Replace PC with Laptop?

[s_kinton]

I'm thinking of selling PC (see my system), keeping the monitor and keyboard and buying a good laptop.

I tend to play more and more on my PS3 and use the PC for the internet and the odd game. I could also do with some space under my desk and portability, so a laptop fits the bill.

Can anyone recommend me a laptop? Doesn't need to be a big screen 15"+ would do
What vga card should I look for in a laptop that would give me decent gaming performance on the odd occasion I'd use it?
The main options out there are the 8600, 8700, 8800, x1800. Are they up to much?

Don't care about brand or anyhting like that, just the best bang for buck! Anything up to ~£1000, but might go higher if required.

[neonplanet40]

Have a look at them

rock :: Welcome :: Ultimate performance gaming laptops and notebooks

the 8600m is the best you will get for that price. Maybe 8700m if you can find it. Good for the odd game but by no means a power house. You could get a far better computer for that price. Quad core 8800 etc

[s_kinton]

You could get a far better computer for that price. Quad core 8800 etc

I know. I've got a Q6600 and 8800GT as per my system but want to replace it with a laptop...

[neonplanet40]

Well thenthe one i showed above or

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

But like i said the best you can hope for is an 8700m but most likely the 8600m.

[Thorsson]

Dell do have a gaming system with 8800, but only in SLI setup! The price is way over £1,000. Can get one with just a single 8800 in the US for ~$2,000, but for some reason that option is not available in the UK.

[staffsMike]

Gaming at 1680 x 1050 will be a bit of a stretch for most mid range laptops. You would probably need to drop the res a bit if you are planning to play on your 22" screen.

Zepto are actually doing a very good deal on these at the moment
Znote 6224W - Gamer

14.1" screen so a bit smaller than you may have wanted but it also makes it a bit more portable if you ever felt the need to take it out and about.

The XPS M1530 is a decent solution to your problems as it is also quite portable and has the DDR3 8600GT rather than the slower DDR2 version that plague most laptops sporting the card.
The best thing is probably the fact it has an HDMI out so you can still use DVI rather than VGA

One thing I would say is if you do want the M1530 wait a little bit to pull the trigger. The penryn chips havn't filtered down to them yet and they will offer 2.4GHz+ for the same money

THere is also the ever popular vostro 1500. It does sport the DDR2 GT but at the moment you can get,

2.4GHz Penryn C2D
3GB RAM
250GB HDD
8600GT
etc..

For £527 which is a bloomin steal if you ask me.

[No.72]

Good point staffs mike, I just got a vostro 1700 same spec as that but with 8400gs (terrible card) for 515 quid, and was brand new as far as I could see, from this mcs com.
7950 gtx?
MCS Technology Ltd > (DLN092) Dell Inspiron XPS M1710 Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 2.16GHz 2048mb/120gb/17" Wide UXGA TrueLife Screen/DVD-RW Drive/512mb GeForce Go 7950 GTX/Wireless Network/Windows XP Home

[staffsMike]

Very good point..i'd forgotten about MCS lol Used them for pretty much every other laptop suggestion recently.

That's a lot of laptop for the money. Certainly what I'd be considering for a pure desktop replacement.

That said I'm using my xps M1330 (with the 8400gs ..insulted more poor graphics card ) as a desktop replacement at the moment and it does almost everything I need.

I usually wack the desktop on to do some video encoding but I even use the xps for gaming most of the time haha.

[s_kinton]

Thanks for the help so far. The vga card is my main concern as the memory, HDD etc can be upgraded easily enough.

I found a good link to a list based on performance of all laptop vga cards, divided into classes
Notebookcheck: Comparison of Graphics Cards

[No.72]

I think dell site sell that xps m1710 for 900 quid, so thats what 150 odd quid cheaper, + 3 year warranty + all the drivers and cd's you need. But..... bare in mind I bought a m170 under the 1 year warranty from them and the 6800 ultra failed the ati tool artifacting test after 2 seconds and crashed the computer.
So be careful with the MCS refurbished ones (thats a warning to all of you). I am lucky and happen to live an hour away. Oh and they ruddy well knew they were selling a doggy laptop even the bloody BIOS was corrupted. Come to think of it I really should have complained more and got a special deal!