Well I do have a desktop BUT Ill be gone for a month and a half and plus there are some nights were I dont come home and wish I had a personal computer nearby so that I could play my games. Since Ive never owned a laptop before I have a few questions, would this be an alternative in a GOOD way. I know you can play games on them but will I be happy.... Im a quake 3 player so quality is a demand. Can I plug up a keyboard into the usb port and use it instead on the onboard keyboard? How good is the acual display screen on a laptop.....Poor...Fair....Great??? I wanna stay below 2000 dollars if all possible any recommendations??? Im being told to wait after Christmas before buying because of a possible price drop also Im wondering if I wanna go with the AMD 4 or Pentium for gaming because as of now my desktop thunderbird kicks some serious arse in the gaming world. Well enough rambling thanks guys.
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Would you recommend a Laptop for a gamer?????????????
- Thread starter Airdale30
- Start date
On Dell laptops, screen are excelent. I have an IBM laptop, it's a couple of years old; quality is great, I haven't noticed any "screen lag" - response is quick, and watching DVDs and gaming is great.
Under $2000 you can get a LOT of good things unless you want the top of the line CPU - 1.2 GHz costs a hundred more than $1.13 GHz, and if you get a slightly slower CPU, you will save even more. If I were you, I would buy as little memory as possible, and then just get whatever RAM you need from Crucial.com. Dell and others charge you a lot $$$ if you want to upgrade Ram.
GeForce2Go will give you good Quake3, but don't count on running the absolute latest games at 100 fps 🙂
I was unable to find any awesome laptops that use Athlon - there are only a couple of laptop makers that use AMD at all.. Compaq and Sony do, I think Toshiba does as well.
Under $2000 you can get a LOT of good things unless you want the top of the line CPU - 1.2 GHz costs a hundred more than $1.13 GHz, and if you get a slightly slower CPU, you will save even more. If I were you, I would buy as little memory as possible, and then just get whatever RAM you need from Crucial.com. Dell and others charge you a lot $$$ if you want to upgrade Ram.
GeForce2Go will give you good Quake3, but don't count on running the absolute latest games at 100 fps 🙂
I was unable to find any awesome laptops that use Athlon - there are only a couple of laptop makers that use AMD at all.. Compaq and Sony do, I think Toshiba does as well.
I have a Tosh 3000-353 (P3-900,Gf2go/16MBDDR) which i got for just this reason, I travelled every week and wanted the ability to frag on the road.
You will have to live with several compromises with the TFT display of pretty much any laptop: first you are pretty much limited to the native display of the laptop (1024 on my tosh but i prefer 1600 at home) and secondly, with high end FPS games there will be some level of ghosting when the action gets frantic. Its not the frame rate per se but rather the pixel refresh rate which is not responsive enough to handle FPS games. Bottom line, the limitations of TFT LCD panels will affect your game but the ability to play on the road at all is reason enough to get one. Its frustrating not being able to see the sniper across the map in Urban Terror.
As a quaker you are pretty much limited to a GF2go equiped laptop (dell, tosh, gateway, asus) though the mobile radeon should suffice as well. Don't be fooled, any lesser videochip simply will not get the job done. with the limited models available, you are pretty much limited to a P3 chip. Most Laptops have multiple USB ports so you will be able to plug in as many peripherals as you want. I agree regarding the memory, just get the minimum and go out and buy some cheap crucial or kingston SODIMMs.
I definetly can give a thumbs up for the toshibas as a portable solution but i have to admit the Dell 8000 that a buddy owns has the best damn screen for 2d work i have ever seen (still ghosts for FPS though)
Good Luck
B
You will have to live with several compromises with the TFT display of pretty much any laptop: first you are pretty much limited to the native display of the laptop (1024 on my tosh but i prefer 1600 at home) and secondly, with high end FPS games there will be some level of ghosting when the action gets frantic. Its not the frame rate per se but rather the pixel refresh rate which is not responsive enough to handle FPS games. Bottom line, the limitations of TFT LCD panels will affect your game but the ability to play on the road at all is reason enough to get one. Its frustrating not being able to see the sniper across the map in Urban Terror.
As a quaker you are pretty much limited to a GF2go equiped laptop (dell, tosh, gateway, asus) though the mobile radeon should suffice as well. Don't be fooled, any lesser videochip simply will not get the job done. with the limited models available, you are pretty much limited to a P3 chip. Most Laptops have multiple USB ports so you will be able to plug in as many peripherals as you want. I agree regarding the memory, just get the minimum and go out and buy some cheap crucial or kingston SODIMMs.
I definetly can give a thumbs up for the toshibas as a portable solution but i have to admit the Dell 8000 that a buddy owns has the best damn screen for 2d work i have ever seen (still ghosts for FPS though)
Good Luck
B
stingbandel
Diamond Member
Take a look at Toshiba satellite 5005. I think it's a really good laptop. It has GeForce video card and all the gaming needs. Also it has a nice harman kardon speaker. I think the price is around $2000 or less.... definetely a good one imo. I have myself IBM but it's not for gaming.
edit: I think the processor is P3 1.1 with 30 gig. go to Toshiba site to see the detail specs.
Darno
edit: I think the processor is P3 1.1 with 30 gig. go to Toshiba site to see the detail specs.
Darno
apoppin
Lifer
I just spent $1200 on a new Dell Inspiron 4100 PIII-866(Mobile) with the 16MB ATI mobility Radeon. It's an XGA (1024x768) TFT and I will run Win2K with 320MB PC-133 RAM.
I am a gamer. I should have it by Monday. I am anxious to find out and I'll post the results.
I am leaving in January for a 10 week working vacation in Hawaii and it just isn't practical to take the desktop. 😀
I am a gamer. I should have it by Monday. I am anxious to find out and I'll post the results.
I am leaving in January for a 10 week working vacation in Hawaii and it just isn't practical to take the desktop. 😀
uh ohhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Ghosting????????? Crap........ Badga I to am a serious Urban Terror player with a high competition level, you mentioned ghosting and I do have some what of an idea of what your talking about. That could definatley be a bad thing, is this with ALL laptop screens??? Maybe i should go check out the refresh rate on some these notebook computers, you'd think technology today would have eliminated such a problem. Man didnt think about that oh well.
Check out www.eurcom.ca
they have great systems at very good prices
they have great systems at very good prices
Shalmanese
Platinum Member
Well, This system from dell is $1855 and about the best you can get unde 2k. Dell screens are sweet, barely any gosting unless you specifically look for it.
Dell Inspiron 8100 Notebooks:
Intel® PIII 1 GHz-M 15in UXGA Display
Memory: Special! 256MB,2DIMMs for the price of 128MB,2DIMMs
Video Card: 32MB DDR 4X AGP NVIDIA GeForce2 Go?Vid
Primary Hard Drive: 20GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive 20GB
Floppy Drive: Modular Floppy Drive
Operating System Software: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition¹²
Network Adapter: Xircom® 10/100 Ethernet II, PC Card N100X
Modem: 10/100 + 56K Capable V.90 NIC/Modem, Internal Mini-PCI
Fixed CD/DVD Drives: 8X Max Variable DVD for XP 8XDVDXP
Dell Inspiron 8100 Notebooks:
Intel® PIII 1 GHz-M 15in UXGA Display
Memory: Special! 256MB,2DIMMs for the price of 128MB,2DIMMs
Video Card: 32MB DDR 4X AGP NVIDIA GeForce2 Go?Vid
Primary Hard Drive: 20GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive 20GB
Floppy Drive: Modular Floppy Drive
Operating System Software: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition¹²
Network Adapter: Xircom® 10/100 Ethernet II, PC Card N100X
Modem: 10/100 + 56K Capable V.90 NIC/Modem, Internal Mini-PCI
Fixed CD/DVD Drives: 8X Max Variable DVD for XP 8XDVDXP
skeletal29
Senior member
dam i hate it when people say oh laptops suck...I would rather get a desktop because laptops suck for gaming and you can case mod LOL...I feel like smacking the s*** out of their a**
hey airdale, the ghosting thing is somewhat inherent with most lcd panels now but the technology is fairly relentless in this regard...lots of corporations are spending lots of R&D $$'s on impoving the pixel response time of these displays (check out this article which give a good primer on this issue as well as NEC/Mitsu's plans for next year LCD response time
As to checking out the specs on notebook displays, well you will have little luck there as few if any vendors publish these stats for some reason even if it is one of the key performance stats. I guess this is because notebooks are traditionally a corporate purchase item where gaming or DVD performance are hardly a priority. Keep in mind this issue is pretty much irrelavent for all 2D work and in fact LCD's tend to be easier on the eyes than CRT's. You will find that Flat Panel Monitors do on the other had provide this info. I suspect this will change.
As to the effect on your Urban Terror skills well the problem certainly doesn't make games unplayable. It is just if one is used to playing Streets on a 19" CRT running at 1600x1200 and 80+ FPS, the ghosting on even the Dell screen that can run at 1600x1200 will disorient you when you find yourself sprinting from cover in "streets" to find yourself suddenly surrounded by 4 red guys. Its a little frustrating at first but you get used to it and adjust your game somewhat.
The NV17M chip that vec referred to looks pretty tasty but at the end of the day i think it will be somewhat limited w/o advances in the LCD panel. It was only introduced at Comdex last week so other than the display unit there, no one has seen it (or the ATI Radeon 7500) yet for review. As with everything in this industry, there is ALWAYS something better coming out in 6 months (mm....NV25!). I say go find a nice spec'd dell or tosh and enjoy your trip.
badga
As to checking out the specs on notebook displays, well you will have little luck there as few if any vendors publish these stats for some reason even if it is one of the key performance stats. I guess this is because notebooks are traditionally a corporate purchase item where gaming or DVD performance are hardly a priority. Keep in mind this issue is pretty much irrelavent for all 2D work and in fact LCD's tend to be easier on the eyes than CRT's. You will find that Flat Panel Monitors do on the other had provide this info. I suspect this will change.
As to the effect on your Urban Terror skills well the problem certainly doesn't make games unplayable. It is just if one is used to playing Streets on a 19" CRT running at 1600x1200 and 80+ FPS, the ghosting on even the Dell screen that can run at 1600x1200 will disorient you when you find yourself sprinting from cover in "streets" to find yourself suddenly surrounded by 4 red guys. Its a little frustrating at first but you get used to it and adjust your game somewhat.
The NV17M chip that vec referred to looks pretty tasty but at the end of the day i think it will be somewhat limited w/o advances in the LCD panel. It was only introduced at Comdex last week so other than the display unit there, no one has seen it (or the ATI Radeon 7500) yet for review. As with everything in this industry, there is ALWAYS something better coming out in 6 months (mm....NV25!). I say go find a nice spec'd dell or tosh and enjoy your trip.
badga
<< I wanna go with the AMD 4 or Pentium for gaming because as of now my desktop thunderbird kicks some serious arse in the gaming world. Well enough rambling thanks guys. >>
I am not a laptop fan, but I bought one for my boss. It is Compaq 705US. It is $1499 after rebate and it is absolutely awesome. It has network card, modem, DVD/CDRW combo, JBL Pro Audio, TV out, 256Mb of memory, 20GB hard and it looks nice. It performs wa-a-ay better than Pentium III notebooks and priced nicely too. Graphic chipset isn't that fast (sorry - no Nvidia here), but in office apps - it'll ootperform those dells. As for Quake III... I played Wolf MP on it for a while and it was fine for a notebook.
apoppin
Lifer
<< Would you recommend a Laptop for a gamer????????????? >>
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just got my Inspiron 4100 today. It's an 866PIII-M, ATI 16MB mobility Radeon, 320MB PC-133 and 14.1" 768x1024 TFT.
Well, I honestly didn't expect much . . . I thought maybe Thief II or the older games like MDK-2 would run OK . . . but I went for it and installed Max Payne:
1024x768@32 bit color and ALL the details set to MID (bilinear filtering) . . . what a SURPRISE - it runs great (I have been playing though it with no slowdowns)!
I really didn't expect this . . . for a 14" screen, there is plenty of detail.
I guess if you wanted a 15" screen and something better, get the GeForce2GO 32MB. But for my needs - and I only spent $1200 including DVD and a free Fuji camera - it will play all the current games satisfactorily.
I really don't think I will miss my desktop for the 10 weeks I am in Hawaii . . .
😀
vec
Golden Member
Don't know when laptops w/NV17M will be available. I read somewhere late Q1 2002 but who really knows. If I had to get one now, it would be a dell or toshiba with the geforce2go. If I had to pick one up before the year is out, laptops with the Radeon 7500 seems like the way to go. If you can wait until next year a laptop w/NV17M is better. No major laptop manufacturer announced new laptops with either the ATI 7500 or Nvidia NV17M yet though 🙁
Like someone earlier mentioned, there is a 6 month cycle (longer for notebooks I think) on video cards. Pick one based on the features you like and games you play. I was waiting for the 7500 until I heard about the NV17M. I'll wait until both are available and then make a decision.
Like someone earlier mentioned, there is a 6 month cycle (longer for notebooks I think) on video cards. Pick one based on the features you like and games you play. I was waiting for the 7500 until I heard about the NV17M. I'll wait until both are available and then make a decision.
Well guys its about that time and after looking some things over Ive boiled my decision down to either a DELL or Toshiba. So far I wanna go Toshiba because its seems to me ill be getting more bang for the buck butttttttttttttttttttttt Dell has great custopmer service also. Ive been trying to find some research on laptop displays such as whats the difference in quality between TFT,XGA,UXGA yadda yadda yadda..... laugh if you want but Im seriously lost on what the difference are, for all I know they could mean nothing or the same lol. Thanks guys.
airdale....pretty much all new laptop screens are TFT LCD displays so don't concern yourself too much as to whats behind the panel. XGA is simply a screen with 1024 horizontal resolution (# of pixels from side to side) UXGA is 1400 and UXGA+ is 1600. If i am wrong on those sizes please someone tell me.
For reference, the Satallite Toshibas, which you can see at any compUSA or bestBuy on display are all pretty much 1024 displays (14.1 or 15"), the Dells can generally run 1400 or 1600 displays in either 14.1 or 15 inch sized. The higher resolution will provide a sharper looking screen with less obvious pixelation of text and graphics. Of course, some complain that 1600 res in a 15" screen is too small to see (imaging doing that on a 15 CRT!). OS's like XP have features that compensate for most of these issues. ClearType will smooth out the jaggies on a small 1024 screen and you can resize text and icons on the higher end displays. The only thing else to consider is really the portability of the solution. To get a 6-7 lbs solution, you are limited to 14.1 screens, 15 " screens will generally be a three spindle (hdd,optical,fdd) solution which will be heavier. If you travel a lot like i used to avoid the heavier units, a few pounds make all the difference)
Keep in mind some simple rules and don't let it get to you.....all of these are nice. I have a 14.1 1024 tosh screen and have no complaints. While sure i would prefer 15" display and a higher resolution, I certainly have no regrets. I suggest lay out the key factors (weight, screen rez, screen size, processor, GPU, and price) and make a call.
Right now (for me) the optimum is the Dell 4100 series which has the same form factor as the tosh satt i currently use but has the higher res screen 1600 and 1400 options and the 32MB GF2go ( i am a nvidia fanboy but it sounds as if the MRadeon is comparable)
vec - you do realize that by the time you wait that decision out (Mradeion7500 and NV17M) ATi and Nvidia will have announced the Mradeon8500 and NV23M)😉
b
For reference, the Satallite Toshibas, which you can see at any compUSA or bestBuy on display are all pretty much 1024 displays (14.1 or 15"), the Dells can generally run 1400 or 1600 displays in either 14.1 or 15 inch sized. The higher resolution will provide a sharper looking screen with less obvious pixelation of text and graphics. Of course, some complain that 1600 res in a 15" screen is too small to see (imaging doing that on a 15 CRT!). OS's like XP have features that compensate for most of these issues. ClearType will smooth out the jaggies on a small 1024 screen and you can resize text and icons on the higher end displays. The only thing else to consider is really the portability of the solution. To get a 6-7 lbs solution, you are limited to 14.1 screens, 15 " screens will generally be a three spindle (hdd,optical,fdd) solution which will be heavier. If you travel a lot like i used to avoid the heavier units, a few pounds make all the difference)
Keep in mind some simple rules and don't let it get to you.....all of these are nice. I have a 14.1 1024 tosh screen and have no complaints. While sure i would prefer 15" display and a higher resolution, I certainly have no regrets. I suggest lay out the key factors (weight, screen rez, screen size, processor, GPU, and price) and make a call.
Right now (for me) the optimum is the Dell 4100 series which has the same form factor as the tosh satt i currently use but has the higher res screen 1600 and 1400 options and the 32MB GF2go ( i am a nvidia fanboy but it sounds as if the MRadeon is comparable)
vec - you do realize that by the time you wait that decision out (Mradeion7500 and NV17M) ATi and Nvidia will have announced the Mradeon8500 and NV23M)😉
b
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