View Full Version : Buying a new laptop
Stan_Lite
24-07-2006, 07:23
My current laptop isn't too bad for normal laptop type stuff (documents, videos, pictures etc.) but it's pretty crap at games. Some games refuse to play due to insufficient graphics and those that will play turn it into a very expensive George Foreman grill.
With me working away from home for long periods of time and being stuck on the rig with not much to do, I am starting to rely more and more on PC games to help pass the time.
I decided it was about time I got myself something that could "do the business" so I had a look around and found out that the new Dell XPS M1710 Pentium Duo T2600 is reputed to be the fastest laptop in the world at the moment so I had a look.
It seems to be the dogs doodahs. OcUK are selling them for nearly £1800, which I thought wasn't too bad and was seriously considering it.
I decided to have a look in the MM on the off chance and, lo and behold, there was a guy (with good trust) selling one almost identical (only difference is XP media Centre instead of XP Home) + some games + a G5 gaming mouse for £1300 :cool:
I thought "bums, I don't have enough cash until I get paid a week on Thursday" but I decided to be cheeky and ask on the off chance if he'd be willing to wait. To my surprise, he said "no problem".
I have given him £300 as a deposit sort of idea and will transfer the other grand when I get paid and he will send the laptop to me for when I get back.
Here is the spec of my new baby:
# 2.16ghz CPU (DUAL CORE)
# 2 GIG DDR Memory (677MHZ)
# 100 GB Hard Drive
# 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 7900 Go GTX graphics card, PCI-Express x16
# DVDRW Drive
# Built in Wireless
# 17" True Life Screen
# Near enough 1 year warranty
# Windows Media Centre Edition
Games included in the deal:
Starship Troopers, Prince of Persia 2 Thrones and World of Warcraft as well as the mouse (I have a G5 on my gaming rig at home and it's ace).
I thought it was a bargain and can't wait to play stutter free games at work :D
Stan :)
That will be a stonking machine! I have a 9400 inspiron which has the 7800gtx in it and that really flies. Expect to be able to run games maxxed out :D Mine which is a slightly lower spec can handle FEAR maxed out. The screen is really really good, good viewing angle combined with razor sharp images.
The big change I have noticed is the dual core performance. When loading apps/doing multiple tasks I can notice the responce time compared to my single core desktop.
Flibster
24-07-2006, 10:10
Should be good...
The 7900 Go's are damn good cards for laptops.
As it's running MCE it may well have a TV tuner in it as well. :D
Although - I certainly wouldn't want to use it on my lap - it will be a bit of a nut-roaster...
Simon/~Flibster
Stan_Lite
24-07-2006, 12:39
It can reputedly run pretty much any game at full res (1900x1200). I'm keen on the dual core as well for multiple apps etc. I notice with my current machine (Asus W3A) that opening apps whilst playing music or anything else for that matter tends to tax it a bit.
The W3A is a nice machine but not built for gaming at all - the screen is nice and is good for watching video but it just doesn't have enough grunt for what I want it to do.
As for it frying my lap, the guy I'm buying it from reckons that even whilst gaming, it hardly gets warm and even under stress it is virtually silent. I intend getting one of those laptop coolers for it to be on the safe side.
I can't wait - this laptop actually gets a higher 3dMark05 score than my current gaming rig :shocked:
Stan :)
The older generation XPS laptops are (as laptops go) great gaming machines. Be warned though, they're not the lightest around (all that top-notch hardware comes at a weight price).
Personally, I'm waiting for Merom before getting a new laptop (due end August, though it'll likely be October before Dell stump up new hardware in decent quantities). Mind you, had I seen that deal before you, you might have missed out. :)
Just to give you an idea, the T2300 (1.66GHz) Core Duo can match a 3.2GHz P4 Northwood (with HT) at most things, and outperform it at some. You can do the maths from there. :)
Sounds like a nice new laptop you're getting there Stan :thumbup:
So what are you gonna do with your old one? :)
Stan_Lite
24-07-2006, 19:49
Sounds like a nice new laptop you're getting there Stan :thumbup:
So what are you gonna do with your old one? :)
I haven't entirely decided yet.
I was going to sell it but part of me is thinking that, as Captain Scarlet rightly points out, the new one is not the most portable thing in the world. It'll be no problem taking it out to the rig but if I'm just going away for the weekend (to meets etc.), then the old one may come in handy for taking with me under those circumstances.
Also, there are a couple of noticeable scratches on the lid of the old one and greedy people look at something like this as being an excuse to knock £100 off the value - even though it does not affect the performance of the machine in the slightest. If I tried to sell it and someone said something like "Nah, it's damaged, I can only offer you £500 mate", I'd probably find his address and hit him with a brick.
Stan :)
Dymetrie
24-07-2006, 20:17
"Nah, it's damaged, I can only offer you £500 mate"
:p
Matblack
24-07-2006, 20:19
Its used my best offer is £450
MB
Dymetrie
24-07-2006, 20:26
Its used my best offer is £450
MB
frigging snipers
STFU n00bs, read the rules
£400
You can launch nuclear missles off that thing !!! Laptop these days is getting silly, makes my Centrino (original V1) 1.4Ghz look ancient.
I still have an original V1 Centrino 1.6GHz (Dell D600). 3 years old, lugged around the planet, dropped down an escalator at JFK, and all still there bar the keyboard (which still worked but was getting a little picky so I decided to replace it before the warranty expired).
Beansprout
25-07-2006, 01:17
Pffffffffft Macbook Pro > * :D
*runs*
Pffffffffft Me > your servers (both of them) :D
*runs*
Stan_Lite
25-07-2006, 04:31
Dud somebody announce a reverse auction :huh:
Stan :)
Beansprout
25-07-2006, 11:51
£0.99!
Matblack
25-07-2006, 11:57
you pay for postage and I'll take it off your hands for nothing ;)
MB
leowyatt
25-07-2006, 12:04
Pffffffffft Macbook Pro > * :D
*runs*
Man has taste :D
Stan_Lite
13-08-2006, 20:20
It's here \o/
It's bloody amazing - I loaded up FEAR and turned everything up full tilt and ran a test - averaged 58FPS at 1600x1200.
I'm very impressed and very happy - very very happy.
It's Folding already and giving about 1 1/2 times the ppd of an X2 3800 at stock :cool:
Stan :)
Next time I decide that work are buying me a new laptop (assuming I'm there that long) I may well go for something that I'll be able to game on. I bought a small laptop last time thinking it'd save space and weight in my carry on but by the time I add all my other crap in it really makes no difference.
I do like the idea of being able to play HL2 whilst stuck in a hotel somewhere abroad.
Stan_Lite
13-08-2006, 20:29
Next time I decide that work are buying me a new laptop (assuming I'm there that long) I may well go for something that I'll be able to game on. I bought a small laptop last time thinking it'd save space and weight in my carry on but by the time I add all my other crap in it really makes no difference.
I do like the idea of being able to play HL2 whilst stuck in a hotel somewhere abroad.
That's pretty much the main reason I got this one - being stuck on a rig with a laptop that can't play games properly is dull in the extreme.
Unfortunately, work would never shell out for one of these for me - the one we have on the rig is a scabby old Celeron thing :rolleyes:
Stan :)
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