Ok guys. I have a slight dilemma here. My birthday is coming up in a few months, and im getting a new laptop to replace my outdated one. I have a £500 budget, and I want it to be able to run games like CoD4, which runs on my desktop PC which has a 2 gig ram and an Nvidia GeForce 8400 GS and a 2.2GHz processor (would post dxdiag screen, but my print screen button is screwed) and I have found two laptops which I could choose from.

First is this one:
http://www.currys.co.uk/martprd/product ... ionSection

Its ok looking with the 4 gig RAM, and the Harddrive space is ok at 160GB. Processor speed is 2 GHz and it has an Intel Core 2 Duo T5750. HOWEVER the card is what im worried about. The card is an Intel GMA X4500.
The question is, does anyone know the equvalent of that in an Nvidia card?

The second laptop is:
http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/produc ... ation#spec

It has a massive hardrive compared to the first one, of 250GB, and it has a 3 gig ram, so a little less. Processor is 2GHz and is an AMD Turion 64 x2 Dual Core, model number TL-60. It has a dedicated graphics card which is an NVIDIA GF8400M 256 MB.

Now what I want to know, is which laptop I should get. OR if anyone knows a better laptop that i can get within my £500 budget, then please post a link.
Sorry for the massive long story, but I really want to get the right laptop

According to NotebookCheck and 3dMark06, a GeForce 8400M G. Keep in mind that it's a bit slower than the GS, and the mobile versions are usually a bit slower in general.

I have an 8400M GS in my Thinkpad, and it's choppy on CoD4. I wouldn't recommend it, because it will be even more outdated for new games. But if you're going to do heavy gaming, I would upgrade your desktop instead, and get a cheaper laptop.

cambiogris is right i dont think you will be skipping along in CoD4 on those laptops, but the Dedicated Nvidia card beats intels cards anyday.

but i think for the money youve got a pretty good deal there, i just did a quick search for laptops in that price range and diddnt even come close to your specs (typically 1.8Ghz processor, 2gig RAM and Intergrated Shared Graphics )

If you're willing to pay 29 out of your own pocket, Dell has a pretty decent deal here. The GPU's a bit better than an 8600M GT, a respectable card.

Also, don't go above 3GB of RAM on a 32-bit OS as it will be unaddressable and therefore a waste of money.

My first question is are you going to be using it for gaming anywhere other than your home.

Gaming and laptops do not comply.

Then you sir have never seen a gaming laptop http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/08/15/kobalt-comanche-sli/1

thats set to give many killer desktops a run for their money, and you can pick it up and take it with you

A run for their money for twice the money. I could build you that machine for half that.

When your looking for a laptop, you need to think what is it that you really need, Is it for work? for gaming ? or just browing the web to check forums and sites, and the odd video?

Things you want to look at are videocard , this is were prices change the most
How long does the battery stay changed for? The laptop i got for my dad can be on without being pluged in for 6 hours , my laptop il be lucky for 2. But then my laptop is a gaming laptop. Faster then my main computer, id use it more often if it did not get so hot.

size of the screen, 15 17 ..even 12inch small ones The bigger the screen the less battery time you will have, also the bigger screen the more you will be paying.

harddrive space, i got 250g on my laptop and i got about 60% of it used, note that i use my laptop as a backup of all my music on my main computer, so theres 90gigs of space used. also have all my games i play on my laptop incase i ever am going out, i have everything i need.

now you say "I want it to be able to run games like CoD4" Well most new laptops can run games, some you just need to lower all the settings.

Also buying from online is not the best for laptops if you can find a store thats near you , ask them if you can get a trial using the laptop for a week, i went tho 4 laptops till i found mine, Just how they are made, were the fan comes out, do they get too hot? does it take to long to change.

Vista and you, Now if you got a older laptop you most likely have xp. All new laptops and computers come with vista. So you might want to as soon as you get your new laptop is reinstall xp on it. or if it does come with a vista disk or xp disk, install that. preisntalled OS on laptops got so much junk it will slow them down. the extra little ♥♥♥♥ you dont need.

@cambiogris:
That looks pretty good. An extra 29 isnt much.

@everyone else
And yes it is for moderate gaming, not extreme, my desktop will be for that, but its also for work because I have loads of exams coming up soon, so I need my own PC to get as much done as possible.

So buy a shitty laptop for word processing n shii and upgrade your desktop.

I agree with ophanim, upgrade the pc. Laptops just aren't good for gaming unless you want to empty your bank. Upgrading a pc can very very cheap and worth it. Use the 500 for pc upgrades such as video card (s) and processor. Remember, you might need a better power supply with a new processor and/or video card so leave that in the budget. Also, anything with an intel video card is to be avoided. Intel has good processor's, video cards on the other hand are terrible. Go with Nvidia or ATI, they're some of the best brands out there.

And pretty much the only brands. You can find a 9800 on newegg for like a hundred bucks. Buy an SLI mobo, enormous PSU, and two of those.