Gaming Laptop?

Hiya all,

I had good look at the Gaming Laptop such as

X60r Pro
17" TFT screen
Intel T8100 Core 2 Duo Mobile
2GB memory
200GB hard drive
DVD writer
Nvidia 8400M G Turbo Cache graphics
System price
£562.83
inc vat

I prepare to spend about 500 or 600 Pounds for Gaming laptop(it would be nice if I get laptop with better GFX than above)
Could anyone get better price than this above please?

That's not exactly a gaming grade laptop. My 4 pound 13" laptop is faster than that. You'll want at least a GeForce 8600/9600 for gaming.

BTW, I personally think gaming laptops are a very bad idea for a few reasons:

1. Gaming laptops have horrible battery life, even when idling during word processing, etc., due to their power-sucking video cards

2. Gaming laptops are extremely heavy compared to non-gaming laptops, so don't expect to have a lot of "fun" carrying yours around

3. Gaming laptops usually get dangerously hot because they cram so much power into a small, cramped case, so don't expect to use it on your lap a lot

4. All of the above lead to a laptop that will almost definitely be left on your desk all the time, which defeats the purpose of it being a laptop

5. You can get a desktop that's twice as powerful for half the price

What John J said. In addition to 3. the 7 fans om my Alienware gaming laptop, produced so much noise, it was headache inducing, and sucked so much dust into the case (despite the University not being particularly dusty) you had to disassemble and clean it all, at least every three weeks, to prevent it from shutting down due to overheating.

Gaming Laptops are an oxymoron.

PCSpecialist UK have fairly flexible gaming laptop configurations
Play around with the Configurator tab in the Laptop gaming section

Example #1 - Intel-powered high-spec

Other than than, Dell XPS Gen II are generally a good bet. I got one here but don't do much 'gaming' on it. As per comments above, its too heavy to lug around, and gets a little noisy under stress. (Ok for general use since the fans can be made to switch off when not required)
The single biggest problem with Dell(boy) laptops though are the batteries. I have got 3 of them here and they are complete pap

The term is an oxymoron. It's like saying you want a fuel-efficient Lamborghini.

I'm going with oxymoronic, too.

Check out the Asus 'G' series.

I have a toshiba p100, It's a couple of years old and is only just starting to struggle with modern games. After the first year the onboard Geforce graphics burnt itself out and I had to get a replacement.

I left Toshiba with a two page letter saying why I was not happy- the case had cracked through normal use, the graphics borked....

They sent a whole new laptop instead of fixing the issue haha.

But yes, this laptop was both rediculously hot, could not have its graphics drivers updated because laptop drivers are customised- so new games that say to update your drivers will not work (well.)

It's also the reason my bent spine is now unbent- i wore it in a backpack for a week and it weighed a TON.

My Dell is a fantastic gaming laptop. Expensive though.

I agree
gaming laptop = XBOX or Wii or whatever...

Another vote for dropping the idea of a gaming laptop from me, I had one a year ago and couldn't wait to get rid of it. If you buy one, you will regret it.

Darkheart

I recommend a DELL. I have an old XP ATI9800 and it's still one hot potato. I look upon it as more of a serious back-up machine than a gaming laptop (for when the power goes out here - every damn week). I can run my generator practically on idle and still work solid.

I regret buying my Dell when I bought it, if I'd waited a few months I'd have had a much better config than I do now. It's still a great machine though.

It's solid, it has excellent features (backlit keyboard, excellent for night-coding in bed), superb performance and the reliability of a well-constructed desktop. I also, perverseley, like how the keyboard is warm. I suffer a bit with RSI, but not when using my toasty laptop!

If I were to go for a laptop that I wanted to just do some coding on, I'd probably get a Lenovo T61 (if I wanted something really nice). If I wanted something to just play around on, I'd get a Dell XPS M1330. Nice, tiny little thing with great performance and a really nice screen.

Actually if you research the XPS M1330 you'll find it has a lot of issues with overheating, screen flaws, build problems (chassis falling apart), etc. I wouldn't recommend it to anybody.

If you want to get something light, portable, yet reasonably powerful, I'd recommend you take a look at Sony's Vaio SZ, SR, and Z models. I have the SZ and it's basically the same as the Dell m1330 except it's .3 pounds lighter, has twice the battery life, has a superior screen, superior build quality (carbon fiber), etc., and you can get one for about the same price as the m1330 (although the m1330 can be configured lower and reaches a lower bottom price). The Sony SZ is without a doubt the best lap top computer I've ever owned.

I have a Sony Z laptop and it's pretty good.
It's small and light but with a resolution of 1600x900
It plays games fine too, as long as you don't mind knocking the quality down a notch.

Against gaming laptops here too.

My laptop plays games perfectly fine, not with all the graphics ramped up mind you as it's only an 8 series GeForce with 128mb, but it'll play games with good frame rates and acceptable graphics. I have a Samsung R700. I am getting a RAM upgrade for it soon to 4gb (32bit OS though :/) but that's mostly because of my development work having so many applications open.

I've never had to open and clean it. It doesnt hibernate when I shut the lid meaning I often carry it around closed as I potter about the house whilst Skype calling friends.

The standard Windows power management of power saving mode lets it run for around 3 hours when I am not doing 3D stuff which is more than adequate for my uses, I think it would do about an hour doing a 3D game but when I play a 3D game i'm usually at a desk and plugged in.

It's lightweight, has a 17" widescreen, and has a numeric keypad which is a real bonus when developing on it.

I can't really find a fault tbh, it cost just over £500 last January and hasnt let me down. I cycle miles with it and sometimes that means it gets rained on (in fairness in a waterproof bag but still the humidity etc) and it has never let me down.

I can wholeheartedly recommend it as a medium-range laptop with dedicated graphics RAM, it's well designed, robust, and hasn't let me down. I dont see me replacing it for quite a while yet.

I'll be getting a Macbook Pro when (according to rumours) the new versions are released later this month. Hopefully it'll play most games reasonably enough, but, you know, this is Apple I'm talking about - it'll probably get out of breath running Doom.

Banshee: Does it ever get hot? Can you rest it on a cushion or other soft surface without it overheating?

The inability to keep cool, let alone on soft surfaces was one of the worst problems of my old 17" laptop, and is one of the reasons I'm so happy with my current 13" Sony SZ (it can run anywhere - even directly on a pillow - and it's core temperature doesn't raise at all).

I have to take the side of my PC's case off and sit my laptop on that if I want to code in bed. If I dared to block the fan intakes (which comprise about 1/3rd of the underside surface area of my laptop) I'd end up with a bleeping noise and then automatic shutdown within a minute.

Probably. I've never been foolish enough to try it.