buying laptop, need your advice!

[Finrir]

what's the difference between the WSXGA+ 1680x1050 ($50) and the WXGA+ 1440x900 with brightview ($125)

[Jokerswild]

WSXGA has a higher resolution. I don't know how much that affects the picture quality but it will some.

[garetjax]

The $50 BrightView upgrade that HP touts for their notebooks is supposed to offer more vivid and color rich images on the screen. The $125 Ultra BrightView upgrade is a combination of all of available LCD technologies that HP offers and improves the screens color gamut by 72%. This means that more colors can be displayed as a result of this technology, but at the expense of a lower resolution.

[Quakindude]

Here's my take on this.

If you are deploying, I wouldn't get Vista right now. Unless you are sure you'll have Internet access so you can download updated drivers, patches and Windows updates. And when I was in Iraq, our Internet was spotty as hell, slower than a bowling ball going through a water hose, and web sites were heavily restricted by Uncle Sam.

Personally, I'd get XP Pro in your situation.

Dell or HP or Alienware, it doesn't matter really except in price. What DOES matter is how well you maintain the computer. The Alienware's owned by some of our guys had some significant heat issues in the desert. They make great laptops, but they are high performance ones and have high performance issues if not in the ideal environment.

Dell or HP either one, it's a crap shoot. Just like any other company, you have good ones and bad ones. I would make sure you research your final two choices, one from each if you're of a mind, and then go ahead and get it. Any issues with it will hopefully be ironed out before you deploy. Once deployed, it can take 2-3 months PER service issue when dealing with warranty services.

Get as much warranty and accidental protection as you can afford.

Our Dell's worked great in Iraq. Our HP's worked great. The best laptop we had was the Panasonic Toughbook CF-29. But you aren't doing much gaming with that.

[Finrir]

well what i'm trying to ask is will this graphic card (511MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS) be able to handle playing games like C&C 3 and battlefield 2142 at the resolution of 1680x1050.
will i notice a difference between my games in 1680x1050 as opposed to 1440x900.

[Quakindude]

My opinion on this may not be popular, but here it is.

When I buy a laptop for gaming, I don't get the highest resolution screen. Why? While the 8600 video adapter may be able to play those games at acceptable frame rates with some of the eye candy turned off, I like having more eye candy turned on. Not only that, but by going with the lower resolution screen, the video card doesn't have to work as hard, which generates less heat and better battery life. Also, since it's still pretty rare to find a user replaceable laptop video solution, having the lower resolution screen makes future games a bit more playable.

That's my .02 on it.

[OCNoob]

Originally Posted by Finrir

well what i'm trying to ask is will this graphic card (511MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS) be able to handle playing games like C&C 3 and battlefield 2142 at the resolution of 1680x1050.
will i notice a difference between my games in 1680x1050 as opposed to 1440x900.

This is exactly the reason I opted NOT to upgrade the native resolution on my Vostro 1500. Honestly, 1280x800 is high enough for gaming and any other thing I do - any higher and it might cause an eye strain. BTW my laptop is running a 8600M GT and it kicks butt in CS:S, it's just about neck-and-neck with my desktop X800XL. However, I really feel that any future game would kill this card, even running at 1280x800, let alone 1440x900 or 1680x1050.

Honestly, do you NEED 17" of a laptop? I think you might be underestimating how large they really are. They're also much heavier than "traditional" 14" laptops that everyone seems to have these days. I got a 15.4" laptop because it's the largest version of the Vostro that's marginally portable. In fact, my friend who recently bought a decked-out Inspiron 1700 series lappy, was pretty unhappy about the heft of his laptop. I wouldn't expect any other 17" laptops to be much lighter. Hell, even I think my 15.4" is a bit too heavy sometimes.

Summary - IMO, get a 15" lappy - you can get almost the same power out of them, they're slightly smaller, lighter, and just about any company out there has a nice 15" in their lineup. If you want me to recommend you a specific one, go with the Dell Vostro 1500. I'm quite happy with my Vostro 1500, and I only got it for $1100. Oh yeah, and you can get one with XP Pro/Home installed.

[Finrir]

you all have a point... ok let's see. i customized 4 different computers. dell inspiron, dell latitude, dell vostro, asus G1S A1. here's what i came up with:

i just copy and pasted here so it's gonna look sloppy. edit i cleaned this up alot i know it's still kinda hard to read but nothing like it was.

Dell inspiron 1520 Price $1,800:

My Components
SYSTEM COLOR
Jet Black
PROCESSOR
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache) OPERATING SYSTEM
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition
DISPLAY
Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
VIDEO CARD
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
MEMORY
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE
Speed: 160GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
OPTICAL DRIVE
CD writer / DVD player (Combo Drive)
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS
Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Mini-card
INTEGRATED WEBCAM
No Webcam Option
BATTERY OPTIONS
85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
SOUND OPTIONS
High Definition Audio 2.0

My Software & Accessories
ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
I chose Security with Value, Plus,or Premium Warranty Bundle
OFFICE SOFTWARE
Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORDMy Service
WARRANTY AND SERVICE
DellCare Plus
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP
DataSafe included with DellCare Service bundle
DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS
No ISP requested
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.08
Doms Camera Module Jet Black color w/o Camera
Labels Windows Vista™ Premium

Dell Latitude Price $1,889:

My System Details
PROCESSOR
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 (2.20GHz) 4M L2 Cache, 800Mhz Dual Core
OPERATING SYSTEM
Genuine Windows® XP Professional, SP2, with mediaLCD PANEL
15.4 inch Wide Screen WUXGA LCD PanelMEMORY
2.0GB, DDR2-667 SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
HARD DRIVE
120GB Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 7200RPMOPTICAL DRIVE
24X CD-RW/DVD w/ Cyberlink PowerDVD™
VIDEO CARD
256MB NVIDIA® Quadro NVS 140M
WI-FI WIRELESS
CARDDell Wireless 1490 802.11a/g Dual-band Mini Card
FINGERPRINT READER OPTION
Touchpad with UPEK® Fingerprint Reader

My Accessories
BATTERY
9 Cell Primary Battery
PRIMARY POWER OPTIONS
90W A/C Adapter
FLOPPY DRIVE
No Floppy Drive

My Software
SECURITY
Norton Internet Security™ 2006 15 Month Subscription
BACKUP OS DRIVERS AND SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION
Resource CD - Contains Diagnostics and Drivers

My Services & Warranties
WARRANTY & SERVICE
3 year Limited Hardware Warranty with Mail-in Service
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SERVICE
3 Year CompleteCare Accidental Damage ServiceALSO
INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
Ship GroupUS - System Documentation, Power Cord
MiscellaneousLatitude D830
OS LabelsWindows XP Label
Internal KeyboardInternal English Keyboard

Dell Vostro 1500 Price $1,602:

My System Details
PROCESSOR
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM
Genuine Windows® XP Professional
LCD PANEL
15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD Display with TrueLife
MEMORY
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 DIMM
HARD DRIVE
160G 5400RPM SATA Hard DriveOPTICAL DRIVE
8X CD/DVD Burner w/ double-layer DVD+R write capability, w/ Roxio Creator
VIDEO CARD
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT
MEDIA DIRECT
Dell Exclusive MediaDirect™ Instant Play Software ApplicationWI-FI
WIRELESS CARD
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Wi-Fi Mini Card
WEBCAM
Integrated 2.0 mega pixel Web Camera
SOUND OPTION
High Definition Audio 2.0

My Accessories
BATTERIES
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

My Software
PRODUCTIVITY
MS Works 8.5-Eng: Basic Spreadsheet, Word Processing & Calendar Program
SECURITY
No Pre-installed Anti-Virus/Security Software
ADOBE SOFTWARE
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.08

My Services & Warranties
WARRANTY & SERVICE
Get $70 Dell Dollars w/3Yr Ltd Warranty and Next Business Day On-Site Svc
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE SERVICE
3 Year CompleteCare Accidental Damage ServiceDELL DATASAFE™
ONLINE BACKUP
No Online Data Back Up Installed
AUTOMATED PC TUNEUP
No Dell Automated PC Tune Up Installed
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
Integrated NIC and ModemIntegrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
LabelsWindows XP™
Processor BrandingIntel Core 2 Duo Processor

Asus G1S A1 Price on newegg $1,898.99
or just go here
Model Brand ASUS Series G Series Model G1S-A1

General Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium

CPU Type Intel Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2G
Screen 15.4" WSXGA+

Memory Size 2GB DDR2

Hard Disk 160GB

Optical Drive DVD Super Multi

Graphics Card
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT Video Memory 256MB GDDR3 VRAM, TurboCache up to 512MB

Communication
Modem, Gigabit LAN and WLAN Card slot 1 x Express Card
Battery Life 2 hours Dimensions 13.9" x 11.2" x 1.5" Weight 6.8 lbs.

Other Features
Gaming feature- ASUS Direct Messenger
Gaming feature - ASUS Direct Flash
Gaming feature - Gaming focused keyboard
HDMI
eSATA
Power 4 Gear+
Battery Re-Callibration
Splendid technology
Gaming backpack and Gaming Mouse
30days Zero Bright Dot LCD

Intel Core 2 Duo CPU Speed T7500(2.20GHz) CPU FSB 800MHz CPU L2 Cache 4MB

Display Screen Size 15.4"
Wide Screen Support Yes
Display Type Wide SXGA+ Resolution 1680 x 1050

Operating Systems
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium

Graphics
GPU/VPU NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
Video Memory 256MB GDDR3 VRAM, TurboCache up to 512MB

Graphic Type
Dedicated Card

Hard Drive
HD Capacity 160GB HD RPM 5400rpm
HD Interface SATA

Memory
Memory Slots 2 x DIMM
Memory Speed DDR2 667
Memory Size 2GB
Max Memory Supported 4GB
Memory Spec 1GB x 2

Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type DVD Super Multi

Optical Drive Interface
Integrated Optical Drive Spec 8x Super-Multi DVDRW Dual layer with Light Scribe

Communications
Modem 56K LAN 10/100/1000Mbps
WLAN 802.11n Wireless LAN

Bluetooth
Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR
Card Slot 1 x Express Card
USB 4
IEEE 1394 1
Video Port
1 x S-Video
1 x DVI
1 x HDMI
Other port 1 x eSATA

Audio
Audio Integrated Sound card Input Device

Touchpad
Yes

Keyboard
Standard

Supplemental Drive Card Reader
4-in-1

Webcam
1.3 MP

Power Battery
8-cell lithium ion

Battery Life 2 hours

Physical spec Dimensions
13.9" x 11.2" x 1.5" Weight 6.8 lbs.

Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 2 years limited Labor 2 years limited