Help compare these 2 laptops

jamesd129

So my situation is that I need a laptop capable of small scale games development, web development, and the ability to play games about as system intensive as Civilization 4 or maybe even Starcraft 2 on lower settings. I want to get a laptop less than $700 since I will also be building my own desktop for gaming.

The two I am looking at right now are the HP Pavilion G60-120US:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/shopping/data_sheet/fs184ua.html

and the Dell Studio 15

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/print_summary_details_popup.aspx?~lt=print&c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DNCWUA1&s=dhs&fb=1&leadtime=11/17/2008&showleadtime=True

except on the Dell I am replacing the GMA x3100 with the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450

Specifically:

Dell:

Intel® Pentium® Dual Core T2390

2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2

256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450

HP:

AMD Turion X2 RM-70

3GB DDR2

NVIDIA GeForce 8200M

Does the better processor and GPU on the Dell mean it will give better performance than the HP with 1 more GB of RAM?

Dell:

Dell 1397 Wireless-G Card

HP:

Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN

Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN

I don't really know the difference between LAN and WLAN but on the Dell site it looks like there is not Mobile Broadband component. If I am running a wireless router off my cable does this mean I will have faster web access on the HP?

Dell:

Glossy, widescreen 15.4 LCD (1280x800)

HP:

15.6" Diagonal High Definition HP Brightview Display (1366x768)

I am assuming the .2 inch difference in size won't matter too much to me, but just going by name it seems like the HP screen will be much better than the Dell. Could this screen make things generally look worse and thus the HP with its lesser GPU will still be more visually pleasing?

megafluxmega

dell sucks. period.

no such thing as a gaming lap top (any more than there is penis enlargement cream). but i have seen hp lappy's that are real stylish. the drawback on those screens is mostly 2 things, viewing angle and finger prints... so again HP.

if anything i think the 3 gigs of ram in the HP sets it ahead.

almost anyone you ask other than 12 year olds whos mommies buy them pc's will tell you dell is bullshit, between custom ram, monitors that just mysteriously go into standby 1 day, and custom drivers, they just plain suck.

jaysins

I don't know if you can but wait till black friday comes around and see what is available. If you goto slickdeals.net you can usually find the flyers before they come out. Good luck.