This notebook vs Guildwars.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1158317339247

Well, with Nightfall just around the corner (like two days) I've been looking into getting a new pc. And this time around I've been looking into laptops. I'm looking for a laptop that will run GW near flawlessly in the highest quality.

Now I'm not a big fan oh HP but money is tight and I'm not the best shopper. I've been pointed to the dell notebooks before although this one seems to be a better deal from my limited knowledge.

Product Details:
Warranty Terms - Parts 1 year limited
Warranty Terms - Labor 1 year limited
Product Height 1.6"
Product Width 15.2"
Product Weight 7.8 lbs.
Product Depth 11.7"
Processor Brand Intel® Core(TM)2 Duo Mobile
Processor Speed 1.66GHz
Display Type WXGA+ high-definition widescreen with BrightView technology (1440 x 900)
Screen Size 17"
System Bus 667MHz
Cache Memory 2MB on die Level 2
System Memory (RAM) 2GB
System Memory (RAM) Expandable To Nonexpandable
Type of Memory (RAM) DDR2
Hard Drive Type SATA (5400 rpm)
Hard Drive Size 160GB
Optical Drive Double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
Optical Drive Speeds Drive speeds not available
LightScribe Compatibility Yes
Digital Media Reader or Slots Yes, digital media card reader
Diskette Drive No
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600
Video Memory 256MB
Personal Video Recorder (PVR) Yes
TV Tuner Yes
MPEG Yes
Modem 56 Kbps*
*Capable of receiving 56 Kbps downloads. However, current regulations limit download speed to 53 Kbps.
Networking Built-in 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless Networking Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG network connection (802.11a/b/g)
S-Video Outputs 1
Additional Audio/Video Connectors SPDIF digital audio out
Audio Altec Lansing
PCMCIA Slots 1 ExpressCard/54
USB 2.0 Ports 4
IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports 1
Parallel Ports None
Serial Ports None
Game Ports None
Notebook Weight Standard (more than 6 lbs.)
Battery Type Lithium-ion
Pointing Device Touchpad with on/off and dedicated vertical scroll up/down pad
Operating System Windows XP Media Center
Included Software Microsoft Works, Money, Windows Media Player; Adobe Acrobat Reader; Sonic DigitalMedia Plus; HP QuickPlay, Photosmart Premier; muvee autoProducer DVD Edition with Burning and more
Included Accessories HP mobile remote, ear bud headphones and HP Media Center Remote

Yes, this will run GW flawlessly. While HP isn't the best out there for laptops, it's certainly not a bad buy.

The processor is slightly on the slower side for a Core2 Duo, but otherwise the hardware specs looks great. I'd suggest checking out CNET and notebookreview.com for more details and options.

This would be best posted in the Tech Forum and best to look on HPs official site as I yes have one of thier Desk top models and have been happy with it so far although my next desk top will be a shop made one or clone.I might get a laptop instead although the video card upate would require more thought.

I wouldnt choose a laptop to play games. I have one which I tried to play GW on and it got extremely hot after an hour or so, get a PC unless you have limited space.

Yes, this was actually intended for the tech forum. Though somehow it wound up in Riverside. Which I'm not really sure how that happened.


I've had a desktops and they are to bulky for me. I've been looking for mobility so I can move around more and get a change of scenery. Yeah I know that may sound sort of odd. :]

I run GW on an XPS gaming laptop without any issues. GW does warm it up, but that's normal for all high demand game titles.

I think you had pointed me to the XPS in another thread, could you tell me the specs on it and the price?

If you have unlimited budget go for whatever

I can't give you an exact price since I got mine at a corporate rate, but my same config with a 2.5ghz Core2 Duo, 7900gtx-512, 100gig 7200rpm SATA HD, 8x DVD burner, and 2gigs RAM runs about ~$3000 USD (less than what I paid for it).

Dell will probably release a revamped XPS by Christmas time. However, if you want lower-cost alternatives, check out Dell's used refurbs at outlet.dell.com. My co-worker picked up last year's XPS model with 7800gtx video card for $1300 -- it looked brand new out of the box. Some of the models are refurbs, while others were ordered new and returned without real use. All are redone to like-new specs unless noted otherwise.

PS: Sorry for sounding like a sales rep. Their notebook hrdware is very good, but the phone support isn't great unless you shell out extra $$$ for their additional support. If you do go with a refurb, get their 3+ year accidental damage coverage to keep your new toy safe.

My laptop has way crappier specs and it still runs GW with full details. Hit it.

edit: actually scratch that above comment, just noticed that Nightfall has different system requirements. I still think you'll be fine though.

If you are going through Best Buy, get the extended in store warranty whatever it may be.

You want to be able to bring it back and make them fix it. Geek squad does a decent job of fixing problems but you don't want to have to pay for that.

yeah, geek squad is uber expensive, thouh they do a very good job.

In all honesty, dont get the extra plans at Best Buy. It is a rip off, they will give you nothing but hassels (read the word "limited") and will take forever to do anything should they decide that they will even cover it. If you run into any problems find your local computer repair shop. They will actually give a demn about your problem and any good place will not charge you just to breathe on it. I would say check out local computer shops too for getting a system anyhow.

I dont personally recommend using a laptop to play games unless of course you are playing at work:P

My Rig setup i got in preparation for NF and future proofing:

1 x Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Processors (1.86GHz) Box
1 x Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Motherboard
2 x Kingston PC2-5300 DDR2-667 1GB
1 x Seagate IDE 3.5inh 320GB 7200RPM 16MB HD
1 x Lian-Li PC-7B+ Black Aluminum Casing
1 x Antec TruePower 2.0 550W 24/20pin
1 x Samsung SHS-182D 18x DVD Writer DL/DF Black (Box)
1 x Xpertvision 7950GT 512MB

Total: 1,252.79 USD with tax.

I love where i live

Don't forget LAN parties or gaming while travelling abroad. Thank goodness for 3G mobile broadband now being reality.

I agree with prior posts. Laptops simply do not make good game rigs, until you start looking at those in the $2,000 range. The CPU is much lower then those in desktops, and the video cards are downright awfull. But that is the tradeoff you have to be willing to make if you want portability.

You have asked for reccomendations, but it might help if you could give a budget. With anything computer related, the budget matters a great bit.

And you might want to think again about the HP. One thing their notebooks are infamous for is breaking at where the power cord enters the back of the laptop. We see 4 or 5 that come in like that a month (one of them was mine). Just a little bit of pressure (like starting to walk off with the power connected) breaks the inside of the recepticle on the back of the unit.

At that point, your choice is to either pay big bucks (around $250) to have HP fix it, or to find somebody comfortable in soldering to remove the old connector and re-solder one to the back of the unit. Because the unit built into it is HP propriatary, that means soldering some wires onto the motherboard, and having the actual connector sticking out the back on a wire.

I did mine myself, it cost around $20 for the parts. But having it done will probably run around $100-150, because of the delicate soldering required (and the removal of the motherboard and old connector). This is something that can happen to all laptops if you are not careful, but HP seems to suffer damage a lot more often then most others.

That's why I suggested the Dell outlet. There are some fantastic deals in there, especially if you can get a corporate rate discount. My buddy's M170 cost him $1300 fully loaded, and it's only 10fps slower than my M1710 in most of todays titles. It runs GW flawlessly at 1920x1200 full eye candy. The only drawback is that it's not a dual core unit. A 3-year accidental coverage contract easily pays for itself even if used only once.

EDIT: oh, did I mention Dell XPS's look cool?

@Mushroom:
I have around a $1500.00 budget. I'm obviously on a pretty tight budget for a decent laptop. I saw a 1.8ghz C2 with a 512 nvidia from HP for about $1300. I was considering this. I'm not quite certain what I'm looking for to get performance out of a laptop. So within that range would be great, also refurbs scratch and dents and others in that category.

@Shar:
I really like those XPSs with all the pretty lights and stuff. Though I've only seen them at $1600 ish from the outlet. And what specs would I be looking to buy. What video card is good for the laptops, what processor speed, and also how much ram. I can upgrade ram later I'm assuming so starting with 1gig is fine with me. And also Do I really want the c2 processor? If so what speed am I looking for?

I'd recommend at least 100+ gigs HD storage and 1+ gig RAM. The NVidia 7900GS is still an excellent video card and comes standard in M1710's. Core Duo processors are also standard in M1710's, though I'd go for a Core2Duo if possible. Dual Core CPU's are much less susceptible to performance slow-downs when running multiple apps like GW + virus scanning, anti-spyware, VoiP apps, multiple browser windows, etc. Dual Cores work so much better than their single core counterparts overall, and the cost difference isn't that much anymore.

512MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7600 <---- Is this video card better then the NVidia 7900GS?
Or is more memory not everything?

You'll have to check the spec's on NVidia's web site, but the 7600's are NVidia's mid range GPU's. The 7900's run higher clock speeds and are aimed more towards performance enthusiasts. The 7900's probably have more video pipes enabled as well.

BTW, check the discrete memory settings of whatever laptop you choose... that's the actual amount of physical video ram on the video card as opposed to shared main memory.

Where could I find this out from? I wouldn't actually need to own it would I?


"7600 with 512MB discrete video memory delivers best-in-class graphics and performance for gaming and video applications. "
Is this what you're talking about?

You can go to the laptop manufacturer's web site to get this info. For Dells, I know that their M1710's use 7900GS's with 256MB video ram. I just checked Hp's web site, and their DV9000's use 256MB or 512MB discrete video memory.

+1. ouch.

Otherwise that laptop will take gws easy.


All i can say is go for the best specced laptop you can afford - so do some serious shopping around - cos upgrading is a world of pain when it comes to laptops.

Thanks for checking that out for me. So does this mean that this card will give decent performance?