Just bought a new Laptop

Just orderd a replacement for my aging Acer 800 Series from Rock Direct:

http://www.rockdirect.com/rockshop/shophome.php?itemprcd=XCTX-T2500

Xtreme CTX Core Duo T2500 (2.0GHz), 1GB / 100GB / DVD Writer & 17" TFT

RAM - 2GB DDR2 667MHz RAM,
HDD - 100GB (7200rpm) SATA HDD
OS - Windows XP Pro
OPTICAL DRIVE - 8 x DVD Dual Layer (-/+) Writer
WIRELESS - Intel Pro Wireless A/B/G
OPTION - Graphics Card - ATI Mobility Radeon X1800 XT 256MB
TFT SCREEN - 17" WSXGA+ X-Glass TFT Screen (1680 x 1050 Res)
STANDARD SOFTWARE - Roxio, Works v8, BullGuard & Office Trial,
LOGOS - Rock Etched Logo on Lid

Hope they deliver quickly. ;)

Darkheart

Sounds neat. Should've gone for a higher res screen tho'...

Boy, that sucker's gonna overheat reeeeeal fast.

I have doubts as to wether the higher res will really get used much, I reckon 1280x1024 with most features on is probably high enough most of the time.

I would expect they will have put in enough cooling to allow it to run in a normal room for at least 3 hours. If they haven't it's going back...

Darkheart

I think thats the computer I saw on display in a local computer shop. It was sick, and if I wanted a new laptop, that would be on the top of my wish list.
The screen was great, blackness levels unlike anything I've seen an LCD perform before.

I covet your laptop, sir.

I've been thinking about ditching desktop altogether. Some of the benefits (upgradability) don't have that much relevance to me - I rarely upgrade and when I do it's a complete replacement (everything except the case and maybe the HD). There are any number of laptops out there more powerful than even my not-so-midrange PC. Mind you, I haven't seen many laptops with a 24" display ;)

After purchasing my laptop last year in June I don't think I'm likely to purchase another desktop, any further PC purchases will be laptops only. They take up so little space, chew up less power, are powerful enough for my own purposes and seem to be more problem free than a 'build it yourself' desktop.

Going to try and play Oblivion on that thing or something?

The company is actually trying to push me to take an NVidia 7900GTX (FoC) instead as they have a very long lead time on the Ati card. Not sure if I want to change, the Nvidia card is faster but the ATi Card can do HDR with AA.

"Going to try and play Oblivion on that thing or something?"

Yep, and Tomb Raider Legend, WoW, FEAR maybe a bit of dev work etc.

Darkheart

My GF's intel INtegrated laptop plays Oblivion and Tomb Raider just fine.

I can't get her off the damn thing!

Make sure you wear some oven gloves before trying to run Oblivion on it ;)

The biggest issue with using a laptop as a desktop replacement really is the HD -- laptop drives are smaller, slower, and more prone to failure (thanks to the extra 'workout' they get)

an external USB/firewire harddrive fixes that, but of course it means to you lose some of your portability.

Decisions, decisions. :-)

Well, I've got x1800xt, and I wouldn't use HDR + AA, because even with this card, its too darn slow.

They aren't nessecarilly slower. You can get 7200 RPM drives with 8MB of cache. In a RAID 0 configuration. Works like a charm. They are usually smaller tho' but you don't have to take your pr0n collection with you on the road.

If you're sensible with what you keep on an 80 or 100GB drive and you've got an external drive at home for keeping non-essentials on (your pr0n, your complete MAME ROM set etc), you shouldn't need to worry about storage space.

Windows + Linux dual boot, Office, Bmax, B3D, all assorted tools, Visual Studio, Photoshop etc will fit in 80GB with plenty of room to spare. My C: is 20GB and it's only half full.

One day, I will be relegating my desktop PC to run as a server or just a backup machine. Laptops are pretty cool. There are also plans for laptops to be more upgradable. I'm sure nVidia were trying to push this point by defining a standard where you could upgrade your video card. If the same can be done for CPU, then I don't see why a laptop couldn't give 5+ years of good service.

Laptop CPU's have been upgradable for years. :)

(Or perhaps i read what you said the wrong way :) )