Laptop Purchase Help - Tech Support Forums

Ramen · October 9th, 2008, 02:57 PM

Hey everyone. I'm trying to figure out the best kind of laptop to get, but I haven't really bought a pre-built computer from a manufacturer in years.. let alone a laptop at all. I'll be using the laptop for college things (i.e. papers, research, etc.), e-mail, gaming (i.e. Dawn of War, Battlefield 2142 and IF possible Warhammer Online), and the general online surfing.

Who makes the best kind of laptop for what I want to do with it? What recommendations can you make?

Ramen · October 9th, 2008, 03:50 PM

Alright.. went through Dell and created a laptop. What do you think?

Inspiron 1525
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5800 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Basic Edition SP1
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
LCD Panel widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Integrated 10/100 Network Card
CD / DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW Drive)
High Definition Audio 2.0
Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini-Card

EXreaction · October 9th, 2008, 04:43 PM

I would go with HP. Dell does not yet have the Centrino 2 platform.

I doubt the integrated Intel graphics will be able to play those games. You will need a dedicated card for gaming.

HP® Official Store — Buy an HP Pavilion dv5t series notebook PC from HP

A good laptop that would do some gaming with would cost about $1,000 with the setup I attached.

Ramen · October 9th, 2008, 05:59 PM

I was afraid I asked too much from a laptop for only $700.. lol. I'll take a look at the HP Pavilion you recommended though.

EXreaction · October 9th, 2008, 06:18 PM

Without the extra graphics card you can get that one down to $800. You can cut out a few extra things like the extended battery, and wireless N to get it down close to $700.

Ramen · October 9th, 2008, 06:51 PM

Yeah but if you just run the stock Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD wouldn't you be screwed for any type of gaming? Even the second one, 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 9200M GS , doesn't seem to do very well with current generation games.

Maybe I should just stuff my current PC into a HTPC case.

KarmaKiller · October 9th, 2008, 07:15 PM

There are some decent buys that would handle gaming alright. I personally am a fan of Asus laptops. I've played with a few, and have a Eee. I really do like them. Warranty is there also, so you don't have to worry about that. Worst thing about it, is you'd probably have to ship it off if anything happened to it, but if you can live with that then check them out.
Newegg.com - ASUS M50 Series M50Vm-X1 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo P8400(2.26GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 4GB Memory 250GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GS - Laptops / Notebooks

Newegg.com - ASUS M50 Series M50Sv-B1 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T8100(2.10GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA+ 3GB Memory DDR2 667 250GB HDD 5400rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS - Laptops / Notebooks
That has a blue ray drive, so it would be good to hook up to a nice HDTV.

Just my two cents.

EXreaction · October 9th, 2008, 07:37 PM

And that is only $400 more than he wants to spend...

KarmaKiller · October 9th, 2008, 07:41 PM

Yeah I saw that, but I thought he realized he's not gonna get a gaming notebook, or at least a decent one for under 1k.

But that lappy you attached is pretty nice for the price also.

EXreaction · October 9th, 2008, 07:47 PM

Well, one could probably pick up a used laptop for about $600 that has a decent gaming card in it. Dell used to have better graphics card options with their base laptops, but I think they don't do that anymore to try and sell more XPS's.