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Please help me decide which gaming laptop I should buy for my son

post #1 of 22
10/9/05 at 5:57pm
Thread Starter 
He is in college and likes to play Star Wars Galaxies... I have it narrowed down to these 2 laptops...I almost went with the Dell because I could get a discount but...they didn't have a number key pad on their laptops (I wonder why)??

I know nothing about laptops, which one do you think is better??
Thanks so much!



[1] Area-51m 7700 $3,911.00

Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 660 Desktop Processor w/ HT Technology 3.6GHz 800MHz FSB 2MB
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" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 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 NVIDIA GeForce™ Go 6800 Ultra with 256MB of DDR3 memory
Hard Drive: Extreme Performance - RAID 0 - 200GB (100GB x 2) 7200 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
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


OR


1] MJ-12m 7700 $3,540.00

Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 531 Desktop Processor w/ HT Technology 3.0GHz 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
LCD Display: 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD Clearview Display with Built-in Camera
Motherboard: Intel® 915P PCI-Express Chipset
Memory: 3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 533MHz - 2 x 512MB / 2 x 1024MB
Graphics Accelerator: Alienware® MJ12m 7700 NVIDIA Quadro FX Go 1400 with 256MB of DDR memory
Hard Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 120GB 5400 RPM ATA100
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 24x10x24 CD-RW / 8X DVD Combo w/Software MPEG2 Decoder
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
Digital Audio Hardware: Intel® High-Definition Audio (24-bit, 192Khz) with 7.1 surround sound
Floppy Drive: USB Floppy Drive
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post #2 of 22
10/9/05 at 6:48pm
Those are very powerfull laptops. But they also have a very short battery life and are very big/heavy (for being laptops). Does it need to be mobile at all? If so look for a gaming notebook with a mobile CPU and a lesser GPU, but nothing less than a X700 for gaming. However if gaming is all he is going to use it for, or if it is important to game with high details, high resolution and fps, then go for the ones you found!

On smaller notebooks the numeric key pad is integrated with the help of function key that changes the functions of the some of keys to replace a numeric key pad.
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post #3 of 22
10/9/05 at 6:51pm
Thread Starter 
He has another laptop for school, this one will be just for gaming.

So which one do you think is best?
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post #4 of 22
10/9/05 at 6:51pm
If it's primarily a gaming machine I would wait for alienware to put out something with nvidia's 7800 mobility gpu in it.
Then again if it's primarily a gaming machine and it doesn't need to move around much I'd buy a desktop for gaming and a thin/light/mobile laptop for school. That's just me tho.
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post #5 of 22
10/9/05 at 6:56pm
Ummm, if it's just for gaming alone and he has another laptop for school, why not buy a desktop? You'll get more performance, less cost, etc etc.
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post #6 of 22
10/9/05 at 7:18pm
Thread Starter 
He has a desktop at home, but can't fit it in his dorm room.
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post #7 of 22
10/9/05 at 7:21pm
Just wondering, have you looked into Hypersonic or Sager? Alien ware is pretty over priced for what you get. Also the Sager and Hypersonic laptops will have the geforce 7800 gtx video cards in them. Which will run a lot faster then the ultra, also the Quadro FX Go 1400 is also made a bit more for cad work and stuff like that, not so much gaming. But both Hypersonic and Sager will offer the same if not better in the case of the video card for a lesser price. Just thought iI would let you know But in any case if you do really want an Alienware id go with the Area-51m.
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post #8 of 22
10/9/05 at 7:23pm
If he wants the best for gaming, I would go for the first one.
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post #9 of 22
10/9/05 at 7:38pm
Thread Starter 
I have no idea what I'm configuring when it says to do so...can you help me? How does this look? Is it better than the Area 51-m

Remove Product(s) Qty. Total
XOTIC / SAGER NP9880 [17" WS/UXGA+256MB PCI-Express Video+DDR2+More]
- 17" *Glossy* WUXGA Screen 1920x1200
- Intel 630 P4 HT 64-Bit 3.0GHz 800MHz FSB 2MB L2 LGA775
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- 256MB PCI-Express nVidia Quadro w/GDDR3 (User Upgradeable)
- 2048MB DDR2 533 (4x512)
- Standard Finish
- 8X DVD/24X10X24 CDRW Combo Drive
- NO BAY 2 DRIVE
- 100GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive (Serial-ATA)
- 100GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive (Serial-ATA)
- NO RAID
- External USB Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/CF/MD/SM)
- Integrated Digital Video Camera
- NO TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Integrated System Speakers - Included
- 56K RJ11 Phone Modem
- 10/100/1000 NIC
- NO Internal WIFI
- Wireless Router Optional (Select if desired)
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Primary 12 Cell Battery - Included
- 110/220V 120W Auto Switching AC Adapter - Included
- Port Replicator Optional (Select if desired)
- Security Lock Optional (Select if desired)
- External Monitor Optional (Select if desired)
- Notebook Cooler Optional (Select if desired)
- No OS Desired - CD with Drivers and Utilities Only
- No Software Bundle
- No Office Software (Select if desired)
- 1 Year Warranty Lifetime Tech Support (3 Year Labor)
- Choose Your Shipping Option Below
$2,989.00
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post #10 of 22
10/9/05 at 7:39pm
ya, unless you want to spend a fortune, stick with sager or dell. they have the same performance as alienwares and use the same parts(alienware is just a rebranded overpriced sager).

starwars galaxies isnt a very demanding game anyway. he might also like the inspiron 9300 with teh 6800go. its about $1300 with the coupon and can handle starwars galaxies just fine.
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post #11 of 22
10/9/05 at 7:43pm
no no no. lol. dont get a quadro card, those arent for gaming. get a geforce card. he onyl really needs one harddrive, no need to get two, they cost a ton of money.

otherwise, not bad. you could also wait a little while for the sager 5720. its smaller and mroe mobile than that one, and has most of the same specs. it will also be available wit hthe new 7800gtx, so it will actually be faster. they will start preordering in a few days and should start shipping at the end of the month.
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post #12 of 22
10/9/05 at 7:48pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you, maybe I'll wait then.
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post #13 of 22
10/9/05 at 8:02pm
Thread Starter 
How does this one look by Sager? Is this a single hardrive? As you can tell this is very hard for me, since I know nothing about laptops!
Also do you think I should wait for the 5720?
XOTIC / SAGER NP9880 [17" WS/UXGA+256MB PCI-Express Video+DDR2+More]
- 17" *Glossy* WUXGA Screen 1920x1200
- Intel 640 P4 HT 64-Bit 3.20GHz 800MHz FSB 2MB L2 LGA775
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- 256MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce GO 6800 w/GDDR3 (User Upgradeable)
- 512MB DDR2 533
- Standard Finish
- 8X DVD/24X10X24 CDRW Combo Drive
- NO BAY 2 DRIVE
- 100GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive (Serial-ATA)
- NO Bay 2 Hard Drive
- NO RAID
- External USB Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS PRO/CF/MD/SM)
- Integrated Digital Video Camera
- NO TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Integrated System Speakers - Included
- 56K RJ11 Phone Modem
- 10/100/1000 NIC
- NO Internal WIFI
- Wireless Router Optional (Select if desired)
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Primary 12 Cell Battery - Included
- 110/220V 120W Auto Switching AC Adapter - Included
- Port Replicator Optional (Select if desired)
- Security Lock Optional (Select if desired)
- External Monitor Optional (Select if desired)
- Notebook Cooler Optional (Select if desired)
- No OS Desired - CD with Drivers and Utilities Only
- No Software Bundle
- No Office Software (Select if desired)
- 1 Year Warranty Lifetime Tech Support (3 Year Labor)
- UPS 2-Day Air (US)
$2,493.00
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post #14 of 22
10/9/05 at 8:10pm
I'd probably go for a Dell XPS m170. That'll give you a 7800GTX which is faster than a Go 6800, for around the same price or a bit more after a coupon.
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post #15 of 22
10/9/05 at 8:16pm
How soon does he need it? if you wait till the end of Oct they will be coming out with the 9890 which has the geforce 7800gtx. Also when getting a gaming laptop you probably want to make sure you get a 7200 rpm hard drive instead of a 5400 rpm hard drive. If you dont want to wait this is what I would say to put together.

CPUPentium® 4 Processor 670 with HT Technology / 2MB L2 Cache, 3.8GHz (LGA775)
Video ControllerNvidia GeForce GO 6800 Ultra PCI-Express 16X Graphics with 256MB DDR3 Video Memory
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2 X 512MB
Primary Hard Drive60.0GB (7200rpm) Ultra ATA 100 Hard Drive
Floppy DriveExternal USB 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy Drive
CD-ROM/DVD-ROM8X DVD / 24X10X24 CD-RW Combo Drive & Softwares
Battery12 Cell Smart Li-ION Battery
ModemIntegrated 56K V.90 Internal Fax/Modem
Network AdapterIntegrated 1000Mbps Ethernet LAN + Internal 802.11g Wireless LAN
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows XP Professional
Warranty1-year standard warranty from Sager



If you want to save a bit of money you could lower the CPU down to lower speed. But these new geforce 7800 gtx cards seem to be doing much better in benchmarks compared to the 6800 ultra so it mite be worth it to wait. Or go to dell or hypersonic to get one.
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post #16 of 22
10/9/05 at 8:46pm
The XPSM170 from Dell has the nVidia 7800go GTX 256 MB right NOW and there is a 30% off coupon that puts around $2200 right now. It uses a P-M which runs longer (on batteries), cooler and just as fast in games as those desktop processors. Look at the M170 beofre you buy anything, the 7800 is a gamer's dream if you want the best out right now (and also for a good price right now). It's also about 2 pounds lighter than the others
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post #17 of 22
10/9/05 at 9:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by drizek
ya, unless you want to spend a fortune, stick with sager or dell. they have the same performance as alienwares and use the same parts(alienware is just a rebranded overpriced sager).

starwars galaxies isnt a very demanding game anyway. he might also like the inspiron 9300 with teh 6800go. its about $1300 with the coupon and can handle starwars galaxies just fine.
Last time I checked, Sager and Alienware are just overpriced Clevo laptops with crappy customer service.
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post #18 of 22
10/9/05 at 9:51pm
Thread Starter 
I would go with the Dell but it doesn't look like it has the number keypad. I know the number keypad and a nice 17"screen, along with a powerful machine that he won't have any lag with are important to him.
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post #19 of 22
10/9/05 at 10:52pm
Oh I like the "on center" feeling; I have a 9300 which is a lot the same machine and I don't miss the num pad at all. I use an external at work so I have one there and also if you hold down the Fn key there are keys on the laptop keyboard that will double as the num pad.

I would not like a num pad on the laptop as it would leave me off center so to speak for the bulk of the use of the machine just for a num pad I use once in a blue moon. You can also get bluetooth number pads, I would not let this discourage you from the Dell.
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post #20 of 22
10/9/05 at 11:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chuck232
I'd probably go for a Dell XPS m170. That'll give you a 7800GTX which is faster than a Go 6800, for around the same price or a bit more after a coupon.
I second that nomination. You don't need a desktop CPU in a notebook (too much heat). I don't miss the number pad at all on my 9300.
Edit:
I did not see the second page in this thread. Fry-man22 has it right.
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