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Yeah, I'm getting a new laptop for school. An alienware. It's required for the gaming program. Here's the specs of what I'm gonna be getting:

Windows 7
15.6" WideFHD 1920 x 1080 -WLED
Intel® CoreTM i7 920XM 2.0GHz (3.2GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
1GB NVIDA® GeForce® GTX 260MTM
Up to 8GB DDR3 - 1066MHz and 1333Mhz

I'm not to good at reading system specs yet but I have to assume these are pretty good.

Edit: Crap, shoulda put this in the technology forum.

O_O That's amazing. I bet that weighs like 9 pounds and costs $3k+

Good system though.

I can buy you that computer in $1019.

Wachtwoord wrote:I can buy you that computer in $1019.

He needs a laptop.

Typically a desktop and a netbook together will cost less than a laptop of equivalent power to the desktop. Unless you plan on playing Crysis in the school library, buying a laptop for gaming is kind of like buying a sports car for towing -- it's not what it's meant for.

This will pair nicely with Kablizzy's recommendation.

EDIT: Cyberpower bundles netbooks with their gaming desktops now. Have a look at "accessories" here.; you could save another $50.

I agree with scythe on this one. Get a solid rig with a netbook for portability.


I also imagine that laptop getting pretty hot.

Or, get a MacBook Pro and run 7 via Bootcamp.

Flight wrote:I agree with scythe on this one. Get a solid rig with a netbook for portability.


I also imagine that laptop getting pretty hot.

Which is bad!

Or good, depending on how you look at it.

Buying a laptop for gaming is fucking silly and I think it says more about your ego than it does about your need to game anywhere.

87654321 wrote:

Wachtwoord wrote:I can buy you that computer in $1019.

He needs a laptop.

Oh, sorry. I wasn't reading. Howabout these? Those are all gaming computers.

Anyway, silliness aside. I mimic the sentiments of everyone else. "Gaming" and "Laptop" are the worst two terms to use together since "Shotgun" and "Contraception." Hell, even get a good desktop and then a mid-range laptop with a graphics card and a Core 2 Duo - That won't run all that hot, and will still be able to run most things on the laptop, but then also be able to run *everything* on the desktop.

Also, @scythe - The msi rocks my socks off.

Edit: Actually, put Win7 on the netbook, it'll run better then either XP or Vista.

Guys, you can recommend all you want, but I'm simply getting what I HAVE to get to stay in this program. The Laptop is required, so I can actually have a computer to bring with me to school. I'm in the game development program so I'll be needing Maya and a powerful graphics card, so, this is what they're asking for.

I'd love to take your advice, IF it didn't interfere with what I actually need.

Edit: besides this way, I have something to help get me through study skills. The most god awfully boring class I've ever been in.

Preemptive strike: No I'm not hauling a computer box with me to school.

MacBook Pro, dude.

EDIT: How much are you willing to spend?

Lets just say that when my grandma died, she left behind a lot of money which went into my college amount. Any price is no trouble.
To make it easier as to what they require as a minimum requirement, here's what's listed in the student guide:

Alienware Area 51 m15x Laptop
2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme
Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT
8 GB 667MHz DDR2 memory
1TB Storage with Smart Bay

Besides, it's not so much I want to stick with Alienware, it's that I have to. This computer is what they'll be teaching on and they expect us to have one. Else it's like showing up to a history class with a math textbook. It doesn't work that way here.

Maybe when I graduate and get a job somewhere I'll get a more "Intelligent" setup, but for now, this isn't changing.

Sniperwhere wrote:Guys, you can recommend all you want, but I'm simply getting what I HAVE to get to stay in this program. The Laptop is required, so I can actually have a computer to bring with me to school. I'm in the game development program so I'll be needing Maya and a powerful graphics card, so, this is what they're asking for.

I'd love to take your advice, IF it didn't interfere with what I actually need.

Edit: besides this way, I have something to help get me through study skills. The most god awfully boring class I've ever been in.

Preemptive strike: No I'm not hauling a computer box with me to school.

Oh, see, if you're taking game development that kind of changes the discussion, though I don't see why they wouldn't have you guys in a computer lab (which would be easier on their end and incur minimal costs in the long-term thanks to corporate sponsorship).

On a totally unrelated note, you might want to check this out, as it's totally cool.

If you know what you have to get, why make a topic about it? Did you just post this to brag about getting an awesome new computer? (That I could understand, but it is kind of a dick thing to do.)

Aldaric wrote:If you know what you have to get, why make a topic about it? Did you just post this to brag about getting an awesome new computer? (That I could understand, but it is kind of a dick thing to do.)

He isn't bragging, he's making sure that his future purchase is suitable for what he's going to study.

Sniperwhere wrote:Besides, it's not so much I want to stick with Alienware, it's that I have to. This computer is what they'll be teaching on and they expect us to have one. Else it's like showing up to a history class with a math textbook. It doesn't work that way here.

I can understand putting minimum specs for a computer for a game-making course, but requiring that the machine is of a certain brand seems absurd to me.

rennaT wrote:

Sniperwhere wrote:Besides, it's not so much I want to stick with Alienware, it's that I have to. This computer is what they'll be teaching on and they expect us to have one. Else it's like showing up to a history class with a math textbook. It doesn't work that way here.

I can understand putting minimum specs for a computer for a game-making course, but requiring that the machine is of a certain brand seems absurd to me.

It would be just like showing up to History Class with a Dell Computer.

I think it would be more like showing up to hipster class with a Zune.

scythe33 wrote:I think it would be more like showing up to hipster class with a Zune.

If I'm ever a CS professor...
"Alrighty, welcome to our first day of CS-two-oh--... wh--... is that Vista? Get out. F for the semester. Don't come back."

quoth The Times wrote:The latest findings, published in the journal Human Reproduction, give warning that teenagers and young men should consider cutting the time spent with a computer positioned on their lap because of the possible long-term damage to their fertility.

I'm going to subscribe to Human Reproduction.

That article doesn't apply if you use your laptop on a desk. :D

87654321 wrote:That article doesn't apply if you use your laptop on a desk. :D

Which would only be slightly ironic. Kinda like setting your desktop on your lap.

Besides, you can get covers for the bottom which help to vent heat much more efficiently.

Aldaric wrote:If you know what you have to get, why make a topic about it? Did you just post this to brag about getting an awesome new computer? (That I could understand, but it is kind of a dick thing to do.)

More of a personal way to assure I made a (even remotely) decent choice. Actually kinda doubting it now considering all the replies here and some feedback from personal friends. Apparently Alienware laptops tend to over heat and sometimes even fry the motherboard.

Sniperwhere wrote:

Aldaric wrote:If you know what you have to get, why make a topic about it? Did you just post this to brag about getting an awesome new computer? (That I could understand, but it is kind of a dick thing to do.)

More of a personal way to assure I made a (even remotely) decent choice. Actually kinda doubting it now considering all the replies here and some feedback from personal friends. Apparently Alienware laptops tend to over heat and sometimes even fry the motherboard.

I'm not sure I've ever heard that. It seems like the kind of fact that would come from the completely retarded sub-humans who would buy a laptop for gaming.