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Will you help me choose a Laptop for my son who loves Star Wars Galaxies!

post #1 of 20
9/26/05 at 9:54pm
Thread Starter 
He just left for college last month and got such a great scholarship that I thought I would surprise him with a gaming laptop.
I don't care what it costs, just as long as it has all the great features he needs. Is a 17" screen better for gaming? I was thinking this Alienware looked great, but I'm not sure, so I thought I'd aske the experts here!

This sale ends tonight for $300 back and free shipping, will they have another sale soon?...He has an Ibuypower now, he likes it but the screen small and nothing special, he's happy with everything else though.
Thanks for your help!

[1] Area-51m 7700 ....This is around.... $3k

Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 560J Desktop Processor w/ HT Technology 3.6GHz 800MHz FSB 1MB
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service
Automated Support: AlienAutopsy: Automated Technical Support Request System
LCD Display: 17" WideSXGA+ 1680 x 1050 LCD Clearview Display with Built-in Camera
Motherboard: Intel® 915P PCI-Express Chipset
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 533MHz - 4 x 512MB
Video Card: Area-51m 7700 ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON X800 with 256MB of DDR 3 memory
Hard Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 120GB 5400 RPM ATA100
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X CD-RW Combo w/Software
Sound Card: Intel® High-Definition Audio (24-bit, 192Khz) with 7.1 surround sound
Primary Battery: Alienware® 7700 series 12-cell Lithium-Ion Smart Battery Pack
Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem
Wireless Network: External Wireless 802.11a/b/g PCMCIA Card
Floppy Drive: USB Floppy Drive
Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value)
Alienware Exclusive Offers: 10% off your next EB Games online purchase
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
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post #2 of 20
9/26/05 at 10:22pm
Personally, I would go with the Sager 9880 or the Dell xps gen2. They both offer 17in widescreens and the best video card available (nvidia 6800 ultra). The difference lies in the processor (pentium 4 vs. pentium M), features, weight, and style I suppose. You can check out the sager here at pctorque, or at a number of other places. The Dell, obviously, on the Dell site. I think that alienware model is the equivalent of the sager, except the sager is more reasonably priced and the resellers (from what I hear) are much better with service, etc. Someone who owns one of these would be able to elaborate more on this, however.
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post #3 of 20
9/26/05 at 10:24pm
alienware is lame, and a P4 for a laptop will make you kill yourself because the fans are so damn loud its not even funny, the PM is king for laptops, i recommend a thin sager laptop
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post #4 of 20
9/26/05 at 10:40pm
If battery life is at all important you should get a Pentium M chip instead of a 4. However the M series chips perform just as well, if not better than the 4 series.

Try an Asus. The Z71V and the Z70Va are great machines.

Dont do alienware. They've been having a lot of problems lately. Just hop over to their section of the forums for a run down on that.

Edit: Sagers are amazing lappys too.
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post #5 of 20
9/26/05 at 10:46pm
Coming from a guy who live and breath Star War Galaxies for the past 2+ years....

I would say go with Asus Z70va or Asus Z71v. Both will run Star War Galaxies very well and heck a lot cheaper than the Alienware. Plus, it is lighter, more portable, and better battery power.

Or you could go with Acer Ferrari 4500 which is really nice too eheh
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post #6 of 20
9/26/05 at 10:55pm
all of these are good suggestions.........i have another one.

have him try the game EVE. i played swg for the past year or so and really loved it........EVE has blown me away. it is so complicated and the gameplay is really diverse.

warning: some dont like it...........i cant think of anything else id rather play in my free time. if anyone wants help in EVE, contact me here or ingame as it helps to have someone show you around......i go by ralphie crom

i own a sager 8790 that has a 17" screen and i absolutely love it for gaming. personally i would go with sager, alienware or dell......the components on the inside are whats important. and a warranty that reflects how long you expect him to keep it.
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post #7 of 20
9/27/05 at 1:42am
I would lean more toward the XPS2, the Area-51 seems HUGE to me, the XPS2 is by no means small but a little more portable to take to class. and u definately want the GFX card to be top end, i played SWG for 2 years and it requires ALOT, even with the 6800 Ultra he wont be able to turn settings on full.
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post #8 of 20
9/27/05 at 4:38pm
I have a Sager 4750, and I play SWG on it with ALL the graphics turned up as high as they will go, and I maintain +25fps or better. Been playing since release on Kettemoor
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post #9 of 20
9/27/05 at 5:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HardD99
and u definately want the GFX card to be top end, i played SWG for 2 years and it requires ALOT, even with the 6800 Ultra he wont be able to turn settings on full.
Not true. You dont need anywhere near a 6800 ultra to run Galaxies at full settings. My friend plays it at full on a GeForce 5800 I believe. I can get it pretty close to full on a 5500.
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post #10 of 20
9/27/05 at 5:56pm
How would you not be able to play it on full settings on the 6800 Ultra? I don't know where you get that idea from, but I do know that it's wrong. The 6800 cards are not anywhere near 2 years old, and obviously the game is older than 2 years old. They wouldn't release a game that not even the best video card of the future could not play on high settings. Are you saying we would need a 7800 to play SWG?

Anyway, to the original poster, I suggest you take a look at the Dell XPS Gen 2. It should be cheaper than the Alienware, and it will perform better. With Alienware, you will pay for the little alienhead logos. If you think they're worth the mark-up, go ahead and buy Alienware. My friend bought an Alienware recently, and now he has a heavy computer that runs extremely hot. He paid more for it than he would have for a different brand, and it doesn't even run as well as the cheaper brands do. Of course, he bought it because it had the Alienware name attached, which for some weird reason, attracts people who want to play games. They don't really attract true gamers, as a true gamer would know exactly what he wants and needs, but for the casual gamers who want power, Alienware is highly attractive. It's like how some animals are attracted to shiny things.
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post #11 of 20
9/27/05 at 5:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Freak4Dell
It's like how some animals are attracted to shiny things.
lol!!! I love that one! I've gotta remember that!
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post #12 of 20
9/27/05 at 8:34pm
I played it on a 5200 with no issues.... then I got sick of it and decided Lucas was a whore.

But after Eps. 3 I love hime again, just hate the game.
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post #13 of 20
9/27/05 at 8:47pm
some of my favorites on the market right now:
Asus Z71v (p-m + 6600)
Asus Z70va refresh (p-m + x700)
Acer Ferarri 4xxx (turion + x700)
MSI 1029 (turion + x700)

all are much better priced than the alienware and give you both great gaming, and mobile performance. my bro owns a z71v and i can only say the best things about it...fanstic little system.
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post #14 of 20
9/27/05 at 8:55pm
What about the Dell Inspiron 9300????????????????????????????????
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post #15 of 20
9/27/05 at 9:23pm
That alienware looks mighty powerful and all, but to really make it useful in college I'd say something with a 15.4" screen, PM or Turion and get a docking station. Then get him a nice big LCD screen and 5.1 speakers to connect to it in his dorm room. That way the laptop wil still be portable enough and get enough battery life for him to take to class or the library and all yet still powerful enough to run all the games he wants. The Asus Z70Va seems like it'd be a good option.

If you do go with the alienware, don't forget a laptop cooler. The P4 will run hot & every bit helps.
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post #16 of 20
9/27/05 at 9:37pm
Well since he like SWG, and yes it rules then I guess he would want some battery life since how annoying it would be if you had a P4 and got less than 2hrs of battery life. Even though most gaming laptops won't give you the best battery life I would say go with the pentuim m It will help battery wise ALOT.
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post #17 of 20
9/27/05 at 10:27pm
i have never played mmog's on battery......but thats just me.
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post #18 of 20
9/28/05 at 12:39am
my z71v plays it nearly perfectly. only lag is in places like mos veros at the cantina where there are always people waiting looking to grind. otherwise nearly no lag.
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post #19 of 20
9/28/05 at 5:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwilightVampire
Not true. You dont need anywhere near a 6800 ultra to run Galaxies at full settings. My friend plays it at full on a GeForce 5800 I believe. I can get it pretty close to full on a 5500.
oh but it IS true! i had a 9800pro and was getting 15-30fps, so i upgraded to a 6600GT when they were released, still couldnt turn on shadows full. u can run full settings on everything else, but as soon as u turn shadows on and head to coronet, its a no go. this was on my 24" Widescreen running 1920x1200 rez, dunno what rez u were using....
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post #20 of 20
9/28/05 at 12:56pm
ok everything but the stuff that makes the game look like crap(ie the volumetric shadows) running in 1200x1024 everything else maxed (except shadows, 'cause they look like crap, it looks they a little too hard on them, or not hard enough). I get 26- 40 FPS on my little MR9700, SWG isn't that hard on a graphics card, I think the shadows are coded terrible.
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