Here're the specs
dell inspiron 8200
p4 2ghz m
256ddram
30 gm hdd
15 inch sxga+
32mb ddram geforce 4 go 440
battery life=2hours n 30 hours(as benchmarked by cnet)

Compaq presario 1500
p4 2.4 ghz(desktop)
256 ddram
40gb hdd
15 inch xga
32mb ddram ati radeon m 7500
battery life= barely 2 hours(cnet)

Acer travelmate 420
p4 2.4ghz desktop
256ddram
30gb hdd
15 inch xga
battlife 2 hours n 10 minutes(cnet)

Well what should i get?
All three costs around 1500 USD
i'm quite an avid gamer but i dont mind having moderate graphics performance
another question,
does the Resolutions of the lcd unchangable?

thanks in advance

The Compaq looks the nicest deal of them all. I can also vouch for the Dell. But in my opinion, forget the Acer. You say that you are an "avid" gamer, Just this statement says 'forget the acer': The Acer range of notebooks have possibly the worse graphics solutions I have ever seen on a notebook (Even the one in question with an ATI M7 (same as Compaq)), not to mention that they look like, well... crud.

The Compaq looks really nice, and comes with a very good graphics platform, good sound, and a barely decent battery. I don't like the XGA screen though. The 1525us model has a SXGA+ LCD, which is a bit better, though I dont know the price of it.

The Inspiron is a great machine. I guess you just have to decide whether that extra 400MHz is really necessary. You can get the 8200 with an ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 (64MB) with it, which will vastly improve your gaming experience, not to mention your battery life. You can decide for yourself the difference between SXGA+ and UXGA displays, though I prefer the higher definition UXGA.

You can change the res of an LCD, but it will look shocking, so it is best not to.

Pleasure, RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

ok thank you
but
i dont think the compaq is as good as u said,cuz it has the lowest batery life and lowest grpahichs performance (benchmarked by cnet)

I've tried the Compaq model that you speak of, except with the Mobility Radeon 9000. It was VERY good, but I still prefered the Dell.

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

okay thank you
another question here,
Infrared, how does it work?

OK: Enable infra red on the notebook (simple procedure - The Dell you need to go into the bios and say "on" ). Then enable infra red on the device you wish to communicate with (another notebook, a cellphone, a PDA etc.) The Notebook will then open a popup window/balloon to say that "Nokia 6310i" or "Andrew" (depending on the device and computer name) is nearby and is communicating via IR. You can send files to other computers via IR by quite simply double-clicking the IR icon in your system tray and selecting the files to send. It is not very reliable, but can be very useful.

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

Your loaded with info dude!
thanks alot
i do feel its very usefull to meh if i'd ever get two laptops :-)
anyway/ i'll be waiting abit longer
i'm hoping the prices will go down in February
do u think its a good idea?

It's my pleasure.

Infra Red is not that quick though, the maximum transfer rate is 4Mbps (about 500Kb/s) and if you are using an older notebook, it will decrease to a bout 1Mbps.

I would wait, What notebook do you think that you will get? Dell will be releasing a few new products in the next month or so, and that will force the prices down. Compaq is usually slower to get new technologies (but often surprise), and Acer -is well, Acer.

You'll keep us updated?

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

i think i'll wait for a few months more then. Its actually my dad who wanted to get a laptop, but he suggests we should wait and hope the price will go down in the next few months. i'll keep u'all updated on this and ask for yer opinions next time!