Notebook

[KBlair]

It would be a nice upgrade if you had the money.

 

[The Napster]

but what kind of power difference are we talkin here? How fast would the cheaper model play WOW, if it can play it with decent frames smoothly then i see no need to spend $300 to get this extra proformance I dont need it to play anything like fear or anything, WOW and the sims 2 with expansion packs would probally be the extent of it unless i attempt hl2. I also dont like the 17" screen or the touch pad on the left side of the keyboard. I would perfer a smaller profile laptop but with a good punch for around $850-$1100.

unless the 7200 has poor proformance then i would like to stick with the one i showed above. (im sorta comparing it to ati igp 345m which is what my dads laptop has and i wouldnt touch anything with proformance even near that thing)

 

[KBlair]

You should be able to play both those games with the cheaper laptop with a decent framerate.

 

[The Napster]

ok guys, hows this..... the total price is $1,166.70 with tax and shipping (which tax WAS charged and shipping wasnt free)

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5600 (1.83GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™
Hard Drive 120GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Combo or DVD+RW Drive 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Options Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ HD Software Edition

its a little more than the compaq and i could downgrade the processor to 1.66ghz and save a lil bit. In your opinion which would be the best? this recent build is a dell and i hate dells but i might have to settle for one

 

[Jorsoft]

It seems okay-still turbocached, though. Games like WoW and the sims 2 will run fine but it's going to be the games you want to play 1 or 2 years from now that you're going to have problems with. A 7600/1600 dedicated card is going to make a huge difference then. Try building a notebook on these sites and see how they stack up. I went through a lot of this 4 months ago when I got mine so I know how it feels...
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INT...ore/en/-/USD/SY_CTO-Start?ProductSKU=M1NBFA06
http://www.avadirect.com/Notebooks
www.abs.com

Sony is actually very decent as far as pricing if you customize one directly from them. Avadirect is an MSI reseller-very highly rated company.

 

[The Napster]

I really like this sony, downside is that its about $250 more, charges tax ($80) and doesnt have a free media center upgrade, but i guess i can live with xp home. The hard drive is 20G smaller than the hp but this would be what i would buy.

LCD Display:
15.4" WXGA TFT with XBRITE-HiColor Technology and MOTION EYE Camera

Graphics Card:
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600

Wireless Lan:
Wireless LAN (802.11a\b\g)

Processor:
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5500 / ICD 1.66 GHz

Memory:
1 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-533, 512 MBx2) Windows Vista Premium Ready

Hard Drive:
100 GB Hard Disk Drive

Optical Drive:
DVD+-R DL_DVD+-RW_DVD-RAM Drive

Operating System:
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Battery:
Standard Capacity Lithium-ion Battery (BPS2B)

Pre-Installed Office Software:
Microsoft Works 8.5

Movie Pack:
None Movie Pack

Photo Software:
Photo Standard

Music Software:
Music Plus

Video Software:
Video Standard

Engraving:
Engraving

its $ 1,354.72 including tax and shipping. I really like this one, but its alot more expensive than the other one, but i guess if i could get the money it would be worth it in the long run.

 

[The Napster]

ok ive shopped around somemore and i found a dell that i really like (hard to beleive since i pretty much hate dell) It lookes like a really good deal to me, but it doesnt have a fully dedicated graphics card, it has the ati X1400. I know it has issues with sims 2, but its fixable and i googled wow on it and they say it plays it very nicely.

Heres the complete specs
Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7200 (2.00GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory™
Hard Drive 80GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Combo or DVD+RW Drive 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Sound Options Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ HD Software Edition
Wireless Networking Cards Dell Wireless 1390b/g (54Mbps)

i applied a coupon and got $250 off so the subtotal is $1,018
bringing the grand total to $1082 after tax and free shipping

 

[Jorsoft]

The video isn't as good as I'd want it to be-you might have some trouble a year or two from now. But honestly I don't think you can do better for only a grand. Lemme try and find something....

 

[The Napster]

ok jsut to follow up this forum, if you guys wanted to know how it turned out, i bought the dell with the ati x1400 and i really enjoy it. It playes WOW very nicely now (i have a post in the hardware troubleshooting section explaining the little incedent i had with the sims 2) I have wow on moderatly high settings and it looks about as good as my desktop, only the desktop has everything all the way up. The core 2 duo is very quick and this thing mulitasks like a mother. Came with a bunch of software crap which i took off as soon as i got it. Plays dvds and high def video flawless, looks insane.

I am very satisfied with my purchase, i have only had it for 1 day though so i havnt fully tested it out yet. I hope to try hl2 out very soon, ill let you kno how that goes too.

 

[Jorsoft]

Sounds good, like I said it looked real good for the money. Glad it's working out well for ya