Buying a New Laptop

Hey guysm

1st off I have read a few threads on here and have looked online for a new Laptop. I am semi computer stupid when it comes to whats new and whats hot. I can do the bascics on a computer but am by no means a computer wiz.

I like the one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220706 that Rahja posted in another forum but this is what I am looking for in a Laptop.

17" widescreen
HDMI output
Gaming Laptop
Blueray player

I am currently using a Dell Inspiron E1705, windows Xp, I bought new several years ago.

Most of the laptops I am seeing do not have blueray players. Is this beacuse they do not make good optical drives for gaming?

Most of the games I play do not require the disc to be in to play, so this is not a huge issue.

I do travel alot so having the blueray would be nice.

Anyhow tips/suggestions would be nice.

Thanks!!

Budget????

This might do - I'd like one myself.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834127046

Note that the screen resolution is less than 1920x1080 though.

I see that Sony, and raise you this Sony.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834127055

Only problem is, no BD support.

This wee beastie is out of stock right now, but has it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834127051

I wanna keep it with in reason, up to $1400 but wouldnt mind one around 800-900.

I like the Asus one I posted, seems to have good review but like I said no BD. I got my son a Asus for Christmas 2 years ago and its been sold.

At this point I am not sure if is worth an extra 500-600 bucks to get it.

Ive never had a Sony Laptop, are they worth the money or are you only paying for the sony name?

what about this one......theres minor differences between the VCF116FX Rhaja posted and this one I saw at Best Buy.

Is this an older modle or newer?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+V...&skuId=9705382

From what I can see this one has 6GB Ram not 4GB, both HD's are 500GB but this one runs at 5400rpm not 7200.

Thoughts?

Also check out this Utube Video about this laptop. There are lots of questions asked and answered about this laptop.

One point the owner had was Gaming with a Full High Res screen 1920x1080. If anyone else is thinking of getting a laptop like this it might be a good idea to read this.

What are your thoughts about playing games like GW on this type of laptop?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2U0qcDOi5U

A little of both. Sony's are generally a high quality product. Sometimes they are not the leading edge of a product line, but in the case of these new Sony laptops, they seem to be ahead of the curve, with the i series cpus, latest nVidia gpus, and Blu-Ray drives.

Any last thoughts on this PC would be awsome. I will most likely go got this or another this weekend.

Thanks for the advice

While the one you linked from Best Buy is perfectly fine, the one on Newegg is better, and cheaper. Why not order it from Newegg? Newegg is a far more reliable company with better support than Worst Buy. Stick with Newegg. If you feel compelled for some strange reason to continue to shop at Worst Buy, then sure, that laptop is great.

Sony is a very reliable company, and their notebooks have improved substantially in the past year or so. I certainly put them up there with ASUS's top end models. You pay a tiny premium, but overall, the build quality of a Sony notebook is excellent.

I've been through many, many laptops over the years (at home and at work), and so has my wife, and son. These have included Dell, IBM, Toshiba, Sony, Fujitsu, HP, and some "smaller" brands I don't remember right now.

What I do remember though, was that Sony was hands-down the worst. And so was their so-called "support". Drivers? You're having a laugh. "Oh, you installed something? Well then, you need to wipe it back to the factory image, and don't do that again". Badly overpriced junk... stylish and pretty though. (Hmm... all that reminds me of another well known brand)

That was some time ago... and maybe they're better now... maybe these days they treat their computer products like computers (instead of like VCRs or consoles). But personally I'm unlikely to ever give them a second chance. (That's a euphemism for "I wouldn't give Sony the steam off my sh*t. I wouldn't even p*ss on them if they were on fire - and fire is a fairly likely scenario given their reputation for batteries).

Do you really need a laptop? If you do all of your stuff at a set location then get a desktop, for that money you can build a beast.

Yes I do travel alot, so when I am on the road I can game/watch videos/ect while at a motel with WiFi.

Riot,

I use to work in the electronics industy and know a little of what you speak. Sony built great ellectronics but their computers lagged behind the industry and they relied on the Sony name to sell.

From what I have heard, they have improved a ton. I did get the one I link'd from Best Buy (not my first choice to shop, but my options are limited).

So far it runs GW awsome. The computer is very fast and I can run GW on full 1900x1080, 60fps refresh rate, maxed out detail and the computer never skips a beat. Only complaint is a little fan noise to keep the Vcard cool but I play with my head phones on so whoopty do.

I did do some more research after I purchased this and the Nvidia 330M card is a mid grade card, Class II not Class I.

From what I read the only way to get the Class I cards is to go to a larger laptop since these cards produce alot more heat and require a larger PC to vent.

I have a few more days with this one before I can not take it back. I have not made my final determination if I will keep it.

But to build one on Dell using the Inspiration platform its more money and if you go Alienware get out the big checkbook (I might )

Spec's on the sony

i7 with turbo
6gig DDR 1033
Nvidia M330 1 gig dedicated
500MB HD (5400prm, wish this was 7200)
Blue Ray (very nice)
HD 1900x1080 screen

Now that you mention it, I did have a "fun" time trying to install XP on a Sony laptop that originally came with Vista. The only drivers I could find on the Sony site would only run in Vista (even though the description said they supported XP). And the hardware was very proprietary, so I couldn't find drivers anywhere else. But, on the other hand, it wasn't my laptop, so I just gave up and convinced the guy that Vista was fine (which it actually is) and told myself not to buy a Sony laptop.

I took it back, nothing realy wrong with it.

My only comlaints are.........the fans noise when it was running GW was a bit louder. My 4.5 year old dell is very quiet.

The HD screen is a bit hard to read but the graphics in GW are nice when you crank them up vs this Dell.

I also want to look for one with a Class I video card..........this one was a Class II, more then enough for GW but want to be sure it will run games in the future

http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-g73jha1-order-p-2731.html

* Model: Asus G73JH-A1
* Display: 17.3" FHD Glossy (1920x1080)
* CPU: Intel® Mobile Core i7 720QM
* RAM: 8192 MB DDR3 1066MHz
* HDD: 1,000GB (1TB) 7200RPM (Dual 500GB 7200RPM)
* CD: Blu-Ray Reader + Super Multi DVD±R/RW / CDRW
* Wireless: Built In WIFI & Bluetooth
* ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD5870 1024MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11

Starting From$1,645

That's Stock and what I am currently awaiting to arrive.

I realize it is a couple hundred bucks more than your budget, but this is a pretty top-of-the-line piece of machinery for the price.

The graphics card is also DX11 compatible which basically means you wont need to upgrade with up-coming games.

sounds sweet, verrah verrah suwheet to be precise --- my only caveat to that would be to make sure you get a heck of a good cooling pad for it, that's going to run hot.

Yeah the vents on the device seem pretty capable of cooling. And the keyboard has intake fans for extra cooling, But I am getting a cooling pad with it. Better safe than sorry.

this one is very similar but check out the review from people who have bought that machine.

A couple compaire the A1 vs X1 might be helpfull.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220695

I considered this laptop as well but i might have one built too.

The above is an amazing notebook. That thing has some of the best parts available on a notebook at this time. Would be a pretty good choice, especially at that price.

I was looking at this machine myself but read the customer reviews on it........I cut/pasted a few

Pros: See Hoot's review on 2/24/10

Cons: See Hoot's on 2/24/10

Other Thoughts: I'm adding to my review that I left on 2/24/10.

Now that I've had a chance to game on this, I'm very unhappy with the laptop. It freezes constantly while gaming and locks up the laptop so I have to shut it down by holding the power button, nothing else works. Happened a ton while playing Mass Effect through Steam that it eventually would not load into Windows and after calling ASUS tech support I had to wipe and reformat everything. I ended up reformating with my own copy of Windows Ultimate 64 bit so I didn't have to uninstall bloatware. Now after playing Team Fortress 2 for two hours, it has crashed three times already.

The laptop is not getting hot, I have a good cooler with fan underneath it. I'll be putting in a call to ASUS tech support, but I'm very sour on this thing right now

Pros: Great design! Two exhaust ports on the rear work great, runs relatively cool for a gamin rig. Love the way the screen is attached as well, very sturdy and well built. Really like the Satin finish, and the lit keyboard will be a must have for me for now on. Runs Fallout 3, Mass Effect, Eve, X3 TC, Dragon Age Origins, Warhammer 40k DoW II all at max settings nicely... when it doesn't crash.

Cons: Hard crashes on all games I mentioned above usually at least once an hour. (Save often!) I have to assume it is a driver issue so I'll give it a few weeks for the next update. Or a 64/32 bit issue, not sure. This being a brand new video card, you can expect a few bugs to be worked out. ATI is usually pretty sexy about getting the drivers updated so we'll see.

Other Thoughts: I really dig the way this thing is built, it is basically an all-in-one crammed into a laptop so if you don't mind how large it is, it doesn't get much better IMHO. I expect it'll be able to push most new games for at least a year at max, and much longer than that at med/low settings. Also I think the price is fair for what you're getting, and if it weren't for the constant freeze ups I give this five eggs.


Tons of review of people loving it but I found one common thing, a few people complaining it crashes alot.

No PC is going to be perfect. That is a great deal, and you would be foolish not to buy that laptop (it has very well balanced hardware) It will tear through any game that is released right now, and most likely anything within the next 2 years.

Two things come to mind about that laptop.
1. The OP wants a Blu-Ray player.
2. The reviewer states that it runs those games "at max settings". Maybe it's not capable of running "max settings" without overheating the graphics chip. (The GPU could overheat without necessarily making the entire laptop seem hot.) Or, it could, of course, just be a driver problem. (But as I pointed out in another post, it's not necessarily a "video driver" problem.)