Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Taristin on February 22, 2005, 10:44:09 am
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Taristin on February 22, 2005, 10:44:09 am
Well, I've been looking at laptops a but lately, since I'll be going away (hopefully) to school in the Fall, and don't want to lug my home PC around up there.
What I've been looking for was an AMD powered notebook, good memory, and a decent vid card.
I think I found what I want, but unfortunately, it's a Gateway. I've heard very bad things about Gateway's desktops, with parts not being completely interchangeable, if they're not from Gateway, etc... But since this is a laptop, is that really important?
Laptop in question: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1099386075236&skuId=6969097&type=product&cmp=++
It's a decent price, too.... which makes it all the more tempting...
Although, for the little bit more, Would this be better, from Newegg? http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=34-224-014&depa=0
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: kasperl on February 22, 2005, 11:57:38 am
First off, you're looking for a desktop replacement, right?
These things won't live very long on the battery when you've got that kind of chip and vid card.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Fury on February 22, 2005, 12:25:29 pm
Laptops aren't good desktop replacements. What you should look for in laptops is very good mobility, long battery life and cool temperatures. High-end notebook CPU's and video cards do not offer that. And high performance notebooks are bad desktop replacements.
I suggest you look for a laptop with similar specs as this one has: http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/Resources/246/222341719.pdf
If you want a gaming machine, either buy a console or a desktop system.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Taristin on February 22, 2005, 02:43:03 pm
Not necessarily a desktop replacement. I really don't need all the power of a desktop, but I don't want an Intel CPU. I despise Intel. And I don't want something that has a P.O.S. vid card, either, really.
I just wanted something decent, and AMD powered. And battery life is only an issue when I'll be far away from an outlet, otherwise, I'll keep it plugged in most of the time.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Clave on February 22, 2005, 04:50:22 pm
Buy a Powerbook :p
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Hippo on February 22, 2005, 04:57:27 pm
Hm... sounds like my laptop, only watered down...
Spoiler:
3.2ghz (p4ht though), 2gb ram, 60gb hard drive, 60gb removeable hard drive (swap bay) 104 key keyboard, and a radeon 9700 64mb (says agp, but i doubt it) attatched to a natively supported 1280x1024 17" screen
But then again, mine HAD to replace my desktop, since my parents gave it away...
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: WMCoolmon on February 22, 2005, 05:34:58 pm
If you're going to buy a laptop, either settle for a crap video card or prepare yourself for some heavy spending.
It is more cost-effective to find a cheap laptop vendor with some sturdy models, sink $300 into buying one that can do anything but games, and then spend the other $1200 on an ultra-super gaming rig. The latter could even be microATX for added portability, and you'd still come out with a system twice as good as what you'd end up if you spent it all on a laptop.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Grey Wolf on February 22, 2005, 05:39:46 pm
Hopefully their tech support has improved. Around 2000, they sent us a new keyboard because of graphical anomalies caused by the TNT2.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: WMCoolmon on February 22, 2005, 06:27:50 pm
:wtf: That...makes...no...sense.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Taristin on February 22, 2005, 06:42:38 pm
See? That's why I was afraid of the Gateway...
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Liberator on February 22, 2005, 08:09:42 pm
My dad uses a gateway notebook. I have no complaints about it.
The warraty is what you want to look at, also the 9700 is a far better video card, but will drink deeply of you're battery.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Taristin on February 22, 2005, 08:12:43 pm
Like I said, I can plug it in for use 90% of the time... I'm fairly certain of that...
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Fury on February 22, 2005, 11:32:00 pm
Pentium M is probably the best notebook CPU at this moment, only AMD Sempron comes close. And if Intel Extreme Graphics 2 isn't good for you (which it is unless you play games), then consider buying a notebook which has either Radeon 9600 or lower or Radeon X600 or lower. Anything "bigger" is just useless for a notebook.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Sesquipedalian on February 23, 2005, 01:35:54 am
Quote
Originally posted by Clave Buy a Powerbook :p
:yes: If you aren't playing games, a Mac is the way to go hands down. You can get good deals on last year's model on eBay, and that'll handle any of the needs you could have at school, Raa.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Taristin on February 23, 2005, 09:13:09 am
Hmm. I don't know anything about Macs...
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Clave on February 23, 2005, 09:49:37 am
*Clave's Mac Helpline is open* ;)
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Taristin on February 23, 2005, 10:02:02 am
I'll..... consider it... I've still got a bit of time before the next semester begins.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Odyssey on February 23, 2005, 01:13:06 pm
I'm not entirely sure where all the battery life issues people claim with the Radeon 9700 are coming from - maybe just because they're usually fitted to thirsty desktop-replacement laptops? I can say from my experience with my Acer Aspire 2010-series that a 9700 has very little impact on battery life if coupled with a frugal laptop ^_^
This thing has a 1.5 Ghz Pentium-M processor (I never used to like Intel much either, but they really hit on something good with the Pentium M), widescreen 15", 64mb Mobility Radeon 9700Pro - yet still lasts about 5 hours on battery when word-processing or something simple like that. And it's never had a problem with any games I run, framerates have always been high. I tried a test playing Unreal Tournament in a car once, the battery lasted 2 hours - this is with the processor at top speed, cooling fans running, screen at highest brightness, sound on high, everything I could do to try and kill the battery. Highly recommended machine, especially considering it doesn't have the expense of flagship models any more.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Grey Wolf on February 24, 2005, 01:00:13 pm
The Pentium M's are rather nice, especially as they ditched the entire Netburst architecture and went back to the P2/P3-era architecture.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Hippo on February 24, 2005, 04:55:44 pm
Never had a problem with Gateway, other than them shipping stuff by the most incredulitous routes... A replacement set of speakers webt from Bejjing to Tokeyo, to Ankhorage, to Miama, to Quebec, to LA, to NYC, to Boston, to Portland ME, and THEN localised itself to me... It only took 3 days though... But that was the most ****ed up tracking slip...
I defiantely see a battery hit from a 9700 though... Its not bad, since like Raa will be, i stay plugged in 95+% of the time, but when i'm not plugged in, i have about 75 minutes of high use, or about 90 minutes of idling...
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: WMCoolmon on February 24, 2005, 05:56:55 pm
Raa-if you're not really playing games with this thing, and going to have it plugged in all the time, what's the problem with buying a desktop? Do you have a lot of classes with outlets in the seats or something? ;)
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Taristin on February 24, 2005, 06:28:53 pm
Err. I don't want to buy a second desktop, and I don't want to lug this one around.
I want a laptop for the ultra-portability of it, so I *can* take it with me if I want to, and not be forced to stay in my room all the damn time, like here.
The only games I'll play on it will be Starcraft, and possibly FS, but I doubt the latter.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: WMCoolmon on February 24, 2005, 06:41:29 pm
In that case, you probably shouldn't try to spend the extra money on a 'decent' video card...the 9700 is going out the door, and any sort of name brand video card tends to jack the price up to $1000, regardless of laptop specs. Not only that, but they're typically underpowered when compared to their desktop counterparts and just add to the heat problem. They also aren't replacable (At least, when I looked I couldn't find any, that may have changed in the last few months). In other words: if you don't need it, drop the decent video card requirement and look for a reliable chipset. It can save you a load of money.
For a game like Starcraft, the requirements are ridiculously low anyway. Anything over a P-233 should be more than enough. If you can run Windows XP, you can run Starcraft. ;)
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Taristin on February 24, 2005, 06:56:58 pm
Well.. yeah... and I guess SC runs on Mac too. :nervous:
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Sandwich on February 25, 2005, 05:03:33 am
My (current) Dream Laptop (http://usa.asus.com/products/notebook/w1series/w1000n/w1000n_overview.htm)
[q]W1N's minimalist, ergonomic design is balanced by the brushed aluminum exterior, dark gray keys, and orange LEDs. Design modern enough to turn heads, but classy enough to always be in style. Every detail about W1N is carefully and elegantly tailored to provide a distraction free environment, allowing you to concentrate on exactly what you need to do. Features
Intel® Centrino™ Mobile Technology
- Intel® Pentium® M Processor 1.7GHz - Intel® 855 Chipset Family - Intel® PRO/Wireless Network Connection 802.11b/g
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional
ATI Mobility™ Radeon™ 9600 graphics processor with 64MB
Relax and groove to your favorite songs whether it's the rich, orchestral sounds of Beethoven's 9th Symphony or bass-heavy, head-bobbin beats of the latest hip-hop track. The built-in subwoofer speaker and 4.1-channel surround sound enable powerful sound performance.
Ergonomic 16:10 Widescreen LCD
The viewing angle of human eyesight is wider horizontally than vertically. W1N, with its 16 x 10 wide screen display, is more natural and comfortable to the human eye. W1 allows you to watch DVD and HDTV movies the way they are meant to be watched. And widescreens improve productivity too. No more switching back and forth between two files. The W1N is wide enough to display multiple documents side-by-side files while you work.
Elevate Your Game
The W1N has a dedicated ATI Mobility RADEON 9600 graphics processor that provides explosive graphics performance to elevate your 3D gaming and video viewing experiences. While most notebooks have trouble playing last year's games, W1N is powerful enough to handle the hottest DX9 titles such as Half Life 2 and FarCry.
Battery Saving Technology
The exclusive Power4 Gear+ technology allows you to control CPU speed to maximize battery performance. ASUS Power4 Gear+, the all-new battery conservation feature, automatically and intelligently adjusts CPU speed according to system load. Offering eight different modes designed for gaming, watching DVDs, listening to music, processing documents etc., this innovation maximizes battery life for reliable operation.
Enhanced performance
At the same CPU clock speed, the W1 enhances computing performance by 30% compared to conventional notebooks. The W1N uses Intel® Centrino™ Mobile Technology, which includes a Pentium® M Processor, Intel® 855PM chipset and Intel® PRO Wireless 2100/2200BG. Enhance your mobile computing experience with longer battery life and high-speed wireless networking! [/q]
:drool:
EDIT: Raa, if you want a machine to play SC on, keep one point in mind: SC's fixed at 640x480, so if you want to have it stretched to full-screen on a laptop LCD and still look decent, you'll want to get a machine whose LCD's native resolution is 1280x960, which will be hard. :-/
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: WMCoolmon on February 25, 2005, 08:16:08 pm
Actually, that's another thing to consider...LCD screens don't really have a refresh rate, but they do have a response time. If you have a screen with a low response time (Say, 25 ms) it can be extremely annoying for some games - especially 2D ones.
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Taristin on February 25, 2005, 08:20:16 pm
Sarnie: Wie kostet das?
Title: Laptop - Is this good?
Post by: Sandwich on February 26, 2005, 08:30:17 am
WMC: Don't you mean 3D games?
Refresh rates of 16ms and lower are pretty good for gaming, 12ms is ideal.
Raa: Froogle is your friend. (http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=asus+W1N&btnG=Froogle+Search&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8) ~$2100-2500.