My main computer at the moment is an *exciting* (ha!) Compac Persario C700. While it is good enough for surfing the internet and such, I'm looking for something that can do SOME gaming and not overheat in the process. The main games I'd like to be able to play are WoW and Guild Wars 2 (when it is released). Half-Life 2, Command and Conquer 3, and Star Craft 2 would be nice perks. I don't need to be able to run Crisis (I don't own it anyway.) And I have never been able to play a game at Max settings so I won't be missing anything in that regard. I would like to be able to play for an hour or two without the computer overheating and shutting down. I set my current model on a busted cooling pad to keep my lap from frying. Don't try and sell me on more cooling pads. I've been through two by Cool Tech or something-- a Shopko USB fan-pad. And I've been through 2 by Swiss. Yes *that* Swiss. Apparently they can make knives by not cooling pads. I'm not buying another one. Period. I don't need a Blu-Ray drive or the ability to watch 720-1080p content. I don't need HDMI (or any video-out to be honest). This current model is 15.4" Widescreen, I like this size, but mostly I like the size of this keyboard. I would like to not go much smaller, but I don't want anything bigger then a 17". The brand does not matter. I am more leery of Acer and Dell then others, and I'm more a fan of HP and Gateway. Mac's tend to be out of my budget, and I don't believe they would satisfy my gaming desires anyway. Operating system (excluding a Mac) doesn't matter, I'll put what I want on it and download the drivers as needed. Vista Basic (what the C700 has) seems bloated and a bit laggy for the limited resources, but I never put XP Pro back on it. *shrug* I have never used Windows 7, but I've heard good things and I have nothing against it. I won't list a price. Let's go with "Cheap" and see what comes up. eBay and e-tailer are both fine. I don't care if the computer was a model released a few years ago or this year, as long as it can be found new-in-box. Thanks for any help/suggestions.
Hey man! Cheap and 'gaming laptop' don't often go hand in hand, but check out this Acer Aspire 5732ZG @ £410 Here are the performance numbers of the GPU as well a Radeon 4570 It should play those games listed above, check out L4D and CS:Source - as they both run on the HL2 engine. Should also handle C&C and SC2 (but not at the highest resolutions)
About $550 all said and done? And it'll do what I want and not over-heat? I consider that a steal. Found it on New Egg. I think I know what I'm saving for. Thanks so much. Other ideas are welcome too, of course.