A few things:

Quote Originally Posted by Presby View Post
I've been looking for a gaming laptop just for solo play, but in the event I get into multi-boxing (it's been my dream for a year now) would this be able to handle it?

http://www.frys.com/product/6054438?...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

The 2 main questions I have are these:

Is quad-core worth it? I know WOW only handles 2 cores, but if I'm running 5 copies of the game would the 4 cores really help?
I'm not sure what you mean by "wow only handles 2 cores". It's a single-threaded application, nothing over a single core helps. However, a quad-core definitely helps multiboxing (if you are going to run over 2 clients) because each one can be on a different core.


Also, how important is an SLI setup for graphics cards? The top laptops I linked above both have a gig of dedicated VRAM, is that enough?
In general, very nice upgrade. For wow, nothing. It doesn't support SLI modes.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Please help me live my dream =)
Live the dream brother!

On the laptop in general: I'm sure you could multibox on it. I don't know how well it would run, but it's possible. I don't know if you have enough screen real estate to be reasonble though. It probably just really depends on what your expectations are.

About a year ago, I bought a really high-end gaming laptop. The reason I did is that I didn't want to haul my desktop machine to lan parties anymore, and I just wanted another portable wow client. While the laptop does kick ass on games and such (and the 1080p screen is great for a portable), I wouldn't do it again. The problem is, while it's great for those few things, it absolutely sucks at everything else you'll want to use a laptop for.

Wanna lie in bed and watch a movie? WHIIIIIRRRRRRR - prepare to have to crank the sound to the max so you can even hear the audio over the always-running fans cooling that SLI video card.

Wanna run it without the power cord attached? Awesome, you get 45 minutes before it shuts itself down because it's low on power. This assumes you do nothing more strenuous than browse the web. Fire up and game and you're lucky if you can get in the game before your power is depleted.

I also hope you like your crotch super-heated, because that's what happens if you ever put this in your "lap." I recommend cooking a turkey and putting it in your lap right out of the oven to simulate this awesomeness.

Oh and let's not forget that most of them duct in fresh air from the bottom of the case, so you have to be careful not to plug those intake vents (like, if you have it on your lap, or lying next to you on the bed for the above example).

By contrast, I have a modest 15" dell for work. It's cool to the touch, I never hear the fans, will go 3-4 hours on a recharge, and has a great keyboard. Plus, it will play probably 1/2 of the games I like to play.

I'm not trying to say there isn't a place for gaming laptops. However, I'm fairly hardcore and my next purchase will be more like my work laptop and less like my gaming one. And if I really need more horsepower, my desktop isn't THAT hard to move around. Just wanted to let you know my experience with laptops in general.