Looking for laptop suggestions

[Lynette]

I need to buy a new laptop and am looking for suggestions.  The system will be used for gaming purposes as well as to manage our growing iTunes collection.  I'll need it for work as well - primarily office-related programs (such as Excel, Word, Powerpoint, etc.).

I am looking for suggestions regarding memory, video cards, PC vendors (Dell has been good to me but I haven't bought a new system in 5 years - is there someone better?), etc.  I don't care about weight or aesthetics.  The screen has to be nice, as I will not be plugging it into a monitor.

I'd prefer to keep everything under $3k if possible - my goal is $2k.

Thanks in advance,
Lyn/Sam

[herothirtythree]

preferably, the best bang for your buck is to construct your own computer with the help of a tech-savy friend.  but being a laptop you may feel more comfortable buying from a company, if thats the case:

Dell uses priority hardware, but have decent support and good prices (comparatively)  as long as you dont plan on upgrading the laptop, i always suggest Dells. (they are also VERY friendly to the growing open-source community)

stay away from emachines
dont waste the money on an apple or viao


you might also want to look into a shuttle computer, easily portable and easily upgradable, but wont break the bank


(just my 2 copper!)

[Kothnok]

My recent laptop purchase (in late spring):

Toshiba Satellite P100- ST9772
Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7200, 2048MB DDR2 667MHz SDRAM, 160GB HDD (5400RPM). 17” WSXGA+ TruBriteâ,,¢, DVD SuperMulti DL, Intel 802.11a/b/g, NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7900GTX w/512MB GDDR3 VRAM, 5-in-1 Card reader, Fingerprint reader, Bluetooth v2.0+EDR, Dual-mode Pad

I replaced the factory installed drive with a 100GB 7200RPM hard drive and installed my OS of choice rather than the Vista it came with, but you can do as you please there.  I highly recommend something in the 7200RPM range as it makes a noticable difference in speed, I've seen (at least for both WoW and my work).

With this machine, I have all the graphic options in WoW turned to it's max and it runs just fine with no graphic lag at all.

Hope this helps you make an inf

[fiere redfern]

I'm also in the process of looking for a laptop Lyn, and I've found a couple of things:

Toshibas are great laptops, aside from an annoying heat distribution issue (my last laptop was a Toshiba Satellite and its integrated memory card fried because it was overheating)... but that was also because I was overstressing the system by using it as a faux-router >.< Long story.

Anywho, looking at the Toshiba site I found a very good basic PC for under $1k - and it's customizable to the point that it can become a very good gaming machine. I think mine leveled out at a little over $1030 with the HD and RAM upgrades.

As far as Apple goes, their Macbook prices are comperable to the options available on the Toshiba site (haven't checked into the latest Dell stock yet) - base hardware is just a bit better and the prices are a bit more expensive than the PC versions. Only reason I'm considering one is because there's Mac-only software that I would verymuch like to be able to use for work. That and I want to finally figure the damned things out - getting tired of being surprised when I press a button and something silly happens =P

[herothirtythree]

i can second (third actually) toshibas.  they are great systems, my household has 2. 

two downsides,
they are pricey
ive also had heating issues (we've already had to replace one via warranty for frying its own video card)

[Zario]

</3 Dell.  I got mine on sale but the hardward seems to be mismatched a bit.  graphics underpowered compared to processor and uber 17in widescreen at 1680x1050.  Mondo heavy too.  Only reason I bought it was that it was a killer sale and the wife needed a comp. 

I've heard good things about Asus brand laptops from newegg.com too.  Anyone else able to validate that?

[herothirtythree]

asus, yes good
acer, no bad

[Shadowwolf]

Do not buy Alienware. They are kickass machines but...only when they work. I had so many hassles with my Alienware laptop that I wont ever buy from them again. Atop waiting 4 months to get it after I ordered it, when I got it, it had severe technical hardware issues where I had to send it back 2 times to get it fixed. Now its about 1yr old and im told by them they refuse to support Windows Vista on it meaning they wont release any drivers for Vista for that model. I can run it, I have run it, its a pain to have to make my own drivers but I did and can, its simply the fact that the customer support is so god awful that I just dont want to deal with it.

Ive heard many good things about WidowPC's for high end gaming laptops.

Heh, BTW, Acer is Dell, its just remodeled and higher end =)

Acer brands the low end stuff Acer and Dell takes the higher end stuff.

[Kothnok]

Oh yeah, definitely have to say "no" about Alienware laptops.  I ordered from them even after all the horror stories about their bad service (and even first hand experience from 2 years prior) in the hopes their recent buy out changed their customer service department for the better. I received defective hardware and fter returning the laptop twice to their repair shop, they just sat on it for weeks and still failed to fix anything.  Customer Service is the worst I've ever had to deal with.  Never again will I buy from them.

[Gutboy]

Isn't Alienware Dell too now?

GB

[Shadowwolf]

Yea, they make Dell's high end gaming platforms, the XPS stuff, but they kept the Alienware brand a separate entity for whatever reason. Unfortunately all prior Alienware customers dont get grandfathered in to the new support systems or anything, we get stuck with the old.

[herothirtythree]

ouch.

good to know about acer, dell, and alienware.  not surprising though

[Lynette]

So it seems to me that Toshiba is the safest choice, based on the experiences some of you have had.  Interesting, as I am also in the market for a new 52" LCD TV & a HD DVD player, and Toshiba is my leading choice atm.

For this laptop, my thoughts are to max out memory & get the best graphics card that is offered (I might just copy Koth's config).  Any opinions?  Would heat be a concern (seems like it is)?  I plan to use MS Vista.

[fiere redfern]

My knowledge of heating issues is three years old - and my toshiba was bought at Best Buy >.< Even with that being the case it was an excellent machine. Running WoW was painful in cities, but even though the 'puter was never meant to be a gaming machine, it did well.

With that in mind, the issues I had were due to the fact that:
- the main ventilation fan was on the bottom of the unit. It just pushed heat into my lap and didn't dissipate it at all.
- the side ventilation fans were woefully inadequate to handle the amount of heat that needed to be moved off the motherboard
(As far as I can tell - friend of mine has a new toshiba laptop - those issues have undergone design changes and the box handles heat much more efficiently)
- Leaving it on for weeks (yes weeks... this is part of that faux-router thing) didn't do the motherboard any favors, and in its last days, my laptop was prone to shutting down after an hour or three if it wasn't propped in such a way that the main fan had plenty of space to move heat to.

All that aside, it took me about four months to finally kill the integrated memory on the thing, after which it became a $1000 door-stop since the warantee had expired. In your case, Lyn - in building your own machine and ordering it direct from the manufacturer, you shouldn't have any issues =) Mine was not equipped for gaming, nor was it at all high-end, and it still lasted me three years.

Hope this helps!

-Fi

[herothirtythree]

my heat related problems were also due to keeping it on too long on the lap

it doesnt let the vents breath