WDYT about this gaming laptop (for my sister)

[NinaJay]

My sister is a big gamer...

She is interested in this laptop. What do you guys think?

It is an alienware laptop and we know that there is a lot of 'brand' that you buy with that name but it's not badly priced as far as we can tell (it's $1600 AUD - I know you can get cheaper from OS but computers are not as cheap in Australia as a rule)

Screen size is not an issue as it gets hooked up to her 42" TV for home playing.

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor SU7300 (1.3GHz/800MHz FSB/3M Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit (English)
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2 X 2GB)
HARD DRIVE 500GB 7200RPM P11 Hard Drive
HD DISPLAY 11.6" WideHD 720p WLED (1366x768) Display Integrated 1.3 mega pixel web cam
VIDEO CARD 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 335M
SOUND CARD Integrated High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio

Thanks

 

[smarteyeball]

My sister is a big gamer...

Define big gamer ie what sort of games?

Screen size is not an issue as it gets hooked up to her 42" TV for home playing.

It will be depending on the TV's native resolution. ie is it a 1366x768 (720p) or 1980x1080 (1080p)

Depending on the games she plays, she should get acceptable performance. Considering it's a lappy, some quality settings will have to be sacrificed for smoothness, but over all it should be okay.

 

[z3r010]

Core™2 Duo Processor 1.3GHz :sarc:

Looks very underpowered, TBH I wouldn't buy one unless it has at least a 2GHz cpu.

 

[electrotune1200]

yeah the specs seem alright, it's the processor I'm a bit weary of.

I'd shop around a bit

 

[smarteyeball]

I was being polite about the CPU... and the GPU...

 

[z3r010]

I've just checked how much $1600 AUD is in real money (£888 GBP or $1389 USD) and thats a lot of money for that laptop.

You should be able to get something far better with that budget.

 

[electrotune1200]

PC's are ridiculously over priced in Australia. If you want a semi descent machine here you're looking at about $1,800 - $2,000.

 

[NinaJay]

(Nina's sister here)
The games I play are anything from World of Warcraft, to the Halflife and Left 4 Dead series, Spore, Diablo 2, etc.

My current laptop doesn't handle some of these games (spore, L4D) well on the higher graphics settings so I'm basically after a laptop that will be able to handle these and a few upcoming games such as Diablo 3, Starcraft 2, Bioshock 2 and Assassins Creed 2. (what is it with me and sequels!?)

 

[electrotune1200]

I think this is a much better deal

Dell Inspiron 15" Notebook - Computers, Laptops, Netbooks & ULVs - JB Hi-Fi - Smashing Prices!

 

[z3r010]

Much better

 

[NinaJay]

(nina's sis still here)

Well I have a budget of up to $2000 (including shipping)

So please post any other better laptops that you think I could get for this price as I've only just started pricing out and shopping around.

 

[z3r010]

Some Australian computer shop links would help

 

[electrotune1200]

Hello Nina's sis.....and Nina


Not a bad rig, but I still think the dell is the best bang for your buck deal
HP Pavilion 15" Notebook - Computers, Laptops, Netbooks & ULVs - JB Hi-Fi - Smashing Prices!

or....

Toshiba 18.4" Notebook - Computers, Laptops, Netbooks & ULVs - JB Hi-Fi - Smashing Prices!

 

[NinaJay]

(Nina's sis again)

Thanks for the links electro! I'll look into those ones too.

stores I know of
Desktop Computers, Laptops, Servers, Monitors, Printers & PC Accessories | Dell Australia
JB Hi Fi - Australia's Largest Home Entertainment Retailer - Smashing Prices!
Harvey Norman Australia | Your Specialist in Electrical, Computers, Furniture and Bedding
Toshiba Australia and New Zealand

I tend not to buy from harvey norman though, I've had nothing but bad luck and support from them.

 

[Lordbob75]

CyberPower Inc. - UNLEASH THE POWER - Create the Custom Gaming PC and Laptop Computer of your dreams
That is where I got my lappy from, and I am really happy with it.

You can customize it to your budget and power. Don't know if they ship to AUS, but its worth looking.

~Lordbob

EDIT: Most of those laptops have an i7 option, as well as the newest GPUs. The ones shown on the page ARE NOT the base models, they can drop in price as well.

 

[Frostmourne]

Laptops are pointless for gaming. If you want to load up a game at native resolution and max out every setting except filtering, look elsewhere. Bioshock 2 will murder most gaming laptops. I also can't see why you would want to game on a machine that can't run console ports @ maximum settings, excluding filtering.

 

[smarteyeball]

Some Australian computer shop links would help

Unfortunately all the 'good' online Aus stores don't carry any decent gaming laptops.

For the expected performance vs the price, unfortunately it's not going to happen

Image quality will have to be sacrificed to meet the budget.

For sheer gaming, perhaps a PS3 or 360 may be a cheaper option and with the left over cash, just grab a 'decent' netbook for non-gaming stuff.

 

[madtownidiot]

I have a dell studio xps 16 that I use only for games. You can get one with a SSD for around $1600, which will have a bigger impact on gaming performance than all other available upgrades combined