Buying a notebook - Reccomendations?

[garetjax]

I'd like to pick up a notebook for use with my college courses. The basic requirements for the notebook is that it has to have decent battery life, a 17" or larger screen, and can play games like Age of Mythology without any problems. I am not looking to play games like FEAR or HL2 on it. I know that videocards and large screens suck the life out of batteries, but I am trying to find a nice compromise between the two. I'd also like to use the notebook as a DVD player on 8 hour plane trips.

Cost of the notebook should be around the $2,000 mark. I honestly don't care if it's a Dell or a Gateway, as long as it's not a Sony or HP. Any help would be great! =)

[WhiteEagle]

Don't go with Acer. They're laptops suck. 1 hour battery life, and 15" screens! I had one and got rid of it as soon as I could. Did I forget to mention that they overheat real easily. IMHO, any other brand is better.

[pc_guy]

Had a buddy of mine in college that owned a Dell laptop. He had to send it back twice to have the motherboard replaced, it fried for no reason.
Some people have Dell laptops and have never had problems, while others had nightmares.

Another thing, If you intend to spend $2k, then there might be battery issues, since most of these laptops are high performance models that sacrifice battery life for speed. I would spend around $1200-$1600 at the most.
As for playing 8 hours of DVD's, you do mean with external power connector on the plane, right? Because most laptops will run about 4 hours at the most.

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by pc_guy

Another thing, If you intend to spend $2k, then there might be battery issues, since most of these laptops are high performance models that sacrifice battery life for speed. I would spend around $1200-$1600 at the most.

You are quite right. I was at Gateway's website and configured a nice notebook for about $1,700. On a side note, I went to Dell's website and configured an exact replica of Gateway's notebook for a price of $2,400. And, just for sh1ts and giggles, I went to Alienware's site and again configured an exact replica of the Gateway model for a price of about $2,200. I have purchased Gateway computers in past and never had problems with them, so that is who I am most leaning towards at the moment.

Originally Posted by pc_guy

As for playing 8 hours of DVD's, you do mean with external power connector on the plane, right? Because most laptops will run about 4 hours at the most.

Well, I was hoping to maximize the battery life as much as possible. I realize that getting an 8-hour charge from a notebook with a 7900GS is not going to happen, but I guess I could opt for a larger cell battery or bring an extra battery or two along.

By the way, could someone also school me on notebook videocards? I'd like to know which cards, in order of magnitude, are best:

256MB nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GS
256MB nVidia GeForce Go 7600
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1800
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1900

[Quakindude]

Originally Posted by garetjax

You are quite right. I was at Gateway's website and configured a nice notebook for about $1,700. On a side note, I went to Dell's website and configured an exact replica of Gateway's notebook for a price of $2,400. And, just for sh1ts and giggles, I went to Alienware's site and again configured an exact replica of the Gateway model for a price of about $2,200. I have purchased Gateway computers in past and never had problems with them, so that is who I am most leaning towards at the moment.


Well, I was hoping to maximize the battery life as much as possible. I realize that getting an 8-hour charge from a notebook with a 7900GS is not going to happen, but I guess I could opt for a larger cell battery or bring an extra battery or two along.

By the way, could someone also school me on notebook videocards? I'd like to know which cards, in order of magnitude, are best:

256MB nVidia GeForce Go 7900 GS
256MB nVidia GeForce Go 7600
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1800
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1900

If their desktop counter-parts are any indication, then the 7900GS is the better of the four. However, I'd be interested in knowing if the laptop X1900 offers VIVO. If so, that would be the better option IMHO. Especially if the laptop isn't a Media Center type product.

I don't know why you've such a hatred for HP, but they've done an excellent job with the DV9000t series. You may want to reassess your stance with them.

Personally, you couldn't give me a Dell or Alienware anything. If I got one for free, I'd sell the sucker and buy something else. Those two companies are just tiding themselves over on what their name used to represent.

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by Quakindude

If their desktop counter-parts are any indication, then the 7900GS is the better of the four. However, I'd be interested in knowing if the laptop X1900 offers VIVO. If so, that would be the better option IMHO. Especially if the laptop isn't a Media Center type product.

Gotcha. I'll ask the Dell rep while I have them on the line.

Originally Posted by Quakindude

I don't know why you've such a hatred for HP, but they've done an excellent job with the DV9000t series. You may want to reassess your stance with them.

I don't have a hatred of HP at all. =)

Originally Posted by Quakindude

Personally, you couldn't give me a Dell or Alienware anything. If I got one for free, I'd sell the sucker and buy something else. Those two companies are just tiding themselves over on what their name used to represent.

I feel the same way.

[simple_inhibition]

you would probably be best off with a 7600 go. my buddy has one in his laptop and he can play bf2 fine with some pretty high settings. plus it should use less power

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Asking the Dell rep a question about performance.... that's a joke. Lol.

If you want a kickass laptop, though I doubt you'd go there, I really do recommend a XPS. XPS warranty includes a separate tech support compared to the normal computers; most of these guys know what they are doing, but I'm not guaranteeing anything. I have never had a problem with Dell, but that's clearly not the case for many others.

But for the money, the dv9000 series delivers the most punch. C2D T5200, 1GB RAM, Go 7600 256MB, 120GB drive, Lightscribe drive, 17" 1650x1080 screen... It was about $1370 configured.

[Mithosphere]

well i know some of my friends who purchased a barebones laptop from i think ASUS and it runs like everything, this is the closest i could find to it-given that i dont know where they got their's from :::::
Newegg.com - ASUS G Series G2P-7R001M Intel Core 2 Duo 17.1" Wide XGA+ ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 NoteBook - Retail

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Originally Posted by Mithosphere

well i know some of my friends who purchased a barebones laptop from i think ASUS and it runs like everything, this is the closest i could find to it-given that i dont know where they got their's from :::::
Newegg.com - ASUS G Series G2P-7R001M Intel Core 2 Duo 17.1" Wide XGA+ ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 NoteBook - Retail

Wow, that looks great! Everything is top notch but the HD (5200RPM).