Just because Dell tries to push that crap on you, does not make it a good deal. Most of that Tech is 2-3 years old, they are only trying to shift products fast because they are getting out-dated quicker and quicker. Really, all you need to worry about is a new Intel Sandybridge processor, a good graphics card (maybe 460gtx) and then whatever you want to fill in the rest. And it will run Skyrim flawlessly. Even the i3 sandybridge will probably outperform the i5 and some of the i7's from last year that Dell are STILL putting in their machines. ...And the XPS was never a good line from Dell. It's designed to hype you with flashy tech. But you need to realize you are still getting a Dell. It's still a plastic'y piece of **** that will overheat and have poor sound, so don't fall into the trap?
Indeed, any laptop you pick up isn't going to run modern games like Skyrim as well as you'd want, and a "gaming" laptop is just a ripoff. That same 650 can get you a solid desktop, so unless you truly need portability for work or something like that, I would still go for the self-built.
Thanks for the input, guys. I've been talking to a couple of friends about this as well. One says to go for a good gaming laptop, the other says look around for a good desktop, possibly build one. I did some scrounging last night and found an Alienware M18x, but its pretty highly priced (near $4k). I can pay it off monthly, however (appx. $46pw/24months), something I cant do if I build a desktop. But I admit that building a desktop would be a lot cheaper, though the place where I currently live doesn't have a lot of space, so finding it a home would cause me and my partner a lot of frustration. I can easily afford $46 a week, but I haven't completely made up my mind yet. A good point raised by my pro-laptop friend was that if I end up getting the M18x I wouldn't need to buy anything new for a long while. Apart from gaming, I also do graphics and music stuff, so having a bit of extra grunt on something that can easily take the load would be welcome. Still, that $4k price tag is a little deterring...
Dude! If you decided to build your computer, you could have one that will play anything out now for $1000. Just build it man. Beside being a complete rip off, Alienware have no style. Just to clear up some points. Skyrim won't be that demanding on a PC anyway, it will likely drain 512-1024mb just on your ram because it's an open world, but other than that, it won't be that much more intensive than Oblivion. And besides being cheaper, a PC is actually safer than a laptop. Laptop components are subjected to much harsher conditions, wear a lot faster, and cost more to be fixed. Think long term. Most laptops won't survive 18 months without an issue.
You guys are drifting way too far off topic. If you wish to carry on with this discussion, take it to PM's/Skype or whatever. Any further comments will be treated as spam. Discussion goes back to Skyrim.
Whops, sorry, Nibs. Forgot what this thread was about for a second. :S OT: I did some more sleuthing and the general consensus is that Skyrim will likely take a minimum of Dual Core 2.5GHz processor, 3GB RAM, 512MB graphics card and around 10GB of HDD space. DX9 will also likely be used, as well. I also heard tell that the engine used to run Skyrim is (probably) a modified and rewritten Gamebryo engine, so it shouldnt take a PC much more capable of running Oblivion to be able to run it respectfully. Hopefully they'll release the specs soon, so nothing is left up to conjecture and we can actually prepare for it. Im still tossing up what system I want to buy it for, but I will likely just get it for 360, as PC seems to be too much of a ****around, and Ive already got something capable of running it.
Haven't they said they were adding something for mods for xbox? If so the age of computers dominating that whole part of the game is over. I know it's supposed to be possible with a Jtag so I don't see why it would be so hard to make it an official part of the game. Hell, the sweetest thing I can think of would be if it did work like that and the xbox game came with a disk of the creation kit for the computer so you could make your own mods and just transfer them over with a thumb drive.
They would like to. And I think that the best way to do it, would be for mod creators to have to make an "Xbox Compatible Version" which meets certain criteria before installing. But somehow I doubt that Microsoft would ever let you install something via thumbdrive. It would be so awesome, but I just sense major security issues. We'll have to wait and see then.
Mhm. They mentioned they were working on it, and that they might be getting somewhere, but that the future of it is unclear. As for mods being released, I can probably see them releasing something on the xbox live marketplace along the lines of Halo Waypoint or the Guitar Hero VIP thing, as an application which has a list of a bunch of mods you can download, which is updated now and again. As for the way the mods themselves would get on the xbox, if it did happen, I'm sure it would have to go through some review process like when an indie game gets updated.
I know nothing's been posted in this thread for a while , but I just took notice of something. In the original gameinformer release with the skyrim cover, the code on the back could be translated. Each letter in the runes corresponded with an english letter, which then formed translatable words. That is all pretty much common knowledge by now. However, I looked at some high def images of the new limited edition version of the game, and the Alduin statue has runes of its own carved into it. The strange thing is, these runes don't match up with the original runes released through gameinformer, and when translated come out as jumbled letters, and some of the runes have never been seen before and thus cannot be converted. This is the best High-def pic I could find--you may need to zoom in a bit to see the letters, and not all of them are visible. But anyway, many of the letters have never been seen before. Just thought it was an oddity.
As the game is still in development, things can get changed or added. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case with Skyrim. But just because we haven't seen those symbols before, doesn't mean they weren't part of the dragon language already, maybe just previously unreleased. Still, well spotted.
Buy online man, you'll get it for a substantially lower price. Probably on par or cheaper than the standard edition in store. Thats what Im going to do... once they release the specs for PC, that is. :\
35 ****ing minutes of Skyrim gameplay, with Todd Howard commentating. EXCLUSIVE SKYRIM GAMEPLAY - Quakecon 2011‏ - YouTube
Hah, I watched at the perfect time then. Not a lot of new info though, just an uncut playthrough of the demo we've all seen already. I'm sure someone could have gone through and listed all the perks he scrolled across in the perk trees, but nothing unexpected otherwise.
if you didnt see it, google it, its not too hard to find. literally the first link. and even though i never had doubts about the dark brother being in the game, its nice to have it confirmed.