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View Full Version : Help with a new Laptop



Poi Boi
21st-October-2008, 03:02 PM
I'm looking at getting a new laptop, but know little about what is out there atm.

I'm looking for a games spec machine, pref a 17 inch screen thats about 7-8 hundred or there abouts.

I don't really know that many sites that are good for buying them, so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, even if it its just "wait till the new year cos something awesome is coming out etc"

Thanks all. :flower:

Lee Bartholomew
21st-October-2008, 03:06 PM
Try alien Ware. Really nice top end machines Alienware: Compare All Notebooks! (http://www.alienware.co.uk/product_pages/notebook_all_default.aspx) built for gaming.

Avoid Dell.

pmjd
21st-October-2008, 03:23 PM
Try alien Ware. Really nice top end machines Alienware: Compare All Notebooks! (http://www.alienware.co.uk/product_pages/notebook_all_default.aspx) built for gaming.

Avoid Dell.

Erm you do know that Dell bought Alienware (http://news.cnet.co.uk/desktops/0,39029662,49258759,00.htm)

PB you could try this site (http://www.whatlaptop.co.uk/), used to be quite handy for group comparisons. I'm a little bit out of touch with PCs (yes I converted to Apple) but will try and have a look later.

Dreadful Scathe
21st-October-2008, 03:26 PM
Erm you do know that Dell bought Alienware (http://news.cnet.co.uk/desktops/0,39029662,49258759,00.htm)
well, he still has a point (albeit a blurred one now) - Dell did do "gaming" machines that werent a patch on AlienWares, which is why buying the company probably made sense.

Expensive though. I would ask Poi what "sort" of games he's talking about and just why he must play them on a laptop?

David Franklin
21st-October-2008, 03:40 PM
Expensive though. I would ask Poi what "sort" of games he's talking about and just why he must play them on a laptop?:yeah: At the £700-£800 price point, a laptop isn't going to come close to the graphics you can get on a desktop machine.

It's worth remembering that high end graphics cards run hot, and it is very difficult to cool them down in the confines of a laptop. Most 'gaming laptops' use nVidia GPUs, and there have a lot of laptops with problems caused by nVidia GPUs overheating (nVidia has allocated $200M for repairs, which gives an idea of the scale of the problem).

Personally, I'm also not keen on playing games on a laptop keyboard (though you can always plug in an external).

If you can afford them, the high end Alienware machines are very nice though...

Poi Boi
21st-October-2008, 03:41 PM
Online gaming, currently play City of Heroes/Villains. Doesn't require a huuge amount of power like Age of Conan, but would be nice to have a well specced machine for the future. I also like to watch DvDs etc on a laptop (well I did with my old one).

I'de get a PC, but I love the portability of a laptop, and yes, I would use it as more than just a small desktop.

Dreadful Scathe
21st-October-2008, 03:55 PM
well to be honest i'd suggest you get a desktop AND a laptop for about the same price as your high-end gaming laptop would cost ;)

(im selling two crossfire gfx cards by the way - so that'll save you a bit ;) )

Gadget
21st-October-2008, 04:16 PM
I just got a some Asus F7S series laptops for work: can't really fault them... 17", number pad beside keyboard, blue-tooth and wireless built in, lightscribe DVD writer, SD port built in, 1.3Mpx camera in screen, came with a decent bag and mouse (and funky velcro cable tidy :)) ... it's the best 'bang for buck' I could find {I got them on a 'special offer' here - http://www.asuslaptop.co.uk/}

OK, so they don't have separate 'home/end/pgup/pgdn' keys, and the battery only lasts a couple of hours, but other than that I can't fault them. :D

{PS boss just got a roughly equivilent Sony Vio laptop (£ raised to a power), but it was so light that it wasn't very durable or robust and he cracked the screen just opening/closing it... cost about half the laptop to get it fixed: pretty, slim and light... but seems to be too delicate}

Dreadful Scathe
21st-October-2008, 04:22 PM
I just got a some Asus F7S series laptops


hmm ATi Mobility Radeon HD 2400 Graphics Adapter , Display Resolution 1440 x 900 , Installed RAM (GB) 3

might be ok actually .

Asus F7S | Full Spec | TechRadar UK (http://www.techradar.com/products/computing/laptops-portable-pcs/laptops/asus-f7s-t7500-2-2ghz--265399/specification)

and less than £700 - althought im out of touch with prices...

Alan Doyle
21st-October-2008, 11:29 PM
Most new laptops are shipped with Vista (I think they are no longer shipped with XP), so you need minimum of 2Gb of RAM or your laptop will be VERY slow for doing normal everyday things (let alone gaming).

DavidY
25th-October-2008, 09:51 AM
Most new laptops are shipped with Vista (I think they are no longer shipped with XP)I think there are at least a couple of ways you can still get a new laptop with XP:
Some of the new ultra-portable laptops (Eee PC etc.) ship with XP because they have lower specs and can't run Vista
PCs with Vista Business have "downgrade rights" to XP Pro. Ebuyer sell at least one laptop (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148840) which has been pre-downgraded to XP.However I'm not sure that either of these avenues will be helpful to Poi Boi as they probably won't have the specs needed to run games well.