computer help

Im in the market for a laptop and i am having trouble picking one. I will be gaming on it, and just doing regular normal tasks. My main thing is i want computer to last me a while. I would like to be able to play a game that comes out a year or two from now and not worry about it being to demanding for my machine to handle. Please check out the two links below and offer suggestions on which one i should pick. they are both priced at 1250. Thanks

1, http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/sys/1860368441.html

2, http://baltimore.craigslist.org/sys/1809390682.html

 

They've both got quad core cpus but the HP has 8GB of RAM and the Alienware only has 4GB. The alienware has dual video cards (I assume in SLI) so gaming should have much faster framerates on the alienware if that's what you're after. The alienware states it has a 500GB hard drive versus the 320 in the HP, but the HP specifically states it's a 7200 rpm drive. Not sure what's the speed of the hard drive in the alienware.
Both look like good laptops. I would look up the full specs on their respective websites and do a cross comparison which one has more features you'll think you will end up using.

 

i was thinking alienware. I researched the HP and read that the video card over heats during gameplay. I also read the alienware has hard drive issues. I dont know both are good but i dont know which one will last me the longest in terms of gaming. thanks for yalls input. I look foward to reading what other people have to say.

 

+1 for going with the alienware

 

Well as far as the RAM goes it's not that expensive. Just check what the Alienware will max out at. The HP might already be maxed out at 8GB.
And for hard drive issues, it might just be that the Alienware might not have sufficient heat dissipation around their hard drive enclosure underneath. You can get a $20 laptop cooler and that will probably solve that problem. And if you ever do need to replace the hard drive in that alienware, you can get a 500GB 7200rpm drive from Newegg or Tiger Direct for around $60-70 so it won't set you back too far.

 

Not a fan of HP's personally. But if it does have the QX9300 processor in it that thing is pretty sweet. It has 12 MB of L2 Cache versus the Alienware's 6MB. But the video card setup in the Alienware is a winner hands down. You will notice a bigger improvement in that are over the processor.

 

I'd build an alienware...wait for a deal offered (go to dells website). I've never been a fan of buying a used computer. Right now they have a special on alienwares, and if you're a student, you get an additional 200 dollars off as well i think

 

ok sweet that was going to be my next question. So the better videocard in the alienware is more than enough to offset the diffrence between the processors?

 

the ad claims that the alienware is new and only been turned on for verification purposes. I dont know thou.

 

Yes, you would only notice the difference if you ran benchmarks and scored your results. If you playing a game, the difference in CPU's alone won't be much of a gain. The videocards on the other hand would actually allow you to see the difference.

If you were multitasking or encoding video or something of the sort then the HP would be a more logical choice.

 

i decided against the two choices i had before. For the price i would pay for the two used i can save up a little more and get a new system. Asus G73jh seems pretty loaded for the price, so i think i will go with that one, any comments on this idea?

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-g73jh-a1/4505-3121_7-33950895.html