Anything better than this dell?

[Mesix]

I priced out a 15.4" dell with a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, 1 gig RAM, best screen, etc etc, it was basically loaded besides ram and HD, which I'd upgrade later.

Problem is, it comes with an X1400. I don't play many games, but I'm selling my desktop (Venice @ 2.5, X800XL) and I would like to know I COULD play a game or two.

This ultimately came out to $1200 ish after coupons and I was wondering if there were comparable laptops (The T7200 is a plus, I want lots of CPU power for audio) by other companies with something a little better then the X1400? Is the X1400 good for DVDs and such? Would I be okay if all I want is maybe a little RTS here and there, maybe counterstrike source?

 

[alimoalem]

i'm not sure how the x1400 is but you should look into asus if you want a good graphic card in a sub-17" laptop

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Why not just go for the dell e1705 with the 7900gs?

 

[JBDan]

I have the E1505 w/ the x1400 & the 1.66GHz C2D ($903). Its fine for gaming at 1024x768 and below for the later games w/o all the eye candy. My opinion is just to stick to a dsktop for high-end gaming and casual game on a lap unless you truly want a dsktop replacement. CS:S you will probably have to run 800x600 w/o eye candy, but it will be very playable. DVD's and even HD (WMV-HD 720P & H.264 720P) runs perfect with the x1400. The C2D's are so fast IMO you could save some money by going with a lesser CPU, but maybe your needing the extra juice for audio like you say. I have a X2 3800+ overclocked @ 2.4GHz and my C2D @ 1.66GHz feels just as fast if not faster. The X1600 or the 7600Go however is leaps and bounds above the X1400 in gaming so maybe look for a laptop with those cards if you want better gaming performance. Those cards however will knock considerable battery time off though. Good luck

 

[Mesix]

Basically what I'm asking is if there are any other 15" C2Ds in the same price range?

It sounds like I could get by with the X1400 though


Anything coming out soon in the next month I should hold off for?

 

[irishScott]

The comp I'm currently posting off of (Acer Travelmate 8200) has a mobility X1600 with 256 MB discrete, 512 with hypermemory. It's currently in the $2000 range, but now that it's being phased out by the 8210, prices should drop sometime in the near future.

 

[postmortemIA]

Pretty much no 15" laptop has better graphics than X1400. 7600, 7900 need bigger design for cooling reasons, so they usually come on 17" laptops (HP, Dell).

X1400 is solid solution for such a low price.

 

[HomeyFoos]

Everything I've heard about mobile gpu's tells me the x1400 is pretty much an entry-level gaming card. You can play today's titles at lower resolutions with not many bells and whistles. But it will play. The 7600 and now, the 7700, can be found in 14.1" lappy's these days, but they are rather expensive. For the record, the 7600Go scores about 3500 in 3dMark05. To put that in context, I used to own a Pentium 4 s478 system w/ a 6600GT AGP card in it. It scored about the same. I could play BF2 on low/low-med settings and no AA at 1024x768.

I have said this probably 10 times here, but I'm shopping for a barebones lappy w/ the 7600/x1600 or better at 14.1" or less. I've come up dry, though I have found some 15.4" options that do come w/ the 7600. The ComPal HEL80 comes to mind as does the Asus Z62F. But these are supposed to be barebones systems. The Asus ensemble series are pre-fabed notebooks and are pretty much exactly what you are looking for but can't be had for less than, say, $1500ish.

I have a really hard time recommending Acer, but they usually have a notebook floating around the $1100 price range that has some decent options and the MRx1600. The only problem w/ Acer is on the low end, their build quality is TERRIBLE. Friend of mine dropped his acer off the kitchen table and there is now a corner missing from his case. Like, the plastic broke away and there is a hole where the corner used to be. Also, his machine is probably a year old and it looks like he drug to work behind his car. The lcd panel is starting to get loose and won't stay in certain positions, the keyboard is getting softer and when I type on it, it feels like I'm going to push a key too hard and break the keyboard in half. And this is just touch-typing, not the 1finger hunt'n'peckin' that some employ. So, again. In a way, you are getting what you pay for. Though, if you baby it, I think the Acer will be fine, I would spend my money elsewhere. However, it's REALLY hard to beat that array of features for the price.