New Laptop Advice

Playboy

Hi,

My gf wants to buy a new laptop. Have a maximum of £1500 or €2100 to spend. Will be used for basic internet and office as well as some multimedia and gaming. Want good gaming performance. Also interested in style ..want a nice looking laptop. Not interested in a Mac .. she doensnt really like the look of the dells. Sony are nice looking but not sure on performance. Was also thinking of looking at an alienware? Would appreicate some advice.

PS .. decent battery life is a big plus. Also portability isnt a big issue .. Will mainly be used just at home.

Thanks

AlmightyCushion

Well if she wants a serious gaming laptop she'd be looking at a 17" laptop with either a 7900gs or a 7950gtx. This would only be if she wants to play the newest of games and wants them to run pretty much maxed out. If she is just playing something like the sims then this is overkill and an 8600 card would suit better. What games is she playing?

legs11

wish i had a gf like that huh......;)

a 7950gtx is what you want then. or in layman terms a M1710.

Playboy

Area-51® m9750

Display: 17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD - Stealth Black
Operating System: Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium - English
TV Tuner: None
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7400 2.16GHz 4MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Graphics Processor : Dual 512MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7950 GTX - SLI Enabled
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 1024MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 120GB 7200 RPM SATA
Optical Drive: 8x Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24x CD-RW Combo with Nero Software
Sound Hardware: Intel® High-Definition Audio (24-bit, 192Khz) with surround sound
Keypad: Mobile Keypad - English
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® PRO Wireless 3945 a/b/g Mini-Card
Communications: Integrated 10/1000Mb Gigabit Ethernet & 56K V.92 Modem
Bluetooth: Integrated Bluetooth® Device
Warranty: AlienCare 1-Year Free Phone 24/7 and Collect & Return
Security Software: None
Monitor: (None)


This is the system I am favoring at the moment. Would like vista ultimate for media centre with a tv tuner but Im going too far over budget. The Dual 512MB Nvidia® GeForce™ Go 8700M GT - SLI Enabled is an extra £81 .. Should I go for it or is the 7950 GTX just as good? altogether its going to set me back £1590 sterling. What do you guys think?

AlmightyCushion

Better spec and much cheaper.

http://outlet.dell.com/Emea_Dfo/EuDispatcher?target=SpecPage&serviceTag=0GYDH290&sessionID=H1ftnFLv!662273509!1195319277183

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]XPS M1710 Core 2 Duo Processor T7600 (2.33 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz FSB [/SIZE][/FONT]

Operating System: English - Vista Home Premium
Memory: 2048MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
Hard Disk Drive: 160GB (7200RPM) SATA Hard Drive
Video: 512MB DDR3 nVidia GeForce Go 7950 GTX graphics card
NoteBook Screen: 17.0
Modem: Internal 56K Modem
CD Read-Write Drive: Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
Software: English - Microsoft Works 8
MISC: Inspiron Resource DVD - Vista (Diagnostics & Drivers

Fabio

Go with the Dell that AlmightyCushion pointed out.

Though an inspiron in the right colour may be the way to go and it'd save ou a load of dosh.

Dotfuscator

the Area-51® m9750 will weigh a ton

AlmightyCushion

The one I have linked above doesn't have bluetooth but just to let you know you can buy the modules for it and install it really easily.

Playboy

The Area-51® m9750 has dual 7950 GTX though hasnt it? Or am I reading it wrong? The Dell only has one. And the gf doent want a dell .. (she doesnt like the look of them :rolleyes:) .. she likes the way the alienware looks and the sony viao's. This unfortunately is a big selling point for her.

AlmightyCushion

Playboy wrote: »

The Area-51® m9750 has dual 7950 GTX though hasnt it? Or am I reading it wrong? The Dell only has one. And the gf doent want a dell .. (she doesnt like the look of them :rolleyes:) .. she likes the way the alienware looks and the sony viao's. This unfortunately is a big selling point for her.

I didn't actually notice the dual gtx's, I thought it was just the one. Also does she really need this sort of graphical horse power? What games will she be playing? If she isn't planning on playing the latest games(things like crysis) maxed out then she would be better with something cheaper.

Just to let you know, 2 graphics cards doesn't equal 2 times the performance.

On another note the m1710 actually look nice (unlike the vostro range). I prefer it to the alienware looks wise.

http://www.winhelpline.info/forum/attachments/hardware-news/8215-dell-xps-m1710-reloaded-noch-mehr-ultimatives-gaming-dell_xps_m1710_2.jpg