best laptop for $2000

[darkpotatochip]

Hi I have been looking for a laptop for college and i cant seem to make up my mind. Theres so much out there it can be overwhelming. My budget is $2000, id like to get the best laptop for the money. I'm mostly interested in the asus g series and m series, but im really open for anything. What im lookin for is a mid-sized laptop, no more than like 7 or 8 lbs, with a fairly fast processor, 2.3-2.5ghz range, preferably 4 gb of ram but i could settle for 3, a good graphics card, 512mb video memory or more. Im mostly gonna be using it for gaming, music, research, homework, the usual. thank you in advance for any suggestions. by the way here are 2 models i have been looking into:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220256
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220306

 

[boonality]

Personally I really like my $1200 Dell 1505. It has bad ass battery life, to the tune of between 4 and 5 hours. it has a crystal clear 1680x1050 res on a 15.4" widescreen display, a 2.0GHz proc (T7200). Only 2GB of memory but you can get at least 3 if not for installed in it. I'd say that you will really pay for anything above an 8600m though, you'll find the gaming performance way better going above the 8600m too though. For me battery life is important so I opted for a more mobile platform. really the only things I play on it are Flight Sim 2004 and Half Life 2, both play fine at medium settings.

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums mate
take a look @ SAGER NP5793
http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5792-np5793-custom-laptop-built-clevo-m570ru-p-2276.html?wconfigure=yes

 

[Enginerd]

Gateway® P-172X FX Edition
http/www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668034.php
Great Specs at a good price.
2.4Ghz Proc. T8300
4 Gigs of RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
A little bit heavier than what you are lookin for (9.2 lbs),
but it has nice big 17'' screen with 1920x1200 max res.
(Also has two 160 GB 7200rpm hard drives in Raid 0)

And last but not least, welcome to the forum.

 

[Maziar]

Yep thats a very good laptop but NP5793 has better VGA (8800MGTX)

 

[Enginerd]

Yes I agree that the 8800M GTX is a better card.
However, if you configure the NP5793 to comparable specifications of the P-172X FX it costs anywhere between $400 to $500 more than the P-172X FX.
I guess you have to decide whether the 8800m GTX is worth that over the 8800m GTS.
Also the NP5793 does not come with drives in Raid 0.

 

[babybudha]

Get the entry level MacBook Pro. With the student discount it's $1799.99. It comes with a decent 8600M GT, which i know is not the greatest for gaming, but isn't bad for a lappy. For gaming you can just boot windows, and for everything else use OS X. It weighs about 3-4pounds less then the competition, meaning you can actually carry it around and to class.

Plus it has the sexyness factor. Do you know how many times I've gotten laid because of my laptop!? Well none, but you never know, that could always change.

PS. If you want to sell it later, it will retain a much higher value then other notebooks.

 

[gigman]

ummmm... no. just no.

 

[babybudha]

ummmm... no. just no.

Nice argument. I love your reasoning. Oh wait, ignorance thrives on the lack of it.

 

[Avenger_K]

ummmm... no. just no.

Just no? How about at least a maybe, since he can dual-boot Windows if he wants it for gaming......

Nice argument. I love your reasoning. Oh wait, ignorance thrives on the lack of it.

Haha. Good one. 😉

 

[Enginerd]

The MacBook Pro in my experience is overpriced for its components. As you said the 8600m GT is not the best for gaming. The list usually goes 8800mGTX>8800mGTS>7950GTX>2x 8700mGT SLI>2x 8600mGT SLI>8700mGT>8600mGT with a few Geforce 7 series thrown in the mix before the 8600mGT. Its really not made to handle the pressure of today's games. You can see the complete list here.
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

As for dual booting, you can dual boot or even triple boot on a PC.(Vista/XP, OS X, and Linux) Just google it.

In terms of lighter, I would have to agree. Although this may be attributed to the lack of higher performance parts found in a similarly priced PC. No offense. (I know sometimes people get a little heated over the PC/Mac debate.)

Although in the end it is personal choice whether to go Mac or PC.

 

[babybudha]

Although this may be attributed to the lack of higher performance parts found in a similarly priced PC. No offense.

Although in the end it is personal choice whether to go Mac or PC.

I'm not taking offense. I don't mind rebuttals when they at least explain their reasoning. I know Macs tend to be a little more expensive, but honestly, I think the entry Macbook Pro at $1799.99 (Atleast when on student discount) is pretty reasonably priced. It's built pretty well compared to many other notebooks I've played with. I sold notebooks at best buy for three years (PS. I hate Best Buy) and even though some have decent parts, they generally aren't very well built to last (especially Sonys). Plus OS X is sweet (except for gaming).

I wouldn't buy a regular Macbook myself, but the Macbook "Pros" are pretty sweet.

I also don't own a Mac. I have a decent desktop for gaming, and a weak, but super light Dell X1 notebook (2.5lbs) for mobile use.

 

[Maziar]

The MacBook Pro in my experience is overpriced for its components. As you said the 8600m GT is not the best for gaming. The list usually goes 8800mGTX>8800mGTS>7950GTX>2x 8700mGT SLI>2x 8600mGT SLI>8700mGT>8600mGT with a few Geforce 7 series thrown in the mix before the 8600mGT. Its really not made to handle the pressure of today's games. You can see the complete list here.
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

As for dual booting, you can dual boot or even triple boot on a PC.(Vista/XP, OS X, and Linux) Just google it.

In terms of lighter, I would have to agree. Although this may be attributed to the lack of higher performance parts found in a similarly priced PC. No offense. (I know sometimes people get a little heated over the PC/Mac debate.)

Although in the end it is personal choice whether to go Mac or PC.

U have something wrong there :

2x8700M GT sometimes beat a 7950GTX

 

[Enginerd]

U have something wrong there :

2x8700M GT sometimes beat a 7950GTX

I agree that sometimes 2x8700M GT beat a 7950GTX. I was using the positions in benchmarking given by Notebookcheck.net. They are generalities combined from extensive testing. (The easy way. )

They are listed here.
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html