Help needed with Desktop replacement laptop towards gaming?

[shaselai]

I am looking to replace my desktop with a laptop for mobility etc. I am also a gamer - although I don't play a lot of games on the PC BUT there are a few graphics intensive games coming out that i definitely want to play - dragon age, starcraft2, diablo III. I looked around for great graphics cards and it seems many of them are built in Asus laptops while some decent ones are in Dell and Vaios. What is a great brand of laptop with great graphics cards?
So here are my questions:

1. what is the "minimum spec" i need in terms of CPU/RAM etc. for a desktop replacement?
2. What are some of the "best" PC laptops brands? I hear some good things about dell and vaio..
3. What are some of the "best" laptop brands with great graphics cards?

Thanks!

 

[cjl]

Look at Sager. You'll want an 8800 or 9800 series mobile GPU (ideally), a Core 2 CPU at 2GHz or more, and 2GB of RAM. The 9600 mobile GPU could be pretty good too - I don't know the details on it yet though.

 

[theworminator]

1. Cjl summed it up pretty well.
2. Well, Dell's alright (with their XPS series), along with Sager. I'd suggest Killer Notebooks too but maybe that's because I have one and have had good experiences with it . And no, not Vaio. Don't go near Vaio's. I find they feel kinda cheap and the Sony badge increases their price way too much.
3. Err...same ones I mentioned earlier. It depends how much you're willing to spend. There's a sticky on this board that describes some questions that you can answer that would help us suggest a model for you.

 

[shaselai]

1_What is your budget?
2-3k

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

3_What screen resolution http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/display_resolution do you want?
Best available/optimal

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Desktop replacement

5_How much battery life do you need?
Doesn't matter

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)?
Dragon age, diablo 3, starcraft 2 - probably at least directx-10 and prefer High


7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_editing , surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.)
Everyday use, movies, surfing, some gaming (not a huge pc gamer BUT looking to play the games mentioned on 6)


8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
Doesn't matter - have external drives (~400gigs)

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


10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Longevity is probably means a great deal to me - i don't want to dump it in 2 years but not sure how the graphics card will hold up after 2 years...and i am pretty bad at replacing parts in laptop....

11_If you would like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop, post them.
Like 10, I want it to be a desktop replacement - i won't travel much but really like the freedom of it - i know a desktop will trump over a laptop with same pricing... Also my laptop probably will be on 24/7 so durability is another issue to consider. I would really like HD display on the laptop as well. I want it to be great for at least 4 years - graphics, cpu etc...

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.
Doesn't matter - i am open to any, let the experts here help decide

13_What country do you live in?
USA

 

[frozenlead]

I would recommend a Dell XPS or a Sager. Get a nice 8800m GTX, 4GB of ram, and a screen with a 1920x1200 res. Maziar's XPS is a good way to go, if you want one dual 8800m GTX, his review is a little further down the page on the forum. I recommend, personally, the Sager NP5796, being the owner of an NP 5793.

 

[shaselai]

From Maziar's review it seems the graphics card isn't doing too well or barely well on "High". Should I wait until a better graphics card comes out?

 

[frozenlead]

Mazair's review, from my memory, posts excellent numbers on games. Mazair's laptop is one of the best, in terms of graphics power, that you can buy on the market today. You can't really do any better.

 

[cjl]

Isn't doing too well? Those numbers for the most part outperform a desktop with an 8800GT and an E6750. That is phenomenal for a laptop. If you want more, you really should be looking at a desktop instead.