I want to get a new laptop mostly for gaming and office work. I am currently looking to buy the dell XPS gen 2 and I have heard great reviews about it,but I need advice on other laptops that I could buy. 0-$3,000 is the price range but I dont want any of that voodoo laptop crap. If anyone knows other good notebooks please let me know. Any advice from knowing or personal use would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

ANy of the newer IBM T/X/..ect series.

Toshiba Satellite are very good, but spring for the Pentium 4 and NOT the cheap Celeron!! My Dad had two Celeron laps and they both jammed/froze up and were terrible! He paid the extra 100 bucks for the Pentium and it has worked perfectly since December...

I have a HP zv6007 laptop and it i fast. I have 2Gig of memory and here's the key...a 64 bit processor so you can eventually upgrade o the new windows operating system. Most Pentuims can't be upgraded when the new operating systems comes out. Aditionally, the 64 bit AMD processors is one of the fastest on the market and is actually better for gaming than what pentium has to offer.

I was very high on Toshiba until mine burned up a couple years ago.

I'm on a Compaq Presario 2500 now, very happy with it.

Well, the Dell is good, but if you want a REAL gaming laptop, and I mean, a laptop DESIGNED for gaming, I'd get an Alienware. Chances are, it will be more expensive, but you will be getting the top of the line in gaming laptops. But really its up to you, I've been happy with my dells, except they seem to have a nasty habbit of having their hard drives go out. After mine bit the dust, I did a little research and realized that a lot of other people had the same problem.

Sony's and Toshibas seem alright too, but then again Dell and Alienware are COMPUTER companies, so I'd trust them a bit more...

Your weak link will be the video. LCDs are slower than CRTs Look for the best screen you can. It's the refresh rate that matters.
Also you need to be aware of the video processor. Some are better for gaming than others.
Alienware is usually cutting edge stuff. if you can't afford one then at least use the specs as a benchmark.

IBM Thinkpad. I use a T42.

The older thinkpads are OK, any new Thinkpad's are no longer produced by IBM proper but rather Lenovo PC in China so the reliability will be questionable for a while.

Dells also used to be very good but the one we have at work is a piece of crap, the trackpad buttons are off kilter and it looks about as generic as a sack of potatoes. If I was going for an ultra thin ultra portable laptop with lots of power and didnt care about Windows then no question it would be an Apple 12" Powerbook. For reliability and durability in the most demanding environments, a Panasonic Toughbook, and for everyday computing with high end gaming applications probably an Alienware, but they are extremely overpriced for what they do.

New Thinkpads scare me. I remember working corporate IT... oh god.
If you buy Dell, go with a Latitude or high-end Inspiron.
Gateway/eMachines is your best bang for the buck, but build quality isn't as good.
New Presarios aren't as bad as previous ones (which were awful).

Toshiba, Fuji, and Apple seem like a pretty safe bet.

Alienware specs are definitely something to think about in the form of benchmark. I am on a four year old Toshiba Satilite which has been very durable but has a very weak video processor.

For gamming the CPU speed and Video prcessor and memory will be imparitive to happy gamming. The faster the better. The video processor should not share memory it should have it's own for gamming performance. You should also look at the unit's ability for upgrade. It's tough for laptops as so many systems are tied together and not individually changeable.

Most laptops can only be upgraded to a point by maxing out the ramm capacity and replacing the hard drive. That brings me to a final point, changing from a 4200 rpm hard drive to a 5400 rmp drive produced a noticeable increase in performance. Changing from 5400 to 7200 will further increase performance.

IBM Thinkpad. I use a T42.

I used them at work, I liked them a lot, esp the finger print scanner. Just remember that with any PC, esp. laptops, heat is the enemy. If it's going to be on a desk invest in a heat pad with electric cooling fans.

I have a Compaq Presario 1277...That thing simply sucks Walrus balls! The CDROM drive burned out, the floppy drive soon followed before I got the chance to replace the CDROM drive, and the keyboard went out too! It was only when I researched for replacement parts that my 128 mb expanded memory stick shorted out as well...Did I mention that the operating system is no longer operational? Let alone the cooling fans?

I am currently in the market for a new laptop as well and I am also not looking to bankroll the damn thing. I want something in the $500-$700 range...

So far I've heard mixed reviews on Dell's. My brother-in-law hates Dell and suggested an Acer. From the research I've done, Dell and Acer are the cheapest I've found and the Acer's only large issue seems to be poor battery life (cheaper models), which I can live with. So far, I've seen an Acer from Newegg.com that runs around $630 for a very nice system with great specs. Or at least it was two weeks ago...

Anyways, good luck with the search :cool:

illumina, get one of those dell inspirons, either the 1200 or 2200. They're cheap, but you get what you pay for.

for anyone that is interested I took some advice which lead to 3 main brans Dell, toshiba, or fujitsu. I bought the toshiba m60(2.26ghz) and here is the review
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2443

Also I need the numeric keypad on the right for excel. it helps a lot.
thanks again for all your help.

for anyone that is interested I took some advice which lead to 3 main brans Dell, toshiba, or fujitsu. I bought the toshiba m60(2.26ghz) and here is the review
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2443

Also I need the numeric keypad on the right for excel. it helps a lot.
thanks again for all your help.

Congrats! I'm sure you will be very happy with it. Glad you got the Pentium. :highfive:

My Dad's has been bulletproof. Yours looks like the "Top of the Line."

Whooaaaa Stay Away From Amd Fx Series,,,core Duo Blows Them Away Dollar For Dollar,,,,,,,,,,just Do Some Web Research On It You Will See The Side By Side Tests ,,,amd Was Gaming King But Needs To Get Back To The Drawing Board Look For Laptops With Core Duo T 5600 Or Better Also Try To Get At Least 2gb Of 667mhz Or Higher Ddr2 Ram Everything Else Is Just Fluff

I went to WalMart and bought whatever the hell was on sale. It works fine and does all that I want to do. If it craps out I'll go get another one.

Yet another 1.5 year old thread brought back. Is this guy really Lev?

Brand and make won't matter much versus system specs. Remember Alienware is just a name, and is actually a subsidary of Dell, and bench scores have shown the XPS models to be good competition to the Alienware models at a cheaper price.

What you want for your processor will be an Intel Core 2 Duo. Keep that in mind as Intel is slaughting AMD processirs left and right. The Core 2 DUo just went mobile too so it will carry a premium over Core Duo based laptops. And AMD just recently slashed all their prices to keep competition going so that is something to consider too but if you want the best performance get a Core 2 Duo or wait till Q3/Q4 when AMD starts releasing the K8 and see if it gives Intel competition, but either way you could expect Intel prices to drop.

ATI has been screwing things up on their side since they got bought out by AMD. I've been a ATI fanboy for years and find myself not recommending it to anyone. nVidia is working on a mobile version of their G8x00 series but so far the best I've seen is the GeForce 7900 model and its getting good scores. I'd recommend a Geforce GPU over an ATI at the moment.

As for RAM give that baby at least 2GBs. You want it for gaming give it room to breath. Try to make sure your laptop will run in dual channel mode (handicap if you buy 2x1GB sticks as most laptops only have 2xDDR2 slots.) If you ever want to get 4GBs in it buy one stick of 2GB now and run it in single channel mode and then stick a second equal 2GB in the future to turn on Dual Channel. (Test I've read show that 2x1GB Dual Channel run about 20%-40% faster then one stick of 2GB alone but factoring price it be better to get it now then have to change everything later.)

Hard drive won't matter but try to specify if it is SATA II rated (300mbs per second) and running at 7,200 RPMs. That will give you the best performance for your system unless you want to sacrifice a drive, most commonly the optical since you can always get external, to through in a second HDD and get a RAID 1 going.

Someone said something about the LCDs vs CRTs and used refresh, but LCDs are measured by refresh ratings. THey are judged by their color scale change. The time it takes for a pixel to untwist to a specific color. I can't remember off the top of my head what are great scores but you can always use the generic response time (generice as it is usually from Black to white) to give you a good understanding. My LCD is over 2 years old, bought it when 8MS was the fastest, and I've never had a problem with ghosting. Most LCDs now are 8MS or lower, and I've seen tons of 5MS. The only handicap with your LCD will be the resolution, as CRT's can support higher, but mobile hardware doesn't scale very good as a safegaurd for power consumption. Think of it as a blessing as a medium (common) resoltion and the LCD itself will consume less power giving your laptop a longer life. But if you need those insane resolutions you cna always plug in a CRT and just switch over to it.

Happy Hunting!

IBM T or X series Think-pads OR Acer Travelmate are real nice for the money. I can spec and sell you either. I would definitely stay away form Dell at all costs. If you have a surplus of cash to throw around take a look at Alienware. They're awesome but awesomely expensive.

Seriously consider Acer. They're a great solid machine at a great price. If you're interested, let me know and I'll send you the most recent brochure. Acer does not sell to the public, which is good because then you have a point of contact and not a tech support number in India.

Just to clarify the Dell Alienware relationship Dell bought the Alienware company in hopes to get themselves out of a mess. The management at Alienware stated during the merger that the Dell brass would have NOTHING to do with the manufacturing of or tech support for Alienware products. I would say that they were very clear on Dell's demise.

Alienware is an outstanding company and they make great top of the line product that has nothing to do with Dell except Dell trying to mooch off of there fame. Kind of like Sprint trying to mooch off the Nextel name.

And you can say what you want about that but if you look at financials you'll clearly see that Sprint has been in trouble for a long time. Them merging with Nextel was nothing more that trying to take the competition off the map and to buy into a technology that they couldn't develop on their own. The funny thing is that it's backfiring on them and the Sprint customer base is all going to Nextel. Sprint is in big trouble and I have a feeling you're going to see Nextel go back to being it's own entity.

I have a X41 Tablet from my school for the rest of this semester. I really, really like it. It's small and light, plus I can write on the screen. Codewize, any good deals on an X61?

I have been using Sony Vaios for 3 years and quite satisfied with them .
I was using IBM which was my very 1st notebook and then upgraded to Sony .
I think price/performance ratio seems better to HP than Vaio because it's worth every cent you pay for Sony imho.

Well, the Dell is good, but if you want a REAL gaming laptop, and I mean, a laptop DESIGNED for gaming, I'd get an Alienware. Chances are, it will be more expensive, but you will be getting the top of the line in gaming laptops. But really its up to you, I've been happy with my dells, except they seem to have a nasty habbit of having their hard drives go out. After mine bit the dust, I did a little research and realized that a lot of other people had the same problem.

Sony's and Toshibas seem alright too, but then again Dell and Alienware are COMPUTER companies, so I'd trust them a bit more...

Dell bought out Alienware.

Although Dell's are more expensive because of their name, you can't beat their customer service. Laptops are not as user servicable as desktops.

Warranty is everything.

I have a Dell Inspiron 9200 - loaded. Does everything - about $2600 at the time. Can do comparable today for about $1600. Hardly ever use my desktop anymore.

Laptops can only be desktop replacements when you go for extra features.
Harddrive speeds and access times. (10,000 rpm / 8ms or less.

Youe graphics chip and memory are also key.

When you buy a dell, you will have to go through an option selection process.

Before this machine, I bought new laptops annually.

Dell bought out Alienware.

Although Dell's are more expensive because of their name, you can't beat their customer service. Laptops are not as user servicable as desktops.

Warranty is everything.

I have a Dell Inspiron 9200 - loaded. Does everything - about $2600 at the time. Can do comparable today for about $1600. Hardly ever use my desktop anymore.

Laptops can only be desktop replacements when you go for extra features.
Harddrive speeds and access times. (10,000 rpm / 8ms or less.

Youe graphics chip and memory are also key.

When you buy a dell, you will have to go through an option selection process.

Before this machine, I bought new laptops annually.My experiences with Dell are a nightmare!Tech Support,yea right!I hope your kidding?How did you understand them for starters,their warranty is crap if you take it out of the box.I will never own another Dell anything!!!!!!:thehand: I have a newer HP and have really been happy so far!Had some router issues or driver issues at first but all is well now.HP tech chat is the shit!HP customer support is awesome!

I agree. I have been doing this a long time now and I've had nothing but nightmare after nightmare both with tech support and hardware form Dell. The company is completely useless and has no reason to exist on this planet other than to shell cheap people cheap crap.

My most recent experience was actually fun because a good friend of mine swears by Dell, or used to. We did a project for a local government entity. I begged him not to order Dell. He did anyway. I think the total count was something like 30 machine, all the same. 10 of them were DOA and went back in the box. That's 33% failure rate out of the box. Yes I was gloating that day.

He no longer buys Dell either. I have unpacked literally hundreds and hundreds of Acer machine with 0% problems.

Maybe if you have some time you can read some of my other nightmares on my blogging page. www.comdot.org (http://www.comdot.org) Read through the rants section

My experiences with Dell are a nightmare!Tech Support,yea right!I hope your kidding?How did you understand them for starters,their warranty is crap if you take it out of the box.I will never own another Dell anything!!!!!!:thehand: I have a newer HP and have really been happy so far!Had some router issues or driver issues at first but all is well now.HP tech chat is the shit!HP customer support is awesome!

X60? Tell me what you need for specs and I'll get you a price.

Lenovo is cool because YOU the customer can place the order online using my LOC ID # then I'll get the credit for the sale and you can just go to the website and order what you need.

Lets find out what you want, I'll get you numbers then I can give you the build number and do the deal. If you choose to. I love tablets but I couldn't justify the extra cost when I got my G41

And damn dude what happened to that V

I have a X41 Tablet from my school for the rest of this semester. I really, really like it. It's small and light, plus I can write on the screen. Codewize, any good deals on an X61?

X60? Tell me what you need for specs and I'll get you a price.

Lenovo is cool because YOU the customer can place the order online using my LOC ID # then I'll get the credit for the sale and you can just go to the website and order what you need.

Lets find out what you want, I'll get you numbers then I can give you the build number and do the deal. If you choose to. I love tablets but I couldn't justify the extra cost when I got my G41

And damn dude what happened to that V

Let me look over their site, if I get one, which I probably will, it will be May/June after I graduate. As for the V in my signature, that's what urby did to his. That's either accident #1 or #2.

X60? Tell me what you need for specs and I'll get you a price.

Lenovo is cool because YOU the customer can place the order online using my LOC ID # then I'll get the credit for the sale and you can just go to the website and order what you need.

Lets find out what you want, I'll get you numbers then I can give you the build number and do the deal. If you choose to. I love tablets but I couldn't justify the extra cost when I got my G41

And damn dude what happened to that V

Not to discriminate against Codewize but make sure to note he is an employee of the other guys. It's like taking a Ford Engineer with you to help pick out a brand new GM model.

My personal experience with Dell has been negative. I hate them because as a builder I know what you are really paying for. But thats my opinion.

Going through my family, and friends, and just those who don't want to listen to my advise, experience with Dell I have to give them passing colors. I've worked on Dells since I was in high school and man do I hate their cases but their hardware is solid. The two Compaqs that went through my household were returned to Circuit City within weeks.

Dell's tech support really sucks, as one who knows more of what they are doing, but my mom has had no problem. She calls them up and they help her. She confessed to me that my tech support makes her feel dumb. But thats my problem.

My uncle got a dell two years ago and when it was "obsolete" he was able to trade it in for a new model. Granted he got pennies for it but to people like that its a great deal.

You get what you pay for in the end. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that top of the line Dell that was on exhibit at that con (DAMMIT WHATS THE NAME!?) it was a monster! And you could freaking buy it from Dell! The benches blew anything Alienware had on their current line-up out of the water. Let me see if i could find that link: (can't find it sorry.)

I won't buy a Dell, as a builder, but I can recommend it to people who want things to be rather simple.

And if it matters two college friends bought Alienwares before they were Dell and one ran perfect while the other has given him nothing but problems. One thing I learned from my Gateway days was they rarely allow you to return a whole product usually just a "well maybe its this part return and we'll send you a new one" unless the whole thing doesn't boot.

Railven, It's all good man. I'm not an employee of anyone. I work for myself. ADL Datacomm www.adldatacomm.net (http://www.adldatacomm.net)

I'm an authorized reseller for Acer, Cisco, Juniper, Western Digital, Lenovo and an Authorized Business partner / Influence for IBM.

It's all cool and I'm not forcing anyone to buy anything but I can tell you that if I sell something it's because I believe in the product and I probably use it personally. I wouldn't sell anything I didn't feel confident with.

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