Laptop questions

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 10:58 am

We're talking about a 1.4Ghz Pentium M, not a Core 2 Duo. While it'll be fine for office tasks and such, don't expect to run any high-end games, especially with an integrated gpu which offloads most of its work to the CPU.

The old 64MB Intel Extreme is pitiful.

Maybe you should just grab a dell? The Dell Outlet has bunches of factory refurbished notebooks with great specs at great prices. I saw at least three notebooks for $739 with C2D, +1GB ram, 14.1 inch displays and Geforce 8400M video cards.

Also, I think VB_Master's finally gone over the deep end.
Welcome to the club!

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:18 pm

Well then, my search continues!

theelk · Post by **theelk** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 3:57 pm

Head on over to Amazon and vote for their laptop. If it wins, it'll cost 300 bucks and you might get a chance to get one. I might be able to get one and put Ubuntu on it.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Thu Nov 22, 2007 6:54 pm

Apparently normal girl usage is pretty much it. Gaming won't get much past Halo PC, which should run fine on the Lifebook.

Would a 1.4 Ghz be significantly slower than the 1.6 Ghz computer? She's moving up from A Desktop AMD Athlon 2#00+ (no higher than 2600), and she wants a faster one.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 2:58 pm

Looks like me has been moveded!

Can anyone vouch for Acer laptop quality? Compaq? Any brand, really.

lifeisbetterwithketchup · Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:42 pm

IBM (Levono now) ThinkPads are notoriously good. My dad has a ThinkPad T20 (700Mhz P3, 256MB RAM, Windows 2000) that he got off of eBay for ~$100. ThinkPads are great laptops. I can vouch for them.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 4:52 pm

I know thinkpads are great. Tim has two now (one doesn't have a battery, the DVD drive pops out with a light press, etc.) But they're heavier due to their internal metal frame, and kind of expensive.

http://www.intel.com/support/graphics/i ... 021400.htm

Can anyone see the red yellow and green on that site? It would help to see it, but I can't!!!

Girls...she wants one that looks good, but above all, she loves tablets now. I'm trying to convince her normal laptops are better at the moment. Can anyone recommend some decent tablet PCs?

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:38 pm

We went to futureshop today. 14" would be the biggest she'll go, and preferably 12". She likes the look of HP laptops, but they suck, right?

Post by **bicostp** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:54 pm

Kurt_ wrote:We went to futureshop today. 14" would be the biggest she'll go, and preferably 12". She likes the look of HP laptops, but they suck, right?

They're not bad. The only problem with mine is that it's the size of an ocean liner.

Just avoid the really bottom end Dells. A few people in my classes have them (bought through the school at a discount), and they haven't held up very well. The better ones are OK, though.

lifeisbetterwithketchup · Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:58 pm

bicostp wrote:Just avoid the really bottom end Dells. A few people in my classes have them (bought through the school at a discount), and they haven't held up very well. The better ones are OK, though.

QFT. My friend has had a few low-end Dell laptops, and they are pretty bad.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:59 pm

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=53909

This guy doesn't think so.

Valium · Post by **Valium** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 5:49 pm

Rather than making another topic, I just thought I'd ask this here.

How good are the Eee's graphic wise? Once Xp is put on it, what games, if any, is it capable of playing?

If it can't play Halo 1, which is all I really feel like playing on it, maybe an N64 emulator, whats a good laptop for under $600?

Post by **bicostp** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 6:38 pm

Looks like it can do about as much as a 900 mhz P3 with a 32 MB video card. (Apparently it's an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA#GMA_900">Intel chipset</a>.) It should run games like Unreal just fine, but newer stuff? I have my doubts.

Here's a video of it running an N64 emulator. (It's playing Jeopardy, of all things...)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0B_NuL3zDc

And some Windows formula 1 racing game:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VOX1N1E-Y0

And Counter-Strike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6sERl1z ... re=related

If you want a laptop you can run newer games on, you'll probably be happier with something like a refurbished Thinkpad or HP laptop than the Eee. You'll get at least a 1024x768 screen and a more roomy keyboard. (Not to mention an actual hard drive, since 4 gigs is cramped enough with just the OS and some software.)

Off topic ramble (you can safely ignore it):
I'd get one if they put in a normal 4:3 screen capable of 1024x768 resolution and a slightly bigger keyboard. (I can't stand anything under 1024 unless it's a retrocomputing system like my Windows 3.1 Pentium or the Quadra.) The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Powe ... >Powerbook Duo 2300c</a> was a great size. I wish I could find a PC compatable laptop that size. (Most likely a lifebook.) But as it stands now, I wouldn't get an Eee; I'd rather get a thin & Light laptop or a 12" MacBook.

Valium · Post by **Valium** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:58 pm

I'm not really a PC gamer, I have my 360 for all that, its just my friend Kateh wants to play Halo with me, and I do like Halo, so thats what I want.

The Eee fits my price range, its really small, which I love, and all the problems people seem to have with it, don't really bother me at all.

As far as the 4gb goes, I can certainly live off that, and even if I couldn't, I have an 80gb ipod that can easily be used to hold my files on, it'd all be music and videos anyway.