Which laptop is better?

[saintjimmy]

Hi,
I am planning on getting a new laptop soon, and I would like some thoughts on which one to get. I have my eyes on two computers: an HP Pavilion dv7-1285dx for $1199.99, and a Gateway FX P-7805u for $1149.99.

The specs of the HP are:
Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo P8600 (2 x 2.4 GHz, 3 MB Cache, 1066 MHz FSB)
6 GB DDR2 800 MHz RAM (yes, six whopping gigabytes)
500 GB 5400 RPM Hard Drive
512 MB nVidia GeForce 9600M GT Graphics Chip
Lightscribe DVD burner
17" 1440 x 900 screen size

The specs of the Gateway are:
Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo P8400 (2 x 2.26 GHz, 3 MB Cache, 1066 MHz FSB)
4 GB DDR3 1066 MHz RAM (yes, DDR three!)
320 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive
1024 MB (1 GB) nVidia GeForce 9800M GTS Graphics Chip
LabelFlash DVD Burner
17" 1920 x 1200 screen size

Both have about an equal battery (8 cell HP, 9 cell Gateway), Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit, and both cost about the same.

I am leaning more towards the Gateway, since it has the 9800M GTS with twice the GPU power of the 9600M GT, DDR3 memory, and the 7200 RPM hard drive, but the HP has a faster processor, more (slower) memory and a bigger (slower) hard drive.

So what do you people think? Gateway or HP?

Thanks in advance!
Kyle

 

[JRT]

The HP is better I have one.
JRT

 

[robbiehanson]

I'd go Gateway--the higher res is useful, and the 9800(as you said) is faster than the 9600. 7200rpm hard drive is better for Trainz than 5400rpm(quicker load times, quicker spawning of distant objects when scrolling through a map).

You won't need six gigs of RAM unless you're doing SERIOUS multitasking--I've had Photoshop CS4, Trainz, 10 Explorer windows, Vista, and about five Firefox tabs open and only used a gig of RAM. Four gigs is enough for anything reasonable.

The Gateway's cheaper to boot.

Might want to watch sales though--Best Buy had an Asus last week with the 9600, the P8400, two gigs of ram and a 320gb drive for $799--add two 2gb RAM chips to equal 4gb, and you're at $850. That's definitely something to consider, IMO.

 

[Captain_Collins]

I'd go with the gateway. The extra 0.2GHz of processor speed makes such a small amount of difference that it's not worth considering, and the extra RAM is not necessary. In all other departments, the gateway is better.

 

[john259]

For Trainz and other 3D programs the video processing power is probably the deciding factor. I can't comment on build quality but that's obviously worth checking if possible.

John

 

[meatloaf747]

Trade off's!!!

Kyle,
Life is full of trade off's. Personally I'd go for the Gateway if you plan to run Trainz's on it... (the extra video RAM, faster HDD, higher res screen & DDR3 swings it for me)!!! It's leaps ahead...
You could also approach the retailer/shop to see if it is possible to upgrade the CPU to a Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo P8600 (& if so, the extra cost)...
Probably not possible, but what have you got to loose??? (You don't mention warranty. Are they both the same)???
Cheers, Mac...

 

[Winterpaw]

id go gateway, especially if youre rocking triple-channel ddr3 mode. theres a definite difference when using x64

 

[saintjimmy]

Thanks for the comments! I've been searching the web for a better price on the Gateway, and so far, eBay has the only lower price, but I think I'll get the Gateway at Best Buy, since it is guaranteed that I get the laptop.

I will be doing gaming on it (Trainz, MSTS, KRS, Grid, NFS: ProStreet, etc.), and I am looking more for extreme power on the go, than the longest battery life.

As for the processor: I'll just use the P8400 for now, and I might upgrade to something like a T9400 or T9600 if I feel like it's not powerful enough. Also, the DDR3 memory is dual channel, not triple channel.

I usually don't go for the extended warranties, since usually nothing goes wrong, and if anything does, I can either get it fixed by a local repair shop, or I can fix it myself.

I guess I'm going for the Gateway when it goes on sale for $1049.99 like it was last week. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[Kelly88]

I have been using an ACER Aspire9920 (20inch screen)
now for 1 year,, upgraded th 2 gig ram to 4
and it runs a treat