Laptop Questions

Greebo · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 1:15 pm Post subject: Laptop Questions

Howdy Doody Everyone,

I'm heading statesward a week from today, for a 2 year college course, and while I'm out there, I think buying a laptop would be a good plan (seeing as I can't really take my desktop with me, bit bulky).

This'll be my first venture into buying a laptop (never needed one before) and while I'm pretty good at knowing what to get in desktops and what to watch out for when buying them, I'm a bit crap at knowing what to get with laptops.

So I gots a couple of questions:
1) What retailers are good in US for buying computers?
2) I'm hoping the laptop I get will be pretty good for gaming, specifically HL related games (Dod: Source etc), so what should I be aiming for - how good are graphics cards etc?

Cheers!
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Greebo · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 1:18 pm Post subject:

Oh and another: What the hell is a Pentium M processor? They appear to be for laptops only - are they any good? Clock speeds seem low for the current standards.
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Chen Kenichi · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 2:10 pm Post subject:

If you're looking to play demanding games (HL2) on your laptop, I suggest you check out www.alienware.com ... however, gaming laptops tend to be very expensive. I'd wager that a laptop with an X800 vid card, 3+ gig processor, 2 gig memory, Audigy Z2 sound card, 60 gig HD, etc. will cost ~$2500.

If you're simply looking for a mobile workstation (which is what most laptops are), you can find cheap laptops from Dell, Fry's Electronics, or used ones on eBay.
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rANCOR hUNTER · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 2:20 pm Post subject:

The Dell gaming laptops score higher than the Alienware laptops in some areas and was recommended by The Screensavers from the old TechTV. It's also going to be $500-$1000 cheaper than an Alienware too.
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Replica · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 2:34 pm Post subject:

but the alienwares look sooo cool.

and whereabouts are you gonna be greebo?

i really wish some more villuns were in central PA.

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Greebo · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 3:16 pm Post subject:

Ok when I say gaming, I mean enough to run them at mid-range settings tops, I mean my poor old 1.3AMD with half a gig of ram can handle HL2 without problems (cept load times). So anything in the 2Ghz region, half a gig of ram, decent but not necessarily top of the range graphics card will do.

I'll be in Berkeley CA for the most part.
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cobra · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 3:58 pm Post subject:

Greebo · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 6:11 pm Post subject:

So Pentium M's are just their processors designed for laptops then? Fair enough.

Actually saw a couple of good deals at the costco website - think they might be worth going into?
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SilverOne · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 7:34 pm Post subject:

I love my HP zd8000.

For the price you cant beat it. When I bought mine I tried to compare the harware I was getting to every company out there and the price couldn't be touched.

Check them out.. I know of 3 people that have them. Even my Boss at work has one. MErf told me about them and he knows a few people with them too including himself. Ok I don't usually recommend HP but this laptop is the exception. You can also customize it.

Excellent laptop that has received good reviews from pcmag, pcworld, cnet etc.
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rANCOR hUNTER · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2005 8:45 pm Post subject:

Yeah I have heard before that HP makes a good laptop.
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KopiKat · Registered User Joined: 15 May 2002 Posts: 923

For mobile processors there are really only 2 brands worth looking into: AMD Turion, and intel Pentium M.

Each is low power, around 20-30 watts, and each has decent specs (pentium M runs at between 1.3 and 2.0, and the Turion 64 runs at 1.4-2.2) The turion is the more expensive option, running at around 100 bucks more expensive than the M, but it also has the better specs, and is a 64 bit processor.

The decision is ultimately up to you though

-KK
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Pornstar · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:25 am Post subject:

Simpleman · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:50 am Post subject:

Heh you will be right around the corner from me. Well about 1 hour away, but not to far.

Anyways it pretty much depends on what price range you want to stay in. I have a Acer that I have had for almost 3 years now that gets used a solid 10 hours a day and has never had a issue so you might look into them. I know they have a wide range of laptops for any thing you want.

www.Acer.com

Example

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1221693&CatId=1345

They have alot cheaper ones. They range from about $500.00 USD - $2500.00 USD
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Greebo · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 4:42 pm Post subject:

Yeah my g/f's mum has a costco membership (love going there, so many free food samples!)

The problem with shopping online is that a lot of sites will only deliver to the credit card's address, and given that mine is in the UK and I'll be in the US, that's a bit pointless....could get a US credit card maybe?
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Simpleman · Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:01 pm Post subject:

Tigerdirect sends it where ever you want it

.
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