Laptop Help Please...

[imbosile]

I have been looking around for a laptop for a few weeks now because I have to get one for school next year. I need to stay under 1200 for the laptop, because I will also need to buy XP Professional which is another 300. If I can find a laptop that already has XP Professional on it, then I can spend around 1500. I would like to be able to play games such as Counterstrike Source, Battlefield 1942, and possibly Battlefield 2. The laptop being able to handle games isn't a must because I will also have my desktop with me too, but it would be a plus.

The two laptops I am trying to decide between right now are are the Gateway MX6455 and the Gateway MX7527. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Gateway MX7527

Gateway MX6455

Similarities: Both have 120GB HD, 1GB PC2700 DDR Ram, 15.4" WXGA TFT-LCD widescreen display, and a few other insignifacant things.

Differences: The MX6455 is the slower of the two with an AMD Turion ML-37 Processor, and the MX7527 has the AMD Athlon 4000+. Because of the different processors the MX6455 has about 3-4 hours of battery life, and the MX7527 has 1.5 hours. Also, the MX6455 has the Radeon Xpress 200M chipset graphics (64mb shared), where as the MX7527 has the Radeon X600 graphics (256mb Hyper Memory and 128mb dedicated).

I'm just trying to decide if 1.5 hour battery life is worth gaining a faster processor and better graphics. All of you guys that have either been through college or are in college now, do you think I could get by with having 1.5 hour battery life?

And if you guys have any other suggestions please let me know.

[u_like_me]

I got a new Dell Notebook 6000 I believe. I bought it brand new from the Dell website. It has everything you listed but the HD is only 80. It is real nice. We found it on sale for $759.00. My friend saw mine and he went and bought a laptop excepth he got one that was a little better then mine and he paid $499.00. It is a compaq. I do not remember what model but I could find out if you wanted.... Good Luck..

I have been looking around for a laptop for a few weeks now because I have to get one for school next year. I need to stay under 1200 for the laptop, because I will also need to buy XP Professional which is another 300. If I can find a laptop that already has XP Professional on it, then I can spend around 1500. I would like to be able to play games such as Counterstrike Source, Battlefield 1942, and possibly Battlefield 2. The laptop being able to handle games isn't a must because I will also have my desktop with me too, but it would be a plus.

The two laptops I am trying to decide between right now are are the Gateway MX6455 and the Gateway MX7527. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Gateway MX7527

Gateway MX6455

Similarities: Both have 120GB HD, 1GB PC2700 DDR Ram, 15.4" WXGA TFT-LCD widescreen display, and a few other insignifacant things.

Differences: The MX6455 is the slower of the two with an AMD Turion ML-37 Processor, and the MX7527 has the AMD Athlon 4000+. Because of the different processors the MX6455 has about 3-4 hours of battery life, and the MX7527 has 1.5 hours. Also, the MX6455 has the Radeon Xpress 200M chipset graphics (64mb shared), where as the MX7527 has the Radeon X600 graphics (256mb Hyper Memory and 128mb dedicated).

I'm just trying to decide if 1.5 hour battery life is worth gaining a faster processor and better graphics. All of you guys that have either been through college or are in college now, do you think I could get by with having 1.5 hour battery life?

And if you guys have any other suggestions please let me know.

[IndianStig]

1.5hr is the gayness

[4dmin]

http://www.shopaveratec.com/searchre...sp?search_id=4

^ good refurbs

also then new compaq/hp laptops are fucking awesome i have one of those as well... any of the v2000 models are great they are the cheapest 64bit laptops you can get that are fully loaded 1gb ram, dvd burner w/ lightscribe, multicard reader, etc...

[Spyder]

Battery life doesnt matter unless you are just clicking around the net or altering some text documents... play a game it wont last more then 15-20 min.. watching a movie good luck with more then 30-45min tops.

The laptop that I have is a 17" widescreen with 1gig ram (2) 100gig hard drives dedicated 128meg video DVD burner multi card slot reader (like 8 in one I think) wireless net built in,4 USB 2.0 ports, windows media center edition (Windows XP with a few added bonus features) with all the little toys, DVR, wireless remote, TV tuner... etc. I paid 1500 for it at best buy buy they dont carry it any more as they change computers every week, literly. If you are spending that kinda of cash wait for the right deal.

The ONLY thing mine doesnt have that I wish it did is blue tooth.. oh well I have a PCMCIA slot open for that

[4dmin]

battery life will depend on the application and the processor you have... i can sit and play games for about an hour or watch a movie for a good 1-1.5 hour... the averatec i posted they can play full movies on their battery life.

[Spyder]

battery life will depend on the application and the processor you have... i can sit and play games for about an hour or watch a movie for a good 1-1.5 hour... the averatec i posted they can play full movies on their battery life.

Thats impressive, some of my older laptops with the big ass batteries and slow processor tend to last longer.. which makes sense.

[4dmin]

Thats impressive, some of my older laptops with the big ass batteries and slow processor tend to last longer.. which makes sense.

lol ya, i know averatec does mainly media laptops they basically started that whole remote use laptop as dvd player... thats where the laptop starts up as a dvd player not a computer w/ use of the remote. save battery life and watch full length films

[Pher]

Battery life doesnt matter unless you are just clicking around the net or altering some text documents... play a game it wont last more then 15-20 min.. watching a movie good luck with more then 30-45min tops.

The laptop that I have is a 17" widescreen with 1gig ram (2) 100gig hard drives dedicated 128meg video DVD burner multi card slot reader (like 8 in one I think) wireless net built in,4 USB 2.0 ports, windows media center edition (Windows XP with a few added bonus features) with all the little toys, DVR, wireless remote, TV tuner... etc. I paid 1500 for it at best buy buy they dont carry it any more as they change computers every week, literly. If you are spending that kinda of cash wait for the right deal.

The ONLY thing mine doesnt have that I wish it did is blue tooth.. oh well I have a PCMCIA slot open for that

Not true. My laptop could play almost 2 movies before the battery died. Dell Inspiron 500m w/centrino.

[Wurm]

E1505 Dual Core
Date & Time: July 11,2006 11:15 AM CST

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

E1505 Dual Core Qty 1
Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2400 (2MB Cache/1.83GHz/667MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Professional Unit Price $1,926.00
Inspiron affiliate offer 30% off $1499+
LIMITED TIME OFFER! Remove Coupon
- $577.80
Catalog Number: 29 E1505S2
Module Description Show Details
Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2400 (2MB Cache/1.83GHz/667MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Professional
LCD Panel 15.4 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife™
Memory 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 2 DIMM
Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™Go 7300 TurboCache
Hard Drive 120GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Options Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO 3945 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months America Online Internet Access Included
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service, Support
Future Operating Systems Windows Vista™ Capable
Operating System Re-Installation CD PC Restore recovery system by Symantec
Dell Digital Entertainment Starter Entertainment Pack - Basic digital Music, Photo and Game experience
TOTAL:$1,348.20

[Wurm]

# $750 off $1999+ - Dell Coupon Q1KD?36$JJ0TW2
# 30% off $1,499+ - Dell Coupon 9G05XJH3$?6G0Z
# 30% off $999+ - Dell Coupon BTV1PGRRLM1VLS
Expires: 7/13/2006

[Spyder]

Not true. My laptop could play almost 2 movies before the battery died. Dell Inspiron 500m w/centrino.

Either I am completely wrong or HP makes really shitty batteries.. I will have to recheck it

[Pher]

Either I am completely wrong or HP makes really shitty batteries.. I will have to recheck it

It really depends on the processor and how many cells the battery has.

[imbosile]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions guys, I really appreciate it. Actually I started to look at HP after I made my first post and I custom made a really nice one, what do you guys think about this?

XP Professional
T2500 (2ghz) Intel Core Duo
17" WXGA Ultra Bright View
256mb Nvidia GeForce Go 7600
1GB DDR2 SDRAM
100Gb 5400 rpm hd
Lightscribe 8X dvd burner
Intel Pro wireless 3954ABG w/ Bluetooth
Included features
• HP PhotoSmart Premier
• HP QuickPlay
• 1 Expansion Port 2 connector
• 1 ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
• 4 USB 2.0 ports
• IEEE 1394
• 1 Consumer IR (Remote Receiver)
• S-video TV-out port
• Built in 6-in-1 Digital Media Reader
• Built-in Altec Lansing stereo speakers
• Touch Pad with dedicated vertical and horizontal Scroll Up/Down pad
• 101 key compatible
• 90W AC adapter
• 1-year limited H/W warranty
• 90-day S/W warranty


All for 1487.99, I'm pretty sure this is what I am going to get. It's really nice customizing them online because XP Professional is only 58.00 more bucks, compared to me having to pay 300.00 for it in a store.

[imbosile]

# $750 off $1999+ - Dell Coupon Q1KD?36$JJ0TW2
# 30% off $1,499+ - Dell Coupon 9G05XJH3$?6G0Z
# 30% off $999+ - Dell Coupon BTV1PGRRLM1VLS
Expires: 7/13/2006

wow thank you, i was thinking you were just making these up but i just tried them and they work. how did you find these?

edit: actually they say they require more info, or i am not eligible to use them.

[Wurm]

wow thank you, i was thinking you were just making these up but i just tried them and they work. how did you find these?

im god like plus i use to work for dell hahaha

[Mr_Mischif]

I suggest going with AMD if you can find the same setup for the same price, but that's good.

[imbosile]

im god like plus i use to work for dell hahaha

do you have any that i could actually use? it keeps acknowledging that they are coupons and it realizes the correct coupons, but it will not let me use them. do you have any for the xps line? thanks

[u_like_me]

Battery life can last alot longer if you turn the brightness of the screen down....
This makes a world of difference on my laptop. I have the celeron processor and it uses more of the battery then my friends laptop. He has the Centrino. I hope this helps.....
I can use my laptop for about 3 to 3 and a half hours if I keep the brightness turned down. With the brightness all the way up I might get 2 and a half....

battery life will depend on the application and the processor you have... i can sit and play games for about an hour or watch a movie for a good 1-1.5 hour... the averatec i posted they can play full movies on their battery life.

[imbosile]

Battery life can last alot longer if you turn the brightness of the screen down....
This makes a world of difference on my laptop. I have the celeron processor and it uses more of the battery then my friends laptop. He has the Centrino. I hope this helps.....
I can use my laptop for about 3 to 3 and a half hours if I keep the brightness turned down. With the brightness all the way up I might get 2 and a half....

yea thats a good idiea too, thanks

[u_like_me]

No problem......

yea thats a good idiea too, thanks

[rzaray89]

imho you should look for sony/toshiba/ibm
i have MANY friends who bought dells and gateways for college and they are already looking around for another one.
i got a toshiba tablet on ebay for 500 bucks..it was a steal but im sure you can find something within your budget there