The best part about buying a new laptop

[yoba333]

Hey! I'm upgrading from an outdated Sony Vaio FW-390 to a Dell XPS 17 so I can play the newest games on great graphics! I need some ideas on what to do with the old laptop. I have a few options lined out, but I want to do something totally cool and amazing. What are your ideas?

 

Idea 1: Remove screen and reattach so its flat, turn into a wall-mounted monitor that I can control with LogMeIn Ignition app for iPhone

Idea 2: Use as a hard drive/download hub/backup station

Idea 3: Run Linux on it and do Linux stuff (Whatever that is, I've never used Linux :P )

Idea 4: Sell it (Boring... :dry: )

Idea 5: Open up the chassis and place copious amounts of firecrackers into it.. Shenanigans ensue (I'm not doing this, I'll catch something on fire lol)

Idea 6: Salvage parts from it (And do what?)

Idea 7: Use it as a very stylish hat

Idea 8: Convert it to run Mac OS X.. (What can I do with this? Is this hard?)

Idea 9: Can I use it as a TV monitor to play video games on?

Idea 10: Use it to create a moving, sentient robot that can make me grilled cheese sandwiches

Idea 11: Same as above but with BLTs

 

That's it... In all seriousness I actually want to do something cool with it, does anyone have some ideas?

[urbex]

Idea 1: Remove screen and reattach so its flat, turn into a wall-mounted monitor that I can control with LogMeIn Ignition app for iPhone

Sounds pretty cool, have no idea what that is though.

Idea 2: Use as a hard drive/download hub/backup station

You could, or just partition your HDD

Idea 3: Run Linux on it and do Linux stuff (Whatever that is, I've never used Linux :P )

Well... complain about closed source software, be an elitist a**hole, and browse /g/

Idea 4: Sell it (Boring... :dry: )

Money is fun.

Idea 5: Open up the chassis and place copious amounts of firecrackers into it.. Shenanigans ensue (I'm not doing this, I'll catch something on fire lol)

You'll need M80s.

Idea 6: Salvage parts from it (And do what?)

Waste a laptop?

Idea 7: Use it as a very stylish hat

You'll need a spare new era fifty sticker to pull this off.

Idea 8: Convert it to run Mac OS X.. (What can I do with this? Is this hard?)

That's pretty easy, just google hackintosh. I'll probably get banned if I discuss it though.

Idea 9: Can I use it as a TV monitor to play video games on?

Yeah, you'll need a way to input the video though.

Idea 10: Use it to create a moving, sentient robot that can make me grilled cheese sandwiches

More specifically a girlfriend.

[Malchus]

 

Idea 1: Remove screen and reattach so its flat, turn into a wall-mounted monitor that I can control with LogMeIn Ignition app for iPhone

 

This is probably the best idea. If you have an external monitor/TV you can make laptops into very handy media centers for all of your PERFECTLY LEGALLY ACQUIRED movies and music. :-)

 

 

Idea 11: Same as above but with BLTs

 

This is of course, the second best Idea, you'll need some Arduino boards and a couple of model rocket engines first though.

 

Lastly, are you sure about getting a Dell? Their RMA rate is about 22% at the moment.

[yoba333]

Lastly, are you sure about getting a Dell? Their RMA rate is about 22% at the moment.

It's for gaming, do you have a better suggestion?

 

This is probably the best idea. If you have an external monitor/TV you can make laptops into very handy media centers for all of your PERFECTLY LEGALLY ACQUIRED movies and music. :-)

I might just do this, place my laptop in a hidden area and have a wireless monitor hooked up. I buy all my media off iTunes so I can just store it all there.

Edited March 22, 2011 by yoba333

[urbex]

Well, you're much better off with a $300 netbook and a $700 gaming PC than a gaming laptop.

I actually own an XPS M1530 though, it's been great, especially for frying eggs.

[Malchus]

It's for gaming, do you have a better suggestion?

 

 

Short of what Urbex said below me:

 

Check out some of ASUS's computers. They are a little pricey compared to some, but they have absolutely astonishing quality.

Most models include a free one year accidental damage warranty.

 

Probably because ASUS's failure rate for computers is at about %0.8 right now.

 

I have a K42J just in case I have to fire up games whilst mobile. It's nothing too fancy, but it works VERY nicely.

[yoba333]

A laptop is my only option, I wish I could go for a desktop though. Here's an Asus I configured:

ASUS G73SW-A1

- 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen (1920x1080)-

- ASUS Zero Bright Dot (ZBD) 30 Day Pixel Guarantee - (Included on ASUS Standard NON-Upgraded Displays)

- 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache) - Standard (Does not support DDR3 1600MHz Ram)

- Stock OEM Thermal Compound ( IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU Provided FREE with Processor Upgrade!)

- nVidia GeForce GTX 460M 1,536MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11

- No Video Adapter

- 8,192MB (8GB) DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4x2GB) - Standard

- Standard Finish

- No Afterburner Light Package (Afterburner light package will add 2-5 business days to production time)

- No Light Bar - Default

- Standard White Backlit Keyboard

- Standard Matching Color WASD Keys

- 4X Blu-Ray Reader / 8X DVDRW/CDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Standard

- - 500GB (w/ 4GB SSD Memory) Seagate XT 7200RPM NCQ Hybrid 32MB Cache (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) - Default

- - 500GB (w/ 4GB SSD Memory) Seagate XT 7200RPM NCQ Hybrid 32MB Cache (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) - Default

- No Additional Hard Drive in ODD Bay (When adding Hard Drive, Optical Drive Is Not Included/Removed)

- No Back Up Hard Drive

- NO External USB Optical Drive

- No Back Up Software

- No Floppy Drive

- Internal 8-in-1 Card Reader: MMC/SD/Mini-SD/XD/Memory Stick/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo

- Internal Bluetooth + EDR

- Built-in 802.11 Wireless B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card

- No Network Accessory

- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera

- No TV Tuner

- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included

- Asus G Series Matching Backpack made by Targus

- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)

- No Car Adapter

- None Standard*

- No Dock/Hub/Adapter

- No Fingerprint Reader

- Asus G Series Gaming Mouse

- No Notebook Cooler

- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system

- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Pre-Installed + Drivers & Utilities Disk

- No thanks, do not create backup recovery DVD's

- OEM Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student Edition - Word/Excel/PowerPoint/OneNote (Medialess)

- No Software Bundle

- 2 Year ASUS GLOBAL Warranty 24/7 Support / 1 Year North America (N.A.) Accidental Coverage (Accidental Requires Registration)

- No Xotic PC Gear

 

compared to this Dell:

XPS 17 3D (1080p)

PROCESSOR 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM processor 2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® Home Premium, 64-Bit, English

HD DISPLAY 17.3" FHD (1080p) 3D Display with 2.0MP HD Webcam

3D GLASSES NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses (1 pair)

MEMORY 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory

VIDEO CARD NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M 3GB graphics

BATTERY OPTIONS 92 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

HARD DRIVE 640GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive

SERVICE PLAN 1 Year Basic Service Plan

OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2010

SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee Security Center with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 30-Day Trial

INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)

WIRELESS + BLUETOOTH Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N + WiMAX 6150

KEYBOARD Backlit Keyboard - English

SOUND OPTIONS JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 + Creative SoundBlaster X-FI MB 1.2

ADOBE & ENTERTAINMENT Adobe® Photoshop® Elements

DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP DataSafe 2.0 Online Backup 2GB for 1 year

 

Which should I go for? The Asus is about 200 dollars cheaper.

Edited March 22, 2011 by yoba333

[HellsMaster]

ASUS all the way

[yoba333]

I configured it with XoticPC.com.. are they a good company?

[vivid2012]

ASUS all the way

asus is always my vote.