Help buying laptop please!

[IV Razorback VI]

See few posts below.

 

[Steven]

Firstly you will not want to be carrying a 17" around much - they're pretty big. And since you don't need an awesome graphics card, I would configure a Dell for about £6-700 with an 8400 since you will only play older games. No need to spend £1000 unless you want an awesome (for a laptop) GPU or want the style of the Dell XPS range for example

There is this Asus if you must splash the cash, which will play Oblivion and FEAR at medium-high (I myself have a laptop with X1600). Before you wonder who Asus are, they are an OEM and one of the top 5 manufacturers of laptops. For example, Apple macbooks are Asus made But it is DX9

 

[Melkor]

Check out some of the own-branded Novatech laptops [www.novatech.com], very good specifications for the price.

 

[IV Razorback VI]

Next one down please

 

[IV Razorback VI]

Ok I have decided the best option. I can see laptops really booming at the moment. They will get cheaper, better, smaller. I have decided to rather go for a cheaper laptop and wait longer for more of a desktop replacement. I after all only need it for music, msn, web and work. However, a few games now and then would be nice on it.

I have some questions which I cannot find answers to from here:

I am shocked at it and its bang for buck. Great processor, hdd fine, more than enough, 2gig ram, but again, the video.

Questions:
Is this 14" screen widescreen?
Could I possibly hook it up to a TV?
Would it be able to play any games at all? even on lowest settings and resolutiom? I would like to casually play Rome Total War or something of that sort.
Finally, is ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 in it, because it only says integrated on that website, and i cannot find any more info. the ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 is on other R20s, but no confirmation if it is on this one.

The battery is not great at all, but I will not be using it away from an AC socket much at all.

Help me please thanks!

 

[Steven]

The R20 is a solid laptop - I was impressed when I saw it in person. That one you chose (there are several variations) only has an integrated GPU. Which is rubbish. But I don't know the requirements of the games you want to play though (please only post the GPU requirements, not a long list )

As for whether you can hook any laptop up to a TV, it depends whether said TV has a VGA port that is PC compatible. It should say whether that is the case in the manual

 

[IV Razorback VI]

Well I have my Xbox hooked up through VGA, so I guess so.

Rome is really the only game, and I may pick up some other old games for the road which have always kept their spark (theme hospital etc).

Why is it bad and what problems could it cause? Is the laptop still good, I mean 2ghz core 2 duo, 2 gig ram etc, seems to sound real nice. I am thinking it is just the website and maybe it still has that ATI integrated card, good enough for old games on low settings for when I am bored. Otherwise, I will be on the PC I am now, until I a) get the money for and b) when the new better cheaper tech comes out. (2009 I may get my next).

GPU requirements are:

100% directx 9.0 compatible 64mb hardware accelerated video card.

Also, if it doesnt work out with this Samsung, I may also get this Vaio

It looks slightly less speccy, but seems to have a better GPU and vaios are beautiful []. Just tell me which would be a better buy, remembering my real needs only going back to work.

 

[Steven]

Have a read here (if you join that forum, tell them LFC sent you )

Integrated cards are fine for websites and DVDs, but if you want to game you'd need a proper dedicated GPU. But I don't know if Total Rome is playable on a GMA950

Outside of serious gaming, the Samsung R20 is a top laptop. 14" so more portable than the traditional 15.4" size. Nice decent styling and good spec for the money. Can't really go much more wrong for a budget option

 

[IV Razorback VI]

So basically, yes but not for gaming what-so-ever. That isn't reall a problem, I only occasionally play games, and when I do, it would no doubt be on our home PC. I was just thinking for trips and things where I could use a game whenever I may be bored.

Can you look at that Vaio please? It looks like it works well and looks nice, but if it works for a few games too I think it is worth the trade off on lower specs.

Oh sorry, just looked at a link from that one you sent me, that shows which games should be able to run on the Vaio, scrapping the R20, great system and value, but I can't pass this.

I would get, because I love them and according to this they can be ran:
Halo Combat Evolved
Rome Total War
Star Wars KOTOR
May get Star Wars Empire Divided.
Apparantly Roller Coaster tycoon and Aoe3 can be run on really low settings.

OVERALL: happy days, thank you so much LFC. I think I may have this within the coming weeks (after I have a look at it in-store)

 

[IV Razorback VI]

or should I splash out another £100 for a slightly beefier system?

Im actually hunting down the mystery GPU in the sammy. it seems tobe mainly sold in germany and they all say it has the ATI 128mb card.

 

[reaper12]

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5613AWLMi_LX.AY50X.062/version-1.asp

I posted this on another thread, but, this laptop looks great for 500. And it has a non integrated video card. So it's nothing special as video cards go, but it should be able to play some games.

 

[Melkor]

If you can stretch to £800 then should go for this laptop, absolutely awesome specification for the price:

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_5920WSMi_Laptop_LX.AGS0X.015/version-1.asp

DX10 GPU, high-end Core2Duo processor, 2GB RAM [1GB Turbocache] and a reasonable 160GB HDD. Wanted a laptop for uni and playing some half-decent games, this is the one I chose yesterday.

 

[IV Razorback VI]

Hi. That Acer is good and i saw it before, but then I found this. It is £7 more and has similar specs. However, it apparantly has a Core2 Duo instead of Core Duo and has a free carry case and mouse (which i will use).

The one you pionted out:

and

this one, which should be better. I would expect the £507 to be better, but I am more than willing to listen. If it is green, I will order it tommorow. Mine too is for college/Uni, but I need a cheap but good one, that can play decent games so I do not get bored.

 

[stu.artd]

From those two I'd take the Acer 5920, it costs more but it's faster and has a much better graphics card. It looks a lot better as well, my opinion of course

 

[IV Razorback VI]

Sorry, I utterly hate that gemstone look. I don't think laptops look good too rounded.

 

[stu.artd]

Why are you sorry ? It would be pretty boring if we all liked the same thing.

Those 2 laptops you link to seem the same, other than the one at £507 coming with a free carry case. I realise one spec list mentions Core 2 Duo and one just Core Duo, but they both refer to the T2350 - therefore it's the same CPU inboth machines.

 

[IV Razorback VI]

Ah ok, so one is lying lol. Well I doubt the difference is enough to pass up on. I will need a mouse and a carry case, so it works out. it is still only core duo, but again, I havn't heard they are "that" big of a deal over core duo.