# Best Gaming Custom Laptop



## mkjaekmi (Jul 22, 2008)

So what do you guys think is the best gaming laptop overall?


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 22, 2008)

The alienware area-51 m17x. It provides a combination of a 2.8ghz intel core 2 duo extreme processor, dual sli nvidia 8800m gtx graphics cards, and room for two internal hard drives, 500gb each, and a third as a swap drive. The ability to use the swap drive for a second battery and its sleek looks make it the best. It also has lightfx, which allows it to have build in leds in 5 places including the keyboard, and unlike the dell xps, the keyboard can be any one of 12 colors, not just white.


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## ducis (Jul 22, 2008)

wait a bit mobile GPUs are about to get why more powerful with then next gen


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## houseofbugs (Jul 22, 2008)

ASUS G1Sn-XX.

The ASUS G1Sn series is under $1500 and will run anything on the market. It also has eSATA and beautiful display. Oh and a free 1 year accidental warranty and 2 year standard warranty.

I have it and I love the thing.


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 22, 2008)

That as an nvidia 9500 graphics card.. That's like an nvidia 8600. o.o


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## skidude (Jul 22, 2008)

Sager NP9262. Hands down. I'm typing this on one right now, I got a Intel Q9550 and 2 8800M GTX's in SLI. I canceled my Alienware M17x order for one of these, and I couldn't be happier with it. Plus, the Sager is hundreds of dollars cheaper for the same, if not better, config.


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## mkjaekmi (Jul 22, 2008)

Interesting. Many chose falcon yet no explanations?

I'm actually stuck between sager/falcon... possibly alienware but there expensive.

I also noticed the new Sager 9262 has nvidia 9800 graphic card!?!? Is this true?


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## g4m3rof1337 (Jul 22, 2008)

My friend has that Asus and its great. 

But two is always better than one.




And out of that Poll, go with the Sager, everything else is just cheap.


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## skidude (Jul 22, 2008)

mkjaekmi said:


> Interesting. Many chose falcon yet no explanations?
> 
> I'm actually stuck between sager/falcon... possibly alienware but there expensive.



Plus they take forever to ship the damn laptop. M17x's at least.



> I also noticed the new Sager 9262 has nvidia 9800 graphic card!?!? Is this true?



Yep it's true, you get can get 2 9800GT's in SLI. The 9800GTX's are due in late August.


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## mkjaekmi (Jul 22, 2008)

thats crazy. If I buy the sager, would I be able to upgrade the graphic cards on my own> or would I have to ship it to the company for them to upgrade it for me?


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## skidude (Jul 22, 2008)

You can upgrade the video card by yourself and it will NOT void your warranty. However, damage caused by you updating the video card WILL. Sager is really good in letting you open up the case and upgrade while still be covered under warranty.


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## Kill Bill (Jul 22, 2008)

I'll be honest the Mx17 is sexy even though it's 2'' thick its very sexy But I couldn't get used to a numb pad on it as they most likely might have to squash a key or 2.  But the battery would be pored and that on your lap would be a bad experience. I would choose the Mx17 if it as it is very powerful but I would find it useless to go into star bucks and find there's a plug no where near you and you were about to load up a video game like crysis I would be like damn. but I chose other:

MacBook Pro 17'' 2.5GHz - You may say it's not a gaming laptop but it does my gaming needs. So it may have to run crysis in medium but it has a better balance in my believe of battery between graphics and the OS X has a better chance to boot up and work than what vista on my desktop would and has the power I need as well as a DVI compared to comp. 

Reasons why I would choose MX17:
The Specs are  I wanna do it.
The fans blow up at you which is cool if your into a game and about too sweat and your online.
Classy

Reasons why I choose MacBook Pro:
Has a firewire 800 and 400 so I don't have to worry about having 1 extra bay when I can set up 2 bays. Maybe a fire wire 800 connected to a HDD and a 400 connected to a dvd drive if I played games on the internal and music off the firewire.
Better Battery between gaming even if you have to switch a thing or two to medium or off.
Nice and classy.
Sudden motion censor so I wont have to buy a keng lock and just use iAlertU .
Use SMC Fan Control to speed up the fans to 6000RPM and stick it on your lap when your playing the hardest games.
I don't get to play video games much and it will be become my buddy in school which means it always has to be able to boot up in 10secs and get in there.


How ever the Mx17 would be my next purchase if apple went missing off the face of the earth. It's so specs omg I get orgasim from it.




skidude said:


> You can upgrade the video card by yourself and it will NOT void your warranty. However, damage caused by you updating the video card WILL. Sager is really good in letting you open up the case and upgrade while still be covered under warranty.


 but where do you buy the GPUS?


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## skidude (Jul 23, 2008)

If the manufacturer is any good they will usually sell upgrade components for their laptops. I know for a fact Dell does it, and I'm pretty sure Sager will do it.


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 23, 2008)

Alienware sells you the upgrade parts at a discount, and you can use third party cpu's or ram as long as you tell alienware.


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## voyagerfan99 (Jul 23, 2008)

I voted for Falcon Northwest. They have some nice solid machines that can burn a nice hole in your wallet.


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## Geoff (Jul 23, 2008)

I looked at Sager and they have some excellent spec'd laptops for the price, I also like the XPS as often times Dell has coupons out (such as the 20% off for the M1530/M1330).


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## bigd54 (Jul 23, 2008)

Do any of the sagers have backlit keyboards?


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 23, 2008)

Good point bigd54. This is another reason alienware is superior over most companies. My alienware m15x has leds for 12 colors on its keyboard, touchpad, alien head, quick controls, lcd lid, and alienware logo.


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## skidude (Jul 23, 2008)

bigd54 said:


> Do any of the sagers have backlit keyboards?



No.


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## g4m3rof1337 (Jul 23, 2008)

Sir Travis D said:


> Good point bigd54. This is another reason alienware is superior over most companies. My alienware m15x has leds for 12 colors on its keyboard, touchpad, alien head, quick controls, lcd lid, and alienware logo.




Not all of us want our laptops to look like Christmas Trees.


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 23, 2008)

I never said it was a good thing I just said my laptop has 12 color leds in 6 places 
and you can disable them, I never use them anyway.


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## Kill Bill (Jul 23, 2008)

Sir Travis D said:


> I never said it was a good thing I just said my laptop has 12 color leds in 6 places
> and you can disable them, I never use them anyway.



Do they not turn on auto?


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## skidude (Jul 23, 2008)

Sir Travis D said:


> I never said it was a good thing I just said my laptop has 12 color leds in 6 places
> and you can disable them, I never use them anyway.



But dude, if you never use them, then why would you pay another $600 for them?!? I spec'ed out the same laptop I had going with Alienware (except with a much better CPU, faster RAM, and a larger HDD) and still came up $600 short of what Alienware was asking. I don't know about you, but a few LED's are not worth that kind of money.


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## bigd54 (Jul 23, 2008)

While I am in this thread what laptop would you guys recomend for 1500 no more than 1700?


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 23, 2008)

Skidude, I don't care if I could save $600. I have an alienware, and it has leds's I'm happy. 

I would recommend this $1549 Hp. It has a blu-ray drive, a GREAT 8800 graphics card, a large 320gb hard drive, and a large screen. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147750


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## bigd54 (Jul 23, 2008)

And that will perform well in games?  That is what I am looking for a solid gaming laptop.  I was looking at alienware it seems good?


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 23, 2008)

Alienware is great, but for a good alienware laptop you need around $2000 or so for the cheapest good config. The hp is good, if you don't want leds.


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## bigd54 (Jul 23, 2008)

If I could come up with 2000 which alienware would you recommend?


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 23, 2008)

I would recommend the alienware area-51 m15x, that is what I have and would say it is phenomenal. It has a good graphics card, the 8700 not the 8800, but I can play cod4 and a lot of great games. My config is a good config I would say, and you now can get the skullcap or ripley design. I strongly recommend getting 1gb of alienware ram and upgrading to 4gb from newegg.com, you would save $250. It has 12 color leds in 6 different places, and this is a rough picture of what it will look like. 





With tax and shipping, mine came to $2092. It is not the best deal, but alienware is a status symbol, and it looks cool.


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## bigd54 (Jul 23, 2008)

Thanks for the help.......With new technology comming out how long do you think this laptop will be good for.  Is it worth paying the extra money for the m17x?


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 23, 2008)

Well, I would not get an m17x unless you have $3000 for it. It CAN have good specs, but you need to put a lot of money into it. I think my m15x will last for 2 years with its specs.


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## mkjaekmi (Jul 24, 2008)

Alot of mixed opinions. Few questions, I still don't understand why majority of the people picked falcon, and yet only 1 response for it. 

Second, I too believe alienware is nice but very pricey.

and third I think overall (money/performance) Sager is the best, anyone disagree?


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 24, 2008)

I strongly disagree. All of sager's notebooks may have good specs, but they just don't look like a $4000 computer. They look like an average computer, and for a high price, I think people need more than performance.


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## arcstudent (Jul 24, 2008)

So if you had an alienware and a sager laptop of equal price, the Sager would outperform the alienware ?


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## skidude (Jul 24, 2008)

> So if you had an alienware and a sager laptop of equal price, the Sager would outperform the alienware ?



YES. I cannot stress that point enough. The Alienware uses notebook processors (such as the Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000) while the Sager's use DESKTOP processors (such as the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 or Q9550). Plus, Alienware does NOT sell DDR2 800 MHz RAM, they only sell DDR2 667 MHz, and they charge absurd amounts for it (in excess of 300% for what it costs on newegg). I just don't like Alienware anymore because of their shady customer service and support which tries to pin the blame on the customer, and their insane price gouging for otherwise cheap components. I've read way, way, way too many complaints from people about design flaws in Alienware computers (especially in the M15x) and if you are putting upwards of $2000 into a laptop, you want to know for sure that it is going to be solid, reliable, and be constructed with care.

Sorry, but for me I'd rather go for the sure bet, and spend less money doing so.


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 24, 2008)

Alienware wants to be overpriced. They are a standard symbol of coolness and quality. 





> you are putting upwards of $2000 into a laptop, you want to know for sure that it is going to be solid, reliable, and be constructed with care.


 Hmm.. Well since everyone that had problems with the m15x gets them fixed for free with their warranties, this is a strange comment.. And my m15x has been solid, reliable, and constructed with care.


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## Kill Bill (Jul 24, 2008)

Sir Travis D said:


> Alienware wants to be overpriced. They are a standard symbol of coolness and quality.  Hmm.. Well since everyone that had problems with the m15x gets them fixed for free with their warranties, this is a strange comment.. And my m15x has been solid, reliable, and constructed with care.



If i said this Apple wants to be overpriced. They are a standard symbol of coolness and quality. You would turn around and say a bad thing about them. Just accept the fact we have different needs for example I like alienware I used to have a M9750 which was Radz but my parents wanted to keep me out of the house and the battery of a 7950GTX was 30mins max and I had to get something that could keep the battery which was a MacBook Pro and Could run my video editing software better. You know the best part I still will be using alienware in two years the collage i am going to has alienware computers there so I'll be either stuck with those or bring my MacBook Pro. So I use both and like both. It is just that macs suit my life style more


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 24, 2008)

Hey you had the m9750 ? so did I 
We returned ours after multiple issues including battery life, and usb problems, but I can't believe we BOTH had the m9750 and returned it.. That's like really wierd


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## arcstudent (Jul 24, 2008)

skidude said:


> YES. I cannot stress that point enough. The Alienware uses notebook processors (such as the Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000) while the Sager's use DESKTOP processors (such as the Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 or Q9550). Plus, Alienware does NOT sell DDR2 800 MHz RAM, they only sell DDR2 667 MHz, and they charge absurd amounts for it (in excess of 300% for what it costs on newegg). I just don't like Alienware anymore because of their shady customer service and support which tries to pin the blame on the customer, and their insane price gouging for otherwise cheap components. I've read way, way, way too many complaints from people about design flaws in Alienware computers (especially in the M15x) and if you are putting upwards of $2000 into a laptop, you want to know for sure that it is going to be solid, reliable, and be constructed with care.
> 
> Sorry, but for me I'd rather go for the sure bet, and spend less money doing so.




I heard that the Sager has some fan/overheating issues since it uses a desktop processor, also the fans are noisy or something. Is this issue also present in the alienware m17x ? could someone elaborate on this ?

I am not one to judge a book by its cover, so I'm very open to buying a Sager rather than alienware, especially if it'll run my design applications and games better.


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## skidude (Jul 24, 2008)

> I heard that the Sager has some fan/overheating issues since it uses a desktop processor, also the fans are noisy or something. Is this issue also present in the alienware m17x ? could someone elaborate on this ?



I have the fastest and most power-hungry desktop CPU they stuff into this thing and, if you have the fans on full speed (by pressing fuction+1) my CPU temp never goes above about 60C. GPU temps are roughly the same. Never had any downclocking or shutdowns due to the temperature. The fan noise isn't too bad on full blast, the speaker audio can easily overpower it on only about half volume, if that. The NP9262 actually is known to have the best cooling system of any laptop on the market. The entire backside is basically one giant vent, and the underside has four fans. Take a look at the underside of mine.


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## arcstudent (Jul 24, 2008)

Alot of people recommend getting their Sagers from pctorque.com rather than buying it directly from Sager, what are the advantages of doing this ?


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## bigd54 (Jul 24, 2008)

Is that pic of a sager.........Regaurdless of which you get how long do you think a notebook will last as far as gaming?


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## skidude (Jul 24, 2008)

arcstudent said:


> Alot of people recommend getting their Sagers from pctorque.com rather than buying it directly from Sager, what are the advantages of doing this ?



Get yours from www.xoticpc.com that's where I bought mine. Amazing, amazing company. The shipped my laptop in 7 days flat.

And yeah it's a pic of my Sager.


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## mkjaekmi (Jul 26, 2008)

Looks nice. So I'm stuck with falcon northwest/sager/and alienware. I think I'll bring it down to alienware/sager because no one is talking about falcon north west, but funny how it has the most votes.


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## skidude (Jul 28, 2008)

I'd rather buy a Falcon over an Alienware tbqh.


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 28, 2008)

Is that why you changed your order to alienware after falcon, skidude?


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## skidude (Jul 28, 2008)

Sir Travis D said:


> Is that why you changed your order to alienware after falcon, skidude?



I was lured by the flashy lights. Like a fly, ready to be zapped when the lights finally reached me. LURED I TELL YOU!


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## Sir Travis D (Jul 28, 2008)

I was lured to my alienware and I was happy to be lured. I have leds I never use, and I'm proud of that.


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## mkjaekmi (Aug 1, 2008)

which alienware cover do you guys think is better? the classic rigged 1 or the new smooth surface 1?


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## RRA_Incognito (Aug 1, 2008)

There is no "Best". Some have better hardware, some are prettier, some have better warranties, some can have the video card replaced. 

It's what you want. Go for the one with the best video card.


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## PabloTeK (Aug 1, 2008)

I myself think it's Rock Direct, particularly this laptop: http://www.rockdirect.co.uk/viewNotebook.php?pName=XTREME 780

Hella powerful and with a price tag to match!


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