Laptop choice

aaron_00 · 20 Feb 2006 at 17:44

I'm thinking about getting laptop for light gaming (Counter strike:source), web browsing, emailing and playing videos (DVD, MP4)

There are two laptops that have caught my attention...

Asus Intel Yonah Dual Core T2300 (A6JA-Q002H) £1,150.33
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Asus_Notebooks.html

And

Dell Inspiron 9400 Core Duo (LT-010-DE) £1,209.08
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Dell_Notebooks.html

What do you guys think about the above ?

syke · 20 Feb 2006 at 17:48

If you can pay around £1,000 id consider Sony Vaio or an Acer. Sony Vaio because they come with high graphics cards (for a laptop) also with a acceptable processor. Acer because they make amazingly fast laptops. But these become quite Expensive, from experience i didnt really like the DELL laptops. But its a personal choice.

edit: The Asus looks good

aaron_00 · 20 Feb 2006 at 17:56

Thanks for the quick reply. I have read terrible stories aboutAcers support. But dell and asus are the only ones with good GFX cards it seems.

Asus has the ATI X1600 and Dells has the Nvidia go 7800.

syke · 20 Feb 2006 at 17:58

the more expensive Acer's are very good, but yes they can be a drag.

What kind of games you wanting to play? Also take into consideration, the Sony Vaio's they are pretty good value for money.

edit: its up to you really, compare the two..find out the upgrade compatability and choose the one which is cheapest and has the ideal specs.

aaron_00 · 20 Feb 2006 at 18:01

Half life 2
Counter strike:source / Day of defeat:source
Never Winter nights

syke · 20 Feb 2006 at 18:02

Hmm, well im not one for graphics cards, maybe one of the other lads on here may be able to tell you the better card. From memory its the 7800. But either way, its up to you which one you choose. They are both very good laptops. For me, id go for the Asus. But thats just a personal choice. If i had a good experience with dell however, i would go for that.

aaron_00 · 20 Feb 2006 at 18:09

Thank you for your feed back !

I'm still undecided as there are both seem to be great laptops, are around the same price and both come from well know companies that (hopefully) wont disappear just after I ordered it.

Does anyone have any expirence with laptops from Dell and/or Asus ?

syke · 20 Feb 2006 at 18:12

Looking at it, id go for the DELL...If you want it for playing games, the 17" would be quite nice. Also it has the better graphics card. If i had the money, id buy one instead of a new PC actually... hehe

Gibbo · 20 Feb 2006 at 18:22

Hi there

The DELL is the superior games machine, but it does weigh more and will no doubt have shorter battery life. The Asus is lighter and more or less as powerful but it games performance won't match the DELL's due to the graphics in use.....

They both have good warranties.

syke · 20 Feb 2006 at 18:23

But, if you'd play games at home..you can leave the charger in... and your most likely to play at a table arent you? Id go for the DELL mate.

aaron_00 · 20 Feb 2006 at 18:25

17" is cool, 1920 x 1200 !!! :cool:

I dont think most games will run very fast at that res. :rolleyes:

Is the 7800 Go much better than the X1600 ?
How would a 7800 Go do verses a 6800 GT (desktop) ?

syke · 20 Feb 2006 at 18:27

Not a 100% on it, but id say the 7800 Go 256mb will give the 6800 GT a run for its money, because id say all 7-Series are more or less superior to the 6-Series? Id say it would give it a good run to be quite honest. Go for the DELL mate you wont regret it

.

aaron_00 · 20 Feb 2006 at 18:36

(Quickest replies ever !!! :cool:

Thank you Gibbo and Syk3

)

Some more questions...
For the Dell how easy is it to get replacement batteries and charges as the past from mobile phones to games consoles they are always the most likely to fail.

Also is the Dell well built, no cheap plastic feel ?

syke · 20 Feb 2006 at 18:43

They are quite robust yeah, and im pretty sure you can get replacements for faulty and broken parts from DELL if you have the warranty, i think anyway.

Gibbo · 20 Feb 2006 at 19:03

aaron_00 said:
(Quickest replies ever !!! Thank you Gibbo and Syk3 )

Some more questions...
For the Dell how easy is it to get replacement batteries and charges as the past from mobile phones to games consoles they are always the most likely to fail.

Also is the Dell well built, no cheap plastic feel ?

Hi m8

We use the DELL's for our own use here and their build quality is superb, easily a match for Asus and superior to ACER. The Sony's do however have the added BLING BLING appear but they are overpriced.
The warranty on the DELL should be superb as that models has 3yr on-site warranty.

My personal favourite is the DELL X1, its not the most powerful but it only weighs 1kg and has 12" widescreen, it superb for lugging about as it weighs nothing but the build quality and style of the thing is superb. Its a laptop that when you get it out everybody has gotta have a look, hehe.

aaron_00 · 20 Feb 2006 at 19:12

I see, Will Dell's Warranty be voided (changed in any way) by buying it from here ?
Also Will Dells Warranty be voided if i install a linux distro and dual boot ?

badbob · 20 Feb 2006 at 19:36

The Dell 9400 looks great value for money, with the 7800GTX pretty much one of the fastest gaming laptop around and dual core also (either that or Clevo ODM's desktop replacements) Dell customer support is lousy though. From the benchmarks I think the newer ATI X1400 are in fact slower than the X700.

The clones of the Sager 5720 /Cloevo clones seem great spec but they do have problems (overheating, really bad headphone output) But that's another 17" 7800GTX gaming machine...about £1600 for a 100GB/2GB RAM/2Ghz model

Gibbo · 20 Feb 2006 at 20:19

aaron_00 said:
I see, Will Dell's Warranty be voided (changed in any way) by buying it from here ?
Also Will Dells Warranty be voided if i install a linux distro and dual boot ?

Hi there

The warranty will not be voided by buying from here, you get looked after as if you'd bought it direct accept by buying from OcUK you save some money.

The warranty covers the hardware so you will be fine m8 and even though some people say DELL support is poor it is in fact very good, certainly better than some of the others out there.

syke · 20 Feb 2006 at 20:20

I'd go for the DELL, hands down

Raikiri · 20 Feb 2006 at 20:32

I would go with the Dell... mainly cos of the 7800GO

Saying that I have just seen the 1300 but with a 14.1inch widescreen (same specs otherwise) for £299 inc. delivery :eek:

Very tempted by that