Looking to get a laptop in the next few weeks. I was pretty much decided on getting an m1530 Dell because it looked nice and seemed a good balance between looks, specs, and weight. I also liked the idea of having HDMI on a laptop.
Now I am not so sure after looking at the ASUS range. Seems ASUS gets you a bit more bang for buck.
I was particularly looking at this model http://www.computeralliance.com.au/parts.aspx?qryPart=9304


Basically I want to be able to play games on it while not compromising portability.

Budget is at roughly $2000

dell m1530's are pretty sweet though

old mate at work just bought one and scored 25% off on some end of financial year sale

The other thing to keep in mind with XPS' is the stupidly good warranty.

You can spill booze on it in a drunken late night gaming stupor and get it replaced! Depending on your house & contents though you might already be covered for accidental breakages.

I'm also in market for a new laptop.. I'm heavily considering an apple macbook pro. It seems like a reliable option. I don't play games as that's what i have my xbox 360 for..it will purely be for just general surfing like this.. emails, chat and music movies etc.

so even though its a fair bit more expensive that most other laptops, its got good build quality and good features for what i require.

I am not an apply fanboy at all.. this is the first apple I've owned and really used. Even with the new Intel chipsets you can dual boot to windows anyway so don have to worry about OS-X but it will be interesting to see which OS i will use more as from what I've had a play on OS-x it seems pretty clean .

There is some asus 15' notebook that has a keypad inbuilt! And it had good specs, if your like me that is and get pissed without one.

That said i LOVE my dell xps 1730 (version up from yours, 17' screen etc). And I finally installed Assasins Creed on it this weekend, and maxed out res/graphics/etc and it ran awesomely.

lolz macbook

thats hilarious

lolz not considering macbook

thats hilarious

I just went through the whole thing, started off with a Hp laptop and had problems with it from the word go. After finally getting my money back i bought a macbook, and i could not fault it, by far the best computer i have ever bought. Not had a single problem with it. The other computer i was considering was the asus, it would have been the next option.

Started off with a Hp laptop and had problems with it from the word go.

Wow, thats exciting. You know, they are the #1 computer company in the world... Its not like they're not good.

I was speaking to ony of my old Officeworks managers the other day... apparently, they're very disapointed in the reliability of the Dell notebooks they've started selling...

Not going to get a macbook because they are like a grand overpriced. Also i hate that c*** on the ads.

lolz not considering macbook

thats hilarious

Almost right, not considering a macbook is silly, actually buying one is hilarious.

I just went through the whole thing, started off with a Hp laptop and had problems with it from the word go

wouldn't have been user related problems by any chance?

so even though its a fair bit more expensive that most other laptops, its got good build quality and good features for what i require.

No better or worse than any other "reputable" Laptop dealer. On some of the american forums, where macbooks are alot more popular than here, there are just as many disgruntled owners as happy owners.

Get what you will, but I find the Asus laptops nice, but always recomend Dells for the warranty.

Well, Asus laptops are nice... and they do have 2 years warranty.

Dell's aren't bad either.

Personally I'd be looking at Fujitsu - they're well made and come standard with a 2 year warranty.

macbook +1

I have used a few laptops in the past couple of 1 years... and i find the best to be HP...

What i hate about Dell are there motherboard and hard drives... they are cheap and slow...