Curse

huynh · Feb 03, 2006, 03:00 AM // 03:00

can anyone find me a good laptop on newegg good to do school work and run guild wars and other games at a same time with an affordable price from 800-1400. thanks a lot

swaaye · Feb 03, 2006, 03:04 AM // 03:04

Get something with a Radeon X700 or GeForce 6600 at the min. There should be some in your range with either of those. 512MB system RAM min too. Everything else is up to you really.

EternalTempest · Feb 03, 2006, 03:05 AM // 03:05

Not sure of any deals but make sure the onboard video is an Ati or Nvidia (avoid Intel on board video). Have at least 512 mb of ram, 1 gb is what you really want.

huynh · Feb 03, 2006, 04:44 AM // 04:44

how about the video memory? shared memory alright? or should i aim for 128+ det?

Feminist Terrorist · Feb 03, 2006, 05:49 AM // 05:49

Shared memory blows, and it's worse on a laptop due to the difficulty of upgrading it.

Don't limit yourself to just one site either. Look around, see what else is out there. Try emachines.com, dell.com, price comparison sites like pricegrabbber.com, mysimon.com, etc.

Pharoke · Feb 03, 2006, 04:04 PM // 16:04

Might I suggest this. A little bit more than you specified. Asus makes some wonderful laptops with excellent features and battery life.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220072
Might I also suggest you check out 2 notebook forums that I frequent.
www.notebookforums.com
www.notebookreview.com

huynh · Feb 03, 2006, 05:11 PM // 17:11

is this http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...uctCode=265227 good? heres the specs

Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional
Processor AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile Technology ML-30 (1MB L2 cache, 1.6GHz)
Chipset Radeon® Xpress 200M
Memory 512MB (256MB installed in each of two memory slots) DDR333 SDRAM
User upgradeable up to 2GB (one 1GB memory card in each slot)*
*If upgrading after initial purchase, one or more of the memory cards provided with the system may have to be replaced with optional larger memory cards in order to achieve the maximum capacity.
Storage 100GB* Ultra ATA/100 hard drive, 5400RPM

Integrated DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive:
Read – 24X CD-RW, 24X CD-ROM, 24X CD-R, 8X DVD+R, 8X DVD-R, 8X DVD-ROM, 4X DVD+RW, 4X DVD-RW, 3X DVD-RAM, 2.4X DVD+R (double layer)
Write – 24X CD-R, 8X DVD+R, 8X DVD-R, 4X DVD+RW, 4X DVD-RW, 4X CD-RW, 2.4X DVD+R (double layer), 2X DVD-RAM

6-in-1 card reader for optional SmartMedia™ card, MultiMediaCard™, Secure Digital card, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick PRO™ or xD-Picture Card™

Optional external USB 1.44MB* diskette drive

*When referring to storage capacity, GB stands for one billion bytes and MB stands for one million bytes. Some utilities may indicate varying storage capacities. Total user-accessible capacity may vary depending on operating environments.
Video 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT LCD, up to 16.7 million colors
ATI® MOBILITY™ RADEON® X700 graphics, 64MB DDR memory
VGA and S-video TV-out ports
Support for simultaneous display on notebook LCD and external monitor
Audio Integrated microphone and two speakers
Microphone/line-in and headphones/speakers/line-out ports
Microsoft® DirectSound® compatibility
Interface Ports DC-in
RJ-11 modem
RJ-45 LAN
VGA
S-video TV-out
Microphone/line-in
Headphones/speakers/line-out
FireWire® (IEEE 1394)
FIR (fast infrared)
Four USB 2.0
Connector for optional ezDock docking station
Card Slot Type II PC Card slot, 32-bit PC CardBus architecture, Zoomed Video support
6-in-1 card reader for optional SmartMedia™ card, MultiMediaCard™, Secure Digital card, Memory Stick®, Memory Stick PRO™ or xD-Picture Card™
Connectivity Acer® InviLink 802.11b/g wireless LAN, Acer® SignalUp technology for enhanced antenna efficiency, WI-FI CERTIFIED™
Gigabit LAN, Wake-on-LAN ready
V.92 56Kbps* data/fax modem, PTT (postal, telegraph, telephone) certified in select countries
*Download speeds are limited to 53Kbps. Actual speeds may vary depending on line conditions. Uploads travel at speeds up to 33.6Kbps. Requires compatible digital sources.
Included Software Installed:
Acer® eManager
Acer® Launch Manager
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader
CyberLink® PowerDVD™*
Norton AntiVirus®*
NTI CD-Maker™*

On CD shipped with system: Acer® System Recovery
*OEM, not full-featured, version.
User Interface 88-key Acer® FineTouch keyboard with five-degree curve, inverted T cursor layout, embedded numeric keypad, hotkey controls, 2.5mm minimum key travel, international language support
12 function, four cursor, two Microsoft® Windows® keys
Web browser, e-mail, user-programmable easy-launch buttons; Empowering Key; front-access wireless LED button
Touchpad with four-way integrated scroll button
Dimensions & Weights 14.3" (363.0mm) W x 10.9" (278.0mm) D x 0.9" - 1.3” (24.0mm - 32.9mm) H
6.6 lb. (3.0kg)
Size and weight may vary depending on configuration
Power 90-watt AC adapter
Eight-cell lithium ion battery: up to 3.0 hours life depending on configuration and usage; 2.5 hours recharge time with system off, 3.5 hours with system in use
Major Compliances ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) 1.0b
DMI (Desktop Management Interface) 2.0
Mobile PC2001
CCX (Cisco® Compatible Extensions)
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™
Security Features User and administrator BIOS passwords
Kensington® lock slot
Quality Tests Temperature and humidity, acoustics, electrostatic discharge immunity, hinge life, keyboard-switch life, free drop, weight and pressure, shock and vibration, MTBF (mean time between failure)

Josh · Feb 03, 2006, 05:31 PM // 17:31

ATI® MOBILITY™ RADEON® X700 graphics, 64MB DDR memory

^^ The 64MB DDR Memory kinda sucks...it'd be really slow.

Teklord · Feb 03, 2006, 05:48 PM // 17:48

I can only comment to say that things tend to run great on an ATI X800 w/ 256MB. However, the total cost for my notebook (Area 51 7700m) was also $4,400 (CAD). In the end you'll always get what you pay for.

Alias_X · Feb 03, 2006, 07:46 PM // 19:46

Damn man! Teklord, more like friggen Hardware Lord, lol

swaaye · Feb 04, 2006, 05:23 AM // 05:23

64MB X700 will run GW very well. I played it on a notebook with a 9550 64MB for a long time. It will run quite smoothly. GW is not that demanding. You can expect 50-60fps or more at 1280x800 I'd guess.

Shattered_Glass · Feb 04, 2006, 05:14 PM // 17:14

try getting a inspiron 9300 on ebay some have a 6800Go like mine and they only run 1000-1200 dollars worth the buy, after u buy u can easily oc the pentium M to a 2.16ghz from 1.6, worth the buy

Narada · Feb 04, 2006, 06:26 PM // 18:26

A friend and myself both purchased some extremely impressive laptops from http://cyberpowersystem.com. They specialize in gaming and their prices are perfect; just what you should pay, no more no less. I have a PCI-E Radeon X700 128 MB, a 1.6 GHz Turion 64, and 1 GB of PC3200 in my laptop and GW runs flawlessly at 1280 x 800 resolution (The monitors are widescreen.) with anti-aliasing enabled. If you customized a Xplorer X64 8700 AMD notebook, you'd fit your budget perfectly. I recommend at least giving them a looksie.

Dex · Feb 04, 2006, 09:40 PM // 21:40

If you do a lot of gaming avoid integrated graphics chipsets (the ones that used shared system memory) like the plague. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Remember, you can't upgrade the video hardware in a laptop, so whatever you get you're going to be stuck with until you decide it's time for a new computer.

Old Dood · Feb 04, 2006, 11:36 PM // 23:36

It is time they made laptops with upgradable abilities. My thought on this is they do it on purpose not too.

I have always liked the Toshiba Satellite series. They are well built. When I bought my son's Toshiba when he was first starting out in college I got him one of those. I always look for the models that they are closing out. Great deals on them if you look for it.

Dex is correct...get the most video power you can with a laptop. Even take a ram hit for now to free up cash. You can always upgrade the ram later. You cannot upgrade the video.

It would seem they could make them so you could just add a "card" to upgrade the video....that really annoys me that they do not.

Pharoke · Feb 05, 2006, 05:09 AM // 05:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dood

It is time they made laptops with upgradable abilities. My thought on this is they do it on purpose not too.

I have always liked the Toshiba Satellite series. They are well built. When I bought my son's Toshiba when he was first starting out in college I got him one of those. I always look for the models that they are closing out. Great deals on them if you look for it.

Dex is correct...get the most video power you can with a laptop. Even take a ram hit for now to free up cash. You can always upgrade the ram later. You cannot upgrade the video.

It would seem they could make them so you could just add a "card" to upgrade the video....that really annoys me that they do not.

Soon that may be possible with Express Card coming out. I have read that some video card manufacturers have been playing with creating an Express Card addon video card. Don't know how it would work, but it would be cool!

swaaye · Feb 05, 2006, 09:15 PM // 21:15

It's mostly due to size concerns. Every laptop is a custom design. The entire circuitry of a laptop is usually not much bigger than a whole video card on PC. They can't standardize a video upgrade when each machine has such strict design constraints.

The huge notebooks have a chance I'd say. There have been slots from both NV and ATI, but they haven't been used much. Another problem is the upgrade market for notebooks would be ridiculously small because most people don't care about it. The add in board market on PCs is already too small to help most of these companies out, so on notebooks it's even less worth their time. The R&D would outdo the gain for them.

The Dells have been the most upgradeable I think. I know my 9300 can be upgraded to the 7800 Go, but I'd need a few other parts to go with it. The XPS2 or whatever is easily upgraded, but that machine was 2x the cost of my 9300. A waste. So, you see, upgrading can also require extreme technical know-how, and that alone will completely diminish the number of people who can perform an upgrade. Granted, it maybe could be made easier.

Basically to make upgradeable notebooks you WILL have to sacrifice something, most likely size and weight would go up. A loss in design flexibility by adding a socket design and card form factor absolutely will have consequences.

Nightow · Feb 06, 2006, 12:28 AM // 00:28

Say guys, I just wanted to throw this by you and maybe get some 2 cents from ya'. It's a laptop that's on sale @ Circut City this week for $1000 after rebates.

Here's the link: http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/...Detail.do#tabs

Here's the Specs:

Processor brand AMD
Processor type Turion™ 64
Processor speed 2.0GHz
Frontside bus speed Info unavailable
Level 2 cache1MB

RAM1024MB 333MHz DDR SDRAM
RAM expandable to:2048MB DDR SDRAM

Maximum CD/DVD speed Unavailable

Screen size 15.4"
Screen type WXGA High-Definition BrightView Widescreen
Maximum screen resolution 1280 x 800
Video memory 128MB DDR

USB 3 USB 2.0
FireWire 1 (4-pin)
Parallel port No

Ethernet Yes

Warranty Parts 12 Months
Warranty Labor 12 Months

Dimensions
Height 1.4 inches
Width 14.1 inches
Depth 10.4 inches
Weight 6.6 lbs.

ExpressCard/54 slot: Be ready for the next generation of faster, lighter PC card expansion products. When you use the ExpressCard/54 slot, data transfer rates jump from 10MBps to 500MBps.

Software bundle:
Microsoft® Windows® Media Center Edition, Works, Money, MSN® Encarta® Plus and Office 2003 Student/Teacher Edition (60-day trial), Windows® Media Player and Movie Maker
Norton® Internet Security 2005™ (with 60 days of live update)
Sonic Digital Media Plus
Muvee AutoProducer DVD Edition with Burning
HP Image Zone Plus
InterVideo™ WinDVD
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®
Apple® iTunes and iTunes Music Store

Narada · Feb 06, 2006, 01:08 AM // 01:08

It's not bad... the 1 MB cache on the Turion is something you'll definitely like. I'd say go for it if it's what you want, but I'm not to hot on the software... I doubt that Windows Media Center Edition is what you want to be playing GW on, but then again I've never used it so I couldn't tell you how it'd perform; though if you already own a copy of whatever OS you want to put on the thing, I suppose it doesn't matter that much. One thing I'd look into before buying is to see what that 128 MB video is.

-Edit-
I just checked out the actual link-- I wouldn't recommend going with a 4200 RPM hdd. I think this is more geared towards being a media computer to watch movies on and stuff like that. Quite a few of the user reviews say it works great with high-end MMO's though, so I could be wrong.

Old Dood · Feb 06, 2006, 01:14 AM // 01:14

Nice for the price. Still it has a ATI 200 integrated video. That is a big drawback for me. That means it is shared ram for video...correct?

EDIT: Here is a detailed review...http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/HP_Pavi...1.html?tag=nav

Since it is integrated video I would max out the ram to 2Gb.