Decent gaming laptop for $800ish

[cegha]

is it possible to get a decent gaming laptop for around the $800 price range?

Edit: What is the difference between a Pentium M and the new Intel Core Duo processor's?

[meionm]

is it possible to get a decent gaming laptop for around the $800 price range?

Edit: What is the difference between a Pentium M and the new Intel Core Duo processor's?
You can read about duo and how it compares to pentiu M here
http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=2663

A bit better battery life and performance over pentium M.




As goes for laptop, you will need look for something used. That's becasue the good gfx brings prices up. But all will depend on your needs. If you looking for laptop to play pinball or chess no need for fancy gaming card, intergraded will do.

[Lionsault_100]

core duo is dual core, pentium M is single core (theres more to it than that but thats the main thing) , i like the cut of the new HP zv6000, anyone know how those game?

[z0n3]

HP laptops are despised on these forums. Acer and Sager however will get a lot more praise. I reccommend that you look at the offerings from those companies.

[damarble]

For $800 I say a Dell with coupon is the best way. Wait for a 30-40% coupon, and price a $1200-1400 system. Stack some more coupons on to save more.

[ozzlo]

a refurb dell i9300 has plenty of power and they are just perfectly in that price range with a dell outlet cupon

[Lionsault_100]

HP laptops are despised on these forums. Acer and Sager however will get a lot more praise. I reccommend that you look at the offerings from those companies.

sager/acer ? for $800 ? I guess its possible if he keeps his eyes on a back of the truck special

[cegha]

what would be better for gaming performance.

ATI Radeon X300 128mb PCI-E

or getting a Intel Duo Core Processor.

1.7Ghz P-M w/ X300

or

1.66Ghz P-Duo w/ integrated graphics?

[violineb]

both are terrible. But the x300 is a better choice. Like the above have mentioned.$800 doesn't buy much.

But I did find this refurb with an X600 for only $815
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834114127R

If it doesn't work out then newegg isn't difficult to deal with.

[adriana]

how about the dell i6000d

[meionm]

how about the dell i6000d
What are the spec

[adriana]

here a review
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2665

[meionm]

here a review
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2665
it uses x300 so I don't know much about it, it might play a game but will it be decent for somebody.

[cegha]

do you guys think quake 3 would be playable on a Centrino Duo, 512MB RAM, and integrated video card. I don't plan on playing many games on it, just some older ones to entertain me when im bored.

[cegha]

i found this page that did benchmarks on the x300, so i assume this is close to how it would perform in a laptop.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/powercolor-x300se_7.html

Would it be possible to play Unreal 2K4 with like 40 FPS, on a laptop with that card (granted no AA/AS) and like 1024x768 resoultion, with like graphics on medium?

I might just go with getting a X300, instead of a Duo.

[ozzlo]

The x300 is an excellent overclocker I hear... most people get somewhere between 30 and 40% overclocks ;) so it should be able to handle ut2k4 but don't expect much out of it in terms of new games...

[damarble]

do you guys think quake 3 would be playable on a Centrino Duo, 512MB RAM, and integrated video card. I don't plan on playing many games on it, just some older ones to entertain me when im bored.

I got really good FPS on a P3 laptop with 16mb video card in Quake 3. It doesnt demand a lot.

For a laptop on a buget, I would get a lower end P-M CPU, and pin mod it for higher speed. Then with the saved cash, get a better video card.

[cegha]

well guys, about 2 weeks ago i customized my grandma a laptop, and she ordered it, and for my bday she suprised me and gave it to me. So now i have a like 17" inspirion E1705, with 1g of RAM and a 2Ghz Duo, and i didn't think about even getting her a good gfx card, so like it has integrated. So i guess i will see how it runs. Overall i guess it's kool.

[adriana]

how nice of her

[ozzlo]

Wish I had a grandma like that... all I ever get is clothes... you should be able to buy a 7800 from dell spare parts to stick in there ;)

[cegha]

Wish I had a grandma like that... all I ever get is clothes... you should be able to buy a 7800 from dell spare parts to stick in there ;)

I thought laptop gfx cards weren't upgradable, except on a very very select few high end ones.

[ozzlo]

This is one of the very select few high end ones ;) it in all reality is an inspiron 9400 ;)


but I did a little looking around and it looks like the 7800 cards are sold out :( ... you might be in for a wait as it seems dell has taken the 7800 temporarily off the product line because the card is so popular and dell has run out... but it's good to know you have a future upgrade you can do down the road whenever dell manages to get some in stock :)

[meionm]

Maybe dell stopped getting 7800 becasue the plan on getting 7900

[ozzlo]

desktop versions are usually out some time berore the mobile is released... they may have permanently replaced it with the ati x1400 till 7900 arrives, i guess only time will tell... If I knew what Michal Dell's thoughts/agendas where I could tell ya for sure but I don't so I can't...

[cegha]

well in about 4 weeks time, i will be getting my tax refund of $188 so could i get a decent video card for that kind of cash?

[cegha]

ok i did some reading on the cards, and i would have to get a new battery and charger if i was to get a 6800 go ultra or higher. What if i just get a 6800 Go (non ultra) would i still have to get the 9cell battery and charger?