Which Laptop to buy?

[kloofnek]

I am looking to buy a new laptop..need some advise...for example,how good would 8GB with 500 GB or 750GB hard drive for playing games occasionally.Only my present laptop is not compatible with some of the new games.goes all funny...everything goes huge and then freezes.I have been reading up on graphic cards and it would appear that NVIDIA(think that is spelt correct ) is the best ,but we are talking of £1000 or more.

Also what is a 1TB Hard Drive

Thanks

[VHG]

A 1Tb hard drive is 1,000Gb.

So twice as large as 500Gb

[VHG]

Probably the most important thing for playing games is the graphics card, and most laptops dont have a good enough graphics card for playing games.

And while nvidia do make graphics cards for playing games they also make "basic" graphics cards so just having an Nvidia graphics card in the laptop is not enough, it needs to be a "good" one, designed for games.

To be honest laptops are not the best thing for playing games on anyway, and a desktop PC, or a dedicated games machine like a PS3 or XBox is probably better.

If you do want to buy a laptop for playing games check on a dedicated gaming forum and ask for help there before making a decision

[gingejbee]

By co-incidence, I was just reading a review of this in Computeractive - this is a laptop that IS good for games:


http://www.computerac...re-2760-black-edition

[beso]

If you are gaming you want a powerful dedicated video processor and a highly specd processor. High clock speed, multiple cores and plenty of RAM.

Real gaming requires power way beyond any ordinary applications and you really need to decide if you want to go that way for "occasional" gaming. You may be compromising every other aspect to get that one feature.

What else are you going to do with it? Is long battery life important? Does the weight matter? What screen size do you want? What screen resolution do you need?

Do you need Firewire capability (even if it is only an option added via a PCM expansion slot)? High speed USB3?

After lengthy research I have just bought a ASUS U36J. Good video but it is a 13.6 inch screen. The video switches in when needed and the processor changes speed as required.

I wanted the power of an i5 processor to handle voice to text and handwriting to text applications but still with long battery life, compactness and a low weight (it has a magnesium alloy frame). It also has USB3 so it can communicate rapidly with appropriately specd external drives.

It is slightly obsolete (what laptop isn't a week after you buy it?) because it isn't the latest processor technology but I got it at a clearout price of $850 Aussie dollars.

But that is me. What do you really need?

[kloofnek]

oh goodness,arn`t computer complex!!!!
Beso..Shame about the Asus U36J having a small screen...
gingejbee...the Novatech Nspire 2760 looks good..never seen that make before.

VHG,I do have a desktop but like to sit more comfortable when gaming..hence the laptop.I do not game everyday and only for an hour or two when I do.Do you think it would be enough with a 8GB and 500 GB hard drive?
Mainly use for surfing and emailing etc...no downloading music or films.

[rccatnap]

Easy one first. 1TB = 1000GB.
That kind of size doesn't necessarily help with games, only overall storage space. The RAM size is more important coupled with the processor, so 8GB or better and Intel i5 CPU or better would suit. Laptops have their graphics processor built into the motherboard, which is why the cost gets very high when you're talking high spec. Most power-gamers use a PC whose performance can be upgraded more easily and more cheaply.
NVIDIA is spelt correctly btw.

[jomifl]

If you want a computer for playing games, it might be better to get a second hand gaming PC, I'm sure that gaming afficionados buy a new one every 6 months, so a half decent one should be available quite cheaply. Incidentally you couldn't get a decent spec. video card into a laptop with a crowbar.

[kloofnek]

Hi all.
Have decided to take your advise and play newer games on my desktop PC.
But still want to buy a new laptop
So what are your views on these?

Toshiba Satellite C660-23T 500GB 15.6 Inch Laptop - White.
Intel Celeron dual core Intel® Celeron® Processor T3500.
2.1GHz processor speed.
4GB DDR3 RAM memory.
500GB SATA hard drive.
Shared graphics.
Intel Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M graphics card with 1GB memo
______________________________________

Toshiba Satellite C660-2EG 15.6 Inch Laptop - White
Intel Celeron dual core T3500.
2.1GHz processor speed.
1GB DDR3 RAM memory.
320GB SATA hard drive.
Shared graphics.
Intel UMA Intel GMA 4500M graphics card with 284MB memory
____________________________
So I am thinking that the first must be better...more Memory and Hard drive.
Could you explain the difference between:

"Intel Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M graphics card with 1GB
memo. **

and

Intel UMA Intel GMA 4500M graphics card with 284MB memory"

An I correct in thinking the first** of these two is the better.

Have seen these on Argos website.
Reviews are very good and my present Sony Vaio is white so would like the same colour again.

However,if anyone can point me to a better laptop in the medium price range ,will very much appreciate it.

Many thanks

[kloofnek]

Forgot to mention...when we talk about newer games would these be those that are for Windows 7 as well as XP and Vista...and older ones will only play on XP and Vista?????

[kloofnek]

I`m back again...just seen this one with a NVIDIA

[kloofnek]

sorry about that...with a Nvidia graphics card.but less memory
Acer Aspire 6930 Gemstone 4 GB, 2GHz 16 Inch Laptop

•Intel Core 2 Duo dual core T6400.
•2GHz processor speed.
•4GB DDR2 RAM memory.
•250GB SATA hard drive.
•NVIDIA GeForce with 9600M GT graphics card

A bit dearer but id considerably better would be worth it.
So thoughts anyone....