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Gamer-approved laptop recommendation thread

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i would buy this if it had a i5 processor...really like every other part of this system...

im wondering how this would run 3ds max (hooked up to an external lcd)? anyone tried it?
 
K.Jack said:
The current generation has the second best cooling design in the industry.

reviews published have shown very cool underside to MX11... so whats the best cooling design in the industry?
 
spwolf said:
reviews published have shown very cool underside to MX11... so whats the best cooling design in the industry?
On the high-end, Clevo is most consistent. Dell owned Alienware is right there, but I won't praise them after just one generation of intelligent design.
 
Despite the ugly styling and subpar LCD, I went for it. Will be delivered today.

Performance is too good for it's size.
 
Got it.
Man, this little thing is amazing.
The build quality is fucking excellent. It's so solid.
Nothing like checking your battery to see its at 94% with 7 hours and 15 minutes remaining.. haha.

As far as gaming goes, it runs crysis warhead at 30 fps on mainstream @ native resolution. (awesome)
and Unreal Tournament 3 runs at 40-60 fps at native resolution on default (medium/high) settings.

I've got the gobi WWAN card installed, and just popped the sim card out of my iphone and into the m11x and get crazy fast speeds. Just realized i can send/receive text messages while using the sim card in my laptop.

Multi-touch pad with pinch/zoom is amazing.

Keyboard takes some getting used to, but I'm getting better with it.
I'm insanely happy with this little guy.
 
any word on hackintoshing these? I'd love to replace my macbook 13" with one of these but cant lose the ability to iphone program on it.
 
IMACOMPUTA said:
Got it.
Man, this little thing is amazing.
The build quality is fucking excellent. It's so solid.
Nothing like checking your battery to see its at 94% with 7 hours and 15 minutes remaining.. haha.

As far as gaming goes, it runs crysis warhead at 30 fps on mainstream @ native resolution. (awesome)
and Unreal Tournament 3 runs at 40-60 fps at native resolution on default (medium/high) settings.

I've got the gobi WWAN card installed, and just popped the sim card out of my iphone and into the m11x and get crazy fast speeds. Just realized i can send/receive text messages while using the sim card in my laptop.

Multi-touch pad with pinch/zoom is amazing.

Keyboard takes some getting used to, but I'm getting better with it.
I'm insanely happy with this little guy.

ok so... how do you deal with the optical drive issue?
 
IMACOMPUTA said:
Got it.
Man, this little thing is amazing.
The build quality is fucking excellent. It's so solid.
Nothing like checking your battery to see its at 94% with 7 hours and 15 minutes remaining.. haha.

As far as gaming goes, it runs crysis warhead at 30 fps on mainstream @ native resolution. (awesome)
and Unreal Tournament 3 runs at 40-60 fps at native resolution on default (medium/high) settings.

I've got the gobi WWAN card installed, and just popped the sim card out of my iphone and into the m11x and get crazy fast speeds. Just realized i can send/receive text messages while using the sim card in my laptop.

Multi-touch pad with pinch/zoom is amazing.

Keyboard takes some getting used to, but I'm getting better with it.
I'm insanely happy with this little guy.


How hot does it get? Can you actualy use it on your lap?
 
hteng said:
ok so... how do you deal with the optical drive issue?
I rarely need to use discs, but I do have an external BD drive when needed.

@Trent

Never gets too hot. Not like laptops I've used in the past that can really burn you.
 
just convinced my brother to buy this.

he likes it. he said played Portal, and it was kinda chugging. I wonder if its how he configure it
 
hteng said:
ok so... how do you deal with the optical drive issue?
I rarely need an optical drive, but instead of buying an external drive, i've just used my xbox 360 HD-DVD drive. Works without a hitch.
Although I've literally only used it twice. Once to install MS Office 2007, and once to install Crysis Warhead.
I buy everything on Steam these days.. addicted.
 
bathala said:
just convinced my brother to buy this.

he likes it. he said played Portal, and it was kinda chugging. I wonder if its how he configure it
He probably didn't have the GT335 enabled.
Seriously, there's no way it would chug running portal... even at max settings.
Unless theres some kind of crazy AA going on, but even then It would probably run fine.
 
So far all I heard is good things about this laptop. Is it as successful as everyone is talking about or people have been having problems with it lately?
 
bathala said:
just convinced my brother to buy this.

he likes it. he said played Portal, and it was kinda chugging. I wonder if its how he configure it
tell him to switch off power saver
 
IMACOMPUTA said:
I've got the gobi WWAN card installed, and just popped the sim card out of my iphone and into the m11x and get crazy fast speeds. Just realized i can send/receive text messages while using the sim card in my laptop.

Multi-touch pad with pinch/zoom is amazing.

Keyboard takes some getting used to, but I'm getting better with it.
I'm insanely happy with this little guy.
I've never used one of these gobi things before....is it really as easy as putting in your sim card and hopping online? I have AT&t and an iPhone as well. Are you saying there are no extra fees and I can just use my iPhone data plan to get online on this and surf the web at 3g speeds? I'm thinking the only drawback would obviously be that I wouldn't be able to take or make calls while I use the sim card on the laptop, is there anything else I'm missing or is it really just that simple?
 
VanMardigan said:
I've never used one of these gobi things before....is it really as easy as putting in your sim card and hopping online? I have AT&t and an iPhone as well. Are you saying there are no extra fees and I can just use my iPhone data plan to get online on this and surf the web at 3g speeds? I'm thinking the only drawback would obviously be that I wouldn't be able to take or make calls while I use the sim card on the laptop, is there anything else I'm missing or is it really just that simple?

There's some initial setup (just some network login info) that you have to find on your own. I found it on notebookreviews forums.
Really simple stuff, and then yes, it includes a wwan utility that connects you to the at&t network.
Obviously its like a cellphone, so depending on where you are, your signal will vary.

As for people having problems with the m11x ;
There were quite a few problems with the first couple batches. Things like the screen bezel having a large gap between the screen and the bezel, bsod on overclock, dust in screen, screen hinge creaking, etc.
That said, mine is absolutely perfect. I'm pretty sure those problems were just with the first couple batches, because I stay pretty up to date on the official m11x owners lounge and haven't seen many complaints lately.
If you're seriously interested in picking one up, this is the best place for any and all info regarding the m11x.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=463237
 
IMACOMPUTA said:
He probably didn't have the GT335 enabled.
Seriously, there's no way it would chug running portal... even at max settings.
Unless theres some kind of crazy AA going on, but even then It would probably run fine.
yeah he told he just found out there's two switch.

geez people who don't reads their manual
 
IMACOMPUTA said:
Got it.
Man, this little thing is amazing.
The build quality is fucking excellent. It's so solid.
Nothing like checking your battery to see its at 94% with 7 hours and 15 minutes remaining.. haha.

As far as gaming goes, it runs crysis warhead at 30 fps on mainstream @ native resolution. (awesome)
and Unreal Tournament 3 runs at 40-60 fps at native resolution on default (medium/high) settings.

I've got the gobi WWAN card installed, and just popped the sim card out of my iphone and into the m11x and get crazy fast speeds. Just realized i can send/receive text messages while using the sim card in my laptop.

Multi-touch pad with pinch/zoom is amazing.

Keyboard takes some getting used to, but I'm getting better with it.
I'm insanely happy with this little guy.
Nice impressions, your post is making me inch closer to the edge and buying one.
 
Classic_Gs said:
Nice impressions, your post is making me inch closer to the edge and buying one.

If you need a small laptop with great battery life, you want this.
It's such a great quality laptop. Being able to play games on it is amazing. Taking it to a coffee shop with a 360 controller receiver and playing Street Fighter IV with whoever wants to step up is fucking awesome.
 
KuwabaraTheMan said:
I was just commenting on the fact that Dell laptops, in general, are pretty much shit. At least in my experience.
Kinda true...I have an XPS...not cause I particularly wanted one, but the person that bought it for me would only buy me a Dell, even though I offered up much cheaper and better alternatives. Thing is kinda crummy...especially for the price. Woe is me, my free laptop is a Dell.
 
NeoUltima said:
Kinda true...I have an XPS...not cause I particularly wanted one, but the person that bought it for me would only buy me a Dell, even though I offered up much cheaper and better alternatives. Thing is kinda crummy...especially for the price. Woe is me, my free laptop is a Dell.

My HP broke three or four times over the course of 4 years, had to be sent in for service each time, and I had no laptop for about 2 weeks each time it happened.

The Dell still hasn't broke once.

YMMV, but a consumer reports survey was out a while ago, and every laptop manufacturer scored a rate of 15% or higher when it came to breaking down, even Apple. Desktops were significantly lower.
 
What are the chances of Dell improving the specifications in the near future? The processor doesn't really seem to cut the mustard as much as the gpu does for a screen of that size. The upgrades cost a ton too on Dell UK. Would be a nice portable machine!
 
Alright I have a question. Have been out of pc gaming for awhile now, needed a new laptop and figured I might as well get back in. I'm going for the laptop because I have a sufficient desktop for my media center, just not for gaming. My current laptop is almost 5 years old at this point (tpad: t43) and I prefer to keep a laptop to bring around the house when needed. that said............

I just bought an asus g73 (a2). Only thing is, the ETA is early June. I'm fine with waiting, but do you think this aw would be a viable alternative? I want something thats going to last me a long time, close to 5 years like my current lappy, which is why I opted for the g73. Like I said though I've been out of the loop for awhile so any advice on if this one would be sufficient would be appreciated.
 
Thnikkaman said:
What are the chances of Dell improving the specifications in the near future? The processor doesn't really seem to cut the mustard as much as the gpu does for a screen of that size. The upgrades cost a ton too on Dell UK. Would be a nice portable machine!
There will be a refresh, probably with the CULV line of i5/i7 processors. The bulk of these won't be ready to go until the Summer, so I expect late Q2, Q3 refresh.
johnnylineup said:
Alright I have a question. Have been out of pc gaming for awhile now, needed a new laptop and figured I might as well get back in. I'm going for the laptop because I have a sufficient desktop for my media center, just not for gaming. My current laptop is almost 5 years old at this point (tpad: t43) and I prefer to keep a laptop to bring around the house when needed. that said............

I just bought an asus g73 (a2). Only thing is, the ETA is early June. I'm fine with waiting, but do you think this aw would be a viable alternative? I want something thats going to last me a long time, close to 5 years like my current lappy, which is why I opted for the g73. Like I said though I've been out of the loop for awhile so any advice on if this one would be sufficient would be appreciated.
Well, besides the obvious (11" vs 17"), the Mobility 5870 is 3x the speed of the GT 335M.
 
I like what Best Buy did with the performance features :D :

- Intel® Core™2 Duo mobile processor SU7300
Features 2 processing cores, 800MHz system bus, 3MB cache and 1.3GHz processor speed per core.

- The Intel® Core™2 Duo processor
Features great 2-way processing performance for your mobile needs.

- 2 high-performance processing cores
To run multiple demanding applications simultaneously without hesitation.
 
K.Jack said:
There will be a refresh, probably with the CULV line of i5/i7 processors. The bulk of these won't be ready to go until the Summer, so I expect late Q2, Q3 refresh.

Well, besides the obvious (11" vs 17"), the Mobility 5870 is 3x the speed of the GT 335M.

You really think a refresh will come that soon ? anything rumoured/announced ?

Im considering getting one, but if a refresh will come soon I might wait.
 
Zizbuka said:
I like what Best Buy did with the performance features :D :

- Intel® Core™2 Duo mobile processor SU7300
Features 2 processing cores, 800MHz system bus, 3MB cache and 1.3GHz processor speed per core.

- The Intel® Core™2 Duo processor
Features great 2-way processing performance for your mobile needs.

- 2 high-performance processing cores
To run multiple demanding applications simultaneously without hesitation.

Fuck best buy...
 
twdnewh_k said:
You really think a refresh will come that soon ? anything rumoured/announced ?

Im considering getting one, but if a refresh will come soon I might wait.

An Alienware worker confirmed it before M11X came out, that it would get the CULV core update. But nobody knows how good these will be and how much better performance.




I considered buying this Laptop, but went against it. My main problem is that it's dimensions are basically the same as a 13''. But it a 11'' display, with a big bezel, is very fat, and... uses CULV.
But it is an amazing laptop no doubt.


I still think that I would just wait and see if I could get the money for the Vaio Z 13''. It only has M330 as opposed to m11x's M335, but it's non CULV i7 processor is gonna go walks around the m11x in games that take more advantage of the CPU... GTA, Total War, Source games and so on.
Vaio Z is just so insanely expenssive, that it's almost... ludacris to pay such a high amount for a technology that will be outdated soon. But if you can afford it, it is the same dimension, but much lighter(1,6 kilo) and slimmer, and has a dvd/blu-ray drive, and basically the best screen and keyboard I have seen.

And if you are really, really insane, you can go the way of 4 SSDs in Raid, 8 GB Ram, and a 1900x???? display...


There is also the Acer Timeline X 3820 TG, which is a 13'' that is supposed to be packing a Ati 5650, which circles around the M335, also has no optical Drive, and Core i5/i7... Question is if the cooling will be good, and the build quality will be good. We know it's not made from plastic, and supposedly the first models in taiwan and singapore praise small things... but I think that its safe to say that the LED Glossy display will be as useless as almost every other damn laptop these days.



EDIT: Apparently Vaio Z's 330M is downclocked... didn't know that. Still seems like a decent thing considering how thin it is; http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VPCZ11X9E-B-Notebook.28704.0.html
 
Vigilant Walrus said:
An Alienware worker confirmed it before M11X came out, that it would get the CULV core update. But nobody knows how good these will be and how much better performance.




I considered buying this Laptop, but went against it. My main problem is that it's dimensions are basically the same as a 13''. But it a 11'' display, with a big bezel, is very fat, and... uses CULV.
But it is an amazing laptop no doubt.


I still think that I would just wait and see if I could get the money for the Vaio Z 13''. It only has M330 as opposed to m11x's M335, but it's non CULV i7 processor is gonna go walks around the m11x in games that take more advantage of the CPU... GTA, Total War, Source games and so on.
Vaio Z is just so insanely expenssive, that it's almost... ludacris to pay such a high amount for a technology that will be outdated soon. But if you can afford it, it is the same dimension, but much lighter(1,6 kilo) and slimmer, and has a dvd/blu-ray drive, and basically the best screen and keyboard I have seen.

And if you are really, really insane, you can go the way of 4 SSDs in Raid, 8 GB Ram, and a 1900x???? display...


There is also the Acer Timeline X 3820 TG, which is a 13'' that is supposed to be packing a Ati 5650, which circles around the M335, also has no optical Drive, and Core i5/i7... Question is if the cooling will be good, and the build quality will be good. We know it's not made from plastic, and supposedly the first models in taiwan and singapore praise small things... but I think that its safe to say that the LED Glossy display will be as useless as almost every other damn laptop these days.



EDIT: Apparently Vaio Z's 330M is downclocked... didn't know that. Still seems like a decent thing considering how thin it is; http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VPCZ11X9E-B-Notebook.28704.0.html


Thanks, I'll look into the other choices. And i guess I'll wait and see if a refresh will come soon. Im in no rush. I'll go and check out the display model at a store to see how the size/weight compare.
 
have had this little biddy since the first week of march, gotta say it's as sweet as all the thumbs up posts about it. just wished it came with a better cpu, even if it can be overclocked in bios. too bad alienware doesn't do leases, i'd trade this in for next years model in a heartbeat ...
 
Vigilant Walrus said:
I considered buying this Laptop, but went against it. My main problem is that it's dimensions are basically the same as a 13''. But it a 11'' display, with a big bezel, is very fat, and... uses CULV.
But it is an amazing laptop no doubt.


I compared it to my XPS 13", and it is smaller than it as well as thinner and my XPS is not that big at all. Most important part is that it gets cooled a lot better than most other small laptops with dedicated cards, which is very important if you want to actually play games on it. Thats why it is not as small as netbook.
 
I hate my indecisiveness here. I must have posted in like 5 threads.
I've been delaying getting something for months, waiting for like, I don't know, new chip line or something, but I guess now's the time to strike?

I've had a mac mini for like, 5-6 years. That's all I have at home.
I said I wouldn't buy a PC again after my Dell exploded years ago, but I absolutely want a laptop PC for Starcraft II and Diablo 3 primarily.

I don't want anything bigger than 15 inches, and if price really isn't a factor (I wouldn't mind spending like, let's say, $1300-$1500 or so), what is the best gaming laptop I can get for my money?

Those games are priority over like, high-end Crysis 2, but size is important too since I don't want a huge, heat sink
 
Vigilant Walrus said:
An Alienware worker confirmed it before M11X came out, that it would get the CULV core update. But nobody knows how good these will be and how much better performance.




I considered buying this Laptop, but went against it. My main problem is that it's dimensions are basically the same as a 13''. But it a 11'' display, with a big bezel, is very fat, and... uses CULV.
But it is an amazing laptop no doubt.


I still think that I would just wait and see if I could get the money for the Vaio Z 13''. It only has M330 as opposed to m11x's M335, but it's non CULV i7 processor is gonna go walks around the m11x in games that take more advantage of the CPU... GTA, Total War, Source games and so on.
Vaio Z is just so insanely expenssive, that it's almost... ludacris to pay such a high amount for a technology that will be outdated soon. But if you can afford it, it is the same dimension, but much lighter(1,6 kilo) and slimmer, and has a dvd/blu-ray drive, and basically the best screen and keyboard I have seen.

And if you are really, really insane, you can go the way of 4 SSDs in Raid, 8 GB Ram, and a 1900x???? display...


There is also the Acer Timeline X 3820 TG, which is a 13'' that is supposed to be packing a Ati 5650, which circles around the M335, also has no optical Drive, and Core i5/i7... Question is if the cooling will be good, and the build quality will be good. We know it's not made from plastic, and supposedly the first models in taiwan and singapore praise small things... but I think that its safe to say that the LED Glossy display will be as useless as almost every other damn laptop these days.



EDIT: Apparently Vaio Z's 330M is downclocked... didn't know that. Still seems like a decent thing considering how thin it is; http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Sony-Vaio-VPCZ11X9E-B-Notebook.28704.0.html
Have you read this comparison between the Z and the M11x?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=468485

While the Z is super sexy and slim, it runs incredibly hot and loud.
The Z's screen destroys the M11x though.
 
John Harker said:
I hate my indecisiveness here. I must have posted in like 5 threads.
I've been delaying getting something for months, waiting for like, I don't know, new chip line or something, but I guess now's the time to strike?

I've had a mac mini for like, 5-6 years. That's all I have at home.
I said I wouldn't buy a PC again after my Dell exploded years ago, but I absolutely want a laptop PC for Starcraft II and Diablo 3 primarily.

I don't want anything bigger than 15 inches, and if price really isn't a factor (I wouldn't mind spending like, let's say, $1300-$1500 or so), what is the best gaming laptop I can get for my money?

Those games are priority over like, high-end Crysis 2, but size is important too since I don't want a huge, heat sink
The best 15" for the money is the $1100 MSI GX640. It's just about 5.5lbs (M11x is 4.5lbs), gets 2.5 hours on battery. Nice user review.

16:10 1680x1050
Core i5
Mobility 5850 1GB GDDR5
4GB RAM

Check it out.
 
K.Jack said:
The best 15" for the money is the $1100 MSI GX640. It's just about 5.5lbs (M11x is 4.5lbs), gets 2.5 hours on battery. Nice user review.

16:10 1680x1050
Core i5
Mobility 5850 1GB GDDR5
4GB RAM

Check it out.

great, thanks!! I'll check it out.

How's it compare to the M15x?
Though if I up it to i5 and go for the next step graphics card GTX 260M, we're looking at $1636 price tag
 
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0034NGZWM/?tag=neogaf0e-20

2.8GHz Intel Core i7-720QM Processor
6GB DDR3 1066MHz DRAM, 2 slots, 8GB Max
500GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM); Super Multi Optical Disk Drive; Wi-Fi 802.11bgn; Bluetooth
15.6-Inch Full HD 1920x1080 LED LCD Display; 2.0MP Webcam;
NVidia GTS 360M Graphics Engine with 1GB GDDR5 dedicated VRAM

How does this one compare? Only thing I'm scared of...

Weight: 7.26 pounds

Yikes.

But 1,400 for this seems like a steal unless I'm mistaken. How does that graphics card compare?
 
The GTS 360M is based on the G200 core, but it's only a bit faster than the 9600 GT in the field. Slower than the GTX 260M (9800 GT).
John Harker said:
great, thanks!! I'll check it out.

How's it compare to the M15x?
Though if I up it to i5 and go for the next step graphics card GTX 260M, we're looking at $1636 price tag
The M15x is... for people who don't mind the look of an Alienware.

But, it's well constructed, is really heavy (9.4lbs !).

If you're looking into the high-end boutique $1500 range, take a look at the Sager NP8690 (Clevo W860CU). From a $1300 base, you can choose your processor, and it comes stock with 4GB 1333MHz and a Mobility 5870 (desktop 5770, 40-50% faster than GTX 260M). This is the best 15" gaming notebook ever built, period point blank. 6.x pounds, lacks battery life.

It's also future-proof, as it will be upgradeable to any of ATI/Nvidia's new GPU in the future.

One thing to note is that mobile Fermi is coming June/July, and it's coming to both the Alienware and the Clevo lines. Food for thought.
 
K.Jack said:
There will be a refresh, probably with the CULV line of i5/i7 processors. The bulk of these won't be ready to go until the Summer, so I expect late Q2, Q3 refresh.

Well, besides the obvious (11" vs 17"), the Mobility 5870 is 3x the speed of the GT 335M.

Thanks, I'd happily wait a long time for a good refresh of the specs. The Core 2 was the only part of the deal I didn't like personally and an i5 would sweeten the deal indeed.
 
K.Jack said:
The GTS 360M is based on the G200 core, but it's only a bit faster than the 9600 GT in the field. Slower than the GTX 260M (9800 GT).

The M15x is... for people who don't mind the look of an Alienware.

But, it's well constructed, is really heavy (9.4lbs !).

If you're looking into the high-end boutique $1500 range, take a look at the Sager NP8690 (Clevo W860CU). From a $1300 base, you can choose your processor, and it comes stock with 4GB 1333MHz and a Mobility 5870 (desktop 5770, 40-50% faster than GTX 260M). This is the best 15" gaming notebook ever built, period point blank. 6.x pounds, lacks battery life.

It's also future-proof, as it will be upgradeable to any of ATI/Nvidia's new GPU in the future.

One thing to note is that mobile Fermi is coming June/July, and it's coming to both the Alienware and the Clevo lines. Food for thought.

Upgradable GPU! That's what I want in a laptop!
 
I got the chance to mess around with one today and its pretty cool for the size and what it can do, but that 11" screen makes me never want to actually buy one myself. Im spoiled on my Toshiba's 17" screen. :D
 
Can't you technically get a ViDock and get an upgradeable card whenever you want?

K.Jack said:
The GTS 360M is based on the G200 core, but it's only a bit faster than the 9600 GT in the field. Slower than the GTX 260M (9800 GT).

The M15x is... for people who don't mind the look of an Alienware.

But, it's well constructed, is really heavy (9.4lbs !).

If you're looking into the high-end boutique $1500 range, take a look at the Sager NP8690 (Clevo W860CU). From a $1300 base, you can choose your processor, and it comes stock with 4GB 1333MHz and a Mobility 5870 (desktop 5770, 40-50% faster than GTX 260M). This is the best 15" gaming notebook ever built, period point blank. 6.x pounds, lacks battery life.

It's also future-proof, as it will be upgradeable to any of ATI/Nvidia's new GPU in the future.

One thing to note is that mobile Fermi is coming June/July, and it's coming to both the Alienware and the Clevo lines. Food for thought.

Wow amazing price.. Comes with a Mobility 5870.. hot damn.

I may consider this next month now.

I would probably dock it into my large monitor more so.. but the ability to take it around is kinda nice.
 
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