Gaming Laptop?

[gibbz]

Hey Guys,

Im looking at the possibilty of selling my desktop pc and getting a laptop to replace it as I dont tend to play many games latley....

Anyway just wondering what I can get and how much something with the following specs would be....

Intel Core2 duo 6600 or better
Ati or Nvidia gfx (something similar to 7600 or 7800 range)
1-2gig ram
200gig hdd or better
17" widescreen monitor

[HellsAngel]

Whats your budget?

[gibbz]

hrmm id say around $2k....

Btw are you stalking my threads ;P

Edit: noticed that dx10 laptops are available somewhat... that would be great if I could go for dx10

[Gristy]

at the moment your best bet is: http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...d.php?t=573517

Dell and Alienware also makign gaming laptops. however gaming laptops do not come chepa.

[Chewtoy]

The Zepto's have 15.4" and 14.1" lappies only, afaik, and most of the Santa Rosa (which is what currently have the 8XXXm GPU's and hence, DX10 support) are 15.4", or way over your listed budget.

If you don't mind running off a separate LCD (which is what I'll be doing once I receive mine) then that's fine, take the smaller (and more portable) laptop, use it's screen when out and about, and the big one at home. The Zepto's are good for that, and Asus have a few models (G1S, A8Sc/v, F3Sc/v) that should be hitting soon with reasonable prices. Don't know what else currently uses these GPU's that's actually available here yet though, sorry.

If you do want the 17", it'll limit you to something like the Asus G2S (8600m GT, 17" widescreen), but expect to top $3k for it. When it actually arrives, that is... Sorry I don't have any info on the other vendor's offerings at that level, but I'd expect them to be reasonably close to that level. Otherwise, you're looking at slightly older models that the new Santa Rosa's displace, which won't be as close to current desktop levels, but may be good enough if you're not trying current games on them when you do play.

You won't get too close to desktop level performance though, without losing the whole "portable" aspect of the unit. Though you could try something like the Asus C90, which is a custom built unit that can use some desktop parts (CPU mainly), but that's also at a premium and heavy to boot.

All that said and done, I'm getting a 14" Zepto to replace my old desktop after it's PSU blew on me. I will be gaming on it a bit myself, but using my old LCD if I'm home. Best of both worlds, really.

[gibbz]

well im thinking of geting a 24" lcd and i love dual monitor support. Can most laptops handle dual video out?

Maybe a 24" via dvi and a 22" via sub-d ?

If so then having 17" isnt important at all I guess

[Gristy]

Originally Posted by gibbz

well im thinking of geting a 24" lcd and i love dual monitor support. Can most laptops handle dual video out?

Maybe a 24" via dvi and a 22" via sub-d ?

If so then having 17" isnt important at all I guess

im not sure how they cope with dual video out. it is a lot nicer to match LCD Sizes though :P

the 17" Dell laptops come with both DVI and DSUB not sure if the 15" laptops would bother with both, but i have not researched it so could be wrong.

[toliman]

be careful with laptop gpu's, they can handle dx8/9 games like WoW, but not for prolonged periods.

(after looking for the 8600M, i found this thread. - http://www.notebookforums.com/thread195040.html)

plugging in the 24" LCD works as a primary/secondary well enough, but if you're going to drive any screen res more than 1680x1050 (x 2), you'll need the most VRAM you can get.

from memory, 128mb can't do much with 2x 1680x1050 (it's close to 50mb for the 1st screen, not including buffers, overlays, textures, etc.). so, 256mb if your laptop screen has 1680x1050+ and is dx9 capable, should be plenty.

to get more than 256mb VRAM, it is very expensive usually, so don't bother, just switch the primary screen off, and use the external if youre going to do it. even setting up a clone screen uses 3-4x the normal memory just to store the screen, cloned screen, buffered overlay data, etc.

the geforce go 8600m GT seems to be the top dog right now, the toshiba g40 and the new $3700 apple macbook pro have them.

i'd choose an asus and get it in china/tw/hk/sing/etc i.e. anywhere in asia if i was price conscious, as you'd find the price a lot more reasonable. however, that requires being in a position to travel, or very good friends overseas, etc. in terms of local sellers of notebooks/laptops, nothing good comes to mind, they are all bad. but i'm so used to Not seeing prices below $5k for 17" c2d laptops, that its very likely to be cheaper, it almost has to be, somewhere.

(to be fair, i like apple macbooks, but i could never afford one, so lotto tickets for me. personally i'd wait for the next OSX revision to come out before buying a macbook, the price drops are usually intended to convince people that saving $100 on the new model, is a better deal than the chance you would have spent $4k on the previous model the week before, or $4.3k for a 1920x1200 17" macbook pro with 2gb & 160gb hdd, $3.8k for the 15" , both with almost mandatory applecare, i.e. have you seen how much they charge for repairs ?? outright robbery.)

[bennyg]

let's get one thing clear... 17" gaming notebooks are not lap-tops.

Personally, huge res (1920x1200) screens, the few I've seen, are really hard on my eyes. Dunno if I'd get used to them, but 1280x800 on a 14" seems about my limit, I start straining the eyes with anything more res/smaller screen

Re toliman's post ^^^ ... I think your point is in ~2 years you won't be able to play new games too well. First, that depends on how serious you like your eye-candy... Out of interest I tried C&C3 the other day on a T7200 2Gb GMA950 and was surprised... it *almost* ran it acceptably... and that's on Medium shader detail because Low constantly CTDs with DX9 errors (good on you EA, 5 patches and still borked). Second, anything you buy has a limited lifespan, and starts going out of date the day you get it... ($1500 worth of 6800 Ultra SLI now = what?).

Notebooks are less upgradeable, are slower, and are more expensive (in a price/performance way).

Yet they are pretty cheap right now as current stock is cleared for new Santa Rosa models.

My lappy with GMA950 can handle a 1650x1080 22" and 1280x800 14" on extended desktop for Windows stuff (word, photos, photoshopping etc) just the intel gfx driver chews CPU for 5 mins setting it up (patch required), then it's fine. If you mean gaming on dual monitor I have no idea.

[gibbz]

ive changed my mind for now. I might look again at the end of the year for now ill just stick with what ive got...

[Lardman]

Originally Posted by gibbz

Hey Guys,

Im looking at the possibilty of selling my desktop pc and getting a laptop to replace it as I dont tend to play many games latley....

Anyway just wondering what I can get and how much something with the following specs would be....

Intel Core2 duo 6600 or better
Ati or Nvidia gfx (something similar to 7600 or 7800 range)
1-2gig ram
200gig hdd or better
17" widescreen monitor

Go for 2gb ram. Also, invest in a expresscard Sound card. They make things awesome.
Also, don't worry too much about battrey life. It sucks to game on battrey, period.

[toliman]

Originally Posted by bennyg

let's get one thing clear... 17" gaming notebooks are not lap-tops.
[sic]
Re toliman's post ^^^ ... I think your point is in ~2 years you won't be able to play new games too well. First, that depends on how serious you like your eye-candy...

quite f.n true this. though i have to argue with the 17' is too big. in most cases, yes. 15" is fine for the majority of apps, and yes, pushing past 1200 or 1600 lines of desktop res. can be adversely affecting visibility. but i could use a 17" laptop now that ive seen the 15", you just need a bigger lap. and bag, shoulders, hands, eyes, etc. its really totally proportional, and it can be overwhelming if youre not used to a heavy, almost but not really A3 portfolio size.

i'd recommend actually putting your eyeballs to the screen and using it to judge wether you want to spend the money on a 17" monster laptop, e.g the big multimedia HP's are almost 10kg of metal and heatsinks... you also need to be used to the glare of LCD screens and the polarising filters used, i.e. glossy/matt/angled viewing to be objective, or appreciative of the difference in price that comes with LCD panels and mfg's.

i personally spent a fair bit of time actually viewing laptop screens for 5-10 hours before settling on mine, and would recommend it, if not the experience of shopping, but to get a sense of what the market is currently offering, and what you're spending money on. hence why people don't choose macbooks in stores when placed near acer / sony vaio laptops, the practical aspect of the apple "bling" isn't enough to make people choose macbooks, not withstanding the price difference. try it yourself, put a macbook next to another laptop, the difference can be outstanding or it could be adequate to make that choice for you.

personally, bling is not the most important factor in a laptop, trading value, usable lifetime and the option of getting repairs usually are. but after the whole "issues" thing, performance and style is next.

window shopping really allows you to get a sense of each laptop in its worst and best conditions, i.e. poor lighting, yellowing/white/blue tinged CCFL light and all, eye level screens, waist level screens, etc. all play a part in making a laptop seem excellent or just above the average. e.g. the surroundings of the keyboard can be a dead giveaway to quality, does it pick up scratches, keyboard impressions, dust, etc.

the other common feature of watching laptop screens is watching dvd's, but it can tell you about the black levels, and the ghosting/response rate. not otherwise helpful, but it could be.

i don't really need much more than the laptop i have now, but i'd really love to be able to swap out the components inside, but that's principly negated with any laptop. you buy the bundle and you get what you get, no trading up.

[gibbz]

well i just found this...
http://www.scorptec.com.au/product/22567/

Its got a dx10 video card, and fairly cheap

no idea on performance tho...

EDIT: its a pos ignore me!

[McbLt]

it's Asus' 'cheaper' Santa Rosa offerings - the watered down, watered down version of the G2S. The price is a bit much for what it is. Wait for the rest of the Santa Rosa lines to filter through to Aus and the price should go down, like the F3SV and the G2S and G1S