Best Overall PC Laptop: build quality + good for gaming

[shivohum]

Any recommendations for something that fits the following specs:

-HIGH build quality... IBM laptops used to fill this spot. do they still?
-especially looking for a good keyboard
-under 6 lbs
-long battery life
-would be good for gaming -- should play something like warcraft 3 or monopoly tycoon very smoothly
-excellent built-in wireless card
-USB2 would be nice
-HIGH QUALITY service and support

Any recommendations? I'm thinking of a T42... are there better possibilities? What about Hypersonic laptops or the like?

 

[Robor]

I love my T42 but I haven't done any gaming on it. I did load HL2 but haven't actually done any playing.

 

[Frightcrawler]

IBM fills the spot except for gaming...
Depending on the model, it MIGHT be able to play warcraft 3 smoothly (aim for at least 64mb radeon 9600)

 

[Pandaren]

WarCraft III plays fine on my T40 (1.30 GHz, Radeon 7500 32MB) at 1024x768 and medium settings. If you want to play Half Life 2 well you should get at least a Radeon 9600 class card with 64 MB at a minimum (safer with 128 MB).

 

[vwtankgirl]

I had a Sony Viao... those babies are built like Tanks. I played turn based games mostly. (Masters of Orion, Civ2) If you didn't go with the Sony, then the IBM is a good 2nd choice. My current LT is an IBM and I am happy with it.

 

[halfadder]

IBM

 

[fbrdphreak]

I think the Sony's USED to be built like tanks. I've handled almost all of their latest models (15.4", 17", & 13.3" models) and while their build quality isn't bad by any means, I wouldn't call it tank-like or put it up there with IBM.
As of last fall, the T42's came with Radeon 9600 64MB or a FireGL T2 128MB graphics card on the high end. The T2 isn't really worth it IMO 'cuz its drivers are designed for 3D design, not 3D gaming. The 9600 is a better buy offering practically identical performance. Hopefully they have updated the 9600's with 9700 128's or maybe eventually a 9800. Either way, I've played NFSU, Manhunt, & several other games well on it. Older games run well @ max resolution, newer ones you might have to drop down a bit but still play nice. One key thing is to use the Omega drivers instead of the OEM ones, as they do GREATLY increase gaming performance. I went from only being able to run NFSU @ 1024x768 w/med details to 1280x1024 w/max details, very smoothly. :thumbsup:
IBM's are usually under 6 pounds, but you will want to go with the 9-cell battery. The 6-cell will get you 2.5-3.5 hours of general usage, depending on wifi & brightness, etc. The 9-cell should improve that quite a bit, but I've not gotten one yet. Also, a 7200 RPM drive is a much if you plan on gaming. That will make a big performance difference. Lastly, depending on how portable you want to be, get the 14" SXGA+ or 15" SXGA+ or 15" UXGA. I wish I'd gotten the UXGA now, but the price diff was huge at the time. However, 15" SXGA+ is very very usable for general usage and gaming is fine. The 14" is more portable, but I hear they don't offer "Flexview" on those screens, which as I understand it greatly improves brightness, viewing angle, etc.
IBM keyboards rock, best one I've ever used.
Wifi card is good also. Usual load on the nicer T42's is a tri-band a/b/g card that unofficially supports SuperG (108mbps). The Intel 2200b/g card would be a better choice if you don't need A, 'cuz it has better power management features.
USB2 is included, but only 2 ports and no Firewire. That's the only thing I don't like, limited ports/expansion in that regards.
Customer service is unrivaled IMO. You call & are almost immediately connected to somebody in GEORGIA, not India. Fast shipping of parts, overall awesome cust support.
[/End Pro-IBM Rant ]
Write back w/more questions

 

[shivohum]

excellent responses. thanks.

 

[Robor]

Definitely get a SXGA+ 1400x1050 if you're going to go with a non-widescreen version. The extra desktop space is totally worth it and on an LCD the smaller text is still easy to read. My old lappy was a 14" 1024x768 and I couldn't go back to that.

Lappy's are funny. Everyone has their favorite that fits them best. Continue to do your research and learn more about what best fits your needs and go with it. One thing I'd like to add is my brother and I just setup a lappy for our mom. It's a 4-5 year old IBM P3 model but I swear the keyboard feels the same as my new T42 and it's still rock solid - the display has no play. These things are just built well.

Thanks to fbrdphreak for the reply about the Omega drivers. I haven't used my T42 for gaming yet but if I do I'll give them a try.

 

[jzdenton]

Depending on how hardcore gaming you want you'll be hard pressed to find anything under 6 lbs. Warcraft 3 shouldn't be a problem though. Personally I like the Acer laptops and though I'm not certain of the weight the Ferarri's are especially nice.

 

[Turkish]

IBM > *

You cannot build IBM build quality & customer service. My friend's T42p was shipped with the slowest shipping method and it got there with a cracked LCD screen. After a short phone call to IBM at 4:30 PM, they shipped him a new one the same day with Next Day Air. Now that's what I call service, shipping a laptop after 4:30 PM :thumbsup:

IBM is coming up with the all-new T43 in a month, and T43p in 3 months.

 

[Wuzup101]

IBM is definitely the way to go... build quality is the best of any PC notebook I've ever seen...

 

[czech09]

R3000z can't beat the a64 procs

 

[neoreturns]

Originally posted by: The Boss
IBM > *

You cannot build IBM build quality & customer service. My friend's T42p was shipped with the slowest shipping method and it got there with a cracked LCD screen. After a short phone call to IBM at 4:30 PM, they shipped him a new one the same day with Next Day Air. Now that's what I call service, shipping a laptop after 4:30 PM :thumbsup:

IBM is coming up with the all-new T43 in a month, and T43p in 3 months.

Be wary of the T43, IBM isn't actually building it. Its made by a third party and being rebadged by IBM. I have no idea why they are doing this.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: neoreturns

Originally posted by: The Boss
IBM > *

You cannot build IBM build quality & customer service. My friend's T42p was shipped with the slowest shipping method and it got there with a cracked LCD screen. After a short phone call to IBM at 4:30 PM, they shipped him a new one the same day with Next Day Air. Now that's what I call service, shipping a laptop after 4:30 PM :thumbsup:

IBM is coming up with the all-new T43 in a month, and T43p in 3 months.

Be wary of the T43, IBM isn't actually building it. Its made by a third party and being rebadged by IBM. I have no idea why they are doing this.

Uhm..... Every ThinkPad since the T30 or earlier hasn't been built by IBM directly... up until the sale of their PC division last month, their lappys were made in co-owned IBM facilities with two or three different manufacturers. Co-owning gave IBM some degree of control of the environment and oversight I would guess.

The real deal with the T43 is the fact that It's still IBM _Lenovo hasn't taken full control of the PC family yet nor will the product change much for the next 18 months or so as that's how much product planning was in the pipes so to speak. Also, the T43 will have the better chipsets for gaming--not only because it is new, but it's the first ThinkPad with PCIe on board.