Medium gaming laptop

[MeMeMeMe]

i find 64bit windows a pain in the backside.

id rather lose half a gig than find half of my peripherals (including both my wifi adapters...) and half of my programs dont work

I feel your pain as i have an external soundcard and a wifi card in an old laptop that windows 7 won't work with. But you are overstating the problem.

This is NOT a problem when you are buying a new computer. All of the hardware in the laptop will be compatible with 64 bit windows 7, and it will (or should) include a wifi adaptor. There are also very few programs these days that don't have windows 7 64bit compatible versions.

 

[MeMeMeMe]

The res is a tricky one - 1920x would tax a mainstream laptop GPU too much and it makes things quite tiny on your average laptop display, but IMO 1366x768 is too low res - while that does makes the lower end GPUs more useful I think for general windows useage you'd find it cramped and some games suffer i.e. mmos like eve, wow, etc. tho not such a big deal with fps games. Personally I settled on a 1680x1050 res on my laptop and find that works very well.

1680x1050 was the res I had on my 15" screen, and it was fine for me, but most people who saw it thought it was too much of an eyestrain.

I think 1366x768 will be fine. I had to use 1280x800 for a while, and found that cramped, but I got used to it. If there was a 1440x900 option, I'd strongly recommend taking that, but of the two options listed, 1366 and 1920, I think 1366 is the better option at that size.

 

[JDR82]

Interesting stuff JonnyCasino... So they didn't give you a more accurate delivery time? I'll probably order one this week anyway!

Atm the estimated delivery date is between 27/04 and 04/05, they said I would get an updated more precise date emailed when the laptop is finished, so I'm hoping to get lucky and get it next week

 

[Buggaton]

Firstly, thanks for the input from everyone. It's been much appretiated.

As battery life isn't essential, especially when gaming, I'll opt for the lower of the two i5, lower res screen and 5650. The laptop comes as standard with windows x64 so that's not an issue ^^

Atm the estimated delivery date is between 27/04 and 04/05, they said I would get an updated more precise date emailed when the laptop is finished, so I'm hoping to get lucky and get it next week

That's 11-21 days. Not too bad at all. Thanks for all your input. I still haven't bought it yet as I'm waiting for my paycheque at the end of the month. I'll be getting it pretty soon after that, however. ^^ *psych*

 

[mast3r]

Take a look at the dell Vostro,
1gb Ati 4870.

 

[dimo]

Dell do the Studio 17 with a 1600x900* resolution which is a nice inbetweener. I have the smaller high res screen and, although it takes a bit of getting used to at first, it has its advantages. The XPS range from dell would allow you with a half decent GPU for gaming, but the prices tend to be a little overkill for the hardware you get over the studio 15's..

 

[Buggaton]

Dell are like BT and Volkswagon. Far too heavily reliant on the fact that they USED to have outstanding reliability and customer service. Both of these things, in my experience, have since dwindled to unacceptable levels. I don't think I'd be keen on buying anything from Dell again. My friends have had less than favourable reactions from Dell, also.

I did, however, have a look at Vostro and Studio 15/17 models before I landed on the E-Series VAIO and cannot say I particularly approved of the price of any of them for what they offer. I cannot find the one with the 4870 card, however.

 

[dimo]

Hmm.. I have to disagree. I was worried before placing my order with Dell but to be honest I think most Dell forums are full of the unlucky few who actually get bad units. Because dell sell so much you'd think its a lot of people but its still a relatively small minority in comparison to the number of sales they do make.

Granted, their customer service isn't the best, but things get sorted out, albeit in indian timing (late and a little slow).

Whats this about VW? I drive one of them too, and i drive it hard.. no issues there mate; VW engineering always has been, and still is, extremely good... wouldn't put them in the same boat as Dell or BT by any means.

 

[Buggaton]

Hmm.. I have to disagree. I was worried before placing my order with Dell but to be honest I think most Dell forums are full of the unlucky few who actually get bad units. Because dell sell so much you'd think its a lot of people but its still a relatively small minority in comparison to the number of sales they do make.

Granted, their customer service isn't the best, but things get sorted out, albeit in indian timing (late and a little slow).

Whats this about VW? I drive one of them too, and i drive it hard.. no issues there mate; VW engineering always has been, and still is, extremely good... wouldn't put them in the same boat as Dell or BT by any means.

They're not nearly as super awesome as they used to be. But you're probably right, they're not as bad as BT or Dell.

Still, given the problems I've had in the past I know I'll shoot myself if I get "bad luck" again. I know I could get bad luck elsewhere but at least I won't have expected it!

 

[snarf]

I concur with Buggatron. I used to have a Dell - about 8+ years ago when their service and build quality was consistantly decent... Nowadays all I hear is of the hit and miss stuff with Dell. No consistancy in what they are producing, thats not to say they don't produce the odd good deal, but they are still trying to dine on a previous reputation...

I am using one of the new Sony E Series at work right now and I am very impressed with the quality of it so far (Core i3 version and with Intel graphics). Although one thing I have found with it, is its touchpad is slightly annoying, it seems to be a bit limited on sensitivity when moving the mouse with your finger (even if you alter the settings)... But thats why I use a mouse instead

 

[Buggaton]

I concur with Buggatron.

Although one thing I have found with it, is its touchpad is slightly annoying, it seems to be a bit limited on sensitivity when moving the mouse with your finger (even if you alter the settings)... But thats why I use a mouse instead

I'll be using my own mouse. Is it MX516 or something? That awesome gaming one. I hate touchpads.

Also, there's no "R" in my name. I'm not a transformer

 

[edgarina]

I also have more or less the same needs and have about settled with the E-series though wondered about the MESH which I believe got a very good write up in 'what laptop' last month.

It might just be me but for gaming isn't it worth the extra for the 17" screen. I was thinking of the i5, 320 gb (as don't down load much and had a 1tb external) 4gb ram, 17" screen with 1920X1080, and the 5650 card for cert for £909

two questions though, how much differnt are the arguements above about resolution for a 17" screen and if you goto a sony store, as there is one close to me, would I be able to get it quicker or are stores a bad idea, I could do with it pretty fast when I get the money. Usually I like stores if possible as there is someone to physically shout at if things go wrong..

 

[snarf]

LOL sorry Buggaton

The model i'm using now is

Sony VPCEB1E9E/BJ.CEK - INTEL CORE i3-330M 2.13GHz 4GB 320GB INTEGRATED GRAPHICS DVDRW 15.5 INCH WIN 7 PRO 64BIT

Paid around £530 for it I think

 

[Buggaton]

Haha, no worries Snarf. That's pretty much the build i'm looking at except with a 5650 on top and the first of the i5s.

two questions though, how much differnt are the arguements above about resolution for a 17" screen and if you goto a sony store, as there is one close to me, would I be able to get it quicker or are stores a bad idea, I could do with it pretty fast when I get the money. Usually I like stores if possible as there is someone to physically shout at if things go wrong...

screen might be big enough. I wouldn't need the size, I don't think. Let me know how you find going to a store. I'm tempted to do the same myself if the price would be similar. And "lol" at being able to shout at someone XD

 

[JDR82]

About going into a store, this is what I did last friday before ordering online simply so i could physically check out the e series build quality, weight etc and found the prebuilt models to all feature only the i3 processor, there was one with intel gfx and a 1366 x 768 screen then two with ati 5470 gfx and full hd screens.

So in other words no prebuilt with the specs I wanted or even close my local store is a rather small one tho maybe better luck if you have something a bit bigger nearby.

Went for the 15" over the 17" myself for portability, my current laptop is 17" and a pain for work trips. To edgarina, if your unsure about 1920 x 1080 on a 17" model the lower res for that screen size is 1600 x 900 which my current one uses and looks great. 1366 x 768 is only on the 14 and 15" versions.

EDIT: Also found the prices in store to be higher than the same spec online.

EDIT2: About Mesh my last desktop was from them and great, however the same spec mesh laptop as what I've ordered above was close to £140 more and you had no screen option so had to take the FullHD which I didnt personally want.

 

[edgarina]

Just for info I found the below model that has a 330m card for £880 on a common web site for those who like to PLAY, I don't think we are allowed to quote link/specific shop sites are we but you get the gist, so worth baring in mind a quick search of some other sites as that was next day free delivery. If it wasn't for the card I would consider it.

Sony VAIO F11 M1E/H / Core i5 520M 2.4 - 2.93GHz / 4GB / 500GB / Blu-ray BD-ROM Combo / 16.4" / Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit / Laptop / Notebook / Grey

 

[MeMeMeMe]

two questions though, how much differnt are the arguements above about resolution for a 17" screen

17" is a very nice size for a gaming laptop, but if you are carting it about a lot, you will soon wish you had a 15".

I have a 17" (1920x1200) laptop, and I love it, but I don't move it around a lot - partly because it's an old desktop replacement and has no battery life, so has to be tethered to its power cable. That was fine before I got my desktop, when it was my main machine, but now I wouldn't mind a smaller one.

 

[Buggaton]

17" is a very nice size for a gaming laptop, but if you are carting it about a lot, you will soon wish you had a 15".

I have a 17" (1920x1200) laptop, and I love it, but I don't move it around a lot - partly because it's an old desktop replacement and has no battery life, so has to be tethered to its power cable. That was fine before I got my desktop, when it was my main machine, but now I wouldn't mind a smaller one.

You're looking at about 30% more weight for those extra two inches (lol?) to put it into numbers. ^^

 

[edgarina]

OK now you have gone and changed my mind and I am confused again.......

I think maybe 15" would be better as I may be carting it around daily along with my normally overloaded briefcase. My problem with the e-series 15" is they don't have quite the upgrade options of the 17" particularly a 500gb 7200 hard drive. I also have the peculiar problem of needing to spend as close to £1000 as possible as its use it or lose it funding.

One thing would help me as far also wanting to play games. My home desktop is an overclockers overclocked Q6600 with a 9800gt graphics card. It plays most games pretty well and I am not after ultra high performance and am more of a Dragon age person than a CoD person. I figured the new lappy would probably play games better than my older home rig so have been after a decent graphics card in it, but if thats not the case then the decision is easier.

So for instance what would play games better my home rig or an i5 with a 230m card or a 330m card. How much better would the 5650 card be than my home rig?

its a shame the HP envy is just over my budget but have looked at this;

HP Pavilion dv6-2106ea Entertainment

any advise welcomed.

 

[Buggaton]

If you're looking to hit the or just under £1000 mark then I've assessed a quote you might be interested in.

15.6" Screen (1920x1080)
i7 quad core processor (720QM)
Radeon ATI 5650
4 gigs RAM
500GB 7200rpm
4-6 days build time

£922~

15.6" Enigma i7

Unless you can find a better GFX card on a laptop that's under £1000 and comes with a 500GB 7200rpm I believe this is your best bet. Hope this helps ^^