Considering Powerful Gaming Laptops

[warlucith]

1. What is your budget?
My budget is essentially up to $3400.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Doesn't matter.

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Not sure. Any advice?

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
I'm not really going to be moving it around a lot, so I guess it's more of a desktop replacement.

5. How much battery life do you need?
I leave it plugged in while I play games, but for taking notes for school, 3 hours would probably been enough.

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)?
Yes! I want to play WoW for now with high settings, but I also want the options to buy new games over the next 2-3 years and play them with decent settings.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing, surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.)
Surfing web, playing music, watching movies/anime, streaming videos, schoolwork, ermmm...that's all I can think of

8. How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
Doesn't really matter, I'd like over 300-400 gigs of space though.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.
http/www.allasus.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1_28&products_id=771&osCsid=kjhu1csodu6entct5ch82q64d3
http/configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=dkcwqt1&s=dhs

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
I want this to last me at a minimum 3 years. I'd like to be able to buy the newest games for 3 years and run them (even if 3 years from now I have to use low settings). I know it's unlikely but longer would be nice too, which is why I'm willing to spend the extra money now to make it last longer.

11. If you would like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop, post them.
I never want to worry about lag, slow loading, poor video quality, poor video card, etc again. I'd like to be able to be proud of my computer for a long time. When I do things I want to either think, "Damn this is fast!" or not think at all because I will be spoiled by how fast my computer runs! .

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.
I'm considering the Asus G71Gx-A1 and the Alienware M17x. I first found the Alienware because it had the best specs. Then I found the Asus as a cheaper alternative that was still powerful.

13. What country do you live in?
United States.

More info:
The Alienware is customized at Dell, with the following important specs:
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB) OR Intel® Core™2 Quad Q9000 2.0GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB), (whichever is better...probably the Quad Core?)
Video Card: Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M, 2GB – SLI® Enabled
Memory: 6GB DDR3 at 1333MHz
Hard Drive: 1TB - 2x 500GB 7,200RPM - RAID 0

The Asus' specs:
Processor: Intel® Quad Core Processor Q9000: 2.0 GHz, 1066MHz, 6MB On-Die L2 Cache
Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M 1GB GDDR3 VRAM
Memory: DDR2 800 MHz SDRAM, 2 x SODIMM; 6GB SDRAM
Hard Drive: 640GB (320Gx2) 7200rpm

The difference between the two really seems to be the video card, as I'm told that the difference between DDR2 and DDR3 isn't that great. The price difference is $962, the Alienware being more expensive. My two biggest questions are:
1. How much extra life will the Alienware's video card add to my computer? Will it allow me to play games with higher settings for an extra year?
2. Is the price difference of $962 worth it for the difference in specs? I don't really ever spend much money, so it's not that big of a deal for me to unload a hefty sum on this computer, as my computer is VERY important to me. I still don't want to be ripped off and spend 900 bucks for something that's only a small upgrade. If this could buy me an extra year's worth of time, or make games run significantly better in the future (and now), then it would be worth it to me.

Thanks so much for the help!

 

[Maziar]

Go for the first one,yes the difference between DDR2 and DDR3 isn't much,
If u can afford the AW definitely go for iti ts worth the money.
However u may want to consider Clevo M980NU,same specs as AW M17x but 18.4"

 

[warlucith]

I was reading a response by WoW personnel, and they said that the SLI video cards will only make a difference if "your system is capped at your video card. If you're capped anywhere else, SLI will not help." Any help on what this means?

*Edit*
I also called WoW tech support and asked if they utilized SLI, and they said...."No." lol.
I'd still like to know what the above quote means though, because some people do report that SLI helps...

 

[Maziar]

If u are going to play only WOW,then u don't need either of these machines,lower cards such as 9800MGTS/9800MGT can max it out,but if u want to play other games too then that's something different u will benefit from the second GPU

 

[warlucith]

Yea I'll go with other games too for sure. I checked out the Clevo but I decided to go with the alienware because I get a discount from Dell's website...can't wait for it to arrive

Thx for the help Maz

 

[Maziar]

No problem mate glad i could help u plz post a review of it when it arrives

 

[maldinilovegame]

You have a good budget so you can pick the best laptop for you, no matter in laptop or MAC.

I would recommand : ASUS W90Vp-X2 , Dell Alienware M17X and MAC Pro
All of them are very powerful and should last for at least 4-5 years.

 

[Maziar]

Clevo MN980NU has the same specs as AW M17x and its 18.4" too and cost lower.
ASUS W90VP is another good choice,i agree with that