Laptop buying thread #infinity

So I'm at the checkout line right now at Dell.com, my desktop is on its last legs and I need something decent to replace it. They're having a nice sale on Inspiron notebooks today, and I need a few informed opinions on potential performance. I'm not a super PC gamer, but I'd like to play WoW with some decent mid-high performance, and maybe the odd FPS like STALKER or what have you. Anyway, my configuration:

PROCESSOR: Intel® Core™ DUO T2350 (1.86GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)

OPERATING SYSTEM: FREE Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium with 1GB of memory

LCD PANEL: 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™

MEMORY: 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz edit

HARD DRIVE: 160GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive

OPTICAL DRIVE: 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability

VIDEO CARD: 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS

SOUND OPTIONS: Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™HD Software Edition edit

BATTERY OPTIONS: 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

WIRELESS CARDS: Dell Wireless 1390b/g (54Mbps)

BLUETOOTH OPTIONS: Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate

It comes to around $1500 shipped. I guess I need an opinion on the graphics card the most, since you couldn't replace it.

Build your own.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon

Build your own.

---

It's a laptop.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Razor Ramon

Build your own.

---

Laptop? I don't think so. I take it you are referring to desktop. If so, that is an option however with the drop in computer prices today, you can buy one for just as cheap if not cheaper[this is more likely the case now].

Build one if you are looking for really specific specs but it sounds like you aren't that heavy into PC gaming so I would opt for buying a pre-built one as you will save money. In the event you want a better sound card for example, just swap out your pre-built one with the custom one.

The best thing to do is figure out what you really want Trialsword and then do a side by side price comparison; custom built vs. pre-built. There should be plenty of tech savvy people here on TNL to lead you to where to go for prices and product and recommend what to get based on the performance you are looking for.

You can build your own Laptop. Your options just aren't as broad as when building a PC.

I stand corrected. I forgot about that. If replacing your current PC isn't critical, I recommend waiting to hear from these guys.

Have you ever really used a Dell laptop? I absolutely hate them. Their keyboards and trackpads are just so cheap and unresponsive. They offer no price advantage over other brands, I'd be much happier with a Thinkpad or (dare I say it) a Vaio. And if I absolutely had to have Windows I'd still probably just get a MacBook Pro and run Windows on it.

<3 my Thinkpad.

Building a laptop is a pain in the bhole.

I have Dell laptop that my friend gave me, and it's decent. The speed and such is fine, but the speakers are...well, crap. You cannot hear a thing. Headphones are 100&#37; necessary.

That said, there's better brands for a bit more money.

Yeah, I'd go for a desktop, for another brand even, but I'm going on a substantial employee discount, and they're on Dell laptops only. The build I listed above is about 2000 bucks otherwise. To tell you the truth I'm fairly satisfied with most specs for this thing considering the price, but I know nothing about the performance of the listed graphics card. The one I use now is a 128mb Radeon 9800, and I wouldn't know the first thing about comparing the two.