2092 Gaming Capabilities

I'm off to college this August and I'm looking for a good gaming laptop under $1500 that will be reliable w/ no problems like I've seen with the Alienware m15x reviews. I like the small 15 inch screen because when I game, I will use an external monitor. I wish to be able to use it in class like a regular laptop, but then when I come back to my dorm I want to put it into desktop-mode and plug it into an external monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers.

Sager 2092 questions...

1. I have a 19inch DVI monitor, will the VGA output on the 2092 look good on my monitor when using a converter? I ask because a Sager rep told me the quality might not be so hot.

2. Will the 8600M GT be better than my desktop right now that uses a 6800 Ultra?

3. Will I be able to plug in my 5.1 External Speakers into the laptop when using it in "desktop-gaming mode". If not, what connector do I need?

4. Is this the best RELIABLE gaming laptop for under $1500?

I might add questions, so much to think about... but thank you to whoever responds.

~B

 

1500...eh?

I recommend the Gateway Fx-series (not specifing which one because...) the Fx series has 8800 gts's installed XD so thats second to the 8800 gtx imo.

so either the gateway fx ..or i got nothing.

Gateway FX -
P-171s/x/xl FX
P-172s/x/xl FX
P-6860 FX
P-6831 FX

 

Nah, he said he likes reliable 15.4-inchers. The Gateways have no place here, as they are neither very reliable nor 15.4-inchers.

 

1. I have a 19inch DVI monitor, will the VGA output on the 2092 look good on my monitor when using a converter? I ask because a Sager rep told me the quality might not be so hot.

Maybe go for a high resolution screen like the matte 1680x1050, im pretty sure if you match that with the monitors resolution, it should look fine.

2. Will the 8600M GT be better than my desktop right now that uses a 6800 Ultra?

Yup

3. Will I be able to plug in my 5.1 External Speakers into the laptop when using it in "desktop-gaming mode". If not, what connector do I need?

You'll need a sound card, possibly one that plugs into the PCMCIA like a Soundblaster Audigy card, to hook up all of the cables to get 5.1 sound

4. Is this the best RELIABLE gaming laptop for under $1500?

As far as reliability goes, its a pretty solid laptop for a great price. The tech support is top notch (from xoticpc.com) if you do run into problems. If you want a little more oomph, you might want to check out the Dell XPS M1530 which uses GDDR3 memory for it's 8600GT. Or you can check out laptops with 8700GT's.

 

Thanks icecubez! One last question, you say that I should get the 1680x1050 but why would that make a difference when I'm not even using the laptop screen for gaming? That upgrade will just make the laptop screen nicer, but what I'm saying is I'm using an external monitor, so I'm worried that going from VGA to DVI will decrease quality, not sure though.

And about the 1530... hmm maybe but for the same specs the 1530 seems to be more expensive.

~B

 

Actually, the M1530's video card uses GDD3 vs. GDDR2, which makes a huge difference with the 8600mGTs. Also, if you check the deals/coupons forums, you can get a huge discount on the xps M1530 and it may end up being cheaper than the 2092.

 

i haven't noticed a difference with VGA and DVI so i don't think the quality will decrease so much from that. what i was thinking was that if the native resolution was 1680x1050 on the latptop, it would not looked distorted or stretched out on the 19 inch monitor which is bigger than the 15.4 inch on the 2092. you can probably set the same 1680x1050 resolution on it as well.

honestly, i dont know if that would matter (the native resolution on the laptop affecting an external monitor) as my external monitor is only 15 inches (1024x768) and I have a 1280x800 laptop screen. but i notice that my background would not entirely fit on the external monitor because of it's lower resolution and nonwidescreen format from my laptop's.

 

i thought this thread was gonna be about wat games are gonna be like in the year 2092

 

Well, i'll let you know since i'm immortal. Wait....I'll tell your great grandkids and somehow they can relay the message to you in heaven

 

Radically geriatric olympics, if we're still around.

 

@ icecubez/brutality - The native res of the laptop display will have no effect on what the 2nd screen looks like unless you are running it in clone mode (both showing the same stuff). If you use it in extended (both showing different stuff) with either inbuilt or external as primary (the one games will run on) or one at a time, resolution makes no difference; just run each at its own native res.

 

I have the WXGA 2090 and also a WSXGA Lenovo from work. On the Lenovo, I'm always fiddling around enlarging things to make them easier to read, when I'm not using a monitor. If you're using the laptop screen a lot, you may find WXGA to be more comfortable. You can set DPI higher on WSXGA but it only helps some things. Right now, the panel on the left of this page (Latest Laptop Discussion) is ridiculously small. I think the font is like 1 or 2 pixels wide. Enlarging it would make the page go off the screen. In short, stuff just isn't designed for WSXGA yet.

 

Well I can read that section on a wuxga 17" screen. It is small, but it depends on what you are used to/comfortable with (and how good your eyesight is )