where do you buy your stuff?

[nsn]

I have a couple year old laptop that's not really cutting it anymore. intel's i3 processor, 3GB ram. So I'm looking to purchase a new one within the next couple of months. Looking to get an i7 with 8GB ram. Overkill maybe, but if i'm dropping hundreds, I'd like to know I'll be able to use it for a good many years.

I stopped by Best Buy yesterday, prices weren't too shabby. Saw laptops for $600-900 fitting my specs and needs. Saw some desktops for a little cheaper. But I'm leaning towards a laptop for portability.

It'd be nice if I could skim a hundred or two off that price. So I was wondering if anyone here knows of any other sellers I could look into for some neat deals.

 

[prymus]

I have bought thousands of dollars of computer components and one notebook PC from NewEgg. The service has always been outstanding. They ship quickly, and I have never received a wrong order. The prices generally can not be beat. I would also check Sager notebooks. They have a good reputation for stability and durability and the notebooks they offer can be configured to your liking.Good luck finding your new machine. If you get a notebook as a desktop replacement I would look for no smaller than a 17" screen, and a 19" would probably be better. A good high res screen is a must on a desktop replacement notebook. I am not employed by NewEgg or Sager. Tiger Direct also has some pretty good deals and is very competetive with NewEgg, though their prices can be the same as the Egg, they can be a bit more expensive, so comparison shop for sure. Took me longer to shop for my new notebook than it took to ship to me.

 

[Redwolf]

At same clockspeed i3 and i7 aren't that different for single-threaded games like ... well almost all wargames.

You sure you don't have a problem with the graphics chip in your old one?

In general, the graphics chip matters more, especially in a notebook bought for gaming.

 

[prymus]

At same clockspeed i3 and i7 aren't that different for single-threaded games like ... well almost all wargames.

You sure you don't have a problem with the graphics chip in your old one?

In general, the graphics chip matters more, especially in a notebook bought for gaming.

Yepperee, any program, games included, written for multi cores would profit from a proc with more cores.Unfortunatley the programmers have been very slow in writing programs that address multiple cores, but it is happening more and more.Any graphics chip that is weak ends up offloading some duties to the CPU, so a good cpu is a must if you go with a weak gpu. I would rather have an ass kicking gpu and middle of the road cpu than the other way around. And a discrete vid card is the only way to go, in my opinion, although integrated graphics are gettiing better(gasp, even Intels integrated).
Depending on what graphics solution you have in your current notebook, if it is a fairly decent one you may consider the boost that would come from installing more RAM. You can get quite a performance boost that way.JMHO though.

 

[Bratushka]

I decide what I want first and then price shop. My current gaming gear includes:
Saitek: Pro Flight Combat Pedals, AV8R 0-1 and AV8R Pacific joysticks, TPM Module, Switch Module, X-45 joystick
Logitech: G27 steering wheel and pedals, Strike Force 3D joystick, Attack 3D joystick (old gear: MoMo wheel and pedals, Force joystick X 2, Wingman game pad)
Misc: Nostromo Speed Pad, TrackIR 5, Xbox style controller

I also prefer a trackball (Logitech 570) to a mouse although I have a pretty nice Logitech mouse that came with my Logitech Wave keyboard (not the plain vanilla one that comes with the Wave 350)

I never paid full retail for any of it thanks to sales on Amazon and eBay.

My PC was a custom built job by a company called Stealth Machines. It cost more than the previous 3 PCs I had but dollar for dollar the difference between me building the same rig was just a few hundred bucks. They included a 5 year parts and labor warranty plus a free LCD monitor so I went with them.

Doing your research first and careful, patient shopping really pays off.

 

[Nexus6]

I'm a longtime Falcon Northwest fan. The most reliable gaming rigs I've ever had. Speaking of companies that specialize in gaming rigs, I tried an Alienware about 12 years ago and hated it. In any case the overrated Dell owns Alienware now.