Just FYI, Alienware was purchased by Dell in 2006. They run it as a separate brand, but it’s integrated with Dell vertically.
Personally, if I were looking to future-proof myself for The Irritation of the Centaur Sergeant expansion or WoW II, I’d stick with a desktop over a laptop. Price/performance-wise, there’s no comparison. And, true laptops will always lag a bit behind comparable desktops because of compromises necessary for the laptop form.
ETA: I don’t mean to dismiss laptops completely; my Sony SZ actually manages a trifle higher frame-rate than my [much older] desktop when it’s in performance mode (which uses an NVIDIA graphics card instead of the Intel chipset used in “endurance” mode). I’m just pointing out that unless you have a compelling reason to get a laptop, a desktop will give you a lot more bang for your buck.
If the only PC games you play are from Blizzard, don’t overlook Macs. I’m running Wrath of the Lich King on my 24" iMac with all of the graphics settings maxed out, and it’s gorgeous! Runs fast, runs smooth.
I’m one of those poor saps running WoW on a Nvidia graphics card (8000 series). (And in Vista, too.)
WoW and Nvidia always had a rocky relationship, and last night I experienced three crash-to-desktops. Since I am unable to parse the hex codes listed in the WoW error report generator, I assumed that the problem is with Nvidia drivers again.
The WoW tech support forums search shows quite a few other Nvidia users are also experiencing issues of various kinds, as well. (Not all are experiencing the same exact symptoms.) However, there is no official “fix” or “workaround” from Blue that I could see there…
For those of you who are able to run ok with Nvidia cards, could you tell me which driver version seems the most stable, and your in game video settings?
I took a free server xfer, and now all my Horde toons from Bronzebeard are on Dawnbringer. Hopefully we have a better PvP Battle Group here; BB’s Horde sukt at PvP the last couple of years.
Next I’m gonna work on my hunter, then my druid.
The new content is great. I’ve run all but 2 of the instances and they were all fun and cool looking; can’t wait to get started on some heroics.
Curiously, I started in Warsong Hold in the Borean Tundra, moved to Dragonblight, then Grizzly Hills, then Zul’Drak. I did every quest in the zone, and then just did about 6 more at Ardent Vanguard and I dinged. I should be able to make a boatload of cash doing the rest of the quests, plus its easy rep.
