I finally pulled the trigger....

[Spinning Hat]

And ordered my Laptop. Don't think it'll make it in time for the LAN, unless HP finishes and ships it early. (It's supposed to ship Oct. 11th, so I doubt that very much so. :( ) Here's what I got:

HP ZX5000 series Notebook
Intel P4 CPU w/ HT @ 3 GHz
1GB PC2700 DDR
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 128Mb
60GB 5400 RPM HDD
15.4" WXGA display (15.4" Widescreen)
DVD/CDRW Combo Drive
Integrated LAN, Integrated 802.11B/G w/ Speedboster, Integrated 56K Modem, 5 in 1 Media Reader (Integrated)
Harmon Kardon Stereo Speakers
Win XP Home
12 cell Lithium Ion battery

All that for $1599 before a $50 rebate, with free shipping. What do you guys think? A worthwhile purchase, or not enough to fight off the "old" bug for a couple years? I got it mostly for Schoolwork, Papers, etc. but I wanted to be able to play some games on it too, and I know the 9600 isn't the newest GPU for notebooks, it's the best one HP offers. :(

[Spinning Hat]

For those that don't know, My Clan is hosting a LAN in Dallas in about 2 weeks. I copied and pasted this thread from our forums, because I'm lazy. ;) There's still time to sign up for the LAN, just follow the link to the XMEN on the friends and allies quick menu on the bottom.

[Spinning Hat]

Surprisingly enough, HP is shipping my Laptop as we speak, from Kunshan, China. :( It left the FedEx Ramp last night in Shanhai, so hopefully I'll see it in a couple more days! :D

[Ghryphen]

:D

[KWood]

Times have changed.....I used to build those laptops for HP in Houston.

[Spinning Hat]

Kwood, I wish they were still made here in the USA. I think that Americans building something they know is going directly to another American makes them take that extra step to ensure the quality of their product, because they know they wouldn't want to spend $1600 for a pile of crap computer. Not to mention, shipping time is greatly reduced to get to my house. ;)

[Ardamir]

LAN in Dallas? I live like 4 hours South of you in Victoria.

[Spinning Hat]

I don't live in Dallas, I live in Minnesota. ;) But I'll be in Dallas for the XMEN MegaLAN Oct. 15th - 17th. We'll be playing T:V, Probably some BF1942 or BF:Vietnam, Or UT2k4(3) or whatever else anyone comes up with for us to play over a LAN.

If you want to attend, and meet some of the XMEN, and people from other clans in the gaming world, you're more than welcome to attend, the cost is $25 for the event with sleeping arrangements and Lunch on Saturday Provided. Head here (http://pub141.ezboard.com/fxmenclantraininggametimesandlanpartyschedules) for regristration, location info and such. ;)

[insaneferret]

i'll be heading up from Sugar land south of houston for the LAN too, from what i've seen it'll be great fun

$25 for a weekend of fun, hell the local LAN house charges that for a all night lock in, a steal, plus i think we got sponsored by BAWLS, so no sleeping

[KWood]

Sugarland is the Shiznit. I use to live in KATY. Small world.

[Spinning Hat]

Yeah, the LAN is sponsored by BAWLS, and Nvidia, and a few other companies. There'll be door prizes given away, and good fun will be had. Bring all your favorite games, as we tend to play one for a while, and then change, and go back, etc. I'm getting excited for it, as this is the 4th LAN event in the 5 years I've been with the XMEN, and they've always been a blast. And the trip down has usually been as fun as the event itself, so It's worth the drive from Minnesota. ;)

[Spinning Hat]

It arrived this morning around 10:15, and I have to say that so far, I am very happy with it. It's fast, and looks pretty cool, and the sound is impressive for a notebook, and I've about got it all setup to how I want it, but I still have to pop in the WinXP SP2 CD I got from MS the other day, and update this thing. Anyone else running SP2? Like it? Hate it?

I was happy about SP1, but I've heard some people say it's great, and others say the firewall is a waste, etc. I've got a Hardware firewall on my router here, and I haven't had any problems at all, so I'm not sure how much I want to trust MS with the security of my network.

[Ghryphen]

Im running SP2, no difference here.

[Spinning Hat]

Ok, Then I'll install it on my desktop and laptop then. :D