Gaming Laptop

[akniss]

I appreciate everyone's help. Its looking like the specs required to make a typical gamer happy are going to put the laptop out of my in-laws price range. It looks like it is pretty difficult to get dedicated video card in a small laptop. How much difference would 256 MB of integrated video RAM make compared to 63 or 128? I think the 'top of the line' video is going to be out of the picture.

[audax321]

I would say shoot for 128 to 256. The difference between 128 and 256 can be significant but it depends on the type of video card being used. Anything less is alright for a business application only laptop. Also, no matter what video card the laptop has, check some reviews using Google because Windows Vista is right around the corner and from what I've read needs a 3D accelerated card if you want to use the default theme (it will have a lower requirement compatibility theme as well though). Remember though that an integrated card will share memory with the system, so make sure to have plenty of ram available.