anyone looked at Pioneer notebooks...?

[Punkarella]

I have been sussing out their stuff and it seems like a deal for the price..and was wonding what anyone else thinks.
I wouldn't mind playing some games -would this thing get me going on Battlefield 2....? Need it for work, but I wouldn't mind at least getting BF2 loaded, so I would kindly appreciate any comments or possible contenders, my budget is around 2 grand.

This notebook got a pretty good write up in PC user for notebooks under $1500 however, I've chosen to spec it up a bit.

Here's the main specs

Pioneer dreambook

Pentium-m 2G 533MHZ
512 DDR II 533MHZ PC4300
60 GIG HDD
8x DVD+/-RW DL
with GPU 128m Nvidia 6200 PCIX
W'less lan centrino 802.11g

for

$1,910 AUS Delivered

www.pioneercomputers.com.au

[Bigs]

Originally Posted by Punkarella

I have been sussing out their stuff and it seems like a deal for the price..and was wonding what anyone else thinks.
I wouldn't mind playing some games -would this thing get me going on Battlefield 2....? Need it for work, but I wouldn't mind at least getting BF2 loaded, so I would kindly appreciate any comments or possible contenders, my budget is around 2 grand.

This notebook got a pretty good write up in PC user for notebooks under $1500 however, I've chosen to spec it up a bit.

Here's the main specs

Pioneer dreambook

Pentium-m 2G 533MHZ
512 DDR II 533MHZ PC4300
60 GIG HDD
8x DVD+/-RW DL
with GPU 128m Nvidia 6200 PCIX
W'less lan centrino 802.11g

for

$1,910 AUS Delivered

www.pioneercomputers.com.au

Specs are alright.. though if you're going to game (ie BF2) I'd be looking at a 6600go (Nvidia) or an x700 (ati)

And another 512 meg RAM

Unfortunately I didn't read your post properly.. it'd be hard to find either of those GPUs in your price budget

[skinz]

im saving for a laptop towards my 21st bday, but i have no idea how much i'll have so ive been looking at lappy's of different price ranges, with mainly gaming in mind...

The Acer TravelMate 4102WLMi can be had for around $1850 and comes with the x700. Its only 64mb, but ive heard memory amount doesnt matter a lot with mobility cards, and besides it will beat that 6200go pretty easily.

Your other options would be to build a lappy based on an Asus Z71VP barebone. I specced one up with 1gb ram, 80gb hdd and a dvd burner for about $2k. That was with a 1.6ghz 400mhz fsb centrino, as the asus z71 notebooks have a jumper that lets you change it to 533mhz fsb and the success rate of running the 1.6ghz chips at 2.13ghz is very very high. That was with buying the parts seperately, but i figure you could probably get one place to price match it all.

Or maybe check out the Clevo M38AW or the E355 (Millenia 6450) from ITBox. The e355 is a bit over 2k, but maybe they could spec one down a bit for you and bring it down to 2k say with a 1.86 centrino or 512mb ram instead of 1gb...

i dont think ive found anything better than those laptops for that price, but ill let you know if i see anything

[Punkarella]

Thanks for the advise Skinz, But too many choices...Darn it!
I'm thinking of paying a little extra to get a notebook with either a 6600 or a mobility X700, with at least 1 gig. Still looking at the Acer 190 range...I guess what it comes down to is a bit of research and a good understanding of the warranty. I looked at ITBOX range and the Celivo but I'm not sure if I'm prepared to go with a no-name brand for laptops...Arggg this is hard.

[skinz]

from my understanding, the X700 is the better of the two, with the next jump being to the 6800go, which can only be had in the Dell i9300 or the Millenia 8000. That being said, there isnt a huge difference between the 6600go or the x700, with what clock speeds they are actually set at playing a part.

As far as no-name brand laptops go, from what ive read on these forums, the Clevo laptops and the like are made by companies who often manufacture notebooks for many other companies. Also, itbox seems to give a pretty good warranty - no dead pixels warranty for first 7 days and a swap if doa in first 14. Also they offer onsite pick up and return, and warranty extensions

In terms of choices, if i can afford it I'm going to get:

Dell i9300 (mainly for the 6800go and upgrade it later if i dont get it fully specced)
itbox e355t
Maybe MSI 635 (turion based and therefore 64bit)
Asus z71v
Acer 4102

[kung-f00-kamel]

Pioneer laptops arnt the same company as "Pioneer Audio visual"

They use Clevos which I think are the worst ODM Notebooks around, Itbox use ITC's range which are Clevos/ECS/COMPAL (ODM)

I prefer the Compal range as thats who manufactur Toshibas range

Go have a look here

http://www.itchannel.com.au/Products...-6400-6450.asp

That ones a decent gamer and ITC's warranty is better than most big companys around

[Valtagor]

Originally Posted by kung-f00-kamel

Pioneer laptops arnt the same company as "Pioneer Audio visual"

They use Clevos which I think are the worst ODM Notebooks around, Itbox use ITC's range which are Clevos/ECS/COMPAL (ODM)

I prefer the Compal range as thats who manufactur Toshibas range

Go have a look here

http://www.itchannel.com.au/Products...-6400-6450.asp

That ones a decent gamer and ITC's warranty is better than most big companys around

Don't knock Clevo's. They boost employment in IT depts and repairers!

I have a bunch of them in a box under my desk.

[Gimp (WTE)]

Check the aldi thread. A medion with 1.73 ghz, x700 and a gig of ram for $1900

[Alessiman]

I ended up getting a 14 inch widescreen Asus W3V

Centrino 1.86Mhz
100gig HD
512 Ram
X600 Vid Card
Wireless, bluetooth
DVD Burner
Wireless Mouse and Carry Bag

For $2030 delivered

With a 2 year warranty, I'd buy that over an Aldi laptop anyday

[Gimp (WTE)]

I'd rather have the x700 than the x600

[salamagd]

Originally Posted by Alessiman

I ended up getting a 14 inch widescreen Asus W3V

Centrino 1.86Mhz
100gig HD
512 Ram
X600 Vid Card
Wireless, bluetooth
DVD Burner
Wireless Mouse and Carry Bag

For $2030 delivered

With a 2 year warranty, I'd buy that over an Aldi laptop anyday

Could I ask where you got that price from?

[Alessiman]

Originally Posted by salamagd

Could I ask where you got that price from?

There is a guy on ebay selling them. Search on my username. I bought one off him on Oct 12th.

I was thinking, dodgy dodgy but in for a penny in for a pound and went for it as it was $1000 off the RRP and about $800 off the streetprice off this beast.

Arrive three days after I put the money in. TAX receipt and all

[kung-f00-kamel]

I just picked up one of these

http://www.itchannel.com.au/Products/Millennia-8000.asp

CPU: 2.0Ghz P-M
Ram: 1GB DDR2
HDD: 60GB
Video: GeForce 6800 256MB DDR3
Optical: 8xDVD-Burner

Paid $2595

Its worth the extra $$$ if you want a portable gaming rig
It has a 17" Screen with 1980x1200 res, gonna need a microscope to see the text
but should be awsome for BF2 and CSS