Will this laptop be powerful enough?

[dabuddha]

I'm looking at 2 laptops. My first preference is the Dell Inspiron 700m. I'll be getting it with the faster CPU and 1 gig of memory. The only downside is that the video card is integrated.

I couldn't find any specs for Age of Empires 3 but I'd like to be able to play it on this laptop (even if it's at lower settings. My wife and I loved AOE2 and used to skirmish all the time)

The other laptop I'm thinking about is the dell inspiron 6000 with an "ATI MOBILITY? RADEON® X300 64MB HyperMemory" The downside to this laptop is that it's bigger than the 700m. My last laptop was an inspiron 8100 and that thing was heavy and big as hell so I want something smaller and lighter.

 

[fbrdphreak]

The 700M will most likely NOT play AOE3. It uses Intel Extreme 2 integrated graphics: pretty much THE worst possible.

The i6000 will be able to play it, just not with all the eye candy on.

I would buy a cheap, small laptop to take with you and then something like an i9300 17" with the 256MB GeForce Go 6800 for games around the house.

Otherwise, consider a Toshiba M4(?) which is a 14.1" with a GF 6600 128MB. The Asus Z71v is a 15.4" (same as i6000, but lighter) with a 128MB X700, around $1500. On a little bigger size with less battery life is the Gateway 7510gz which is 15.4" with a 128MB X600 for $1250 on sale @ BBY.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
The 700M will most likely NOT play AOE3. It uses Intel Extreme 2 integrated graphics: pretty much THE worst possible.

The i6000 will be able to play it, just not with all the eye candy on.

I would buy a cheap, small laptop to take with you and then something like an i9300 17" with the 256MB GeForce Go 6800 for games around the house.

Otherwise, consider a Toshiba M4(?) which is a 14.1" with a GF 6600 128MB. The Asus Z71v is a 15.4" (same as i6000, but lighter) with a 128MB X700, around $1500. On a little bigger size with less battery life is the Gateway 7510gz which is 15.4" with a 128MB X600 for $1250 on sale @ BBY.

Thanks for the info. I'm just a little reluctant to purchase a laptop from bestbuy/circuit city. I've read so many horror stories about their service.

Would it make a difference if I spend $70 more on the i6000 and get "128MB DDR ATI's MOBILITY? RADEON X300 PCI Express x16 Graphics [add $69]"

 

[Leafblighter]

I just want to address something said a bit earlier. The Asus z71v actually has a 6600 go 128 mb video system to it. the Asus laptop which has the x700 is the z70v "refresh" model which is coming out pretty much either now or in a few weeks.

to help you out. a x600 is almost equal to a 6600 go in terms of speed (its a bit slower) while the x700 is a bit faster than the 6600. the x300 will work of course, but dont expect graphical fireworks. you're probably best off going for something beefier if you want a lappy for gaming.

of the 3 you mentioned, i own a z71v and do like it, but right now couldnt recommend it when compared to the z70v "refresh" b/c it is 1) a whole pound lighter thanks to carbon fibre body, 2) the video card is a x700 which is faster than the 6600 go and 3) it does have a clearer screen than the z71v (search around the net for the z71v 'sparkle' and you'll find out... its really not that bad as some make it sound to be though), it also 4) has integraded bluetooth

lood around, there's lots of good lappys out there that arent dell/bestbuy crap. check out the reviews at www.notebookforums.com to find out about all the different manufacturers.

hope this helps

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: Leafblighter
I just want to address something said a bit earlier. The Asus z71v actually has a 6600 go 128 mb video system to it. the Asus laptop which has the x700 is the z70v "refresh" model which is coming out pretty much either now or in a few weeks.

to help you out. a x600 is almost equal to a 6600 go in terms of speed (its a bit slower) while the x700 is a bit faster than the 6600. the x300 will work of course, but dont expect graphical fireworks. you're probably best off going for something beefier if you want a lappy for gaming.

of the 3 you mentioned, i own a z71v and do like it, but right now couldnt recommend it when compared to the z70v "refresh" b/c it is 1) a whole pound lighter thanks to carbon fibre body, 2) the video card is a x700 which is faster than the 6600 go and 3) it does have a clearer screen than the z71v (search around the net for the z71v 'sparkle' and you'll find out... its really not that bad as some make it sound to be though), it also 4) has integraded bluetooth

lood around, there's lots of good lappys out there that arent dell/bestbuy crap. check out the reviews at www.notebookforums.com to find out about all the different manufacturers.

hope this helps

Thanks for the info! It does help. I'm not really tied into getting a Dell. It was just that the price was right at the moment. As for my needs, my first priority is that it has to be lighter than what I had previously (~10 lbs).

Where did you purchase your Asus? Were you able to get an extended warranty with it?

 

[Soccerman06]

Originally posted by: Leafblighter
I just want to address something said a bit earlier. The Asus z71v actually has a 6600 go 128 mb video system to it. the Asus laptop which has the x700 is the z70v "refresh" model which is coming out pretty much either now or in a few weeks.

to help you out. a x600 is almost equal to a 6600 go in terms of speed (its a bit slower) while the x700 is a bit faster than the 6600. the x300 will work of course, but dont expect graphical fireworks. you're probably best off going for something beefier if you want a lappy for gaming.

of the 3 you mentioned, i own a z71v and do like it, but right now couldnt recommend it when compared to the z70v "refresh" b/c it is 1) a whole pound lighter thanks to carbon fibre body, 2) the video card is a x700 which is faster than the 6600 go and 3) it does have a clearer screen than the z71v (search around the net for the z71v 'sparkle' and you'll find out... its really not that bad as some make it sound to be though), it also 4) has integraded bluetooth

lood around, there's lots of good lappys out there that arent dell/bestbuy crap. check out the reviews at www.notebookforums.com to find out about all the different manufacturers.

hope this helps

I have the z71v and the sparkle is noticable only when I see a white/bright screen. I dont understand why people make such a huge problem over something so small. It looks perfectly fine when I play games and is barely noticable.

 

[bearxor]

If you get the I6000, go for the 128MB video card. That way you wil have dedicated video memory rather than the 'Hypermemory'.

 

[ShellGuy]

Bestbuy is a great place to get a lappy if nothing else but you get one of the best PSPs on the market. Who else will give you a new batt every year?


Will G.

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: ShellGuy
Bestbuy is a great place to get a lappy if nothing else but you get one of the best PSPs on the market. Who else will give you a new batt every year?


Will G.

hehe you're joking right?

 

[Leafblighter]

I bought my z71v through a company called Integrated Systems Technologies (www.istnc.com). They are based out of North Carolina and really have been wonderful to work with. Its a small retailer of tons of notebooks and their prices are rather competitive too, especially for what you're getting. Now, don't expect these great Dell deals here. There are no $750 off coupons esp since their volumes are nowhere near the big retailers. But what they sell is quality, the ability to customize what you want and top notch customer support. It really is nice to know that even if you call the company, you may have the guy who owns it answering the phones. I ended up picking mine up for about 1600 bucks before warranties and accessories... and this was back in May. But either way, I *highly* recommend them.

theres also sites liek proportable.com and geared2play.com that are ASUS resellers if you wanna shop around a bit. just go to the asus website and you can find a complete listing of all the online vendors of their products.

hope this helps

 

[ShellGuy]

Best Buys PSP allows you a new batt every year you carry it. so NO im not kidding.


Will G.

 

[Mike01]

Hey,

I have a question about Best Buy's PSP...I'll be pushing a year on mine in a few months and was wondering if they let you keep the old battery as well as the new one, or do they do something like a "core exchange" and take the old one away?

btw...people always talk about Best Buy crap...my Gateway/emachines Best Buy laptop is almost a year old with ZERO problems of any kind, and no quality issues whatsoever. It's the best laptop I've ever owned.

 

[ShellGuy]

I can't quite remember but i wager you keep the old one. But like i said not real sure.


Will G.

 

[hellfire88]

I just want to address something said a bit earlier. The Asus z71v actually has a 6600 go 128 mb video system to it. the Asus laptop which has the x700 is the z70v "refresh" model which is coming out pretty much either now or in a few weeks.

to help you out. a x600 is almost equal to a 6600 go in terms of speed (its a bit slower) while the x700 is a bit faster than the 6600. the x300 will work of course, but dont expect graphical fireworks. you're probably best off going for something beefier if you want a lappy for gaming.

of the 3 you mentioned, i own a z71v and do like it, but right now couldnt recommend it when compared to the z70v "refresh" b/c it is 1) a whole pound lighter thanks to carbon fibre body, 2) the video card is a x700 which is faster than the 6600 go and 3) it does have a clearer screen than the z71v (search around the net for the z71v 'sparkle' and you'll find out... its really not that bad as some make it sound to be though), it also 4) has integraded bluetooth

lood around, there's lots of good lappys out there that arent dell/bestbuy crap. check out the reviews at www.notebookforums.com to find out about all the different manufacturers.

hope this helps

Actually, I'm pretty sure the nvidia 6600 128mb in the Asus Z71V is more powerful than the X700 128mb in the Z70Va (previously known as Z70V "Refresh"), albeit only very slightly. Check out this thread at notebookforums.com that lists actual users' 3dMark05 scores for their various laptops with various GPU's:

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=68910

The 6600 is ever-so-slightly faster than the x700, so I'd personally get the Z70VA over the Z71V just for the fact that its ~1lb lighter (Z71V = 6.6lbs, Z70VA = 5.6lbs...but with a platic dummy card in the CD-drive compartment). So basically: X300 ~=9000 < X600~=9700 < 6600

I personally have a Dell 9300 with the Nvidia 6800go 256mb video card. Its one of the lightest/smallest-overall-dimensions 17" LCD laptop in the market. It weighs ~7.85lbs, which is actually not too heavy considering the power that's packed into this machine. I've sold my desktop PC and Samsung 17" LCD and replaced both with this one Dell 9300. Dell's prices can't be beat when you find and use their best coupons ($750 of $1499+ or 40% off $999+) and they're getting better and better in the build-quality department. This 9300 feels very solid, and I'd imagine their current Inspiron lineup (700m, 6000, 9300, XPS-2) are all very solid laptops, since they look similar and most likely come from the same manufacturer/ODM. I was considering a Z71V, and had a Dell 6000 for a week or so. The 9300 is just slightly bigger than the 6000:

Dell 6000: 14.02"W x 10.45"D x 1.52"H - 6.65lbs

Dell 9300: 15.5"W x 11.3"D x 1.6"H - 7.85lbs

However, going from an ATI X300 in the 6000 to a Nvidia 6800go in the 9300 is a HUGE step in performance. And you upgrade from a 15.4" LCD to a 17" LCDThe 6000 probably gets more battery life though (~3hrs for 6000, ~2hrs for 9300)

The Z71V/Z70Va are also nice machines, but cost more than the Dells (assuming you use a coupon for Dell, at regular price, Dell and Asus are similar in price)

Good luck with your search!