Here's the things I'm looking for :
1) Price. I'm trying to minimize the blow to my pocketbook with this one. My parents MIGHT pay for half as a christmas present, but I doubt that.
2) Performance. I need something that can run 3D games to some degree. At the least it should run Red Alert 2 well.
3) Reliability. I know next to nothing about laptops. I live on a Desktop (Almost literally, I don't know the best prices, I don't know the best brands, I don't know how different laptops stack up. Ask me a desktop question and I know what I'm talking about. Ask me a laptop question and I'm clueless.), so I want as much help as I can get.
Thanks.
Dell is the way to go for laptops. Trust me on this one.
Having a uber-high end laptop is nice, true, but if you're at all like me you'll just never find yourself using it for games. It's simply easier to fire up your PC, have your ub0r sound system, better performance, bigger monitor, etc.
When I'm away from my PC I'm either at work or school. At school I'm doing homework, and I don't bring my laptop to work
quote:
Tom's Hardware Guide had this to say about Tron:
As we already told you in our Day 0 report from Comdex, Nvidia was keen to make sure that we knew that the new NV17M was the laptop technology of the future. Now, with over 90 million Nvidia based graphics cards shipped and closing in on 100 million by years end, the NV17M reprsents a new level of 3D graphics for the mobile platform. Being one of the worlds single biggest semiconductor companies is a fact not lost on Nvidia.Nvidia is betting its reputation on the new technology of this chip. In some ways, it sounds like nothing more than an advanced mobile GeForce 3, but, in fact, the NV17M includes the features found in the GeForce 3 chips and more, adding a few new wrinkles in order to make things interesting. With Nvidia's goal of being able to run everything at 1024x768 with a playback rate of 60fps, it is as fast as any GeForce card that shipped a year ago. Nvidia could not be pinned down when asked how much it will add to the cost of the average notebook. You should expect to see it in a notebook from Toshiba toward the end of February, 2002.
Source: http://www4.tomshardware.com/business/01q4/011113/index.html
Basically, Dell now or Toshiba in a few months. [ 11-18-2001: Message edited by: Kegwen Tabibito ]
NOTE: I HIGHLY recommend Gateway and Dell over all other companies... but do NOT buy from Compaq or Hewlett Packard (They're the same company now, and Compaq aer sux). [ 11-18-2001: Message edited by: Kegwen Tabibito ]
quote:
And I was all like 'Oh yeah?' and Khyron was all like:
What about Sony? I hear good things about Sony (Here in the office)
They're not bad. Vaios are light, but 'spensive and, in my experience, aren't going to run anything ever-so-slightly 3D.
quote:
Kanid impressed everyone with:
I've been using my Dell Inspiron 7000 to run EverQuest since the day I bought it to the day I quit EverQuest. It's only a PII 400 with an 8Meg ATI Rage Mobility, but it works just fine.
While this may be true, keep in mind that EverQuest's engine is teh sux right now. It won't even come close to running SoL, and it would probably run DAoC with EXTENSIVE lag.
quote:
Prometheus had this to say about (_|_):
If you get a Dell - which is a great choice, by the way - make sure you get the all-inclusive extended warranty. Its worth it.
Indeed.
Dell Inspiron 8100
$1,603.00
Intel P3 866, 15" monitor (For the price of a 14")
256MB Ram (For the price of 128)
20 GB drive
8X DVD-ROM
32MB DDR 4X AGP NVIDIA GeForce2 GoVid
1 yr warranty (Cost is everything for me...)
Windows ME (No way in hell I'm going for WinXP on my baby.)
quote:
Khyron had this to say about Duck Tales:
1 yr warranty (Cost is everything for me...)
Windows ME (No way in hell I'm going for WinXP on my baby.)
SPEND THE EXTRA. Trust me here... It will save you money later.
And why no WindowsXP? It is a LOT better then ME.
quote:
Azizza impressed everyone with:
SPEND THE EXTRA. Trust me here... It will save you money later.And why no WindowsXP? It is a LOT better then ME.
YES!!!
Cost will skyrocket if it breaks after one year. Repairs = bad.
WinME SUCKS. SUCKS. SUCKS. SUCKS.
Get XP. Trust us on this one.
My gaming buddies all use XP nowadays. They love the hell out of it, it's a hell of a lot more stable then 98 or 2000 (I'm told) and has a lower high end than ME (I'm told) = hella better for gaming than any other Windows.
But that's just from me, don't take my advice if you want, after all it's just advice.
(I would get my own copy of XP from them, but I'm always to busy playing FA when I'm over there 
)
As for the paying more money for better warranty, I will do so, just not immediately. I'll probably extend the warranty after about 6 months or so.
quote:
Khyron had this to say about Tron:
What about Sony? I hear good things about Sony (Here in the office)
I do tech support for Sony laptops.
If you DO buy a Sony, register it within 90 days. Trust me on this.
Don't buy a Sony thinking you'll get top-notch audio. Sony puts crap speakers and sound cards in their machines, both desktop and laptop.
quote:
Khyron had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
I'm against XP for personal reasons. I might pirate it (I know, I'm evil, but I hate Microsoft's whole product activation thing), and besides, I'm using WinME right now, it works great.
Pirating is good. *proudly displays his pirated copy of WinXP professional, then quickly ducks into the underbrush as the horde of MS thugs on patrol runs by*
Though I may be against the activation thing, it makes sense. They've finally taken a serious step towards preventing pirating.
This step was FAR more effective than the pain-in-the-ass known only as Office2000's product registration.
I'll just say this:
"This product will run 14 more times before you must register..."
Even though I already have registered.
Once normally, and two times on the phone with MS tech support, wherein they wiped the old entry and gave me a new code (that doesn't work after a reformat, apparently). [ 11-19-2001: Message edited by: Kegwen Tabibito ]
I'll find out for certain on thursday, but it seems that I will have a laptop by the end of november, hopefully.
Since I can't afford it right now, I'm hoping for 90-days same as cash (I could do that EASILY, and still have plenty of money for christmas shopping
Obviously, I'd go with Dell. They have made me happy. And since you can get it now with a higher end card, and bigger HD.. No reason to go to another company.
Fair warning. It is called a notebook today, because the term "laptop" can cause burns on your thighs.Bigger CPU, More Ram, More Video power means more heat. If you must put it in your lap, use something in between. And NOT a pillow. Use something rigid. You want those little laptop vents to be clear to vent.. ya know..
It's ordered.
2 business days, and they'll send me confirmation.
Then 3-5 days later it arrives.
Plus since I did this before monday, I'll be getting all three specials (Free shipping, A 15" screen instead of a 14", and 256MB RAM for the price of 128MB).
To say the least, i'm excited. [ 11-23-2001: Message edited by: Khyron ]
