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Whats the best gaming laptop I can get for less than $1200?

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SebmaFSX_53   01-31-2006 at 05:46:25 AM

I'll take anything less than $1200. I need a solid laptop for DVDs, internet/speadsheet, and GAMES! Yea, I know I won't be able to go "all out" but I want to know whats the best way to go...

Thanks for any replies!

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crizazykid2   01-31-2006 at 02:52:28 PM
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You can't get any "gaming laptop" for that little, but I recommend you go to hp's site (hp.com); they have really good prices and have a pretty good range of options.

Reply to crizazykid2
santeana   01-31-2006 at 03:38:34 PM
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About the closest thing you will find to a 'cheap' gaming laptop is an Acer Ferrari. And even they go for around $1850ish CAD.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index [...] cture=Acer

Reply to santeana
blue68f100   01-31-2006 at 03:47:07 PM
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Averatec make one that not to bad for the price you are looking at. But it all depends on which games you plan on playing.

I have a 6130hs, 3ghz P4, ATI9600 video. I am able to play C4 with it. The only bad thing is the slow hd 5400rpm. But that can be replaced with a 7200rpm. But in turn pull more power. I get 2hr battery life for normal use, not games. The newer model uses the AMD chip, dropped the lpt port. Which is hardly used anyway.

Reply to blue68f100
santeana   01-31-2006 at 04:10:10 PM
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On the other hand you could just try building your own laptop. here's a link that has some easy to follow instructions on making a quality laptop computer :) enjoy!

Reply to santeana
imperfectcircle25   02-01-2006 at 08:26:43 PM
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Your not gonna get a gaming laptop for anywhere near $1200. For a few hundred more check out the HP zd800, Dell 9300, Gateway nx850. Basically you wanna look at the DTR laptops with dedicated video cards.

Reply to imperfectcircle25
Codename46   02-01-2006 at 09:21:25 PM
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Cyberpower has gaming laptops for within your budget. They haven't gotten any good ratings on their desktop machines, but they have gotten some good user reviews for their laptops.

http://www.cyberpowersystem.com/sy [...] d#spec_x64

If you expand it to 1 gig RAM and upgrade the CPU to a 3200+ or a 3400+ it'll still be within your budget.

Starting off at the 1k price, you get an Athlon mobile 64 3000+ with 512 MB of PC3200 RAM, a Radeon 9700 with 128 MB of RAM, 40 GB HD, 8x DVD burner, Wireless capability, and a 3-in-1 card reader.

EDIT:

Get a laptop that runs on either the AMD Turion 64 or the Athlon 64 Mobile series. They both have Powernow technology, which will automatically underclock your CPU and thus conserve space whenever your laptop is idle or not using much resources. The Turion 64 ML series will give you better gaming experience, while the MT series will conserve more battery life. Its your choice. Just remember that the software for PowerNow must be downloaded from AMD's web site in order for PowerNow to work properly. PN already comes with the laptop, but its a weak version.

Reply to Codename46
corvetteguy   02-01-2006 at 11:22:39 PM
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lol, its like looking back at the first PORTABLE... not LAPtop computer

Reply to corvetteguy
Codename46   02-02-2006 at 04:22:00 AM
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Quote :

Try eBay, you might find a bargain.



I've heard some bad stories about eBay. Refurb comps being sold and claimed "new", lower quality, heavily used comps. I've never shopped for a comp on eBay, and I don't intend to anytime soon.

To me, as a part-time sales associate at Micro Center (while still attending high school), buying something from eBay is sorta like buying a returned item from the clearance aisles. I've bought stuff like that, and have had bad experiences such as fried mobos. Granted, your experience with eBay may or may not be like that, but I wouldn't take the chance. A lot of the customers that I've seen buy stuff thats on sale and then sell them for a profit on eBay.

With the CyberPower comps, there are probably none of them that are not used that are on eBay. I haven't checked, but I think you have to buy directly from CyberPower. They give you some cool customization options too.

Reply to Codename46
kriztoff   02-02-2006 at 05:22:46 AM
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check out Asus laptops, you can get them maybe not for 1200 but not for much more. z70v, z70va have 6600, or x700 vid card in them.

I bought z70va last sept for 1700cad, with x700 i can even play FEAR.

From what i can tell there the best bang for the buck, also could try acer

Reply to kriztoff
Codename46   02-02-2006 at 05:33:10 AM
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Quote :

check out Asus laptops, you can get them maybe not for 1200 but not for much more. z70v, z70va have 6600, or x700 vid card in them.



We don't know whether he still wants good battery life or not. Since he states that he wants a laptop, perhaps he wants something that also has decent life in it (maybe at least 3 hrs). I dunno what the models have, but if they don't have some kind of technology similar to AMD's PowerNow, then battery life goes down the drain.

Quote :

I bought z70va last sept for 1700cad, with x700 i can even play FEAR.



What res?

Quote :

From what i can tell there the best bang for the buck, also could try acer



If you're talking about the Ferrari, I've seen quite a few of those come into Micro Center's tech support department for service. Not a very reliable laptop from what I heard. Toshiba's are much better. Toshiba has the support advantage. Whenever a new OS comes out, Toshiba will guarantee support for your laptop for that new OS should you decide to upgrade to something like Vista.

Reply to Codename46
Stummpy   02-02-2006 at 06:06:48 AM
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Why don't you try looking into the Gateway MX7525. It has a Mobile AMD Athlon 64 4000+ (2.6Mhz), 1 gig of PC 2700 RAM, 100 Gig 4200 RPM HD, Radeon X600 256MB Vid card, and wireless internet and all that good junk right at $1200.00 at Best Buy or $1300.00 with mouse and carrying case at Circuit City web only. I read a couple of reviews about its performance. One guy said he could play Doom 3 at 1024x768(I think) on high settings. I'm going to Best Buy this weekend to possibly get one.

Reply to Stummpy
hawkstar   02-04-2006 at 01:52:16 AM
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From the paper specs I would rush with your $1200 to Best Buy and rip one of those Gateway Mx7525 out of their hands!

Post back when you've bought one and I tell you why I think so.

Oh, go on then:-

BB are also quoting their MX6421 - a Turion ML32 for the same price!

AMD quote MA 4000+ at over twice the price of the ML32 ($307 v $145)

MX7525 has Mobile Athlon 4000+ - which is an AMD 2.6Ghz CPU !
It also has bigger hard drive and twice as much memory ! (again)

I don't know how long BB have been offering this but I would buy one immediately in case they change their minds.

Reply to hawkstar
Luminaris   02-04-2006 at 07:06:30 AM
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I went to the dell outlet online and picked up my Inspiron 9300 17inch widescreen for 983 bucks. It has ATI's 300 graphics card but it plays games fairly well. I got full warranty on it and I haven't had a single problem with it. You might wanna look there. It took me a few days to find mine so check it periodically. Other manufacturers may have the same thing so check their sites as well.

Reply to Luminaris
dvdpiddy   02-04-2006 at 07:28:34 AM
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it kills me to say it but get an intel pentium m 1.7 should be fine with a 8 pie graphix card for under 1 grand at hp

Reply to dvdpiddy
rob64100   06-22-2009 at 10:06:51 PM
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ok, for under $1,200 the very best you can get is the alienware area 51 m15x it is a 15.6 inch notebook and the lowest cost is exactly $1,199 that is for the lowest cost. it has a powerful ati mobility radion hd 3870 and a 2.1 ghz dual core processor, also 2 gigs of dual channel ddr2 ram and a 160 gig hd you might want to spend a little extra to get upgrades

Reply to rob64100
h0devil   06-22-2009 at 10:11:18 PM
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^^^^^^^^^
2006 LOL don't pop up again

Reply to h0devil
pasoleatis   06-22-2009 at 11:40:55 PM
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I assume you leave in US since you mentioned dollars. You should try the sager notebooks or its resselers like xoticpc. I think that for 1200 you could get a laptop with one 9800m GTX card and a mobile cpu.

PL

Reply to pasoleatis
pasoleatis   06-22-2009 at 11:42:09 PM
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And stay away from Alienware. If you decide on a model search for reviews and forums to see the gernal impression.

PL

Reply to pasoleatis
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