To Zepto or not to Zepto?

My bank having finally sorted out my CDL, so I will finally be able to purchase a laptop for work and gaming on the move in the next 2/3 weeks max, Im hoping. Im a little worried recently however by the comments of poor CS and of faulty hardware, and incompatabilities when playing games, including WoW, which is one of my most played games, not to mention if its becoming unstable in WoW and newer games, whats to say it wouldnt be unstable in newer games in the future?

The laptops I were looking at purchasing were the 6214 or the 6615 (the higher screen resolution is very tempting), and I'd be sticking to XP rather than Vista - Vista simply isnt ready for a gaming market yet IMO, however does anyone know if these issues with the 6615 etc crashing in WoW are only present in older laptops, and have been fixed, or were due to faulty hardware, as buying a laptop for my use throughout my education is a big and very expensive move for me, and simply speaking, if my laptop is unable to play games reliably on the move then Im not sure if Zepto is for me.

Thanks for any help.

 

Im also considering spending more on the higher rated RAM than getting the cheaper Zepto brand, as Im hoping this would reduce the risk of RAM related issues, as if its still going to be running at a slower speed synced with the C2D, the chances of it being unstable are lower, as it will be running lower than its rated specifications.

 

if you are prepaired to wait a while there will probably be a version with an 8600 instead of the 7600 and this will be a big improvement...

 

I heard the 8600 chip was coming out some time between now and Summer, unfortunately, we've had no word from Zepto on the availability of a new model featuring this GPU, nor of the pricing of said model, and as I intended to use this for a big IT course Im beginning, I dont have an indefinate period I can postpone the purchase, especially if it may then take them 1-3 weeks to get the laptop to my door.

Bit of a hard one for me, Im an avid gamer, but on the other hand, I dont have til Summer to purchase this laptop.

 

Here's a good cost-effective alternative:

ASPIRE 5685WLMI
Product code 363308
Fantastic price for this Acer laptop with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 256MB GF7600, massive 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, DVDRW and a 15.4" widescreen display, Windows XP Media Center.

Enlarge image Zoom Processor speed: 2 GHz Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Screen size: 15.4 inches Storage (hard drive): 160 GB Memory (RAM): 2048 MB Operating system: Windows XP Media Center All specification features

Only £699.99 at COMET.:
D

 

Its not bad at all, however Im usually pretty wary of some of the specs on those machines - ie the HD, quality of the screen etc.
I've found a possibly alternative to the Zepto thats looking more and more attractive (due to its heavily discounted it appears, due to being replaced by a Vista model). The one Im looking at is £1060, but features:

T7200 2Ghz Core 2 Duo
2GB RAM
160GB (2x80GB Raid0 to improve speed)
X1800 Mobility 256Meg card
17" 1440x900 res screen
DVDRW
Wireless
Win XP Home
etc etc

Its expensive, but the screen res and more powerful graphics chip (1/3 to 1/2 as powerful again than the 7600Go chip) are swinging the balance, as it should be able to maintain native resolution, and acceptable gaming performance for longer than the competitors with lower graphics, and higher res screens. Its the graphics chip thats really swinging it for me tbh though, its the fastest mobile GPU I've found in ANY laptop at this price range.

 

Hi Alex,

That last model does seem like a real bargain. Keep in mind though a 17inch screen means it won't be very portable at all.

I own a 6214 and I'm pretty happy with it. At maximum brightness this screen competes with most notebooks out there. It's not a sony and the viewing angles aren't the best out there but the screen had me seriously worrying and on hind sight I don't find it an issue. I haven't really had the time to really try some cutting edge games, I installed Psychonauts (Tim Schafer is a genius) and it runs perfectly.

 

Thats good to know, Im still considering the Zepto, but until the next upgrade ie in 12 months when new chips are out, Im feeling more and more like I'll recieve a better deal from the other model, Im not particularly worried it cant be used for hours or wont be ultra portable, as at the end of the day, for gaming and multimedia, the graphics chip is going to be the weakest link, and the 7600Go is going to become obsolete a lot faster than the x1800 (even as a weaker, underclocked chip) is.
I did consider the 6214 before the 6615, but I think the low screen 'real estate' it gives was the real turn off there, but ofc as you go higher, you need a meatier GPU to keep it powered nicely
The 1950 score in 3Dmark06 for the Zepto kinda sums it up; the x1800 is getting just over 3k at the underclocked stock speed, and if you clock it up to the true speed of the mobility chip, its hitting 3.6K+, which is almost double the performance of the 7600go. At the same price, for a sacrifice of some mobility, I think I may have to go for the other model, as simply put, it'll do its job better, for longer, than the 7600Go can hope to achieve.

 

I personally wouldn't touch an acer aspire laptop with a barge poll! It may seem like a bargain but as the saying goes: "you get what you pay for"

 

You must be looking at a Fujitsu Amilo x1546. Those are nice. But as mentioned, the 17" size really is a big deal if you intend to take it around a lot. Even 15.4" notebooks can be on the large size for everyday on-the-go usage.

I have 15.4" now (after having a 17"), and may go with 13.3" or 14.1" with my next system for extra portability.