[Penta]

Okay.

To celebrate graduating college and getting my first "real" job ($12/hour! Yay!), I'm going to be buying a laptop around Thanksgiving. This would both replace an old and broken laptop, and replace an old and dying desktop. (The mobility and privacy of a laptop matters to me, hence why I'm not shopping for another desktop.)

Now, my dad, being an avid user of various bargain-hunting sites, is all "Oh, I'll shop for it for you!". It's not worth fighting him on that point, so it's simpler for me to just spec out a laptop.

That is where everybody here comes in, because it's been ages since I've last had to draw up specifications for a computer (instead of getting a hand-me-down)
Budget-wise, I'm looking in the $800-1200 range, give or take a bit.

I'm being cautious and avoiding Vista for now, but I want to have the capability to upgrade to it later. Linux or Mac isn't an option -I need the ubiquity of Windows to keep caring for this machine sane.

I use my comp mostly for internet stuff, gaming (lots of it, including very old games under DOSBox), VoIP stuff, watching movies...It's simplest to just say that I live on my computer, really. Don't do photo or video-editing. I'll also be shopping for a USB headset with microphone, so the speakers don't need to be anything special. I'm the kind of person that has difficulty filling even a 60 GB hard drive, so don't need too much there.:)

I've looked through the "How to Buy a Laptop" document, but stil think I need some help.

Any suggestions?

[jbking]

Here are a few things to think about:


1) Size -> 14" is on the small end while 17" is the large end and there are some special ones smaller or larger than that if you want to get into that. Keep in mind that larger laptops tend to weigh more which may be an issue.

2) Processor -> I'd suggest a dual-core and either AMD or Intel should be fine. Intel is the leader here though my girlfriend has an AMD laptop and it seems to work fine.

3) Memory -> I'd likely suggest trying to get 2 GB of RAM though 1 GB would be the minimum I'd suggest for someone that likely does a lot of multi-tasking on their system.

4) Graphics -> This is the biggie. http://forum.noteboo...ead.php?t=39568 has a list of cards at various levels so that you can try to pick which level you'd want, I'd suggest low to mid-range as the higher end cards may be out of your budget a little bit since some laptops cost $2,000+ if you get those with really high end hardware in them.

JB

[avanish11]

Ditto on everything that jbking said, but if you're getting a pc with vista, then get at least 2 gb ram. Don't even try to go on with 1 gb. trust me. my laptop came with 1 gb ram on vista home premium and it's very slow. If you get xp, then get 1 gb, as ram is fairly easy to upgrade if/ when you go to vista. Also, try to get a mid or high end graphics card and a faster processor, because they're hard if not impossible to upgrade later. Intel and AMD are releasing new Penryn and Phenom processors in late 2007/ early 2008, so it would be beneficial if you waited. The penryn processors are supposed to use about 40% less energy than the current C2D's. Not too sure about the phenoms though.

[rgreen4]

Hi Penta, welcome to the community. First, spend some time looking and then spend some more time looking. Remember, you can browse the shops and put fingers on the keyboards of display models and it won't cost you until you say to the salesman - I'll take this one. Just don't say it.
Then browse the websites. Hp and Dell both have extensive customizing options on their website. You should be able to find about anything you want. I recently purchased a new HP dv9500t, now this is the 17" model and weighs about a pound more than the 15.4" dv6500t. I have a 3 year old HP 15.4" laptop that weighs a little more than the 9500, as laptops have lost weight over the past few years. I wanted the larger screen and the second drive bay.
Unless you're a road warrior and travel a lot, I would not go smaller than the 15.4" versions, as a 14" screen is getting rather small. Seriously consider direct buying the laptop, unless you happened to stumble into the deal of a lifetime, if you save any real money, something is missing. I would not consider anything other than HP, Dell or Lenovo (used to be IBM), as I have spent some time trying to research problems for others in the community and once you get past those three, finding support information is like playing roulette.
My rule and my new laptop complies, buy the biggest video card offered, and one level down from the top processor. Heat is a major factor in laptops, and the more powerful the processor, the more head is generated. The others are right, to upgrade either the processor or the video card, you might just as well scrap or sell the old laptop and buy a new one. The only way you can upgrade either is to replace the motherboard.
Memory can be upgraded, but go with 2GB if you can. Most of the major players are now offering a free upgrade to 2GB from 1GB when ordered from the website (memory prices have dropped recently). The HP dv9500/dv6500 have the Intedl C2D chips, running the newer Santa Rosa chipset which extends the battery life, and the nVidia Geforce 8600M (8400M in the 6500) video chip is Directx10 with discrete onboard memory.
The Hp dv6500t with Intel C2D T7500 CPU, 2GB memory, nVidia 8400M video with 128MB Ram and both HDMI and S-Video ports, 15.4" display, high capacity battery, 120GB HD (free upgrade from 80), Vista Home Premium, built in 801.11 a/b/g wireless networking and the Lightscribe CD/DVD burner is $1,023 on the HP website. Now I know you said you wanted to stick with XP, but unless you go with a custom build, which are all a little thicker and heavier, or either the business or lower lines of the major players, Vista it is.
If you really decide you hate Vista, and want to revert to XP, it can be done in a methodical and thoughful and sucessful way, but it will cost more, as you will have to buy the OS. Vista can be a problem with some older devices and software, but as more and more updates come out, the inconsistencies with software are becoming fewer. There is a document on this site that discusses the downgrade if you decide to do it.

[Adama]

Hi, Penta. Welcome to PCWorld :-) I can relate to you wanting mobility and privacy. Personally, I have a Compaq Presario (they're built by HP) which I got in April 07. It has been very good to me. It comes with Vista Home Premium, AMD Turion 64, X2 (dual core) and graphics by Nvidia. It's really fast and serves me just right for emailing fam and friends, and surfing the web. Some people on this forum have had good luck with Compaq. So if you want an economic, good working laptop, you may want to check it out. You'll be able to play your games and do other fun stuff.



If you live in California, I'd recommend you go look-see with your dad, perhaps Best Buy or Circuit City (although Circuit City still does the rebate thing.. grrrrr) and get first hand info about what you might want to buy. That way you can make an informed decision.

Most computers nowadays no longer come with XP as their OS. Unless you purchase a Dell laptop and specifically ask that you want XP installed. Another thing to consider is that as of June 08, Dell no longer will supply customer support for XP. But I agree with another post that with XP they're easier to upgrade.

And !http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1! on your brand new job!!!!!

[KellieCM]

I know that you said no Macs, but just wanted to point out that Mac systems are usually easier to maintain and also can run Windows programs (with a copy of Windows).

[smax013]

kellie said:

I know that you said no Macs, but just wanted to point out that Mac systems are usually easier to maintain and also can run Windows programs (with a copy of Windows).

Yeah! Someone else to help me with the shamless Mac plugs! !http://forums.pcworld.com/legacyimages/
1!

[Penta]

For the record: I live in New Jersey.:)

bops the Mac pluggers Don't derail my thread, please.:)

[rgreen4]

New Jersey should have a fair number of big box stores where you can go look. Even though I bought mine direct, I searched in the stores (in S. Georgia there's not a lot of stores) and then called my order in to make sure I got exactly what I wanted.

[smax013]

Penta said:

For the record: I live in New Jersey.:)

bops the Mac pluggers Don't derail my thread, please.:)

I won't really push a Mac if it is not desired, but I will note that [~2001] is correct in my experience...Macs are generally much easier to maintain. I have to do a LOT less "messing" with my MacBook Pro then I do with my Windoze computers. This is only an issue because you mentioned wanting something easy to maintain.

[Penta]

To clarify: I plan to go poking about the stores.

Thing is, it's been so long since I last went shopping for a computer, I need help assembling target specs to compare against when I go looking. Thus this thread.

[smax013]

Penta said:

To clarify: I plan to go poking about the stores.

Thing is, it's been so long since I last went shopping for a computer, I need help assembling target specs to compare against when I go looking. Thus this thread.

Your price range will narrow down what to look at when at the store to a large degree. You will likely be mainly looking at 15.4 in screen laptops in that price range. Beyond that, I would say you should look at 2 gb of memory, a "typical" hard drive of 100gb to 160 gb will likely work fine, look for a graphics card with dedicated memory if you want to play any games. Beyond those things, you should play around with the computers in a store and see if there is one that you like.

[TechyGuy]

Hi Penta :-) ,
If you just want to browse the net and play basic games, you can easily get a laptop to fit your price range. Though, I would go with dedicated graphics, since at one time or another, you'll most likely have to downgrade(yes, downgrade) to Vista, and it's a pretty complex OS graphics-wise. I'll have to second the others on getting as much RAM as possible, at least 1GB for XP, 2GB or more for Vista. Even if you don't think that you'll fill a 60GB Hard-Drive, you should go with with a minimum of a 100GB 5400-rpm drive(for laptops, 5400-rpm is the average HDD-rpm speed, 7200-rpm is pretty fast(but expensive), 4200-rpm is SLOW) For your CPU(processor), on today's market an Intel is best price/performance, since AMD's are pretty slow and a bit pricy compared to an Intel.
Hope it helps,
-Techy

[kcihtred2]

Couple questions:
1. How important is battery life to you?

2. What are some of the system requirements of the current games you play (ones beyond the system requirements

3. Screen Size???

4. Convertible???

5. how important is warreny to you and how long would you like it?

6. Any brands to stay away from?

7. Plan to do any DVD burning?

8. off topic howd you like the document?

[Penta]

1. A long battery life is nice, but not crucial - most of the time, I'd use my laptop plugged into a wall, with me curled up in a chair, sprawled out on my bed, laying on the couch despite mom's whines, etc.

2. Well, see, lately I've been stuck playing old games cuz my systems have been so old.:) But...Europa Universalis III, for example, wants (from the wesbite):

1.9GHz Intel Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon processor or equivalent with 512MB RAM
(1.0GB RAM is highly recommended)
128MB Video Card with Hardware T&L and support for Pixelshader 2.0 or better
DirectX7 compatible sound card
CD-ROM drive
Windows-compatible mouse; Mouse with scroll wheel highly recommended
At least 1GB of free hard drive space to accommodate game files and saved games. This does not include any space used by the Windows® swap file.
DirectX9.0c
Windows 2000 or WinXP SP2

World in Conflict wants:

System: 2.2GHz single-core or any double-core process or equivalent
RAM: 512 MB
Video Memory: 128 MB
Hard Drive Space: 8000 MB
Other: 1GB RAM required for Windows Vista
Recommended System Requirements
System: Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent
RAM: 1024 MB
Video Memory: 256 MB

Silent Hunter 4 wants:

DirectX Version: v9.0c
Operating System: Windows Vista
Minimum System Requirements
System: 2 GHz Pentium 4, AMD Athlon or equivalent
RAM: 1024 MB
Video Memory: 128 MB
Hard Drive Space: 6000 MB
Recommended System Requirements
System: 3 GHz Pentium 4, AMD Athlon or equivalent
RAM: 2048 MB
Video Memory: 256 MB
Hard Drive Space: 6000 MB

3. Any size screen is okay. 14-15" would seem optimum.

4. I have no idea what you mean here.

5. Rather important...But I have nothing to go on re length.

6. None.

7. Don't know.

[TechyGuy]

Hi Again Penta,
You can stilll probably get a PC that runs these games reasonably well. Now, for WIC(World in Conflict), if I follow you corectly, any Dual-Core Processor/CPU will work? And if I understand, some of these games also require Vista to play correctly. With all of these requirements in mind, one of the better Dell Inspirons would be good, or an HP dv9500t. Here are a couple of configurations I got off the vendors' sites, using a big vendor(HP) and a smaller boutique vendor(XG):
|HP dv9500t|XG Action 5000 ( [http://www.buyxg.com] )|
|Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit|Windows Vista Home Premium(XP-home for $15 less)|
|Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz; 2MB L2 cache; 800MHz FSB)|AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core TL-64(2.2GHz 1MB L2 cache)|
|2GB Dual-Channel DDR2 667MHz RAM|2GB Corsair Dual-Channel DDR2 667MHz RAM|
|256MB Nvidia GeForce 8600M GS|256MB Nvidia GeForce GO 7600|
|17.0" WXGA+ HD Widescreen Display (1440 x 900)|15.4" WXGA Display (1280 x 800)|
|Intel PRO/Wireless 4965 A/G/N Network Connection|Wireless 10/100 A/B/G Network card|
|Integrated Webcam + Microphone|Integrated Webcam|
|240GB 5400-rpm HDD(2x120GB ; free upgrade from 160GB)|160GB 7200-rpm Hard-Drive|
|LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD/-RW drive(DL-support)|8X DVD/-RW drive|
|8-cell Lithiun-Ion Battery|high-capacity 6-cell Li-Ion|
|1-yr. Limtd. Warranty tech support|1 yr. Limtd. warranty Lifetime 24/7 tech support|
|Cost:$1,220|Cost: $1,199|
*I only used an AMD CPU on one for the sake of if you had any preferances.
Hope that this'll help you out,
-TechyG