For all you computer guys.....Need some Help!
 

Ok, So I'm heading up to FSU soon and my mom thinks it would be a good idea for me to get a new laptop (YES!!!!) I already have a pretty nice one that we got about 3-4 years ago. Its an HP Zd7000 laptop with a 17" screen that I love and runs pretty well. This is basically my comp:
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/HP_Pavi...-30557633.html

So anyways since I know some of you guys know a good amount about computers I wanted to ask you what laptop do you guys recommend? My only requirements is that it have a 17" screen (once you go wide you can't go back lol) and my only other major want is that it can be decently powerful to where I can play higherend games without any problem. Im pretty sure my mom wants a laptop somewhere in the neighberhood of 2300, maybe 2500 if the thing is great. Really need some suggestions here as when I go to bestbuy.com and some other places most of the numbers mean nothing to me....

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

hell if you got the money to spend, i'd drop it on an alienware system.. especially if you're gaming. there's a lot of cool **** for notebooks now.. like the centrio duo processors and such.

holy ish your mom is dropping 2500 on a new laptop for you?!?!? ......which in my opinion isn't really needed. Trust me when you go to college you will barely use it. It's the truth. But if you do have the g's to spend i'd go with alienware also.....it's the best for gaming.

Personally i don't think you have a bad machine already. That computer is nice. If your getting rid of it i might be willing to take it off your hands if the price is right. :)

Pretty sure my mom is gonna get the laptop I have now....

I was actually just looking into the Alienware computers, heard alot about them....How would this setup hold up against most of the laptops out there...

http://www.alienware.com/configurato...de=SKU-DEFAULT

personally i'd get 1 GB of RAM. But either way....you'd still be the shizz with that thing.

Go with alienware defenitely if you have the money.

http://www.alienware.com/product_pag...l_default.aspx

My friend has an alienware computer, and that's all it is good for is gaming. He used it for everything else and the thing went to crap. The hinges both broke on the screen, and just the other day it froze. so he reset it and windows would not start up. he tried putting all versions of windows on it, and nothing works. its really not a relialbe computer for that much money. If you want it mainly for gaming, then go ahead, but if you're doing a lot of other things with it, i would find something else.

if you can play the big games on a laptop then it can do just about anything else. games take up a LOT of resources. the hinges should be fixed under warranty, but thats really just wear and tear. its not related to the internals.


on a second note, i'd build my own laptop if i needed another one. i built my last 3 computers at a fraction of the cost i would have payed for them at a store.

Thats what I thought. I mean isn't it safe to say that if a laptop can run the higherend games out there with no problem than it can probably handle any other task???

And how do you go about building ur own comp.?

I'm just sayin that the one he has is crap. Quality of the case is not very good, and like i said, it completely stopped working for him after just 1 year. His warranty just ran out and they wont help him unless he buys an extended warranty. They wont help him at all. Plus the thing weights like 18lbs. its a beast.

Well Brandman, hows this system sound?

Dell Inspiron E1705

Includes:
Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500 (2GHz/667MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® XP Professional
Genuine Windows® XP Professional re-installation CD
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS
120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
FREE!8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy® ADVANCED HD Audio


Price: $2,993.00

Price after 34% off: $1,017.62

I didn't add it because I don't know if you've got it already, but you can get the basic Office Suite for another $98.00

With free Ground Shipping.

But you need to ordfer by June 8th.

RcTrucker, where are you getting this from?? Is there a webstie i can see this at, and how is the final price only 1,017.62???? Cause if you take 34% from $2,993.00 you get 1975.38..

Anyway sounds pretty nice, but again, is there a website u have where I can see it cuz how can it be so cheap??

I would take your moms 2500 and keep my old laptop for doing schoolwork and build a $1500 gaming rig at home. With the 1k thats left Ill buy a go fast part for the stang or another laptop if you still want a new one. You dont need a portable gaming laptop dont waste your moms money.

BTW is this enough Alienware for you just think of whats inside those boxes.

Lol wish it could work that way, but it doesn't.

The 2500 amount is part of a very big education fund my grandparents set up for each grandchild in the family on my mothers side. The money can only be spent for educational purposes. Tuition, books, room and board, supplies..etc. A laptop is considered part of education supplies since a laptop is required at FSU. I figure if I am allowed to get a new laptop, why not get the best money can buy. Im really not big into gaming, but I figure if it can handle the higher end games out there, it can handle pretty much anything I ask to do.

I also need a nice laptop since it is my only computer. So I basically use it as my desktop at home when I am in my room as well. Thats why I need a pretty good laptop since I use it often.

Believe me, if I had that kind of money to spend on the stang, parts would already be on their way. Its just that we have all this money to spend on a laptop so why not get the best one??

Im leaning toward alienware right now...

It's from Dell.com, and they may be doing the math wrong, but that's the price it came to.

Go to www.dell.com, and select the "Home & Home Office" link (about the middle of the page on the left) then click the "Notebooks" section, then click the "Choose" link in the middle category "Entertainment: Digital-Entertainment Inspiron Notebooks", then the "More Details" link for the Inspiron E1705. Once that page is done loading click the "Continue" link. Now click the "Customize It" link for the Inspiron E1705 Dual Core Powerhouse version of the E1705, and follow the options I listed (or whatever options you want of course) then at the end, in "Your Basket" you'll see the total minus a 34% discount (and apparently whatever else they're doing) to get you the price I quoted.

Hey guys, really need some help here..I took RcTruckers advice and looked into the Dell Inspirion E1705 and suped it up alot, Pretty much got the best of everything I could (Processor, Memory, Hard drive, video card, the works...) plus a 4 year warrantly and T.V. tuner and the price came to 2,335. I also looked at the Alienware Aurora m7700 (the blue one) dubbed the gaming laptop and the baseprice for it, with the most basic stuff and no addition upgrades is 2300. My question is, with both laptops the same price, which computer is more powerfull and better for gaming.. Here the stats

Dell Inspirion E1705:
Processor - Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2600 (2.16GHz/667MHz FSB)
Memory - 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
HardDrive - 60GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
VideoCard - 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS videocard

Alienware Aurora m7700:
Processor - AMD Athlon™ 64 3200+ with HyperTransport Technology
Memory - 512MB Dual Channel DDR SO-DIMM at 400MHz - 2 x 256MB
HardDrive - 60GB 5400 RPM SATA with NCQ
Video Card 256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 6800

I think those are all the stats you need to know. Like I said, both are the same price except the Dell comes with the 4 year warranty in the price, T.V. Tuner, Microsoft Trip, and a couple of other goodies, and the Alienware laptop is 2300 with just the baseprice, not including any upgrades for the processor,memory,videocard etc....

What should i buy?? If I am reading the numbers right I think the Dell would be faster and better..but I am not sure. Any help would be appreciated.

If you are not going to be playing games with the laptop then you are throwing away money would you have a Shelby just to drive it to the grocery store. If you want to blow 2500 on a great laptop get a Mac make it dual boot with Windows and you will have everything you need.

I have been using a Fujitsu Tablet for about a year. never broke, never been sent back. I use it for work but also for grad school. It is an awesome tool for taking notes in class. Just be sure to back everything up.

If I was in college, I would definately get a decent tablet.

I am not a huge gamer, but I do like to play some games (Half Life, Counterstrike, Command and Conquer Generals, Madden, few others)

I understand what you are saying venom about the grocery store scenario but like I said its not like I am paying for it, its part of a big fund which I know I probably wont even use half of it. I can see if I was getting a overly expensive laptop that was like 4 grand, but I have honestly searched around and the Dell with all those features for 2300 is a great deal. Ive compared it to Gateway, Hp, Compaq, and all the rest and it seems like a great deal.

Plus Im sure Im gonna need the extra power at some point for other than just games.

Just make sure you get a laptop that fits your needs is what Im saying.

I'd add to that; "...both now and what you think/anticipate they may be in the future."

Also, keep in mind that while it's certainly easier these days than in the past to upgrade a laptop (after you've already gotten it I mean, not when configuring it for order) it's still not as easy as a desktop to upgrade. Example; You most likely aren't going to just "slap in" a new more powerful videocard in a laptop like you would a desktop.

I see what you are saying, but I can't get a desktop. I forgot to mention the laptop I have now has a charger port problem that every 4 months or so we have to take it to HP to get it fixed (thank God for the warranty!) And I can't take a desktop with me back and forth from school..

My thinking is if I get the top of the line laptop now, I hopefully wont need to upgrade it for a while...

A Gaming laptop is not the best for school, its the best for gaming. I would get something lightweight with a long battery life unless you want to be connected to an AC adaptor all the time. Check out the specs on battery life and weight then go your local store and check out the difference in weight, you will notice 1 or 2 lbs will make a difference. Lenovo which was IBM has great Thinkpads that are widescreen and lightweight http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/st...www.google.com A laptop for games is great but its not made to be carried around all day that why its so heavy.

I agree with Venom. Another thing to consider is with a laptop designed for gaming, the fan noise will be quite loud. This could be an issue with some professors or librarians if you plan to tote the pc around with you and work on it. In which case if you do, I suggest getting the MS Office suite and MS One Note installed. You will need it.

Very nice specs on the Dell btw.. but its gonna be a beast to lug around. The "oh-sh!t-I-dropped-my-laptop" warranty would also be a good idea.

Well I am getting the bigger battery and I believe it said it will last longer than 3 hours which is more than enough. Plus the standard 17 inch model only weighs 7 pounds so I am assuming with all the extras I am getting it wont weight anymore than 8 and half to 9 pounds, which I am used to because my laptop now weighs ALOT!!

Battery life is always shorter than what is stated since they run in battery saver mode which will dim your laptop screen and it slows down your processor to save on power. The thinkpads have safty feature where if the loptop falls the harddrive parks the head and the harddrive is saved. Most dont get thinkpads since they are expensive however you will always get more money for your old thinkpad if you decide to sell. Thats if for my advise but remember a business laptop will be work more down the line then a gaming laptop. Just check ebay at used laptop prices.

Finally ordered it. I decided to go with 2GHz instead of 2.16 since I figured I didn't need it, and decided with the extra money to buy an extra battery and better waranty. That way Ill have plenty of time with 2 batteries.

Business laptops are good, but most only come in 15 inches and I definately want a 17. The Dell is very powerful and will be able to handle anything I ask it to do.