Mjg1675

Not looking anymore.

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A-E-I-Owned-You

Gateway FX and HPs lappys in your range are pretty decent. Check them out. I will be picking up a gateway FX here really soon.

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Mjg1675

I'll check out the Gateway, but I'm trying to get away from HP.

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chatch15117

What HP notebook is it? I've noticed over time that the entry-level notebooks do not last long at all, but the higher end ones last forever. I've put my poor dv6700z through enormous abuse but I've never had a problem with it(except on April 22nd the dvd drive FUBAR'd and hp sent me a new one overnight for free). 11% CPU overclock and 60% GPU overclock; running an average of 18 hours a day since it was first powered on, according to Everest.

Anyways, Gateway's new product line is pretty good if you don't trust HP. The touchpad is way over to the left and is kind of annoying. The keyboards don't make you scream anymore(the DEL key and windows keys used to be switched around). The Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500 on their 15.6" series would not be good for gaming. The 9800M GTS in their 17" notebooks aren't too shabby, and it comes with 1066MHz DDR3 memory. You never specified what screen size you are looking for, or if it matters. I can't guess because the Macbook Pro's come in 13", 15", and 17" sizes(although the 13" 2.26GHz model is the only one in your price range). The Gateway FX seems best for you. I didn't notice if they have glossy screens or not, but I'm going to guess that they do. 2.4GHz and 4GB DDR3 ram for only $1100.

Apple notebooks are of course extremely sturdy and reliable. The display is beautiful and the design is flawless IMO. The only thing I don't like is not having a right-click. They have a GeForce 9400M that would be destroyed by the Gateway's GTS. Check out the Voodo Envy if you want a sharp looking notebook with right click . I bought my friend one of these and he LOVES it!

It's the end of the year, though(HP's fiscal year ends November 24th) so new models will be coming out shortly after Q2 starts. If you can wait for Clarksfield and the Intel 5 series-M chipset, you will get the most bang for your buck. Or you could wait for the prices to drop a bit after December to buy one.

You could also check out other notebook brands. Toshiba, Sony, or Dell. From my experience, toshiba enterprise notebooks are great, but their consumer products break very often. Sony's VAIO notebooks are wonderfully overpriced and come with a tiny little ATI 256mb card for $1200. Dell is great, but if you want a fast notebook, it'll cost you $1500+ like Sony. I assume ASUS and MSI have good notebooks. My friend never had any problems with his very abused ACER ferrari laptop.

If you want to save quite a bit of money, configure it with the lowest cost hard drive, and drop in a Scorpio Black from newegg for $80 shipped. Then sell the hard drive the notebook came with . You may want to keep the original drive so you don't lose the Scorpio if you have to send it in for repairs. The BJKT series has a free-fall sensor that temporarily disables the drive if the laptop is dropped, preventing platter or head damage. I found this out after i bought the 320GB BEKT :/.

If you want to give HP a try, their dv6t, dv6z and dv7t(z is for AMD and t is for Intel) series boast a Radeon 4650 1GB card and either a 2.6GHz Turion II x2 or a Core 2 Duo up to 3.06GHz. You can get a 2.66GHz C2D and the 4650 for $1,274. It didn't mention the DDR3 memory speed, but I'm assuming that it uses 1066MHz like the rest of the manufacturers. The dv6t Quad edition has an i7-720 and 1GB GeForce GT 230M for $1000. The i7-860 adds $400 for a total of $1400. But again, if you're going i7, wait for clarksfield.

So to sum it up:
Apple Macbook Pro 13"

• 13" LED
• 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo
• GeForce 9400M(GS or GT? Didn't say)
• 2GB DDR3 1066
• 160GB 5400RPM (swap with scorpio black)

$1200

Gateway FX

• 17" Widescreen Glossy
• 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo
• GeForce 9800M GTS
• 4GB DDR3 1066
• 320GB 7200RPM(IDK 8 or 16MB cache. scorpio will probably beat it)

$1200

HP dv6t

• 16" Widescreen Glossy
• 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo
• GeForce 130M 1GB
• 4GB DDR3 1066
• 320GB 7200RPM

$1274 ($1199 with 2.53GHz Core 2 Duo)

HP dv6t Quad(if you can't wait)

• 15.6" Widescreen Glossy
• i7 720 1.6GHz 1333MHz FSB
• GeForce 230M 1GB
• 4GB DDR3 ?MHz
• 320GB 7200RPM

$1019

If you get an nForce chipset, you can download nTune and overclock your CPU, and with the right drivers, overclock your GFX! From looking at the Gateway FX thread, it comes with an Intel chipset :/.
GeForce 169.04 or 185.20 with modded inf for Vista, or 186.03 with modded inf for Windows 7.
Before someone posts "ZOMG don't overclock your laptop", I don't see why you wouldn't want to if the temps are fine, and you run Linx to make sure the CPU doesn't overheat.

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Mjg1675

I've had a dv5t. Also, where are you getting these integrated nVidia graphics in the HP laptop? Along with the quad core?

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freakb18c1

Thinkpad T400s

tkl.hui

That or the lenovo T500 if you want better graphics. I can play RE5, Arkham's Asylum pretty much maxed out on mine. Plus the switchable graphics is great. I can usually get 4 hours of battery life on integrated graphics with 6 cell battery.

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Q6600 @ 3.8ghz

UndertheGun

Are you threating me?

Any way what you list is vague. What size screen. Your needs don't sound like much but what kind of gaming do you want? So many options that is why I ask.

NITRO1250

http://malibal.com

Custom built laptops, good prices, 100% customer satisfaction, and upgradable (new gpu comes out, just send in and pay for the upgrade).

2 of my friends have them and are quite satisfied. If I wanted a desktop replacement or mobile gaming solution, I would look no further!

*edit* I just checked and they have core i7 laptops

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UndertheGun

Can you say Clevo? Go with XoticPC or PowerNoteBooks if you want one of these high end uber systems. Dark Smiley was a nice guy but went out of business.

But to OP what size screen and how much gaming?