Looking at gaming laptops

lopoetve has sold me on getting a gaming laptop for my next machine.

I spend roughly 2K on computer parts every year to get a good gaming machine. I think I would rather sell my laptop every year and buy a replacement so that I can have that portability factor.

When I say portable, I don't mean something to carry around with me where ever I go. But it would be nice to say play a game in the den, or bedroom.. hell even in the bathroom. I hate having to sit at one spot all the time to play on my computer.
 
gizo said:
lopoetve has sold me on getting a gaming laptop for my next machine.

I spend roughly 2K on computer parts every year to get a good gaming machine. I think I would rather sell my laptop every year and buy a replacement so that I can have that portability factor.

When I say portable, I don't mean something to carry around with me where ever I go. But it would be nice to say play a game in the den, or bedroom.. hell even in the bathroom. I hate having to sit at one spot all the time to play on my computer.
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You're a terrible consumer if you spend $2k on computer parts a year to game.
 
gizo said:
No, i just have money to spend.
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Then why buy and sell a gaming laptop every year in order to upgrade if you aren't concerned about money?

You're buying a laptop because someone has convinced you of the worth of getting one, but simply refute the $2000 you spend a year on desktop computer parts with "i have money to spend"
Yeah makes sense :confused:
 
I sell my stuff because I can't afford the space to keep everything I have. Makes sense?
 
I think Tim-X just loves arguing for argument sakes. You gotta have one or two on every forum.
 
gizo said:
I sell my stuff because I can't afford the space to keep everything I have. Makes sense?
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Yes of course it does. But your original claim is that you were convinced because you spend $2K a year on gaming upgrades and would like the portability of a laptop. Sounds like you're just trying to prove me wrong likely because you didn't like the position I took. It simply seems like you're likely going to take the more expensive route anyway as you're a terrible buyer.
 
gizo said:
I think Tim-X just loves arguing for argument sakes. You gotta have one or two on every forum.
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I asked what your reasoning was and your reasoning changed with every post so I was confused. Please excuse me if it comes across as argumentative.
And regardless of whether you have money to spend. $2K a year on gaming upgrades makes you a bad consumer.
 
tim-x said:
Yes of course it does. But your original claim is that you were convinced because you spend $2K a year on gaming upgrades and would like the portability of a laptop. Sounds like you're just trying to prove me wrong likely because you didn't like the position I took. It simply seems like you're likely going to take the more expensive route anyway as you're a terrible buyer.
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My position is that I agree with lopoteve's statement regarding laptops. My position is that I would rather put my 2k a year into laptop gaming instead of desktop gaming. Please don't read between the lines because there is nothing there to read. The fact that I'm going to take the more expensive route is my choice to make. It's not dumb.

If I rather buy a more expensive product because I have that ability to, then there are plenty of other people that are dumb as well. A desktop doesn't provide me mobility, so I pay an extra grand for it. So what???
 
Thanks for clarifying. that's all i was curious about. You've made your point and it's valid. If you want to spend an extra 1K on it and you're able to, by all means go ahead, i'm sure you'll be happy with your purchase.
 
I love the fact that I can take my notebook anywhere and play at friend's houses. It's really great. I bought my laptop for the same price as a comparible desktop would run (Also has a 1920x1200 screen which is a huge bonus) The only thing my laptop lacks is customer support, but that's another story. I'm not sure if I could use a desktop as my main rig again. Playing games in the car on long road trips, watching movies anywhere, it's fantastic. Just my thoughts though.
 
Mr. Miyagi said:
I love the fact that I can take my notebook anywhere and play at friend's houses. It's really great. I bought my laptop for the same price as a comparible desktop would run (Also has a 1920x1200 screen which is a huge bonus) The only thing my laptop lacks is customer support, but that's another story. I'm not sure if I could use a desktop as my main rig again. Playing games in the car on long road trips, watching movies anywhere, it's fantastic. Just my thoughts though.
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exactly how I feel. Dual Core mobile chips just make it easier to leave my desktop in the dust.

tim-x - why don't you start a new thread.
 
yeah, i've been on a lot of plane trips and extended hotel stays recently so I get pretty bored. That's also why a gaming laptop seem so attractive.
 
sarbz said:
exactly how I feel. Dual Core mobile chips just make it easier to leave my desktop in the dust.

tim-x - why don't you start a new thread.
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I was done posting. Don't address me if you don't want a response.
 
tim-x said:
You're a terrible consumer if you spend $2k on computer parts a year to game.
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It's called a hobby. My family blows well over 10k a year flying and operating aircraft... ~shrugs~ it's a hobby.
 
gizo said:
yeah, i've been on a lot of plane trips and extended hotel stays recently so I get pretty bored. That's also why a gaming laptop seem so attractive.
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Ditto, and I'm also running weather algorithms (I work for NCAR (www.ncar.ucar.edu) and various display programs that are relatively processor intensive (And screen real-estate intensive as well). It's wonderful to have the 9300 for trips and the like.
 
tim-x said:
Well, I'd have to disagree on your claim that a 930DC and PM2.0 are of the same. I think if you were to open that opinion to other users they'd likely agree with me. The newer games utilize both cores while older games (e.g. Games that run on the original Half Life engine) can only utilize one. And I've actually had offers for my 3.2 northwood for up to $250 (CDN roughly $215 American) as it's a rare chip now. My Asus P4P800 Deluxe will sell for $85 (again had offers of up to $100 CDN) and the cost of a new motherboard at say $125 - $150.

Yes I conceded that your 6800 go (roughly equivalent to that of a 6600GT) is better than a 9800 Pro. The fact is that it's not by a whole heck of a lot. I agree that 3dmark05 is not the greatest software we can use to judge performance, but you seemed eager beforehand to prove how good your laptop could score in it, that is until you found out your laptop scored low. The fact remains that I could upgrade my desktop to outperform your laptop in every way possible and still keep it under the price of what you paid for yours.
Facts about gaming laptops:
1) They're typically overpriced
2) A gaming laptop CAN be upgraded for an outrageous price ($500 for 7800go which won't come close to performing to that of a desktop 7800GTX; or $300 for a maxed out processor that won't perform close to a desktop processor of the same price)

So in the end you're paying more for less performance for the sake of mobility. If that's worth it to you then go ahead. It isn't for me.

Clearly we won't agree so I'm going to leave it at that.
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http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTAwMiwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
says multi-core CPU's don't matter for gaming. :) Wonderful little article, actually :) You see, there are only a couple of games that use multi-threading like that, namely Quake3, and after a patch, Quake4...
Yeah, other than that, they're all single operation threaded. Sorry :( Dual cores are useless for gaming, other than offloading some OS ops to the other core, but that's insignificant in comparison.

I don't know why those are that rare up there, but I've seen plenty down here still in retail stores even...

I'm willing to use 3dmark05 when someone wants to use it, but we're not playing 3dmark, are we? We're discussing games. I'll concede that on a synthetic, pointless benchmark, your 9800pro can keep up, but when you run anything that matters, you'll find it falling behind. If you really want to compare scores on 3dmark, it'd be best to run the full gamut of 3dmarks and compare, you'll find the 6800 pulling ahead significantly (3000 points or so) in 03, and I haven't run 01 in forever, but I remember the 6800 pulling away a little but both systems were cpu limited at the time. Anyway, for gaming, it's been proven to work just fine, and be faster.

Yes, of course you can upgrade your desktop to be faster... there's never been a laptop faster than a desktop... And for the top end, you pay to play as well. I've never argued that the laptop would be cheaper, just that the cost was competitive, and not prohibitive (anymore).

So, to your two points...
1. Yes, sure, just like desktops can be (if you buy an Alienware).
2. As I've pointed out, the procs are the same, and the video card? Close enough to be a perfectly viable gaming machine. I never claimed you'd find a laptop as the BEST gaming machine, just that it's possible to get one equal or close (waiting on the 7900GTX scores personally)...

Of course you pay more for mobility... do you ever really expect to get a screen, keyboard, integrated everything for the same cost? Of course not. But they're competitively priced finally, and the performance is there. I love my laptop, and I wouldn't trade it for another desktop ever.
 
lopoetve said:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTAwMiwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==
says multi-core CPU's don't matter for gaming. :) Wonderful little article, actually :) You see, there are only a couple of games that use multi-threading like that, namely Quake3, and after a patch, Quake4...
Yeah, other than that, they're all single operation threaded. Sorry :( Dual cores are useless for gaming, other than offloading some OS ops to the other core, but that's insignificant in comparison.

I don't know why those are that rare up there, but I've seen plenty down here still in retail stores even...

I'm willing to use 3dmark05 when someone wants to use it, but we're not playing 3dmark, are we? We're discussing games. I'll concede that on a synthetic, pointless benchmark, your 9800pro can keep up, but when you run anything that matters, you'll find it falling behind. If you really want to compare scores on 3dmark, it'd be best to run the full gamut of 3dmarks and compare, you'll find the 6800 pulling ahead significantly (3000 points or so) in 03, and I haven't run 01 in forever, but I remember the 6800 pulling away a little but both systems were cpu limited at the time. Anyway, for gaming, it's been proven to work just fine, and be faster.

Yes, of course you can upgrade your desktop to be faster... there's never been a laptop faster than a desktop... And for the top end, you pay to play as well. I've never argued that the laptop would be cheaper, just that the cost was competitive, and not prohibitive (anymore).

So, to your two points...
1. Yes, sure, just like desktops can be (if you buy an Alienware).
2. As I've pointed out, the procs are the same, and the video card? Close enough to be a perfectly viable gaming machine. I never claimed you'd find a laptop as the BEST gaming machine, just that it's possible to get one equal or close (waiting on the 7900GTX scores personally)...

Of course you pay more for mobility... do you ever really expect to get a screen, keyboard, integrated everything for the same cost? Of course not. But they're competitively priced finally, and the performance is there. I love my laptop, and I wouldn't trade it for another desktop ever.
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I believe Half Life 2 can utilize dual cores but maybe i'm wrong. It and its mods are played a fair amount by a lot of people. It's undeniable that for the same price, you can get better desktop for gaming than a laptop, but i guess it comes down to how much value you put into mobility. I don't personally value it at that much but I'm willing to believe that others put a great emphasis on it such as yourself.
Good convo, I love my laptop too but I wish i'd gotten one for simple computer uses. If I could take back the money I spent on it and buy a Thinkpad I would, but oh well.
Cheers
 
tim-x said:
I believe Half Life 2 can utilize dual cores but maybe i'm wrong. It and its mods are played a fair amount by a lot of people. It's undeniable that for the same price, you can get better desktop for gaming than a laptop, but i guess it comes down to how much value you put into mobility. I don't personally value it at that much but I'm willing to believe that others put a great emphasis on it such as yourself.
Good convo, I love my laptop too but I wish i'd gotten one for simple computer uses. If I could take back the money I spent on it and buy a Thinkpad I would, but oh well.
Cheers
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You'd be wrong ;) Sadly, no one has been coding for dual-core except for ID, and then it's only for ~their~ games it seems. Heck, you had to patch Q4 to use dual cores, and it's a relatively buggy patch too! >_<

I need mobility. I have a massive desktop pc, and a powerful laptop... can't carry the desktop with me (my monitor weighs in at almost 100lbs), and I need power on the road... plus I ~really~ like to work at places that are not my home, and I need my desktop with me... so I bought the 9300. It's as close to my desktop as I could get without buying a DTR or spending 4000, and I love the beast.

There are a great many like you, who just need a work laptop. Heck, I have one of those too >_< It's an older Powerbook G4 (800mhz), which I use to interface with the supercomputers. If I didn't game and wasn't out so often, I'd just use it, but I wanted my desktop on the road, so... :)

Indeed, good convo, and cheers!
 
A 7800GTX go scored almost always in the 6000+ mark for 3dmark05 equivalent to a desktop
x800xt - 6000
x850xt pe - low 6000's
7800GT - high 6000's


Just about every benchmark ive seen (check them out at notebookforums) involving the 7800GTX go and 3dmark05 ended up somewhere in the 6500's. And lets not forget about the fact that you can overclock mobile gfx cards just like desktop cards but its a lot riskier but your able to go up quite a significant amount.
So the performance is definately decent. Even that score for a desktop is a very new generation high end score. Considering how many Desktops people buy from Dell with a x300 ;) or whatever they ship lol
 
From my experience, it's between the 7800GT and GTX. A little overclocking and you're up to GTX speeds.
 
gizo said:
so is the xps m170 considered a DTR?
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not so much, it's using the PM instead of a P4 or Athlon64... it's DTR sized, but gets usable battery life.
 
gizo said:
so is the xps m170 considered a DTR?
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Even though it uses the PM. I think that it would be considered a DTR. One reason being the size another reason is that it pretty much does everything you would expect from a Desktop depending on the configuration you buy it in. Generally size is a pretty significant factor in categorizing notebooks from what I've observed.

The PM is a great choice as a CPU for a DTR since unless your gaming which of course will stress the GPU and the CPU the battery will be very good for a laptop of that size.

I'm not sure but I think I remember reading that gaming on battery power will drop the battery life for a PM based DTR from over two hours to maybe about 1 and a half hours.
 
skully said:
Even though it uses the PM. I think that it would be considered a DTR. One reason being the size another reason is that it pretty much does everything you would expect from a Desktop depending on the configuration you buy it in. Generally size is a pretty significant factor in categorizing notebooks from what I've observed.

The PM is a great choice as a CPU for a DTR since unless your gaming which of course will stress the GPU and the CPU the battery will be very good for a laptop of that size.

I'm not sure but I think I remember reading that gaming on battery power will drop the battery life for a PM based DTR from over two hours to maybe about 1 and a half hours.
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It depends on the video configuration of the notebook. If you're gaming with integrated intel graphics, it won't drop your battery as much as if you have a 6800/7800 series. They draw a lot more power.
 
sarbz said:
It depends on the video configuration of the notebook. If you're gaming with integrated intel graphics, it won't drop your battery as much as if you have a 6800/7800 series. They draw a lot more power.
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Yeah I forgot to clarify since the OP was talking about gaming laptops. I would probably never buy a notebook with integrated graphics myself. I just talked about power consumption with a non-integrated graphics solution such as a 6800/7800 series or perhaps the X700 mobility or 6600 Go for the laptops that are a few pounds lighter.
 
I'm in sort of the same boat.
I'm looking to replace my aging shuttle pc with a gaming laptop. For comparison, my shuttle is SN41G2, AMD 2600+, 1GB RAM, 9800 Pro, so most gaming laptops would spank what I have now. I'm looking at the XPS M170, base model. Hard drive space is no big deal as I keep all movies/music/data on external drives or my linux server. It looks like it would cover my needs well. I also only pretty much play WoW anyway, and some RTS games with the occasional FPS. This thread has some great info and thanks to everyone for contributing. Now, I just need to wait for some coupons to knock that 2k price down a bit.
 
skully said:
Even though it uses the PM. I think that it would be considered a DTR. One reason being the size another reason is that it pretty much does everything you would expect from a Desktop depending on the configuration you buy it in. Generally size is a pretty significant factor in categorizing notebooks from what I've observed.

The PM is a great choice as a CPU for a DTR since unless your gaming which of course will stress the GPU and the CPU the battery will be very good for a laptop of that size.

I'm not sure but I think I remember reading that gaming on battery power will drop the battery life for a PM based DTR from over two hours to maybe about 1 and a half hours.
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I dunno. you'd call it DTR from the size, but with the mobile chip, I can run HL2 for over 2 hours on mine... :)
 
lopoetve said:
I dunno. you'd call it DTR from the size, but with the mobile chip, I can run HL2 for over 2 hours on mine... :)
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I'm just going by what most vendors market them as. For example Dell lists the XPS under desktop replacements cause they are "feature packed notebooks for the most demanding applications" Something, I guess, in other words that can replace a desktop. Other vendors I've seen tend to market laptops with 17 inch screens as DTR's too.

Maybe I remembered wrong about the battery life, but I'm sure the are other games that for some reason or another can drop the battery life to under 2 hours. Could be that the person whose post I read skimped on the battery and got one with a lower capacity than you did.
 
odoe said:
I'm in sort of the same boat.
I'm looking to replace my aging shuttle pc with a gaming laptop. For comparison, my shuttle is SN41G2, AMD 2600+, 1GB RAM, 9800 Pro, so most gaming laptops would spank what I have now. I'm looking at the XPS M170, base model. Hard drive space is no big deal as I keep all movies/music/data on external drives or my linux server. It looks like it would cover my needs well. I also only pretty much play WoW anyway, and some RTS games with the occasional FPS. This thread has some great info and thanks to everyone for contributing. Now, I just need to wait for some coupons to knock that 2k price down a bit.
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Just make sure to get the minimum RAM you can from Dell and have memory on hand to upgrade it to 1 or 2 gigs when you get the XPS. Other people have noted that Dell will charge a premium and it would be noticeably cheaper and not that much of a hassle to upgrade the memory yourself.

And since you don't need the space go for a 7200 rpm HD too. That will really cut the load lag you might experience in WoW. I noticed on some of the more crowded servers in WoW if you hearth to a capital city, even when you have a gig of RAM, you're waiting for objects, mainly other players, to load in.
 
Thanks.
I configured this and found the deal through fatwallet
link

XPS M170 Qty 1
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 (2 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 Unit Price $2,038.00
Dell Home Customers: Save $350 off this Dell Inspiron IMX170X1!
Limited Time Offer!
- $350.00

Catalog Number: 29
Module Description Show Details
XPS M170 Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 (2 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7800 GTX
Hard Drive 60GB 7200rpm Hard Drive
Network Card Integrated 1 Gigabit Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO 2200 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) PC-cillin Internet Security: AntiVirus, Firewall, Spyware removal 15-months
Primary Battery 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr)
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
XPS Specialized Support Inspiron XPS, Specialized Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months America Online Internet Access Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service, Support
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience

TOTAL:$1,688.00

How is the viewing angle on these screens? Also, can I upgrade the CD burner to a DVD burner at a later time if I wanted to and how hard is it?
Sorry for the extra questions, but I figure you guys know it all. I wish these came in A64, but from what I understand, the centrinos are very good laptop cpu's, so I'm not too worried about that.
I'm going to put this purchase through today, but I probably have to make a deal with my wife that would net her a new bedroom set as well :p
The compromises you make in a marriage.
 
It depends what type of LCD you recieve. The Samsung has a better angle than the LG and Sharp, but some have backlighting issues. The LG panels have "sparkles" but the one I had wasn't bad. I heard Sharp has great panels with better response time than the LG or Samsung. I wasn't able to try the Sharp, but you'll be happy with the Samsung I believe. (You can always call Dell's tech support to have your LCD replaced. At least that's what the Dell XPS technician told me).

I think you should also purchase accidental coverage. Trust me, it'll help a lot.

To change the CD ROM drive is easy. All you need to do is remove a couple of screws and replace.
 
do these highend notebooks like the m170 get hot? if you were to use it on ur lap for say an hr or so, would it be a problem?
 
I ordered my M170 yesterday. I added that accidental coverage, because after reading some of the threads here, I can see how I might need it. Now I just need to wait for it. I used a bunch if coupons too, which worked out pretty nice.
 
i want the m170. on the last page theres an option of the color. where do you choose the color?
 
Retardo said:
i want the m170. on the last page theres an option of the color. where do you choose the color?
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Do you mean the Personalization Shield?
 
Retardo said:
do these highend notebooks like the m170 get hot? if you were to use it on ur lap for say an hr or so, would it be a problem?
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It depends. Hopefully none of the fan intakes/outtakes are blocked by your lap. But for a desktop replacement notebook generally you want to stick it on a flat surface like a desk or something.
 
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