Gaming Notebook PC - The Prostar 5694

[Player0]

Please post your comments below :)

[WesM63]

Tom,
Great Review!! Very in-depth and very informative.

I know frome working at a computer store that most componets in dell,compaq, hp, micron and any other major re-seller out there use almost the same hdd's ect.

[Farabomb]

Great write-up Tom :thumbsup:

Too bad you got me looking at notebooks again. ;)

I can't afford one.......

Well, maybe.....

Christmas is comming.... :D

[mdzcpa]

Good review Tom:)

If I knew that the wife wouldn't have my head on a plate for it, I'd also like to get something portable myself. My work laptop is nice, but it cannot game for beans:(

[TheLostMortal]

nice review, thanks to you i found the laptop i want to get..but its not from prostar...well not really..
prostar laptops originally come from the manufacturer Clevo..and clevo also makes the laptops for sager, alienware (area 15-m) and for voodoo...(and they use the same models)

while i was searching, i stumbled on a sager reseller
www.pctorque.com

they offer great deals and excellent service..if you're lookin for a laptop like the ones at prostar but at a cheaper price, i'd check it out there

and they have a forum about sagers and such with reviews, benchmark tests and tech support too www.sagerforums.com (http://www.sagerforums.com)

[WesM63]

hello TheLostMortal,
First off i want to say welcome to The :D :D LiquidNinja forums :D :D.

Second, at the computer store wich i work we sell sager laptops. There good price but lately have been lacking in quality. A school recently purchased 20 of them and returned 5 with defective screens. Fluke? I don't know. Just food for thought. :D

[Burnt Offering]

Hey Gang
I have 2 Dell Inspiron 8200 Laptop computers. I use them both for a DJ company I own and operate. One has The GForce 4 and the other has the ATI 9000. Both have the top of the line UXGA monitor. I paid 3k apiece for both of them. I will say this about BOTH of them. When I havent been using these computers for playing MP3s through a raging sound system, they have been BOTH playing MEDAL of Honor day in and day out, sometimes 8-10 hours a day. The screen resolution can be set to 1600x1200 and can play nonstop with no problems until you get so tired of blowing up the world that you want to puke. The graphics on both of them is nothing short of stunning. I have seen , built and done trobleshooting on hundreds of computers, and have not yet seen to many things that will touch either one of them. Kudo's to Dell. I have 6 PC's all networked together, both of these are wireless. I have never abused a computer like I have these two laptops and I'm telling you they are bulletproof. Not a glitch, not one time, never. By far the ultimate gamer, because you can take it so easy to different locations. I have DSL at home and at work, when its slow at work, I play Medal of Honor all day long. It's awesome. If your asking me which one has the better graphics, I will tell you without a doubt the ATI 9000 is better. But cant go wrong either way!

:D

[Player0]

I looked seriously at the Dell 8200s before getting the ProStar. The only problem with the Dells is that they are quite expensive. You may have saved $500-$800 a piece by purchasing an OEM notebook and skipping the middleman :)

I usually prefer the Dell Latitudes to the Dell Inspirons. Their business class machines always seem to be better built than their home class. When I looked at the 4000 series, they felt cheap and plasticy. Maybe the 8200 is built more solidly because it is bigger.

[Burnt Offering]

My major concern was cooling. I could not afford to have a computer fail during a dance. Had a Dell 2650 do that the first time I used it. It overheated then just stopped. Luckily I had one of my 8200's along. Booted that sucker up, worked like a champ and now it's all I use. The 8200 has dual fans, and they come on at a certain temp. Anyway, I've never had one overheat, and I use them HARD. Thank goodness we are not all the same, and don't have the same preferences! To each his own. But I have had great luck with my 8200's

[Player0]

Oh, I never meant to say that the 8200s aren't good notebooks. I was just mentioning why I decided to go with the Prostar instead of the Dell. I've had the Prostar for over 6 months now, and it's been amazing. It also has good cooling (as most gaming laptops do). This particular laptop is the same OEM brand as the one Alienware (and a couple other brands) use.

The Dells just cost a whole lot more, and your getting basically the same thing. Intel Chip, Intel NB, ATI or Nvidia video, Toshiba Drive. Most all of the same parts. But buying an OEM laptop saves a lot of money.

One thing FOR Dell however is Support. If you buy the Dell, you're going to get better customer support. However, that DOESNT mean you get a better warantee. But if you're an end-user that expects to need some handholding on hardware/software issues with the laptop, then buying a brand name like Dell is a must have.

Off topic, do you use any software on the laptops to create light/tv displays to go along with the music?

[Burnt Offering]

Hey Player,
Hey dude, no offense taken!!! What I was basically saying is that peope have different tatstes, and it's great!! It would be a pretty boring world if we all liked the same thing. There would be no need for a Site like Liquid Ninjas, and that would be criminal!! I value yours and everyones opinion on this site, I have learned volumes and I appreciate it. I spend hours scouring this site for info and it is a great rescource. Hows that for redeeming myself?!!
As for your wanting to know about video software from a laptop to a display, I will tell you that I dont even mess with it. A DJ business as any other business will only alow you to charge so much. It just isnt cost effective to do. Not only that, the most likely place to use it is at high school dances and for the most part the kids don't appreciate ANYTHING, and the object is just to get through the dance without getting shot, or your equipment getting vandalized, so it just wouldnt be worth it. I've often thought it would be cool to have a video projector to do exactly what we are talking about, but it wouldnt allow me to charge anymore, so whats the point? But I have a 40 gig HD on my laptops, 5k MP3 songs on both of them and still have 20 gig to go. It's awesome. I get all my music from Promo Only. www.promoonly.com
It's actually a sweet setup.

[bigg]

I think that Dell should have kept the 8200 around, as it was one of the few notebooks that could get 4-6hr battery life while having a DVD/CD-RW internally. This new 8500 is not nearly as good, because it doesn't have that extra bay for the second battery, and it has a larger screen to eat what little is left of the battery up. I have been looking around for a sub-$1200 gaming notebook that has decent battery life, and there aren't any. The only "gaming" notebook that ever had good battery life was the 8200, and it was too expensive anyways. I like the Area 51M/Prostar XXXX, but they don't offer very good battery life, and they are still expensive. There are tons of notebooks with good graphics chipsets, but not enough ram. Thats Dell's trick to get you to buy a top of the line machine. :(