sub $1000 gaming notebook

[papaschtroumpf]

My budget is limited to about $1000. Can I get anything that will play games like City of Heroes and Wow at a decent framerate? I don't expect full eye candy but something halfway decent.
How about upcoming games like UT2007?

 

[andrewbabcock]

UT2007 no not really. City of Heroes and WoW shouldn't be too hard, especially with Dell coupons... E1705 at a pretty bare config with a 1.83 C2D however:
Inspiron E1705:
Intel® Core? 2 Duo processor T5600 (2MB Cache/1.83GHz/667MHz FSB) ZDM18HN [222-4794] 1
Operating System:
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 WMCE [310-7149][412-0689][412-0911][420-4928][420-5460][420-5476][420-5755][420-576
][420-5924][463-2282] 11
Upgrade to Windows Vista:
No Express Upgrade to Windows Vista Selected NVISUPG [420-6431] 201
LCD Panel:
17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Display 17XGAL [320-4558] 2
Memory:
1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 1G2D [311-5634] 3
Hard Drive:
80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive 80GB [341-2943] 8
Combo or DVD+RW Drive:
24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive 24COMBO [313-3865] 16
Video Card:
256MB ATI MOBILITY? RADEON® X1400 HyperMemory 256ATI [320-4561] 6
Sound Options:
Integrated Audio IS [313-4217] 17
Network Card:
Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem INTNIC [430-0493] 13
Adobe Software:
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0 ADOBER [412-0917] 15
Miscellaneous:
Award Winning Service and Support E1705S2 [464-9630] 82
Future Operating Systems:
Windows Vista? Capable VISTAC [465-4663] 118
Processor Branding:
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor IC2DNB [310-8319] 749
Primary Battery:
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery 6BAT [312-0375] 27
Wireless Networking Cards:
Dell Wireless 1390b/g (54Mbps) TM1390 [430-1903] 19
Office Software (not included in Windows XP):
No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD IWRK [412-0915] 22
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed):
No Security Subscription NS [412-0850] 25
Dell Digital Entertainment:
Trial pack- Basic and trial products from Corel and Yahoo SEP [412-0865] 399
Warranty and Service:
1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service ST111RR [950-3337][950-9057][960-2780][970-1870][983-8349] 29
Internet Access Service:
6 Months of America Online Membership Included AOLDHS [412-0787][412-0934][412-0935][412-0938][420-3224] 37
$1078 and possibly less with a coupon

You won't be able to play UT2007 but for $1000, this is essentially the best you've got. Don't let anyone else tell you how bad dell is because in your case, there aren't really other options. The screen, speakers, etc. will be very good but the durability and build quality will not be as good. WoW and city of heroes should easily be played on this config at medium settings at least. I hope this helps.

 

[andrewbabcock]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834220092 may be another option for you as well even though its $1200... Here , it is claimed that a 7300go is plenty of hardware to run WoW.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

what does C2D mean?

 

[andrewbabcock]

Originally posted by: papaschtroumpf
what does C2D mean?

Core 2 Duo, intel's most current processor.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

duh! ok. (I'm an AMD fan boy but I still know what Core 2 Duo means)

is XGA good enough? I know it's expensive but I'd be tempted to go to UXGA, even though it'll mean not playing native resolution in games.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

I can configure an E1505 with the same components for the same pirce. Why is the 17" the same price as the 15"? what am I missing otherwise?
The 1505 supposedly comes at a higher discount, so before discount it would be more expensive.

 

[andrewbabcock]

Originally posted by: papaschtroumpf
I can configure an E1505 with the same components for the same pirce. Why is the 17" the same price as the 15"? what am I missing otherwise?
The 1505 supposedly comes at a higher discount, so before discount it would be more expensive.

For gaming, i would highly reccomend the 17" screen, especially if you plan to keep it on your desk most of the time.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

agreed, I'm just surprised the E1505 camout to be the same price for a virtually identical configuration. Why is the base price of the 1505 so much more expensive since it's got the smaller display?

 

[RichieZ]

doesn't hyper memory mean that it uses the system memory?

 

[ViperV990]

Not sure about WoW, but CoH/CoV doesn't run too well on ATI cards, apparently because ATI only optimizes its OpenGL driver for Doom3/Quake4. Check the official board.

 

[andrewbabcock]

Then he should go with the 7300go...

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: andrewbabcock
Then he should go with the 7300go...

i hear the 7300go sucks...

i would go with the x1400 at least (or 7400) but try saving up for the 7900GS

 

[Rockinacoustic]

If you want to game go for at Least a go7600/ MR x1600. Anything below won't really suffice for what you want to play. I have the x1400 and it's decent, but it wont power anything beyond 1024 x 768 resolution very well, and the go7300/7400 are just as weak.

The Dell Inspiron e1705 is probably the best bang for the buck gaming laptop (w/ the 7900gs of course) with the price and dell's coupons to top it off. The words 'gaming' and '$1000 laptop" hardly ever fit in the same sentence.

 

[imported_ToySoldier]

Originally posted by: papaschtroumpf
My budget is limited to about $1000. Can I get anything that will play games like City of Heroes and Wow at a decent framerate? I don't expect full eye candy but something halfway decent.How about upcoming games like UT2007?

I ended up buying this Alienware for $999 + s/h. They had a special going on last week. If your patient, I'm sure they will offer it again. Or juts ask them... the worst they can say is no. http://www.alienware.com/Configurator_P...-LT-AREA51M5550-R3&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

I dont play WoW but I do play D&D Online + NeverWinter Nights 1 and it plays just fine... even with a little eye candy turned on. Eventually I'm going to upgrade to 1GB+ Ram when prices get lower after Christmas.

Area-51® m5550

Processor: Intel® Core? 2 Duo Processor T5500 1.66GHz 2MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Display: Alienware® m5550 15.4" WideXGA 1280 x 800 LCD - Saucer Silver
Motherboard: Alienware® Intel® 945PM + ICH7 Chipset
Memory: 512MB Single Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 1 x 512MB
System Drive: 60GB Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 5,400 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 24x10x24 CD-RW / 8X DVD Combo w/Software MPEG2 Decoder
Video/Graphics Card: 256MB NVidia® GeForce? Go 7600

SubTotal: $999

 

[papaschtroumpf]

it looks like they have the same atm but with a lower video card right? is that what the special was? upgraded video card?

 

[papaschtroumpf]

$100 shipping kills the deal - even without tax

 

[papaschtroumpf]

andrewbabcock you convonced me that this deal is a good deal but somehow I can;t recreate it on Dell's site, even the T5500 is not available for thE1705

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: papaschtroumpf
andrewbabcock you convinced me that this deal is a good deal but somehow I can;t recreate it on Dell's site, even the T5500 is not available for thE1705

Try looking online for coupons (Google: Dell Coupons) to see if you can save a bit on that end. Also, check out the Dell outlet. There are usually some good deals to be found there.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

Thanks! I guess sub $1000 is not possible, the dell 1705 suggested above is a close as it gets, but the removed the T5500/5600 as an option for the E1705.
I ended up spending an extra $300, use a coupon and their 6 month 0% financing, but I think I got a good deal:

Dell E1705 for $1386.00
Inspiron E1705, Intel Core 2 Duo processor T7200 (4MB/2.00GHz/667MHz)
17 inch Wide-screen WXGA+ Display for Inspiron 9400/E 1705
2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm, for Inspiron 9400,E1705
256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS, for Inspiron 9400/E1705
80GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive for Inspiron 9400/E1705
8X DVD+/-RW Drive, for Inspiron 9400/E1705

I decide to splurge on the video card because I want to be able to play games for a while
I decide to splurge on the RAM, upgrading from one gig to two gig of 667MHz DDR2 ram is not less expensive on the street ($200 at newegg) because you need to "throw away" the one that shipped with your laptop since it uses 2 slots already. I really think Vista will benefit from 2G.
The hard drive is small but this is not my main machine, so it really shouldn't need to hold that much data. it's also one of the easiest things to upgrade in the future should I want to. as a tradeoff I went with the DVD writer drive to make it easy to transfer stuff out of the laptop (802.11 is slowish when it comes to moving a few gigs)

This is a whole lot more laptop than I expected to get even though it cost me 30% more than I had budgetted.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

$1000 is doable for a nice gaming notebook.

http://www.btotech.com/store/products/laptops/asus/s96j/s96j.htm

The Asus S96J is an extremly good value and comes with a X1600. This config also has a C2D. You can build one yourself and make it even cheaper.

 

[papaschtroumpf]

lol where were you *before* I bought my DELL?
oh well, while more expensive the one I got is more powerful

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Sorry, I seldom check this forum.

At ANY rate, the 7900GS is a nicer GPU for playing on that higher res and you're getting 2GB memory and the 4MB cache T7200 where the sub $1,000 gaming notebook was 512MB and a T5600. So you got comparable value for the extra money for sure.