The Laptop Guide - Post here for questions, deals, etc.

[Cephius]

There is no way to upgrade laptop video cards yourself, most of the time they are integrated into the motherboard with everything else. The only way you can really play the newest games on a laptop is to buy the highest end XPS/Alienware/HP laptops that are decked out and cost $3000. The simple fact is laptops are just not great choices for games. They can play the oldest ones sure, but the newest games have such high required specs that it takes time for laptop technology to catch up to the point where they can run them.

Openoffice.org is a free, open source application package that was made as an alternative to office. It has mostly the same functionality, and can open files creative in MS office, and even save files as office extensions. It's a great program for people who don't want to spend 200 bucks just to write papers.

[Eohuo]

Ok well I think I will be getting the Vostro 1500 either tomorrow or Tuesday. Although it doesn't have an option for anything greater than 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS (I tried and kept looking back to see if it was a website glitch, but the spec in the original post for vid card can't be installed on the laptop), I think it will serve its purpose.

Thanks for all the help It made my life a little bit easier.

Final Price: $1352

[alt]

Check out this:

http://www.sagernotebook.com/category_b ... lcdsize=15

NP2092 has a $300 off special, that is better than the Vostro 1500 for roughly the same price with the discount.

[Eohuo]

Check out this:

http://www.sagernotebook.com/category_b ... lcdsize=15

NP2092 has a $300 off special, that is better than the Vostro 1500 for roughly the same price with the discount.

Ok so i went there. I have to say, I was impressed with the specs. It is not often that you find a solid laptop build with any graphics card over 256. Anyway, I ordered a Sager NP2092 today because it was actually cheaper than what I was going to get, with 100x better performance specs. The site didn't allow for me to get security software installed, but I can pay the 70 bucks from dell and get one.

Alt, I really appreciate the tip on this one.

Final price with shipping: $1401 (dell would have been 1352 + tax - if I remember correctly, approx 90 bucks)

[alt]

Nice man! I bought one on Monday 8)

Was a good find too, especially since it came with T9300, 4GB RAM, and 8600M GT 512MB, included in the price.

Jump on this while special lasts people!

[Bakthi]

I'm looking for a pretty cheap laptop. All I want to do is run FFXI on it and do my online job (via Firefox), so it doesn't have to be too special. I used to sell/repair/build PCs, but I've been out of the loop for a while; haven't run Windows at home since 98beta3, so that mostly killed the need for regular hardware upgrades. But I'm tired of PS2 limitations, and could really use a laptop newer than a 486, so...

The Vostro ones look good, but I have some questions:

-The 1500 seems to start out cheaper than the 1400, and I'm not really sure why that is.
-Should I care about a 7200 RPM drive versus 5400?
-The 8400M seems to be the only graphics choice for both models. Is this okay?
-The only option for XP I can see is them giving me both XP and Vista and charging me $100 more. That's not really what I want...am I missing some hoop to get just XP? I'm assuming that trying to run FFXI + Vista on this is a bad idea. I might be able to get XP via the university if I have to. To clarify, I don't really care what I run as long as FFXI works well.

[Oxyminus]

so I'm looking to get myself a laptop within the next month or so. I've been mostly scoping out HP rigs, as I've known a few people who have owned them and have never had any problems with them.

did a custom build off their dv9700t series, looks as following:

Intel Core 2 2.10GHZ
3GB DDR2 Ram
Nvidia Gforce 8600GS 512MB
320GB 5400RPM SATA HD

plus other random odds and ends. the rig came out to $1,342

while I'm mostly going to use it for school/writing/internet/movie watching, the truth is I'll be loading some games onto it, so looking at it as a mid-level gaming rig...that more importantly should ahead enough of the curve that it will last a while (my current desktop I've had for 6 years for example...so I upgrade/get a new pc as un-often as possible).

I looked at similar systems at dell, and while it was about ~100 less, it was with a less powerful intel chip, and smaller HD

thoughts?

[Cephius]

I'm looking for a pretty cheap laptop. All I want to do is run FFXI on it and do my online job (via Firefox), so it doesn't have to be too special. I used to sell/repair/build PCs, but I've been out of the loop for a while; haven't run Windows at home since 98beta3, so that mostly killed the need for regular hardware upgrades. But I'm tired of PS2 limitations, and could really use a laptop newer than a 486, so...

The Vostro ones look good, but I have some questions:

Vostros should do the trick for you.

-The 1500 seems to start out cheaper than the 1400, and I'm not really sure why that is.

I'm not sure what site you're looking at, in fact I don't even see the 1400 on the Dell website.

-Should I care about a 7200 RPM drive versus 5400?

Not for the purposes of FFXI and surfing the web, no.

-The 8400M seems to be the only graphics choice for both models. Is this okay?

Yes, though some people have reported issues with that graphics card. Though all the people who have gotten Vostros and play FFXI haven't reported many issues, afaik.

-The only option for XP I can see is them giving me both XP and Vista and charging me $100 more. That's not really what I want...am I missing some hoop to get just XP? I'm assuming that trying to run FFXI + Vista on this is a bad idea. I might be able to get XP via the university if I have to. To clarify, I don't really care what I run as long as FFXI works well.

Dell doesn't offer XP with any of it's laptops as of last week (I think) so yes, the only option you have is to buy a laptop with Vista on it and pay them to give you XP with it. There's really nothing wrong with running FFXI on Vista, many of the bugs have been ironed out. I would recommend getting the laptop, trying to run FFXI with Vista, if you have problems and can't resolve them, you can always buy XP from your uni like you said and install it.

[Bakthi]

-The 1500 seems to start out cheaper than the 1400, and I'm not really sure why that is.

I'm not sure what site you're looking at, in fact I don't even see the 1400 on the Dell website.

I just clicked on the links in the OP. The 1400 starts at $524, and the 1500 starts at $499. Looking at the stats, the only difference seems to be that the 1500 has a bigger screen, so...beats me. Guess it's 1500 ftw.

Thanks for the help!

[Vuitton]

Hey guys, I am looking to replace my desktop PC. I am moving to a new city to complete my bachelors and I'll also be studying abroad for over a year. Additionally, I think I might be living in the residence hall the first year at University and you know how small dorms can be.

What do you all think of this Dell build? I've copied and pasted it below. I am open to non-Dell suggestions as well.

My Components

COLOR: Tuxedo Black
PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache)
OS: Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate Edition SP1
LCD AND CAMERA: High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LED LCD (1440x900) & 2.0 M
MEMORY: 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
HARD DRIVE: Speed: 320GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) with Free Fall Sensor
OPTICAL DRIVE: Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
VIDEO CARD: 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
WIRELESS CARDS: Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
BLUETOOTH AND WIRELESS: USB Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0+Enhanced Data Rate)
BATTERY: 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
SOUND: ExpressCard Sound Blaster X-Fi® Xtreme Audio Sound Card
FINGERPRINT SCANNER Finger Print Reader XPS M1530

My Software & Accessories

ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 36-months
PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 - Word, Excel + PowerPoint
COLOR COORDINATED MICE Logitech V220 Wireless Mouse - Jet Black
COLOR COORDINATED STORAGE Green - 8 GB DataTraveler 110 USB Flash Drive

My Service

WARRANTY AND SERVICE Get $70 Dell Gift Card with 4Yr In-Home Service, Parts Labor- Next Day
ACCIDENT AND THEFT PROTECTION Add Accidental Damage and LoJack Theft Protection to 4Yr Warr.
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr
DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS No ISP requested
ENVIRONMENTAL OPTIONS Support Reforestation: Plant a Tree for Me

ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM

Dell Printer Driver Windows Vista™ Premium
Software - Adobe Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
Processor Branding Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
Doms Camera and Color High Res, Black glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LED LCD (1440x900) & 2MP Ca

TOTAL: $2,528

I have no idea what is good and what is bad about this machne. I chose a 15.4in display because thats how large my Timbuk2 laptop bag can hold. Is 17" worth it? I'd have to blow another $200 on a new bag if so.

[Vuitton]

Are dead pixels a serious problem with new laptops? Sager wants to charge $200 for a 30-day gaurantee you wont have any.

I am unsure if its actually worth it to get it or not?

[Vandole]

Bestbuy's clearing out their old laptops for their new ones. im picking this up tomorrow:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....#productdetail

its a pretty good deal from what my tech guru's have said. thought i'd share the wealth, i'll also give a personal review of it at the end of the week with first impressions if anyone wants.
edit: runs HD animu perfectly, scored a 4200 in the ffxi benchmark, the bahamut cutscene was full fps the whole time.

[shiarua]

Vandole, you still running Vista on it? If so, 32-bit or 64-bit and what drivers?

I've got the 6860FX and while it performs well in FFXI, just not as well as I'd like

I like to run FFXI at the max resolution, with the background turned up to twice whatever the max resolution is, no compressed textures, and normal/high shadows. I get around 25fps regularly, otherwise I get between 10-20 in crowded areas.

I've pretty much stopped thinking this is a graphics problem and more of a cpu problem, based on the way DX8 works.

I'm going to throw a new processor in it soon (T9300), so it should perform much better in FFXI.

[Chips]

I'm not computer savvy, and I didn't really read this thread much, so: For $1500, what kind of laptop am I looking for ram wise, ghz wise, computer space and such. If the laptop comes with vista I will not be switching back to XP. Not necessarily a gaming PC, but I will be gaming some. Thanks in advance.

[Chips]

17" WSXGA+ with Fine Bright Technology
Enhanced Multimedia
Security
Upscale Design
Powerful Performance
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium

Specifications
Communications
Modem : None
Bluetooth : BlueCore™ 4 (Bluetooth v2.0+EDR)
Wireless : 802.11 a/g/n
W-LAN Antenna : Triple Hexa-band Antenna
WebCam : Yes(1.3 Mega Pixel)
Security : HDD Security
LAN : Gigabit Ethernet
Input Device
Keyboard : 103Keys with Inlaid Numeric Keypad
Pointing Device : Touchpad with Scroll Function
Expansion Slot
PC Card Slot : ExpressCard/54
Multimedia Card Slot : 4-in-1 (SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro)
Battery
Standard : 6Cell(Li-Ion)
Warranty
LG Canada : 1 Year
Specs
Graphics : NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT (DDR2 512MB VRAM, *TurboCache Support)
Optical Drive : DVD Super Multi Dual Layer (DVD-R/RW, +R/RW, RAM)
AC Adapter : 90W
Weight : 3.4 Kg (with a standard battery)
Processor : Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7500, 4MB L2 Cache, 2.2GHz, 800MHz FSB
Hard Drive : 250GB (S-ATA) 5400RPM
Audio : "2 speakers(1Wx2ea) + 1 sub-woofer(2W)
Input/Output Port : 4xUSB, RJ45, VGA, HDMi, HP-out(w/SPDIF), Mic-in, Line-in, DC In, IEEE1394
Colour : Black and Silver
Memory : 2x1024MB DDR2 (667MHz,Dual Channel Support, Up to 4GB)
Dimensions (WxDxH) : 395.0 x 278.0 x 26.5 ~ 34.9 mm
Operating System : Windows Vista Home Premium
Chipset : Mobile Intel® GM 965 EXPRESS
LCD Display : 17" WSXGA+(1680x1050) with Fine Bright Technology
Resolution : 1680 x 1050


$1,499.99

This a good deal? I might be able to get $200 off aswell.

[Isiolia]

This a good deal? I might be able to get $200 off aswell.

Depends on the manufacturer. This is an LG R700 of some kind I assume? To me, that's pretty much around what it "should" cost, not really a deal. If you can get the money off, maybe better. Haven't seen any of their laptops in person though, so I can't give much of an opinion.

In terms of specs, it's pretty typical. Something to keep in mind is that a 17", ~7.5lb laptop is going to be a bit of a beast to lug around. If you're wanting a laptop to actually take with you on a daily basis, you may be better off with a 14-15.4" range laptop, preferably under 5lbs.

[Chips]

Depends on the manufacturer. This is an LG R700 of some kind I assume? To me, that's pretty much around what it "should" cost, not really a deal. If you can get the money off, maybe better. Haven't seen any of their laptops in person though, so I can't give much of an opinion.

In terms of specs, it's pretty typical. Something to keep in mind is that a 17", ~7.5lb laptop is going to be a bit of a beast to lug around. If you're wanting a laptop to actually take with you on a daily basis, you may be better off with a 14-15.4" range laptop, preferably under 5lbs.

Yes, it is an LG R700, and I won't be taking it around too much.

[Chips]

Processor............ Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 (2.4GHz/800Mhz FSB/3MB cache)
Operating System.......... Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium Edition SP1
System Color and LCD cover Pattern.......... Sapphire Blue
Memory............ 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
LCD Screen........... 17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA
Video Card.............. NVIDIA®GeForce®8700M GT graphics
Label............ Windows Vista™ Premium
Hard Drive........ 320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Adobe Software......... Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0, English
Optical Drive......... 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Card.......... Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
Wireless Networking......... Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-card
Productivity Software....... Microsoft Works 9. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
2nd Controller.......... Logitech® GamePanel Display
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed)......... McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 30-Days
Primary Battery........... 80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Prim
Hardware Services............ 1 Year Return to Depot Service and Technical Support
Online Data Storage........... DataSafe Online Backup 3GB
Processor Branding........... Intel® Core™2 Duo Label
Physics Accelerator........ AGEIA™ PhysX™ Physics Accelerator
Internet Access (ISP)........ No ISP requested
Bluetooth Options......... Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)

How does this one look performance wise with new up and coming games? This is the dell XPS M1730, and would cost $2,039. The dell site says I save $375 somehow... So would this be worth it?

[Isiolia]

That's a good price for that system, likely has the $375 already taken off.

There are a few things that are driving the price as high as it is though.

- RAM. Seriously, I put 4GB of DDR2 667Mhz in my Macbook (pulled out the stock 1GB) for under $100, and that was at Christmas time, and I never sent in the rebate to make it even cheaper. Dell charges $150ish just to go from 2GB to 4GB.
Buying RAM from the OEM is usually pricier than it needs to be.

- The Audigy is -software only-. As in, it's better drivers for the same hardware. Only $25 upgrade, but still.

- HDD is also a good amount to upsize, and is a 5400RPM. Not that it's necessarily bad to have that in a laptop machine, but you're talking something like a $150-160 upcharge when you can buy a 320GB laptop HDD for $115-120.

- You have a standard 1 year warranty.

If you're going to be relying on this, and you can't afford to up and replace it if something bad happens...get an extended warranty that includes accidental damage.
Seriously. As part of my job, I support laptops we provide to student athletes (and sometimes ones we didn't provide). They break them. A lot. It's cost-prohibitive to fix them outside of warranty (as in, $600-700 for a mobo, similar for an LCD, etc).

Even if you treat a laptop well, accidents can happen.

If you're looking to spend that much on a laptop, getting better coverage than the standard warranty would probably be a good idea.

With the machine you spec'ed, you could probably save a few hundred by going with a smaller HD, and upgrading the RAM yourself (or just using the stock 2GB for now). But, up to you. IMO, depends on how readily you can afford it.

[Chips]

That's a good price for that system, likely has the $375 already taken off.

There are a few things that are driving the price as high as it is though.

- RAM. Seriously, I put 4GB of DDR2 667Mhz in my Macbook (pulled out the stock 1GB) for under $100, and that was at Christmas time, and I never sent in the rebate to make it even cheaper. Dell charges $150ish just to go from 2GB to 4GB.
Buying RAM from the OEM is usually pricier than it needs to be.

- The Audigy is -software only-. As in, it's better drivers for the same hardware. Only $25 upgrade, but still.

- HDD is also a good amount to upsize, and is a 5400RPM. Not that it's necessarily bad to have that in a laptop machine, but you're talking something like a $150-160 upcharge when you can buy a 320GB laptop HDD for $115-120.

- You have a standard 1 year warranty.

If you're going to be relying on this, and you can't afford to up and replace it if something bad happens...get an extended warranty that includes accidental damage.
Seriously. As part of my job, I support laptops we provide to student athletes (and sometimes ones we didn't provide). They break them. A lot. It's cost-prohibitive to fix them outside of warranty (as in, $600-700 for a mobo, similar for an LCD, etc).

Even if you treat a laptop well, accidents can happen.

If you're looking to spend that much on a laptop, getting better coverage than the standard warranty would probably be a good idea.

With the machine you spec'ed, you could probably save a few hundred by going with a smaller HD, and upgrading the RAM yourself (or just using the stock 2GB for now). But, up to you. IMO, depends on how readily you can afford it.

Okay, thanks a lot for your input. I'm definitely going to switch some things around and certainly get extended warranty.