$1500ish "gaming" laptop purchase, help!

[nitevision88]

I was all set and ready to buy the Asus F3JP-AS096C for gaming/college purposes, which I think would have been pretty solid, but the company I was buying it from, CDW, had it on backorder. In their infinite wisdom, they accepted my order, and when I went in to check on it, it said the product was discontinued.

Now, I suppose I could go buy this laptop on Newegg, as they seem to have some left, but I'm a little sketched out now that it was "discontinued."

All I want is a laptop that I can use to play some games on maybe medium to high end settings for at least 18 months, until I can build another desktop (that's smaller than the outdated one I have now, housed in a gigantic full ATX tower case).

I was hoping to spend around $1500, but I'd like to know what graphics card to look for -- Now I'm thinking that maybe I should try to get a Santa Rosa CPU now that I'm looking around again... but these are the specs I'm thinking:

-Asus or other non-****** brands preferred
-Wide Screen 15.4" display, at least 1440x900 resolution
-Core2Duo CPU of sorts, around 2.0ghz
-120-160GB hard drive
-1gig of ram (1 dimm) (or 2gigs, but I was planning on just installing a gig which is usually less expensive)
-DVD burner
-Webcam, if possible
-Dedicated graphics card that is actually good

 

[OnlyCurious]

Get a Dell when it comes to laptops. And use those online coupons they have, they just remodeled the notebooks so coupons are probably not going to be available for a while (too bad the new ones don't have DVI LOL, mine does and it's the older model).
Here is what I would do if 1500 is ur budget. This comes out to $1,524 (might want to look for coupons online... might bring it down a couple hundred).

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium Edition
Glossy, high contrast, widescreen 17.0 inch display (1440 x 900)
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
Size: 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Mini-card
Integrated 2.0 Megapixel Webcam
56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
High Definition Audio 2.0
My Software & Accessories
McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 15-months
Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD
Yahoo! Music Jukebox - Music Player
My Service
2 Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor - Next Business Day
Free 3 GB Online Backup for 1Yr
No ISP requested
Also Includes
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Windows Vistaâ„¢ Premium
Intel Centrino Core Duo Processor
Premium Deep Navy Blue with Soft Touch LCD back color w/ 2.0M pixel Camera
Inspiron 1720

Oh, and I have a e1705... with core duo 1.83ghz... had it for about.. almost 2 years... and it's still solid.. I love it.. but imma build a desktop soon which will own everything i have. LOL

 

[zmatt]

IBuyPower Computer :: Battalion 101 HEL-80 Notebook

i buypower is a good off brand. that has a 2ghz core2, 2 gigs of ram, 160gb hard drive, and Go 7600 video card all for under $1500.

 

[OnlyCurious]

IBuyPower Computer :: Battalion 101 HEL-80 Notebook

i buypower is a good off brand. that has a 2ghz core2, 2 gigs of ram, 160gb hard drive, and Go 7600 video card all for under $1500.

or that. but it looks CHEAP. Atleast my dell is good quality.. even has a magnesium alloy case.
You really do get what you pay for. Although Dell does overcharge a bit... they've been getting better. lol

 

[zmatt]

Lol, dell makes good laptops for general use and the XPS kicks butt but it also burns a hole in your wallet. a good deal of the cost comes from the dell name. if you go with someone like I Buypower or cyberpower, who uses ASUS designs (superior) and have just as good warranties then its a no brainer. only downside is that they don't sell lower end laptops (sub $900) but they make enthusiast rigs anyways so who cares?

 

[Snake91839]

completely agree with zmatt, cyberpower is the way to go, Ibuypower is ok too. But the thing is, no matter what, your laptop will not run any game like a desktop would, If you want this laptop for minor gaming, meaning you can play games, but it's not your priority, I strongly recommend an IBM Lenovo or a Macbook Pro, probably more towards IBM though.

IBM is expensive, but their Thinkpads are by far the best performing laptops I've ever been around. They don't have great video card options, but It will run high end games decently, just not the same as a desktop would.

Overall, I would say Cyberpower is the best if you want gaming in a laptop, but that's not really what a laptop is best at

But, if you want more towards college needs, and still be able to game, I would at least take a look at Lenovo.

 

[zmatt]

snake has a good point. the most powerful laptop is closer in gaming performance to a midrange desktop and probably cost 4 times as much. i have a celeron notebook with interagted intel and it can play halo fine, with the 7600 you are looking at stuff like CS:S, Fear on medium, maybe oblivion (it kill my 7900 gs).

I used to have an IBM, they are solid as a rock, as for Lenovo I dont know if the reliability carried over but i havent heard anything bad about them. I have never gamed on an IBM anyways since the thinkpads are business machines, but you can put a card in some of the more expensive ones.


EDIT:
i just checked lenovo's site, your grahpics options are : radeon x1400 (decent but the 7600 in the ibupower is better) FireGL (workstation is not built for gaming) and intel integrated.

I htink for your needs the ibuypower laptop i chose will be better.


also i tried to configure a thinkpad and for similar specs you get a higher price
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/...ava-configure?x=x&sb=:00000025:0000014E:&rid=[:000000A6:]

but with the thinkpad you get stuff like IBM reliability (they designed the thinkpads even tho lenovo makes em now)
stuff like a fingerprint reader if you are paranoid and some extra cool business stuff.

 

[maroon1]

HP is the best manufacture for laptops

 

[nitevision88]

Thanks for the advice, appreciated thus far.

A couple things-

I'm a little sketch about buying a Dell, just because of their weight and price issues ($1700... a liiiittle too pricey), however the 1520 Inspiron looked decent, since you could add the 8600M GT.

I originally was considering Lenovo, but I need a dedicated graphics card, and I don't know if the ones they offer aren't really going to do it - and the hardware configurations I saw from them seem really gimpy to be running Vista Business. I also considered a Macbook Pro, but I couldn't justify even a discounted price.

I guess a more conservative notebook would probably be best, something with the x1700 or 7600 of sorts would do fine for me. I haven't been "gaming" that much recently anyways, just the occasional single player Far Cry. Mainly, I need a workhorse computer that's in the 5/6lbs ballpark. Perhaps even the 15.4" screen is unnecessary, but with all of the multi-tasking I do, 1440x900 res is key.

 

[OnlyCurious]

Thanks for the advice, appreciated thus far.

A couple things-

I'm a little sketch about buying a Dell, just because of their weight and price issues ($1700... a liiiittle too pricey), however the 1520 Inspiron looked decent, since you could add the 8600M GT.

How'd you get $1700? My first response to this post has all the things you want for $1524 (inspiron 1720, 17" screen; you're looking at the 1520 which is the smaller one 15.4"). I don't think you mentioned weight being an issue.. .