Curse

Linksys · Sep 03, 2012, 12:43 AM // 00:43

I got a new notebook computer. Not an extravagant one. A really budget one without an added warranty plan. If I get at least a few years of use from it, it's so worth it.

It has a 15 day return policy so I have that much time to make sure everything in it is working properly. So I'm trying various things to make sure of that.

So far it's run for hours at a time, which it had to do to finish with the Windows and Asus updates. Both the cable input and the wireless work fine. The DVD drive works fine with installing programs, writing onto DVD's, and watching movies. Volume and brightness controls work okay. Same with the USB ports and SD card drive. The RAM and hard drive covers don't snap broken when I unscrew and open them, which is a plus for me. The laptop stays cool.

YouTube works okay while Netflix won't, which is fine. Guild Wars works fine with 4x anti-aliasing surprisingly, although I won't do that a lot with this laptop.

Anything else I should do to make sure this laptop is a keeper? Should I run a diagnostics on the processor, hard drive, and RAM to check for glitches?

Malice Black · Sep 03, 2012, 12:48 AM // 00:48

Do a complete reinstall to get rid of all the crap they add on/you don't need. Besides that just make sure you keep the insides clean. Most laptops die due to overheating.

Linksys · Sep 03, 2012, 12:59 AM // 00:59

I may do a reinstall if I remove the 5,400rpm hard drive it came with and replace it with a spare 7,200rpm hard drive I have. For now I uninstalled all the crap it came with that I don't need and made adjustments in Services and Msconfig-Startup. And I'm definitely keeping this thing clean. It's mainly for home use only and won't travel much. I chose a laptop to save on space, going minimalist.

----------

Whoa I'm not sure this topic needed to be moved here. This isn't a topic about playing GW on my new laptop. This is just a general laptop question so I put it in the off topic forum.

Bristlebane · Sep 03, 2012, 07:44 AM // 07:44

YOu could run some stresstests that really push your computer to the limit. This will cause a lot of heat and you can see how well it handles that. Some laptops don't and they shut down as a safety measure ( ~ 80C ). In my experience, while AMD and Intel are both good cpu's, AMD tend to get a lot hotter.

Super Pi is a common tool used by many overclockers to test stability. Even though it's single core, it's an easy simple program to test with:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_PI

Once you decide to keep the computer, leave original installation intact and install Windows on an SSD, usually best possibly hardware upgrade you could do to a laptop. If for any reason you need to return or sell the laptop, just stick in original disk again.

Linksys · Sep 03, 2012, 01:28 PM // 13:28

I'll definitely leave the original installation on the hard drive it came with. Not sure if I'll get a Solid State Drive on such a budget laptop like this one. I did decide to spend 20 bucks to put more RAM in it. At least I can remove and save it if I part with the laptop.

moldmaker · Sep 03, 2012, 09:34 PM // 21:34

try this site to find out if you can run a game

http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/intro.aspx

Linksys · Sep 06, 2012, 10:10 PM // 22:10

I can do that to see if my laptop can run a game to see its general performance level. But I'm not planning to play any games on it. I'll log in GW now and then with it but won't play it much. It can already run GW run on all settings, surprisingly. What I'm trying to do is make sure the laptop works properly and has no defects. I want to find out if it will freeze or cause error messages while doing things a laptop should be able to do without those symptoms. I want to make sure things like those won't happen when they shouldn't.