Getting a new Laptop!

[RageProphetXIII]

Roflmao!!!

[Reaver]

Hey ratix guess what I found on google? lol.


A buddy of mine has the Mac Book and he likes it, The templates are pretty cool on it. I didn't spend much time on his though, He said it runs pretty fast and he never has a problem with it.

I would look at those just for shits and giggles. I use your average Dell desktop. I don't have a million dollars to buy a PC that acts like Steven Hawkings.

[Phoenix]

Yes, Reaver...Come to the Mac-side. MWAHAHAHAHAHA

*ducks* from the lightning bolts.

[Brocman]

If your thinking about a laptop or a new computer, then it needs to have the "Can-it-run-Oblivion-with-all-settings-on-max" test, lol.

[Hogezz]

I ended up getting the Windows 7 laptop from HP/Compaq with a 2.2 ghz dual core processor, 3GB DDR2 RAM, 250 GB HDD and Nvidia Gforce 895mb graphics card. Other handy features like HD output and 5 in 1 memory card reader.

[norm]

So Hogezz how are you liking the laptop?








I forgot how much I loved this thread :D

[Thatguy]

Well since this thread popped back up maybe i can get some help now finding a laptop? Going into college and really need a knew 1 since my old ones processor speed is in mhz...Anyway i need somethin so i can get on the internet and do papers. Fairly simple. I do want a game or 2 on it. A buddy of mine wants to play Star Wars Forces of Corruption and i want to be able to put it on my laptop. What would be the best thing to get for that? And what would be the best video card to get? I swear i've never had a good video card so i don't know what a good 1 looks like. Any help would be very much appreciated. I don't want to go out and buy something thinking its what i want and i end up kicking myself cause it sucks.

[Brocman]

Anybody interested in Google OS? LMAO

[x-DRaG]

If you can get a computer with more ram then your laptop will process faster. lol

I suggest you get a mac unless the programs you are going to use are PC only.


that's all i got

[norm]

Thatguy, read through my and Ratix's first post on page one. They will still hold true for you. Also look up the specs for the SW game and that will help you get an idea of what you will need to run.

Just a bit of warning gaming and laptops normally don't go well together. I know a video card and at least 4GB of RAM will help. A separate video card will help you run the game correctly. Also RAM will help and a decent processor will help too.


Are you going to take it from class to class? If so a 15in screen might be nice and easy to tote around. To game a 17in screen might be better. I would suggest you visit a Best Buy and look at the different sizes and see what you like and dislike.

Since you're going to college I would highly suggest you get the accidental damage plan. Make sure it covers water damage and spill damage too. Walking around if it rains it might save you. Also and I can't stress this enough, Back Up Often. I would hate to see you type a research paper and have your computer crash on you and you lose everything. Get a 4GB to 8GB usb flash drive and back up your papers and projects.

Also if you do carry it around get a quality bag that has a laptop sleeve in it. I got a bag from Mobile Edge. It's a great bag. Very comfortable, has a flap to protect from the weather/rain coming in through the zipper, and plenty of room for everything.

Hope that helps a bit and if you have any other questions fire away.



Also if you check your college's website they will usually have a page about laptops. UNCG had page and a link to the Dell or Apple store where you got a small selection of laptops and a school discount. That might be worth you checking out. :D

[Thatguy]

Yea i don't like the idea of gaming on a laptop but theres no plan on getting a new desktop soon and me and my buddy want to play this game so i figured 1 game wouldn't hurt much. Which graphics card is better? the ATI Radeon or NVIDIA GeForce? and which card is the best made by them? like i said graphics cards piss me off cause all of mine have sucked so i just want the best 1. Is it actually possible to get a computer with both high RAM and a high processing speed? Everyone i look at is either high 1 or the other. I wish i wasn't so computer illiterate. It would make this easier.

[Hogezz]

So Hogezz how are you liking the laptop?








I forgot how much I loved this thread :D

Very happy with the machine! If I'd have known how much use I was going to get out of it when I was buying it I would have had a MUCH bigger budget. When the desktop computer was my main machine I would just simply not get anything done on it out of sheer lazyness (using the desktop involves walking up stairs and waiting for the piece of shite to load for ages.

Now I can be watching TV with the laptop at the same time. It's nice to be able to play some games. Should have gotten better grafics in the end though. It's grand for my main usage, but I have my doubts about being able to play Starcraft 2 when it finally comes out. But then I don't even have the time to play all the other PS3 games I would like to, so it's probably for the better.

Good advice to go for more power. So thanks for the tips and for putting my mind at ease regarding Windows 7. It works very well and would recommend it to anyone still on the fence about it.

[Thatguy]

i thought of something else sorry. In your opinions which is better? Intel processor or AMD Athlon?

[norm]

AMD isn't bad at all and 9 times out of 10 I would recommend the chip. For a laptop I would maybe stick with the Intel chipset. Intel has a few options right now and I would go for an i5 or the i7 cores. They are a little better then AMD's offerings right now and should last you a bit longer. It's really up to you and in all honesty for the Intel it might last a good 5 years and the AMD a good 4.5 years.

Here are some things to focus on

• FSB: 1066MHz
• L2 Cache: 6MB
• Manufacturing Tech: 45 nm

FBS = Front Service Bus. The higher this the better. 1066MKz is pretty good.

L2 Cache = your CPU cache and 6MB is great, 3MB should be a good number to stick to or higher.

Manufactoring Tech - Fancy word for how small the chip's cirucuitry is. The smaller the number the cooler it runs and the less power it'll use. Coming from the 360 you'll understand this and since Microsoft with to the lower/smaller chip there's been less overheating issues.

Watts - I didn't give an example of this, but somewhere in the 25W or 35W are the norms. The lower the Watts, the longer your battery will last.

Operating Frequency (OF) - This is what most people used to judge a CPU and how fast it was, example, 2.53GHz. This still matters, but you have to look at the rest of the info too. A chip with a lower OF but a hight L2 Cache might run faster than one with a high OF, but a low L2 Cache. So keep that in mind.




Looking at the game I can say that either the ATI or the NVIDIAcard would be fine. Either a 512MB or 1GB of ram will be fine for you.

Some things to look for are

Core Speed - example - 625MHz. The higher the number the better

Memory Bus - 128 or 256. 256 is the one to choose.

DirectX - 11x is the current version. Windows 7 uses 10 or higher.

Like a CPU chip some things are the same. Lower Watts means it runs cooler and uses less power. Things like that are the same.


Most of your laptop video cards to look at are, will I use it to stream movies to my TV set. What will the games I want to play need from the card? What programs will I run and will they need a lot of video processing power (Photoshop, GIMP for example).


You can get a computer with whatever you want on it. The faster CPU chip, the best video card and the most RAM. It will cost you a few grand, but you can get it. I'm serious about looking at your college's website and see what they offer deal wise. Here is UNCG's page about laptops. That might help you get started with things.