[Apollus]

As a college student, I have access to broadband in my dorm, and my desktop is specced fairly well for gaming (Pentium 4 2 gig, 512 RAM, 256 vid card). Unfortunately, it is the least portable item I own, bar none, and my house for the summer has terrible internet. So, I'm looking for a gaming system that I can take to Starbucks, Borders, etc.- places with wi-fi that can support games over the internet.

Currently, I've looked at the Alienware Aurora m7700. Specs:
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 FX-60 with HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
Display: 17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD Display
Motherboard: VIA K8T890 + VT8237A Chipset
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR SO-DIMM at 400MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Video/Graphics Card: 256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 6800 Ultra
Hard Drive: Extreme Performance (RAID 0) - 160GB (80GB x 2) 5400 RPM SATA

Cost- approx. $4500

And also the Monarch Hornet Pro. Specs:
Motherboard: 110642 - Asus A8N-VM CSM GeForce 6150
Processor: 120305 - AMD Opteron 185 Dual-Core 2.6GHz
Memory: 140178 - DDR (400) 3200 - 1 GB (2 pcs 512) Corsair
Hard Drive: 150614 - SATA - Seagate (3120827AS) 120 GB/7200-RP
Video Card: 190281 - Asus GeForce 7900 GT 256MB DDR3/PCI-E/HDT
ViewSonic 19" VP930B Thinedge HDTV LCD Flat Panel

Cost- approx. $3500


Primarily, I'm concerned with the combinaiton of portability and performance- I don't want to be stuck with something that will run this quarter's releases and then quit, but I don't want to lug around 40 lbs. of equipment either. Cost is, of course, better if lower, but that comes secondary to the convenience and power of the system. Does anyone have suggestions on better builds of these systems, other systems that I could look at, etc.?

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Well it depends how big you can live with, a lightweight lanning PC(i have one like that) or a high end laptop. The big advantage of a desktop is the extra power, upgradabiltity and the much lower cost. Laptops are going to be slower hotter and more expensive and hane next to no upgradability but they are slightly more portable(back breaking but still portable).

With a PC you can put it together yourself and save money and end up with a very fast system below $2000, laptop youll be slower and itll cost you more than double that.

You could always get a better broadband connection with the money you save, but also a coffee house will have a filter on its internet and none of the ports except the plain net ports open so gaming you cant do in many(at least many that i know of here strabucks included).

If youre stuck organise some lan parties or join your college gaming soceity and get some summer events going(if you have a gaming soceity if not why not start one). During the summer months is a good time to organise lan parties as you dont have the restriction of having youre next days coursework to finish or that report for monday.

[warriorscot]

Well it depends how big you can live with, a lightweight lanning PC(i have one like that) or a high end laptop. The big advantage of a desktop is the extra power, upgradabiltity and the much lower cost. Laptops are going to be slower hotter and more expensive and hane next to no upgradability but they are slightly more portable(back breaking but still portable).

With a PC you can put it together yourself and save money and end up with a very fast system below $2000, laptop youll be slower and itll cost you more than double that.

You could always get a better broadband connection with the money you save, but also a coffee house will have a filter on its internet and none of the ports except the plain net ports open so gaming you cant do in many(at least many that i know of here strabucks included).

If youre stuck organise some lan parties or join your college gaming soceity and get some summer events going(if you have a gaming soceity if not why not start one). During the summer months is a good time to organise lan parties as you dont have the restriction of having youre next days coursework to finish or that report for monday.

[Apollus]

Yeah, I looked into pricing more and it's seeming to be about $2000 less for a desktop than a laptop, and with faster equipment. It's good to know that public wi-fi doesn't support gaming....I'd have to check in town for spots that do. The reason why I don't have braodband at my house is that it's in a non-profitable zone, and not even DSL is available.

If I'm going to go with a lightweight desktop, what would you reccomend? It'd be nice if the whole kit was a two-handed, one-trip setup- I just don't want to lug around a tower everywhere I go.

[warriorscot]

Well the best way is to get a lanning tower, with a case like the lanboy or coolermaster ammo, mines is in a lanboy and the case is very light and came with a carry strap, the whole pc you can easily carry, the monitor is the same its pretty light would be better if i had a strap for it as well.

The pair of keyboards(always keep a spare for lans i use an old imac one as they are small lightwieght and have a usb hub built in) and your mouse and mouse pad etc. I can carry all mine in one trip in the car, or walking if i have a hand with the monitor but if you have a strap for both and the lightweight case then its an easy trip.

If you dont have availability to DSL it means you have older phone lines, here the way to get the new lines layed for the broadband availability if you get enough names on a petition whoever maintains the phone lines has to lay the new lines doesnt matter if no one wants it you just need the signatures, might be a different case there but its worth checking if you can do it..