Which is Best? Purchasing laptop...need advice

[hayzee]

Ok, I'm looking at purchasing a laptop, the top of my price range is about $1,250. I would the computer to have fair gaming power, enough to run games like oblivion fairly well. I found two that I like...which is better?

Dell, Inspiron E1705
XP media Center
Intel Core Duo Processor T2300, 1.66GHz, 667Mhz FSB
1gb dual channel DDR@ SDRAM, 533MHz memory
80 GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
256mb ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 Hyper Memory
24X CD Burner/DVD combo drive
Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card, 54Mbps
17in wd scrn XGA+ display

HP Pavilion dv8000t
XP home edition
Intel Core Duo Processor T2300, 1.66GHz, 667Mhz FSB
1gb DDR2 SDRAM  (2 512 cards)
80 GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard drive
256mb Nvidia GeForce Go 7400
DVD+/-RW/R CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer
 Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG w/BT
17in WXGA+ Bright View Widescreen

[Flame]

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. First off, it would save you money to buy a desktop. Laptops were not made for gaming. You're paying for how thin it is. A desktop can get you more, for less. The sad part about this is that neither of these companies are great fro laptops. I would prefer dell over HP, but they're very close. Everything is alsmost the same except (1) Video cards (2) CD Drives (3) Screen. As far as video cards, I hear ATI and NVIDIA are almost the same. Not much concern there. CD Drives, the one from HP has more features, but only take that if you will be using them. As far as the screen goes, HP's looks just a bit better, but the choice is yours.

Flame

[hayzee]

Unfortunatly, I need a laptop for other reasons, so a desktop is probably out of the question...

I checked out alienware laptops too...the only one remotely in my price range would be the area 51 mm5100...
the only diffs with the pcs I've looked at would be:
processor: Intel® Celeron® M 370 1.5GHz 1MB L2 Cache 400MHZ FSB
Video: 256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go MXM 6600
screen: Alienware® m5500 15.4" WideXGA

I've heard that alienware makes good gaming laptops, but is that really any better? It seems the graphics card would be, but the screen is smaller...not sure about the processor, but isn't it a bit slower?

[Flame]

I'm not sure how Alienware performs. I hear it's good, and we never seem to hear any complaints. My next system would be an Alienware, but that's just me. Probably due to past experiences.

Flame

[hayzee]

I've heard mixed things, some poeple say its great, others are saying their just overpriced, and your only really paying for the name....but just looking at the specs, is that allienware one better than the dell or hp?

[Flame]

So far, the Alienware is at the bottom for specs. The Screen isn't has high quality as the HP, the rest of the processors are 1.6 GHz, the Alienware is only 1.5. Between Dell and HP, I'm torn. It's your choice. You would be losing one thing, in order to get the other. It depends on what you would rather have. What is the price difference?

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[qore]

I am in the military so I understand the need for something portable you can play on.

I bought a dell Inspiron 8500 awhile back and it has been fantastic. I have taken it with me 3 times around the world. Just be sure you get a good Video GFX card with the package.

Sound, CD/DVD Burners, Large HD are cheaper if you buy externals so you can put a good Lappy together from just about any company and still carry all the externals you added from other companies in 1 nice case.

Only 2 things your stuck with on a laptop is the processor and GFX card, and of course screen size.

[hayzee]

I did some more product research, and I seems like the ATI x1400 card is pretty good, for being in a laptop...people have said that doom 3 is playable on it & thats pretty taxing, right? (Never played it, so I really don't have a clue, lol). I'm also looking at the Inspiron 1505, which i can get for about 100 bucks less than the 1505, with all the same specs (i think) except for the screen, which is smaller. Also weighs less...not a bad thing in my book

The dell is a bit cheaper than the hp, plus I just called up my father, who works with a guy who buys a ton of dells for their buisness, so hes trying to see if he can get me a cheaper price.

I think I'd be happy to be stuck with this processor, seems like its pretty good. Just want to be sure that the graphics is really ok....again, would like to be able to play things like oblivion with decent fps, even if the graphics have to be set on low....thoughts?

& thanks for all the help, by the way!

[Dilbert]

From the Oblivion FAQ:

What are the PC system requirements?

Recommended:
3 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
1 GB System RAM
ATI X800 series, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series, or higher video card

Minimum System Requirements:
Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows XP 64-bit
512MB System RAM
2 Ghz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor
128MB Direct3D compatible video card
and DirectX 9.0 compatible driver;
8x DVD-ROM drive
4.6 GB free hard disk space
DirectX 9.0c (included)
DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card
Keyboard, Mouse

You can compare and see which ones work for you. Remember that meeting minimum specs is usually not enough.

[Flame]

The RAM and Processing power seem to be your weak spots right now.

Flame

[nosbm]

It may be worthwhile checking what happens when the battery is no longer usable. Will the system start successfully from the mains adapter without any battery being fitted?

I have a laptop at the moment that is unable to startup, either with or without the battery installed, because I suspect that the Li-ion battery has reached the end of it's lifetime and the system requires a functioning battery to start.

Best regards,
nosbm