Alienware = No.
IBuyPower = Yes. Why? Price.calling all alienware owners / users
Alienware is great since u dotn want to do custom, also consider the mac pro.
If you're buying a laptop, I'd recommend visiting this site forums.notebookreview.comYou'rewastingyourcashbuyingaAlienware.Therearebetterlaptopmanufacturersoutthere[Clevo,Sageretc].
Let me qualify my statement by saying that I have been through 6 gaming laptops in 8 years, so I've been around the block a few times. I have also owned an Alienware desktop, though I have never purchased one of their laptops.
The reason, as stated above is price. Now, if this is going to be your only system and you think you are going to get about 4 years use out of it, then I can comfortable recommend an Alienware...although I would then also look at Falcon Northwest, VoodooPC, and Widow gaming laptops, as well as Dell's. All of these laptops, not just Alienware, include a lot of things you do not need in a laptop in order to game competently, and all of them, in my opinion, will be superceded specification wise at a time-point not so much longer after a budget gaming laptop that their costs (which are over twice the cost of a competent gaming rig) are justified.
I would also throw into that mix that now is not a good time to buy a gaming laptop. The bee's knees of video cards are nVidia's 8000-series cards, and ATi's HD series cards, and I have not seen these cards as available on laptops in portable form as of this date. As soon as I get done posting this, I am going to check again.
In my philosophy, the top-end cards that the above-mentioned vendors provide are not worth it unless this laptop will be your only gaming platform. It is better to target the chip a tier or two below the maximum line offered. So in the case of the 8000-series cards, I would steer clear of the 8800 series and go with an 8700-level chip to cut costs yet maintain a competent level of gaming. In the current generation, I went with an ATi X1600 chip, and if I'd gone nVidia, I would have gone for a 7600 chip. The X1600 chip allows me to play Company of Heroes at an acceptable performance level, and that is a reasonable yardstick to measure the laptop against. I would therefore wait until nVidia has 8600 or 8700 series mobile chips available on the market.
Let me know if you are looking for a top end machine because money is no object, or if you want something reasonable that will get you the near top-level gaming performance but not break the bank.
- Vr/GulliverJR.>
I'd go with what Final said. Alienware got bought out by Dell I believe.So, that means proprietary crap.I have never heard anything bad about ibuypower. Actually thinking of getting one from there myself.
I would go with dell for laptops (never would touch their desktops).. Their laptops seem top notch with great design, good chocie of hardware, and great prices.. The problem I see with numerous companies like VoodooPC, Flacon Northwest, Alien ware etc etc.. Have you seen their prices? To get a half decent machine from there you have to pay at least $2000 at most times.. Not just that but the majority of these machines are solely desktop replacements to the point that most only have a 30 minute battery life. Alot of them have heating problems due to the hardware cramed jam pack in them. After buying a Ibuypower and ViciousPC (good laptops in my opinion), they were no where as good as the Dell's sleek design, performance, screen quality etc etc. Not to mention it ran far cooler, and quieter.. From what I have seen the playing field is pretty level when it comes to laptops. And from numerous review articles I have seen on websites and pc magazines (such as gaming for windows, pc gamer etc etc), Mostdell gaming laptops they review get 4 out of 5 to 5 out of 5 consistently.
I just checked again and there were no 8000-series nVidia chips available from any vendor. Alienware themselves cap out at the 7950 GTX, so I would still recommend 7600 nVidia's or X1600 ATi's. However, I would more strongly recommend waiting. It is inevitbale that 8000-series nVidia chips will be available by the end of the year, so hopefully there will be 8600/8700 chips available as well for reasonable prices. If not, the cost for a high-end 7000-series chip (7800/7900 series) should decend to reasonable prices, possibly even in SLI configurations.-Vr/GulliverJR.>
Actually the Asus g1s has a nvidia 8600m gt in it and there are also a few other laptops with the 8000 series available.
[QUOTE=''darkzealot1'']Actually the Asus g1s has a nvidia 8600m gt in it and there are also a few other laptops with the 8000 series available.[/QUOTE]I honeslty wouldn't go for anything lower then a 8800, Any 8 series lower then that has gotten horrible reviews with past gen cards beating them in current game performance.
My apologies...I just did a quick look at configurators and did not see 8000's available...I'l have to look in on the OEM's and look again.
Yes, this is the absolute best site when it comes to deciding what to buy....:)
are you buying a laptop or desktop because you can't build a laptop and if you are getting a desktop look at these tutorials it not hard at all to do and its worth it a few hours of research and you'll save so much money pre-built gaming machines are outrageous you can build for like 30-maybe 50% cheaper here's some guides http://tools.corsairmemory.com/systembuild/report.aspx?report_id=12472%26sid=1 http://tools.corsairmemory.com/systembuild/report.aspx?report_id=78237%26sid=1 http://computer.howstuffworks.com/build-a-computer.htm it might seem hard but its not really at all you only have to buy like 9 parts then you just put it all together and if you any other questions then just stop by the pc hardware forums
i would recommend to wait a little bit longer and getting a DX10 notebook, which are coming in 2 to 3 months like always
I recommend letting a local store build the pc for you. It's much, much cheaper.
To thread starter. You are a tech amature? well, I do have a ''how to build a PC guide'' that I created last summer, although, my grammar then sucked (still does....sort of) and it has some error's, and my opinions, but it gets to the basic.Can be downloaded here: [url=http://files.filefront.com/SepheronX+Tutorial/;5413426;;/fileinfo.html]Filefront.com[/url]It is a PDF file of course.
Seriously, building your own machine isn't really hard. Just look online for the many guides that already exist on the subject. Most current hardware makes it really easy. It may seem daunting at first, but it really isnt.
Belongs more in PC hardware then in PC Games... moved. :)
OK, I did do some more checking and here is what I found:
1. None of the major gaming notebook configurators are offering anything higher than a 7950GTX. I checked Alienware, Dell, VoodooPC, WidowPC, and Falcon Northwest.
2. Only two OEMs are offering the 8600M GT card: that is Aspire and Asus. Both models offered from the two OEMs come in under $2000.
So, I would say that if you have to get a laptop now, then the Asus or Acer would be ok. Be aware that historically, these represent the infant GPUs, i.e. the first offerings in a new generation of mobile chips. As nVidia gets the thermals down, be assured that an 8700 or 8900 mobile GPU will be available, and laptops with the current chips will be cheaper. Once the major configurators start offering the 8000-series chips, notebooks with the 7950 GTX should become cheaper. Like one of the other guys said, I question buying a non-DirectX 10 laptop right now. You can get away with buying a DirectX 9 graphics chip for a desktop because you know that in a year you can upgrade it. Dropping over 2 grand on a laptop that you are going to be stuck in for 2 years or more is a questionable move.
At the same time I cannot recommend buying the previous generation chips like I bought last year. If I had to offer anything, I'd have to say go with the $1900 plus models from Acer or Asus. But $2000 is about the max I can say spending on a gaming laptop; going higher than that for special paint jobs and extended service levels I just cannot understand. Good luck.
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