Best laptop for ~$1000?

[crazyazn]

My friend got his laptop stolen, and now he needs a new one. What would you guys recommend? Preferably less than 17", and has a decent video card for a bit of gaming...but no need for top of the line. Thanks guys!

[Mr. Cipher]

ASUS M51Sn-A1 - $1050. You are not going to find a better gaming laptop for that price, I swear.

check it here

Core 2 Duo T5450 1.66ghz 2mb Cache, Nvidia Gefore 9500M GS 512MB Vram (yes, separate video memory), 3gb ddr2-667, 250gb SATA HD, gigabit lan, WLAN b/g/n, bluetooth v.20, modem, 15.4" screen, 1.3mp webcam and card reader.

buy it from there and you get a mouse and laptop bag included. Not many left though. Use the price comparison thingy up top to find other stores that have it, if one near you has sold out.

**Edit: I forgot - its only 6.5lbs!!**

[Thund3rball]

Yup smokin unit. It's only 1280x800 but for ~$1000 you can't complain. Nice gfx card in there for games. And once the warranty runs out swap the CPU out for a juiced up Merom or Penryn and that thing will fly!

[crazyazn]

Thanks guys, I was looking at that model for a while too. But I was unsure of how the 9500M GS performs when compared to the 8600M GT/GS (I think it should beat the GS right?).

Also, I've recently heard of some bad tech support/RMA issues about ASUS laptops, so I'm not really confident in their reliability or support. Please enlighten me on this one

[kurisu]

I just paid for the m50sv-A1 so I am interested in those points too!

[Jmac]

We've got a bunch of laptops w/ similar specs for around $800-$900 @ Staples ...

STAPLES Business Depot | BUREAU EN GROS

STAPLES Business Depot | BUREAU EN GROS

STAPLES Business Depot | BUREAU EN GROS

STAPLES Business Depot | BUREAU EN GROS

The Toshibas are all clearance stock, so they may not be available through your local outlet (and some of them are sold out online). The Acer is current stock and should be readily available at most locations.

The Acer looks really, really slick. Only downside is the amount of crapware on the Acers (80+ background processes ), so expect to spend some time disabling that crap to get it running smoothly.

[kurisu]

The CPUs in those are pretty crappy compared to the m50-m51, Though I have worked on a lot of Toshibas, and they are well built. Acer's are decent, and sturdy, but they don't really hold up to the Toshibas/Asus builds I have seen.

[Cheator]

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...r&promoid=1001

I got this one, fantastic lappy. the 8600GT can handle any game I throw at it (even crysis) and will be faster than that 9500GS. 3 gigs of ram, 250gig HDD and best of all... Penryn CPU :). It's aboout as fast as my 3ghz e4500...

[Thund3rball]

Originally Posted by Cheator

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...r&promoid=1001

I got this one, fantastic lappy. the 8600GT can handle any game I throw at it (even crysis) and will be faster than that 9500GS. 3 gigs of ram, 250gig HDD and best of all... Penryn CPU :). It's aboout as fast as my 3ghz e4500...

The 9600M GS 512 == 8600M GT 512. It's just a die shrink and a slight DirectX10.1 enhancement, that's all. They are both DDR2 memory IIRC. For a ~$1000 that's what you get and not a shabby deal on either system IMHO But if it was me I'd go for the Asus as it looks a little slicker ;)

Edit: just looking at your link and it's not a Penryn, same as the Asus T5450.

[MAC]

Originally Posted by Thund3rball

The 9600M GS 512 == 8600M GT 512. It's just a die shrink and a slight DirectX10.1 enhancement, that's all.

Actually, all GeForce 9 models still only support DX10.0, not that it makes a difference.