Author Topic: suggetions for laptop (Read 1043 times)

dkff49 · « **on:** February 27, 2008, 02:16:36 PM »

I bought a laptop thinking it was good enough to run AH which is the main reason that I bought it. Turns out that is not true. I am taking back to store to try and see if their tech people will be able to help. However I have my doubts. I have already spoke with Skuzzy and turns out that the video card is not sufficient. The on-board video is a NVIFIA GEFORCE Go 7150M. In case anybody was wondering.

What I would like is some suggestions on a laptop that will run at least AH2 with default settings. So when they can't get it to run either then I know what to look for. The purchase was from Staples and that is probably going to be the first place that I will be looking so that I can just exchange it there. The new computer will definately be a laptop due to the fact that I will be taking this computer to work with me to fight the cartoon fight while relaxing at work. Man I have it tough at work.

Please help I get bored while working alot.

Thanks

Krusty · « **Reply #1 on:** February 27, 2008, 02:43:44 PM »

The problem with most laptops is primarily the video card.

IF the CPU is fast enough to run the game (many are pretty low-end to keep power drain low), then the vid card is some POS that can't run 3D properly.

Even those that HAVE okay video cards have low-end versions of them.

It's all because laptops are designed for power conservation, compactness, and heat prevention, and good graphics, fast CPUs, and good gaming machines are just the opposite.

While you MAY find something that runs AH if you look hard enough, your average desktop will run it with much less hassle, less trouble finding drivers, and less question as to whether it's compatible or not.

Laptops should stay away from Intel graphics chips. You want at least 1GB RAM, but the video card shares this so get 2 GB if you can. Make sure you have USB ports for your joystick/etc, and most won't have any kind of gameport (so make sure you have USB input devices!).

The sound card is hit or miss. Some folks have had mic problems and vox problems with laptop sound cards. I don't think you can really be picky. As long as the game runs the graphics fine, the sound quality is easily overlooked.

dkff49 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 27, 2008, 03:03:18 PM »

I have now

HP Pavillion dv 9000
Processor: AMD Turion 64x2 total 2 Ghz
RAM: 1983 MB
System Type: 32 bit

OS: dumb prettythang Vista
Video Card is GeForce 7150M 799 MB shared memory

By what you are saying it sounds like this should have a fair shot at it. I am not that computer savvy. I would at least like to run this game at the default settings. I know that may be difficult and maybe expensive and I know that it will be darn near impossible to have it as good as I do at home but even if I could get 40 FPS that would do. Right now I am getting 7-15 average. No way I am playing this way.

BTW that was after Skuzzy's tweaks listed in tech support section (I believe it was)

Thanks for help

Krusty · « **Reply #3 on:** February 27, 2008, 03:24:02 PM »

The video card is crap. That's your biggest problem. The problem is you can't replace those 99.9999999% of the time (only higher end laptops have separate video cards).

Fulmar · « **Reply #4 on:** February 27, 2008, 03:26:05 PM »

Laptops are just basically bad for gaming. You could get like a 12lbs Alienware or Dell XPS laptop. But it will cost you, and dont expect to game on battery powe alone.

dkff49 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 27, 2008, 04:01:05 PM »

just got off phone with Dell. I definitely cannot afford the gaming specific laptop but here is what they offered me for around $1000.

223-5668
1 Inspiron 1720, Intel Core 2 Duo T8300(2.4GHz, 800Mhz, 3M L2 Cache)
313-5473
1 Jet Black Color with Matte Finish
311-7219
1 2GB, DDR2, 667MHz 2 Dimm for Inspiron 1720
320-5500
1 Anti-glare, widescreen 17.0 inch display (1440 x 900)
320-5468
1 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 8600
341-4709
1 160G 5400RPM SATA hard drive 5400 RPM
313-5195
1 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP,INSP1720
420-5769
1 Internet Search and Portal
420-5924
1 Icon Consolidation Application
420-6436
1 Vista, PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
463-2282
1 Dell Owners Manual installed on your system,click on icon after system set-up to access
420-7026
1 Media Direct 3.3
420-6813
1 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition, English
420-7622
1 DELL SUPPORT CENTER 2.0
430-0493
1 Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem, for Inspiron
420-7468
1 ADOBE ACROBAT READER 8.1 DIM/INSP
341-4716
1 8X DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Drive
420-6464
1 Roxio Creator Basic
313-4783
1 Integrated High Definition Audio 2.0
430-2680
1 Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card
320-5683
1 NO WEBCAM OPTION
420-7701
1 Trend Micro PC-cillin InternetSecurity, English, 30-Days Subscription
312-0519
1 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery, Inspiron 1720
412-0933
1 AOL for Broadband
412-0934
1 Earthlink
412-0935
1 NETZERO ISP
412-0915
1 MS WORKS 8.5
950-3337
1 1 Year Limited Warranty
960-2780
1 Warranty Support,Initial Year
987-5457
1 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus Return To Depot, Initial Year
983-3120
1 Type 12- Mail-InService, 24x7 TechnicalSupport, Initial Year
987-8119
1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
310-8628 1 You have chosen a Windows Vista Premium System
310-8319 1 Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
320-5799 1 Basic Black Matte LCD back color w/o Camera Insp 1720
466-7740 1 Thank you for choosing Dell
466-3921 1 No Preinstalled Software
420-7091 1 DataSafe Online Dim/Ins/XPS
420-7092 1 DataSafe Online Dim/Ins/XPS 1YR-FREE
987-4817 1 Insp Datasafe 3GB,1YR(Incl in price),DHS
988-0099 1 To activate your online backupaccount, go to Start, Programs, DataSafe Online
330-0171 1 S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks
* -DISCOUNT/COUPON APPLIED

Think that this might work ok.

Help appreciated

wabbit · « **Reply #6 on:** February 27, 2008, 08:27:27 PM »

I just bought an HP laptop last sunday, mostly for troubleshooting client's problems, but I was able to run Aces High, long enough to get in and hear my squadies talking on the squad channel.

It's an HP DV6701US, and it cost my $579.00, at CircuitCity. It has 2gb or ram, and an intel graphics card. It seemed to work fine in Aces at 640X480, but that's not a very good test.

I've got a bad case of the crud, (bad cold), but tomorrow, if I feeling up to it,I'll fire it up and test it further. I'll post the results here once I finish.

Wabbit

Skuzzy · « **Reply #7 on:** February 27, 2008, 08:39:01 PM »

Better than what you have, but a couple of things that could help.

1) See if Dell will put Windows XP Pro on it, instead of Vista. That willhelp a lot.
2) I would not allow them to install any software from Roxio. Unless there has been a major change at Roxio, their software use to take over your computer and once installed you could not get rid of it. Background processes were nuts.

Hoarach · « **Reply #8 on:** February 27, 2008, 08:40:58 PM »

I absolutely love my laptop. It is great for gaming and I got it for $747. I paid an extra $140 so I could get another battery.

I bought it from Cyberpowerpc. It has an AMD X2 processor, 2GB RAM, and a Nvidia 7600GO 256MB PCI-E x16. It came with Vista Home Premium. The one I got is most similar to this one http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Xplorer_X5-2800_Notebook/ but I wanted AMD/Nvidia combo and they dont sell the one I have anymore. There are several differences between this one and mine most notably the processor, as the one I have has a faster processor. The only other differences are minor such as the card reader and I have 4xUSB ports instead of the three on the one I listed.

I didnt listen to people that say Vista is crap and I am very glad I didnt. I have had nothing but good things to say about Vista. My only complaint is that AMD hasnt released a dual core patch.

It runs AH absolutely great. I have textures all the way up, high res running, all the extras that can be possibly enabled, and I receive no lag, and get max of 60 frames because thats what my screen refresh supports.

Probably the best thing with this company they dont any extra unneeded garbage that isnt needed.

The shipping does take a little longer than most companies but between the hardware guts and the price, I can sacrifice.

Supaf1y · « **Reply #9 on:** February 27, 2008, 09:05:55 PM »

Didn't see where you stated what your budget is but I saw this a couple weeks ago in a Best Buy store.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8651167&type=product&id=1195599780039

It has a 8800GTS video card. Now I normally don't like Best Buy or Gateway but after playing around with the display model it seemed pretty nice. If nothing else you can use the above link to compare and see what kind of deal you can get at Cyberpower, Sager Notebook, Dell and such. Also give HP's site a look. http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/store_access.do?template_type=landing&landing=notebooks&jumpid=re_R602_prodexp/hpcom/psg/notebooks Often they will have better deals then the stores and with free shipping to boot.

Have fun!

dkff49 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 27, 2008, 09:32:10 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Better than what you have, but a couple of things that could help.

1) See if Dell will put Windows XP Pro on it, instead of Vista. That willhelp a lot.
2) I would not allow them to install any software from Roxio. Unless there has been a major change at Roxio, their software use to take over your computer and once installed you could not get rid of it. Background processes were nuts.

I have spoke with Dell and they told me that they only offer Vista for laptop computers now (was first thing he said to me when Icalled him). We will check on the Roxio though. Do you still think that this has a chance? I know that this may not work as well as my Desktop but would be nice to have something like this to do at work though.

Thanks to the others for putting the time into to find other options for me though. My price range is around $1000 and would like to stay with the 17" monitor

Thaks to all

BaldEagl · « **Reply #11 on:** February 27, 2008, 11:00:26 PM »

My brother just bought his first computer. Although he said he only wanted it for the Internet, word proccessing, etc., I knew he'd also want to game on it. Anyway, he wanted a laptop and called me before he went shopping.

I used to have a Toshiba Satellite Pro that I just loved. Now I've got a Sony Vaio (POS), so, I told him to go look at Toshibas (he wanted to get it right away or I would have also suggested Dell).

This is the one I think he got:

A205-S6808

Watch HD DVD movies right on your PC with the all-in-one HD* DVD-ROM/DVD SuperMulti drive! You can also burn DVDs and CDs in up to 12 formats, including DVD-RAM, which can be used as an optical HDD for unlimited backup!

Large 200GB HDD lets you store MP3, movies, and large files with room to spare!
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium 32-bit* Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor* T5450 (1.66GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 667MHz FSB)
2048MB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM* (Both slots may be occupied)
15.4" Diagonal Widescreen WXGA TruBrite™ Display* (1280x800)
Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator X3100* with 128MB-358MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory
200GB HDD* (5400rpm, Serial-ATA) hard drive HD* DVD-ROM/DVD SuperMulti (+/- double layer) drive* (in one optical drive), supporting 12 formats Intel® PRO/Wireless* 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
Weight: Starting at 6.0lbs depending upon configuration*

Also Includes:

Onyx Blue Metallic color
5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter
Microsoft® Works
TOSHIBA ConfigFree®
Standard Stereo speakers
Touch Pad™ pointing device
4-USB (2.0) ports
i.LINK™ IEEE-1394
TV-out (S-Video)
10/100 LAN port
V.92 modem port
Monitor port
Microphone jack (monaural)
headphone jack (stereo)

He brought it with him at Christmas and, while it never saw AHII, we played MS Flight Simulator 10 on it flawlessly although it did occasionally want to lock up momentarily playing high graphic intensity racing games, even with the settings toned down slightly.

I think he paid $799 for it.

Easyscor · « **Reply #12 on:** February 27, 2008, 11:51:40 PM »

You need to be very careful buying a laptop. Until July of last year, Intel only supplied what I'd call seconds, as laptop CPUs, one of the internal processors on those chips was disabled. This conserved power and let Intel unload their imperfect chips which wouldn't pass muster for a desktop unit. Some of the chips discussed above have this "feature". Their numbering system is screwy, but the first true working Duo for laptops was the T7800 iirc, so just because it says your laptop has a Duo doesn't really mean much, or at least it didn't when I was researching it. Also, the T7800, devoured battery power despite Intel's claim they had new power conserving hardware and software for it, so that's another issue to check out for your machine.

wabbit · « **Reply #13 on:** February 27, 2008, 11:53:44 PM »

I was able to test the HP DV6701US further tonight.

Although it does run Aces, the frame rate was terrible, and down around the low 20's. I even had the latest video drivers installed, and no change.

I'd say this HP wouldn't do you for playing Aces. I use mine primarily for client work, so it doesn't make any diff to me, but it just wouldn't do the job for you.

Since you have a budget of $1000.00, then you ought to be able to find a better laptop.

Just a side note, (and I agree with skuzzy about Roxio), there's a freeware CD/DVD burner program called Starburn, that you might want to check out, if you plan on burning Cd/dvd's. It rather nice and has most of the basic 'Nero Burning Rom' features with the bloatware. About the only thing I found it didn't have was an option to 'Copy' cd's or Dvd's. Instead it can create an image of the cd/dvd on the hard drive and then you burn the image back to a blank. A bit more work then just selectin 'Copy Cd/Dvd', but works ok.

Wabbit

MrRiplEy[H] · « **Reply #14 on:** February 28, 2008, 07:54:28 AM »

You can't get a good gaming laptop for $1000 unless you get lucky and find a high-end one second hand (maybe consult the local crack dealership for premium pre-owned stuff?

)

You can get MUCH better bang for buck by compiling a desktop instead. Do you absolutely need a laptop? This is literally a $1000 question.