I read the Ten Points Every Beginner Should Know, so I hope I'm doing this right. On a side note, I wrote this whole topic a few minutes ago, but when I pressed submit I was logged out, and it was all lost. Oops.
Anyways...

I'm currently in Japan until sometime in the middle of next year, and I've found I cant be away from a gaming capable PC for an entire year, as I was hoping. At home I do all my gaming on my desktop, but bringing it here was out of the question since the thing is massive, the tower alone is almost half my height. It's also outdated...I gave up playing the newer generation games after I couldnt get Far Cry to run faster than 10fps. I was considering upgrading it when I got home, but if I can get a good gaming laptop, then I'll just use the laptop for my primary gaming system.

I've stopped by Akihabara, the big electronic shopping area in Tokyo, a few times to look for laptops, but I've run into a couple problems. First, I know just barely enough Japanese to get by, so reading or asking about technical specs is out of the question. Second, since I cant read or understand much Japanese, I cant find out enough about the quality of the brands, since most of the laptop brands here in Japan are different from the states (And I cant even find information on them online in english). Third, everything, laptops especially it seems, is more expensive here.

So my current idea is to buy online, have it shipped home and then have it shipped to me in Japan.

I will be using this for a quality gaming system, good enough to stay my primary system when I go home. As such, I need it to be able to play the current generation games, such as HL2 or Far Cry, and be able to play it at a good res and good speed. Basically, quality gaming. Since I'm also studying dual hardware and software engineering (I'm taking a year off to continue my study of Japanese), I anticipate some heavy graphical simulations (ie, games ) for some class projects in the near future, but I doubt that in the lifetime of this system I'd ever get near the quality of the newer graphics engines.

Ok, enough with the story, here is what I need:

-- Honestly, I'm not really sure what processor I need. The one I almost bought in Akihabara had a Pentium M 2.8Ghz, if that helps you get an idea of where I was looking. But I'm clueless about mobile processors, so which brand and what speed is best is something I'm still trying to figure out.
-- 512megs RAM (1gig preferable, since I've been hearing how much a difference it makes with HL2, which will be my primary game. If not 1gig, then room to add another 512meg stick later on)
-- Radeon 9700 (128meg version highly preferable, since I want this to be a quality gaming system for as long as possible)
-- 40gig HDD, 60 preferable. 5400rpm or higher. Honestly though, even the 120gigs on my desktop is too little, so I'll probably be getting an external drive eventually.
-- 14inch screen or higher. No dead pixels gives bonus points
-- CD-RW and DVD drive. I want to be able to play DVDs here, since there are a lot of movies I want to watch, but no way to play them. As such, it needs to be able to switch to this region.
-- Battery life and weight are not that big a concern since the laptop will probably spend most of its time plugged in in my dorm room. But if it has a battery life of about 3 or 4 hours and weighs little enough to be carried around comfortably, bonus points are awarded. On this note, I need to be absolutly certain that it CAN be plugged in in Japan, since the voltage levels and frequency is slightly different. I HEARD it didnt make much difference, and laptops are built so it doesnt make any difference at all, but still...I need to be sure before I buy.

Now here is the main limiting factor. I need a laptop that fits the following description, all for 1500$ US or less. If its the absolute perfect system, then I'm willing to spend a little more, but thats the last option.

So to sum up, I need a quality gaming laptop that can play the current generation of games (HL2, Far Cry, etc), and look good doing it. I need all this all for a budget of 1500$ US.

I've been looking around for a while, but everything I've found either has a few parts that just wont do, or its out of my price range. Thats why I'm asking the experts, maybe you guys can point me in the right direction

I hope this request is reasonable.

Sorry for the long post, and thanks a lot for any help you guys can give!

JPOnion

Since there's no P-M 2.8GHz (yet), did you mean 1.8 ?

Since you take gaming seriously (as do I), I hope you're aware that you won't be getting desktop quality performance with Mobile Radeon 9700. It compares to the desktop 9600 series in performance. Still runs all the newest games fine, though, with lower resolutions.

Just curious, who is playing Everquest 2 on their laptop?

You'll want something with a MR9700 w/64MB minimium for a true laptop. Processor doesn't really matter as your bottleneck is going to be the GPU so anything from a Pentium M 1.5 and up should be ok. If you are looking for a bigger DTR type, then look for the MR9800. Or wait a bit for the new ATI (M28) and nVidia (Go 6800) to hit on the bigger laptops.

Oh, sorry. Did a quick search on the model number, and though I cant read any descriptions, I can read the specs. It was a Pentium 4 2.8GHz. I guess either it was a spelling error on their part, or on mine.

I do take gaming seriously, for the most part, the only problem is I'm trying to be a little realistic with my money. Why I say for the most part is because I play a lot, but I've always been happy with what a few of my friends consider low resolutions. 1280x960, or around there, is usually plenty for me (Though if I HAD something that could play higher, I'd up my standards )

So from what I hear, something with at least a Pentium M 4 1.5 and up, a Modile Radeon 9700 128meg and 512megs Ram (with room for another 512 stick later). I'm still looking around, though I havent found that one that has it all for the price I'm looking for.

Unfortunatly, I took a closer look at my finances last night, and it looks like if I do spend $1500 on a laptop, I might be cutting it pretty close finantially...so I think $1500 is the definate max. Plus, I have to factor in shipping to Japan and anything it costs to get through customs (Havent checked shipping or customs prices yet).

Does anybody know if its generally safe to buy laptops off ebay? I know ebay is generally safe, otherwise it wouldnt be as popular as it is, but buying a used laptop... I dont want to be stuck with something that doesnt work, and there is no warrenty. Plus, since I'm out of the country, there are additional things to worry about if anything goes wrong.
Why I ask if because I found a few really nice ones (they have more than I'm asking for) that are going for a good price, under my limit. The models have been getting excellent reviews, but they are slightly used. Any comments?

Thanks again!

The Dell Inspiron 8600 and the HP zd7000 will probably come close to what you want at the price you want. Not sure about the pricing of notebooks with the newer video cards, but more than likely they will be out of your budget.

Wow you live in Japan too? I live in Japan too!! I think you should order from Dell especially with all those pretty girls on the Dell commercial ^^ Since you live Asia and good thing is you live in japan so your closer to South Korea. Which means if you ever have a vacation time you should travel to South korea (only 2hrs from JPN) buy a good laptop there. S.K. has very good gaming rigs since alot of them are very hardcore. Another option for you is I guess go back to the States and buy one and bring it to JPN.

Take a look at the Acer TM3201. 1.5 Dothan, 512MB, 60GB, DVD +/- burner, MR9700 64MB, 14.1", 4.8lbs, 4 hours battery for $1500. The 64MB MR9700 will be perfectly fine for running at 1024x768.

Sager NP4380. Beautiful SXGA screen, a great machine for the price.

on that budget, see Uniwill 258kao

here is my reasoning.

first of, you can get good spec for under $1500
it comes with a cd-rw/dvd (dvd burner optional) so you can watch movies
15.4" wxga not the best screen for gaming, but kick arse for dvd watching
128mb 9700 ati mobility radeon (just what you asked for)
512mb pc2700 ram (upgradable up to 2gb)
cpu is an AMD64 2800 to 3700 depending on reseller
battery life is only roughly 2 hours, so mobility isn't all that great
(thats why you can get a CL56 with a 1.7 dothan i guess)

Plug in wise? and resellers who ship to JP? I am not sure but here is a brief list of stores that sell this thing

mwave.com ibuypower.com cyberpower.com abscomputers.com lol...lots of stores.

abf beat me.... BAH!