Warning!! dont game on a laptop!

Gaming laptops are big waste of money (stupid me is typing on a E1705 that has a Nvidia Geforce Go 7900GS that im trying to sell on ebay).

Buy laptops for portability,for doing light tasks and work. Buy desktops for Gaming and heavy tasks like video editing.

Well said.

I would question the more silent - my 1710 is quite loud when fully revved up (not as loud as my Klipsches though, so it's all good ), and I can't imagine the even more powerful and power hungry 1730 and Sager would be quieter.

But you can guarantee the Desktop will be much cooler

I had a friend recently who gamed on her HP business laptop. She played WoW in her bed all the time, and left the psu under the covers. Well, it melted down. I smacked my face when I heard about it...just a dumb way to treat your PC. She typically got to school with the PC, would open the laptop's case, and start playing, with the notebook still sitting inside of the base of the case. I think I almost screamed. It does have a heat vent for a reason, you know..

Anyway, I find gaming on my laptop to be a lot better than my desktop...the specs are different, yes, but still. I can game comfortably anywhere I want, and it feels good. My desktop is much, much louder than my laptop will ever be, as it has a Thermaltake Venus 12 running at 5900rpm or so. (But it does keep that Athlon XP OC cool). My external hard disk is louder than my sager NP5793.

Gaming laptops have their place, and they are here to stay.

as a general rule laptops are always going to run hotter than desktops just simple heat at work. less space for heat to dissipate and less power pushing the accumuated heat away makes for a toasty lap no matter what. I personally run my laptop on either a targus chillmat (have to buy a new one my power supply connector cacked out) or failing that on a good solid hardcover book that sits between my lap and the laptop to promote airflow. Another handy trick is using a program to undervolt your CPU. I myself run a Turion X2 TL-50 @.9V as opposed to stock 1.075V and it runs just fine several programs are out there to on the fly undervolt. best advice on this simply keep undervolting until you get an error then go back up one voltage and then you'll be able to do anything I even game playing UT 2004, Fear and Quake Wars at my undervolted settings with no problems. my laptop at full load is about 60-65 degrees cpu max. On the discussion of loud desktops lol my old desktop (which I sold soon after buying my laptop since my laptop smoked it) had a thermaltake dragon orb running at 5700+rpm as well as 4 case fans so it was a loud SOB. my laptop at it's loudest is about 1/3 the volume if that.

just be safe try some undervolting and never ever run your laptop actually on your lap without something between your legs and the laptop

hope this helps and sorry to hear about your old Thinkpad dying they are great machines my first laptop was a P3 700 I series thinkpad it was great but sadly it's inverter cable died