notebook.
i’m looking to buy a notebook computer (no mike, not a mac.) but i can’t find exactly what i want, since notebooks aren’t quite so customizable.
what i WANT is:
15″ WUXGA widescreen display
Pentium M, probably 1.86ghz (750) or possible 2.0ghz (760)
eventually 1gb of ram, more likely 256 which i will upgrade on my own cheaper
60gb hard drive
Mobility Radeon X600 128mb
the closest i’ve come to this is the dell inspiron 6000 which has everything except the video card. Instead it has the Mobility Radeon X300 128mb, which I think should be good enough, but I haven’t been able to find a single review of it anywhere. all the gaming sites concentrate on the top of the line X800 or X700, which is rather annoying. I don’t really need the crazy top of the line video card, not on a notebook, but i’d like to be able to run a game every once in a while if I feel like it, and I don’t know how the X300 does.
So, does anyone have a laptop with a Mobility Radeon X300 in it who has attempted to play a more or less intensive game on it?
May 3rd, 2005 at 2:36 pm
You should buy a Mac :)
May 3rd, 2005 at 10:10 pm
that’s a great idea!!!
oh wait no it isn’t.
mostly because a 15″ widescreen mac is $500+ more expensive. minimum.
plus it doesn’t meet my requirement of having a 1920×1200 screen.
May 4th, 2005 at 10:48 am
Get the Dell Latitude D600 or 610 or similar. I have the D600 and it RULES. Really an amazing little machine. I believe it is available w/ the video card you want.
The Inspirons are cool but HELLA heavy. The Latitude is nice & compact, but also remarkably powerful.
May 4th, 2005 at 10:51 am
Oh damn, wait, you need a 1920x screen? Sheesh, maybe not w/ the Latitude.
BUT I will note that I had an Inspiron w/ the PHAT WUXGA screen for a year, and then switched over to this guy (I believe it’s 1600x), and I’m just as happy. The screen is plenty big, really really bright and crisp, and come on. 300 pixels difference. That’s nothin’.
May 4th, 2005 at 5:31 pm
I have a laptop as my gaming machine. It has an ATI Radeon Mobility 9600 in it and while it isn’t great it has run everything that I have wanted to play on it so far (knock on wood). Of course, the difference between Half-Life 2 at home and on my GeForce 6800 at work is so ridiculous that I have had to make a rule that I can’t play at work anymore because then I never want to play them at home and I never get anything done.
May 4th, 2005 at 6:49 pm
well i don’t NEED a 1920×1200 screen, but i’d like it. the 14″ aren’t bad, but i prefer 15, and the widescreen are neat ’cause… i’m a consumer whore.
I liked your old laptop, and with the new sonoma pentium M’s they have super battery life which is nice. Plus, the inspiron 6000 only weighs a couple pounds more than the latitude D610.
I just read that (at least on the desktop), the X300 is based off of the 9600, so I think i’ll be good to go. Next time i see a deal on the inspiron 6000, i’m gonna pick one up. and by pick one up i mean order one to have it delivered to me.
May 4th, 2005 at 6:56 pm
robin, do you happen to know how much your old inspiron weighs? the new ones are around 6.6 lbs (probably a little more with the 9 cell battery)
May 4th, 2005 at 10:37 pm
The correct answer is “heavy enough that you won’t really want to lug it anywhere unless you have to.”
It’s funny what a difference just a couple of pounds makes.
But of course if you’re just going to tote it between work & home, at most, or take it traveling w/ you, it’s no big deal.
May 8th, 2005 at 11:53 am
Yeah, you’d be surprised how much a few pounds changes your laptop usage. Mine is 5.6 pounds and that’s about the heaviest I’d like. My old laptop was 4 pounds and the difference in weight feels pretty big.