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Best Gaming Laptop

3

35thss

n00b
Joined
Mar 7, 2005
Messages
33
I'm looking to buy a gaming laptop

Which manufacturer makes the best gaming laptop?
 
I dunno if any other popular OEM laptop has this (Dell, HP, etc), but Alienware has AMD chips in their systems! Anything from a dual core x2 3800 to an FX-57. I'm guessing that any S939 chip can fit in there, but they reserved the selection to some of the best CPUs out there. If it doesn't have an AMD A64, it's not going to do as well in games.

EDIT: Wow, they also offer Opterons in their systems :eek: (both single and dual core) Too bad you're not likely to get much OC out of them though. (heat and mobo issues)
EDIT: They also have "lower-end" single core CPUs from 3200 to 4000 i think. A very nice selection of AMD if you ask me.
 
I've seen a lot of folks very happy with their Dell XPS laptops. For a price, you can get some awesome components.
 
My Inspiron 9300 kicks a LOT of ass... nothing like gaming on a 17" LCD with a native res of 1920x1200!

Widescreen gaming is INCREDIBLE, battlefield 2 runs awesome on here!

But the best part.. and most unexpected... UPGRADES AND OVERCLOCKABILITY!
You can actually install 7800GTX's to these! And the cpu's are easy to overclock!
I have my Pentium M 1.6 running at 2.13Ghz, and it flies!
 
I'm 90% sure I'll go with alienware with the FX-57 AMD CPU and 7800 GTX

from the reviews I've seen Intel doesn't come close to the AMD FX-57
 
My work laptop is a Dell D810 with 2.13ghz Pentium-M, 2GB DDR2, 60GB 7200RPM HD, and X600 w/ 128MB...runs most games pretty well. I can't wait for the 820s to come out in February so I can have work order a new one for me :)
 
thats because sagers are alienwares... just usually w/o all of the 'bling' :rolleyes:

at least, i think sager=alienware. i know sager=voodoo, and maybe falcon.

sager is a major OEM supplier of most high-end notebook manufacturers.
 
I love my XPS M170. I can play all games at 1920x1200 and the display is amazing (you don't really need AA since it's a very high res on a 17" screen) Dell sometimes has coupons so you can buy it at a much reduced price. (I bought mine with a 35% off coupon) Highly recommended.
 
I love the 9300/xps2 laptops from Dell, they kick serious butt.

notebookforums.com is a great resource for laptops, from Dell to Alienware to eMachines, there's not much that isn't covered that's all laptop specific.
 
Check out the Dell XPS laptops, they are nice. If you have the money, check out the laptops from Alienware and Voodoo.

I've played on the XPS and they are pretty good but wow they are HEAVY.
 
35thss said:
I'm 90% sure I'll go with alienware with the FX-57 AMD CPU and 7800 GTX

from the reviews I've seen Intel doesn't come close to the AMD FX-57
Click to expand...

wow how long would the battery last on this kind of setup? that is, if you plan on taking it off the power jack
 
35thss said:
I'm 90% sure I'll go with alienware with the FX-57 AMD CPU and 7800 GTX

from the reviews I've seen Intel doesn't come close to the AMD FX-57
Click to expand...

On a Dell system you could play close to 3 hours while on your Alienware that is 45min...plus the later is heavier.And all that for an extra 10 fps ??

Dothan rules in games...

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=1287&redirect=yes

The review is a little old since you can get now a 2.26Ghz Dothan / 2.16Ghz Yonah dual core plus a better video card.

The ultimate gaming laptop http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=iMX170G2&s=dhs
 
i agree on the dell XPS notebook point fo view, every dell notebook ive ever used has been a pleasure :)
 
Lmfao a Dell XPS system going 3 hours of gaming lol. The longest i got was about 45 mins the 6800 go , 6800 Ultra, and 7800 GTX go jus use to much power. Its all the same. 45 mins min's of gaming and about 2 hours surfing the web.
 
Go Alienware. Period. People say that it is the best laptop they have ever owned. Plus, unlike a Dell or another name brand system like that, its technology will last far longer. I think this might be because they aren't as mass produced as more well known systems. Also, you can customize your alienware like nuts so each system is pretty unique.
 
DeadlyAura said:
Go Alienware. Period. People say that it is the best laptop they have ever owned. Plus, unlike a Dell or another name brand system like that, its technology will last far longer. I think this might be because they aren't as mass produced as more well known systems. Also, you can customize your alienware like nuts so each system is pretty unique.
Click to expand...
The thing is that you can get ANY Alienware laptop from another integrator as Alienware, like just about everyone else, goes through an ODM like Clevo, Quanta, etc...each of whom sell to companies like Sager.
 
DeadlyAura said:
Go Alienware. Period. People say that it is the best laptop they have ever owned. Plus, unlike a Dell or another name brand system like that, its technology will last far longer. I think this might be because they aren't as mass produced as more well known systems. Also, you can customize your alienware like nuts so each system is pretty unique.
Click to expand...
alienware is by far the biggest ripoff ive ever seen in my entire life. they charge you 2x the amount for the exact same laptop you can either buy OEM or build yourself.

'its technology will last far longer'?!? Wheres The French??? alienwares use the exact same technology as every single other computer company in existance... :rolleyes: they dont produce their own technology... an alienware will last just as long as any other laptop.
 
TSS Modder said:
alienware is by far the biggest ripoff ive ever seen in my entire life. they charge you 2x the amount for the exact same laptop you can either buy OEM or build yourself.

'its technology will last far longer'?!? Wheres The French??? alienwares use the exact same technology as every single other computer company in existance... :rolleyes: they dont produce their own technology... an alienware will last just as long as any other laptop.
Click to expand...

Alienware (as far as I know) buy from other companies just as you would to build your own. Am I wrong? I know with Gateway and Dell PC's, they produce their own parts and the systems are limited to what they give you. So basically what I meant was that, they use motherboards and things that don't limit upgrades or have limiting features.

I could be wrong, and correct me if I am. But the last time I checked, this was the case. This was also the last time I worked on a prebuilt. :D I can't stand prebuilts. I build my own and limit my work on the prebuilts to reformats and file backups. :p
 
much more understandable now :)

they do have limiting features, but only to a point.

the thing is that alienwares are expensive. they are also highly customizeable, which explains their high price. choice comes at a price.

whereas w/ dell, they have a massive market. therefore they need to set very different prices, on then limit the technology used on their products in order to justify charging a higher price.

i hope that made sense to everybody... i tried as best as i could.

so, now, for the most part, i agree w/ you. :cool: heh, esp on the prebuilt part... :p
 
IMHO Dell is the best gaming system and actually useful as a laptop, not a desknote or whatever those other ones are. But, if you are actually going to use it as a desknote and never travel with it then a Sager is the choice, alienware is just a ripoff for the same OEM system with pretty colors.
 
DeadlyAura said:
...
Plus, unlike a Dell or another name brand system like that, its technology will last far longer. I think this might be because they aren't as mass produced as more well known systems. ...
Click to expand...
Although this is certainly true for their desktop PC's, I'm not sure how OEM notebook components really differ from each other... :eek:
 
i read about a really nice alienware that had a kick ass battery saving feature;

Alienware Area-51 m5500

its got a geforce go 6600 (128mb) card for some decent laptop gaming, but it also has the ability to switch over to integrated graphics to save a lot of battery life
 
ScHpAnKy said:
how is it possible to "blow it away" when it uses the exact same hardware?
Click to expand...
They don't. The XPS is a mobile spec notebook - while the 98xx series uses desktop components.

I like my laptop for gaming (see sig) - but I would definitely pick up the AMD version today.

BTW: all of the chassis that look the same are from the same ODM (Original Design Manf.). Asus is the only company in the world that designs/sells/makes their own laptops. Even Dell buys their laptop designs from a company.
 
Asus is an often overlooked laptop maker, but they are the highest quality and best designed notebooks out there. And price wise, you can't beat them. Look at the Z70va - Pentium-M 7x0 series, DDR2, 1680 x 1050 screen, 15.4", X700 128MB, 4 speakers, SPDIF, all in a carbon fibre chassis that weighs 5.5 pounds and gets 3.5 hours of battery. Visit laptopforums.com for online vendors.

I bought one of these, got a $70 P-M 1.6 400 MHz chip off ebay, pinmodded it to 2.13GHz, and a gig of ram for $1250.

http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=5&l2=24&l3=0&model=587&modelmenu=1

Sometimes its called the M6va, but in North America it really is the Z70va.

Or how about something with an x1600? Its not available in the US yet, but it soon will be: http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=5&l2=74&l3=0&model=954&modelmenu=1


Asus also makes Apple's powerbooks - gives you and idea of the quality.
 
I've briefly got a chance to check out the hardware of a z71v, and found the keyboard to be a bit flimsy. It's cause of the way you get to the ram. What else is out there that's similar to the z71v's size and weight? 6.5 pounds...
 
The z71 is no where near the z70 - they are night and day. The z71 is a brick compared to the Z70. I personally felt the z71 was a flop - lots of other integrators use it and rebrand it - perhaps that's why it isn't up to par. Asus may have cut a few corners on the chassis at the request of the integrators. The Z70 is Asus only, and thus much higher quality.

The Z70 is based on a tried and true chassis - goes back to the M6Bne.
 
The ABS that we wrote an article on was built on the Z71 chassis. Very nice.
 
MrGraphics said:
The z71 is no where near the z70 - they are night and day.
Click to expand...

So you've felt/physically compared both? I may have to check the z70 out then. I'd love a gaming laptop, but coming from a desktop 7800GTX, my expectations are not grand.

I might be happier with a flyweight...as long as it can hold a 2.5 7200 rpm drive. An lcd screen with a viewing angle of >90 might be nice to. I had a z2k from asus and the vert viewing angle along with the heat output ruined the experience for me.
 
my advice: know what you really want, before you start drooling over the Dell.

i went absolutely nuts for two weeks trying to review a decent laptop, my main concerns were not entirely for gaming, but mostly for apps, video editing & general future proofing for 2006/7, i.e. a PC which could run 64bit OS's like OSx86, *nix, WinXP x64, Vista, etc.

obviously, if you want to spend a lot of money on a laptop, and only do it once, you need to consider the factors that will influence the decision, i.e. brand, style, performance, addons, reliability, etc. which are highly arguable and almost entirely based on the experience of others, wether it's reliable or not.

so for me, it came down to a very short list. the largest factor in my decision was that the AMD turion was the only CPU chipset to offer x86-64 (or whatever it's referred to SX?NX bit extensions, etc). if i wanted to chargrill my testicles and get an athlon64/P4 with x64 and try running that one as a laptop, it was available too, but the centrino seemed to have the indelible taint of not being able to run Vista in 2006/7, when the next revolution in hardware moves to support MS's new choice of branding.

still, there's the vaio's, asus, the US-only dell gaming laptops, and the Ferrari, which was recommended to me a few times over.

so, i went window shopping to confirm what findings were available on the perilous notebookreview.com with it's useful but still haphazard zeitgeist-like rankings, etc. a great site for looking over the specs of a particular model, the average quality of user reviews are awesome for potential buyers to weed out those things you won't get when looking over the latest notebook or desktop replacement, the knowledge you can only get from an experienced owner.

i chose the Acer Ferrari 4005WLMi, after looking at every other option on the market, which easily lords over the competition, except perhaps the Powerbook, or a 17" desktop replacement. the ASUS v and z series are very close to getting a perfect model out, they are so so close to getting an all-in-one laptop right, the z70 is very good, but not quite perfect for what you want in an ideal system.

the new breed of 17" powerhouse desktop replacements is very impressive, and the additional desk space on the 1920x1200 screen of the dell is huge, a real incentive.

if the dell option were available overseas (considering it's made overseas...) i would probably change my mind a little, but a US $2k 15" WS laptop with all the extras built in like 100gb 7200rpm HDD, 1gb ram, 1680x1050, radeon x700, ~2ghz turion64, smooth carbon fibre case, matching Bluetooth mouse and it doesn't get unplayably hot while playing FEAR, matrix path of neo (huge glitches though), even planescape torment, it's smooth, easy to use and generally awesome.

(edit: though i feel that the Matrix PoN glitches are likely the game itself, and not the mobility radeon's hw/drivers, ehh)
 
I own a Z70va, and my boss owns the Z71. The Z70va is a better machine IMHO. The difference between the Ferrari and the Asus is the AMD chip and weight, and lastly about $700 in price. That's it. The Z70va has built in bluetooth, gigabit ethernet, Centrino, 1680 x 1050, blah blah, everything the Ferrari has but at a much cheaper price. Well, it doesn't have a Ferrari logo.

Vista will have a 32bit varient - so whats the point? I doubt that you're going to see that much x64 software come out before a 2 Ghz AMD is considered slow. So to me, that argument is a little silly. Nothing is future-proof - by '07, 2 Ghz will be worefully lacking, because there will be dual core AMDs and Yonah running at 2.5-3Ghz.

Buy what you know will work for you now - buying a laptop for future tech is not really wise.

I personally think x64 is overhyped. Will it make Office run faster? Will the difference in some Photoshop filter REALLY make me want to chuck my system? Will my model in Lightware look any better? I doubt it. What's the killer x64 app? Answer - It doesn't exist.

x64 is mostly for bragging rights. Until 90% of shipping machines are 64 bit Vista, and the insentive to chuck a working home system (that most people only use for internet and some gaming / office work anyways) hits critical volumes ($400-600 PCs), you won't see the revolution. Adobe for instance is not going to alientate their customer base by only coming out with a 64 bit Photoshop CS3 product. Their bottom line wouldn't handle it. So again I ask, what does 64 bit really bring to the table?

And good luck getting the x64 game - that will be a long time coming too.
 
ScHpAnKy said:
My Inspiron 9300 kicks a LOT of ass... nothing like gaming on a 17" LCD with a native res of 1920x1200!

Widescreen gaming is INCREDIBLE, battlefield 2 runs awesome on here!

But the best part.. and most unexpected... UPGRADES AND OVERCLOCKABILITY!
You can actually install 7800GTX's to these! And the cpu's are easy to overclock!
I have my Pentium M 1.6 running at 2.13Ghz, and it flies!
Click to expand...

wow you can OC dell laptops? which models can OC?
 
Its called pinmodding. Essentially, you put a Dothan 400Mhz CPU into a 915 chipset laptop that runs at 533.

So taking a 1.6 dothan 400
Stock = 16 x 100 = 1600

Pinmod it = 16 x 133 = 2130

It will still show up in CPUID as a Pentium-M 1.6, but it will show the Mhz at 2.13.

Google "Pinmod Pentium-m"
 
I don't see why people are claiming alienwares as ripoffs. I configured a system on both sites with everything similarly spec'ed to each other:

Dell: $4420
Alienware: $4899

Same OS (XP pro), same amount of memory (2Gigs), sam high res WS monitor (1920x1200), same video card (Go 7800 GTX), similar hard drives (dell: 100 GB 7200, Alienware: 2x 80 GB 7200 RAID 0), same optical drive (8x dual layer blah blah blah), integrated wireless, same sound (audigy 2 ZS), and other minor things. The only major difference between the two is that the Dell uses a 2.26 GHz Pentium M, and the Alienware uses the 2.8 GHz Athlon FX-57. Another $500 wouldn't hurt if you're on the hunt for bleeding edge gaming, if you ask me.
 
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