Alienware is $800... ? Isn't a gaming laptop supposed to be more expensive than the average laptop? My friend's Alienware cost $3000 with little or no customization.
It's $800 for the M11x, the smallest (and cheapest) laptop for sale in terms of alienware. I don't have the time to save up any more money than that. Plus i've heard problems with the M15 and M17x. I do have a friend who has a Dell laptop that can run it very well...but he won't let me play it at school or when i go over to his house. He won't even tell me the model or anything! (Because if i knew that i could easily buy it myself, if its cheaper than the M11x.) Any other FPS games that you guys can recommend? I plan to get MW2, Borderlands, BFBC2 (i think its on PC...) and thats it for now. The highest quality game i can play on my Presario CQ60 (Its a Compaq) is Portal. And it doesn't even run that well...
If you need to acquire spending money to get into current gen gaming then I wouldn't recommend grabbing a gaming laptop. Personally I would hold off on getting a console and see what kind of console game bundle deals retailers will have around the fall season. A decent gaming laptop like the MX11 starts at 800 dollars but I'd hate to spend any amount of money on a gaming machine and not be able to max out most of the newer games.
Hmm, this post changed my thoughts... My friend with a M11x can play MW2 on max graphics. Even if they aren't that high of requirements, most games (like Crysis) will be able to run well enough to play. I think i'll save up some money during this year (again, sell my PSP and DSs and have a yard sale or something) and maybe convince my parents to pay for the remainder of the cost. Alienware for sure. Or that Dell laptop that my friend has. If he was nice enough to tell me the model, that'd be great... Should i add a poll to this thread? I hate repeating myself... EDIT: After re-reading all the posts (theres about 23 in here! Most responses i've gotton in a thread i've opened!) i think i'm going to go for the PS3 instead. Even though games are $60 and up at some points, it'll be worth it. My cousins have a PS3, as do a few of my friends. It'll be great to play online with them, FOR FREE!
Which laptop? I have an Alienware m11x, and I'm VERY VERY happy with it. It's extremely portable and plays most games, and has a superb battery. It was about 2,5 times as expensive as a PS3, but it runs games like MW2, L4D2 and Dirt 2 on the highest settings, games like BF:BC2 and Just Cause 2 at medium to high settings (that's better than consoles) and Crysis at mostly medium but also some high settings. The Alienware m15x is a portable powerhouse, with the right upgrades/specs (good processor etc.) it runs almost every game on max settings at 1920x1280. the only con is that the battery is crap, but you can take it everywhere you want if there's electricity. I think it will run games like ARMAII and Crysis at high, those are the most demanding games on earth.(please note, you should get an i7 QUAD (QM). The Alienware m17x is ****ing sick. You can choose for an intel core i7 920XM @ 2Ghz, and dual HD5870. This laptop will play everything at the highest settings possible, but the set-up to achieve this will cost about 2500$. Here's my advice, get a desktop. You can't take a PS3 with you, but you cant take a desktop with you either. for about 1100$ you can get a superb desktop. I have a desktop and laptop, following specs: Desktop: Intel Core i7 860 @ 2.8Ghz 1.5TB HDD 7200RPM XFX ATi Radeon HD5850 6GB RAM (when I bought the desktop it had an Nvidia GeForce GT220, wich sucked bigtime, so I upgraded to the HD5850, runs Crysis Ultra High mod @ 1920x1280, got average 31FPS in the benchmark, at a slightly lower resolution you get about 4FPS more). Laptop: Alienware m11x cosmic black Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300(1.3Ghz OC'd(stable, with minor temperature increase) @ 1,73Ghz 320GB HDD 7200RPM Nvidia GeForce GT335m 4GB RAM It seems that you don't need a laptop since you are also considering a PS3, so get a desktop! Desktops are awesome! If you don't want to build a desktop yourself or upgrade it, get the Alienware Aurora, with an i7 and a good GPU! E: I bought my 360 one year ago and I bought my desktop about 5 months ago, upgraded to the HD5850, And you can't play "real" games on an xbox. You can't be really skilled in shooters, not only because of the controlers, but also the ammount of noobs in games like Call of Duty 6, and the lack of shooters wich requires skill (Counter Strike for example). You can't tweak your settings, you can't mod, you can't play MMO's, RTS's, and games that are just too demanding for a console (like Crysis). Ok, Crysis 2 is coming to consoles, but consoles are worthless in terms of shading, lighting, and other effects that make Crysis(2) extremely realistic. Why? Consoles still have the same GPU's as 4 years ago, without dx11 support, worse shaders and so on. The CPU's are fast, because they share memory with the GPU. Consoles will be able to get a decent ammount of objects and a good viewing range, but other effects will suck on consoles, period. You need a high end PC to see real beauty and get pinpoint accuracy.
I don't see whats so great about playing with a mouse and keyboard... A controller is perfectly fine and is way less confusing.
Some people just prefer the accuracy and control of it. It's just a preference, really. It's mostly from people that've been playing on PCs most of their live. To put it in perspective, imagine using the 360 controller all your life, and then switching to the Wii's Remote-and-Nunchuck to play MW2. You're gonna miss the 360. While the PS3 and Xbox 360 play ALL games.
Oh, I see what you're saying. I'm always seeing people saying how great a mouse and keyboard is, so I was just wondering haha
I've never been big on mouse and keyboard. For a start... keyboards weren't designed for gaming. Using KEYS to move? Ridiculous. W,A,S & D aren't in the optimum positions for comfortable usage and moving your finger to other keys such as X is just putting strain on your muscles and suddenly your chances of developing RSI increase tenfold. Oh, and no pressure sensitivity, so there goes any serious racing games unless you're prepared to spend money on accessories. As for mouse, yeah it's accurate, but a little too accurate to be realistic. Shooting in real life is not pixel perfect, and it shouldn't be in games either. To me, controllers being slightly less accurate is like a (closer) simulation of human accuracy in the real world.
Word. But at the same time, I grew up playing consoles and have never been a fan of playing on PCs. Not dissing PC gaming but after trying it a couple times, I could never get used to putting my fingers in awkward positions on a keyboard. Everyone has their preferences, though. Anyway, it's hard to say if you should get a laptop or PS3. I have a PS3 and again I'm a console person so I'd probably suggest getting a console with PSN being free (for now). As for the gaming laptop...well, you can take it anywhere with you per se (it's not really THAT portable but...) but they are really expensive and seeing as how you're not working, I doubt you'll even generate 1/3 or 1/2 enough money to get a decent laptop to run games like Crysis. I guess I'd suggest getting a PS3 instead. If you do sell your DS and DS Lite and then suddenly feel nostalgic and want them back, maybe you shouldn't feel too bad since the 3DS is rumored to be released this fall in October and is purportedly backwards compatible with previous DS games.
Whoa whoa whoa! I thought PSN was always going to be free! Thats the main reason i was thinking of buying it, because of free online! Man, how will it compare to the 360 LIVE? I was going sell my DS and DS Lite with all the games. So the 3DS wouldn't help much.
It will always be free. There's just strong rumours at the moment that Sony will introduce some kind of 'premium' service along side it like Xbox360's Live subscription which will give it's users more content etc. As for the question... PS3 for sure. If it's gaming you're after, then in my opinion a 'gaming console' is going to suit your needs better.
Sorry to cause such a frenzy. Sony mentioned about a month and a half ago that they'd be "looking into" some kind of "premium" (read: 'paid-for') service for PSN. A buddy of mine that owns a retro gaming store knows a few industry insiders and he said basically what the premium would be (if Sony decides to do it) would be like pay $X.XX for a subscription (per month/year/whatever) and members would get to do things like automatic invites to beta testing big games; special offers on stuff; blah blah blah. If Sony did this whole premium thing, most players who probably don't care about things like that would still be able to, say, log into PSN, download demos, and play online multiplayer games just like before...for FREE. Hope that clears up any confusion. If you want to read about it, just Google search something like 'joystiq psn premium service' or something like that. Again, if it's gaming you're after, I agree with everyone else and say go with a PS3. Although I have a PS3 I might be a little biased but it's just my opinion. I think of the Xbox 360 as being great for people who almost play exclusively online multiplayer games, the latter of which is something I'm not into. (The most I'll do is online co-op every now and then -- not a big multiplayer fan.) A gaming laptop is cool but it's really not that portable.
I would suggest a gaming PC, it just feels a lot more natural (although from what I read some people would disagree). You can also play more games, better internet, MMOs, etc...
Go for the laptop! Gaming PCs will always dominate consoles. The controls are better, plus more importantly: MODS!
