The 64 you mentioned earlier has a more powerful graphic processer than the averatec (mobile intel up to 64mb) however battery life many be compromised (down to about 2 - 2 1/2 hrs) due to the added voltage required by the 64 and ATI combo. But if it isnt a major concern/necessity for you, go for the 64.
A XPLORER X64-8000 PRO NOTEBOOK (cyberpowerpc.com) DISPLAY LCD : 15.4" WXGA WIDE-SCREEN TFT LCD DISPLAY Max: 1280x800 PIXELS CPU : AMD MOBILE ATHLON™64 2800+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology MOTHERBOARD : SiS Chipset Mainboard MEMORY : 512 MB PC2700 333MHz DDR MEMORY (Standard Major Brand) HARD DRIVE : 40GB 5400RPM ULTRA ATA 100 HARD DRIVE VIDEO CARD : MOBILE ATI RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB VIDEO OPTICAL DRIVE : 8X DVD & 24/16/24 CDRW COMBO DRIVE SOUND : BUILT-IN AC 97 SOUND Price: $1097.00 (comes with free HL2!) Sager Notebook NP4321-S 15" XGA Active Matrix LCD Pentium® 4 Processor 3.2GHz supporting Hyper-Threading Technology 512MB DDR 60.0GB (5400rpm) HD 8X DVD / 24X10X24 CD-RW Combo Drive & Softwares 10/100Mbps Ethernet Internal V.90 Fax/Modem Smart Li-ION Battery 9700 Pro 128mb $1,145.00
MuffinMan, You're right on target with what im trying to accomplish!!! and wow that first one really im really interested in! was going to get HL2 but now i might not have to!!! unless anyone can suggest something better and cheaper (than $1,105) i just might get this one!!!! looks good major upgrade from what i have now too!!!!
talked to cyberpower..... unfortunately they accept credit card i don't have a credit card so no dice on that deal.... imagine my aching...... was kinda stoked about this one! another resason id rather get from in-store..... can anyone find other configs? that i can get? on the other hand is the radeon xpress 200m igp better or worse than a 9200??? i'd really like to know because i'm looking at two laptops with this graphics chip....
Have a look at the MiTac laptops if you get chance, I recently bought (5mnths ago): Athlon 64 3400 1 gig ram radeon 9700 mobile 15" Screen @ 1400x1050 native 80 gb hdd dvd writer built in 54g For £900. plus the battery life is like 3 and a half hours, which you wouldn't normally expect from a laptop of this spec, even playing hl2 it lasts just over 2 hours, it's very nice. http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/NBrange.html?CSF <- these are the newer versions of what I have, MiTac produce a lot of oem stuff that retailers customise so look out for the designs under different monikers, they are very good. Just my 2 penneth
sorry, way over my budget like 900GBP = 1,5XX dollars also found another: A64 compaq will this work? Note: Half-Life 2 is NOT a requirement but if the others play nice that fine seeing as how i don't have half-life 2.... so anything that will play the other listed games is just fine...... must be similar to my radeon 9200 or better or as long as it plays those games decently!
Aww that sucks, ya I tried to build a decent one, you should borrow someone's credit card for it haha edit - just remembered, if you're close enough to a Best Buy they'll soon be carrying a brand local to where I live called Velocity Micro, they've been in like PC World and have gotten lots of awards, you may check out what you can find there velocitymicro.com i think is the site, and like i said, Best Buy will be stocking them everywhere soon (to my understanding though they are rebranded Sagers )
Things are cheaper over your way anywho, it's worth keeping an eye out for retailers selling these at bargain prices, they're the muts . . .
What do you want the laptop to do? Do you want to be able to carry it about? If so then throw away anything bar pentium M. You say you want to be able to play games - then you are goign to NEED dedicated graphics. I have a dell D810. Not maybe your tastes but i got a good price on it because it was a low end model the company wanted to get rid off. (1.6 pentium-M, 512mb ram, 30 gig HD, x600 graphics). It however suited me perfectly as its all completely upgradable as its a 915 chipset, single stick of ram and the x600 is the new axiom replaceable chipset for graphics. It cost 600 pounds, whihc is about 1100 dollars, so about your budget. i'd look for something like this, as having a laptop that upgrades will save you a lot of money in the long run. It's cheaper than a whole new laptop every few years. Don't be afraid of buying online either as it will save you money. You also shouldn't try to skimp too much as you are better off spending 1300 and getting what you want than 1100 and regreting what you bought.
it doesn't have to be small as im pretty much going fom workbench to work bench As for the games being that they are somewhat older (ie: not hl2 or farCry, battlefield 2) I thought the radeon xpress 200m with 128mb dedicated mem would suit me just fine (of course if i am wrong someone tell me so) I would really like to see an A64 appear in the laptop.... as for skimping anything new today is better than the laptop that im dealing with! Apple Powerbook 190cs (it was free) Specs: # CPU: 33 MHz 68LC040 # FPU: none # ROM: 2 MB # RAM: 8 MB, expandable to 40 MB # display: 10.4" color passive matrix # 500 MB hard drive standard # ADB port for keyboard and mouse # DIN-8 serial port on back of computer # two PC Card slots # PowerBook SCSI connector on back of computer # Gestalt ID: 122 # Size (HxWxD): 2.2" x 11.5" x 8.5" # weight: 6.3 pounds # must burn incense to connect to internet # IR is teh roxors! (not wi-fi) so would the compaq do what i want????
Update! Well it has been awhile but i finally bought my new laptop Specs: 1.60 ghz Pent 4-m centrino 512MB ram (soon to be a gig) 60GB HD 15.4 in widescreen Intel GMA 900 128MB discrete express card dual layer DVD burner wireless.... of course Link: Lappy The number is M45-2652 on mine. its really the m45-265 with a 60 not a 100gb hd runs my games like a champ! bench is in the 4000s! not bad.....