Gaming Buy a New Laptop???

[mad567]

Hello guy I was just wondering if this laptop is good??
I own
HP PAVILION dv6551ea
THAT has:
Microprocessor 2 GHz Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T7300 featuring Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology
Microprocessor Cache Level 2 cache 4 MB
Memory 2048 MB (2 x 1024 MB)
Memory Max Up to 4 GB (Up to 1 GB may not be available due to 32-bit operating system resource requirements)
Video Graphics Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
Video Memory Up to 256 MB (shared)
Hard Drive 160 GB (5400 rpm)
Multimedia Drive Lightscribe Super Multi DVD Writer (+/-R +/-RW) with Double Layer support
Display 15.4” WXGA High Definition Bright
View Widescreen (1280 x 800)
Fax/Modem High speed 56K modem
Network Card Ethernet 10/100BT integrated network interface
Wireless Connectivity Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Integrated Wireless LAN
Bluetooth® wireless networking

and i saw this one
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/series/c.../computer_store

The thing is that i want a laptop for some games like Prototype or PES 2011
also my laptop has a broken dvd drive
and low battery life because i own it about 5 years
also can i change the grafic card on my laptop

What do you think should i buy a new one or fix this one??
and how much i would cost???

 

[Matthew]

DELETED, misread post

 

[mad567]

Well the fact is I don't have that much money right now.....
Meanwhile I think i have enought money to fix that laptop...
But i thought again, I have this laptop many years it might cause other problems too...
That's why I thought of buying a new one........
Not necesserly the envy but a laptop that can handle some games....
Do you tempers have any suggetions??

 

[murkurie]

Intel gfx chips generally can't play anything but really old games, and you can't upgrade graphic card in a laptop.

And Envy, I have it, it's amazing, for me it was worth the cost, bought my from newegg since it's a better deal then buying direct from HP

 

[Arnold Schwarzen]

ASUS are pretty good and reliable, some can be had for less than a thousand. Some of the cheaper ones I'd recommend are the G51,G60,G71,G72 series. I'm sure these can be gotten for less than that and even moreso if you find a used or refurb model. They come with a GTX 260M which will handle the latest games though it's become a little dated now. Some might come with a dual or quad core processor. The G73 is a beast with its ATI 5870 and quad core. Also sports an Price range might be around that same laptop, maybe less. The Best Buy model most certainly may be.

Speaking of the laptop you posted, spec-wise it's pretty solid including the video card and will handle those games very well. I don't know how reliable HP are these days, I haven't much experience with them. Prices seem to be different depending on where you look and what deals you come across but if you can't find any other good laptops near or below that price range and trust HP I think that's a good choice. But if you don't mind refurbished models can be had for almost half the price of new ones depending on the model so keep that in mind.

 

[Scorpei]

As many topics before you, replacing the vid card is not really an option (unless you have an mxm slot which is also touch and go). What you can do however is use an external video card in there:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-sof...diy-vidock.html
Assuming the machine is static anyway, it could be a good idea. Naturally performance suffers over just one pci-e line. You could go for a 2 line solution which would be a lot better. Anyway I don't really see you going for this so yea you're off to hardware heaven. Sad though as the specs of your laptop aren't that bad (/I have an asus with a t5750, geforce 9300m g).

But maybe you would be a better off with a desktop? You can get a similar monitor for nearly nothing, use the HD from the laptop if you really want to cut costs and a general machine will set you back roughly 200-250-300 dollars (thats an okay upgrade set from what you have, though cpu wise roughly on par probably and somewhere in the order of an 8 series geforce I guess)?

 

[mad567]

Well you see i Don't wanna go with a desktop.....
Cause In less than a year I'm gonna study at the univercity...that means I 'll be moving very often...
That's why i wanna stick with a laptop...

 

[Scorpei]

At which point you'll be near the uni most of the time and home during the weekends? I'd still go with a desktop and use the laptop when moving to do schoolwork at home. Then again I can say this as I have hardware everywhere

.

 

[mad567]

Most of the time at univercity......

.......
At home perhaps 2 or 3 times per month

 

[FireGrey]

A simple 2GB RAM laptop is good.
Unless you're a person that plays extremely powerful games and does heaps of things at the same time.

 

[Scorpei]

A simple 2GB RAM laptop is good.
Unless you're a person that plays extremely powerful games and does heaps of things at the same time.

quoted for fail. Memory has relativly NOTHING to do with grafics power. Memory on a grafics card does have a bit to do with it, mostly speed bandwith and such more then absolute size but new games do tend to like that too. In your case what should be added is 0-Buying a grafics card / laptop based on the amount of memory the computer has ^^.
http://www.hardware-revolution.com/mistake...ing-video-card/
Don't completely agree with the link but mostly good points are made

.

@Mad, then again, buy a desktop

. Those 2-3 times you can live without gaming right

?

 

[Arnold Schwarzen]

Well I have a gaming laptop and love it. I don't care that the laptops might be light years behind compared to the desktops you can build for the same price. So if you really want a laptop for portability and to game on I say go for it. I don't ever upgrade either so I'm fine staying on the same machine for 3-5 years, desktop or laptop and just getting a new one altogether by then instead of upgrading.

 

[Originality]

I agree. You don't get a gaming laptop to play Crysis on max settings, you get it to play the games you want on the size of your screen (usually 15" or 17") at a decent speed. To achieve that, you don't need a powerful GPU, just a decent one (like the HD 5650 Mobility). The bonus you get in having a laptop also means that it has some battery life (probably an hour or 2 at the best) and complete mobility (you can use it on a desk connected to another monitor, or relaxed on a sofa in front of a TV, or curled up in bed, or even on a train home).

For that reason, most of my laptops tend to cost £700 before discounts - the perfect balance between price and performance.

 

[falcon64z8]

If you can go for the envy 17 because that ati 5850 will benefit you in the long run for gaming and other 3D applications. I know you said you don't have enough money now, but if you get something cheap and just runs games ok, it is going to hurt you down the road.

Also, I suggest you check out this forum here:
http://www.notebookreview.com/

They have plenty of people there to help you find the right laptop for you are the right price. I'm always on there, but mainly in the gaming section

.

 

[mad567]

Thanks you all you guys for answering.....

In the end I decided to fix this laptops drive and buy a new battery...

For gaming now I'll stick with the old games that my laptop can play and with my psp for the time being