Originally posted by Big Daddy Kane:
What size screen do you want/need? That makes a big decision.

For me, I use my 17" laptop as my main computer (even for gaming, read below).

Mine is a Dell Inspiron 9300, which is nearly identical to an XPS Generation 2 and XPS M170 (Not the XPS M1710, which is a Core Duo setup, probly have a newer Core2 setup now), except the following:

  • 9300 lacks a gigabit ethernet port, rather has a 100Mbit
  • 9300 comes factory with a "lesser" Geforce go6800 instead of the XPS's 6800 Ultra and 7800GTX setup, however it sill has 256MB of dedicated VRAM
  • Due to the "lesser" video card, there is also a smaller and less capable heatsink for the video card/chipset, however the 6800U/7800GTX and heatsink are a direct fit, no modifications necessary except flashing the BIOS with an XPS image to 'trick' the BIOS into thinking it's an XPS. The 7900, however, requires some modification to work properly.

    Now the fun stuff!

    My 2005 Inspiron 9300 with (now) 2GB of 533MHz DDR2, Geforce go6800 with 256MB of VRAM and modded driver to allow overclocking, and the 17" non-gloss 1440x900 screen allow me to play all the newest games at the highest resolutions. I'm currently playing Hitman: Blood Money in 1440x900 resolution with everything on and set to high except AA, which is set to off. Silky smooth!

    Here's a good idea... pick up a used 9300 (NOT a 9200, it won't work) that had the 64MB ATI video card (NOT the Intel integrated, it won't work) and the Celeron M processor. This was the lowest end 9300 you could get at the time.

    Get this said 'low-end' 9300 cheap off Ebay or somewhere else. Do a bit of research off of the Notebookfourms.com.

    Then buy yourself a 400MHz FSB 1.6-1.7GHz Pentium M (NOT a 533MHz, it won't work properly). Read up on the pinmod tutorial and use the pinmod to 'trick' the computer at running the 400MHz processor at 533MHz.

    The deal on the pinmodding is this: The 533MHz processor has a certain pin grounded to tell the i915 chipset to run in 533MHz mode. The 400MHz processor does not have this pin grounded. Since the processors are identical internally except this one thing, grounding the pin on a 400MHz P-M will cause the processor to not run at the stock 1.6GHz with 400MHz bus, but rather at 2.13GHz with the 533MHz bus.

    Now you could just buy a 533MHz 2.13GHz P-M, but they are expensive compared to a 400MHz processor that is kinda old now.

    Also pick yourself up a 256MB Geforce 7800GTX video card with heatsink (you will also need the 130W XPS power supply and a 9-cell battery for this to work). Install the bad boy and flash the BIOS into thinking it's an XPS (so that the 7800 isn't run in 'battery save' mode all the time, which will happen w/o the XPS BIOS image).

    Get yourself 2GB of G.Skill ram of Newegg.

    Enjoy your laptop that will blow anything but the newest, highest end gaming computers (including desktops!) WAY out... and yes, that includes even a similarly equipped Alienware setup... Sure pissed those guys off when they needed a new motherboard to upgrade their video card, then the XPS pulling better 3dmark scores to boot! Got so bad, they said that any Dell guys trolling on the Alienware boards would be banned... guess they're a little sensitive that they paid 3x the price of what it would cost for the above 'low end' 9300 and upgrades that beats em!

    BTW, this Pentium M pinmod is said to be Intel's best mistake since the really old PII era Celerons that could be overclocked way beyond the fastest PII could for less than $100 (where as the best PII was nearly $1000).

    The above statement is why Intel "multiplier locked" their processors... didn't want another mistake like that... but this P-M pinmod is pretty close!

    Oh, and the XPS M1710 has a Geforce 7900GTX with 512MB of dedicated VRAM...

    The M2010 in the above picture has an ATI x1800 with 256MB of dedicated VRAM. A 7800GTX (don't even ask about the 7900GTX!) gets better 3dmark scores than that x1800, which makes me wonder why they put a crappier video card in the highest end laptop...



    • And if you installed a blower and plasma drive you'll be able to drag race all the ricers around campus!

    IBM's use to be good but now that there not built by IBM anymore it's hard to say.
    Whatever you buy get a good warranty. Don't count on your hard drive as your only means of storage. Whether it's CD's, an external hard drive or jump drives you have to have something else. Warranties don't cover data recovery. They all break. Portable doesn't mean durable.

    99 Contour Sport SE MTX KKM filter, B&M shifter No res, BAT kit Green car silver hood (because silver is faster)