Help me pick a laptop - Gaming World Forums

Topic: Help me pick a laptop (Read 1789 times)

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Drule

#1 October 25, 2007, 04:42:36 am

Group: Guest

Hey!

I'm going to buy a cheap laptop because my current computer has been screwing up a lot lately. I intend to use it for browsing, movies, music, webdesign, 2D game making and if possible, music making. Maybe a little bit of retro gaming too. I'm not looking for a great laptop or anything but I do want the best option, so I was hoping you could help me choose one of the cheaper options I've found. My stationary computer is a Pentium 4 with 2,50 GHz, 512 MB RAM and a GeForce FX 5200, for comparsion.

ACER (Click to reveal)

Quote from: ACER 5315

Processor: Intel Cel. M530

Speed: n/a
RAM: 1024 MB

Type: DDR2
Speed: n/a
Cache: n/a
HDD: 80 GB

RPM: 5400
Sound card: HD Audio

Bits: n/a
Graphic card: ATI X3100

Shared memory: 256 MB
Software: Windows Vista Basic

Quote from: Acer Extensa 5220

Processor: Intel Celeron M530

Speed: 1,73 GHz
RAM: 512MB

Type: DDR2
Speed: 667 MHz
Cache: n/a
HDD: 80 GB

RPM: n/a
Sound card: Integrated soundcard

Bits: n/a
Graphic card: Intel GMA 950

Shared memory: Up to 224 MB
Software: Windows Vista Home Basic

Quote from: Acer TravelMate 5320-051G12Mi

Processor: Intel Celeron M 530

Speed: 1.73 GHz
RAM: 1 GB

Type: DDR II SDRAM
Speed: n/a
Cache: 1 MB
HDD: 120 GB (Serial ATA-150)

RPM: 5400
Sound card: n/a

Bits: n/a
Graphic card: Intel GMA X3100

Shared memory: n/a
Software: Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Fujitsu (Click to reveal)

Quote from: Fujitsu-Siemens Esprimo V5515

Processor: Intel Celeron M520

Speed: 1,6 GHz
RAM: 1 GB

Type: DDR2
Speed: 667 MHz
Cache: n/a
HDD: 80 GB

RPM: n/a
Sound card: Realtek ALC268

Bits: n/a
Graphic card: SiS Mirage 3+ Graphics

Shared memory: 64 MB
Software: Windows Vista Home Basic

Quote from: Fujitsu Siemens Amilo La1703a

Processor: Mobile AMD Sempron

Speed: 1,60 GHz
RAM: 512 MB

Type: DDR2
Speed: 533 MHz
Cache: 128 KB
HDD: 80 GB

RPM: 5400
Sound card: AC97

Bits: 16
Graphic card: UniChromeTM Pro

Shared memory: 64 MB
Software: Windows Vista Home Basic, Nero 7 Essential, Norman NVC, 3 years free update

Miscellaneous (Click to reveal)

Quote from: Advent laptop 8315

Processor: Intel Celeron M 430

Speed: 430 Ghz
RAM: 512 MB

Type: DDR2
Speed: 533 MHz
Cache: 1 024 KB
HDD: 80 GB

RPM: 5 4000
Sound card: High Definition-Azalia

Bits: n/a
Graphic card: n/a

Shared memory: 128 MB
Software: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic

Quote from: Znote 3215W (can be configured)

Processor: Intel Celeron M 540

Speed: 1,83 GHz
RAM: 1024 MB (2x512)

Type: DDR2 PC5300
Speed: n/a
Cache: n/a
HDD: 80 GB (SATA Hitachi)

RPM: 5400
Sound card: n/a

Bits: n/a
Graphic card: Intel GMA X3000

Shared memory: n/a
Software: None

Quote from: Packard MZ35-V-091 C.420

Processor: Intel Celeron M420

Speed: 1,6 GHz
RAM: 512 MB

Type: n/a
Speed: n/a
Cache: n/a
HDD: 80 GB

RPM: n/a
Sound card: n/a

Bits: n/a
Graphic card: ATI Radeon Xpress 200M

Shared memory: n/a
Software: Windows Vista Home Basic

Last Edit: October 25, 2007, 04:48:36 am by Drule

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Drule

#2 October 25, 2007, 11:46:16 am

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whos gonna receive the first smooch...

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Carrion Crow

#3 October 25, 2007, 02:48:18 pm

I need to watch things die
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Posts: 3516

State your budget.

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Zeratul

#4 October 25, 2007, 02:56:29 pm

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Posts: 292

You're gonna need something better than a Celeron or a Sempron if you want to create music on the computer (unless you're just talking about MIDIs or something). Other than that qualification, pretty much any laptop on the market will do.
Like Eddie said, it would help a lot if you stated your budget.

Those who can, pay. Those who can't, delay.

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mooty

#5 October 25, 2007, 04:04:45 pm

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Posts: 21

macbook! ftw.

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goat

#6 October 25, 2007, 04:19:32 pm

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Posts: 1403

make sure the laptop has got a good sound card, or at least set aside a piece of the budget for a good external one.

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Drule

#7 October 25, 2007, 05:41:59 pm

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I just want to get as cheap of a laptop as possible, and these were the cheapest options I could find, so yeah. Budget is irrevelant. I just want to know which one of these to pick.

Last Edit: October 28, 2007, 09:04:44 am by Drule

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Carrion Crow

#8 October 25, 2007, 06:08:20 pm

I need to watch things die
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Posts: 3516

In the UK they have some stonking cheap laptops on ebuyer.com. There's an ebuyer US but I'm not sure if the deals are as good. If you buy a laptop it will come preinstalled with Windows Vista most likely and you'll want to put XP on it since most cheap laptops come with 512 mb of ram which is not sufficient memory. It's pointless having Vista on a laptop since the only discerable advantage it has over XP is that it's more "stable" and runs hardcore DX10 games (Something laptops won't have the power to run for years).

So in simple terms, ebuyer, install XP and you'll have a hoot.

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Drule

#9 October 25, 2007, 08:25:25 pm

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I live in Sweden and I don't want to buy online, so it'll have to be one of the options I posted I guess.

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ATARI

#10 October 26, 2007, 12:23:26 am

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Posts: 4136

If you are doing any sound recording (I am assuming here you mean with actual vocals and/or audio inputs (eg: guitar)), you will want all the possible ram that you can get. At least a gig. I see some of the ones you have listed are 512, so stay away from those for sure. Also yeah Zeratul is right. If you really want some processor intensive programs (eg sound recording or video recording) you want to stay away from the Celerons and Sempron kind of level processors. Also if you want better results in that as well, I would suggest something with dual core capability as well (from what I can tell none of the ones you listed give you that. Then again, I'm not sure if Celeron or sempron even have dual core models) Unless these are your absolute only options, I would suggest something outside of these personally.

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Lord_Abriel

#11 October 26, 2007, 09:44:39 am

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Can't recall if you are studying or not, but if you are check Mecenat and the laptop deals there. There can be some pretty good stuff up for reasonable prices, although it's mostly Macbooks and ThinkPads (which aren't cheap). I think Dell and Fujitsu has deals on a regular basis too.

If you don't want Vista the Zepto Znote is probably a good idea. I think they have some more powerful ones too, and you'd probably want to add stuff like WLAN anyway. Not getting Vista preinstalled is also nice, since it really is a bad idea to use it on lower-end laptops.

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Stadsport

#12 October 26, 2007, 03:32:02 pm

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Well, I know MacBooks have optical audio in/out. I don't know if any other laptops do or if that's even important to you, but it seems like it would be!

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ATARI

#13 October 27, 2007, 02:49:09 am

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Well from some of the things he listed, (eg: retro gaming etc) it would probably require windows to do so. I mean, I know he could install bootcamp and do windows on it, but if you don't want to go through all that trouble, don't get a macbook. Personally though, even though I'm not a very big fan of Apple, I can say that the macbook pros are pretty good (my cousin has one and it's not bad at all). They are very pricey though towards the sort of specifications that you are currently looking at (all apple products are pretty much overpriced anyway though, so you can expect this)

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dada

#14 October 28, 2007, 08:34:45 am

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Quote from: ATARI on October 27, 2007, 02:49:09 am

Well from some of the things he listed, (eg: retro gaming etc) it would probably require windows to do so. I mean, I know he could install bootcamp and do windows on it, but if you don't want to go through all that trouble, don't get a macbook. Personally though, even though I'm not a very big fan of Apple, I can say that the macbook pros are pretty good (my cousin has one and it's not bad at all). They are very pricey though towards the sort of specifications that you are currently looking at (all apple products are pretty much overpriced anyway though, so you can expect this)

Drule is perfectly able to install Boot Camp if he did decide to get one, since it's not a problem at all for somewhat able computer users. It takes less than an hour anyway. For retro gaming, you won't need it, since DOSBox 0.70 is cross-platform and runs just as well on Mac OS X as it does on Windows or Linux (60 FPS, no slowdown whatsoever, no frameskip, et cetera).

As for the price, Apple computers aren't really that more expensive than other similar computers. In fact, they're perfectly within normal price range. The only difference is that they don't sell low-end computers. They only sell mid-end and high-end computers, which is why the old truth of Apple computers being more expensive is still believed to this day, whereas, in fact, it hasn't been true anymore for quite some time.

But anyway, I don't think he wants to get an Apple in any case, since he seems to be looking for computers in a lower price range. Though I don't recommend not getting at least a Core 2 processor.

Last Edit: October 28, 2007, 08:39:07 am by Dada

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dada

#15 October 29, 2007, 08:33:27 pm

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You can stop debating this, Drule went ahead and bought a laptop without telling us!

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ATARI

#16 October 29, 2007, 09:14:58 pm

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Quote from: Dada on October 29, 2007, 08:33:27 pm

You can stop debating this, Drule went ahead and bought a laptop without telling us!

no double posting :<<

also drule what laptop did you get (you could at least post that here yo because i'm curious)

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Bandito

#17 October 29, 2007, 11:11:45 pm

>you
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Posts: 657

if you have around 1300 you can buy HP computer.
SPECS:
1.6 gb intel core duo
2 gb ram
120 gb HDD
with a nvidia 256 shared video card

I don't see this as a bad bargain and you can even play some 3d games like Unreal and such....and this is where i live. In USA you can find the same computer at cheaper prices (I am from Puerto RicO)

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headphonics

#18 October 30, 2007, 07:10:07 am

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Quote from: Dada on October 28, 2007, 08:34:45 am

Drule is perfectly able to install Boot Camp if he did decide to get one, since it's not a problem at all for somewhat able computer users. It takes less than an hour anyway. For retro gaming, you won't need it, since DOSBox 0.70 is cross-platform and runs just as well on Mac OS X as it does on Windows or Linux (60 FPS, no slowdown whatsoever, no frameskip, et cetera).

As for the price, Apple computers aren't really that more expensive than other similar computers. In fact, they're perfectly within normal price range. The only difference is that they don't sell low-end computers. They only sell mid-end and high-end computers, which is why the old truth of Apple computers being more expensive is still believed to this day, whereas, in fact, it hasn't been true anymore for quite some time.

But anyway, I don't think he wants to get an Apple in any case, since he seems to be looking for computers in a lower price range. Though I don't recommend not getting at least a Core 2 processor.

i dunno about apple prices where you are, but macbooks (the low-end ones, anyway) are pretty cheap here! like... a grand, which i think is very acceptable as far as pricing goes, for what you get. i guess if you're really pinching pennies you might prefer to spend $800 or something but i rarely see notebooks under a grand that don't, in some way or another, kind of suck. mostly it is subpar cpus but small hdds, lackluster amounts of ram (how are people even still buying computers with 512 in them anymore?), and so on. i would think he'd be willing to spend the extra couple hundred and get something nice, considering he's probably going to be using this for a few years.

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Vey

#19 October 30, 2007, 10:13:02 am

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Actually buying a laptop with only 512 mb RAM could be smart, since it usually is cheaper to buy RAM separately and put it in there yourself.

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dada

#20 October 30, 2007, 03:25:28 pm

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Quote from: bazookatooth on October 30, 2007, 07:10:07 am

i rarely see notebooks under a grand that don't, in some way or another, kind of suck.

Yeah, that's right. The low-end Apple MacBooks are in the right price range, in my opinion. Like you say, you need something that will last a while, too. Though I don't think you really need a Core Duo 2 when all you need to do is use Word (in that case you might as well get a Celeron), but that's probably not the case if you're asking around here.

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