Just random thoughts and maybe a quick game review.

• 9Jul 09

  Gateway P-7809u FX Edition vs. Asus G71GX-RX05

  I've been watching the mid-range gaming laptops for over a year now. For a laptop to be mid-range for me, generally it has to cost between $900-1300, 17" widescreen lcd, and a video card that is in the cls 1section of notebookcheck.net. When I first looked there was only one laptop that fit and that was the Gateway P series. After that, there is a huge jump to the next set of laptops. In late 2008, Gateway updated their P model but kept the price the same and the pro and consumer reviews were great, a sure buy. This month, Gateway has upgraded the P model again but it's not a major update as the last one, just a cpu and hard drive upgrade. But, something new has shown up, an Asus that just makes my price range, let's compare and see which is the better gaming and desktop replacement. And I can't saycls normally because Gamespot has horrible coding.

  CPU
  Gateway: Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 (2.53GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache)
  Asus: Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 (2.53GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache)
  Advantage: None.

  RAM
  Gateway: 4gigs 1066MHz DDR3 (2-2gig sticks)
  Asus: 6gigs 800MHz DDR2 (3-2gig sticks)
  Advantage: Gateway as I don't do any editing so I would rather have faster ram then 2gigs more.

  Video card
  Gateway: Geforce 9800M GTS with 1gig GDDR3 dedicated (ranked #13 in cls 1)
  Asus: Geforce GTX 260M with 1gig GDDR3 dedicated (ranked #4 in cls 1)
  Advantage: Asus easily takes this one.

  Hard drive
  Gateway: 500gig 5400 sata
  Asus: 500gig 5400 sata
  Advantage: None.

  Display
  Gateway: 17" WXGA+ (1440x900)
  Asus: 17" WXGA+ (1440x900) NOTE: It can come with a WUXGA (1920x1200) but might push it over my pricelimit.
  Advantage: None.

  MISC
  Gateway: HDMI - yes. Battery - 9 cell. Weight - 9.05lbs
  Asus: HDMI - yes. Battery - 8 cell. Weight - 8.79lbs
  Advantage: None.

  Price
  Gateway: $1199 online, $1249 MSRP
  Asus: $1199 online and offline
  Advantage: None.

  As you can see, they are pretty much neck and neck. Would I take the vastly better video card for the slower ram, sure would. It helps that you also get 2gigs more and ram you can replace, a video card you can't. With a quick google, I see site after site with very happy people with Gateway P series laptops. I would not hesitate to buy their laptop. Sadly, for Asus, it looks like when the RX05 came out, it had serious heat issues but apparently it was a bios issue. They just fixed it a week ago and people are reporting that all is well.

  In summary, if I had to buy one now, I would go with the Asus since the heat issue has been fixed. I would say the Asus is pretty darn future prepared. While the Gateway's video card is good, it's not really good like the Asus and would show it's age much quicker. True, it's sad I won't be getting a new laptop for some time but it also gives me time to see if Gateway responds to Asus's attempt of taking over the mid-range spot. Hope ya enjoyed my vs. as much as I did.

  • Posted Jul 9, 2009 4:50 pm PT
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• 9Jul 09

  Bored at work #9.

  Amp (purple can-grape): This flavor reminded me of a type of grape gum I had when I was a kid. That was mid 1980s which was before most of the users on this site were even born. Anyway, pretty intense grape flavor for the first few drinks then it mellowed out but not enough to make it taste flat. I would recommend this flavor over the cherry. Recommended.

  An update on that Xbox 360 racing wheel. Buddy actually bought it the other weekend and I was able to do a couple laps in Grid and Dirt. For Grid, we kept it at default settings and generally had a hard time controlling the car. We did get a tad better but never near the skill that we have with the controller. Dirt was even worse and we tried messing with the settings. Again, we were getting a tad better but still not even close to the controller. But I would note that Dirt is a hard game even with the controller. So, after a couple days of messing with it, he's gotten it pretty good but it seems that some games are just better with it then others. Believe he said NFS: Undercover is great and so is Burnout Paradise.

  So, after my short time with the wheel, I had mixed feelings on it since it seemed to be quite 'sloppy' on the games we tried. Personally, I like to start a game and go and not screw around with settings over and over until they are working. Since he is coming over on Saturday for UFC 100, he is going to let me borrow the wheel tomorrow night. I'll be playing Forza 2 and Race Pro mainly with some NFS: Undercover if I have time. I've not played Race Pro at all so if I can jump in and have fun like I would with just a controller then I'll probably get the wheel. But, if I have to spend half the night trying to get the settings right then I will most likely pass and just live with the controller. Quite excited to see how it works out.

  Speaking of UFC 100, I have three or four friends show up at my place to watch the PPV. It really annoys me that Comcast don't offer it in HD in my area. Oh well, it's my first PPV this year I bought so I guess I won't complain too much. Should be a very exciting night with two belts on the line plus the TUF coaches going at it. Dan has to make up for such a lemon US team he had.

  I know it's rare for me to talk about PC's but I seen yesterday that Gateway has updated their P series of laptops. That is their main gaming laptops which can easily be a desktop replacement. It's pretty much a basic upgrade. The CPU is a little faster, the hard drive is a little bigger but everything else is the same like the video card. I was surrpised to see Asus have a gaming laptop that didn't break the bank. It looks to be only about $100 more then the best Gateway. It does have a better video card and I believe more ram. I'll do a detailed comparison later tonight. Anyway, it's nice to see Gateway do an update and it's also nice to see another choice in the mid-range. Considering that I'm waiting for either Diablo III or my desktop to die, it'll be at least eight months if not 18 before either happens! Haha.

  Here is some random bits. Watched the movie Knowing and thought it was decent. Glad they showed the destruction at the end but wish they would've explained the actual event in more detail, I like that type of info. I also seen The Watchmen and my god, three hours! I thought it was good but a tadtoo much of thejumping from past and present events. Kinda reminded me of that old Dick Tracy movie. I'm so happy that Top Gear is back on. The first three shows this season have been great and I wait in agony for each week for a new one. The best thing on TV in any country for sure.

  • Posted Jul 9, 2009 3:28 pm PT
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• 25Jun 09

  Bored at work #8.

  Funny thing when it's hot andhumid out side, storms can form in a heart beat. Right now and a couple days ago, a strong storm formed above or right next to my town. Generally they blow over within 10-20 minutes but they can be quite strong and suprise you if you happen to be outside. Thou, it's not all bad since the temperature and humidity usually drops quite a bit. Because of these storms, I've started parking in a garage and on a level that has another one above it so I'm always out of the rain. Yup, bored enough to talk about the weather.

  I got a health tip for you. I had a pretty bad headache and took some pills which pretty much always gets rid of it. Well, an hour later and I still have it. So, I decide to buy a Full Throttle, black, from the vending machine and by the time I was done with the can, the headache was gone. So, there ya go, if pills aren't working, drink a Full Throttle. But, I do have one tip about energy drinks. Don't drink them if you can't get to a bathroom with ease. For myself, I'll get a big sudden rush to hit the can. Sometimes it's shortly after finishing the drink or a couple hours. Either way, play it safe and plan ahead.

  And now some random bits. The NBA draft was tonight, anyone care? Wacko Jacko died tonight, the media will act like he was something greater than he is. Yeah, he was 'the man' back in the late 80s but since than, he just a joke and nobody cared... until he died. I've had my Samsung Eternity for almost two months now and I still love it. I would choose it over a iphone any day even if the two cost the same. The new season of Top Gear started this week and I really missed that show. Watch the first episode this morning and simply loved it. True, I'll never own any of the super cars but I watch for the comedy between the hosts and their features. I think only the earlyseasons of MASH or the series Seinfeld has caused me to laugh more/harder.

  Finally I shall talk about my current 'want', the steering wheel. As I mentioned before, I was able to get three good-great racing games from the past and with still needing to play Forza 2, I have plenty of reasons to get one. Factor in Dirt 2 and Forza 3 coming out this fall and well, I have even more reasons. With my research, I like to research, people comment that the wheel does give them a better 'satisfaction' and 'fun' while playing games with it. Generally when I want something of higher value, I usually find other things to stop or pause so I can shift the money to the new thing. This way I keep things in check and justify things I really want and can use. Anyway, my Live Gold sub will run out at the end next month. With the LAN on hold for probably all summer, I really have no use for Live Gold as I'm a solo gamer 99% of the time. So with that $40 on sale or even cheaper, I'm almost half way to the wheel. I tried selling my DS Lite but the only serious offer I got was $75 when I was asking $100. Yeah, I know thats only $30 less than retail but it's near mint with extra stuff. Oh well, I'll find the money somewhere.

  Awesome, this killed an hour!

  • Posted Jun 25, 2009 5:52 pm PT
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