Right. I wouldn't consider any of those benchmarks for a gaming hw, tbh.

No, not in the least. But I'm a mmo/social gamer.

Yes, and that's cute : )

I'd say good benchmarks are Crysis/EVE (graphics) and Total War/Supreme Commander (CPU).

I played EVE on this machine just fine. I just found EVE boring. I didn't like the way space combat worked. I much prefer STO. It's a dual core dual processor machine (4 cores total).

@abgemacht: WoW is actually pretty CPU intensive at high draw distances, but Blizzard lets it scale so well for lower end machines.

@Draug, why? If you're only gaming when its docked, why haven't you switched to a desktop? Is it a budget issue? With all this user-friendly cloud based candy out there, there's no excuse of "I don't want to leave things on my desktop at home." sort of crap.

@Draug

Agreed, but it's still beautiful if you have the expanded texture pack.

@Geo

Really? In either case, that still makes it a bad benchmark.

The biggest upgrade anyone can do for these large-world games is use a solid state drive. WoW on an SSD is just stupidly awesome.

Yeah, my next laptop will be SSD. It was just a bit too expensive when I bought this one.

@abgemacht
For writing, WoW is a necessary benchmark because of how many people play it and only it. You can build a machine that optimises WoW performance, but its mostly things you want to AVOID in a machine that only plays WoW. Like SLI and RAM timing gaps.

The first thing I do on any laptop that comes through my office is remove the HDD, put it in a $7 external USB 3.0 enclosure and pop in an Intel-X25 preloaded with everything I want installed. But I'll soon be swapping over to 320's once they upgrade the firmware to fix whole drive encryption.

Yes, my point was just that WoW is not a good indicator of being able to play other games. Perhaps I worded that poorly.

@Geo

What do you do?

@Draug, I can't think of a better endorsement for a laptop than this:

"but I hook it in to a 32" HD monitor and programmable gaming keyboard, keypad, and mouse "

sounds like laptop fail to me.

Why spend money on a machine just for gaming? This laptop is great for gaming and software development (Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit). And I use this machine on the road with client projects where "the cloud" is unacceptable as I sometimes have to rely on a 3G data connection. For my type of gaming, this works great. I also have the expense of a file server (8 core Xeon with 24 Gig and a terabyte drive I snagged at a fire sale) and my wife's laptop, so spending another 2-3 grand for a gaming machine when I play very casually is a waste. I'd much rather put that money away towards a Corvette (I will get another one someday), a new Jeep (I will get another one of those too), or towards my RC airplanes.

You're right. But I'd go one step further and say benchmarks don't matter at all. =P
There's a huge gap between what people notice in performance difference, and its usually only the difference between the very top of the chart and the very bottom.

Back to Puddle: Just noticed the budget is $2200. Please for the love of god buy a <$700 laptop and spend the rest on a desktop.

Oh god, Draug, have I told you about my roommate's Corvette?

"Back to Puddle: Just noticed the budget is $2200. Please for the love of god buy a <$700 laptop and spend the rest on a desktop."

Yes, this is exactly what I would recommend. Puddle, in case you missed it, I recommended a nice Lenovo up a ways a bit.

@snappy - As I said, when gaming it's just a processor and memory. And I like to "build" my laptops from broken parts. It's amazing what a few hundred will buy in defective machines that can then be cobbled together.

@Draugnar
We're not talking about now, at least I'm not. We're talking about when you look to upgrade your laptop. An ultraportable + desktop is still going to be a better deal than a gaming-capable laptop.

@abgemacht
Well, I just quit/retired from my baking job, which just left me with the semi-permanent/semi-freelance tech writing job. I do a lot of "I have this much money, I want to do this, what should I get." sort of consulting, but mostly I just review hardware & talk shop @Madshrimps. The day Anand looks to increase his staff though, I'll get on my hands and knees and beg him for the position.

Well, except for not having job security, that seems like a pretty sweet gig!

Pfft, I'm back in school and retired. I don't need job security!

I like Lenovo, their laptops are tanks. I just wish they made sexier machines. I'm tired of the early 2000 IBM look.

@abge - What's he (is he right?) got? I used to have a 1993 Coupe, black with tan interior and both the fiberglass and acrylic tops. It was mildly modded with a larger throttle body and ram-air on it and then it was chipped by Doug Rippie Motorsports (won the chip at a Cincinnati Corvette Club function) so it was pushing 390 horse and 470 torque. For a 93 LT1 (300/350 stock), that was a lot. But then those bastards took out the WTC and consulting jobs evaporated so I had to sell it. The house was more important.

Hey guys, glad to see a lively discussion.

So heres what I'm doing. I travel a lot, spending most of my summers and breaks at various locations, on top of that I have very little trust in the safety of a roommate I have yet to meet or be assigned, and don't want to leave a large target for things to get spilled on. Happened to my last desktop, why my current one is an inspiron in my room behind a locked cabinet door, haha. Also there is the whole parental concern, which given my immense respect for my parents I don't like doing things they expressly forbid. (They being reasonable, mostly, it isn't much)

So what I'm doing is ordering the Malibal computer either tonight or in a month depending on whether I can get access to the money I need before my next paycheck. They have a 30 day full money back policy, and extremely helpful customer service reps who I've spent the past hour speaking with. I'm going to test it out, see if I have any problems and then either return or keep it accordingly.

But. But. But, this is the only time I will or would by a gaming laptop over a desktop, due to the circumstances, so rest assured nay-sayers, after this computer, hopefully several years from now, I will be building a desktop and buying a light use notebook.

Thanks for the input guys, I needed the counterbalance to truly consider this, it was helpful, and I'm am quite sure this is the right decision at this time for me.

Also if theres any interest I'll post my thoughts on this company's product.

@Geofram - I need a laptop that can run SQL Server, Visual Studio 2010, and IIS for development work. That means 4 cores and 8 Gig RAM.

He's got a '85, silver, red interior, hard-top convertible. Got it for $3k from some guy. Hadn't been driven in over 10 years. After paying for it, my roommate plugged in the battery and drove it away (needless to say, the previous owner was shocked). Spent about $3k fixing it up and it's now in near-perfect condition. Pretty much a steal.

Yeah, great deal. Even a rough 85 will cost 7500 or so. But he is really underpowered as the 85 was the first of the C4s and used the early TPI engine with only 240 HP. It also had the flaky digital dash (he should expect to replace it eventually if he hasn't already). But it is a nice looking car.

@Draugnar - Ok, so you need a laptop that performs like any enthusiast or tech-related man would want. The sandy bridge and llano lines are quad-core, and any laptop these days can take 8 gbs.

Oh, we *love* the digital dash! No problems with it so far. And, it may be a bit under-powered, but it's still a 'vette and we're still in grad school (and cost me nothing) so we aren't complaining : )

And I want a screen I can read. 15" is fine for developing on the road.