Laptop with Dedicated Graphics Card

I am looking to buy a new laptop and i found one with a dedicated graphics card instead of integrated. It comes with a 8600 GT. What can i expect from this card? Im not that heavy of a gamer anymore but i do want a laptop that can run Spore when it comes out. How do you think it will handle it?

How about some of the newer rts's like the new Command and Conquer?

...and i guess (for lolz) how will it handle a game like Battlefield 2142?

thats what i was thinkin because i remember seein videos of spore being played on a dell XPS notebook with a 7900GT (or somethin like that)

i have one more question though. with a laptop like this with a core 2 duo cpu and the 8600GT gpu... what kind of battery life can i expect with a 6 cell lithium ion battery?

I would gander you would get only 3 hours on that thing while gaming. DOn't quote me on that though. If you could I would highly recommend upping to the 9-cell, I did ,and am glad I did, and my laptop is only strictly for buisness, internet, media.

BTW mines a 17 inch so that can be a factor as well.

Just curious, how much are you spending on this laptop? If you want something that will last you a while, and you can swing $1300, go with thisGateway. The video card, an 8800M GTS, is far better than a 8600M GT.kodex1717

Only go with this laptop if you're looking for a desktop replacement. It weights 10lbs and has horrible battery life.

[QUOTE="kodex1717"]Just curious, how much are you spending on this laptop? If you want something that will last you a while, and you can swing $1300, go with thisGateway. The video card, an 8800M GTS, is far better than a 8600M GT.slickchris7777

Only go with this laptop if you're looking for a desktop replacement. It weights 10lbs and has horrible battery life.

for some reason that link doesnt do anything for me, it takes me right back to this topic.

the laptop i was gonna get is only $800, i would get the one with the better GPU but i simply dont have the money at the moment, and i dont really need to play the kind of games that require that kind of card (like crysis, or other new fps's). However i was wonderin, couldnt i later just upgrade to a better card since the laptop has a PCi Express slot?

thats what i was thinkin because i remember seein videos of spore being played on a dell XPS notebook with a 7900GT (or somethin like that)

i have one more question though. with a laptop like this with a core 2 duo cpu and the 8600GT gpu... what kind of battery life can i expect with a 6 cell lithium ion battery?

jon9o4

with a 2.2ghz core 2 duo and 8600gt I can get 2 hours gaming on the 9 cell battery or about 5 hours word proccessing.