What lappy should I get?

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Mister Nickels

Mister Nickels

Active Member
Hey guys, I've been gone for awhile, but forgive me. School and whatnot got in the way. :confused:
I'd like to ask you guys a question here that I'm sure many people ask.

I would like to get a decent laptop that can run TF2 and Minecraft at a decent pace without too much sacrifice graphic-wise. My friend has a newer HP Pavilion laptop that can run Minecraft excellently, and Team Fortress 2 quite well, but not in fullscreen. I'm not totally sure of the exact specs, but he said his dad paid around $500 for it.

I would like to get a laptop at around that strength, but my absolute maximum price range is $500. I was thinking about this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834158129

All I'm asking is, Will this run Team Fortress 2 and other FPS's of that graphical range at a decent pace, and if not, can someone direct me to one that isn't over $500.

At the time, all I really play on the computer I have(Terrible Vista crapfest desktop that won't even run Minecraft at a decent pace while music is playing) is Minecraft, Online Skulltag and a crap-ton of emulators, so it's not like I need a $3000 gaming rig.

In advance, thanks for your all your help. :mrgreen:
 
Intel GMA
Click to expand...
Absolutely STAY AWAY from any laptop with Intel GMA. I've heard they've gotten a bit better, but they still won't be able to run games for flax. TF2 is a possibility, but definitely not Minecraft.
 
:facepalm: If you want to play games at all, do not get a laptop with Intel graphics. You need something with a dedicated video chip for pretty much anything to be playable.

TF2 needs a better GPU than Minecraft, but Minecraft is a memory glutton.

Big box store laptops are universally flax. Look at Dell Latitudes and Thinkpads for laptops that are actually decent.

Dell Outlet has some decent buys. 14" i5 Latitude with Nvidia 4200m for under $700 [link]

Unfortunately, pickings for good $500 laptops are pretty slim unless you consider refurbs and manufacturer outlet sites.

e: VVV Sorry, server errored out.
 
Oh no! The dreaded Facepalm! This means I'm a nooby little kid!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-*Gunshot*

But really. A tiny image of Captain Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek the Next Generation Facepalming doesn't help me at all.

At least give me the reason or context in which you're Facepalming me!

:cry:
 
Gah friggin cookie URLs...

Go to http://outlet.dell.com and drill down to the Latitude E6420 (under business laptops). It's a current model.

Processor: Intel Core i5-2520M Dual Core Processor (2.50GHz, 3M L2 Cache)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional
Latitude E6420 Laptop
250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
2 GB DDR3 SDRAM AT 1333MHz (1X2GB)
8X DVD ROM Drive
Nvidia NVS 4200M 512MB DDR3 Discrete Graphics
Click to expand...

The only thing I'd change is the RAM, but 8 gig DDR3 laptop RAM kits are pretty cheap on NewEgg.

Handy shopping tip: Take the name of the graphics chip in the laptops you're looking at and pop it into YouTube's search. Chances are people have put up videos of how well it runs different games.
 
That laptop looks absolutley perfect, but like I said, $500 is my limit. :(

How are Radeon graphics? This one looks okay if the graphics card is tolerable.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834146807

And my friend somehow got a great HP laptop for $500 that can run TF2 just fine, and all in all that's what I'm really looking for. Something to run games at about TF2 level.

Handy shopping tip: Take the name of the graphics chip in the laptops you're looking at and pop it into YouTube's search. Chances are people have put up videos of how well it runs different games.
Click to expand...

And thank you very much! That's really helpful! :D
 
Does it necessarily have to be a laptop? Desktops give you better performance for the money.

This Toshiba is about the best you're going to find around your price range, but it's at the very top end of your budget.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834214475

Here's an Acer for $450 that comes with a $25 NewEgg promotional gift card if you order before 12/31. It doesn't have the most brand-new top of the line parts, but it does have a 2.4 ghz i3 and a GeForce 520m with 1 gig of dedicated memory. It comes with 4 gigs of RAM stock which should suit your needs fine, but you'll still have $75 to play with if you get the upgrade itch. According to reviews the build quality and battery life aren't spectacular, but it's probably the best performer for the money.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834215191

You might be okay with playing TF2 on an Intel HD 3000 integrated in a Sandy Bridge CPU if you turn the graphics down and give it plenty of shared memory to use. Heck I used to play on a Radeon 200m (barely above the GMA 950 in early netbooks), but that was quite a while ago. However if you buy something that's just adequate now, it's going to be outdated faster than something just a bit more than what you currently need.
 
I would rather have a laptop at this time in my life because I'm always travelling on the weekends, staying at my sister's house alone with nothing to do, going to my friend's house and not being able to play on his laptop while he's browsing Reddit, long car rides, etc. Later in my life when I move out, I'm probably going to get a nice desktop.

I noticed on the $500 laptop you recommended, it has a lower CPU speed than the rest I've seen(1.4 GHz compared to a ~2 GHz average I've been looking at).

Will that effect anything drastically? I mean, I've seen ASUS EEE Pcs with a higher CPU speed than that.
 
Mako321 said:
Plus, ASUS is a pretty gingivitus-inviting respectable company.
Click to expand...

Everyone hears ASUS and ACER and thinks, "Crappy computer". But everyone I've talked to about them says that they're pretty good.

Right now, I'm debatering over these three.

The ASUS you just showed me,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834230216

The Toshiba Satellite bic showed me,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834214475

And the ACER Aspire bic showed me.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834215191

These are the last three contestants, and I'm just gonna compare specs and prices until I come up with a solution. Feel absolutely free to put your two cents in, as I'm not totally sure which one to get at the moment.

Again, thanks for ALL your help, you guys are awesome.

EDIT: Will the ASUS be able to be hooked up to a TV via HDMI like the Toshiba or is the video card to shabby?
 
Buttcheeks McGee said:
EDIT: Will the ASUS be able to be hooked up to a TV via HDMI like the Toshiba or is the video card to shabby?
Click to expand...

According to NewEgg it has an HDMI port, so yes! :awesome:

Here's a video someone made of an HP Pavillion G4 playing TF2, Minecraft, and some other games. (It's built around the same processor and GPU as the Asus.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kszlFgWnb1Q
 
THEN I SHALL GET THE ASUS.

AND I SHALL ENJOY MANY AN HOUR PLAYING TF2 AND ONLINE DOOM WITH MY FRIEND.

AND I SHALL PLAY TF2 AND DOOM ALOT AND/OR CONQUER THE PLANET THAT THEY CALL "EARTH".

Once more, many thanks too you guys. I never would've found the right lappy for me and I probably would've ended up buying a craptastic Wal Mart laptop that wouldn't even run a SNES emulator properly. You guys have been more helpful than all the Best Buy employees combined.

Karma will be visiting your house tonight while you sleep. And Karma's gonna shoot a big ol' load of blessings right into your ear where it will then ferment. Mark my words...
 
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