General

[Sexy_Chicken]

Hey all,

College is quickly approaching and that means it's finally time to upgrade from my way outdated 8-year old Gateway desktop PC to something at least relatively current. Except this time around, I"m looking for a notebook.

I gave up on trying to keep up with what decent "current specs" are after I realized knowledge wouldn't give me a better comp., so I need your help.

Essentially, I'm really not looking for anything too fancy, but money isn't too much of an issue since I have some scholarship money to toss around. I'll obviously need it to be able to handle the basic college needs of word processing and massive storage space for all those "must download" things. I'd like it to be able to handle at least current games. I'm not a die-hard, need to dish out $1000 for the latest and greatest parts every year gamer, but I'd like to be able to just sit down and play when the mood strikes. If the book could handle, say, ES: Oblivion, I'd be happy. Last time I was "up to date" on computers, notebooks weren't a viable platform for gaming, but I've been told since then that they can handle near-anything now.

I don't have much experience with Macs, but I have two friends that get off to theirs, so I might be willing to give them a try if that seems to be the way to go.

I've looked online at all the major retailers' sites (as well as the manufacturers'), but don't really understand what would be best-suited for my needs. And I don't really want to go too overkill, though I'd rather have something slightly better than what I need so I can grow into it a bit.

You'll have to excuse my ignorance on the matter. I hope I didn't anger anyone too much

Thanks in advance for the help!

[mike31c]

notebooks are still NOT gamers choice unless you spend $$$. Most have went with that shared memory crap and it really limits your gaming experience.

I am running UT:99 with a toshiba w/128 megs in Shared ram and yet I have to throttle down some of the visual specs just to make the game playable (slow refresh, maps not showing properly will get you killed pretty quick)

BTW: Check with your gamers forums if you are trying to run some older games under Vista as they have their own issues too.

[Be4life182]

Hey, I was in the same boat as you. I literally researched for a couple of months trying to see what was best for me. Also, I pretty much have the same needs as you such as college and gaming purposes, so my spec to look for was a 256mb graphics card. I ended up limiting it too the Alienware area51,lenovo t60p, toshiba satellite a205,and Dell xps 1202 or similar inspiron. Basically what I came up with is you get what you pay for. For your price range out of these the satellite or alienware might work at minimun specs. Also Ill add that these are the best of the best in names that I trusted. If you wanted to go something with a worse graphics card then you have many more options, but I ended up getting the t60p as it was the best IMO. I also go it upgraded with 2G ram, 100G 7200rpm HD, 9 cell battery, 1.83Ghz core2duo, and more for 1520$ after about 40% off in various coupons and sales, I got lucky it was memorial day and i had a visa.

[B]

Clevo/ Sager this is who makes most of the top end gaming and buisness lap tops. I'll post some links later when I get a chance. i am pulling the trigger on one this week.

[LK-13]

MAC BOOK PRO.
(and you can run anything that a PC can run, things have changed)

[Sexy_Chicken]

Thanks for the advice thus far!

Thanks for the clarification on their limitations, Mike & BE. I'm not really looking for a gaming laptop, as from what I've seen from my brief sweep across the web, some of them exceed what I'm looking for, but have horrible battery life, though I realize I can't have both. I'm looking more for a substantially loaded all-around notebook that's capable of handling a game or two when the mood strikes. If I can't have the latest and greatest uber-game, that's fine. So long as it can handle newer RTSs, I'll be happy.

B, any specific models I should be looking for? I checked Clevo's site, but it's fairly hard to navigate, as it's just a list of all the models they manufacture, with no categorization or anything.

I'm going to go to the Apple store this weekend to mess around with their notebooks, and I'll bring my friend along so he can finally show me just what's so special about 'em.

Thanks!

[mike31c]

all around notebook?

Then you have most of the world at your finger tips...

Just make sure it has at least a Intel Core Dual, Core2Dual or AMD X2 something or another. Just yesterday, Fry's Electronics (frankly, I would shop at a MegaStore X before I shop @ Fry's) they had some Intel Core Dual, 1GB, 60 gig, Vista Home @ < then $700. Don't know if it was a re-manufactured but for "Low End", that dual core could beat the snot of most desktops made in the last couple of years, even though the notebook was running at a slower speed.

Intel Core Dual is a 32 bit processor, Core 2 Dual is a 64 bit processor and most of AMD is 64 bit.

Another thing to make sure of, most lower end notebooks specs has that 4200RPM Hard drive. Most have gone to 5400 but the stuff in the Clearance Isle has that older drive. Make sure you get 5400RMP. It does make a world of difference and make sure you have at least 1GB Ram (2 would be better if you are going to be running anything higher then Vista Home)

Until the software makers actually re-code their stuff to take advantage of multiple cores (Unreal Tournament 2k7 comes to mind), they will still be very limited in taking advantage of the multi-cores... The extra core pretty much sits there and does nothing while sucking power for most of it's life.

As for macs: Their number one limitation, if you were to install Wincraps, would be Wincraps. The majority of Mac OSX software is actually coded well and does take advantage of multiple cores/multiple CPU's. Since they had Dual CPU's computers for years, the software makers have taken advantage of that. Take note that native OSX games are also limited.

Be advised that even under Boot Camp, a few pc games have a hard time running for whatever reason. Google your favorite to make sure.

Good luck with your future purchase! And, if it was me, I'd stay the HELL away from Compaq/HP. The short story --> Bought Compaq, died after 3 months, bought another Compaq, died after 1.5 Hours.

[Cunha]

I would buy a thinkpad t61 today, get the cheapest processor with 800mhz fsb and 4mb l2 cache, bla bla

for me it comes out to around 1350 or something with all of the equipment worth buying. Just make sure to pay the extra 7 dollars and make your 1gb come in the form of one stick so you can upgrade it down the line or in 10 minutes. And get the model with a video card.

You have to pick your line, you can get a giant laptop that is basically your PC with an LCD on it with hinges and is about equally that portable, or something in between.

And MAC's can still only run the few games that are made for them? Things haven't changed besides that Macs now run PC hardware.

If you want a good operating system just buy a nice IBM, dump vista, and get one form of linux or the other..ubuntu, pclinuxos, whatever. But these also are essentially gameless systems so that isnt something you will want.

[Be4life182]

Yeah defiantly check out lenovos, it will last you in the long run.

[B]

Sory I am late buy here S laptops

and read this Clevo Guide - FAQ and Reseller Info - Notebook Forums and Laptop Discussion