Comparing 15" Hi-End Laptops

Granted, I'd just purchased my new laptop, barely 6 months ago. However, I like to look at what's on the market, just to whet my appetite for sexy machines. If I had the freedom to do so, I'd probably be buying a new computer every year. But obviously, I have financial constraints. But there's no harm looking. So, I thought that I'd revisit some of my previous laptop short lists and see how things look now.

I tried to compare laptops of similar specifications. Generally, they should have a hi-res 15.4" screen, a T7xxx Core2 Duo processor, 2Gb of RAM, 120Gb harddisk, wifi, high end graphics or similar. The quoted prices are with some customisations:

• MacBook Pro [£1299]
• Alienware M5550 [£922]
• Znote 6625WD [£899]
• Dell XPS M1530 [£849]
• Rizeon IFL90 [£689]
  

So, it would seem that it's possible to get a fairly high end laptop for under £700. The IFL90 is essentially a re-badged Compal IFL90. For the price of £689, it comes with the following specifications:

Screen:	15.4" Wide Screen WXGA+ (1440x900) Glare Type Display
Processor:	Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 2GHz 2MB L2 Cache 800MHz FSB
Memory:	2GB Dual Channel DDR2 PC-5300 667MHz - 2x1024MB
Hard Drive:	120GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Graphics:	Nvidia Geforce 8600M GT 512MB
Optical Drive:	DVD Super-Multi(DVD-RAM/-R/-RW/+R/+RW)
Sound Card:	High-Definition Audio with 3D Effect & Full Duplex
Wireless Card:	Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965AGN network card

This is quite possibly the cheapest, high-end, gaming capable 15.4" laptop on the market. So, I think that I'll recommend it to anyone who's looking for a decent gaming laptop, on a less than decent budget. It's also ideally suited to running Linux, which is fairly useful for gaming, regardless of what Microsoft shrills would like you to believe.