New Laptop

[Lesmond]

Guys, I need a new gaming laptop for i23. Any recommendations out there? I have seen the Alienware and like it are there any alternatives out there at all?

[her0n]

I have been very happy with my IBM Thinkpad T42 :)

People say Dells are good, as is alienware (however expensive and 'tarty' but decent machines)

Main thing to look at is the GFX and the ram.

Wizzo has a Dell 9100 which is very good for gaming, it's got an ati 9700 in it :)

I think those who got Acers 64 bit ones would prob tell you not to bother. I know Hitori (or aardvark?) has had issues with his :(

[Hitori]

DON'T GET ACER.

ACER IS DEATH.

ACER BAD.

BAD NOT GOOD.

DELL (apparently) GOOD.

SO IS (apparently) IBM.

DON'T GET ACER.

that is all.

[Nivek]

that Dell 9100 looks pritty cool, its got DVI out, the first laptop that i have seen to have that

[Guigsy]

Originally posted by Hitori
DON'T GET ACER.

ACER IS DEATH.

ACER BAD.

BAD NOT GOOD.

DELL (apparently) GOOD.

SO IS (apparently) IBM.

DON'T GET ACER.

that is all.

where as my acer is performing perfectly :p

[Mingtea]

www.apple.com/powerbook

Play UT2k4!

[philbert_mcpleb]

Originally posted by Hitori
DON'T GET ACER.

ACER IS DEATH.

ACER BAD.

BAD NOT GOOD.

DELL (apparently) GOOD.

SO IS (apparently) IBM.

DON'T GET ACER.

that is all.

i agree with every inch of my being.

[Steadders]

Originally posted by Hitori
DON'T GET ACER.

ACER IS DEATH.

ACER BAD.

BAD NOT GOOD.

DELL (apparently) GOOD.

SO IS (apparently) IBM.

DON'T GET ACER.

that is all.

dont be silly! there great!

well, mines been great anyway.

[cereal.killer]

well, 1/2 hour ago i had no idea on acer, but, read a few reviews on various models throughtout their range, primarily focusing on the higher end, and i wasnt too impressed with reviews by actual customers.

apparently customer service is poor, warranties lacking, tech support poor... i guess those shudnt matter too much if u knw ure way round a laptop.

however, on every review i read the cons seemed to outweigh the pros... id give them a thumbs down.

[GeeDee]

At LAST Corky. How long have people been saying this to you again?

:p:

[Hitori]

Originally posted by cereal.killer
apparently customer service is poor, warranties lacking, tech support poor...

Ain't that tha truth!

Originally posted by cereal.killer
i guess those shudnt matter too much if u knw ure way round a laptop.


Not when parts of the laptop fail and it has to be sent off for repairs. My laptop is probably around 8 months old at most, and it needs more repairs (this will be the third time I've sent it off). There are other things I don't like about it as well, such as interference from the power supply on the sound card (not just Acer laptops this), and the audio buffer dying at random intervals, causing a fart in normal music playback but causing problems when you're recording stuff.

[Steadders]

well mine has been great, it's slightly newer than hitoris, but the only thing thats gone wrong is the left shift and control key have stoped working.

but i spilt pepsi on it :p

[Tsung]

Yes my acer laptop is fine, but it acts as a desktop replacement, thus I rarely use the laptop screen/keyboard.

I'd say Dell are an excellent make, they will build the laptop to your specifications, people I know who have Dells have little no problems with them. The service is brillant for our work laptops (we might have some sorta agreement), but generally if it breaks they will replace/fix it within days..

[Lesmond]

Cool thanks guys, some info to go on!!! Might go for the new alienware as it has pci-express!

[Chicane]

nice lappys but just overpriced

[Steadders]

ok, JUST BECAUSE my hard drive failed last night, doesnt mean acer 1500's are bad.

i'll tell you what the tech support is like :rolleyes:

[oxy]

brought a toshiba sat. p30

tis fooking huge v pleased with it ... temptin to sell my home rig cuz its jus not being used now and the storage could be replaced with a external FW


P4 3.2
512ddr
raddy 9700 mobility

runs 2k4 like a dream

still having issues with steam atm will try n get cs:S workin at some point

[Mouce]

I owned 3 Dell laptops, all good, new Sony Centrino are also nice, have one of them, now looking to get the Asus S200/300 series. Really nice & compact :)

But for gaming I suggest Dell

[Optimus]

Originally posted by Steadders
dont be silly! there great!

well, mines been great anyway. Then theres that issue of you opening it up and inserting RAM into it whilst it was on... (User Malfunction?)

I would preach about the idiocy and stuff, but I *also* thought Laptops were *supposed* to be designed to switch off/go to sleep if you opened them whilst they were running... smells of bad manufacturing...

[Hitori]

It was already in standby when he put the RAM in.

[bvark]

adding hardware to a laptop without disconnecting all internal and external power supplies is just idiocy, regardless of what you think different power states of the laptop mean - current is still moving through the RAM on standby.

[Hitori]

Originally posted by Optimus
I *also* thought Laptops were *supposed* to be designed to switch off/go to sleep if you opened them whilst they were running...

I was replying to that statement, Bvark. I still called Steadders a peen for doing it though :).

[Zakalwe]

Back on topic, if you want a gaming laptop aim for the newest Nvidia mobile gfx (called the 6800 GO), they've claimed the crown from ati's 9700 part.

Summary from HardOCP review
"To put it simply, the GeForce 6800 Go is the best laptop gaming experience I’ve ever had. It seems NVIDIA has one upped ATI on laptop gaming performance, at least for this week. I have played games on the Dell Inspiron XPS with a Mobility Radeon 9800 and then played the same games on this laptop with a GeForce Go 6800. The entire gaming experience was noticeably better and more immersive on the GeForce Go 6800 system. With the GeForce Go 6800 I was able to run the same games at higher resolutions and with higher image quality settings with better frame rate performance compared to the Mobility Radeon 9800.

The GeForce Go 6800 allowed me a desktop computer gaming experience, without the desktop computer. Being able to play DOOM 3 at 1280x1024 in High Quality mode on a notebook; well, that right there says it all.
"

Not sure what notebooks it currently features in, but I'm sure google will tell you...

[Mingtea]

Alienwares Area51m It seems.

[Steadders]

Arr! stop talking about my silly mistakes. It didn't break did it? and i'm sure it has nothing to do with it breaking now.

[D0c]

My Dell 5150's been great for mobile pap, though the GeForce Go5200 wheezes a bit when playing games like HL2 (and Dota for some reason, but that may be because I haven't formatted since I got it in May... Or that I demand it to play in 1400x1050 :rolleyes: ) Have had to send it away once under bog standard guarentee because the screen died, but sent it on a Monday and it came back on the Friday with a brand new LCD display, so I love it really. :)

[Valane]

Originally posted by Chicane
nice lappys but just overpriced

Not overpriced, mostly a justified price, people just want to but powerful compact laptop technology for nothing.

Sony Vaio or Dell laptops are usually the way to go! Powerful and cosmetically good looking.

[Shazz]

Seconding Hitaori here... just DON'T GET ACER...

after 2 years of an ACER pc (which sucked from day 1) i can honestly tell you there a pile of s**t

[Optimus]

Originally posted by Valane
Sony Vaio... Powerful and cosmetically good looking. The latest Sony Vaio's aren't that powerful... However, they are thinner than a Christmas TV Guide...

[Mingtea]

Winners buy sony.

/me hi fives HalOS and Cabe

[TelexStar]

Being an IBM man (and the only one here now since Bugs excommunicated himself from the Blue Church :D ), IBM machines are very good for build qaulity and durability. I don't personally play an awful amount of games on mine so i can't comment in detail about that. But if the hardware is there then it should be fine. Anything in the T4x range is good. Avoid anything in the T3x range as they have a tendancy to overheat.

Depending on the spec, the T4x range come with integrated wireless/bluetooth and I can confirm (from experience) that they survive a drop from about 1 1/2 metres onto concrete quite well.

You will get a higher spec for your money from a Dell but the build qaulity wont be as good. (bouncy keyboard, flimsy screen joints etc).

In summary... IBM = great for build qaulity and durability but there are cheaper laptops with a higher spec out there.

[KBB]

Myself and limited both have a Dell - pretty damn good for gaming.

Had nothing go wrong with it.