I am going to be starting school next fall at either University of Miami or University or Massachusetts (waiting to hear back about my transfer application) and will be residing on campus in the dorms/apartments so I will space limited pretty much to a laptop and need some suggestions about good gaming laptops.
I had been looking at a few brands like Dell, Alienware, and some others although I was hoping people could help comment on them from either personal experience or other means.
Alienware System Setup:
Area-51® m15x
Display: 15.4" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p)
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - White
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Ultimate
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: With Express Card Media Center Remote Control
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Turbo Cache Memory: Intel® Turbo Memory (1GB) – Accelerate Data Transfer Speed
Available on Windows Vista Only!
System Drive: 200GB 7200RPM (16MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
I didn't customize past the hardware and warranty since the rest doesn't affect past cosmetics. This came out to $4,128 which is megabucks for me but I can hopefully convince parentals it's for my entire college career, if I downgrade the graphics to a 8700m gt with 512mb it saves $350. The lack of accidental damage is a turnoff although the performance on this thing must be blazing fast for games and just everyday things in general. I also love the idea of having a 1920x1200 res screen since I watch a lot of HD content and wanted the Blu-Ray drive.
Dell XPS m1530 Setup:
(PRODUCT) RED (PRODUCT) RED
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED
High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 Inch LCD (1680x1050) & 2.0 MP
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Slot Load Blu-ray Disc (BD/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)
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
3 Year Warranty with Accidental Damage (Dell Care Plus Package)
The Dell comes out to $3,170 which is considerably less than the Alienware plus has Accidental Damage. Is the performance upgrade on the Alienware worth the extra cost??
I am open to other suggestions as I don't want to spend this much money and find out I could've gotten something similar or better for less. Plus, I am honestly stumped on good gaming laptops since I never considered a laptop for gaming until I had to consider space limitations for dorms and portability if I need to bring a computer for classes. Any and all help is appreciated.
I had been looking at a few brands like Dell, Alienware, and some others although I was hoping people could help comment on them from either personal experience or other means.
Alienware System Setup:
Area-51® m15x
Display: 15.4" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p)
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - White
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Ultimate
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: With Express Card Media Center Remote Control
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Turbo Cache Memory: Intel® Turbo Memory (1GB) – Accelerate Data Transfer Speed
Available on Windows Vista Only!
System Drive: 200GB 7200RPM (16MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
I didn't customize past the hardware and warranty since the rest doesn't affect past cosmetics. This came out to $4,128 which is megabucks for me but I can hopefully convince parentals it's for my entire college career, if I downgrade the graphics to a 8700m gt with 512mb it saves $350. The lack of accidental damage is a turnoff although the performance on this thing must be blazing fast for games and just everyday things in general. I also love the idea of having a 1920x1200 res screen since I watch a lot of HD content and wanted the Blu-Ray drive.
Dell XPS m1530 Setup:
(PRODUCT) RED (PRODUCT) RED
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9300 (2.5GHz/800Mhz FSB, 6MB Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED
High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 Inch LCD (1680x1050) & 2.0 MP
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (2 Dimms)
200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Slot Load Blu-ray Disc (BD/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)
85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
3 Year Warranty with Accidental Damage (Dell Care Plus Package)
The Dell comes out to $3,170 which is considerably less than the Alienware plus has Accidental Damage. Is the performance upgrade on the Alienware worth the extra cost??
I am open to other suggestions as I don't want to spend this much money and find out I could've gotten something similar or better for less. Plus, I am honestly stumped on good gaming laptops since I never considered a laptop for gaming until I had to consider space limitations for dorms and portability if I need to bring a computer for classes. Any and all help is appreciated.
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