Need Suggestions On Laptop

[DoNKeY]

Hey guys.  So I'm a little stumped here.

I'm going away to Cal Poly, SLO next year, so I'll be buying a laptop for school, entertainment, etc.  Schooling comes first for me, but I would still like to be able to play during some of my free time (if I ever get any ).  Now I know that laptops are exactly the best platforms for pc games, but I'd still like to get something that can play AH fairly easily.

I'll be checking with Cal Poly to see what exactly they reccomend in terms of performance (I'm going into Civil Engineering), but I'm basically thinking that I'm just going to want to get a faster CPU, more mem, and a big harddrive... which I guess suits AH fine.

Anyway, what I'm asking you guys is, keeping in mind that this is a school computer first, and that it should be able to run hard programs (or whatever else you guys might think a laptop for engineering would require), what should I be looking at?  I know most of you won't know what exactly I'll be using during my studies, and I'm sorry that I can't be more specific.

So basically, I need a college engineering grade laptop that is capable of playing AH without any problems.  I'm looking at a budget or about $1500, topping out at maybe $1700 if mom thinks it comes with a good waranty.

Thanks for any help guys.

donkey

[DoNKeY]

Dang to late to edit, but I forgot to say, XP would be much better, but I guess I could live with vista  *cringes*.

donkey

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Lenovo laptops have a good reputation once you remove the recovery software which tends to fill up the HD. Dell is also making quality laptops but you should be warned that no laptop can compete with desktops in gaming.

I purchased a LG P1 Express dual before this macbook pro and it's still in active gaming use by my wife albeit it's not a gaming laptop by any means. All in all I found the LG to be good value for money and it has been reliable.

If you buy a 'pro' series laptop you get a XP downgrade option easyer because businesses require it. I would _not_ recommend getting a Vista laptop or desktop. MS has created another WinME - there's no way around it.

If the salesman tells you he can't sell you the machine without Vista, tell him you can't buy the laptop in that case. Usually they start getting more creative at that stage. One option would be buying a Dell with linux preinstalled and then get a OEM XP to go with it.

[Fulmar]

I generally recommend Dell and Toshiba laptops.  Dell's batteries are pretty good in terms of availability etc.  Some companies make one unique laptop style per model which can make it hard to find or expensive to replace.  Dell keeps a lot of their batteries available for dozens of models.  Toshiba, depending on the model, you can run into some battery finding problems.

[dkff49]

I started this thread about 2 weeks ago and the laptop I posted in here about halfway down the first page will be here Monday or Tuesday. Unfortunately it does not come with XP and had to settle for Vista. I will post in here to let you know how well it does.

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,228065.0.html

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I started this thread about 2 weeks ago and the laptop I posted in here about halfway down the first page will be here Monday or Tuesday. Unfortunately it does not come with XP and had to settle for Vista. I will post in here to let you know how well it does.

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,228065.0.html

Very unfortunate. Your best option now would be to pay extra for XP and install it instead. Vista will make your already slow laptop seem like true lackluster. It will crunch your HD for weeks and knowing how slow laptop hd's are to begin with - you're in for trouble.

[mipoikel]

Note: If you have Vista Ultimate or Vista Business, you can downgrade it to XPPro for free. All you need is XPPro media and a valid key. When it asks activation, you can call to Microsoft and tell them it is doengrade and they give you activation code. Before you do anything, make sure all drivers etc are available for XP..

Some manufacturers also may send you XP recovery disks for downgrading, just call to their support.


If you have Vista home premium or basic, , you have to buy XP.

[Hoarach]

Donkey I got mine from cyberpowerpc.com

The site has great gaming laptops for cheap.  I got mine for $888 just because I got mine with an extra battery.  My laptop has AMD 64 X2 processor, nvidia 7600 256MB card, 2GB ram, built in wireless, and it has Vista and it runs AH great.  Imo it is just as powerful as my desktop.  I run high res and graphic sliders all the way up.

Take a look I found its cheaper than the lenovo, HPs, Dells, Alienwares, and best bang for the buck imo.  I looked at a lot of different sites before I decided on this laptop.

I just looked and they sell a laptop that has a 8800GTX in it.  You know that laptop can play AH. 

Your lucky you had a bigger budget then me, I had a limit of around $1000.

But Im pretty much in the same boat as I wanted a laptop which I could play AH and other games if I have free time at college as I go to Western New England College in the fall for a major in Biology/ Pre-Med.  If I have any free time as I will also be playing football there....

[dkff49]

Very unfortunate. Your best option now would be to pay extra for XP and install it instead. Vista will make your already slow laptop seem like true lackluster. It will crunch your HD for weeks and knowing how slow laptop hd's are to begin with - you're in for trouble.

I am not much of a computer expert here so if I am wrong just tell me.

I don't think that the laptop Iactually bought should be to slow. Reason I did forget to mention that I paid the extra for additional 2 GB (total 4) of RAM. As far as paying for the XP not an option at this time and hopefully won't need it either (fingers crossed). Either way it has got to be better than the one I had previously which is the one that is listed at the begining of thread.

thanks

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I am not much of a computer expert here so if I am wrong just tell me.

I don't think that the laptop Iactually bought should be to slow. Reason I did forget to mention that I paid the extra for additional 2 GB (total 4) of RAM. As far as paying for the XP not an option at this time and hopefully won't need it either (fingers crossed). Either way it has got to be better than the one I had previously which is the one that is listed at the begining of thread.

thanks

The laptop you bought is not slow for a laptop.. But it's slower than equivalent desktop by a wide margin. Add in Vista and you start to get a sizeable hit to performance, at least bang for buck wise. You're probably going to have enough machine to play AH but Vista is just unnecessarily eating up your horsepower, that's why the comment. And during the 'optimization' period where Vista will trash your machine for the retarded superfetch, indexing etc. the laptops slow hd will give Vista a hit for sure.

[dkff49]

I know i said that today or tomorrow my laptop would be in and I would post to let you know Donkeyhow well it did, but they messed up my order and sent me my laptop with the wrong features and shorted me 2 gigs of ram. So the it's going back and a new one is on the way. Should be "2 weeks" or 4 weeks.

[DoNKeY]

LOL no problem.

donkey

[dkff49]

I started this thread about 2 weeks ago and the laptop I posted in here about halfway down the first page will be here Monday or Tuesday. Unfortunately it does not come with XP and had to settle for Vista. I will post in here to let you know how well it does.

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,228065.0.html

I know it has been a while but I said that I would post to let anyone interested know how the laptop in here that I ordered worked when I received it.

First off the one I posted in this thread said that I ordered 2 gigs of RAM and I ordered it with 4 gigs RAM. Which is about the only change that I have made.

Computer plays game well. Not quite as well as my desktop which is about 2 years old with 1 gig ram and 128 MB video card
vs
new one with 4 gig ram and vista home premium and 256 mb video card

fps on old cpmputer ranged from 45 fps with many cons close by and close to ground with smoke all around up to 75 fps at altitude with little to no cons close
vs
fps on new computer is between 36 with many cons close by and close to ground with smoke all around up as high as 50-55 fps when at altitude with little to no cons around

bear in mind though I have not yet made the posted alterations that Skuzzy posted for vista OS I will be trying sometime later on since it does seem to be working well at this time though.

hope this helps someone since I am sure by the time Dell got my order right, those of you who were looking for a computer already ordered it or looked elsewhere for advise.