Gaming Laptop
- Thread starter trinibwoy
- Start date
That's nice spec. And I would agree if you will go for 1920x1200 if you will do some coding on your laptop sometime. One thing to notice... 60GB would seem a bit of the low space or not? 100GB or 120GB at 5400RPM would do you a good job tootrinibwoy said:
since you may have no chance to upgrade it after going there. If you can effort it, put up more memory and set your windows VM to zero, this help a lot as I do on my NC6000 with 1.5GB and 100GB hard disk.satein said:That's nice spec. And I would agree if you will go for 1920x1200 if you will do some coding on your laptop sometime. One thing to notice... 60GB would seem a bit of the low space or not? 100GB or 120GB at 5400RPM would do you a good job too
Thanks!
I wondered about the hard drive size myself but my desktop has a 74GB raptor as the OS drive and it's not even half full so I guess my space needs may be below average. I also have another 160GB drive on my desktop for storage but my storage needs have strangely dropped drastically after I left college and started working
Going for a 2GB memory size was another point of consideration but the move on my desktop didn't really do much for me on average so the extra $225 didnt seem worthwhile.
The coding point is a good one though it remains to be seen how much work I do on it. I typically leave work at the office tethered to my cubicle :smile:
That would be great since I merely find anyone who seems to manage a good use on hard disk space. I need it as when I executed my simulation, the 60GB get to the low point and my sim was halted. The point on 5400RPM is that it will spin low vibration than 7200RPM. And one of the worse thing is when you have got 2 7200RPM on the same lappy, they seem to excite each other at the same frequency and quite annoy by the time I need to transfer my data.trinibwoy said:Thanks!
I wondered about the hard drive size myself but my desktop has a 74GB raptor as the OS drive and it's not even half full so I guess my space needs may be below average. I also have another 160GB drive on my desktop for storage but my storage needs have strangely dropped drastically after I left college and started working
Going for a 2GB memory size was another point of consideration but the move on my desktop didn't really do much for me on average so the extra $225 didnt seem worthwhile.
The coding point is a good one though it remains to be seen how much work I do on it. I typically leave work at the office tethered to my cubicle :smile:
Also, for the memory, 1.5GB would be on the nice side. To set VM on windows to zero means that your lappy hard disk will less likely to spin and it keeps your lappy quite quite good. Imagine when you use lappy keyboard while both 7200RPM and DVD spin down under your palm
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I dont mean to dash hopes but its very hard to find a "compatable" upgrade as far as the video component goes for a laptop. Over 1 or 2 years and you can essentially forget it. Nvidia/ATI and Dell and Alienware etc.. just dont manufacture enough of the same model. For example finding an upgrade that fit into that exact same slot within the laptop can be hard since they move things all the time trying to make newer models smaller and better or especially if they change the chasis which happens all the time which moves ventilation holes of the cpu and gpu. Expect your only upgrade if anything to be a model of a Go8800 (even with that model i'd be surprised). Its a far cry from the flexability of that of a desktop. That has been my experiance anyway with the upgradable laptop GPU. Its more of a selling gimmick. Most times what they mean by upgradable GPU is that you could upgrade during that year from a model of the same family. Go7600 to Go7900 for example. But trying to upgrade a year or two later to a new family of GPU and you can usually forget it.
Pete said:
Battery life will actually be about an hour and a half if you play a stressing 3D game the entire time.
http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=2742&p=12
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SugarCoat said:
Doesn't MXM define a specific form factor and connector as well as power and cooling requirements that should suffice for at least a couple years? No matter the chassis or design, if an MXM module meets the spec it has to fit doesn't it (ala memory modules)?
What exactly do you mean by "move the ventilation holes of the cpu and gpu" anyway?
Which I still have and will continue to upgrade
Oh, sure, but it's not bad considering a 45W GPU. Heck, that's probably close to the rest of the laptop combined. 2.5hrs is still decent for office work.SugarCoat said:
I dunno, the fact that trini bought a 45W GPU might serve him well if he can upgrade, as that's about as large a thermal envelope you'd want in a laptop.
trinibwoy said:Doesn't MXM define a specific form factor and connector as well as power and cooling requirements that should suffice for at least a couple years? No matter the chassis or design, if an MXM module meets the spec it has to fit doesn't it (ala memory modules)?
What exactly do you mean by "move the ventilation holes of the cpu and gpu" anyway?
Which I still have and will continue to upgrade
I'm not sure about the laptop you got. But most of the ones i have played with have the CPUs HSF exhausting air for it and usually aiding the GPU which is right next to it. I simply mean that grill holes and areas for intake and exhaust tend to change, espeically in Dell XPS where they like to make new and fancy looking chassis. If they even do a little bit that hurts the "upgrade" ability of the laptop as the internals may be moved as well thus requiring a new design of a component. As far as MXM, i honestly have no idea. Just that every laptop i have ever seen or owned within the last 3 years has never had upgradability a year or two later. I hope it works out for ya, but most times in laptops the designs change of those types of components much faster then in a desktop.
Enthusaists like us get spoiled knowing we can upgrade 2 or 3 years later for a mid ATX case and PCI Express. Laptops usually mean you can just upgrade within the same family and you also have limited time to do so. If i'm not mistaken Alienware had upgradable graphics cards for their higher end laptops a few years ago and completely dropped the program do to issues like the ones i mentioned and started putting the GPU and memory integrated right back as part of the motherboards.
Someone at AT also got the same thing, and he posted some pics at [H]. 'S a nice looking machine. Judging by the glowing copper heatsink in the first pic, that thing runs hot!
DudeMiester
Regular
If you want a gaming laptop, then get one with SLI!
You can buy them here, and they have been shipping for a few months now. Afaik Alienware in only just getting their shipments of this. That is to say, this is the exact model Alienware uses, they just rebrand it. Anyways, it's a 19" screen, full size keyboard, dual 7800 GTX, Turion 64, 80GB HD, 1 GB RAM, but you can customize most of it. You can even get a zero dead pixel garuntee if you are really picky.
http://www.discountlaptops.com/index.php?section=catagory&include_type=19
Personally though, if you are getting a gaming laptop you might as well just get a desktop, since gaming laptops really arn't meant to be used on the go, counter to the purpose of a laptop.
You can buy them here, and they have been shipping for a few months now. Afaik Alienware in only just getting their shipments of this. That is to say, this is the exact model Alienware uses, they just rebrand it. Anyways, it's a 19" screen, full size keyboard, dual 7800 GTX, Turion 64, 80GB HD, 1 GB RAM, but you can customize most of it. You can even get a zero dead pixel garuntee if you are really picky.
http://www.discountlaptops.com/index.php?section=catagory&include_type=19
Personally though, if you are getting a gaming laptop you might as well just get a desktop, since gaming laptops really arn't meant to be used on the go, counter to the purpose of a laptop.
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Heh, I don't even have SLI in my desktop machine (X1900XT)....I certainly don't want it in my laptop! And this laptop isn't really for on-the-go gaming. It's more for trips and moving around the apartment when I don't feel like sitting in my little home office. It's kind of silly to have two high end gaming machines in such close proximity but oh well.
Anyhoo, the XPS arrived yesterday and yes it's a good looking piece of equipment. Lights are a nice touch and aren't over the top at all. Came with a Sharp screen. No dead pixels but some light leakage from the bottom left corner is visible. I spent a few hours in WoW and it took a bit getting used to - this is the first LCD of any kind I've ever owned or gamed on. Everything is much sharper which is nice but the color and contrast can't compare to my Viewsonic CRT.
Performance is ok so far - 1920x1200 2x16x HQ in today's Molten Core run was butter smooth. Switching from WoW to the desktop is instantaneous compared to the delay I experience on my desktop. Must be the dual-core thing since I doubt this HDD is outdoing my Raptor. Got some stuttering in WoW that is similar to what I had before adding another GB of RAM to my desktop machine but I guess I can live with that.
The keyboard is fine. Very comfortable, although I can see that I may miss having the keypad at some point or another.
It also didn't come with as much pre-installed junkware as I expected. Although some reviewers highlighted the speakers as a selling point I found them unimpressive. Pretty solid package overall.
Anyhoo, the XPS arrived yesterday and yes it's a good looking piece of equipment. Lights are a nice touch and aren't over the top at all. Came with a Sharp screen. No dead pixels but some light leakage from the bottom left corner is visible. I spent a few hours in WoW and it took a bit getting used to - this is the first LCD of any kind I've ever owned or gamed on. Everything is much sharper which is nice but the color and contrast can't compare to my Viewsonic CRT.
Performance is ok so far - 1920x1200 2x16x HQ in today's Molten Core run was butter smooth. Switching from WoW to the desktop is instantaneous compared to the delay I experience on my desktop. Must be the dual-core thing since I doubt this HDD is outdoing my Raptor. Got some stuttering in WoW that is similar to what I had before adding another GB of RAM to my desktop machine but I guess I can live with that.
The keyboard is fine. Very comfortable, although I can see that I may miss having the keypad at some point or another.
It also didn't come with as much pre-installed junkware as I expected. Although some reviewers highlighted the speakers as a selling point I found them unimpressive. Pretty solid package overall.
Pete said:Someone at AT also got the same thing, and he posted some pics at [H]. 'S a nice looking machine. Judging by the glowing copper heatsink in the first pic, that thing runs hot!
Yeah, 5150Joker is all over the boards - he helped me out at notebookforums in making this purchase. Funny enough the bottom of the machine does get quite warm but the exhaust air coming out the sides isnt that warm at all.
You never can tell with PC manufacturers. A few years ago, I was warned off Dell. Only recently, I thought Tosh had a good reputation. Who knew the BBB has beef with Toshiba America PCs? I guess you chose wisely.
Sounds a little strange, the exhausted air not being warm. Your CPU may be low power but that GPU's gotta be producing noticable heat when gaming. I mean, my Tosh with Cel-M and Intel IGP gives me a warm breeze when the fan kicks in (typically when the system pegs 100% CPU usage). Are the fans on all the time? Maybe that keeps temps in check.
Sounds a little strange, the exhausted air not being warm. Your CPU may be low power but that GPU's gotta be producing noticable heat when gaming. I mean, my Tosh with Cel-M and Intel IGP gives me a warm breeze when the fan kicks in (typically when the system pegs 100% CPU usage). Are the fans on all the time? Maybe that keeps temps in check.
Interesting Pete, I've never heard of issues with Toshiba's laptops though. On the other hand, nearly every person who has bought a Dell that didnt know how to tame the spyware has complained about it and begged me to fix it for them.... so yeah.
Though I put lots of faith in the BBB. The BBB has helped me a number of times, and even the mention of the BBB seems to get your pretty high up on the tech support totem pole, which must mean they do something right!
Though I put lots of faith in the BBB. The BBB has helped me a number of times, and even the mention of the BBB seems to get your pretty high up on the tech support totem pole, which must mean they do something right!
