Need help with choosing a laptop

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angelicodin
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Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by angelicodin »

Hey ya guys. I've finally decided to get my self a laptop and there is a ton out there to choose from. I was wondering what kind of suggestions you all might have for $2500.00 UDS or under. I'm into gaming and play things like WoW, EQ2, Aion. And naturally programing in php(doesn't take much though LOL) and graphics with photoshop.

Any suggestions are welcome, and if you want to add some detail about why you say XXXX laptop that would be awesome as well but not needed.
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pickle
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by pickle »

No suggestions for your actual question, but I noticed the if clause in your signature will always evaluate to true. You want the boolean == rather than the assignment = .
Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.
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angelicodin
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by angelicodin »

Thanks, I changed it ;p
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jackpf
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by jackpf »

Well, you don't really need "== TRUE" at all, since if() evaluates the expression against true anyway...
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angelicodin
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by angelicodin »

/sigh, maybe i should run it myself. LOL

If anyone is even watching it, I'm thinking of getting a Alienware M17x. The only thing I'm not liking is that it comes with windows7 witch I'm not fond of as I have swapped back and forth from vista to try it, and I keep going back to vista.

Thoughts on this model/brand? Good choice or bad?
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papa
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by papa »

Do you want the laptop for portability or due to size?

I've been thinking of buying one of these or a mac mini:
Dell Inspiron Zino HD

I don't play games on PC due to my PS3, but they have both decend graphic cards.

Don't know much about laptops though...

Also Vista instead of W7???? :)
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angelicodin
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by angelicodin »

I want it for portability, I already have a media-PC set up in the living room(vista-Ux64 w/HDMI). I built mine for a fraction of the price to buy a pre-built one, then I just got a mini keyboard and mouse if I ever need to do maintenance on it. If you want more details or what I can give ya them.
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papa
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by papa »

angelicodin wrote:I want it for portability, I already have a media-PC set up in the living room(vista-Ux64 w/HDMI). I built mine for a fraction of the price to buy a pre-built one, then I just got a mini keyboard and mouse if I ever need to do maintenance on it. If you want more details or what I can give ya them.
Yeah sure, that'd be cool! Sorry for hijacking your thread. :)
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angelicodin
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by angelicodin »

Naw it's cool, I wasn't getting good feed back anyway ;p

Here is what is in the box:
----------------------------
GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
AMD Athlon II X4 620 2.6GHz CPU
Patriot Gamer Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333(I think it's 9-9-9-24@1.5v, but I could be wrong, and I don't want to open the case)
3x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache (Yes, that is 3(three) Terabytes, and believe me I use quite a bit of it)
Sony 24X DVD/CD Rewritable Drive Black SATA (I could of got the one with LiS but this drive was only going to be used for ripping, and I don't need a BR player as I have a PS3)
Radeon HD 4670 512MB PCI-e (Has DVI and a built-in HDMI)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1c (For the best sound to the audio system, ect ect)
LINKSYS Wireless Adapter (Not sure off hand the speed or model, sorry)

All of this into a flat case. I don't remember what the case was to start because I removed the stickers and then I Buffed it out and then painted the whole thing a gloss black to match my PS3 and Gloss Black XBox-360 I also painted. But I'm able to play full 1080p w/7.1c sound with no problems at all.

I think I spent about $500USD for the parts I didn't have laying around the house and the Hard Drives. Of course your storage needs may be more or less.

Like I was saying I have vista ultimate x64 running on there with windows media center (I have programed a universal remote to work with the wireless USB Keyboard receiver).

I'll see what I can do after some sleep about getting a pic or two of it. Oh I forgot to mention I have it hooked up to a Sony Bravia 40" and Onkyo sound system. Not impressive but it suits my needs. If you have any other questions or if your interested in some pics, as I said I'll see what I can do.
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papa
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by papa »

Looks really good!

Would be nice to see some pictures. How is it soundwise? The macmini is pretty much silent, the Dell i don't know though, and small as hell. :)

But yours is a lot cheaper.
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jackpf
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by jackpf »

Oh, and you're missing a closing brace :D
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Jonah Bron
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by Jonah Bron »

Cool! I made one too, for about $300, with a Mini-ITX motherboard. It's really cool, because the whole thing is smaller than the VCR. The Intel Atom is a bit wimpy, but the nVidia ION isn't bad.

Linux (Mint) on board, of course :wink:

I heard about a few i7 laptops coming out recently...
Asus
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angelicodin
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by angelicodin »

Sound is virtually not there, I have damping pads in the case, and sure I'll see about getting a pic or two.
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Apollo
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by Apollo »

I've been using a Dell XPS M17xx series for a while now, and this is by far the best, most pleasurable laptop I ever worked on. The tech specs are definitely OK (I do development as well as gaming on this system), but moreover it just 'feels' great. Having had my hands on quite some different machines, here's finally a laptop of which the keyboard doesn't give me claustrophobia or instant RSI (and I'm rather picky on this area), I never even use an external keyboard.

Oh, as for sound, it also has nice built-in speakers with even a sub-woofer :) (best sound I ever heard from a laptop, actually)

I hope mine won't break any time soon, but if it does, I will immediately get the same again (well, same series, newer model prolly).
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Weiry
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Re: Need help with choosing a laptop

Post by Weiry »

That really sounds like the version up from my laptop. (Mines an acer though)
Mine is an Acer Aspire 5536g with AMD Athlon64 X2, ATI Radeon 4570, 4gb ram

But damn how in the world did you manage to get a whole 3 TERRABYTES OF SPACE?
Is it like a monster 22" widescreen and a 2.5" thick base?
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