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Asmodeus
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 25, 2009
Posts: 783
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 Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:45 pm Post subject: Laptop suggestions. |
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I'm considering getting a mid to high end laptop in the next couple of months, can anyone help me out?
In order of importance, more or less:
Essential:
Price < $3500 (could be a little flexible here)
XP/Vista compatible (x32 or x64 or x86, whichever laptop fits the other stats)
Not a dell or alienware, I'd like it to outlive 1 year of use.
Decent processor
Decent ram
enough storage (400GB+)
High end graphics card
wifi
dvd burner
fair battery life
Not going to toast my lap (good heat management)
Extra (not essential):
Durable chassis
bluetooth
infrared reciever
Microphone
Not as fat as Jack Black, portable.
Not essential at all
Camera
Splashproof (this is really irrelevent, but it'd be cool)
Loud enough speakers (although I'd rarely use them)
I've already decided I'm running windows or linux on a windows xp/vista compatible machine, no argument. |
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Keith
Guarding my post here
Joined: Aug 13, 2008
Age: 26
Posts: 2152
Location: East Sussex, UK
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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You want high specifications? You could just get a Windows Seven 64bit version. 4GB RAM would be ideal. Some laptops enable you to add extra hard drives so you can RAID them in RAID 0. Faster access times, but more power consumption. You'd have to probably invest in another battery as a high spec laptop will be in the region of GAMING. Will you have intentions of using this on the move? How long will the battery last in the real world? Will you use all the features of the laptop?
It's easy to argue to say "I want the best video card for my videos" where the graphics on this won't matter too much.
If you want high-end, you might want to see which mobile IGP will be better.. ATI or nVidia |
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Audiophile
Snowy Owl
Joined: Nov 01, 2009
Age: 18
Posts: 156
Location: Northern Illinois
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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Look at Lenovo Thinkpads if you want durability. Splash proof is only available on Panasonic Toughbooks if I remember correctly. I've seen alot of long lasting Toshiba's as well, so check them out as well. Defiantly stay away from Acer as far as possible no matter how good the deal looks. I think Dell's are pretty on par with Apple in terms of build quality, a few lemons, but if you really must need that perticular style then you best treat it with kid gloves.
If you want good specs, I think Sony Vaio's are pretty decent, almost all now have at last 3GB of ram standard and most have blu-ray either an option or standard. I've spilled soda on my keyboard a little on accident and the keys still work pretty good. Course I quickly flipped the computer over, I couldn't turn it off cause I was in the middle of running a small venue and was playing music for an upfront game.
But it works so I'm good with that.
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Google
Butterfly
Joined: Nov 01, 2009
Age: 20
Posts: 13
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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| HP is a good brand. |
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greengeek
Blue Jay
Joined: Jul 19, 2007
Age: 18
Posts: 94
Location: New York USA
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| Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2009 7:17 pm Post subject: |
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Toshiba Batteries don't have a long lifespan. I have a Toshiba laptop and I had to replace the OEM batteries with BTI batteries because the batter life of the Toshiba batteries is good at first but then drops down to almost nothing.
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Nothing is fool proof only fool resistant |
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whitelightning777
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jun 25, 2008
Age: 35
Posts: 55
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Fuzzy
Ack! Thbbbt!
Joined: Mar 31, 2006
Posts: 3686
Location: Alberta Canada
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| Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:10 am Post subject: |
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I havent purchased, but the next round of laptops in my circle will likely come from system76.
http://www.system76.com/
It might save you a few hundred bucks if you already have a windows licence, and of course, you mentioned linux. These are matched for parts that will work in linux distros.
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I installed Ubuntu once and it completely destroyed my paying relationship with Microsoft.
"careful observation of reality is a holy book unto itself" - techstepgenr8tion |
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Asmodeus
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 25, 2009
Posts: 783
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| Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:27 am Post subject: |
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Thanks, this is making things a little clearer, I now know I'd benefit from li-on battery with 6 or more (9) cells.
But graphics remain confusing.
toshiba sattelite series
1028 MB dedicated VRAM? If I'm right, does that mean 1028MB of video ram, in the same way 256MB of ram on your card is needed to play, for example, fallout 3?
Toshiba fail to mention much about the battery life (or even the batteries at all) on their site, I'd probably be willing to buy better compatible batteries seperately, where could I find these?
Lenovo thinkpad
I like these. The thinkpads have always been good, I even see old models still in use here and there. But they only have having 256MB graphics cards, which from what I seem to be reading are average on the scale of pc gaming.
Can either of these or another run Crysis in it's sleep?
Are most laptop grapics cards interchangable? (both these laptop's cards aren't intergrated, which implies I could replace them with something new in time given the circumstances) |
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CloudWalker
Deinonychus
Joined: Mar 27, 2009
Posts: 314
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| Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Asmodeus wrote: | 1028 MB dedicated VRAM? If I'm right, does that mean 1028MB of video ram, in the same way 256MB of ram on your card is needed to play, for example, fallout 3?
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If they say dedicated RAM specifically, then it means the RAM is on the display card, not from the system RAM.
| Asmodeus wrote: | | Toshiba fail to mention much about the battery life (or even the batteries at all) on their site, I'd probably be willing to buy better compatible batteries seperately, where could I find these? |
Click on the "View All Models" button. The battery life is listed there, although there's still no info on the mAh or the number of cells.
| Asmodeus wrote: |
Are most laptop grapics cards interchangable? (both these laptop's cards aren't intergrated, which implies I could replace them with something new in time given the circumstances) |
There's supposed to be a standard call MXM but not every manufacturer is using it. There's also different MXM form factor in play. |
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EaglesSayMeow
Tufted Titmouse
Joined: Nov 02, 2009
Posts: 26
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| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:26 am Post subject: |
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I have no clue if this helps, but don't buy mine. It says that it's "HP Pavilion dv4-1465dx Entertainment Notebook PC" on a little sticky label I forgot to take off. It's really not great, especially when using IE. Even my three year old mac is better (and this one is <3 months old!)
I'm not sure how to explain it, it just tends to be glitchy for me. Some days, I open it up, and all the stuff I was working on magically vanished overnight
And, if I touch the volume button, microsoft excel opens? Again, and again, and again. Once it opened 86 separate windows before I could get rid of them. |
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Asmodeus
Phoenix
Joined: Feb 25, 2009
Posts: 783
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| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:23 am Post subject: |
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| CloudWalker wrote: | | Asmodeus wrote: | 1028 MB dedicated VRAM? If I'm right, does that mean 1028MB of video ram, in the same way 256MB of ram on your card is needed to play, for example, fallout 3?
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If they say dedicated RAM specifically, then it means the RAM is on the display card, not from the system RAM.
I gathered, although benchmarks don't match up to the specs like pc benchmarks do.
| Asmodeus wrote: | | Toshiba fail to mention much about the battery life (or even the batteries at all) on their site, I'd probably be willing to buy better compatible batteries seperately, where could I find these? |
Click on the "View All Models" button. The battery life is listed there, although there's still no info on the mAh or the number of cells.
You're right. 2 hours 0 min. lol.
| Asmodeus wrote: |
Are most laptop grapics cards interchangable? (both these laptop's cards aren't intergrated, which implies I could replace them with something new in time given the circumstances)
There's supposed to be a standard call MXM but not every manufacturer is using it. There's also different MXM form factor in play. |
Thanks, I found the thinkpad uses this standard, the sattelite models don't, or at least some don't. I'm assuming this is the future standard, and what I'd be loking at if I wanted to upgrade my laptop graphics in, say a year or two from now.
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All in all I think I'm now more towards the thinkpad. |
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whitelightning777
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Joined: Jun 25, 2008
Age: 35
Posts: 55
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| Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2009 2:42 pm Post subject: Not so fast !! |
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| Asmodeus wrote: | Thanks, this is making things a little clearer, I now know I'd benefit from li-on battery with 6 or more (9) cells.
But graphics remain confusing.
toshiba sattelite series
1028 MB dedicated VRAM? If I'm right, does that mean 1028MB of video ram, in the same way 256MB of ram on your card is needed to play, for example, fallout 3?
Toshiba fail to mention much about the battery life (or even the batteries at all) on their site, I'd probably be willing to buy better compatible batteries seperately, where could I find these?
Lenovo thinkpad
I like these. The thinkpads have always been good, I even see old models still in use here and there. But they only have having 256MB graphics cards, which from what I seem to be reading are average on the scale of pc gaming.
Can either of these or another run Crysis in it's sleep?
Are most laptop grapics cards interchangable? (both these laptop's cards aren't intergrated, which implies I could replace them with something new in time given the circumstances) |
Laptops are harder to modify then desktops are. Unless they have a discrete graphics card, it is usually part of the motherboard. Even if it isn't directly part of the motherboard, it is usually soldered in. Trying to replace one of those is just asking for trouble. The connections aren't meant to be removed. 
If you adjust your resolution and appearance settings carefully, you can still have a nice looking desktop that won't be to slow. Just turn off whatever eye candy you don't need. |
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