ARGH!...freaking out, need help with custom or just any laptop

[doubleohpsycho]

Ok, I am getting a laptop for school. Well...gaming at school. I went to cyberpower and ordered an awesome gaming laptop for $1300 last night. I had checked reseller ratings, and they had about a 7-8.

Then I searched some more because something was nagging at the back of my head. And I went to the epinions site and read a lot of stories about shoddy construction, poor customer service, and the like. There are also two comments I found searching here about good experiences and one very, ominous horrible post.

So in an impulsive move I e-mailed them and asked them to cancel the order, because it hasn't even been billed yet. (Don't know if it will be canceled or not, but because I need one I'm looking at other options while waiting). Does anyone know what cyberpower is like and if I should have stuck it out? The thing that won me over with Cyberpower was by getting Vista (which wasn't that expensive from them) I got a new router and an external HD. I planned on wiping vista and downgrading to xp anyway.

I found RK Computers and it was only slightly more expensive for the laptop. And that is without the vista bonus hardware. And I also am looking at the Asus G2K-A1. I love all the options, the backpack, mouse and accidental damage stuff. But I hate that its not WUXGA.

And finally, is there a major performance difference between the ATI HD 2600 and the GeForce 8600MGT (The 256 with GDDR3)?

And I'm sorry for the long post, and I'm sorry for freaking out, but you guys have been helpful before and I'm pulling my hair out. (I hate spending large amounts of money on unknowns, and as much as I know about desktops, I know nothing about notebooks, and to be perfectly honest, notebooks really, really scare me.)

 

[lostandwandering]

I have no experience with Cyberpower so I'm no use to you there. Just know that you are more likely to find negative reviews than positive ones.

Where are you finding the G2 for $1300? Or did you expand your price point? Xoticpc.com allows you to customize the G2, but their price is around 1700 to start (not sure how much you are looking to spend).

As far as the 2600 vs. the 8600, it's hard to say since hardly anyone compares notebook graphics. Strange since the number of people who own laptops is rapidly increasing.

 

[doubleohpsycho]

No, the G2K is about 1599 and the G1S is 1499 at newegg right now.

I really don't want to spend more than 1500, but I want something I Can be happy with.

 

[theworminator]

Well, I'm not supporting Cyberpower (I'm a bit biased, I purchased from Killer Notebooks), but in general, people who are dissatisfied with their purchase will review more often than the ones who are satisfied. However, I have heard horror stories from Cyberpower, so...I'm not quite sure what to think of them. It depends if you want to risk it, you can always return the laptop and accessories if you're unhappy...

 

[doubleohpsycho]

Alright, well tell me what you think about this. It's a Toshiba Satellite P200. I plan on getting a stick of 2gb memory from newegg to get 3 gigs for the same price they'd give me for 2 gigs.

CPU: Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.2GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium 32-Bit
Office Software: Microsoft® Office 2007 Suite Ready
Memory: 1024MB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM (512MBx2)
LCD: 17.0" Diagonal Widescreen WSXGA+ TruBrite® display (1680x1050)
Graphics Controller: ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 2600 with 256MB GDDR2 discrete memory
+ up to 255MB allocated shared graphics memory using ATI HyperMemory™ technology
HDD: 160GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial-ATA)
Optical Media: DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive
Mini-PCI/WiFi: Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
Speaker: harman/kardon® stereo speakers
Battery: (6-Cell, 4000mAh) Lithium Ion battery

 

[thepinkpanther]

cost? i say go for dell i just bought my brother one 2 weeks ago. it was a inspiron 1520; 15.4 lcd, t7500, 2gb ram, 160 hdd, 8600gt, vista home premium...basically the same as that toshiba with a smaller screen and a nvidia graphics card instead of ati. The best thing about it was that the total was $1006 including tax and shipping...i found a coupon $500 off any inspiron above $1499...you can google for dell coupons or go to www.notebookreview.com for them. You might have to wait for the $500 off coupon as it no longer exists now its $300 off any inspiron over $1199. That toshiba is also good but if this is cheaper then get dell...i also like harmon/kardon speakers.