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[Cire27]

Well, that time has came around when my laptop is falling apart, literally, and is completely out of date.  Because of that fact, I am really in need of new one, however I have no idea of what kind to get/ what company to buy from.  I'm really drawn to the Macbooks, mostly because I can get GarageBand or ProTools.  I generally just listen to a lot of music and browse the internet, however I would game more if this shittastic thing could handle it.

Yes it need to be a laptop, not so much for portability, but because I don't really have a lot of space to put it.  Any help is really helpful, obviously.  Thanks in advance.

[Melodic]

I call Macbook Pro. They just upgraded the Pros with the same multi-touch technology as the Air, and the base CPU & GPU are fairly powerful for a laptop. I'd recommend the 17" if you're not moving around a whole lot because it's a wee bit faster with more RAM and more VRAM.

[Mako]

Yeah I agree with Melodic, 17 inch is what im getting. 4Gb of RAM, hi res glossy screen, 2.5 ghz. I had money for the 2.6 ghz, but i deduced that it was too much money for too small of a jump in speed.

[Fletch]

(I hope I'm not thread-jacking here)
I've been thinking about getting a laptop myself; for work & gaming ...
Writing isn't exactly processor-intensive, but are there laptops available that are adequate for running & controlling recent pc games? FPS? RTS? Are there options other than touchpads? I have some experience with pc & gaming, but no idea on mac.
Just asking a salesperson is a bit out of the question ... I'm in China. (& not fully acquainted with the language)

[gardenhead_]

You could get a USB mouse, wireless or otherwise, instead of using the touchpad. They're relatively inexpensive I think.

[dennis]

Yeah I agree with Melodic, 17 inch is what im getting. 4Gb of RAM, hi res glossy screen, 2.5 ghz. I had money for the 2.6 ghz, but i deduced that it was too much money for too small of a jump in speed.

Presuming you don't already know this, but notebook RAM is 50%-75% cheaper everywhere else than from Apple.

[Mako]

yeah i heard that, but not in japan, its rather expensive here, no matter where you go.

[Melodic]

Bootcamp on a Macbook is not cut out for gaming... if you want a mobile desktop, look at Dell.

[Cire27]

You know when I said my current laptop is falling apart?  That's a Dell.

[dennis]

yeah i heard that, but not in japan, its rather expensive here, no matter where you go.

That's strange. With the big RAM chip manufacturers located in Korea and Taiwan you'd think that it'd be cheaper there than nearly anywhere else.

[Melodic]

You know when I said my current laptop is falling apart?  That's a Dell.

Point? I just swapped out my old Antec PSU, which died recently, for another Antec PSU. Hardware dies. I hate Dell for their desktops, but for a gaming-centric laptop Dell makes the best stuff.

[clockworkjames]

If you want a gaming laptop I suggest looking at rock laptops, as for PSU's don't skimp here ever.

Nice choice on tha antec.

[bicostp]

Since you're not as concerned about portability, look at something like a Macbook Pro or an HP Pavillion. Or if you don't mind spending a little more and getting a bit less, you could get a more portable laptop like a Thinkpad or Macbook and hook it up to an external monitor. You'd get a lot of usable screen space that way, since the desktop can span both screens.

I have a Pavillion dv5000 series laptop with a 15" widescreen. It's pretty fast, but lugging that aircraft carrier around gets old fast and it barely gets 2.5 hours out of a charge with the backlight all the way down and the wireless off. You might want to consider one if it's going to live on your desk most of the time, but if you're going to move it around more than half the time, go with something smaller with better battery life.

Unfortunately, when laptop shopping you can only pick two of the following:

Fast - Affordable - Small

[muteKi]

Yeah, Thinkpad is good but not if you want to do serious gaming.

[bicostp]

Well, if you want to do serious gaming you shouldn't be looking at laptops in the first place. A moderately priced desktop will give you more power than an expensive laptop.

[dennis]

Well, if you like to go to LAN parties, a gaming laptop is where it's at.

[Melodic]

I don't see any gaming laptops.

[Valrus]

Any reason those people are all using CRT monitors?

[Dimmukane]

Faster response times (not sure if that's an issue anymore) but better contrast (you have to pay a decent sum for an LCD or Plasma with a good contrast ratio that still won't be as good as CRTs, at least in the foreseeable future).

As for LAN parties, build a small form factor PC, like the Fragbox.  Roughly the size of a large shoebox.

And as for gaming laptops, Alienwares (although owned by Dell) still perform better than Dells.  Especially if you can afford it.  I've played Aienwares that run Crysis better than my desktop (largely because I don't have any kind of SLI, although I have an FX-74).  Be warned, though, all gaming-centric laptops will run hot.  Really hot.  To the point where the term 'laptop' could cause a frivolous lawsuit.

[dennis]

I don't see any gaming laptops.

Sure, they're not common. You pay a premium for portability.

[clockworkjames]

Dimmukane is right about the response time which is becomming less and less of an issue. I go to i33 at the weekend, 1850 people gaming for 79 hours.

Taking my rig

My laptop is poor nvidia 7200 128 dedicated, 1GB ram, 1.6GHz centrino duo.

My rig is better 

I will tell you how many laptops I see there, Affro is taking his rock so that's one...