Lookin for advice on a new laptop

Darcwolf777

Baseband Member
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Hello Everyone!
Im graduating highschool this year which means im off to college! Well my parents are getting me a new computer for my graduation present and I was wondering if anyone could help me out. Ive been looking into the main stream brands (Dell, Gateway etc.) and im just not satisfied, I feel like theyre ripping me off. So I was wondering if you guys know of any where I can get a decent customized laptop for a fair price. My price rang is between 1,000 and 1,500 and im looking for something that i can get my school work done on but im a big gamer also. Id really like 2Ghz processor, at least 80Gb hard drive and 1Gb memory. I was also wondering if laptops have pci slots for video cards because i have a decent video card that id like to put in there my self if possible. Let me know what you all think!
Thanks!
 
Laptops dont have PCI slots that I know of, but I think it is possible to replace/upgrade a laptop video card yourself (google it), although it may void your warranty. You should look through Dell's laptops again; you could definately get a good gaming laptop for 1000-1500 dollars.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=E1705S3&s=dhs

That's at the top of your price range, but it comes with a free 1 GB dual channel RAM upgrade; it has a dual core processor, and if you upgrade to a 256 MB video card, it brings it to about $1500. I've got a Dell laptop; I've had it for about 3 months and everything is great so far. It also runs Halo really well, but I don't know how well other games work on it.
 
and why? Is it cuz Dell makes crappy computers? IMO Dell makes fantastic laptops. you can get them for very very cheap with the right connections and deals. Go with the dell and search for coupon codes on the web.
 
if you have a costco membership, you can customize a HP through them, or buy a premade dell or toshiba. The custom HP's are cheeper through costco that through HP directly, fairly reasonable prices.

http://www.costco.com/CTO/HPLanding.aspx?Prodid=10029570&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=

On another note, I am(was) in your same situation. Im about to graduate and was looking for a computer for college. First I was looking into notebooks, but for the price/perfomance tradeoff, I decided to go with a desktop. The main reason I wanted a notebook was for portablilty reasons, but face it, HOW often are you going to be moving your computer?? Probably not that much realistically. For someone thats into games such as yourself, and probably spend quite a bit of time on a computer, make sure its one that you're gonna get the most out of. Im not trying to talk you out of it or anything, but take into consideration what you're gonna get for your money.

Cons: Smaller screen, weak sound support (not that important though), limited upgradablity, weak graphics cards, weaker processors, expensive repairs, and the higher possibility of theft (especially at college)

Pros: Light, small, compact, easy to take to library or class, move from one place to another, less space

I guess it really depends on what you'll be doing with it. If its just typing, web browsing, listening to music, movies (to an extent), you'll be fine with a notebook.

Here's what I got (build myself) for $1250
Athlon X2 3800+
nVidia 7600GT
1gb Ram
DVD burner
DVD rom
120gb 7200rpm
20.1inch spectre widescreen
wireless keyboard and mouse
(soon to get logitech z5500's)
 
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