Laptop for friend

A friend of mine is willing to spend around 2000 on a computer, and INSISTS that it must be a laptop. He does want to play games on it, but that will not be its only use. Can anyone make a suggestion?

Is it $ or some other currency?

If it's $2000 he should be able to get a laptop that's able to play most games. It should be able to play GW very well

If it's 2000 yen - it would be very low end

If it's Pounds or Euros, I don't know.....

I've had good luck with Dells so far. It's possible to configure a brand new XPS M1530 for under $2000 USD no problem. It will include a 2.6ghz CPU, nVidia 8600M-GT-256MB video card, and a 1680x1050 glossy high res LCD. Price Tag = $1899.

Full specs below:

Dell XPS M1530

Tuxedo Black
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7800 (2.6GHz/800Mhz FSB, 4MB Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition
High Resolution glossy widescreen 15.4 inch LCD(1680x1050) & 2MP Camera
3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
Speed: 160GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive Free Fall Sensor
Slot Load DVD+/-RW (DVD/CD read/write)
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-card
Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0+Enhanced Data Rate)
56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
My Software & Accessories
Trend Micro Internet Security 15-months
No Microsoft Office
My Service
3Yr In-Home Service, Parts Labor, 24x7 Phone Support
1Yr LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection (CD Shipped Separately)
Included 10GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Year
6 Months Risk-Free Trial AOL Advantage Internet Access
Also Includes
Windows Vista™ Premium
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7.0
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor


It's also possible to get an M1710, though he'll have to go to www.delloutlet.com to get this kind of pricing.

dell XPS is a very good choice. i dun c anything will match its power and price.

Dell XPS or check out the clevo resellers (sager etc)

What about this one, would it be better or worse than that XPS?

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/tosh...-32103848.html

XPS is better then that. For a 17" that is a shocking resolution. The 7900GS is roughly the same as the 8600 in the XPS, but the XPS has a faster HD and more RAM for only slightly more.

Versus make a new thread on laptops, I'll just ask this question here. For anyone giving advice, what are your opinions for a laptop with these stats? (I don't know jack about computer specs, and I won't pretend to.)


Video Card:
Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8700M GT - SLI Enabled

Chassis:
17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD with Clearview Technology - Stealth Black

Processor:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7600 2.33GHz 4MB Cache 667MHz FSB

Memory:
4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB

Operating System:
Windows Vista® Ultimate

System Drive:
160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache)

Optical Drives:
2x Blu-ray Writer/DVD±RW Burner

Wireless Network Card:
Wireless-N Bundle
Includes Intel® 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card and Netgear® WNR854T RangeMax™ Router

Mobile:
Cellular Mobile Broadband ExpressCard

Sound Card:
Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio


Thoughts? What could I do better? Will this be satisfactory for GW2 do you believe? I'm sure it will run GW1. Give me some input.

LOL, that's a GREAT laptop. The only thing about it is the T7600 CPU. Can't you get a Santa Rosa CPU? They have an 800 MHz FSB compared to the 667 of that current one.

T7600 is good enough to run most games like GW and CoD4. No need to upgrade

A superb laptop with the exception of the 667 MHz FSB. Get an 800 MHz and it'll be more future proof and wont be bogging down the laptop as much.

The 8700 is weaker compared to the 7950GTX though. The only advantage of the 8700 is the DX10 compatibility.

What brand names would allow me to follow your reccomendations in customization, including the card and the processor? Or would I have to go do a building site?

Hmmm interesting, you might have to opt for the 8700, seems no one offers the 7950 anymore.

Try this forum, they know their shit - http://forum.notebookreview.com/

I think that Sager may offer 2x 7950s, but I'm not too sure.

I also agree that the 800mhz FSB is a worthwhile step up from 667mhz. I recently transcoded a DVD on my XPS M1710 w/ 2.33mhz C2Duo and was teaching a friend how to do it on his HP laptop with a 2.2mhz C2Duo. His laptop decoded the VOB file at a considerably quicker pace.

As far as GPU's are concerned, I'd recommend waiting for the 8800M-GTX if possible. The 8700M-GT's are essentially overclocked 8600M's.

I plan on getting the Dell XPS M1730 once the 8800's become available, but that might not happen until mid-2008.

8800 is due for release in Feb apparently. Might get myself one of these http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9262-...1c-p-2273.html

Should fly

Sweet! I can't wait. Usually Dell gets their NVidia GPU alotments much sooner given their size, but if Sager delivers sooner, I might go that direction instead.

These are shipping next week..

http://www.pcmicroworks.com/blackhawk.htm

They will ship the 2nd 8800 when SLI becomes available.

Sorry for the thread jacking..I'll buy ya a pint

Just a friendly advice: for that kind of price, do not buy any laptop that you won't try by yourself (or your friend). The spec may look really impressive, with the latest graphic card, huge hard disk and fast processor. But laptops do NOT work like desktop computers, as can be seen from heating problems (well that also happens with some desktops too, but it's rather rare). A shiny 8800 may look impressive, but it is not when the laptop slows down due to the card overheating. Plus laptops have different keyboards, sometimes not so well designed.

Heh I own more then one laptop also more then 1 PC. Cash isn't an issue.

Nothing a fan base and external keyboard can't fix! My XPS M1710 did overheat twice this last year, but only because I started using an external 24" display and running the laptop with the lid closed. Once I realized what was happening, I bought a laptop fan base. No more over-heating, and UT3 + HGL run quite nicely.

Thanks for the URL. Clevo's look like they're better than Dells as far as video upgrade support, but the M1730 does sport an Aegia physics card. I'll have to do more research on both before making a final decision on my next gaming laptop.