Ronnyboy Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 My dad plans on getting a new Work/Gaming laptop. He is looking for something that will last a long time, but he will be able to upgrade his GPU and RAM in the future. He says he wants something in the quad core section, but will downgrade to a dual core if necessary. Now he is also planning on getting Vista Home Premium and a 500GB HDD. Can anybody recommend a laptop that has these specs and can be upgraded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star-Lord Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 (edited) I have seen a lot of good Laptops but Alienware is by far one of the best this laptop will last your dad a very long time,whether it's for work/play this is definitely the laptop he'll want. Don't let the price(s) scare you it's worth every penny and they will accept monthly payments from as low as $60.00+with CCD/DC You can even have it custom made to fill your needs. Alienware System Highlights * Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme processor * Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTX GPUs with SLI® technology * Up to 4GB of 667MHz DDR2 Memory * Up to 1.5TB Hard Drive Capacity with Smart Bay Technology * Extreme High Definition Video (1200p) and HD Audio * Command Center with AlienFX® Lighting Control * Stealth Mode Power Management The fastest Alienware laptop yet! Edited June 3, 2008 by pcguytech_2005 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnyboy Posted June 3, 2008 Author Share Posted June 3, 2008 Yeah, thats a bit over what he wants to pay. Something not from Alienware, there sh*t is to expensive, to him at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picolini Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 As I say to everyone asking about PC recommendations, it's all about budget. A lot or a little can vary a lot from person to person. 500GB is a lot for most laptops, I don't think I've seen any besides alienwares with over 320GB. Of course when looking at laptops, as long as it's got at least 160GB or so, it's fine (for a laptop). $1,000 will get a decent laptop for gaming, should do fine for most other things. But the Alienware link pcguy posted aren't the only laptops they have, they've got one starting at something like $1400-1500, but I think it's only got 1GB of ram and a 120GB HD, so upgrades will be needed to get something decent, and that costs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anus Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 If you're intending to buy a high performance laptop, you have to be ready to dish out a good amount of cash. When it comes to high performance laptops, the overpricing of certain brands doesn't really matter much since almost all laptops are branded and so are quite overpriced. So, if you're serious about this, Alienware has some kickass laptops for various prices. Not all of their laptops are $6000 monsters, there are reasonably priced high performance laptops, but you might not get some features you wanted. But anyway, providing a budget would REALLY help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnyboy Posted June 3, 2008 Author Share Posted June 3, 2008 Well, I asked him, nothing over $2,500he says. Hope that makes it easier for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crokey Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Well you're going to be screwed, as only a few of the Alienware Laptops and another company who I can't remember have Laptops that you can upgrade the Graphics Card on, it's a size and power consumption issue with laptops you see, even then when you come to upgrade it might only be up a single step, due to said issues. As for the HDD it's quite hard to find one with 500Gb, but the saving grace is that HDD's are one of the more easily upgradeable components in a laptop, so when 500Gb HDD's for laptops become more readily available then you can easily upgrade. As for RAM, you don't need more than 4Gb at the moment due to Vista and XP's recognition of RAM, and by the time the next installment of Windows comes out (which still might only see 4Gb) then your Laptop will be getting dated anyway, but a lot of companies will offer a 4Gb option. As for the Processor, again you'll have to pay a bit for a quad core as they are still fairly new for Laptop systems, and in fact hardly anyone has them anyway. So if you are wanting your budget (well you dads) to be around $2,500 then you'll have to double that and then add a good deal more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picolini Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Well I would recommend he looks at these two laptops. http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pa...ode=SKU-DEFAULT http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pa...ode=SKU-DEFAULT The first is a 15.4", the second is a 17" inch, both from Alienware as you can tell from the links. Now the big differences are: 15.4" is starting at $1500, $2200 for the 17" The 17" is SLI, so you get quite a bit more graphics power from it. But the cost is more (a lot is just for the screen). Basically, you're paying $700 for SLI, and a 1.6" bigger screen. I would personally beef up the 15.4" and get a faster computer with a slightly smaller screen. If he uses it for work out of the house, he'll like the smaller size and weight anyways. The lack of SLI won't matter much on the 15er as it's got a smaller resolution, and SLI mainly kicks in at higher res's. So if he went for the higher graphics and 2GB of RAM, it'd be $2150. Much more power, and there's some more room for a stronger CPU if he wants to go higher, or more storage. If he stayed with the 17" then I would suggest getting 2GB of ram, and maybe some more storage. But then he's stuck with the 2.1Ghz CPU. They both start at 120GB HD, but can have up to 1TB (even if RAID but you lose the DVD drive). My guess is this is the best set up for him. 15.4" Area-51 m15x 2.1Ghz CPU 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8700M GT 2GB RAM Windows Vista Home Premium (or pay 50 more if he wants the reliability of XP) 500GB Hard drive That comes out to $2,200. Then there's things like a carrying case, charger(s), mouse, etc. He could always bump up the other specs if he wants. If any, I'd suggest the CPU.The T8300 would be a nice jump for $150. Any higher and it's a bit pricey for the minimal increase in power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anus Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 As for RAM, you don't need more than 4Gb at the moment due to Vista and XP's recognition of RAM, and by the time the next installment of Windows comes out (which still might only see 4Gb) then your Laptop will be getting dated anyway, but a lot of companies will offer a 4Gb option. Only the 32 bit versions of XP and Vista can't recognise more than 4GB of RAM, the 64 bit versions of them can recognise more than 4GB perfectly fine. Even the next Windows edition's 32 bit edition would not see more than 4GB, the 64 bit version would though. This also isn't a fault of Windows, its actually the processor. 32 bit processors can only see 4GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Star-Lord Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Picolini: suggestions would probably be you best bet. I would also like to add that Alienware charges a sales tax about $200 dollars so you might want to tell your Dad. I would also suggest to open a student account with Alienware if you happen to be in the university or relative that you know of who can buy it for you,you can end up saving around 50%+ of the purchase.You can even finance too! it's so easy to get this badboy. Other Option Dell XPS M1730 is another excellent laptop which you can customize plus comes with AGEIA PhysX processor. Note: If you go with Dell you are still getting a quality and powerful laptop after all Dell and Alienware merged a long time ago so I believe they use the same high end quality components. Dell Details Bottom line: You will have to spend more if you want more. Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picolini Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 As for RAM, you don't need more than 4Gb at the moment due to Vista and XP's recognition of RAM, and by the time the next installment of Windows comes out (which still might only see 4Gb) then your Laptop will be getting dated anyway, but a lot of companies will offer a 4Gb option. Only the 32 bit versions of XP and Vista can't recognise more than 4GB of RAM, the 64 bit versions of them can recognise more than 4GB perfectly fine. Even the next Windows edition's 32 bit edition would not see more than 4GB, the 64 bit version would though. This also isn't a fault of Windows, its actually the processor. 32 bit processors can only see 4GB. I've heard 32-bit Vista only sees 3.2GB out of 4GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnyboy Posted June 4, 2008 Author Share Posted June 4, 2008 Thanks for the help Picolini! He will probably go with the 15.4 inch screen he said. Thanks for the help guys, he appreciates it very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picolini Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 Glad I could help, and glad he went with the 15.4". It just makes sense when you are on a somewhat limited budget and performance and storage is more of an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anus Posted June 5, 2008 Share Posted June 5, 2008 @Pico, Yep its actually 3.2 GB, but I was giving the 4GB as a rough number . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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