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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: pecenipicek on December 29, 2007, 08:20:21 am

Title: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: pecenipicek on December 29, 2007, 08:20:21 am
Well, soon i'm going to get some $1000 or more for a new PC and i'm thinking about getting a laptop this time.


What i'm looking for is something that has a decent dual core CPU, a decent graphic card and at least a gig of ram, so i can play most games decently on 1280x1024 or 1024x768 resolutions. AA and AF are the least of my concern.

HP 6715S is one that caught my eye here's the specs i got off of one site here in Croatia

Notebook HP 6715s, GR796ES, HP Compaq 6715s, AMD Turion 64 X2 TL58 1.90GHz, 1x 1024 MB, 15.4", 1280x800 (WXGA), SATA 120 GB, Free DOS, ATI Radeon X1250, up to 512MB, DVD�RW DL, 1x 10/100 Ethernet, 56k modem, 802.11a/b/g, USB 2.0 2, 2.59 kg, GR796ES


the graph card looks to me like it leaves much to desire, but still. If anyone knows of any decent lappy with a wee bit better graph card, i'd be gratefull.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: jr2 on December 29, 2007, 09:47:29 am
See if you can either get or upgrade to 2GB of RAM, that's decent.  ;)
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: pecenipicek on December 29, 2007, 09:58:05 am
See if you can either get or upgrade to 2GB of RAM, that's decent.  ;)
for a total of $1000? doubtfull.

$1000 is pretty much the top price. maaybe, if i'm lucky i get $1100...

and 1.5 is decent. 2 is maximum. i dont plan to use any 64 bit OS sooo..

the pc will be mainly used for photoshop, 3D work and some medium gaming. (if we exclude Supreme Commander that is XD)
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: Tyrian on December 29, 2007, 11:09:12 am
Word of warning about that X1250 card.  A friend of mine has it in his laptop, and it is woefully underpowered.  It can barely run anything.

Try looking at some of the Asus ones on NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com), like this one. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220181)  I just did a cursory check (I'm going out of town in 20 min).  If you look around the site a bit more, I'm sure you can find an Asus that's even better.

I'd show you my Asus on that site, but I don't think they carry it anymore.  It's the Asus G1.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: Inquisitor on December 29, 2007, 11:56:13 am
Try the Dell outlet store, you an get an awful lot of laptop for 1100 there. The refurbs come with full warranty, etc.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: captain-custard on January 02, 2008, 01:17:54 pm
have a look at acer, as well , better than dell, well the screens anyway,
 i got a acer 9410 1 year ago it runs fine ,
 on xp , vista ok and i run ubuntu as the second os.
 general specs for mine 
  17" screen
1400x900 nvidia 7300 upto 512mb,
120gbdd,
 wifi abg intel,
 dual core intel 1.6,
 etc etc ,
 and i paid 800 euros new,
im running the new beta vps with 7.10 everything turned on and no problems (so far)


happy hunting

andi aka captain custard
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: Prophet on January 02, 2008, 01:25:16 pm
Even if you're not going for Vista (and you really shouldn't) you should still really consider more than 1GB of RAM. A lot of game really benefit from it. I'm not really familiar in the laptop area, but I understand that they aren't easily upgradeable? With a PC memory is easy to add, but laptop is different.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: captain-custard on January 02, 2008, 02:16:24 pm
as to the ram ? my acer and most modern laptops are easy enough , 2 screws some cash and 5 minutes free time and its done i can put up to 4gb in my laptop, so if anyone wants to leave there credit card number.........................
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: Prophet on January 02, 2008, 02:22:12 pm
Really?. Huh...

Well in that case pecenipicek, you can get somethin with lower RAM as long as you can add some later. It's easy and cheap if you consider the benefits.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: Scuddie on January 02, 2008, 02:24:44 pm
Just one question...  Why the HELL would you want to buy a laptop that's comparable to even a mid-range PC?  Do you have a desire for a 20 minute battery life?  Might you have the need to spend 2.5x as much as you would for an equivalent PC?  Perhaps you wish your components to die an early death due to heat creep?  Or maybe you want a portable device that weighs more than you do?  Please tell me why, I'd love to know.

In all seriousness, if you're after portability, why not just buy an Eee PC and use the remaining 650 bux to upgrade your current rig?

EDIT:  Well, maybe that's more than one question...
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: Prophet on January 02, 2008, 02:36:21 pm
Well I think it's reasonable to assume since he is considering this major investment, that he has perhaps carefully considered to pros and cons of laptops. They really aren't as bad as you make them sound. You aren't a complete lunatic, but despite their obvious limitations laptops have their uses. They really do.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: WMCoolmon on January 02, 2008, 03:58:36 pm
I've never heard of the Eee PC before, it looks very interesting.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: Inquisitor on January 03, 2008, 01:08:40 pm
A good laptop is a godsend.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: Admiral_Stones on January 03, 2008, 01:13:30 pm
<cough> getamacbookormacbookpro <cough/>
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: CP5670 on January 03, 2008, 01:50:10 pm
Quote
Just one question...  Why the HELL would you want to buy a laptop that's comparable to even a mid-range PC?  Do you have a desire for a 20 minute battery life?  Might you have the need to spend 2.5x as much as you would for an equivalent PC?  Perhaps you wish your components to die an early death due to heat creep?  Or maybe you want a portable device that weighs more than you do?  Please tell me why, I'd love to know.

In all seriousness, if you're after portability, why not just buy an Eee PC and use the remaining 650 bux to upgrade your current rig?

EDIT:  Well, maybe that's more than one question...

The laptop he posted doesn't look like a desktop replacement at all, nor is it priced like one.

Quote
A good laptop is a godsend.

I never really find much use for mine despite being a student. It's four years old and I was planning to replace it one of these days, but I haven't actually used it in months. I guess whenever I have time to do anything on a computer, I'm home anyway.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: captain-custard on January 03, 2008, 02:25:23 pm
personally i have to say that i prefer a laptop, i used to get anoyed when i had to work on my computer and the garden outside was beautiful and sunny, so after five or six times of dragging my pc out under the tree i sold it and bought my laptop, have i missed my pc a little but only when burning dvds , battery power seems to be about 100minutes on freespace with every thing at max , other than that id love a monster laptop which looking at the price is about  a third more expensive than a pc with same specs ........... dreams
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: Inquisitor on January 03, 2008, 02:54:08 pm
Playing games, working, reading or whatever on my porch in the summer, or by the firepit, or in the living room (though thats mostly consoles now) or at the buddies house on a whim, not to mention the actual travel (we do have to demo stuff at shows, we need laptops sometimes) is my justification.

Ultimate portability with decent power. Yeah, I'll pay the premium for that ;)
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: captain-custard on January 03, 2008, 03:09:04 pm
Quote
Ultimate portability with decent power. Yeah, I'll pay the premium for that

yip thats true im nearly there 500 euros more and ive got mine , its a long hawl, but hey who needs to eat anyway
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: CP5670 on January 03, 2008, 03:30:48 pm
Playing games, working, reading or whatever on my porch in the summer, or by the firepit, or in the living room (though thats mostly consoles now) or at the buddies house on a whim, not to mention the actual travel (we do have to demo stuff at shows, we need laptops sometimes) is my justification.

Ultimate portability with decent power. Yeah, I'll pay the premium for that ;)

My dad is like that too. He wants to use his computer in different places even around the house, so he only cares about laptops. I'm fine with sitting at my desk all the time and would rather have ultimate power with zero portability. (this setup is about far from portable as they come, with a 22" CRT and 60lb fulltower case :p)

That old laptop I have is still good enough for email, internet and so on during any real travel I need to do, which is at most once a year. Although one situation I do occasionally find it quite handy for is building Lego models from electronic instructions, which is very cumbersome to do off the desktop.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: captain-custard on January 03, 2008, 03:46:09 pm
my next portable is at the limit i think of portable, in portability that is
20" wsxga 1680x1050
2 x nvidia 7950 gtx 512mb sli
amd 64x 2  2ghz
4gb ram
sata 60 100gb @ 7200rpm
lan 1000
etc etc etc

and in 5 months its mine , excluding death or girlfreind finding out which is probably the same thing...............
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: WMCoolmon on January 03, 2008, 06:07:58 pm
I wouldn't want to invest in a laptop that overpowered. It's too much of a risk that somebody will recognize the value (eg that of a used car) and decide it's worth it to steal it.

But that's just me.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: captain-custard on January 03, 2008, 06:30:27 pm
Quote
I wouldn't want to invest in a laptop that overpowered. It's too much of a risk that somebody will recognize the value (eg that of a used car) and decide it's worth it to steal it.

But that's just me.

its a built up laptop, no big sony etc logo, and the only time i wont be using it or watching it ill be sleeping with it lol,

but i understand your arguement  but with an investisment like this it will be insured all the way, the reason im going for this laptop is because everything can be upgraded so as time goes on i can change all major parts instead of using it as a paper weight after 2 or 3 years.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: jr2 on January 04, 2008, 03:43:43 am
Out of curiousity, where are you getting this laptop?  I've always wanted to build those... never could figure out where the heck you would get the parts.
Title: Re: Need help picking a laptop...
Post by: captain-custard on January 04, 2008, 04:30:05 am
Quote
Out of curiousity, where are you getting this laptop?  I've always wanted to build those... never could figure out where the heck you would get the parts.


oooops sorry i seem to have created an illusion , im not building this my self, i live in france atm and have found a company that does this they have a model and u choose ur options, i dont think it would be interesting for americans atm because of the dollar /euro exchange rate , the computer itself is guaranteed for 2 years and all major parts ( procesor , motherboard , hard disc , graphic card, memory) areguaranteed for 3 years, the screen is guaranteed to have no dead pixels etc ,

I spent a little time trying to find a every thing to build this and found that it was nearly impossible to get everything, and the difference in price wasnt that interesting, because of the lack of guarantee........................................


andi aka captain custard