Think I found a decent, cheap gaming laptop

[crsgardner]

Keep in mind, my original goal was to replace another laptop. This looks like a pretty damn good price for the hardware, and will make a decent gaming laptop:

Inspiron 9300
1.60 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB
Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Display 17 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife? 17UXGAS
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB NVIDA® GeForce? Go 6800
Hard Drive 100GB Hard Drive
CD/DVD Drives 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer write capability 8XDVDRW
Wireless Networking Card Intel® PRO/Wireless 2915 Internal Wireless (802.11 a/b/g, 54Mbps)
Primary Battery 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr)
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr Technical Support

Dell Home Customers:Save $750 on select Inspiron? notebook purchases $1999 or more (before tax and shipping)! (affiliate only online offer)
Expires on 2005-05-12 05:59:59 - $750.00

Dell Home Customers: Free Ground Shipping on any Dell Inspiron order greater than $899!
Expires on 2005-05-12 06:59:59 - $49.00

Sub-Total $1,714.00
Estimated Tax $102.85

Total $1,816.85

What do you think?

 

[Malak]

Looks pretty good, great price for a Laptop.

 

[ddogg]

xcellent!! good deal

 

[Bateluer]

Not too shabby.

I've been trying to find an A64 DTR based notebook with a 6800 Go and a 3hr battery life. I don't think they exist.

 

[Ronin]

I've seen a lot of solid reviews on the 9300. I think it's a good choice.

Bateluer, currently, there is no AMD based Laptop with a 6800 Go, but look for them when the Turion becomes mainstream.

Closest I've got on hand is a A64 3400+ with a 9700 Mobility (which obviously pales in comparison).

 

[Cheesetogo]

I had this setup, for a buget:

Inspiron 9300
1.6 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB
Microsoft® Windows® XP SP2
Display 17 inch UltraSharp? Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife? 17UXGAS
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB NVIDA® GeForce? Go 6800
Hard Drive 40GB Hard Drive
CD/DVD Drives 16x CD burner
Wireless Networking Card Intel® 802.11b/g
Primary Battery 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr Technical Support

Total: 1340 after coupons

Edit: It costs $250 to upgrade to one gig. You could just get 256mb and then get two of these: Kingston 512MB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM Notebook Memory - Retail

 

[BobDaMenkey]

I put in my order yesterday for a 1.73ghz, w/512mb and the 6800 Go with the 9 cell battery. Came out to 1322 after the cupon.

I'll buy different RAM for it after a while and a second 9 cell, and it'll be a phatty lappy for a good long time.

 

[crsgardner]

Nice. I originally showed the laptop to a coworker at it's original price (well over $2500) and he said "if you can get it in the low $2000, it'd be a decent deal". When I showed him $1800 for everything he was pretty impressed.

Ships in a few days. Like I said, it's not going to replace my dedicated home-built gaming rig, but for the price that's pretty nice hardware on a laptop.

 

[Amplifier]

Congrats on the killer laptop.

 

[TStep]

decent is an understatement

 

[forbin]

i dont know about the performance of that 100gb hard drive.. i would only go with the 7200rpm drives, i know the 60gb is, the dismal performance of 4200 and 5400rpm lappy hd's will blow your mind.

 

[crsgardner]

Originally posted by: forbin
i dont know about the performance of that 100gb hard drive.. i would only go with the 7200rpm drives, i know the 60gb is, the dismal performance of 4200 and 5400rpm lappy hd's will blow your mind.

I know. My only issue is that the 7200rpm drives tend to suck a lot of juice. The laptop has a fairly good 3 hour battery life (when not gaming) -- one of my goals was to have something I could lug around for normal use. 7200 would cut into that, unfortunately.