I know there have been deals on this model in the past (or very similar model) but believe $1099 to be a good deal. If you could use the 10% or 12% coupons and if you have some extra gift certificates laying around for $10 you could cover most of the taxes. I can't stress how much more powerful the 8800 gts is than the 8400/8600 series they throw in most laptops. if you're looking for a powerful desktop replacement I would recommend looking at this. Get a side by side comparison while running game demos and compare FPS. Pretty good buy in my opinion. comments?

LINK FOR GATEWAY LAPTOP WITH 8800 GTS

saw it in the sunday ads. haven't seen the ad scans on here yet today. hope this isn't a repost

Tyrus

OP, put price in title. Anyone looking for a "gaming" laptop will probably agree this is a good deal... I dunno, I personally hate laptops.

Note, this is a 17 inch laptop.

Found these specs:

Specs
Editor's Choice

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5550 1.83GHz
Memory: 4GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Hard drive: 320GB 5400RPM Serial ATA
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS 512MB
Display: 17.0" WXGA+ Ultrabright TFT 1440 x 900
Chipset: Intel PM965 Chipset
Optical: 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW with Labelflash
Webcam: Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Web Cam
Audio: High-Definition Audio- 2 Channel
Battery: 9-cell
Removable: 5-in-1 Digital Media Manager (Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick Pro, Multi Media Card (MMC), Secure Digital (SD), xD-Picture Card)
Expansion ports: One ExpressCard Type 54 Expansion Slot
External ports: 3 USB 2.0, VGA Connector, HDMI, Firewire Port, e-SATA and Kensington Lock Slot
Internet: Gigabit Ethernet, Intel A/G/N wireless
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Weight: 9.2lbs.

I'm rarely a tc'er but the resolution on the screen needs to be seen in person before you commit to this. 1440x900 is really too low for this size screen. Its like using a 14" at 1024x768. There is no way I would do this with the kind of resolutions you can achieve on screens these days.

I have a 14.1 1280x800 it's small but it's a laptop.

This laptop screen is fine, since it's gaming mainly, if your going to do more, then use the Video Out for a larger Screen, because the 8800GTS is more than powerful enough.

stactum said:
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

everything looks VERY good, except for the 64bit operating system that comes with this system.

the pro's of 64bit: increases performance, recognizes up to 12+ gigs of RAM (regular operating systems only recognize up to approx. 3gb ram), and makes the most out of your system performance.

the con's of 64bit: many games are not compatible with 64 bit. you're likely to encounter serious compatibility issues with many, many peripherals (older printers, scanners, etc) and accessories.

i used to have Vista Ultimate 64 bit on a fast desktop and two laptops, but compatibility issue created such a headache that i switched them all back to the normal Vista Ultimate 32bit. most of you don't have to worry about this because your system likely came with 32 bit. it's the way of the future, but not now. =\

kevinca said:I'm rarely a tc'er but the resolution on the screen needs to be seen in person before you commit to this. 1440x900 is really too low for this size screen. Its like using a 14" at 1024x768. There is no way I would do this with the kind of resolutions you can achieve on screens these days.

I don't know if I agree with this. One of the positive points of putting this screen coupled with the 8800 is that the lower resolution provides more FPS at the monitors native resolution. Example: when I plug in my Dell 24 inch, I would have to tax the card with a 1900 x 1200 resolution and my fps would be shot to hell. I admit that a little higher resolution may look a little crisper on this screen but I cannot commit to saying that it would be a better setup at a higher resolution. He makes a valid point for argument, but I have to disagree. 17" widescreen at 1440x900 looks outstanding to me and you get the added fps (minimal difference but not a negligible one). Just my 2 cents. By all means, go and look at this baby and compare for yourself. You won't get an apples to apples comparison at BB because this is the only laptop they carry with the 8800 gts card (at my local store). kudos for the debatable point.

tyrus

Can anyone find any good coupon stacks so we can post a lower final sale price on this laptop? I'm not good with Math...or English...or science...

I've been looking at this laptop since it came out a few months ago (and the 6831 before it), and $1099 is a great price. Like other said, some of the components are a bit lower-end but the one that counts for gamers--the GPU--is top-notch. You can replace the slower components like the hard drive and processor without much trouble to extend the life of this laptop. Any other gaming laptop you spec out with an 8800 series comes to at least $2000.