Swimmerxc
Member
+12|6780|DC/VA
any of you know any decent laptops that can run BF2 and Bf2124 between the $1000-2000, oh yeah and also realiable since it's gonna be for college
specxops
Banned
+18|6952|Boca Raton,Florida
u shouldnt game on laptops
SgtSmokem
Member
+9|6765|Hotlanta, GA
A Dell Inspiron XPS laptop cost around $1500 and should have no problems playing BF2.  You could probably upgrade it through Dell to get a few more RAM and better graphics card and whatnot for an extra few hundred.  I have a basic Dell Latitude laptop that runs BF2, but I do not get the greatest FPS in game.  Just make sure the laptop has the basic specs that BF2 requires or you wont run the game worth a crap.  I have never owned any other Laptop besides Dell, mostly because my company bought it, so I cannot comment on any other brands besides what I have used.  I know AlienWare makes laptops, but I am sure they are well over $2000.

Check the web.

Smokem
get a dell E1705 w/7900gs....they have the core 2 duo's now too
the_outsider38
Microsoft Poster Child
+83|6997|Vancouver BC Canada
I recently had the same question, I'm going to school at UBC in Vancouver. I bought mine about a month ago. I decided to go with a Compal HEL80.

I've been reluctant to post anything about it in the first month here, still checking it out. But after a month of problem fee operation I'm fairly confident about it.

I bought mine from www.Agearnotebooks.com they are based in California, but I experienced no problems shipping to BC Canada. I paid approx $2300 for it.

http://store.agearnotebooks.com/compalhel80.html

Intel Core Duo 2.16Ghz
2Gb 667Mhz Ram
Nvidia Geforce Go 7600 (comes underclocked but you can OC it, numerous guides)
100Gb 7200RPM SATA HDD
15.4 Inch  16:10 Widescreen Matte finish 1680x1050 max res<-----best 15.4" laptop display I have ever seen

I got the $20 high quality thermal paste option with mine, apparently its worth it.

Battery life...Its decent, lasting at least a couple hours with mine. Mine also has a good deal of power draw running the faster processor and OCed Graphics card.

Weight is OK as well, I'm about 6' and 170lbs and I can tote it around no problem. Walked all over the airport the other day. Haven't actually weighed it yet...

The third factor with laptops is heat, but I don't think you will find a laptop that will run BF2 that you will want to keep on your lap for more then 20 mins. Thats about as long as I would use this on w/o a desk for it.

Finnaly we have size, more of a personal preference then anything. I did some measuring and figured I could get away with a 15.4 widesceen and still have it fit in my backpack. Its a good thing i measured, It just fit. The 9 cell battery sticks out the back of the laptop by about 3/4" but really doens't get in the way. I feared that It would be the weak point of the laptop, but its extremely tough. No worries here.

I priced out a similar XPS laptop on Dell and it came to nearly $1000 more then this one.


Now as for performance...

I run BF2 at medium to high settings on max resolution. With 2x AA. Lowering the resolution makes a significant improvement in FPS. As is i get an average around 30. Easily playable. You can reduce video setting for even more performance, remember its got a 7600 aboard.
https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/The_Outsider38/screen000.jpg
https://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d126/The_Outsider38/screen001.jpg
Load times were excellent as well.

BF2 was really a test of the graphic card, but i wanted to hit processor too. Recently I had decided to try the Cellfactor demo w/o a PhysX card in my desktop,

AMD FX-53 @ 2.6Ghz
2x Nvidia Geforce Go 7800GT COs in SLI  <---Keeps bf2 at 100FPS maxed out.
2x 160GB 7200RPM HDDs
2Gb 400Mhz ram

The problem with running Cellfactor without a PPU is it then has to use the CPU to do the physics engine calculations. Add in bots and you have a recipe for disaster, er well at least a lockup.

Anyhow, defiantly a decent machine. It ran Celllfator w/o bots on low with about 20-25 FPS. Bots caused a lockup after about 30 seconds. Damn bots and their gravity altering grenades.

So I decided to try the laptop. I ran it at low settings. I got about 35 FPS w/o bots + I was hosting for a LAN game. Clearly playable online. Turned on the bots and i got about 25-30 FPS.

One unexpected challenge was running games in widescreen. I tend to play a large variety of games and while most support changing aspect ratio, some don't. Warcraft 3 is one of those. (Don't worry BF2 does, except for the interface, but w/e it looks great anyhow) Widescreen is defiantly easier to navigate windows with.

Check this thread for more info  on widescreen gaming http://forum.tigerdave.com/viewforum.php?f=1

I would highly recomend this laptop, I know I LOVE mine.

The only thing wrong with the laptop is that the Fn and Ctrl keys are reversed!!! Oh well...

For a full review http://www.notebookreview.com/default.a … iew=Compal
These guys know there stuff.

Last edited by the_outsider38 (2006-08-29 23:57:41)

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