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[soldat7]

I've come down to two choices (unless someone has another suggestion.) My budget is around $500, and I want a competent laptop that will run a wide-range of games. I'm not looking to run Crysis or Assassin's Creed II here, I just want something that's decent. Here are my two choices:

Dell Inspiron 15 - $499

Basic Setup:

Intel® Pentium® Dual Core™ T4400 (2.2GHz/800MHz FSB/1MB cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
6-cell battery
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD
Bright, glossy widescreen 15.6 WLED display (1366x768)
8X CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz

VS.

Gateway NV5378u - $529

Basic Setup:

AMD Athlon™ II X2 Dual-Core Processor M300 (2.0GHz, 667MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
4096MB Dual-Channel DDR2 667MHz sDRAM Support
500GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive4
6-cell battery
15.6" HD Widescreen Ultrabright™ LED-backlit Display (1366 x 768 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio)8
8x DVD-Super Multi Double-Layer Drive

My gut is telling me to go with the Dell. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[nubbe]

Those are great if you like Spider and Minesweeper

 

[Lagspike_exe]

The Intel in the first configuration will run a wide range of games, but at 640x480, 15 FPS or something ridiculous like that. You won't be able to play games released in the last 4-5 years ANYWHERE CLOSE to decent quality.

 

[MattyGrovesOrMe]

What types of games ARE you planning on playing, because both systems are pretty limited.

Are you set on a laptop? Because for $500-600 you can configure a low end (but much more workable) gaming desktop.

 

[erpg]

The Gateway will probably be able to play older games with low-medium quality (Source games, TF2). http://computermonger.com/ati-mobility-radeon-hd-4200-review-benchmark.html

 

[soldat7]

The Intel in the first configuration will run a wide range of games, but at 640x480, 15 FPS or something ridiculous like that. You won't be able to play games released in the last 4-5 years ANYWHERE CLOSE to decent quality.

My wife's Acer with very similar specs to the Dell runs stuff like Trine (tuned down a bit) and Torchlight maxed out. It couldn't run The Witcher very well, but that's about all I have to test with.

 

[Shambles]

If you're looking to do any sort of gaming whatsoever the gateway is the only real choice. You'll still be quite crippled but it at least gives you a chance of playing something with AMDs integrated graphics. That intel is going to run jack shit. Shame though about intels chipsets as their mobile CPUs are superior.

Get the Inspiron 15 that has at least a Core i3 and Radeon 4330 graphics.

You should read the OP again

 

[poppabk]

I would keep an eye out on dealsea for a reasonable deal. You should easily be able to get a laptop that will play games like Half Life 2 in your price range. My laptop GT130M, 2.13 GHz Core2Duo, 1080p 16" screen is mainly for office type desktop replacement use, but it runs most games pretty decently at 720p/med settings and cost $800 almost a year ago. a halfway decent laptop graphics card should only add $50-$100 to the price at most, and with the increased use of the GPU outside of games, it will help you be more future proof.

 

[DonMigs85]

Get the Inspiron 15 that has at least a Core i3 and Radeon 4330 graphics.

 

[poppabk]

oh and checkout:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

 

[Stumpokapow]

Why not save up an extra few months and get a laptop that can actually run games? If you can't save $50 a paycheque for three months, you probably aren't in a financial position to buy a laptop for games at all and if you can you'll do VASTLY better at $899-999 than you will at $499-599.

 

[poppabk]

Why not save up an extra few months and get a laptop that can actually run games? If you can't save $50 a paycheque for three months, you probably aren't in a financial position to buy a laptop for games at all and if you can you'll do VASTLY better at $899-999 than you will at $499-599.

With steam and other sales, $50 could conceivably buy someone almost an entire years worth of games.

 

[jkanownik]

If your budget is firm you can stretch your dollars a little further by watching systems on Dell Outlet. You still won't get a great performance, but it is definitely an improvement over integrated graphics.

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...emId=Z2THRGJ4&~lt=popup&c=us&l=en&s=dfh&cs=22

$529
Inspiron 15 (1545) Laptop: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
3 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330
15.6 WXGA Laptop Screen Display with TrueLife
9 Cell Primary Battery

 

[soldat7]

Thanks a ton. Your advice has been very helpful!

 

[To Far Away Times]

I would do my best to avoid gateway computers. They have very poor build quality in my opinion.

 

[brain_stew]

If your budget is firm you can stretch your dollars a little further by watching systems on Dell Outlet. You still won't get a great performance, but it is definitely an improvement over integrated graphics.

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...emId=Z2THRGJ4&~lt=popup&c=us&l=en&s=dfh&cs=22

$529
Inspiron 15 (1545) Laptop: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
3 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)
256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330
15.6 WXGA Laptop Screen Display with TrueLife
9 Cell Primary Battery

Still terrible for games. You really should be aiming for a 4650 or GT 230M at the very least if you want to ebe doing more than the most casual gaming.

 

[Of All Trades]

With steam and other sales, $50 could conceivably buy someone almost an entire years worth of games.

Well, going by your thread he'll have about 9 months to save money because the only way he could get $50 of good games that could last a year without being a slave to multiplayer is by waiting until Steam's 2010 xmas sale.

 

[poppabk]

Well, going by your thread he'll have about 9 months to save money because the only way he could get $50 of good games that could last a year without being a slave to multiplayer is by waiting until Steam's 2010 xmas sale.

Well he could start with toki tori this weekend, and could have got Arkham Asylum for 12.50 last week from GFWL and Red Faction:Guerilla for $5 a couple of weeks before from D2D. If it takes a month to find the right laptop, he could have a decent backlog brewing .

 

[Haint]

Not sure if you're Canadian or something, but those are horrible US $ prices you've listed for those configs OP. Those are $299-$399 packages at best. I would advise trolling slickdeals or something for a few weeks--or even the Sunday circulars.