1600 Euro budget? Dell Vostro still the best bet for desktop replacement laptop?

You can get better gaming laptops with the 8700GT, in and around that price range, and you can get even better cards then that but you'd be creeping closer to 2k. But the 8600GT is the best you will get in the Vostros.

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/Asus_G1S_Gaming_Laptop_G1S-AK005C/version.asp

Take a look at that for example - on the surface, yes its much more expensive then the Vostros and still only has an 8600GT. But, it comes with free carry case and mouse etc, and most importantly, the 8600GT is DDR3 compared to the Vostros 8600GT's DDR2 - which can translate anywhere from a 10-70% difference in performance depending on the game. Particularly in newer games it'll show up.

It really isn't terrible for the price - you have bluetooth, camera, carry case, mouse, etc, plus the ddr3 is a huge factor for games. If you upgraded the Vostros to the max with the same specs - camera, bluetooth, 2.2Ghz processor, etc, you'd still save but not a massive amount.

On the other hand, you can get a 1500 or 1700 with the 8600GT, 2Gb of Ram and 2Ghz processor for about 950-1050k - which would leave you a large chunk of money left over to do whatever the hell you wanted. Or, for piece of mind, take out full accidental cover insurance with dell, and still have 100 or 200 quid left. It's good peace of mind.

What sort of games do you play? Check out here for my 8600Gt screenshot thread. You can use it to judge whether how it runs is good enough for you. Most games I play are FPS, typically the most demanding type of game by far. If you're more of a Pro Evo/Fifa player or whatever, then the 8600GT in the vostros would cut through those games easily, the asus ddr3 model for example would mainly benefit the latest demanding games.