Laptop gaming dilema

[nasferatu6909]

I would like to ask you all a question i have dealing with laptops and get your opinion if i may. i am considering a new purchase in a gaming laptop and would like your input. nvidia made the gtx260m for the fx series of gateway gaming laptops. they came with dual core intels and the higher resolution 1920x1200 17 inch screens. now the only model i can find is the p7815u and it has the lower 1440x900 screen and the nvidia 9800m which is still a 1gb graphics card but its not the 260 and that is a better card. the pc sells right now for me where i am for 699 no tax and low cost shipping brand new not refurbished. i want to play power hungry games that i know will tax my system hard like crysis and dawn of war 2. i want to play WOW and oblivion because i love those games and want to be able to max all the settings. is this laptop going to work for me or should i keep saving and pay a little more to get the gtx 260 that comes in the asus g72gx. is the extra cost worth it? i am a gamer and will be using this pc for divx movies and listening to music and mostly for games games and yes more games. i already have the black ops game that just launched but no pc to play it so i am a little anxious to get things rolling. any suggestions on other pcs or just your opinion would be greatly appreciated. i am new to the forums here and this is the first forum i have ever took the time to participate in. not a noob at gaming been playing pc games a very long time and i am 38 years old now. rts rpg fps mmorpgs driving games etc.. i love them all so please help me to continue to do what i love. help me to spend my money wisely!!

 

[house70]

Gotta keep in mind that a laptop is not easily upgradeable, esp. the graphics in it, so I would definitely go for saving the extra and get the better option. After all, you are planning to game on this for a while and not buy another one a year from now. Sure, there will be a better solution out there in a year, but can't play the waiting game forever...
And, between the Gateway and the Asus, I would recommend the later...

 

[nasferatu6909]

I found a asus g72gx for 729 thru new egg but is a factory re- certified and not a new item i am not sure about that because of limited warranty on refurbs and such. trying to see if this has 2 hdd bays or just one. processor is 2.53 vs 2.0 in the gateway both have 500gb drives asus has 7200 gateway has 5400 this has about the same resolution as the gateway does. if i got the gateway i was going to replace the processor anyways with an extreme 3.06 i wish i could build my own desktop rig but for me and my living circumstances this is the safest way to go. thanx for the suggestion though.

 

[house70]

The reason why I would choose the Asus is purely based on reliability. They have a top notch customer service, as well, and that speaks volumes about them as a company. I have seen Gateway laptops biting the dust as soon as the warranty was over. That is my personal experience.
If you are getting the refurbed Asus from Newegg, you could also invest a few more bucks in some extra memory for it. That way you could have an upgraded laptop for less than the price of a new one.

 

[nasferatu6909]

foumd last years toshiba qosmio with i7 720qm and the nvidia 320m from a company in japan for 620 dollars. 6gb of memory ddr3 two drives and a blue ray player 64gb ssd and 500gb sata 7200 also screen is the 18.4 with 1920x1200 native res so if i ever get to talk to a service rep i may order from them. sounds too good to be true so i will update after i have chatted with me or return the message i sent them. the site shows a warranty is included and i wouldnt have to upgrade a thing on this. skeptacle because here in the states this laptop is over 2 grand. all the new ones that toshiba has now come with th nvidia 460 but i never heard anything negative about the 320 im going to further research this.

 

[house70]

Nvidia 320M is a weaker card compared to the GTX 260. Has only 24 pipelines and 128 memory bus width versus the GTX which has 112 pipelines and 256 mem bus.
Check this site also for direct comparison of graphics:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-260M.14559.0.html

 

[nasferatu6909]

i agree with you house 70 on the dropping dead and lowsy service record of gateway i bought a gaming laptop from them in 05 and after a couple of months the hinges started stress cracking and eventually broke and i had to ship it back. they did update the screen and replaced the cover with a better made one. even changed the color which really set the whole thing off. thought my problems were over but they were just starting. 1 year after i purchased the machine get this the processor came unseated from the board and moved just enough to short out the whole board. so after spending 1399xtax from best buy i was left a year later with a broke machine i couldnt even give away. ended up selling the still working components thru ebay the wireless the screen and the dvdrw. i was hoping to hear that they cleaned their act up and they are making quality laptops now. now i am glad i am going another route even if its only 699 i only want to buy this once and definitely do not want to have to pause my gaming because of another service issue.

 

[nasferatu6909]

ok well i had a chat with simon from viippa.com and i believe this will be my choice. the chat with him went smoothly and all my questions were answered politely. if you want a laptop and dont mind getting last years models these are the guys you should talk to. 7 day refund policy upon arrival and 1 year manufacturer warranty included price including tax is less than 800 and you cant touch that on any other web site believe me i looked. had i decided to go with the gateway i ca get it for 450 and tax and even though it is sold with vista they will preload windows 7 at no extra charge. i will write a review when i receive the product and if you would like the link to these guys its here http://www.viippa.com i should let you know they do not accept pay pal so you will have to use western union and they will provide the link for you. costs 20 dollars more or 10 for bank to bank transfer but for the amount you save its a great deal still. please comment if this helps you and thank you again simon.

 

[nasferatu6909]

house 70 i can get the Gateway P8700 2.53GHz 17" 4GB 500GB and yes this has the gtx 260 for 520 plus tax shipping etc... they also carry some asus models but have to see if they have one with the 260. I like the 2 hard drive feature but do ireally want to give gateway a chance to redeem itself? we will see.

 

[house70]

that website is a storefront for a company located in China. 7 day refund policy to China... I don't know about that. Using Western Union is equivalent to giving someone cash, without any warranty. the site has only three payment methods, but at the bottom of the page there is a whole list of credit cards and other things, including PayPal. I'm not saying that they are not reliable, as I don't know them, but if I were you, I would think twice before going that route.
If you throw in the mix the shady reliability of a Gateway... What might seem cheap/bargain could turn out to be an expensive negative experience.
If something looks too good to be true...you know the rest.
It's your money, so use them as you see fit. hope it all works out for you.

 

[nasferatu6909]

i see your point and i have thought about that and i agree with you. i will probably end up getting the gateway thru circuit city. i can get next day and do the transaction right over the phone and they are reputable and offer multiple warranty options in case gateway just screws up again. its either the asus or the gateway at this point and they carry both units. besides i couldnt even find any reviews of anyone who purchased anything from them. might be a scam for all i know. better to go with what you know. i get it too good to be true probably means it is.

 

[house70]

good luck buddy and let us know what you have decided.

 

[nasferatu6909]

i keep thinking gateways out and now trying to find a good deal on an asus or a toshiba qosmio. alienwares basically an overpriced dell and dont want another dell. as the holidays approach i am willing to bet prices will drop some more. best course of action though it means waiting longer is keep saving and hoping for a good deal on something that actually received good marks from reviews. maybe if i had some input from everyone on what they use it would help me to narrow things down. the g73jh series asus looks bullet proof but i was trying not to go above 800 so if anyone can steer me into a good gaming machine and some prices and sites to look for one i would be thankful. looking for 2 hard disk bays at least 4gb ddr3 or 2 probably doesnt matter. dvdrw blue ray isnt a necessity. 17 inch screen a must and the higher the resolution the better. want at least 3 to 4 usb ports and an esata port. graphics at least 1gb nvidia gtx 260 or ill even settle for ati 5870 hard drive seems to be standard at 500gb webcam standard nowadays. that should about do it since good gaming rigs wont come with wimpy processors but Intel or AMD isn't an issue i personally always thought AMD made better for gaming but maybe things have changed since my last gaming computer. and all this is for a laptop so now i ask for any recommendations from anyone willing to help. if my price cap is too low let me know that too constructive criticism welcome.

 

[nasferatu6909]

good luck buddy and let us know what you have decided.

I decided to give gateway another chance and so far so good plays every game i throw at it with no hicups and i mean settings are maxed out. downloaded newest drivers from nvidia and installed direct x 11. purrrs like a kitten. black ops is allright but bad company 2 is the bomb. set at medium difficulty and man its intense! hope this pc doesnt croak prematurally. bought crisis maximum edition and waiting for cataclism and diablo 3 to hit stores. only thing that upsets me about this pc is no illuminated keyboard but ill fix that issue shortly. gonna get a wireless one and a mouse to match by razor and my next purchase will be a hdmi samsung tv 32 ich i found for about 225 bucks to really immerse myself in the action of my games and movies. so yes i bought the p7815u and the processor isnt slow its actually pretty fast and no lag at all on my games. gonna get a cooler i found that has a built in sata hdd bay and a usb hub for sixty so i should have plenty of room for all my games and movies and music. plan on sticking another 500gb drive plus one in the cooler for 1.5TB total plus the external sata drve 1TB i allready have for a grand total of 2.5TB. last thing i did was by some logitech speakers that sound awesome. breakdown money wise as follows:

Gateway P7815u laptop circuit city.com 677 after next day air shipping
Logitech 2.1 360 degrees speaker system Frys Electronics 100
power surge protector Frys 12
crysis max edition Frys 40
bad company 2 and Black ops lets just say they play real good no money involved i know a few things.

drop me a line and tell me what you think and thanx for all the help and support i would reccomend this pc to anyone who cant afford the top line models. being able to install a game and not worry if i can play it is a breath of relief. thought i was going to have to lower the graphics but no i can max it all and she runs smooth even at the ultra settings of crysis. I couldnt be happier!

Happy Holidays Friend and fellow gamer,
Nasferatu

 

[nasferatu6909]

Best answer selected by nasferatu6909.

 

[Maziar]

This topic has been closed by Maziar