Decent Laptop for Gaming?

Shinryu

So, I've finally decided I want to upgrade my current laptop for one with a bit more power to it. Recently, this one caught my attention:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...50242&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1218012522418

The NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS graphics seems good to me, 512 graphics memory seems to be above what most laptops offer, as the common graphics card seem to hover around NVIDIA 7800 at best, which is what, 128+ memory or so? I've seen laptops offering 1 GB memory graphics cards, but they are both more expensive than I want to pay ($1000+) and have larger screens than I like (17 inch+). So along with the 4 GB of memory and 250 GB hard drive, it should perform well as it runs at 2 GHz.

Now generally, the games I play aren't Crysis-level demanding, about the most taxing of them is Bioshock I think (which incidentally my current laptop is too dated to run effectively, if at all, I also play WoW a lot). Vista of course sucks (never tried the 64 bit version, though I heard it's troublesome like it's 32 bit cousin with some programs), but can't do much in that area, as I have no clue how to drop it for XP.

So, what do you all think? Good buy, or are there better options?
 
Shinryu said:
Now generally, the games I play aren't Crysis-level demanding, about the most taxing of them is Bioshock I think
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just an fyi, according to can you run it, bioshock is exactly as demanding as crysis. I checked before I got bioshock, already having crysis. in practise, crysis runs much better for me than bioshock (which lags like a bitch due for a spank and I don't know why)
Upa said:
Vista works better for games than XP. Especially on Laptops. otherwise yeah, good.
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although I know nothing really about vista, my pc logic tells me that can't be true because vista is so taxing on the system?
 
Vista's not particularly taxing with the recent service packs and whatnot, and it has DirectX 10 where XP does not.
 
I recently purchased a dell xps m1530 which came with similar specs nvidia geforce 8600 GT (higher up than the GS cards), 4 gb ram, a 250 gb hdd @7200 rpm, and the same processor at a higher speed (mine came at 2.5 ghz while the one you linked is 2.0 ghz) the increased processor speed was a difference of a few hundred dollars from 2.0-2.6

The 8600 GT can handle all modern games with at least low to medium settings. However, I am constantly warned that it will have trouble handling graphic intensive games in the near future. For example I play AA and AA 3.0 is coming out with a huge leap in system requirements. I imagine the same can be said for the card you are looking at powering a smaller screen (15.4 vs. 14.3)

For a gaming machine I honestly think you can get a much better value with a desktop. I spent about $1700 and know I could have gotten a high performance desktop that would be more "future proof" so I have some regrets. However, I didn't buy primarily for gaming.

$650 would seem like a great deal comparable to what I paid but be aware of what they are skimping on. The sound card is hardly specified, a 1280 x 800 resolution standard issue (mine came with 1440 x 900) battery probably lacking, the hdd is @5400rpm (kind of slow used in value machines) if you haven't noticed solid state drives are becoming popular which are much faster and usually smaller and much more expensive atm they will eventually make hdd obsolete.

However, I do like that it is running 64 bit which means it will be easy to upgrade with the tradeoff of lacking in compatibility for a while. You can purchase some more ram (32 bit can only handle a max of about 3 GB) and probably upgrade the graphics card if you buy it and find it is under performing. If you buy from a place like tigerdirect separate hardware is much cheaper than buying it preinstalled.

My xps m1530 runs vista Home Premium 32 bit and I have run into some problems but not resource related. The security features require you to run things as an administrator all the time which can get annoying. However, I've heard of the same problems with xp sp2.
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Overall if I was buying I would say it looks like a good deal. If you're on a budget and you don't mind the smaller screen (may be harder to see) or you want portability than it's great. The reviews on it all look good. Because it does have a smaller screen the specs go farther. Furthermore, it looks easily upgradeable. I kind of wish I bought something like this and saved myself an extra grand for slightly lower performance and greater portability.
 
Laptops aren't built for gaming, really. If you want a decent gaming laptop you really have to shell out for a custom-built or at least specialised one. On the other hand, individual high-end desktop PC components are relatively cheap and building a PC can be a fun learning experience.. Basically if you've got the cash, the space and the inclination, build yourself a desktop. It'll be faster and cheaper.
 
I actually just purchased an Alienware m15x and it truly is a gaming machine. Its handled everything I've thrown at it and is more than suitable. They tend to get a little pricey though.
 
The GS cards aren't too hot. What is your budget exactly? If you want your laptop to run games well, you'd probably need to look at least the $900 - $1000 range.
 
Surgo said:
Vista's not particularly taxing with the recent service packs and whatnot, and it has DirectX 10 where XP does not.
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Depends really, Vista is still a RAM Hog, but if you have 4 gigs (I believe is the standard for "gamer" builds) you wont even feel the difference.

However! having DirectX 10 installed will make you have a less enjoyable time playing Dx9 games.

Stick to XP IMO, Vista is not worth it, more so considering that Windows 7 is just around the corner (and it appears to be Microsoft's first true upgrade in a long while)
 
Pyr0 said:
However! having DirectX 10 installed will make you have a less enjoyable time playing Dx9 games.
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Uh, what the hell are you talking about?

Vista uses more RAM than XP but it's less of a RAM hog than people give it credit for...a lot of it is aggressive caching (which is quite helpful).
 
I have an HP HDX18 (with Vista), and it has performed really well so far. I play the new Prince of Persia, GTA IV, and Far Cry 2 at good graphics settings. The laptop might be a bit expensive, but it's worth it. Dell's new 16 inch laptop and the HP HDX 16 are also good choices for gaming. They aren't gaming laptops per se however. Well, neither is the HDX 18, but I'm not complaining :)
 
Well, first of all, thanks for the comments, definitely have been helpful.

@FDS: I personally like smaller screens, I've never had problems reading them. Plus, larger screens are a pain in the ass to haul around, as they also tend to weigh more. SSDs, eh, I don't think much of them at all right now, they are the future, but many still lack in actual storage capacity in the present. When I move on out (I go to college from home, much cheaper imo), I'll plan on getting a PC, at least they are more easily upgradeable than a laptop.

Also, it's funny, I walk into Best Buy planning on buying the above laptop, when all of a sudden, I see its brother right next door:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9050055&st=asus&type=product&id=1218012612475

So at the price they had it in stores ($760, as opposed to $1049 usually), I couldn't resist, so I got it, lol. Saving $300 is always good, comes with a bigger hard drive (320 GB), better graphics card (1 GB), Vista 64 bit (eh, don't notice much difference, I hate Vista anyways), and a faster processer (2.26 opposed to 2 GHz). Overall, pretty happy with it so far (damn hard drive was only 287 GB as opposed to 320 GB, whoever makes these hard drives need to be sued for false advertising), but it works pretty damn fine imo. In a way, I guess I did get a $1000 laptop, lol.

Again, thanks for all your help guys!
 
If you had more money, you could have gotten a Thinkpad W700ds, dual screen laptop with quad core
 
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