Looking for a great gaming laptop for the best price

cronos

Components

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9400 (2.53 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, 6 MB L2 Cache)

Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium SP1- English

Jet Black Colour with Matte Finish

3Yr In-Home Warranty Support, including evenings and Saturdays

15.6in Widescreen Full High Definition (1920x1080) WLED with TrueLife

4096MB 800MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]

250GB (7200RPM) Serial ATA Hard Drive

512MB ATI Mobility RADEON HD 4570

Fixed Internal Blu-ray Disc (DVD+/-RW + BD-ROM) Slot Drive including SW

Primary 9-cell 85 WHr Lithium Ion battery

Intel WiFi Link 5300 Half Mini Card (802.11 a/g/n) (Centrino)

No Bluetooth Upgrade

2.0 Mega pixel Integrated Web Camera

Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard

Accessories

No Accidental Damage Support
DataSafe Online Backup 2GB 1 year

1Yr Limited Warranty - Collect & Return
Studio 1555 Order - Ireland

Wireless Label (Intel Wireless Cards) - Core 2 Duo
Palmrest Standard


Is this the best laptop I can get for gaming at around 1200 euros.

Voodu Child

cronos wrote: »

Is this the best laptop I can get for gaming at around 1200 euros.

No.

HD4570 is very much a mid-range graphics card (link), it would not be considered 'high-end' (as far as gaming goes), and you can do better for the money.

Check out the Asus G50VT, MSI GT725 (17"), MSI GT627 (15").

I have seen some Dell XPS M1730 refurbs (ie basically new) on ebay for around €1200 with 8700M GT SLI (actually one on there from an Irish seller right now, €1200 with a 4-year warranty). Personally I don't recommend the 8700M GT (only a 128-bit card), but at the end of the day, two of them in SLI still perform better than most other mid-range cards. €1200 for one of those is pretty good value. He has one with 9800M GT SLI for €1500, more expensive obviously but if you have the money that will perform miles better in gaming.

Sephiroth_dude

you should have a look on elara.ie you might get a decent gaming laptop on there.

cronos

Thanks, I'm going to look at ebay now. Any suggestions anyone else has would be great? Thanks for everyones help!

cronos

Now im tempted to buy this baby!!

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Dell-XPS-M1730-3-4Ghz-4GB-400GB-SLI-9800M-GTX-LapTOP_W0QQitemZ190314895071QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Laptops_EH?hash=item2c4fa6d6df&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65:3|66:2|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50

Good bit more money than I was thinking though. Is it really a saving of 1400 euro that they say in the add?

Voodu Child

cronos wrote: »

Good bit more money than I was thinking though. Is it really a saving of 1400 euro that they say in the add?

Well the auction has ended, although im sure he will have more of the same spec.

For gaming you don't need the x9000 processor, it's a very expensive processor that adds a huge amount to the price. Just get the cheapest model you can find with 9800M GT SLI, and you will be laughing as far as gaming goes.

Also, in case you are getting confused, note that the 8800M GTX is exactly the same as the 9800M GT. They are literally the same card, no difference whatsoever. And then the 9800M GTX is a small step above.

cronos

Voodu, I think you were right the first time. Was just thinking the processor would make the laptop far faster. But if its a small difference for a far larger price then its not worth it.

ED E

No way you can get a desktop instead? You can get a much nicer display + save a few hundred by buying a desktop.

If you cant, I'd deffo focus primarily on the screen. If you are buying model such and such a model I'd try to see it in store displaying something with alot of fastpaced movement. Screens are given all sorts of ratings, but its best to see them in the flesh IMO.

leninbenjamin

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

No way you can get a desktop instead? You can get a much nicer display + save a few hundred by buying a desktop.

If you cant, I'd deffo focus primarily on the screen. If you are buying model such and such a model I'd try to see it in store displaying something with alot of fastpaced movement. Screens are given all sorts of ratings, but its best to see them in the flesh IMO.

I second this, 1200 could build you a pretty good gaming machine. And you could always buy a netbook for 200 or so if you have to have something portable but don't require it for anything intensive. Still be way under what it would cost to get a high end gaming laptop.

Voodu Child

leninbenjamin wrote: »

I second this, 1200 could build you a pretty good gaming machine. And you could always buy a netbook for 200 or so if you have to have something portable but don't require it for anything intensive. Still be way under what it would cost to get a high end gaming laptop.

You can make that same comment in almost every 'recommend me a laptop' thread here. 'Buy a desktop, much cheaper/more powerful than a laptop'. Great, lets close this forum, no need for it.

Actually, someone usually does :rolleyes:. It is kind of pointless/tiring, and insulting to the intelligence of the OP. I mean, this is the laptop forum, if he has found his way into this section presumeably he wants a laptop for a reason (travels a lot, rents, doesnt have space for a desktop, etc). Give the man some credit instead of pointing out the obvious, do people recommend cars in the motorbikes forum ? :pac:

cronos

Thanks Voodu I was thinking the same thing. My Degree in Computer Science dosent get me much street cred in here haha.

I rent and I don't own a car. So the easier it is for me to move house the better (Cause im also an IT consultant) Also I like to go play with friends in clan matches in limerick, and i live in dublin so I travel down to play with them. Also to go out drinking :P

I don't mind people suggesting a desktop as long as they actually provide a link or a good build of desktop which might tempt me away from a laptop.

Also the naming conventions used by Graphic Card and Processor companies are completely stupid!!! IMO

leninbenjamin

Voodu Child wrote: »

You can make that same comment in almost every 'recommend me a laptop' thread here. 'Buy a desktop, much cheaper/more powerful than a laptop'. Great, lets close this forum, no need for it.

Actually, someone usually does :rolleyes:. It is kind of pointless/tiring, and insulting to the intelligence of the OP. I mean, this is the laptop forum, if he has found his way into this section presumeably he wants a laptop for a reason (travels a lot, rents, doesnt have space for a desktop, etc). Give the man some credit instead of pointing out the obvious, do people recommend cars in the motorbikes forum ? :pac:

First, gaming and laptops do not go together. Cronos has continually stated he wants 'the best', he did not give any specific need or reason for getting a laptop. He could save hundreds by building a desktop. It's not an unreasonable thing to say in this case. It's not a 'i need a laptop for XYZ' thread is it?

:rolleyes: yourself.

i pointed out the possibility of building a gaming machine and buying a laptop with the same budget? what's wrong with that?

cronos

Know of any really good deals on any desktops at the moment leninbenjamin? I would like to hear about any desktop or laptop which is good for gaming and is really good value for money within its own class(ie desktop or laptop)

im told this is a good site http://www3.hardwareversand.de

leninbenjamin

cronos wrote: »

Thanks Voodu I was thinking the same thing. My Degree in Computer Science dosent get me much street cred in here haha.

well apologies for any condescending tone in the posts, but you made life more difficult by starting a thread in three different places and not really being clear as to your requirements in any.

cronos wrote: »

Know of any really good deals on any desktops at the moment leninbenjamin? I would like to hear about any desktop or laptop which is good for gaming and is really good value for money within its own class(ie desktop or laptop)

im told this is a good site http://www3.hardwareversand.de

yup, that's pretty much the best value at the moment for those building their PCs. there are no specific deals though, it's more a case of speccing the components to your needs. building and upgrading would be more relevant for this discussion, have a look through the threads there to see really the possibilities and compare with the laptop route i guess and see which suits your needs more. for example: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=60599696&postcount=11

cronos

leninbenjamin wrote: »

well apologies for any condescending tone in the posts, but you made life more difficult by starting a thread in three different places and not really being clear as to your requirements in any.

No biggie, the thing is I don't really have requirements. That is why I started three threads. One in the building and upgrades to talk about any bargains to be had in desktops. One in laptops to talk about bargain laptops. And one in the bargin alerts section to talk about bargin desktops and laptops.

Im trying to pool as many suggestions from people who know more about these things than me then make my own choice. Im not looking for someone to make the choice for me if that makes any sence. Your suggestion wasnt bad at all. But I have the post to talk about desktops in the desktop section for the reasons you discuss. ie gaming on desktops is cheaper

Voodu has been very helpful so thanks to him too. Its impressive both of ye are up giving people advice at this time in the morning. Anyways night!