I want to get a new laptop and have narrowed it down to four choices: alienware M14x, dell xps 15, 15z, or 14z. I want an all around good laptop as I'm going to be using it for casual gaming (Starcraft 2 and Heroes 6 of Might and Magic), web surfing, and basic office apps. Price is not much of a concern, so if possible I can have it custom made to get the best stuff. I like taking my laptop with me on trips so portability is key; the laptops I've narrowed it down to should be good but if not let me know. The only limitations for the laptop are the recommended configuration to play Heroes 6 and it is:
Processor: 2 Ghz Intel® Pentium® Core 2 Duo E6400 or higher, 2.8 Ghz AMD Athlon™II X2 240 or higher
RAM: 2 GB for Windows® XP, Windows® Vista®, Windows® 7
Video card: NVidia™ GeForce® 8800GTX (1 GB VRAM) or ATI™ Radeon HD 3870 (1 GB VRAM) or better
512 MB DirectX® 9.0c–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (See Supported List for more information).
Hard Drive Space: 8 GB
Now I know this might take the 14z and 15z out of play, but like I said I can have it custom made. While going over the customization options at the dell website, I came up with a 14z with the following specs:
Processor: 2nd gen intel core i7-2640M processor 2.80 GHz with Turbo boost 2.0 up to 3.50 GHz
RAM: 8GB, FFR3, 2 DIMM, 1333 MHz
Video card: NVIDIA GT 520M, i7-2640M (L412Z)
Hard Drive: 750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard drive
Now would the 14z be able to handle the game or would I have to go for the XPS 15, 15z, or Alienware M14x? Would cramming that much stuff into the 14z cause it to overheat quickly or would it be fine? Anyone have a personal preference for one of them? I'm not a big gamer, I'd just like the laptop to be able to handle it when I want to play it. Also, if anyone has a suggestion for a different laptop from another brand that would be better suited for my purposes let me know.
Processor: 2 Ghz Intel® Pentium® Core 2 Duo E6400 or higher, 2.8 Ghz AMD Athlon™II X2 240 or higher
RAM: 2 GB for Windows® XP, Windows® Vista®, Windows® 7
Video card: NVidia™ GeForce® 8800GTX (1 GB VRAM) or ATI™ Radeon HD 3870 (1 GB VRAM) or better
512 MB DirectX® 9.0c–compliant card with Shader Model 3.0 or higher (See Supported List for more information).
Hard Drive Space: 8 GB
Now I know this might take the 14z and 15z out of play, but like I said I can have it custom made. While going over the customization options at the dell website, I came up with a 14z with the following specs:
Processor: 2nd gen intel core i7-2640M processor 2.80 GHz with Turbo boost 2.0 up to 3.50 GHz
RAM: 8GB, FFR3, 2 DIMM, 1333 MHz
Video card: NVIDIA GT 520M, i7-2640M (L412Z)
Hard Drive: 750GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard drive
Now would the 14z be able to handle the game or would I have to go for the XPS 15, 15z, or Alienware M14x? Would cramming that much stuff into the 14z cause it to overheat quickly or would it be fine? Anyone have a personal preference for one of them? I'm not a big gamer, I'd just like the laptop to be able to handle it when I want to play it. Also, if anyone has a suggestion for a different laptop from another brand that would be better suited for my purposes let me know.