Hey guys, I'm hopping on a little insight here.Due to place constraint i have been forced in using a laptop for the past 3.5 years. I had originally purchased an Acer aspire 18004(p4 3.2 1mb/1 gig ram/pcie x600 64mb 80g 5400) and it served me quite well i guess. But now I'm experiencing video failure, as everytime i load a game that requires any 3d acceleration the laptop completely shuts down(i have tried other drivers/fresh install.....) and this with games i used to play without a problem and sadly even with some flash games :S.


Few things to keep in Mind:

1: 17in screen requirement(16in can float i guess any comments on a 16in ? seems weird aspect ratio to me)
2: I am Canadian
3: Price range 1500$ but i am flexible...(not to the point of buying a sager tho damn borders...)
4: Main usage would be internet(browsing/msn/webcam)(30%) Gaming(40-50%) Multimedia(movies/music 10-20%) and well a litle work(word/excel/power point) 10-15%)
5:The laptop is/would be plugged in 85%+ of the time.
6: Gaming would typically be cod4/WoW/Ashen Empires/UT3 and am looking into crysis and bioshock if possible.


I have rummaged the internet for over 1 week few hrs everyday reading up/shopping for laptops.Witch of these would you recommend or any other for that matter and why?

Thanks

I have come upon 6 manufacturers products that i like Asus/Acer/toshiba/LG/MSI and gateway(not available yet in Canada but... Here are the choices i have with pricing.

The acer.

Acer Aspire 8920-6030 - Core 2 Duo T8100 2.1 GHz - 18.4" TFT Part #: LX.AP50X.347 1920/1080 4 Gig 9500GS 320/5400 $1,529.00 CDW $1,599.99 NCIX $1,429.95 PCVILLAGE 1445.52 DirectCanada

Acer Aspire 8920-6746 Core 2 Duo T9300 4GB 320GB 18.4IN WUXGA 9500GS Bdrom Vista Ultimate Notebook Part #: LX.AP50U.011 1920/1080 320/5400 $1,997.77 NCIX

Acer Aspire 6920-6141 Core 2 Duo T8300 4GB 320GB 16IN WUXGA 9500GS DVDRW WLAN Vista Premium Notebook Part #: LX.APU0X.017 1366/768 320/5400 $1,549.99 NCIX

Acer 6920-6428 Core 2 Duo T5550 GeForce 9500M GS 3GB 320GB 16IN WXGA Bluray Vista Premium Notebook Part #: LX.APQ0X.401 1366/768 $1,140.16 1366/768 NCIX $1,099.99 Tiger $1,068.90 DirectCanada

Acer 7720-6152 Core 2 Duo T5450 GeForce 8600M GT 3GB 250GB 17IN WXGA DVDRW Vista Premium Notebook Part #: LX.ANS0X.368 250/?(unsure rpm) $1,199.99 NCIX $1,144.50 DirectCanada

Acer 7720-6604 Core 2 Duo T8100 3GB 320GB 17IN WXGA GeForce 8600M GT DVDRW Vista Ultimate 64BIT Part #: LX.ANS0U.011 1440/900 320/5400 $1,319.00 NCIX $1,363.95 DirectCanada

The LG:

LG ELECTRONICS R700-X.AP03A9 CORE 2 DUO T8100 2.1GHZ 4096MB/320GB DVD+/-RW 56K/10-100 WLAN 17 INCH TFT WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM Part #: R700-X.AP03A9 320/5400HDD $1,492.00 No directdial $1,569.99 CDW $1,449.99 NCIX 1489.99 Tiger $1,458.00 DirectCanada $1,458.00 PCcyber

LG R700-X.AP02A9 Express Dual - Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4 GHz - 17" TFT Part #: R700-X.AP02A9 1680/1050GHz 2 GigRam 8600 gt 250/5400HDD $1,561.99 No CDW $1,477.00 PCCYBER

The MSI

MSI GX700 CORE 2 DUO 2.2GHZ 2048MB/160GB DVD+/-RW 56K/10-100 WLAN 17 INCH TFT WUXGA WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM Part #: GX700-038CA 160/5400 $1,466.00 Yes directdial $1,559.00 CDW

The Toshiba:

Toshiba 17" Laptop featuring Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5450 (X200-BG0) - Best Buy Exclusive Part #: PSPB9C-BG008C 1440/900 Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 / 1.66 GHz 2 Gig 8700 gt 512 250/5400 $1,399.95 BestBuy

TOSHIBA SATELLITE X200-AX1 CORE 2 DUO T8100 2.1GHZ 3074MB/320GB DVD+/-RW 10-100 WLAN WIDESCREEN 17.1 INCH TFT WXGA WINDOWS VISTA ULTIMATE Part #: PSPBUC-AX10DC 8600 gt 160 x2 $2,065.00 8600gt sli directdial $2,179.00 CDW $1,999.95 Futureshop

The Asus:

ASUS G2S A1 - Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2 GHz - 17" TFT Part #: 90NJYA6531222CQL10 1920/1200 2 Gig 8600 gt 160/5400 $1,844.99 No 256gdr3 CDW $1,722.60 DirectCanada

ASUS G2S-A2 Core 2 T7500 965PM 2GB 160GB 17.1IN WUXGA GeForce 8600 GT 256M Vista Premium Notebook Part #: 90NJYA6531226CQL100T 1920/1200 160/5400 $1,579.99 256gdr3 NCIX

ASUS G2S-B2 Core 2 T7700 PM965 3GB 200GB 17.1IN WUXGA GeForce 8600M GT 256MB Vista Premium Notebook Part #: 90NJYA653115KCQL150T 3 Gig 8600 gt 200/7200? $2,049.99 NCIX $1,948.32 DirectCanada $1,987.00 PCCYBER

ASUS G2SG-A1 Core 2 T9300 PM965 4GB 320G 17.1IN WUXGA GeForce 8700M GT 512MB Vista Ultimate Notebook Part #: 90NGPA5431447JQL150T 320/5400 $2,115.68 No 512gdr3 NCIX $1,959.95 PCVILLAGE $2,086.00 PCCYBER


ASUS T8300 PM965 VHP4GB DDR2 500G 17"M70SA-B1 (w/TV Tuner) 1440/900 Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 / 2.4 GHz 4 Gig ATI Mobility™ Radeon® HD 3650, 1GB 250*2/5400 $1,620.00 No dual hdd PCCYBER

Asus M51Sn-X1 Notebook PC 1440/900 Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 / 1.66 GHz 3 Gig ATI Mobility™ Radeon® HD 3650, 1GB 320/5400 $1,099.96 No Staples


And well lastly the Gateway(that i cant get yet unless i get shipped to a friends in the states(but possible))

Gateway: Model: P-6860FX 1440/900 4 gig ram 320/5400 hdd and 8800gts 512 mb gdr3/Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T5550 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspag [...] ductdetail 1349.99$ us

or newer revision

Gateway® P-172S FX Edition T5750 (2.00GHz, 667MHz, 2MB L2 cache)/3 gig ram/160/7200 hdd/8800 gts 512 ddr3/1440/900 1399.99http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529598006.php.


Also How does a ATI Mobility™ Radeon® HD 3650, 1GB stack up performance wise as i havent found much data from them.

Thanks a million to any and all of you for your time reading this.


Sincerely

Hailan

p.s. If you choose the gateway what would be your second choice?

Well im pretty much in the same situation - price and im from the U.S.
i went with the gx600 which is pretty much a shrink of the 700. best price to performance ratio i thought. good luck.

Definitely go for the GATEWAY models, because they have a 8800MGTS which blows away a 8600M/8700M/9500M

between those GATEWAYS,well it depends on u, they dont have alot of differences(The second one has a faster CPU but the difference isn't much)the first one has 4GB RAM (which again doesnt have a noticeable difference with 3GB) and finally its the HDD capacity which depends on u

If i were u i would go for the first one and if u need a better CPU u can upgrade it

I am having the same problem too.
The Acer Aspire 8920-6030 - T8100 model is probably the best configured for the money.
It has a Blue ray reader, 18" 1080 screen, 64 bit Premium Home operating system that uses the full 4GB of ram which runs games fast compared to the slower 32 bit version.
You can upgrade the CPU to T9300 buying it separately for about $350.00 range.
The Ultimate version of Vista is not really needed but can be added when the need arrives.

Only 1 year warranty unless you buy an upgrade for two more years. $150.00 to $200.00
Fire wire is left out, not good for video cameras.

The Asus brand is a much better quality laptop. The screen is sharper and better colour reproduction than any other brand of laptop on their 1920 LCD. They give a compete 2 year warrant from Toronto. They pay the shipping costs and the turn around time is usually in 2 days.

The problem is that the price of ~ $1900 -$2000 is too high for a 32 bit, no Blue Ray and a older video card.

Forget about ordering across the boarder for the laptop unless warranty service is provided in Canada. Customs and shipping costs will make the cost of the laptop prohibitive. Unless you travel to the USA often and have an address were you can send it to.

To top it off. The next generation of CPUs and Chip sets are coming out in 3 weeks.
Centrino 2 is suppose to have the next required technology (ddr3, next generation of video, faster 1066 buss speeds) and cooler, faster, and longer lasting battery support.

SO do we wait?
It will take 1 to 3 months until the old stock is depleted to unsuspecting
customers who just bought obsolete 1 to 3 year old technology depending on the CPU model before the new ones are avalible.