Gaming Dell or HP?

[Harsky]

Figure I should bump this instead of making another one. Now I want to get a new laptop for myself. At the moment, I'm using a TX1000 that I bought abroad about 2 years ago. It hasn't really given me much problems ever since I just formatted it and installed a pirated Vista but I need a new one with a bigger screen and bigger hard drive. The advice here is "avoid HP" which I figured would be decent to follow but now I'm conflicted between buying a Dell with bigger screen and bigger HDD but without the portability or get an Advent 4211 (MSI Wind) with less HDD space but the ability to put it in my bag without having to get a separate laptop bag.

Argh the decisions is harder when making it for yourself.

 

[Salamantis]

For school I'd either go with an Asus eeePC 1000H or variant, maybe a MSI Wind. If you're sure you need something a little better, go Dell/Toshiba. Do not buy a HP. They suck.
If you really want good stuff then go with Apple

 

[UltraMagnus]

go dell.

my vostro's hard drive went in the 11th month of its warranty (not surprising really the way i treat it!), they sent an engineer to fix it within 2 days. and I ended up with a larger hard drive.

 

[epicelite]

Lenovo.

 

[DrKupo]

Apple.

 

[Harsky]

At the moment, the one that's kinda winning me a little in both price and what I wanted is a Dell 1525. Anyone have any experience with them? Oh and never mind about the MSI Wind suggestions. It's something I plan on getting soon but now I just want a decent laptop.

 

[UltraMagnus]

At the moment, the one that's kinda winning me a little in both price and what I wanted is a Dell 1525. Anyone have any experience with them? Oh and never mind about the MSI Wind suggestions. It's something I plan on getting soon but now I just want a decent laptop.

I have what is effectively the predecessor to that laptop, (the high end vostro 1500) it is great IMO. good balance between gaming performance and battery life, pretty good graphics and the chassis is quite sturdy. my only complaint is that it is a little heavy... although that is reassuring in a way.... and really, I'm no girly man, so it doesn't bother me

 

[cosmo2389]

Personally I like HP... I have had problems with a Dell computer before, and I am continuing to see my friends' Dells gradually break down like screens gradually becoming not functional and batteries going out for no reason (and they are just over a year old)...

But that's my opinion... Hope it helped...

 

[B-Blue]

Toshiba

 

[Harsky]

Now I saw a cheap Toshiba laptop at my local store. What's the general opinion of Toshiba laptops? It's a Satellite L300.

 

[amptor]

Dell is great. It's easy to find every driver you need for them on their web page. I got a Dell and it works fine and it is fast. I beat crysis on it.

 

[Harsky]

Dell is great. It's easy to find every driver you need for them on their web page. I got a Dell and it works fine and it is fast. I beat crysis on it.

What games can a Intel X3100 Integrated Graphics card run?

 

[DeMoN]

Dell is great. It's easy to find every driver you need for them on their web page. I got a Dell and it works fine and it is fast. I beat crysis on it.

What games can a Intel X3100 Integrated Graphics card run?

Nothing.

 

[fischju]

Gaming Performance

The following benchmark values are average Frame rates that were achieved with strong CPUs and enough main memory. Some games may not be playable with low end specifications and a X3100 graphics card (like only 512 MB RAM or a slow Celeron M CPU).

F.E.A.R.: 640x480, min/min: 40 fps -> fully playable
Doom 3: 640x480, min: 8 fps -> not playable
Unreal Tournament 2003: 1024x768, high: 40 fps -> playable
Quake 3 Arena: 1024 x 768, high: 80 fps -> fully playable
Battlefield 2: 800x600, Low Quality: 28 fps -> playable
Company of Heroes: 800x600, Low Quality: 35 fps -> playable
Far Cry: 800x600, Low Quality; 30 fps -> playable
Half Life 2, Episode 1: 800x600, Low Quality: 35 fps -> playable
Half Life 2, Lost Coast: 800x600, Low Quality: 18 fps -> not playable
Supreme Commander: 1024x768: 10 fps -> not playable
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: 800x600: 30 fps -> playable

 

[Harsky]

Gaming Performance

The following benchmark values are average Frame rates that were achieved with strong CPUs and enough main memory. Some games may not be playable with low end specifications and a X3100 graphics card (like only 512 MB RAM or a slow Celeron M CPU).

F.E.A.R.: 640x480, min/min: 40 fps -> fully playable
Doom 3: 640x480, min: 8 fps -> not playable
Unreal Tournament 2003: 1024x768, high: 40 fps -> playable
Quake 3 Arena: 1024 x 768, high: 80 fps -> fully playable
Battlefield 2: 800x600, Low Quality: 28 fps -> playable
Company of Heroes: 800x600, Low Quality: 35 fps -> playable
Far Cry: 800x600, Low Quality; 30 fps -> playable
Half Life 2, Episode 1: 800x600, Low Quality: 35 fps -> playable
Half Life 2, Lost Coast: 800x600, Low Quality: 18 fps -> not playable
Supreme Commander: 1024x768: 10 fps -> not playable
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion: 800x600: 30 fps -> playable

Kinda had a feeling that the laptop wouldn't be a gaming rig. Not that I wanted it to run games but it would've been a nice bonus. So yeah, now I decided that a Dell 1525 would be what I need as an upgrade. Any experience from ordering from dell themselves?

 

[UltraMagnus]

just make sure you order over the phone, you can haggle with the salesman, especially in the current climate. apparently dell staff get a bonus if they meet their quarterly quota.

 

[BORTZ]

Haha my friends hp lappy came with a ctrl/alt/del button. what does that tell you?

 

[Foxle]

I've had both Dells and HPs before, and well, what can I say, they're both simple commodity Windows machines.

However, since you stated that you don't need much processing power on your computer, I would aim for something small and light.

SMALL AND LIGHT.

I don't know how many times I've seen people lug a 15 inch, 2 inch thick laptop to class only to never do it again due to it's size. You may even want to look into getting a Netbook.

 

[IceRentoraa29]

Lenovo.

Listen to this guy.