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Author
Topic: Need Laptop recommendations
Mooj
Scorned Fanboy
posted 07-13-2005 09:56:55 PM
So, I'm looking for a new Laptop. My problem? I know absolute dick about what to look for in a laptop, and where to look.

What I want is a modern machine, capable of playing most of today's games, and with a very spacious hard drive. Also, nothing from Dell or Gateway or anyone else who's going to pack a computer full of shit that I have no intention of ever using. I want a worthwhile machine.

Where would I go to look for this?

Tatsukaze
wants Kloie's mom OH SO BAD
posted 07-13-2005 10:00:06 PM
Dell Inspiron 9300 with a reformat on arrival. Cheap, good for gaming (6800 Go), and 100GB hard drives available.
Kegwen
Sonyfag
posted 07-13-2005 10:03:24 PM
First off, as much as it pains me to say it, Dell makes a fine laptop or two nowadays. Well, they have two worthwhile models. The Inspiron 9300 and the XPS2 and the latter is probably a waste of money.

Second, there is no excuse not to buy a laptop with a Pentium-M processor in it. None. The Ghz rating may seems suspiciously low, but they're the best mobile processors on the market. This is an undeniable fact and if you purchased a laptop with any other processor in it you have wasted your money. imo

Dell is probably your best route. If nothing else, you can when you get it.

Kegwen fucked around with this message on 07-13-2005 at 10:05 PM.

Alidane
Urinary Tract Infection
posted 07-13-2005 10:54:22 PM
quote:
Kegwen Model 2000 was programmed to say:
Second, there is no excuse not to buy a laptop with a Pentium-M processor in it. None. The Ghz rating may seems suspiciously low, but they're the best mobile processors on the market. This is an undeniable fact and if you purchased a laptop with any other processor in it you have wasted your money. imo

Unless you're looking for a portable desktop in a laptop chassis, in which case, go ahead and buy the beefiest processor you can get--just don't expect any battery life.

UBB code, damn you! *shakes fist*

Alidane fucked around with this message on 07-13-2005 at 10:54 PM.

Kegwen
Sonyfag
posted 07-13-2005 10:57:45 PM
quote:
Alidane had this to say about Punky Brewster:
Unless you're looking for a portable desktop in a laptop chassis, in which case, go ahead and buy the beefiest processor you can get--just don't expect any battery life.[/i]

No, then you're just an idiot

Demos
Pancake
posted 07-14-2005 02:01:59 AM
quote:
So quoth Kegwen:
No, then you're just an idiot

I dunno, the AMD 64 mobile processors might outperform the Pentium M for gaming, but theres still no way they'd have the battery life.

"Jesus saves, Buddha enlightens, Cthulhu thinks you'll make a nice sandwich."
Damnati
Filthy
posted 07-14-2005 03:47:16 AM
No reason to get a mobile proc if battery life is of no concern. Mine has a P4 2.8 ghz in it and gets 2 hours or so of life, which is plenty since it's plugged in most of the time. You're not going to be gaming on battery; no battery lasts very long doing that. I'd recommend a Toshiba laptop of some sort of you're not going to go with the Dell. They don't have a lot of crap they stick in their machines, they have some pretty nice widescreen models with sexy graphics in them, and I've heard they can take a bit of abuse in transport due to what they make the cases out of (some kind of lightweight metal, not sure what).
Love is hard, harder than steel and thrice as cruel. It is as inexorable as the tides and life and death alike follow in its wake. -Phèdre nó Delaunay, Kushiel's Chosen

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

Mooj
Scorned Fanboy
posted 07-14-2005 09:33:54 AM
Really? Huh. I may have to look into a Dell then. I still don't like the idea, but it doesn't sound as though they're as bad as I thought.
Dr. Gee
Say it Loud, Say it Plowed!
posted 07-14-2005 11:22:03 AM
I rather like my iBuyPower laptop. It works pretty well although i haven't tried anything on it other than Half-Life 2.

It also cost me $1600 whereas a comparable Toshiba laptop from Fry's was around $2600.

Kegwen
Sonyfag
posted 07-14-2005 12:22:41 PM
quote:
Kuroi Madoushi had this to say about Tron:
No reason to get a mobile proc if battery life is of no concern. Mine has a P4 2.8 ghz in it and gets 2 hours or so of life, which is plenty since it's plugged in most of the time. You're not going to be gaming on battery; no battery lasts very long doing that. I'd recommend a Toshiba laptop of some sort of you're not going to go with the Dell. They don't have a lot of crap they stick in their machines, they have some pretty nice widescreen models with sexy graphics in them, and I've heard they can take a bit of abuse in transport due to what they make the cases out of (some kind of lightweight metal, not sure what).

...Then don't buy a laptop. That's what small form factor PCs and LCDs are for, and much much cheaper at that. Laptops are not gaming systems. There are laptops that are quite capable of gaming, yes, and then there are desktops stuck into a laptop form factor which get very very hot easily, weigh a ton, and still don't perform that much better than their lighter Pentium-M cousins. I do not suggest purchasing the latter under any circumstances.

Toshiba is also pretty good. Toshiba and IBM offer the best PC laptops on the market as far as I can tell, but in their cases you get what you pay for. Usually the difference is in build quality, but of course it's a lot more expensive.

BetaTested
Not gay, but loves the cock!
posted 07-14-2005 01:03:08 PM
I love my Dell 9300. I have NO complaints with it after I spent 10 minutes nuking programs after the first start up. Outside of the fact some asshole spilt soda on half the keyboard at one of my LAN parties (Q-tips and Isopropyl Alcohol fixed it, but still). It took that and didn't fry.

Mine came as:
1.73ghz Pentium M
6800 Go OF DOOM
512mb DDR-2 Dual Channeled
40gb HDD
All the other standard spiffy built in things

The thing is right behind my desktop in terms of performance, and that's only because my main rig has a 6800GT in it. I know it would get trounced otherwise.

Did I mention I get about 4 hours of battery life when you're doing stuff like word processing? It's not shabby at all.

Dude, get a Dell, they make some badass laptops these days.


Got Xfire? Join me in the crusade to knock WoW from it's lofty #1 most played Xfire game with Solitare!
Damnati
Filthy
posted 07-14-2005 02:02:29 PM
quote:
Kegwen impressed everyone with:
...Then don't buy a laptop. That's what small form factor PCs and LCDs are for, and much much cheaper at that. Laptops are not gaming systems. There are laptops that are quite capable of gaming, yes, and then there are desktops stuck into a laptop form factor which get very very hot easily, weigh a ton, and still don't perform that much better than their lighter Pentium-M cousins. I do not suggest purchasing the latter under any circumstances.

Toshiba is also pretty good. Toshiba and IBM offer the best PC laptops on the market as far as I can tell, but in their cases you get what you pay for. Usually the difference is in build quality, but of course it's a lot more expensive.


*shrugs* It was convenient to have a computer I could take with me to school and stuff. Kinda hard to drag a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and box around with you.

Love is hard, harder than steel and thrice as cruel. It is as inexorable as the tides and life and death alike follow in its wake. -Phèdre nó Delaunay, Kushiel's Chosen

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion. It is by the beans of Java the thoughts aquire speed, the teeth acquire stains, the stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

Kegwen
Sonyfag
posted 07-14-2005 02:28:35 PM
quote:
Kuroi Madoushi Model 2000 was programmed to say:
*shrugs* It was convenient to have a computer I could take with me to school and stuff. Kinda hard to drag a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and box around with you.

Images blatantly stolen from Cardboard Box A on SomethingAwful!

http://img325.exs.cx/img325/3806/shuttlesmall1bh.jpg http://img325.exs.cx/img325/7630/shuttle2gosmall4pt.jpg

They best load correctly.

Nae
Fun with Chocolate
posted 07-14-2005 02:37:36 PM
I just wanted to say HI MOOJ!
Dr. Gee
Say it Loud, Say it Plowed!
posted 07-14-2005 03:02:14 PM
quote:
Kegwen had this to say about pies:
Images blatantly stolen from Cardboard Box A on SomethingAwful!

<A HREF="http://img325.exs.cx/img325/3806/shuttlesmall1bh.jpg" TARGET=_blank>http://img325.exs.cx/img325/3806/shuttlesmall1bh.jpg</A> <A HREF="http://img325.exs.cx/img325/7630/shuttle2gosmall4pt.jpg" TARGET=_blank>http://img325.exs.cx/img325/7630/shuttle2gosmall4pt.jpg</A>

They best load correctly.


So you need a fairly large backpack for the shuttle, mouse, and keyboard plus a seperate case for what appears to be a fairly expensive monitor compared to a single laptop which would fit in a case roughly the size of what that monitor fits into.

How is shuttle + monitor + keyboard + mouse as capable of being used on a small school desk than a laptop?

Kegwen
Sonyfag
posted 07-14-2005 03:47:27 PM
quote:
Dr. Gee was naked while typing this:
So you need a fairly large backpack for the shuttle, mouse, and keyboard plus a seperate case for what appears to be a fairly expensive monitor compared to a single laptop which would fit in a case roughly the size of what that monitor fits into.

How is shuttle + monitor + keyboard + mouse as capable of being used on a small school desk than a laptop?


I don't think I got the point of posting those pictures across very well. Let's try again:

You don't take a 12lbs Pentium 4 gaming latop with an hour of battery life to class. That's dumb. Some people would say it's dumb to take any laptop to class, but I disagree. My Powerbook's battery life is barely acceptable at 2.5-3 hours, but at least it doesn't weigh much and isn't that big.

The general consensus on what's best for, say, college is to get a SFF computer and a laptop and still spend less than you would on a single high-end gaming laptop. Unless you go to LAN parties 5 times a week, a high-end ($3k+) gaming laptop is a bad investment. I don't think I can talk anyone out of spending their absurd amounts of money on something like that, but I'm certainly going to express my opinion on how much of a waste it is if they ask me.

All I was saying with the small form factor suggestion was that you should get a smaller, but capable, portable laptop and a SFF pc if you're concerned about space/weight. If you paid more than ~$2600 for a laptop as your primary gaming PC, I am of the opinion that you were ripped off, and that you will agree with me in less than a year. Unless you're loaded and don't care, I guess. To those, I say: enjoy your 9-12lbs behemoth that won't even be reasonably capable by next year and is unupgradable (Dell's laptop upgrades are expensive and impractical) that you paid 3-4 grand for.

Mooj: Most of the above wasn't really directed at you or relevent to what you were asking for. My recommendation to you? Buy a Dell Inspiron 9300 and be happy. Or, for larger investments, Pentium-M based Toshibas or Thinkpads. I recommend 1GB of RAM (or more!) and nVidia graphics chipsets (probably the 6800 for your needs).

Kegwen fucked around with this message on 07-14-2005 at 03:57 PM.

Mooj
Scorned Fanboy
posted 07-14-2005 07:25:19 PM
I figured as much. Basically, I'm just looking for a laptop that I can put City of Heroes on to play while I'm between classes at college or when I'm out away from my desktop. I don't expect this to be a high class gaming rig, I just want something capable of doing it.

Hi Nae!!!

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