Laptop for under $1000

[jngrow]

I have no idea where to start. I've been looking around newegg, but I'm a pretty unsure guy when it comes to lappys.

[Abdurahman]

Try to get one for around $1000 that has an 8600GT at least. You won't be sorry :D

[InnerGoat]

8600gt... psssh

There was a Gateway BestBuy had on sale for $999 that had a nice 8800GTS-M 512 in it. See if you can find one of them still, killer deal.

[Sel]

If you're looking for battery life go for an integrated graphics card. High end graphics cards will shit all over your battery life, and if you're looking for good graphics and gaming run with a desktop.

Otherwise if a desktop is not an option and you need a descent graphics card, check this out to give yourself an idea of what you should try to hit.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=302231

[legionaire45]

Don't buy anything based off of the Nvidia G84/86 core (GF 8400M, 8600M, 8700M, some others) because they may be faulty, especially if you are buying an older laptop. Some G92 based cores also appear to be effected although the failure rates aren't very high.

That being said, a Dell Studio laptop isn't a bad idea. The 17" is a pretty good deal.

[Warsaw]

Also, be aware that drivers for some integrated nVIdia cards (like the 8800M GTS) are not available from nVidia...HP has them on their site.

[klange]

Hey, man, don't be dissin' the Intel graphics, I hear the X4500 is quite spiffy.
And if you're going under $1000, you'll probably be getting an Intel card anyway.

But more to the point: What are you looking to do with it?

[jngrow]

Light gaming (medium quality on source games) and portability.

[Needles]

Light gaming (medium quality on source games) and portability.
A 8600gt or 7600,7800,or 7900 nvidia. Or an ATI 2600 or 2400.

[Sel]

A 8600gt or 7600,7800,or 7900 nvidia. Or an ATI 2600 or 2400.

Ummmm no...

I was able to get high quality, no AA or AF or bloom, on an ATI x1100 in my laptop and still get a great FPS at 800X600.

Seriously, if you're going for a laptop and most of the games you play are source, you're fine with just about any modern integrated card. Stuff from 2003 or before is also usually runnable too.

[jngrow]

Mmk, cause my bro's laptop (I don't know how much it cost) he got for last xmas can barely run source games on all low, 640x480. It has 2G ram and a 1.4dual core, so i figured it would have an ok integrated, but guess not.

[Sel]

My laptop had 1.8GHZ Dual AMD turion 64s
2GB RAM
And an ATI X1100

Also bought last Xmas.

Might have been his CPU. Source games are really CPU intensive compared to other games.

Also mine cost 800$ for the record.

[Needles]

Ummmm no...

I was able to get high quality, no AA or AF or bloom, on an ATI x1100 in my laptop and still get a great FPS at 800X600.

Seriously, if you're going for a laptop and most of the games you play are source, you're fine with just about any modern integrated card. Stuff from 2003 or before is also usually runnable too.
I though he might want AF or a better res...
Lower resolutions look like crap on LCDs

[Sel]

Ummmm..... If he wanted to be able to play a game at fullest possible settings he wouldn't be buying a laptop. Unless a desktop was not an option.

800X600 looks fine.

[343guiltymc]

Ummmm..... If he wanted to be able to play a game at fullest possible settings he wouldn't be buying a laptop. Unless a desktop was not an option.

800X600 looks fine.
If you were using an ultraportable...

[InnerGoat]

My laptop had 1.8GHZ Dual AMD turion 64s
2GB RAM
And an ATI X1100

Also bought last Xmas.

Might have been his CPU. Source games are really CPU intensive compared to other games.

Also mine cost 800$ for the record.
Er, no.

I've got an Acer with the x1250 mobility in it and it's pretty bad. Yes, it can run CS:S fine, Halo pc and Halo 2 (lol) somewhat ok but that's about it. The whole problem with it is the lack of memory bandwidth. Using high or low settings doesn't make much difference, the framerate is the same.

It's only $399 at BB though, so you know it's not made to game. ;)

[Warsaw]

Ummmm..... If he wanted to be able to play a game at fullest possible settings he wouldn't be buying a laptop. Unless a desktop was not an option.

800X600 looks fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147750

wut.

Alas, that notebook is out of his price range, out of stock, and really big...

...But you cannot deny its sexiness. :-3

[nick3d]

i recommend a Apple Macbook lol
the best thing ever :P

[4RT1LL3RY]

This Asus laptop is pretty nice
Here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220342)
It has a dedicated 9500M, 3 GB of Ram, 2GHz C2D, but its battery life is only around 1 hour 45 minutes and its screen res is only 1280x800. However it gets more then 100fps is most source games on high at native resolution. Also as with most laptops the speakers suck. But it looks like a solid laptop for moderate gaming and comes with a bag and some other stuff.

[Warsaw]

i recommend a Apple Macbook lol
the best thing ever :P

Apple hardware is fail. They don't update fast enough, and when they do, it is never as good as it could be. For the price of a MacBok Pro, one could get a very nice laptop PC that is two or three times as powerful, thus enabling it to do things the MBP can't.

[klange]

Apple hardware is overpriced. Updates? That's a software issue...

[JDMFSeanP]

I recommend a macbook too. You really are getting what you pay for. The machine is super quiet, barely generates excess heat, and runs very smoothly. Plus a very quick boot and shutdown.

Well I got a great deal on mine off ebay so yeah, 900 for 2.16 ghz C2D macbook, 4GB ram, and a bluetooth keyboard and might mouse.

They may update slow but they do everything they need to.

They also have the best looking design IMO.

BACON:
He meant they don't update chipsets as often as they should, for example the macbook pro (though its getting one within the month) hasen't had a chipset update in FOREVER. They stick with one set basically til it no longer sells as much.

[Warsaw]

Especially GPUs...Apple always gets the short end of the stick in this department. They NEVER get the most recent high end card, always the GeForce x600 version, or in ATi's case, the x6x0 versions. If they could get better with this, I'd consider getting an MBP myself. As it is, I'd rather get that excessively large HP Pavilion HDX than an MBP.

[Abdurahman]

Dude check out this ASUS laptop.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220348

250 Gig HD, 3 gigs ram, a dedicated 512mb radeon 3650 :D (which is the ATi equivalent of an 8600GT) , a 2 ghz Turion 64 X2, a 1.3mp webcam, all for just $899.99!!!!

Dude this is an amazing deal. I would get it if I were you.