I've always been 'desktopTilDeath', however I'm thinking of turning to the dark-side and purchasing a laptop. I'm off to Plymouth in September as some of you will know, where I'll be starting a Digital Art & Technology course. I'm presently working for my Dad's company doing some graphic design/coding/marketing based work and the programs I need to do that are all on my PC. So, everyday I relentlessly pack up my tower, throw it in the car and go to work =.= It's becoming a real chore, and has opened my eyes with respect to how mobile I'm going to need to be especially doing such a course at uni.

So, I'm here to pick your technical minds, and brilliant minds they are. I don't pretend to know a lot about computer components especially those of a mobile variety, and so I'm going to give you what appears to me to be a lot of numbers and a lot of letters. My Dad bought a top of the range Alienware notebook last year and for years now I've been fixated with alienware both as a brand and for the products they sell (in terms of mobile technologies, desktop processors in laptops and what-not) and seeing as I'm working at the moment and my 21st birthday is coming up, I have quite a budget to work with (for once). Here is my proposed purchase:



All this for a cool 2,675 british pounds. Pricey, yes, worth it? I think so, but what do YOU think?

Thanks guys!

Well.. never seen such a thing.. packing a desktop every day... geeeezzzzz but you have seen the light!!!!

Yes, laptops can go everywhere, I would be dead without one and have them for about 15years...

To the machine, yes, its pricey, is a portable gaming rig, do ou really need it? If you feel like and have the ££ for it, go ahead, and yes it pricey (again)

I own vaios, the sr and z series, small and compact, only 1.7Kg, as for me weight is a crucial matter, even more than performance, as my work does not envolve more than... text, ssh consoles and alike.

Being pricey, yes it is, it does not include a blueray drive, the 250gb SSD is great, however keep in mind that the are ALOT faster, can sustain bumps and shocks with no damage, the will over time loose space, depends really on how hardcore you are with your work... for me and my maths on it, a 1gig per year on deadblocks would be lost.

Take a look at Sony Vaio

3azz66qh

And you really need something big, 3azz66qh

I have a 3year old vaio, excelent but now looking at this one 3azz66qh

BTW, you are not turning to the darkside, you have seen the LIGHT!!!!!!

Have been looking for a gaming laptop for the wife.

We looked at Alienware but the prices seem crazy to me - and then you have to pay extra for all the nice features such as blu-ray, etc.

I'd also be wary about spending too much on any hardware atm (just my personal opinion) as I think there are some advances around the corner such as touchscreen, new generation batteries, new generation of screen technology, etc.

We are looking at this laptop as a possibility at the moment...

www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Fujitsu_Siemens_...06/version.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's never going to look as nice as the Alienware (or perform as well), but for the price it seems a good laptop with a fairly decent graphics card, which should be able to play most games easily, has blu-ray, nice screen, etc.

Thanks for the info/opinions guys, I have to say DS the hardware in that machine does like rather impressive, especially the larger than 17" screen... insanity on a laptop, but I do approve! I'm not too fussed about a blue-ray drive, the main thing I want is a tv tuner card (which the m17 comes with).

I was originally just going to upgrade my desktop, but after thinking about it (from a mobility point of view, and also having such a large budget for the first time) I decided that it might be best to just switch completely to a notebook. I'll be using their carry-case (orion backpack) and I'm not travelling too far, plus I'll be driving, so weight isn't a massive factor, anything is easier to move than a desktop tower. I'll be working with/designing a lot of hi-resolution images, I'm talking 300dpi on a scale of 2 metres by 1 metre, so I need hardware that can cope with that sort of stuff easily. I'm also really fickle when it comes to speed, I can't handle most laptops because their processors just don't perfom as well as my desktop, having a quadcore desktop processor would surely eleviate that issue. BUT, I'm sure there must be cheaper solutions out there as you say.

On the other hand, I could go half and half, spend £1500 on a mid-range laptop, and £1500 on a new desktop. I just don't know! Future-proofing is always an issue too, obviously incredibly difficult but not impossible. Argggh!

Tunes, I chose the solid state drive because as I said above, I'm a demon for speed. I don't have many files at all, my folders are always neat and tidy and I never keep unnecessary data, so the speed is far more important than the size factor. Plus if need be I can just buy an external HDD.

Thanks techies!

Sorry for the double post, had a chance to look at the vaios Tunes, www.sonystyle.co.uk/SonyStyle/catalog/updateItems/(z_cua_add=&citemarea=48BC58BDFD1001D7E10080002BC29B86&layout=15_116_61_55_117_121&next=seeItem&carea=48BC58BDFD1001D7E10080002BC29B86&order=null&citem=48BC58BDFD1001D7E10080002BC29B8648FC77D761810062E10080022BC29B73&z_cua_sel_acc=&z_cua_accArea=z_cua_specs&uiarea=2&ctype=areaDetails&isHideActive=)/.do#bottomTabs:25bs6vag compares to the alienware set-up I'm looking at, however it's only dual-core, smaller (flash) disk capacity, gfx aren't as good, yet it has blu-ray and an 18.4" screen AND it's only 4KG!

Yeah,

I think its all about what you want to do, M17 is pricey, and most of the price imho is bling bling associated.

Technology is evolving faster than never and its only a matter of thinking what you need.

If you are looking at a laptop that handles image and graphics for design, maybe think of mac? they are (as they say and not by my personal experience) very good for it.

Then if you want to ditch the tower and go full gaming on the laptop then maybe the m17 is a good bet, but I think you can find something with the same specs for less...

I have an HP that costed the ridiculous amount of 400 euro... Has dedicated nvidia 8400 card, 3 gigs of mem and an AMD turion dual core processor, I'm quite happy with it, but gaming on it is a pain... 50 fps tops on css at 800x600... for day to day use its perfect, but not for gaming... (I can actually map on it which is very cool).

Just wanted to post something, but after all this rambling is clear that I didn't help... LOL

I've been on the dark side in about 2 years now, it's quite nice here.

whats wrong with 50 fps : / you don't need to much more than that, the average fps the eye can see is past 30 FPS to 60 FPS, ( i done my research ) plus the only game he really plays is css ? so he does need the best gaming laptop ? maybe get one that can cope with your graphics, work etc and keep the desktop at home for gaming ?

eskimo wrote:


Again, this is a myth.

Its not visual fps, its computer fps, and those are different, I'll try to explain it.

If you are running at 50 frames per second, your computer will calculate only 50 frames per second, so the position of players, if you hit them etc is calculated only 50 times per second.

Against a machine that does 200 fps, that will calculate 200 times per second, you will have a disadvantage as that machine will "tell" the server where you are playing that it hit you before yours "says" the same.

As for the eye sensitivity its true that you don't see more than 60, but in game you can "feel" its much more smoother.

niLdesperandum wrote:


Well, SSD is true.. thats why I have one on my 3 year old vaio , then again, what really matters on handling big resolution images, and believe me, in 1996 till 98 I worked with a designer, and already by that time I had to handle 30gigs tiffs, but if that is the only thing you are going to do.. say no more, buy a mac and not a gaming rig, you will be HEAVILY dissapointed for spending such a sum on a bling bling Dell, but using the ammount on a MAC... its money well spent.

You won't regret this 19ulr7pm and believe me, for image procesing, THIS is the state of the art machine, an alienware.. duh.. too much £££ for a dell on a funny case.