JT! Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 I've always bought relatively budget laptops so I don't really get the idea behind having a dedicated graphics card as opposed to having shared graphics. I first came to learn about all of this when I found out the raspberry pi can actually produce 1080 HD footage, where was my 20 times more expensive laptop can't, apparently that has a dedicated graphics card? What I really want out of a laptop these days is to be able to stream 1080 vids / play bluerays and maybe still be able to be downloading / processing something etc without everything turning into pumpkins. It would also be nice to be able to buy some recent games, and hopefully be able to play games for the next couple of years, never did get round to playing portal 2. I don't get what I can buy a laptop for a little over $400 with 1gb dedicated graphics, when you can spend $1500 on a laptop that has on board graphics. If I was going to buy a laptop that'd allow be to do all the mentioned stuff, especially been able to play new pc games into the near future, what kind of spec would I be looking at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake. Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 i5 2ghz 4gb ram 1gb graphics card I think that would keep you going for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) ^^ Roughly that spec, but it's not that simple, and for proper gaming I'd recommend an i7 (ivy bridge, not sandy bridge, the mobile chips are a big improvement IMO), 8gb RAM at least, and an ATI HD7970M GPU (IMO the best price/performance mobile GPU atm). For "dabbly" gaming (I guess you only play a bit here and there from what you said?) an i5-3210m 2.5ghz (3.1ghz turbo), 4gb+ RAM (preferably more), and the on-board graphics may well be enough, as the HD4000 on-chip GPU that comes with the Ivy Bridge processors is a big improvement over any other so far. (Except maybe the AMD Trinity ones, but I don't like AMD any more, so haven't been following progress). Buying laptops isn't as simple as everyone makes out, you have to pay for 2 things, spec and build quality. Avoid brands like Acer IMO, as the build quality is shocking on the ones I've worked on. My girlfriend spent £500 on one less than 3 years ago, and it overheats constantly, it's dog slow, the battery is awful, the keyboard is awful, the charger broke, the colour reproduction of the screen panel is shit, and it's a b*****d to strip down to work on (trying to solve the overheating issue, which is due to poor cooling design, which means I'm going to have to modify it). Stick to decent brands like Samsung, Sony, HP etc IMO. They're more expensive for the same spec for a reason. I just bought a new Samsung Series 5 laptop, and it's fantastic in terms of build quality, but I got the "work" version without a dedicated GPU so the battery lasted longer. (5.5 hours for a 15.6" laptop, silly good). It has the i5-3210m, and the on-board GPU is surprisingly good. It plays Minecraft fairly well, and can easily (very easily) handle HD content. I can test it out with Portal 2 tonight for you if it would help? Any other games you'll regularly play? What is your budget? Edited October 10, 2012 by Muel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted October 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 The toshiba I have now is really the only laptop I've had that hasn't broken. The acer's screen started getting white lines down it, and a hinge broke on the dell. This is the cheapest laptop I could find with a dedicated graphics card (obviously I'd never actually buy it because it's under my buget and the hinges) Thing is I'm not really looking for something for 'proper gaming' as you put it, really just something I can actually play games on if you get what I mean. I don't need to be going into the setting and turning all the video settings to 'extreme'... but on the other hand I don't want a game coming out 2 months down the line that I can only play at 2 frames per second. Budget $600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 I edited to add more infos, I get you better now though. Will look properly later, I'm bored now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted October 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 I see that you did. I don't play any PC games regularly because I can't. Only minecraft, and playing that 14fps and short render distance is starting to piss me off. I'd like to be able to wack it up to far and get at least 30fps. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214875 That seems pretty nice but I little over my budget. I'd like that have something that was over powered than under for sure. Might even look at some refurbished laptops, currently using a refurbished mouse and tv might as well get a laptop to match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted October 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 ...or maybe I should just yell f**k it and buy a basic laptop then buy a regular pc so I can actually upgrade stuff in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) I find it literally amazing what you bloody yanks can get for next to no money. $779 for that is insanely good, in the UK it'd be at least £750-800. If I were you, I'd keep the current laptop and get a desktop as well though. Desktop powaaarrrrrrrr. Edited October 10, 2012 by Muel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted October 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Looks good on paper, but +8% take and minimum wage being $7.25 kinda puts it in perspective. But yeah my general rule of thumb is whatever the price is in the UK, it's the same figure in the USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junky Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 For budget of 600$, if you want the highest gaming performance, these will be the fastest: http://www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/gaming-laptops-under-600/ I'd go with the dv6z with Radeon 7730M and saves the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgnoseat Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 It's a total chaos in laptop land, so many different models. There's a dutch website that's incredibly good at filtering out specs and price ranges. While it might not be convenient to order from the netherlands, I think that the price shouldn't vary too much in the UK. http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/cat/496/laptops.html But I actually think that it's the worst time to purchase a laptop right now. The whole market is changing with tablet-laptop hybrids on windows 8 release. I think you would benefit alot from waiting 1 or 2 months. If the tablet hybrids are a success the shops might lower the prices on regular laptops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Well I have a buyer for my old laptop and I've got the money so I think it's time to actually bite the bullet and buy something. Firstly, how easy is it to upgrade ram? A few of the laptops I'm looking at only come with 4GB which seems quite little considering that's only a 33% increase over what I have now. Is windows 8 worth avoiding, or worth waiting for? There's Toshiba I'm looking at: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214870 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 (edited) I'd say avoid W8, it's a big UI change and not one that suits laptops IMO. With a touch screen I'd say it's a seriously good option, but with a mouse/trackpad, I can't stand it. Been testing it for the last couple of weeks (got it through uni, tis all legit), and I'm not happy with it really. That laptop isn't bad at all, but it has the last generation i5, try to get a 3210M if you can, shouldn't be too tricky. I'm just gonna put this out there, yes it's $200 more but it has more ram, a better CPU and a faster GPU, so you won't have to upgrade the RAM, which will save $50-$100 I'd have thought, and you get the benefit of a faster CPU and GPU. Will the hard drive be big enough for you though? Tis only 750gb... Comes with Windows 8 as well though. In reality I think the link you post would be fine, just trying to offer another perspective. Edited October 16, 2012 by Muel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Did you forget to post a link Muel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Oh shit, yeh. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834216035 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted October 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Yeah that's a little out of my budget, probably going to get some kind of extended warranty too which'll add on $60. The less I spend on this the more I get to spend on a tower a year or so down the road anyway if I decide PC gaming is the way to go. Also secured $180 for my old laptop so i'll shop about for a couple of days if not i'll probably get that Toshiba. Thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted October 16, 2012 Report Share Posted October 16, 2012 Sounds like a plan. Like I said, probably not worth spending an extra 33% on it, but thought it might be worth sharing. I like to pay extra for the shiney. I suggest you budget for an SSD btw, they do live up to the hype IMO. I just ordered one for my laptop, the slowness of a 5400rpm HDD is driving me insane. I'm going to run the OS and programs from the SSD (128gb Crucial M4), and then move the 1tb HDD it came with to an adapter in the optical bay (already bought and fitted). Should provide me with a pretty rapid portable workhorse! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted October 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Yeah I've been talking to a guy at work who went to school for building computers. He's really into the SSD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 For gaming, they don't make a big difference IMO, but for everyday stuff (booting up, opening programs, etc) they make a huge difference. I've got one in my desktop and can't stand the HDD in the laptop now. Never going back! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JT! Posted October 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 (edited) Yeah that's the impression I got from him. Looked at a few comparison vids on youtube, it's such a difference it's unbelievable. Edited October 17, 2012 by JT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muel Posted October 17, 2012 Report Share Posted October 17, 2012 Indeed, plus when you factor in those saved seconds, over a period of a year it more than justifies the extra cost IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omgnoseat Posted October 19, 2012 Report Share Posted October 19, 2012 The SSD speed gain in games differ from the type of games you play. In first person shooters you might not notice alot of difference, because the map is loaded up front. But while playing an MMO/RPG with a big world you will notice a big difference because they have to load sections of the map as you play. So using an SSD will decrease the time and overhead that it takes to load the map sections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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