HP Pavillion dv7-1285DX or Gateway P-7805u FX Edition?

[blaz3r]

Ok. Im getting a new laptop soon. I want a laptop thats good for gaming and is pretty fast, too. Both of these laptops fit in well.

Right now, i can get one or the other for the same price at the computer store. I'm not sure which to choose, though. Here are the specs:

HP Pavillion dv7-1285DX

2.40 GHz Intel Centrino 2 Processor Technology featuring Intel Core2 Duo Processor P8600
Memory 6144MB
Video Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT
Video Memory Up to 2558MB (512MB dedicated)
Hard Drive 500GB (5400RPM)
Multimedia Drive LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support

Gateway P-7805u FX Edition

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor1 P8400 (2.26GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache)
Memory 4096MB 1066MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory (2-2048MB)
320GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive6
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GTS Graphics with 1GB of GDDR3 Discrete Video Memory and Intel® PM45 Chipset
8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW and DVD-RAM featuring
Labelflash™ Technology8


Both will come with vista, by the way (ill switch to xp, though). I realize that on paper, the HP is probably better. At the same time, i feel like the gateway will still be better overall.

Which one is truly better?

[pharoah]

if this is for gaming?id vote the gateway with the way better video card.

[koala]

The Gateway also has a faster 7200rpm hard drive and faster DDR3 RAM. Very little difference between CPU clock speeds, nothing you'd notice.

[blaz3r]

Well, I'm currently in high school, and I plan on taking this with me to college in a couple of years. yes, I'm getting a laptop right now (not waiting).

It's technically not really for gaming, but I really dont want a laptop that lags on campaign mode on Halo.

So really, It's for high school, college, and gaming. But, it's mine, so I want to be pretty nice. However, gaming isn't the main quality I want.

People, please post your opinions. I'd really like to know which is better in your opinion. Thanks.

[koala]

The Gateway.

The higher quality graphics card in the Gateway will give better framerates at higher settings than the HP, and the faster 72000rpm hard drive will make a world of difference for overall Windows performance. I didn't know they still used 5000rpm drives these days. They can be painfully slow.

As I'm sure you're aware, computers are improving so quickly that in 2 years time your laptop will struggle to play the latest games. So if gaming at college is going to be a priority, you'll need a new laptop by then as you can't simply upgrade the graphics card the way you can with a desktop.

[Mcninjaguy]

do you really need a something very mobile because the performance to cost ratio is way better for desktops?

how much are those laptops?

I'd go with the Gateway no competition