My daughter wants to buy a laptop that is suitable for gaming. Examples of
games she would play are:
Neverwinter Nights 2

Star Wars - The Best of PC

Grand Theft Auto - Vice City or San Andreas

All of the retail laptops I have seen come with video cards that typically
share the memory with the computer up to 128 Meg. If I go to Dell, I can add
a card with 256 or better ram. If I bought a laptop with a core 2 duo
processor and 1 gig of ram, would these retail store laptops be suitable for
playing the above games? Is it necessary to go up to the separate video
card?

Thanks for your experience and advice.

Toshiba make one you can get in your local CompUSA or BestBuy:
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/...349373&seg=HHO
--
Cari (MS-MVP)
Windows Technologies - Printing & Imaging
http://www.coribright.com/windows

"MrB" <brooksroREMOVEALLCAPS********.com> wrote in message
news:G9CdnZ1JBKy5mu_YnZ2dnUVZ_o-dnZ2d@adelphia.com...
> My daughter wants to buy a laptop that is suitable for gaming. Examples of
> games she would play are:
> Neverwinter Nights 2
>
> Star Wars - The Best of PC
>
> Grand Theft Auto - Vice City or San Andreas
>
> All of the retail laptops I have seen come with video cards that typically
> share the memory with the computer up to 128 Meg. If I go to Dell, I can
> add a card with 256 or better ram. If I bought a laptop with a core 2 duo
> processor and 1 gig of ram, would these retail store laptops be suitable
> for playing the above games? Is it necessary to go up to the separate
> video card?
>
> Thanks for your experience and advice.
>
>

If your daughter is a gamer, I would not go with any of the brick and mortar
store laptops or anything from Dell.
Several companies are dedicated to making customized gaming machines.
Alienware is probably the best known of these companies. You can customize a
gaming laptop starting at $849. They are probably overall more expensive
than other companies out there though. Their website is www.alienware.com.
I've also heard good things about ibuypower.com laptop PCs. These machines
you can get up to 2 GB RAM as well as a good video card and not pay all that
much more than you will with Dell.

I would start by going to Walmart or someplace like that and pick up some of
the computer gaming magazines and doing some research on the companies out
there advertising laptops and their capabilities.

If your daughter is a gamer, I'd say Dell XPS. I got a XPS with the old 3.2
processor for $800 on eBay. Pretty nice for my use. There are newer,
smaller but probably not faster on the processor. I wasn't going for a
$3000 plus notebook. Let your budget be your guide.

"CJ" <cjmartin04@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:Cwrch.254$ne3.50@trndny03...
> If your daughter is a gamer, I would not go with any of the brick and
> mortar store laptops or anything from Dell.
> Several companies are dedicated to making customized gaming machines.
> Alienware is probably the best known of these companies. You can customize
> a gaming laptop starting at $849. They are probably overall more expensive
> than other companies out there though. Their website is www.alienware.com.
> I've also heard good things about ibuypower.com laptop PCs. These machines
> you can get up to 2 GB RAM as well as a good video card and not pay all
> that much more than you will with Dell.
>
> I would start by going to Walmart or someplace like that and pick up some
> of the computer gaming magazines and doing some research on the companies
> out there advertising laptops and their capabilities.
>

The truth is that no laptop is truly suitable for gaming.

But the laptops that use Intel GMA video (GMA = Graphics Media
Accelerator) are truly unsuitable.

Even when you get a discreet NVidia or ATI option, there is no
comparison between a laptop and a good desktop. But if you are going to
play games with serious 3D graphics on a laptop, by all means get a good
video system and a Core 2 Duo CPU.


MrB wrote:
> My daughter wants to buy a laptop that is suitable for gaming. Examples of
> games she would play are:
> Neverwinter Nights 2
>
> Star Wars - The Best of PC
>
> Grand Theft Auto - Vice City or San Andreas
>
> All of the retail laptops I have seen come with video cards that typically
> share the memory with the computer up to 128 Meg. If I go to Dell, I can add
> a card with 256 or better ram. If I bought a laptop with a core 2 duo
> processor and 1 gig of ram, would these retail store laptops be suitable for
> playing the above games? Is it necessary to go up to the separate video
> card?
>
> Thanks for your experience and advice.
>
>

Re: "I would not go with any of the brick and mortar store laptops or
anything from Dell."

Dell has some configuration options on the E1505 that, for a laptop, are
pretty good ... some advanced mobile ATI chipsets, and the more powerful
mobile members of the Core 2 Duo series (the ones with 4MB of cache).

It's still weak compared to a desktop, but as laptops go it's getting
close to the limits of what you can reasonably do.


CJ wrote:
> If your daughter is a gamer, I would not go with any of the brick and mortar
> store laptops or anything from Dell.
> Several companies are dedicated to making customized gaming machines.
> Alienware is probably the best known of these companies. You can customize a
> gaming laptop starting at $849. They are probably overall more expensive
> than other companies out there though. Their website is www.alienware.com.
> I've also heard good things about ibuypower.com laptop PCs. These machines
> you can get up to 2 GB RAM as well as a good video card and not pay all that
> much more than you will with Dell.
>
> I would start by going to Walmart or someplace like that and pick up some of
> the computer gaming magazines and doing some research on the companies out
> there advertising laptops and their capabilities.
>
>

Thanks to all who replied. Your input will be useful in making a decision.

"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:45726abf$0$13721$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> The truth is that no laptop is truly suitable for gaming.
>
> But the laptops that use Intel GMA video (GMA = Graphics Media
> Accelerator) are truly unsuitable.
>
> Even when you get a discreet NVidia or ATI option, there is no comparison
> between a laptop and a good desktop. But if you are going to play games
> with serious 3D graphics on a laptop, by all means get a good video system
> and a Core 2 Duo CPU.
>
>
> MrB wrote:
>> My daughter wants to buy a laptop that is suitable for gaming. Examples
>> of games she would play are:
>> Neverwinter Nights 2
>>
>> Star Wars - The Best of PC
>>
>> Grand Theft Auto - Vice City or San Andreas
>>
>> All of the retail laptops I have seen come with video cards that
>> typically share the memory with the computer up to 128 Meg. If I go to
>> Dell, I can add a card with 256 or better ram. If I bought a laptop with
>> a core 2 duo processor and 1 gig of ram, would these retail store laptops
>> be suitable for playing the above games? Is it necessary to go up to the
>> separate video card?
>>
>> Thanks for your experience and advice.
>>

MrB wrote:
> My daughter wants to buy a laptop that is suitable for gaming. Examples of
> games she would play are:
> Neverwinter Nights 2
>
> Star Wars - The Best of PC
>
> Grand Theft Auto - Vice City or San Andreas
>
> All of the retail laptops I have seen come with video cards that typically
> share the memory with the computer up to 128 Meg. If I go to Dell, I can add
> a card with 256 or better ram. If I bought a laptop with a core 2 duo
> processor and 1 gig of ram, would these retail store laptops be suitable for
> playing the above games? Is it necessary to go up to the separate video
> card?
>
> Thanks for your experience and advice.
>
>

There is no future for a notebook for gaming. One cannot upgrade the
video card, no matter what card you purchase on a notebook. There is no
upgrade path. What you buy is what you have to live with for N years.
You are much better off buying a cheap desktop system with a good video
card that CAN be upgraded to what one needs two or three years down the
road.

Laptop gaming is not worth the cost. If you want gaming without a
desktop, purchase the console of your choice.

Q

*snipped*


"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:45726abf$0$13721$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> The truth is that no laptop is truly suitable for gaming.


Maybe im wrong but the 1710 was voted best laptop for playing games on, with
its 256meg Gforce 7900gs as standard, or
the red edition with the 512meg Gforce 7950 GTX, a pretty powerful beast.

If you're looking for a cheap laptop to play games on, The E1705 with the
Duo Core 2, Gforce 256meg 7900gs, with a gig of ram,
could be had for around $1200.

"Gaylord" <bigsexy@clearwire.net> wrote in message
news:4573ba68$0$374$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...
> *snipped*
>
>
> "Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:45726abf$0$13721$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>> The truth is that no laptop is truly suitable for gaming.
>
>
> Maybe im wrong but the 1710 was voted best laptop for playing games on,
> with its 256meg Gforce 7900gs as standard, or
> the red edition with the 512meg Gforce 7950 GTX, a pretty powerful beast.

Barry's point, I think, is that laptops, unlike desktops, cannot be
easily upgraded. With a laptop, you can't install a new video card and more
RAM every 2-3 years like is necessary to do in order to keep up with the
ever increasing specs to produce decent graphics and decent speed. A laptop
like the 1710 is a great gaming laptop *now* but in 2 years it's going to be
completely behind and not able to be upgraded like a desktop, so instead of
just buying a new video card and more RAM, with a laptop you're stuck buying
a completely new machine every couple years.

I'd go further and argue that while the 1710 may indeed be the "best
laptop for playing games on", the "best laptop" may still be not as good
as the 73rd best desktop. In other words, compared to other laptops, it
may be great, it may be the best. But compared to desktops, it may be
quite far down the list.


CJ wrote:
> "Gaylord" <bigsexy@clearwire.net> wrote in message
> news:4573ba68$0$374$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...
>> *snipped*
>>
>>
>> "Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
>> news:45726abf$0$13721$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>>> The truth is that no laptop is truly suitable for gaming.
>>
>> Maybe im wrong but the 1710 was voted best laptop for playing games on,
>> with its 256meg Gforce 7900gs as standard, or
>> the red edition with the 512meg Gforce 7950 GTX, a pretty powerful beast.
>
> Barry's point, I think, is that laptops, unlike desktops, cannot be
> easily upgraded. With a laptop, you can't install a new video card and more
> RAM every 2-3 years like is necessary to do in order to keep up with the
> ever increasing specs to produce decent graphics and decent speed. A laptop
> like the 1710 is a great gaming laptop *now* but in 2 years it's going to be
> completely behind and not able to be upgraded like a desktop, so instead of
> just buying a new video card and more RAM, with a laptop you're stuck buying
> a completely new machine every couple years.
>
>

"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:45726abf$0$13721$4c368faf@roadrunner.com
> The truth is that no laptop is truly suitable for gaming.
>
> But the laptops that use Intel GMA video (GMA = Graphics Media
> Accelerator) are truly unsuitable.
>
> Even when you get a discreet NVidia or ATI option, there is no
> comparison between a laptop and a good desktop. But if you are going
> to play games with serious 3D graphics on a laptop, by all means get
> a good video system and a Core 2 Duo CPU.

Weird! Check out a cheapy like this one:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...ku=G153-MX6124

Which says in part:

"... The Intel® Celeron® M Processor 370 is perfect for games... Intel
Graphics Media Accelerator 900 delivering a breathtaking and vivid
cinematic experience with the performance to tear through even the most
complex DirectX 9 games with ease..."

What do they mean by saying that this is a good game machine? Is this
just marketing hype?

--
Bill