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On the Hunt for a Laptop
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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by French Toast on Mon Apr 18th at 5:37pm 2005

Well I won't fill in the exact details, but through an odd turn of events my dad has agreed to buy me a laptop of my choice. (with some discretion). Keeping in mind that I'm 14 and not doing anything really important, what should I get? The only things I'll be doing on it is;
1. moderate gaming
2. mapping and modeling when I'm away from my PC.
3. other assorted junk like MSN, posting here, etc. etc. when I'm at my dads house

So what I need is something that can do that kind of stuff. When I'm away from my PC at my dads house, I always want to do this kind of stuff, so he's getting me a laptop. All I need is something functional. I'm leaning towards an Alienware laptop, since I've only heard good things about them and they're extremely customizable. Just for the heck of it, I configured one for fun, came out to about $3,656.00 USD. 3.8 GHz processer, 80GB hard drive, 1GB RAM, and almost everything else standard.

Sound good? Any other ones that would be better?

*NOTE*: I don't want a Mac. I don't have anything against them, my dad has one and it kicks ass, but I don't want one. [addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by satchmo on Mon Apr 18th at 5:43pm 2005

Is it even possible to build your own laptop? I've never heard of it, but I heard all sorts of evil things about buying Alienware--that they're over-priced.

But if your Dad is paying for it, that might not be a consideration at all.

By the way, what do you mean by "moderate gaming"? You still want to be able to run HL2 and Far Cry on it, correct?

[addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Mon Apr 18th at 6:41pm 2005

So, if I understand correctly, you want a laptop for the express and singular purpose of being able to do everything you do at home, but at your dad's house?

If you're going to spend $3,656.00 USD you should buy a desktop (which would be much much faster for that price) and just leave it at your dad's house. Then buy some sort of cheap USB storage device to transfer map RMF's etc, from house to house.

Seems like the best option to me.

I'm on a laptop right now, and I love videogames and mapping, but this Inspiron 8200 from 2 years ago isn't cutting it anymore, and it's not like I can upgrade it. I wish I had just gone for the Desktop. It's not like I can sit outside and write papers (you can't see the screen in the sun).




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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by omegaslayer on Mon Apr 18th at 9:26pm 2005

? quote:
The only things I'll be doing on it is;
1. moderate gaming
2. mapping and modeling when I'm away from my PC.
3. other assorted junk like MSN, posting here, etc. etc. when I'm at my dads house

TBH no laptop is good at this, unless you spend a lot of money on one. My suggestion 9is to stay away from Dell if you want gaming.
[addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Gwil on Tue Apr 19th at 5:21am 2005

Just get a refurb off of eBay. You can probably pick up a PIII 800, which is more than adequate for mapping and doing low level internet gubbins for no more than $400.

I agree with not buying a laptop either, just get a cheap desktop. But if you do insist on buying one (bearing in mind battery time/"upgradability"), don't sniff at second hand. There are some real bargains floating around on eBay UK (and Australia for that matter), so no doubt Canada has some too.

[addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Leperous on Tue Apr 19th at 6:47am 2005

I agree with Gwil, unless you're travelling or some businessman secretly then you don't really need a laptop- get a cheap desktop, and a new bike or spinkee parts to go with (e.g. awesome speakers, since these will last you years and years) with the spare cash.



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Orpheus on Tue Apr 19th at 10:14am 2005

although i believe they make laptops that can compete with home models, i do not believe that the price would be within dads budget.

assuming ebay is not an option, call places like dell, and gateway, they refurbish them frequently and at lower prices..

if it were me, id visit www.pricewatch.com and buy one online.

some without windows Opsys: http://www.pricewatch.com/h/mn.aspx?i=336&f=1

[addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Loco on Tue Apr 19th at 10:41am 2005

I have a laptop which is really useful for school which I got from Morgan Computers. The company buys old stock from manufacturers like Toshiba and then sells it for a reduced price. My machine was around ?800 for a p4 2.6GHz, GeForce 4 MX, 512mb RAM and 30gb HDD - not bad considering this was over a year ago. As for building desktops, I'm in the UK, so I use:
www.dabs.co.uk
PlanetMicro
Novatech
[addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by French Toast on Tue Apr 19th at 11:13am 2005

Thanks for the info guys, I'll look around and decide what I want. [addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Orpheus on Tue Apr 19th at 11:19am 2005

? quoting French Toast
Thanks for the info guys, I'll look around and decide what I want.

you could always contact wildcard. he's from your third world land, and seems to know a bit about PC's..

[addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Nickelplate on Tue Apr 19th at 1:36pm 2005

I recommend ChemBook. They are a company that makes laptops for other larger companies, but they sell thier own too. I have one and I am very satisfied with it. The only thing you gotta watch out for i that you specify the GOOD video card, otherwise HL2 and d00m 3 wont run. [addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Tue Apr 19th at 3:09pm 2005

Not to hijack this thread, but I didn't want to create a new one for my question about desktops.

I may or may not decide to buy a new desktop for this summer (I have some cash saved up from work), but if I do I need some advice.

First off, I'm not comfortable building my own rig so that is out of the question.

So, originally, I was looking at a Dell XPS Gen2. Every other week Dell runs a special where the XPS Gen2 is 30-34% off. That's saving a lot of money, and I figured I could get a computer with 3.4 ghz, 2 gigs of ram, 256 ati X850 XT PE w/ pci express, 17 inch digital LCD, a CD+RW/DvD combo, and a 250GB serial ata hard drive for about 2,300 USD. I thought that was a pretty good deal. But then I wasn't sure Dell was the best place to go for a gaming / mapping rig (and this is all I would want to do with it. I have an old laptop which is adequate for schoolwork etc).

So I thought maybe an Alienware PC... (despite the fact that I think they look ridiculous). A PC with the same specs is: 2,287 USD. Which is fact a little cheaper. However, I didn't choose to buy any of the accessories, like video cooling systems, respawn kits, acoustic dampening. And I didn't choose more memory or a faster processor despite the fact that they offer much more than Dell does. If I were to elect for a 3.6 ghz processor as well as 4 gigs of ram, as well as some of the things they recommend (which seem frivilous, but yet I'm not sure I should skip them: ie. their own network cable, video cooling system, and a reboot cd), it comes out to be about 2,969 (after a 350$ instant rebate) which, needless to say, is expensive.

What do you think? Should I forget Dell and Alienware completely, and just look at a different company?




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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Orpheus on Tue Apr 19th at 3:34pm 2005

Morphine: this thread.. read it.

i would never consider a dell personally.

also, go to pricewatch you cannot go wrong there.

[addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Tue Apr 19th at 3:59pm 2005

after reading that, I'm definitely going for a CRT over an LCD.




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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by rival on Tue Apr 19th at 3:59pm 2005

i wouldnt go with dell either i got a dell and it sucked so i spent like ?400-500 upgrading it and it still isnt that great. you wont really need a top of the line pc to run games (mines a 1.7ghz, 640mb RAM, Geforce FX 5200 and it runs HL2, Doom 3 perfect)

this goes to addicted to morphine as well as to french toast





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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Orpheus on Tue Apr 19th at 4:03pm 2005

? quoting Addicted to Morphine
after reading that, I'm definitely going for a CRT over an LCD.

Thats all you got out of the entire thread? useful information i admit, but there was a lot more in there.

i do recommend 3BTech for your new PC.

they took my order, built it to my specs and tested it before shipping..

[addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Addicted to Morphine on Tue Apr 19th at 4:39pm 2005

I scanned the thread as best I could, it's quite lengthy. I assumed it was geared more towards those who wanted to build their own rigs, so I only paid attention to the particular information about monitors and memory.

It doesn't seem to be very hard to build your own computer from scratch, but... I just don't want to risk making a mistake, buying incompatible hardware, overlooking something etc. I'm looking for something straight from a reputable vendor.

As for 3btech... I'm assuming you're referring to www.3btech.net? How do you go about customizing a rig? Is it over the phone?




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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Orpheus on Tue Apr 19th at 5:07pm 2005

this is what i did.. i looked over 3btechs site to see what hardware they had, i made a list of the parts i wanted then i researched them as best as my limited experience would permit.

then i called them via telephone, and talked to one of their service reps. i asked/said.. "i don't particularly like the setups of most of your sales machines, can you build it, if i give you a list of the parts?" he said "sure can"

i said "will you tell me if i accidentally order parts that will not be compatible?" he said "you bet"

i said, will you test this machine to be sure its functioning at 100% before you ship it?" he said "we test all are machines whether they are bare bones or fully loaded PC's"

i said, "great, this is what i want."

we worked through the details till i ran out of money and then i asked.. "i know it has no operating system, but am i missing any hardware that you can see that would keep this machine from functioning once i put my windows version in it? " he said, "look complete to me.."

i sent him a money order, 10 days later it was on my front porch.

[addsig]



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 Re: On the Hunt for a Laptop
Posted by Myrk- on Tue Apr 19th at 6:25pm 2005

Laptops are good if you need to do desktop kinda stuff when your not at home. If its just mapping you do, then seriously- think about how much of a geek your being! Spending ?1000 on mapping for HL2 is quite a bit.

As many people say, buy something else. I have a laptop for doing CAD on when I'm not at my flat- though I don't have my laptop since I spilt OJ on it and the damn insurance people are mimicing snails.

If you still feel you need a laptop, then I suggest the Fujitsu Siemens lifebook range. You'll be able to get a really good model with Radeon 64mb and a TV card and all the gubbinz for around ?1000 - ?1400

[addsig]




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