Laptops + games = ARRRRGGGGGG

[Ricco]

Been looking about , and need some advice on a laptop that will support (half) decent games.
Guess I need to keep as close to latest gen as possible, what do i play - currently BF2, WoW etc.

Been looking at something like the Dell XPS M1710 , although could do to get a brand( or bargain) under £1000 mark.

Unsure exactly on how half the laptop chipset/GFX cards stack up, hence keeping towards the known high end Desktop parts ( X1900, n7900 etc).

Also deffinitely want a widescreen , right ?

Thanks for thoughts/advice in advance.

[j.o.s.h.1408]

i have a acer 8202wlmi and that can handle all games at mid high settings using a x1600 512mb gfx card. its about 1200 though seeing as its got duo core cpu

[philipbain]

There are some good laptops with good graphical capabilities out there, a friend of mine has a superb IBM Thinkpad with a mobile ATi Radeon 9600 which is actually much closer to a X800 than a 9600 thanks to it's utilisation of a better chipset. I cannot reccomend a Dell Notebook, the specs are always perfectly decent but I have yet to be anything but unimpressed by the design and build of any Dell notebook i've used, always bulky and sometimes prone to overheating too. For just a little more than your £1000 you could have an Asus notebook with a ATi Mobility Radeon X1600, Scan do the A6JA for £1009.33 inc. VAT.

Also have a look at these articles from Toms Hardware which have an extensive look at gaming notebooks:
Part 1: http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/06/13..._uk/index.html
Part 2: http://tomshardware.co.uk/2006/06/15..._uk/index.html

[chrestomanci]

I brought an Asus A6JA laptop from scan recently. It appears to be a good compromise between gaming capablity and general use. The ATI X1600 graphics card works well in games and I get good frame rates in UT2004 and BF2 (I have not tried others).

Unlike dedicated gaming laptops, the battery lasts quite well (2+ hours) and it is easy to cary about.

I am not a fan of he glossy screen as I get to many unwanted reflections, and the resoultion (1200x800) is a bit low for heavy desktop use.

[kalniel]

I'd argue against getting widescreen to be honest - one of the best ways to make a laptop game well is to keep the number of pixels down. You definately want to be gaming at the native resolution, so keep the screen resolution in check with the power of the gfx chip. I would also try and avoid super large displays for the same reason - either you have low res and can see the blocks, or you have high res and your gfx card can't power it/you have to run in a non-native resolution. A smaller screen with the same number of pixels will sometimes look better because the pixels are smaller.

I found I could enjoy games on my 14.1inch laptop display, so any modern size would be fine.

Don't worry about speakers - use headphones

[G4Z]

My tosh has a 1.7ghz P4-M and a mobile 9700 chipset, runs Dawn of war at native res (cant remember what it is, around 1200 x 800) on high detail no problem.

[MadduckUK]

Originally Posted by kalniel

A smaller screen with the same number of pixels will sometimes look better because the pixels are smaller.

sort of. although you need to sit closer to it to make the screen the same relative size.

not played a game on my lappy for a good long while. but need for speed underground 2 flew (Acer Travelmate 3200 14.1" with 9700mobility).

[holy god of nil]

I, again, have an acer (5652wlmi) which cost me a shade under £1000 and has a nvidia 7600 go, runs everthing i throw at it just lovely. I would reccommend an ati x1600 or a 7600 for the perfect kind of price/performace point in terms of lappies.

[MadduckUK]

Originally Posted by holy god of nil

I would reccommend an ati x1600 or a 7600 for the perfect kind of price/performace point in terms of lappies.

seconded, as long as its either 1024x768 or 1280x800 that would be ideal

[kalniel]

Originally Posted by MadduckUK

sort of. although you need to sit closer to it to make the screen the same relative size.

I find my eyes adjust to whatever size - I sit the same distance away for ergonomic reasons. At work I use a 19" LCD. The lappy is 14.1", but I don't actually think 'oh this is small' or 'wow this is big' when switching

[Gerrard]

Been looking for a gaming/DTR laptop myself for a little while. Happen to stumble across the Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Xi 1546. For just under £1000, it has a Duo T2400 (1.83GHz) and ATI Mobility X1800 256Mb. It also has a 17" widescreen WXGA (1440x900) screen, 1Gb RAM and 80Gb HD. For an extra £200 you get 2x100Gb HD and the 2GHz Duo.
However, it doesn't appear to be in stock yet and I couldn't find a review of it on the 'Net yet. Still looked good value for money.

[chrestomanci]

Originally Posted by Gerrard

Been looking for a gaming/DTR laptop myself for a little while. Happen to stumble across the Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Xi 1546. For just under £1000, it has a Duo T2400 (1.83GHz) and ATI Mobility X1800 256Mb. It also has a 17" widescreen WXGA (1440x900) screen, 1Gb RAM and 80Gb HD. For an extra £200 you get 2x100Gb HD and the 2GHz Duo.
However, it doesn't appear to be in stock yet and I couldn't find a review of it on the 'Net yet. Still looked good value for money.

Looks like really good value for money, though at 4kg it will be a bit of a brick.

Considering the CPU and GPU, I think their claim of 2+ hours from a 4400 mAh battery may be a tad optimistic.

[Dpool10]

Hey

I have also been looking at the FSC amilo xi1546 to buy which is available for a £1000 from Nice Pc you can order it on the website below:

http://www.nice-pc.co.uk/amilo_Xi1546_1024_100gb.html

Note: I have seen some benchmarks for this laptop from another laptop forum NotebookReview.com Forums and it scored 5689 on 3DMark05, 3152 on 3DMark06, these can be seen at:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/show...t=amilo+xi1546.

These are very good values for a laptop at this price and i am planning on ordering it myself in next week unless I can see a deal on the dell M1710.