Ok, I pretty much have no idea about what's good when it comes to laptops. I'm looking for a combination of portability with some power for games at a not so expensive price. What I came up with is a Latitude D610. Does Dell make good laptops? Is the Mobility x300 any good? Pentium M is the best? I need answers!

Pentium M is teh uberwin.

I don't know anything about the Mobility x300 though.

I bought mine from http://www.laclinux.com/ because everything they sell is compatible with linux and they'll even install a custom, dual-boot system for you. They have great tech support. Their prices are more than dell but when you call them, you don't get connected to a call center in freaking India where they barely speak english.

I would suggest [url]www.ibuypower.com[/url] . great prices, they're reliable and the tech service is very good. only had to use it two or three times since i got my desktop, but it was great every time. I ordered my own laptop from them recently, not sure if you noticed that thread.

Oh, and Pentium M > *. a pentium M 2gig will beat most otehr processors in most applications, at least according to benchmarks.

Edit: Oh, and one last thing: i would heavily suggest against Dell. I find them to be very expencive, don't use the best components, and the tech support at IBUYPOWER i find to be jsut as good. only difference is Dell gives you an option for like, $500 for insurance.

I...I don't use Linux. :em321:

EDIT: Hmmm, never heard of ibuypower. They seem kind of cheesy. It also seems they use Mobility 9700, I'm guessing the x300's are better?

I have also heard a lot weird things about IBUYPOWER. Usually, it's stuff that you have to call the tech support for or try to fix yourself . . . just check the Better Business Bureau.

What about IBM laptops? Are they decent?

When it comes to laptops, I personally try to stick to BestBuy and paying for their extended warranties... I realize that limits the selection and it's more expensive but you'll get the best customer imagainable.

Pentium M

Mobility 9600
Mobility 9700

6800go



Keep these phrases in mind. Those are probably your best bets as far as video cards go on laptops, the 9700 probably being easiest to find, and well...Pentium M's just rawk the sawks.

X300s suck. Think 9200s...only worse...and for PCI-E.

Why are the x300's so bad? Don't they use the new architecture? R240 or whatever?

And what kind of battery life can I expect with a 9700/9600?

Ati's Mobility drivers have a feature that underclocks the GPU when on battery power. My Pentium-M 1.5 with a 9200 gets about 4½ of battery life, but that's halved if I set the GPU clock back to full speed.

Most games (other than HL2) are playable with the GPU underclocked.

R4**, and think of a 9800 in comparison to a 9500, only imagine the 9500 has the power of a 9000 or so (there was an architecture change between 9200 and 9500 otherwise the analogy would work :\) They're not so bad, really, but you'll find that if you play a game with an X300, everything seems to go in slow motion, and that number next to the FPS bit seems to go down to the teens. :\

Dell laptops suck, mostly because of their bad business. (They have a pending class-action lawsuit against them for putting lower-spec parts inside PCs than advertised. Like giving customers 512MB RAM instead of 1GB RAM.)

If price is no subject, [url]www.voodoopc.com[/url]

Otherwise, excellent laptops just don't really exist. Every company in the business seems to have some sort of flaw anymore, although Brian's linux laptop place isn't too bad, if you are into Linux at all.

I have a first-generation upgraded Inspiron XPS (Mobile 9800, 1 GB RAM). It's a beast. I get (barely) playable framerates with max settings and resolution in Doom 3.

The second-generation Inspiron XPS is a monster too. 17" screen, a Pentium-M processor and a 6800 Mobile.

I disagree--you're forgetting about Falcon and Alienware laptops too (hey, you said if money is no object). :p

But Dell's laptops I've always heard were great, until I saw this lawsuit. Dunno what to say about them now, really, just that if you go with them, I suppose tread lightly.

I've had no problems with any of my Dell laptops. Then again, I actually take care of my PCs and know what I'm doing with them...

I've seen hard drive failure to be a semi-common problem, but that's really because all the people I see with that problem seem to think it's ok to carry the laptop around and not hold it steady while the drive's spinning away at 4200 RPM... That and if you wanted to blame that on someone, it'd be the HD manufacturer.

Price IS an object and I definately don't want an XPS(2), way too big and bulky. I don't want something that powerful...

And has anyone owned a Toshiba? I know an IT guy that swears by them.

If you're looking at Dell I highly suggest you jump on it tomorrow while you have the chance.

http://forums.massassi.net/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33004

ASUS M6N-C

How's that look?

Ok, that link didn't work like I thought it would, should have checked it.

1. Display: M6BNe: 15.4 inch WXGA (1280x800) TFT Active Matrix (+$20.00)
2. Processor: 1.6GHz Intel Pentium M 725 (Dothan) Processor w/2MB L2 Cache (+$20.00)
3. Graphics & Video: ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 w/ 64MB VRAM and TV-out.
4. Memory: 512MB DDR333 SODIMM Memory (1x512MB) (+$60.00)
5. Hard Drive: 60GB 7,200RPM Ultra DMA HDD (+$100.00)
6. CD/DVD/CDRW Drive: Combo 8X DVD/24x10x24 CD-RW w/Software
7. Wireless LAN: Built-in Intel PRO/Wireless 2915 Tri-Mode 802.11A/B/G LAN (+$45.00)
8. Main Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery: 5.5 hours
9. Second Battery: None.
A. Second Hard Drive: None.
B. MS Windows OS: No MS Windows Operating System
C. MS Office XP Software: None.
D. Internet Security Software: None.
E. Wireless Router: None.
F. AC Adapter: Auto Switch 110/220V AC Adapter
G. Auto/Air Adapter: None.
H. Port Replicator: None.
I. Carrying Case: Free Deluxe Carrying Case
J. Floppy Drive: None.
K. Build-in Gigabit LAN: Built-in Broad Com 10/100/1000BaseT Ethernet LAN w/RJ-45 Jack
L. Build-in IEEE 1394 & Modem: Built-in IEEE 1394 (Firewire) and 56k V.90 Fax/Modem
M. Mouse: None.
N. Warranty: 3-Year Parts/Labor, Lifetime Telephone Technical Support (+$125.00)

How's that? Should I go with a 15.1" sxga+ or a 15.4" wxga ($20 more)?

ibuypower is a fantastic company, as the machine I'm currently running was purchased there. Great service, FAST delivery, and all the myths I've heard about ibuypower have all been lies, or not the fault of ibuypower.

JediKirby

Aren't all laptops portable? :p

I'd hardly call 12 pounds portable.

Very few laptops these days weigh 12 pounds.

you know you want it.

After looking at a lot of laptops I was surprised how many still weigh that much (those are cheap, high performance ones though).

EDIT: And to mb:

Just my two cents: Don't buy a laptop that uses a barrel plug on the AC power... Last I checked that was the cause for the number one reason for Laptop RMA's, lose AC connection/intermittent charging...

Four guys on my floor last semester had to send their brand new laptops back for service because of this…

Yeah, I guess 12 pounds is pretty heavy.

For a mouse.

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20050525/index.html

Pentium M has the potential to produce better framerates than P4 3.6Ghz and the FX-55 for gaming...amazing...

however its not so good at doing encoding and other similar functions...

i'm still coming to terms with what the article above shows...Pentium M faster than FX-55 for gaming....crazy.

point of my post, not matter what laptop you get, get one with a Pentium M in it.

Don't know if anyones mentioned Asus yet but they seem to get pretty good reviews in what i've read.

That's tomshardware. I'd hardly trust tomshardware at any point in time. They used to say P4 2.4's beat AMD XP 2600+'s for gaming. Right.

uuummm, k they aren't known for being the best on the net, but compare some of the other reviews of laptops like the Dell Inspiron XPS Gen 2 and Acer....something and the framerates are pretty consitent...and they are using Laptops as test beds and not desktops....

I can't honestly believe Toms would lie, can't see any point in it....plus its not like the Pentium M's wipe the floor with everything, just certain gaming and winRAR tasks...

still interesting article, very likely and i've read it elsewhere, that the next generation of Pentiums are going to be based of the M's design, makes you wonder if there is un-tapped potential in the current generation of Pentium M's...

[edit] Might wanna take a look at this also as HardOCP did a review comparing a SFF with a Pentium M in it, seems to do very well compared to a board using an FX-55 in gaming...doesn't beat it but is pretty close on most benchmarks...[/edit]...

They want to lie because a Pentium M beating an FX-55 is sensational and will get them more hits...like this...giving them more money from ads. Hardocp always gives the truth, that's why I trust them over anyone else.

I know a Pentium M is beastly, and does really well stacked up against the AMD64's, but I can't see them beating an FX-55 flat out. :\

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/?t=archives&date=2005-06-08

:em321:

Yeahhhhhh....
and slashdot is 100% accurate 100% of the time...


Don’t get me wrong… HardOCP is good, but always giving the truth...

Dell refurbished laptops are pretty good.

Fixed.

on standard clocks, they won't, however there is potential to overclock them to 2.5Ghz+ and when you do they do start giving the FX line a run for their money...

check out anandtech, they seem to agree with Tom's, as does this review (no idea who they are), but they do much more indepth review than all the others, lots of benchmarks, and it does show that an overclocked Pentium M will beat an FX-55 on quite a few benchmarks, not just games either...this is using the Asus 478-479 adapter btw, otherwise the chip is severely limited on the 855 chipset...

of course, we have to believe that they aren't just making up the results to get hits, but so many different sites, with similar findings...its crazy that a Pentium M can beat a FX-55 I know, but it seems to be true....

back to laptops...take a look at dell outlet also...[url]www.dell.com/outlet/[/url] dell's refurbished laptops as Rob pointed out...cheap and still with full warrenty

Hmm, how much is that and from where? This configuration at IBUYPOWER is $1,365.16 (final price, its free shipping), main differences are only that it has only 1 year warranty, a better screen, and a better proc (730 is slightly better then the 725)

1. Display: 15.4" WSXGA+ 1680x1050 LCD TFT Notebook w/Li-Ion Battery
2. Processor: Intel® Pentium® M Processor 730 [1.6Ghz, 533MhzFSB, 2MB Cache]
3. Graphics & Video: Mobility 256MB ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 256-bit 3D Video
4. Memory: 512MB DDR-400 PC-3200
5. Hard Drive: 60 GB 7200rpm ATA-100 Super Slim Notebook Hard Drive
6. CD/DVD/CDRW Drive: 8x DVD-ROM & 24X16X24 CD-RW Combo Drive
7. Wireless LAN: Wireless LAN Wi-Fi 802.11g 54Mbps Mini-PCI Module
8. Main Battery: Li-Ion Battery
9. Second Battery: None
A. Second Hard Drive: None
B. MS Windows OS: MS Windows XP Home Edition (can't not have it, sorry. you can easily reformat and sell it)
C. MS Office XP Software: None.
D. Internet Security Software: None.
E. Wireless Router: None
F. AC Adapter: Universal AC Power Adapter
G. Auto/Air Adapter: None
H. Port Replicator: None.
I. Carrying Case: Free Deluxe Carrying Case
J. Floppy Drive: None
K. Build-in Gigabit LAN: Build-in 10/100 Network LAN
L. Build-in IEEE 1394: Build-in 1x IEEE-1394 Firewire Port
L.2: Modem: Build-in 56K V.92 Fax Modem
M. Mouse: None
N. Warranty: Warranty Service Standard 1-Year Limited Warranty + 1-Year i-Care Deluxe 24/7 Phone Support + Depot Service

Extras: 3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard, Build-in 4-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer, Build-in 3x USB 2.0 Ports

I hate slashdot.

[H]ardOCP had one mishap a while back, but has since given 100% honest tutorials. Hell I think their mishap had to do with GeForce 3's or something.