you decide to go with that system and want even MORE gaming performance, there is a huge thread on NBF where people are flashing the Dell 7900GS with the GTX BIOS and getting pretty dramatic increases in performance.

Out of curiosity, does that $1500 include the free upgrade to Vista and did you use any coupon codes?
 
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