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Gamer-approved laptop recommendation thread

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deathsight580 said:
I read the IGN review and they said you couldn't do this. So for sure you can just pop in the iPhone's sim card in and use the 3g?
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Yes, you have to create the profile within the WWAN utility, and yeah.
 
IMACOMPUTA said:
Yes, you have to create the profile within the WWAN utility, and yeah.
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wtf this is awesome.

Hmm.. but reiterating on my last question

did i need to have that gobi thing included in my build? It was an extra $125 i believe during the build process plus they boasted about fees.
 
TurtleSnatcher said:
wtf this is awesome.

Hmm.. but reiterating on my last question

did i need to have that gobi thing included in my build? It was an extra $125 i believe during the build process plus they boasted about fees.
Click to expand...
If you really do plan to use the wwan card, include it.
It's the only way to have the third antenna built into your system.

If not, you can always buy your own wwan card of course (only certain models work), but then you'll be missing that extra antenna. And it's a very involved process of taking everything apart to get a new one in the screen.

Or you can disconnect one of the two antennae from the wifi card to use on the wwan card. That's very easy to do but you lose N capability and stay on G/B.
 
Welp - I didn't include the WWAN antennae cause it was like 125 bucks haha

Guess I may do something afterwards if I want 3G service which would be sweet..

Oh and I just got my shipping confirmation. Only took 6 days to build! NICE!
 
Minsc said:
Definitely not on highest. CPU kills it, the SC2 beta needs a 3GHz+ CPU to stand a chance of maxing, you'll see dips for sure.
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Ice Monkey who owns a m11x has had beta for a while and he said it runs pretty good at High but not Ultra. I'm sure you can put like details on ultra for the awesome explosions but not the rest.
 
I played with everything Ultra once or twice, playable I suppose but I'd rather it be smoother.
I'll play around with the settings later today. Havn't really played the beta since I'm not into online play.
 
TurtleSnatcher said:
Ice Monkey who owns a m11x has had beta for a while and he said it runs pretty good at High but not Ultra. I'm sure you can put like details on ultra for the awesome explosions but not the rest.
Click to expand...

Yea, there's a big hit in performance going to the max settings. Pretty much no CPU/GPU in existence can max the beta according to these benches, but the m11x's CPU is its achilles' heel when it comes to the game.
 
What I'm excited for is other manufacturers coming in and doing the same thing with a more subdued look overall along with a lower price. If they can put together a *real* gaming netbook for around $600-800, I'm in, and I'd hope enough others would be as well to make them a success.
 
lol mine delivered a day before that announcement.. but then again.. they will probably show it at E3.. then ship it sometime in July.

Either way.. i3's and i5's will have similar benchmarks as the core2duo OC'd.. so I'm not too bummed.. likewise the battery life will probably be worse and it will be more expensive so Ill stick with what I have. :)
 
markot said:
It would run out of juice when you logged in >_>
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Probably. But if you used integrated for "work" where you really need battery life and could be plugged in for "play", it would work out great. :)
 
dLMN8R said:
Official - Alienware M11x getting a Core i3/i5/i7 upgrade next month:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/22/alienware-m11x-getting-intel-core-i3-i5-i7-upgrade-next-mont/
Click to expand...

Nice, but are there any benchmark out? He said it will still be CULV, so these won't be anywhere near the performance of regular Core 2 Duo, let alone i3, i5 or i7, right?


I understand why M11X is fat. Supposedly it has great build quality and great, great cooling ability.
But I'm thinking about the display...

dimension and footprint wise, I have seen pictures where M11x is next to 13'' laptops, and they are virtually the same size! I wish Alienware/Dell would have taken that, info and made a edge to edge display, to perhaps up the display to a 12'' or 13'' inch without increasing the physical size of the laptop!

The lack of optical drive is great! More companies need to start doing the same thing, and start putting in a good gpu with good cooling!
 
Vigilant Walrus said:
Nice, but are there any benchmark out? He said it will still be CULV, so these won't be anywhere near the performance of regular Core 2 Duo, let alone i3, i5 or i7, right?


I understand why M11X is fat. Supposedly it has great build quality and great, great cooling ability.
But I'm thinking about the display...

dimension and footprint wise, I have seen pictures where M11x is next to 13'' laptops, and they are virtually the same size! I wish Alienware/Dell would have taken that, info and made a edge to edge display, to perhaps up the display to a 12'' or 13'' inch without increasing the physical size of the laptop!

The lack of optical drive is great! More companies need to start doing the same thing, and start putting in a good gpu with good cooling!
Click to expand...
Yep CULV is what these will be and i think people aren't recognizing that :P
 
Vigilant Walrus said:
Nice, but are there any benchmark out? He said it will still be CULV, so these won't be anywhere near the performance of regular Core 2 Duo, let alone i3, i5 or i7, right?


I understand why M11X is fat. Supposedly it has great build quality and great, great cooling ability.
But I'm thinking about the display...

dimension and footprint wise, I have seen pictures where M11x is next to 13'' laptops, and they are virtually the same size! I wish Alienware/Dell would have taken that, info and made a edge to edge display, to perhaps up the display to a 12'' or 13'' inch without increasing the physical size of the laptop!

The lack of optical drive is great! More companies need to start doing the same thing, and start putting in a good gpu with good cooling!
Click to expand...

i measured it against my XPS 13", and M11X is quite a bit smaller anyway... those 13" dont have that cooling ability or power, hence they can be so small... First thing i check on laptop these days is how well it cools anyway, most of them dont... meaning within a year, you will get screaming bastard that you have to clean all the time or it will melt.
 
dLMN8R said:
Official - Alienware M11x getting a Core i3/i5/i7 upgrade next month:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/22/alienware-m11x-getting-intel-core-i3-i5-i7-upgrade-next-mont/
Click to expand...

So that's the 2-core i7 CPU apple's laptop's got? Not really interested in that.

The Alienware 15" model just got updated to the Mobility Radeon 5850 GDDR5, and next month these are coming out and should make their way in to notebooks:

amd_danube_chips_specs.gif


A 4-core CPU combined with a 5850 mobility GPU will really deliver some mobile gaming.
 
These are at the top of the upcoming ULV Core i line:

ulv-i7.png


Which ones will make it into the M11x is an unknown.

I believe the 640/620 are set for Q3.
 
K.Jack said:
These are at the top of the upcoming ULV Core i line:

ulv-i7.png


Which ones will make it into the M11x is an unknown.

I believe the 640/620 are set for Q3.
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The TDP on those range from 18-25W but the specs make it seem like it's basically a Core 2 with hyperthreading, turbo boost and a meg of extra cache. I'm not sure if the power hit is worth it, since battery life is such a big selling point of the M11x.
 
I think the i3/i5 will be the only worth it upgrades to the m11x and the i7 is just going to be for e-penis status as it's not really a full i7 proc.

Hopefully they keep this sucker under $1k though.
 
Pctx said:
I think the i3/i5 will be the only worth it upgrades to the m11x and the i7 is just going to be for e-penis status as it's not really a full i7 proc.

Hopefully they keep this sucker under $1k though.
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even then the i3 and i5 won't perform that much better then the core2duos out now :\
 
TurtleSnatcher said:
even then the i3 and i5 won't perform that much better then the core2duos out now :\
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The i5 will for sure but price will be an issue.
The current offering is rather bland so I'm glad to see they're uping their game.
 
Really glad I read about the i3/i5/i7 stuff, was really close to buying and would be pissed if I saw that after laying down my money. Will wait it out and grab it as soon as the update is available
 
Pctx said:
The i5 will for sure but price will be an issue.
The current offering is rather bland so I'm glad to see they're uping their game.
Click to expand...

Do you have any benchmarks? I think I saw one somewhere, but then I saw another non i7 Q-series quad against the the mobile i7 quadcore CPU, and they weren't much different.

I personally think a quadcore is worth holding out for if you do a lot of work related stuff, and in another year, a lot more games will really benefit from them.
 
Minsc said:
Do you have any benchmarks? I think I saw one somewhere, but then I saw another non i7 Q-series quad against the the mobile i7 quadcore CPU, and they weren't much different.

I personally think a quadcore is worth holding out for if you do a lot of work related stuff, and in another year, a lot more games will really benefit from them.
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I haven't seen any benchmarks for the chips they are planning to use (dual core, ultra low voltage), all of the variants seem to be clocked at 1.06 or 1.2 GHz by default. Am I right that the chip has built in overclocking if only one core is in use? I wonder if they will support manual overclocking on the new chips to bump up the base clock rate.

Clock for clock benchmarks against a C2D would be interesting. I expect it to be faster, but mostly because of any efficiency improvements and the two extra hyperthreads.
 
Minsc said:
Do you have any benchmarks? I think I saw one somewhere, but then I saw another non i7 Q-series quad against the the mobile i7 quadcore CPU, and they weren't much different.

I personally think a quadcore is worth holding out for if you do a lot of work related stuff, and in another year, a lot more games will really benefit from them.
Click to expand...
None of the i7s that would go in the M11x are actually quad cores though. They're dual core with hyperthreading, which doesn't do much for gaming.
 
I found benchmarks for the Core i5 variant that is coming, since the Asus UL30JT uses it.

PassMark Performance Test 7.0
CPU Mark:
UL30Jt
0.93GHz: 990 (T33 OFF, TB OFF)
1.24GHz: 1,253 (T33 ON, TB OFF)
1.86GHz: 1,657 (T33 OFF, TB ON)
2.48GHz: 2,208 (T33 ON, TB ON) ONE core only
U30Jc
2.26GHz: 2,387
UL30Vt
1.30GHz: 1,157
1.76GHz: 1,457


Source:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449562-asus-ul30jt-221.html#post6203009

For the record, the M11x seems to get about 1200-1300 @ 1.76Ghz...single threaded performance is nice but I wonder how applicable that is going to be for a modern game that will use multiple cores...
 
dLMN8R said:
Official - Alienware M11x getting a Core i3/i5/i7 upgrade next month:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/22/alienware-m11x-getting-intel-core-i3-i5-i7-upgrade-next-mont/
Click to expand...


Fuck yes, thank god I waited!

TurtleSnatcher said:
lol mine delivered a day before that announcement.. but then again.. they will probably show it at E3.. then ship it sometime in July.

Either way.. i3's and i5's will have similar benchmarks as the core2duo OC'd.. so I'm not too bummed.. likewise the battery life will probably be worse and it will be more expensive so Ill stick with what I have. :)
Click to expand...


Dude are you player Super on your M11x? I want to get this to play it on go. Seriously Madcatz TE stick and this laptop in a cramped airplane seat or something. FUCK YEAH lol.
 
dankir said:
Fuck yes, thank god I waited!




Dude are you player Super on your M11x? I want to get this to play it on go. Seriously Madcatz TE stick and this laptop on the go. FUCK YEAH lol.
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Seeing how Super isnt out on PCs.. no.
 
Argyle said:
I found benchmarks for the Core i5 variant that is coming, since the Asus UL30JT uses it.

PassMark Performance Test 7.0
CPU Mark:
UL30Jt
0.93GHz: 990 (T33 OFF, TB OFF)
1.24GHz: 1,253 (T33 ON, TB OFF)
1.86GHz: 1,657 (T33 OFF, TB ON)
2.48GHz: 2,208 (T33 ON, TB ON) ONE core only
U30Jc
2.26GHz: 2,387
UL30Vt
1.30GHz: 1,157
1.76GHz: 1,457


Source:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449562-asus-ul30jt-221.html#post6203009

For the record, the M11x seems to get about 1200-1300 @ 1.76Ghz...single threaded performance is nice but I wonder how applicable that is going to be for a modern game that will use multiple cores...
Click to expand...
Those were the benches I remember seeing. What will be interesting is the battery life with these new chips. Also.. Optimus enabled and such should make a big difference on off the juice longevity.
 
Argyle said:
I found benchmarks for the Core i5 variant that is coming, since the Asus UL30JT uses it.

PassMark Performance Test 7.0
CPU Mark:
UL30Jt
0.93GHz: 990 (T33 OFF, TB OFF)
1.24GHz: 1,253 (T33 ON, TB OFF)
1.86GHz: 1,657 (T33 OFF, TB ON)
2.48GHz: 2,208 (T33 ON, TB ON) ONE core only
U30Jc
2.26GHz: 2,387
UL30Vt
1.30GHz: 1,157
1.76GHz: 1,457


Source:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/449562-asus-ul30jt-221.html#post6203009

For the record, the M11x seems to get about 1200-1300 @ 1.76Ghz...single threaded performance is nice but I wonder how applicable that is going to be for a modern game that will use multiple cores...
Click to expand...
Might be applicable to Source engine and legacy games but nothing recent. Honestly, I think gamers might be better off getting the old M11x if there is a big price difference. Anyone worried about being CPU limited should look into a lightweight gaming notebook like the GE600.
 
Oh, I just saw that deal. And with Dell offering a 12 month no interest on Alienware that makes it even more enticing to me. But, I'm still not crazy about the Alienware exterior. And it does only come with the Intel Core 2 Duo, so I'd be more willing to wait for an i5 or i7 but that won't be cheap *sigh*
 
Core i3/i5/i7 refresh has been going live internationally, territory by territory. It's currently live on the Malaysian site, UK site, among many others. Follow this thread for details:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/489888-m11xr2-discussion-thread.html

Looks like Optimus is in for the i3 and i5 chips, but for whatever reason, it's not available for the i7 CPU. Or maybe it's optional for the i7? It's not really clear yet, nor is it clear what the USD price for these things will be.
 
K.Jack said:
I'd like to know how this turns out.

Expectations are that it will be unplayable.
Click to expand...

sorry for such a late reply.

I could play DoW 2 just fine on the default settings, even the latest chaos rising expansion works perfectly.

The only problem i had was at the later stages where you see a bazillion tyranids swarming you and with orbital bombardment tearing everything into pieces, frame rate will take a considerable drop.

otherwise i enjoyed the game and was actually surprised at how smooth it ran.
 
I am considering this now instead: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ace...nge-info-benchmarks-tweaks-mods-upgrades.html

System specs.
i5-420M to i7-620m processor*
13.3-inch display with a resolution of 1366×768 pixels,
Switchable ATi Radeon HD 5650 graphics
4GB of DDR3 RAM
640GB of hard drive
Atheros Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n (Can do 300mbit/s)
Bluetooth 2.1 or 3.0*
3 x USB 2.0 ports
100/100/1000 Lan
Multi card reader
6 or 9-cell battery*
8 to 12 hours of battery life.
Windows 7 Home Premium

*Various according to spec.



It gets around 7200-7400 points in 3dmark 06.

The amazing thing(if you read the thread) is how cool it says. The ATI 5650 seems to be a"icerock". Very low temperature:o

display, nothing special though. doesnt have optical drive either.


But a 13''... Now thats the sweet spot. It's got 5-ish hours of battery with the right settings, its 5650 edges out the 335, it has i5/i7, you can put up to 8 GB in there, its a good price, its 1.8 kilos..


Yeah, I think this sounds like the best truly portable gaming thing. It's simply not worth paying 3 times as much as this, for a Sony Vaio Z.
 
Well, my drunken brother just broke my laptop and said he would buy me a new one for $400... the current one is a Toshiba Satellite A215 I think... nothing too special 15.4 inch screen, 1.6 dual core, came with 1gb, but its at 4gb ram, small hardrive and crappy integrated card kind of good enough to play FFXI.

When I bought it a few years back it was altogether around $700, can I find something better than this for $400 now? I don't mind getting something refurbished either... just don't know where to look really. There are tooo many options.
 
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