Laptop For The X5
<div class="IPBDescription">or just debate about which is best...</div> Ok why not I ask myself? There is 5-10% of the off topic forum historically devoted to what's the best new technology / I have this problem with my computer / help me find the best of [insert computer component type here].
So. I have been browsing the internet looking at motherboards originally for making a new desktop with existing parts. I still might do that but I'm at a point where I really need a WLAN capable notebook. For a long time I've sacrified mobility or a notebook for the easy upgradeability of a desktop. Well years later the motherboard and CPU are the only things holding back the system performance. But I thought would be a great time to switch to a laptop. I've realized more and more with all of the college stuff my "base location" for a desktop is proving troublesome. If I want to LAN with some friends they all ahave laptops but I have to lug around a heavy computer and even heavier CRT. Blah blah, there are several reasons why I think for my next computer to go ahead and get a laptop.
The one problem however seems to be the custom for factor for laptops. And combine that with their parts are designed to be compatable with anotehr specific setup in mind (with the exception of the memory and harddrive of course which are nicely standardized). So building my own seems less likely.
Ok then, so I look at alienware, dell, compaq and hp for things I think willl work. And now my head is spinning with hardware techincal information. Though people around me think I know a lot about computers one can't know everything. My biggest weaknesses have always been hardware and networking. So I'm nto afraid to ask the general NS community about what's the best hardware, because a few of you are bound to have experience and expertise in that specific area.
Btw, why doesn't Dell seem to allow you to custom design your computer anymore? I'm sure as hell not going to have XP Home on any computer of mine. I used to have WinME and have crashes often and I thought that was the norm until I got a hold of Win2000 and OMG IT DOESN'T CRASH EVERY HALF HOUR!!1 So I'm never ever going back to an unstable OS.
I'd be simple if I had unlimited budget but I'm going to say a generous max (considering) of ~$2000. I'm condiering the most intensive programs run ont eh machine will be HL & Source (NS:S of course), BF2, and Doom3. A built in ethernet 10/100/1000 socket and WLAN b/g are assumed. The screen needs to have a fast refesh rate (highest FPS in best detail) and have no conflicts with the graphics card and motherboard (something that plagues my current setup). I'm usually going to be drawing power from an available outlet so an adapter is a must. I don't need DVD burning capabilites, but CD-RW abilities and able to read DVDs are madatory. RAM needs to be copious and fast as possible. For the harddrive, I really won't need much more than 60-100 MB, the games and music will eat the lion's share of that. I won't be storing my videos on this computer. My old HD is a 40GB and has served me well but if I could have soemthing double size larger and fast reading (for fast loading) that'd be excellent, any more would be gluttony and wasting the limited budget. For, processor I don't care about the AMD vs. Intel war, I just want to avoid <2.0GHz that way as time marches on I won't be horribly behind. There's I whole host of terminology things like HT (hyperthreading), DDR3, etc. which I can understand what they do but have no idea how valueable of an imrovement impact they really have. (you see this the most with Alienware spec data) And lastly I since eventually I will use this for gamming I want a nice graphics card which will give me a fast fps and renderspeeds. It doesn't have to look crazy high detailed with 512 bit texturing and crazy occlusion effects, but it needs to be competitive I've I decide to take it to a LAN.
So what do you guys think? <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
PS: Is there such a thing as a true surround sound headset (headphone + mic) and that's work with the laptop because that would be best for the environment I'd be using it in.
PPS: Have you tech geeks looked at the "Fatal1ty AAX8E" motherboard thing? Looks damn sweet. Also who the heck is this supposedly world renoun gammer Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel?
info: <a href='http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2270' target='_blank'>http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2270</a>
pic:
So. I have been browsing the internet looking at motherboards originally for making a new desktop with existing parts. I still might do that but I'm at a point where I really need a WLAN capable notebook. For a long time I've sacrified mobility or a notebook for the easy upgradeability of a desktop. Well years later the motherboard and CPU are the only things holding back the system performance. But I thought would be a great time to switch to a laptop. I've realized more and more with all of the college stuff my "base location" for a desktop is proving troublesome. If I want to LAN with some friends they all ahave laptops but I have to lug around a heavy computer and even heavier CRT. Blah blah, there are several reasons why I think for my next computer to go ahead and get a laptop.
The one problem however seems to be the custom for factor for laptops. And combine that with their parts are designed to be compatable with anotehr specific setup in mind (with the exception of the memory and harddrive of course which are nicely standardized). So building my own seems less likely.
Ok then, so I look at alienware, dell, compaq and hp for things I think willl work. And now my head is spinning with hardware techincal information. Though people around me think I know a lot about computers one can't know everything. My biggest weaknesses have always been hardware and networking. So I'm nto afraid to ask the general NS community about what's the best hardware, because a few of you are bound to have experience and expertise in that specific area.
Btw, why doesn't Dell seem to allow you to custom design your computer anymore? I'm sure as hell not going to have XP Home on any computer of mine. I used to have WinME and have crashes often and I thought that was the norm until I got a hold of Win2000 and OMG IT DOESN'T CRASH EVERY HALF HOUR!!1 So I'm never ever going back to an unstable OS.
I'd be simple if I had unlimited budget but I'm going to say a generous max (considering) of ~$2000. I'm condiering the most intensive programs run ont eh machine will be HL & Source (NS:S of course), BF2, and Doom3. A built in ethernet 10/100/1000 socket and WLAN b/g are assumed. The screen needs to have a fast refesh rate (highest FPS in best detail) and have no conflicts with the graphics card and motherboard (something that plagues my current setup). I'm usually going to be drawing power from an available outlet so an adapter is a must. I don't need DVD burning capabilites, but CD-RW abilities and able to read DVDs are madatory. RAM needs to be copious and fast as possible. For the harddrive, I really won't need much more than 60-100 MB, the games and music will eat the lion's share of that. I won't be storing my videos on this computer. My old HD is a 40GB and has served me well but if I could have soemthing double size larger and fast reading (for fast loading) that'd be excellent, any more would be gluttony and wasting the limited budget. For, processor I don't care about the AMD vs. Intel war, I just want to avoid <2.0GHz that way as time marches on I won't be horribly behind. There's I whole host of terminology things like HT (hyperthreading), DDR3, etc. which I can understand what they do but have no idea how valueable of an imrovement impact they really have. (you see this the most with Alienware spec data) And lastly I since eventually I will use this for gamming I want a nice graphics card which will give me a fast fps and renderspeeds. It doesn't have to look crazy high detailed with 512 bit texturing and crazy occlusion effects, but it needs to be competitive I've I decide to take it to a LAN.
So what do you guys think? <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
PS: Is there such a thing as a true surround sound headset (headphone + mic) and that's work with the laptop because that would be best for the environment I'd be using it in.
PPS: Have you tech geeks looked at the "Fatal1ty AAX8E" motherboard thing? Looks damn sweet. Also who the heck is this supposedly world renoun gammer Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel?
info: <a href='http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2270' target='_blank'>http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2270</a>
pic:
Comments
<img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/uploads/post-10-1122597192.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
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That’s an awful lot of text, so I've taken the liberty of creating an abridged version for you without losing any of the important content of your post.
Also not bad, but you’d look better in white.
I've said it before (and quite proabably will say it again...) PCT is all you need. Kickass gaming notebooks at the best price you can get, with rock solid support and top quality components. What more do you need?
I've said it before (and quite proabably will say it again...) PCT is all you need. Kickass gaming notebooks at the best price you can get, with rock solid support and top quality components. What more do you need? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
See! That's why I need input from other people. PCT huh? So, DragonMech, god of the NSF, which do you recommend little ol' me should purchase given my budget and requirements?
~edit~
The 9880 series looks damn skippy... nice. C version?
<img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/uploads/post-10-1122597192.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That’s an awful lot of text, so I've taken the liberty of creating an abridged version for you without losing any of the important content of your post.
Also not bad, but you’d look better in white. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
LOL!!!!
Yeah right, I wish that was me. Paid to game, sponsored. We <i>all</i> envy him for his obvious connections. Seriously, that'd be nice if that was me, but sadly I was merely refering to him giving his offical Tony Hawk like approval on teh Fatal1ty motherboard named after him. More specifically you can find my image in my profile or in the post your pic thread webbed in this forum.
Read the text reasa! <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
It offers a:
1) WUXGA (1920x1200 widescreen) with <25Ms reponse time - which is good for gaming
2) An X800 mobility 256 MB GDDR3 VRAM (Should be enough to run D3 on high at the widescreen equivalent of 1024x768)
3) A gig of 400 Mhz RAM - the current standard; it should be plenty for the average user.
4) 60 GB 7200 RPM HD.
and
5) A 3.0-3.2 Ghz P4. (Personally I would go for the fastest processor they have on that model, with the 2Mb L2 cache.)
All for around 2K.
If you want to spend a little more, there is a slightly more expensive model (the <a href='http://www.pctorque.com/builder.php?type=83' target='_blank'>7620-V</a> that has the option for faster processors.
[EDIT] The 9880s are also nice; the main difference between them and the 7620s is the GPU. The 9880s have an Nvidia GPU and the 7620s have an ATI GPU. It's really a personal choice, but I'd go for ATI. [/ATI fanboy] The second big difference is that the 9880s use DDR2 memory at 533 MHz, which is faster than the DDR1 used in the 7620s Also, the 9880s have a numpad, where the 7620s do not. Give me 5 minutes, and I'll work on a 9880 config for ya. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
[EDIT2] Hrmmm... how flexible is that 2000$ limit x5? The 9880s are a bit more expensive than the 7620s. I can get you a nice one for 2300$ though.
I'm not a big laptop fan personally.
For 2000$ you could build yourself a very nice desktop.
Most likely needless to say but I recommend Newegg 100%, I get all my stuff from them and they have never once disappointed me...very few things in the world can beat Murphy’s Law, Newegg is one of them.
What do you think?
<a href='http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102167' target='_blank'>The audigy 2 NX.</a>
<a href='http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=204&product=10769' target='_blank'>The Audigy 2 ZS notebook.</a>
No I'll need one. I'm familiar with Windows and Mac OS'es. I've heard linux is the best for resource efficiency but for the purpose of gamming I'm going to want to be compatable and work with things I'm familiar with rather than trying to learn about a new linux kernel.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->It offers a:
1) WUXGA (1920x1200 widescreen) with <25Ms reponse time - which is good for gaming
2) An X800 mobility 256 MB GDDR3 VRAM (Should be enough to run D3 on high at the widescreen equivalent of 1024x768)
3) A gig of 400 Mhz RAM - the current standard; it should be plenty for the average user.
4) 60 GB 7200 RPM HD.
and
5) A 3.0-3.2 Ghz P4. (Personally I would go for the fastest processor they have on that model, with the 2Mb L2 cache.)
All for around 2K.
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That's a great deal. I'm writing this one down as a serious option.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->If you want to spend a little more, there is a slightly more expensive model (the <a href='http://www.pctorque.com/builder.php?type=83' target='_blank'>7620-V</a> that has the option for faster processors.
[EDIT] The 9880s are also nice; the main difference between them and the 7620s is the GPU. The 9880s have an Nvidia GPU and the 7620s have an ATI GPU. It's really a personal choice, but I'd go for ATI. [/ATI fanboy] The second big difference is that the 9880s use DDR2 memory at 533 MHz, which is faster than the DDR1 used in the 7620s Also, the 9880s have a numpad, where the 7620s do not. Give me 5 minutes, and I'll work on a 9880 config for ya.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Wow! Thank you for being so helpful. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> Seriously, I appreciate it. I'll make sure you get immortalized in some fashion on this new PC and I'll take a pic and flaunt it on this forum somewhere. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->[EDIT2] Hrmmm... how flexible is that 2000$ limit x5? The 9880s are a bit more expensive than the 7620s. I can get you a nice one for 2300$ though.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Let me just say that the closer I get to $3000 the more in trouble/risky I'm getting financially. I should set a hard limit at 2500 and avoid it like a laser grid defense system.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
<!--QuoteBegin-x5+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (x5)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->PS: Is there such a thing as a true surround sound headset (headphone + mic) and that's work with the laptop because that would be best for the environment I'd be using it in. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Yes, there are 5.1 headsets (check newegg) but you'd need an external soundcard to run them. I would reccomend the Creative ZS notebook if you have a PCMCIA slot, and the Audigy 2 NX for a usb based solution.
The audigy 2 NX.
The Audigy 2 ZS notebook. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Hmm. I'd prefer not having external stuff, because that's more things for me to accidentally forget or worry about. Interal option then is the audigy 2 ZS notebook then? And that goes in one of those little card slots on the side of the notebook right? (yeah I don't remember what they're called *shame*)
<!--QuoteBegin-Caboose+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Caboose)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-Reasa+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Reasa)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-Caboose+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Caboose)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Did you read his post? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What do you think? <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->No <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--><!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->lol reasa! Yeah I know, I make some loooong posts sometimes. Clicking on the "find all posts by this member" in my forum profile proves this.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Hmm. I'd prefer not having external stuff, because that's more things for me to accidentally forget or worry about. Interal option then is the audigy 2 ZS notebook then? And that goes in one of those little card slots on the side of the notebook right? (yeah I don't remember what they're called *shame*)<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->Correct. The PCMCIA card will only stick out about an inch from the main body of your computer, so there isn't much risk of it getting broken if you handle your computer with care. It comes with a cable that provides you the Front/Rear/Center&Sub speaker connections used my most headphones, so you could unplug that and go in short order.
Personally I would buy an OS from the website; it come preinstalled and is very cheap (125$ vs. 150$ from newegg and +250$ from a store.)
With a 2500$ hard limit, this is probably the best rig you could get:
<a href='http://xs.to/xs.php?h=xs39&d=05305&f=lappy.JPG' target='_blank'><img src='http://xs39.xs.to/pics/05305/lappy.JPG.xs.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' /></a>
So the 7620-C or the 9880 as you configured it seem to be the best for 2k and 2.5 notebooks then? Alright. I won't do any impulse buying but it'd seem very likely that one of those two would be my new computer. Cool.
Thank you so much DragonMech!
<!--emo&::tsa::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tsa.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tsa.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo&::hive::--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/hive5.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='hive5.gif' /><!--endemo-->
(When I get my new PC I'll be sure to take a pic and resurrect this thread to show it here.)
Another really great resource for shopping and comparing notebooks is: <a href='http://www.notebookforums.com/' target='_blank'>http://www.notebookforums.com/</a>. It's run by the PCTorque company, but is quite possibly the most comprehensive notebook information source on the web. You can ask about virtually any company that makes laptops and get a well informed answer. Heck, I can practically guarentee that if you want to know about X notebook, you could get several responses from people who own or have owned that very make and model of laptop. Plus it has pictures that people have taken of their own rigs - it's a great place to see what a notebook looks like right out of the box, and what mods and paintjobs people have made themselves. <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Speaking of pictars, here are some of a 9860 (an earlier variant of the 9880; they have the same chassis - just different internal components) and I'll see if I can whip up some of a 76xx series. ^_^
<a href='http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=61972' target='_blank'>9860</a>
And the 7620:
[<a href='http://www.notebookforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4546' target='_blank'>link</a>]
[<a href='http://www.notebookforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4547' target='_blank'>link</a>]
[<a href='http://www.notebookforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4548' target='_blank'>link</a>]
BTW, don't be afraid of Windows XP because of your experience with ME. Millenium was a piece of crap. XP is very similar to 2000.