13 Inch or Under, Gaming at Minimum settings

teeth_03

Distinguished
Jun 26, 2008
30
0
18,580
1_What is your budget?

$1000

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

13 inch or smaller

3_What screen resolution do you want?

any

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Portable

5_How much battery life do you need?

any

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

I would like something that will be able to play Modern Warefare 2 at Bare Minimum settings with decent FPS to play online

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing, surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.)

anything my current Netbook can already fo

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

any

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.

any,NewEgg,HP,Dell,etc etc

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?

~ 1 year

11_If you would like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop, post them.

I currently have a Dell Mini 9,and I want to upgrade to something just a lil bigger that can do better on the gaming. Graphics do not matter to me,as I already have a decent Desktop to Max out games on, I want something small and portable to just be able to play games on, so I am content with Bare Minimum settings

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

any brand,as long as they have good reputation (battery isnt gonna explode or GPU failure,etc etc)

13_What country do you live in?
US,Maryland




I have a couple ideas already,and I think most of them are around the same price-

1. HP DV2 w/ Radeon 3410- I really like this 12 inch Notebook,minus HP's finger print magnet finish. I would get the Dual Core version with the 3410 GPU if I got it, but I dont know if it would be capable of playing CoD:MW2 even at Bare min,even tho it can apparently play CoD4 and W@W tho. Of course,its hard to tell,seeing as the game isnt out yet.

2. HP DV3 w/ Geforce 105M- I saw this option on the HP site as well, im not too interested in this one,but its an option

3. Dell Vostro 1320 w/ Geforce 9300- Same as above,but im not sure with GPU gets better performance. I know these 2 are very close in price, tho I think you can get the Dell cheaper,especially if you opt to buy upgrades off NewEgg, where as HP tends to give those 50% off upgrades when you buy it...

4. If price wasnt a concern,I would probably opt for this beast- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220572 but I dont think I will have the funds for that
 

teeth_03

Distinguished
Jun 26, 2008
30
0
18,580
I already looked at it,and figured out that you get a lot more bang for your buck with the Asus one on NewEgg. I do believe that the ATI 4570 > Nvidia 9500M. Also,the Asus comes with a much faster processor (2.8 ghz) compared to the max upgrade on the Dell (2.53 ghz and half the cache,3 MB vs 6 MB). This is with the Dell costing more than the Asus,and without a bag.

So no,the Dell Studio XPS 13 isnt an option,the Asus is clearly a better buy.
 

teeth_03

Distinguished
Jun 26, 2008
30
0
18,580
well,looking at the HP DV3 a lil more, you can add the same processor at the stock XPS 13,the same 3 gigs of RAM,same 250 gig HDD,and the Geforce 105M (which should outperform the 9400M on the XPS,tho just slightly I think) and is $100 cheaper

im trying not to be a smart ass here since im asking for opinions,but even the stock XPS 13,while hitting the top of my budget, still isnt an option,you just dont get as much for your money with it. Oh,maybe just some leather accents :p

The Geforce 9300 in the Vostro should also only get slightly lesser performance than the Geforce 9400, or at least,the lil bit of money saved would be worth it. But now that I see the DV3 with the 105M,I think I would opt for the DV3 over those 2 Dells.
 

teeth_03

Distinguished
Jun 26, 2008
30
0
18,580
well,I cant really post the links to the customizations,but here are the comparisons

The DV3 starts at $649.99
The U500 starts at $668.00

The base configs come with all the same-

T4200 CPU
2 gigs of RAM
250 gig HDD
Intel 4500 IGP
Vista Home Premium 32 bit
6 cell battery
Same disc drive

so the 2 base models are basically identical with the slight price differential. Oh, I just saw that the U500 comes standard with Wireless N,backlit keyboard and a fingerprint reader,DV3 costs extra.

but here it gets more interesting

upgrading the DV3 to the 150M GPU costs $150 bringing the base model with just the GPU upgrade to $799.99

upgrading the U500 to the 4570 costs only $76 bringing the base model with just the GPU upgrade to $744.00

thats a $56 difference,and the 4570 is way superior to the 105m

Some other upgrade choices-

To get a P8700 CPU,which is available on both models at the max CPU upgrade,the DV3 costs $250 while the U500 only costs $184.

HP does have Toshiba with the memory and HDD upgrade costs tho,but thats about it. Customizing both laptops with the same parts,sans different GPU upgrades,the following prices gets you this-

P8700 2.53 ghz CPU
4 gigs of RAM
500 gig 5400 rpm HDD
GPU upgrade
Bluetooth (purchased upgrade on both)
Wireless N,Backlit keyboard,Fingerprint Reader (standard on U500,upgrades on DV3)
standard 6 cell battery
standard DVD drive

DV3 Cost- $1,249.99
U500 Cost- $1,084.00


 


Then go for the Toshiba model,very good specs and price ;)