Torn... Dell vs. Toshiba

[NateTheGreat503]

I will be heading off to college in the fall and am in search of a gaming/media powered laptop. My budget is around $2,000. I have been looking at the Dell XPS line, especially since the new M1330. Though, recently I have also been looking at the gaming competitor in laptops... Toshiba. Specifically the...

Satellite X205-S9349 specs:
Processor:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7100
-1.80GHz, 2MB L2, 800MHz FSB with 64-bit3

Memory:
Configured with 2048MB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM (both
memory slots may be occupied). Maximum capacity 4096MB

Hard Drive:
240GB (5400RPM) using two Serial ATA hard disk drives
-Primary + Secondary drive: 120GB + 120GB

Graphics:
PCI-Express™ x16 graphics subsystem, featuring:
-NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8700M GT with 256MB DDR3 discrete
graphics memory, plus up to 255MB dynamically allocated
shared graphics memory using NVIDIA® TurboCache™
technology.12

It looks great in terms of specs and for only $1,999.99. Then again I do love Dell's service. I'm real torn at the moment and am looking for some good advice and possibly other options.

After checking out the Dell website and fiddling around with different builds. I found that the Inspirion 1720, though larger than the XPS M1330, it can be build to be more powerful. Here are the specs I got after building the Inspirion 1720:

My Components:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition
Anti-glare, widescreen 17.0 inch display (1440 x 900)
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
CD / DVD writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
Intel Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-Card
Integrated 2.0 Megapixel Webcam
85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
High Definition Audio 2.0

All that for only $1,742. Now in comparison with the Toshiba above how does this Inspiron match up?

So what I'm looking at is the Toshiba Satellite X205-S9349, Dell Inspiron 1720, and the Dell XPS M1330. If you all have any other suggestions of other good gaming/media laptops within $2,000 feel free to pitch in as well.

 

[qwazzy]

Dell raised its prices.

I got the EXACT SAME laptop you listed, for $1,450.

 

[NateTheGreat503]

=\ That's lame... Do you game on it at all?

 

[qwazzy]

LOL! I wish i could! I ordered it on the 17th of last month, still not here yet.

"ESTIMATED" ship date: 28th of this month

Bullshizzle fizzle! One of the tech Indian guys told me LCD shortage, the other said that the T7500 was also short.

 

[NateTheGreat503]

Yeah. I've been hearing about the delays.

Anyone out there have some good feedback towards my delima?

 

[phamily]

If you are patient, go with the dell. If you aren't...suck it up and be patient =]

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

So what I'm looking at is the Toshiba Satellite X205-S9349, Dell Inspiron 1720, and the Dell XPS M1330. If you all have any other suggestions of other good gaming/media laptops within $2,000 feel free to pitch in as well.

The only Drawback of the X205 model you picked is that it's the weak CPU one. You would be better of with the 9359 model with the T7300 but the sale on it last month is over it was just over $2,000 before.

The DELL would likely give you good balance, but the difference will be what games you play. Of course GPU-intensive games will prefer the Toshiba's GF8700M, and CPU intensive games will prefer the DELL's extra cache and 400mhz in the T7500 over the T7100.

ASUS is another MFR to think of with the G1S (15") and G2S (17").

The Fujitsu N6460 is another, but you need to know what you would want it for, but it's a different option.

There's also a bunch of other system intergrators who make notebooks.
Like Xotic PC's Force 2090 is a good starting point.
Cyberpower Xplorer models are ok.
IBuyPower has some nice ones as well.

But with those it's usually when you know what you want and also how to fix any issues and customer service is pointless so you're looking to save money and configure it just the way you want.

 

[asusman]

Get him an Asus, he'll be better for it and stand out in a crowd from all cheap crappy lappys.