Laptop questions

UncleAsriel · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:45 pm Post subject: Laptop questions

Recently, my grandma offered to buy me a laptop for when I go away to university. I was wondering what you technology-savvy folks out there would recommend for a general purpose student laptop?

Shaon · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:57 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop questions

GBE · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:01 pm Post subject:

If you just really want all the absolute basics, but with enough memory to sort out a few basic programs (I say basic, nothing more than music playing/recording programs and mp3 players) or things like that, you should look to spend about at Â£300... Although, if you want to ensure its going to be of some standard, then you should spend no less than Â£500. You can quite easily pick up a laptop, with a internet security program, as well as a carry bag and all-in-one printer for about Â£1000...

Mine has 60gb memory, which, for basic stuff is more than enough... But I reccomend you don't buy any complex games for it, and be willing to go a bit retro if you want games.. Nothing past the year 2000 would be my advice... Red Razzberry

But, you should check all your best electronic retailers online and you'll get the best and cheapest internet deals better than you would instore... This is fact!! And make sure you get a warranty of course!! Wink

Hope that helps you at least...

P.S. By the way, if you want something that can power through serious programs or games, you'll have to fork out a bit more of your money and go more expensive... True story... Wink

GBE

LordPsycho · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:30 pm Post subject: Re: Laptop questions

Panther385 · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:39 pm Post subject:

On the quick topic of graphics cards:

Go for something that has 128 MB. At least. One with Pixel Shader 1.1 or better is a must, too. I'm going to be using a NVIDIA GeForce FX- I got it cheap off of Amazon, and you get a discount when you buy more than one thing. An equivilant is ATI Radeon 9500, but it's usually more expensive. Confused

Doesn't make much sense to me.

I've heard Dell has good computers for students. Almost all arereasonabley priced, in my opinion... Wink

LordPsycho · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:47 pm Post subject:

Panther, Graphics cards for laptops tend to be a bit stickier than Graphics cards for desktop machines.

For one, with very VERY few exceptions, they are almost always built into the motherboard. No upgrades for you.

This limits what card you can get, as you have to choose of what options were designed into the computer, not what complies with X's standard interface.

And remember, he should be studying and doing homework, not playing Quake 4 whilst no one is watching.
>.>
<.<
>.>

Not that I'd do that....

Panther385 · Posted: Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:49 pm Post subject:

Really? Well, that sucks. >< Why do they do that? To lighten the machine or something?

Kat_05 · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:05 am Post subject:

NO Dell.

NO Gateway.
Period. Everyone I know who's gotten them has had major trouble, and as far as Dell goes the support group isn't all that helpful. New computer and the sound card WASN'T compatable with the rest of the machine. How stupid is that?!?

First question: What's your budget?
I'm quite happy with my Toshiba A105 model (if you want the exact model I'll find it later: not on that compy for the holidays). Got it for $1400 around April, it's top of the line, and I've yet to have a problem with it.
While shopping, Acer also seemed decent. Never got a chance to check out Alien computers, but they seemed pretty cool. The fact that you're supporting a (fairly) new company is even better!

One more thing: You can get a Mac if you want but I wouldn't recommend it. The only reason they're so expensive is the built-in security system and the only reason that system hasn't cracked under pressure is because all the hackers go for popular systems (what everyone's using). Macs are becoming more popular which could cause problems in the future. Regardless, don't pay for the security! Pay for the computer. You can get security elsewhere that's just as good (if not better!).

Cloud · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:09 am Post subject:

Fort · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 11:44 am Post subject:

I'm not going to add anything to the lists of sugestions, however I think you lot have either just (a) overwhelmed or b) killed) poor Asriel.

drlupinmario · Guest

To comment on DP's advice for a laptop: Just Fudge that.

Processor: Pentium 4.

Graphics Card: Nvidia g-force watsits.

Battery: Goats can fly.

Size: I like to catch thumb tacks on my bare eyes.

OS: Dos. No really. Windows XP. Maybe that fancy vista beta if you can get your hands on that.

Memory: 1GB. Nuf said.

Hard Drive: As many gigabites as you can afford. Heck, If you can get one of thoose uberfancy "OH LOOK! I GOTZ MON3Y! LOLOMGWTF" Terrabyte external harddrives, Get one. I dont have one, But ehhh....

Steam: You will want to go to http://www.steampowered.com/v/index.php to download Steam. Then you must buy the following: Garry's mod 10, Team fortress classic (Or for 5 bucks more, You can get a pack containing Halflife 1, Opposing forces and blue shift, PLUS Team fortress classic), Half life 2, And counterstrike.

THIS IS ESSENTIAL! IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS THEN ADD DRLUPINMARIO ON YOUR FREINDS LIST, YOUR COMPUTER *WILL* BLOW UP IN YOUR FACE! DO NOT IGNORE THIS MESSAGE!

LordPsycho · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:57 pm Post subject:

DLM, I spoke as a Computer Engineer and a previous owner of a P4 in a laptop.

It produces 89 watts of heat. That's on a piece of Silicon about an inch squared.

That's more heat density than a griddle iron, and you want to set this thing on your lap.

Plus, all the heat (being energy) has to come from somewhere. Your wasting alot of heat, therefore killing your battery faster, thus wasting your time.

Now the Centrino's and Core 2 Duo's produce much less heat, and take less energy than their Pentium 4 predocessors. Both represent a vast step forward in processor design, ergo, it's more worth his money.

As for the Graphics card, that's a personal choice. I know that in college, i don't have that much time to game, so getting an overpowered graphics card is pointless.

Kat_05 · Posted: Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:36 pm Post subject:

Although if you have a decent battery, you can still get a good 3 hours out of a Pentium M processor. Considering the only class you'd have to worry about being that long should be a LAB class, no problem!

Netdroid9 · Posted: Fri Dec 29, 2006 12:10 am Post subject:

Get something with Intel Core Duo, at the minimum. Anything else is going to be out of manufacturing (or close to) so if your laptop fails it'll be a pain in the ass to get fixed. Avoid 64-bit at all costs, hardware-wise it's pretty good but software support is even worse than a Mac's.

A 60gb Hard Drive is more than enough for me, but if you don't have a tower to store stuff on then I'd recomend you try for 120gb.

RAM-wise, 512 minimum, 1024 recomended.

Graphics Cards are a bit of a doozy. Go for something low-end but recent. A GeForce 6200/7200 means the chipset'll use a standardized interface, which'll save money in the long run. Anything FX should be avoided like the plague.

Try for ExpressCard support if you can, but CardBus'll surfice if you can't get it for cheap enough.

WiFi should be tri-band A/B/G, anything with a 945G should have that built in.

Bluetooth isn't all that expensive these days, so if you can find it, get it, especially if you've got a Nintendo Wii or the like as the Wii's controller is bluetooth and from what I've heard makes a pretty good presentation wand.

In the end, it's all a matter of price-range. I'm using a Toshiba A100/F01, which costs about $2000AUD. It's got integrated graphics, but the higher-up models sport nVidia/ATi graphics cards so theoretically it should sport a standardized interface. Other than that, it works pretty well.

And by the way, I'm pretty sure Alienware is owned by Dell. Dell's nice and cheap, but I've heard bad things about their tech support. Horrible. unspeakable things...

UncleAsriel · Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 9:40 pm Post subject:

Thanks, everyone! This sure is some good stuff to know, and it's helping me immensely when looking.

I haven't made up my mind on anything final as of yet, but I have had gotten some interesting input fro various clerks.

One rather creepy guy named Charlie suggested that I get a $1400 laptop with two GB of RAM, since "when you update to windows vista, you'll need it." When answering that I don't intend to install Vista, he answered "Well, you'll need to keep up-to-date if you're using a university network You'll probably be thankful of it in three years."

Should I trust Charlie? Or should he get stuffed?