Cheap laptop for simples uses?

Dekabal

I've searched for a laptop that doesn't cost must money (being a student does not allow for big splurges) that I can use for basic functions. I want to be able to do work on it and play a few simple games like world of warcraft or diablo 2. I also want it to be able to play videos at a decent quality. I was thinking of a netbook but i'm not quite sure about how useful they really are. Any suggestions?

logic7

If the most taxing game you want to play is WoW, then any used P4/Athlon XP-M class laptop with a Geforce Go or UniChrome video subsystem will work.

If you're talking new laptops, any new laptop with a decent graphics subsystem should work... but not an Intel Atom based netbook.

The sole reason I say this is WoW looks to require a GPU with T&L in hardware.

PeregrineFalcon

People play WoW on netbooks all the time. It works, but it doesn't work well. I wouldn't really consider using it as a primary machine.

But if you're looking for newer on-the-cheap, you can probably find an AMD X2-based laptop, sporting the AMD/ATI HD3100/HD3200 chipset, which will handle WoW just fine and shouldn't be more than $400.

Improvolone

I use a netbook as a primary machine, and one with a 9'' screen no less.
If I were going to play any real games on it, I'd go with a 10'' model and an external mouse.

I give you the Asus Eee 1005HA
http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-1005HA-PU1X-BK-10-1-Inch-Black-Netbook/dp/B002DYIXMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1252541359&sr=8-1
10.5 hr battery, 2lbs ish, 160gB hard drive $380, and free shipping

If that costs too much there are many cheaper netbooks, but I am a big proponent of having as long of a battery life as possible. It really does make that big of a difference.

Dekabal

I just found an Acer Aspire One on cragislist. I watched a few videos of it that showed it could play games like serious sam 2. Does anyone have any experience with this netbook?

RuddurBall

I don't have any experience, but some quick google-fu revealed this less than stellar comment.

I was able to run World of Warcraft at 4 frames per second in Dalaran, 7 frames per second in old Azeroth. I could fish and chat and I probably could have quested but I wouldn't recommend raiding.

RuddurBall

Something you might want to look at is the new Dell 14z line. It has a 9400M card which should handle WoW fine, and it starts at $649. A lot of reviewers describe as a 13-inch Macbook Pro, but with windows, and for $350 less. But heads up, there is no optical drive.

Pirusu

RuddurBall wrote: »

Something you might want to look at is the new Dell 14z line. It has a 9400M card which should handle WoW fine, and it starts at $649. A lot of reviewers describe as a 13-inch Macbook Pro, but with windows, and for $350 less. But heads up, there is no optical drive.

The 9400m chipset is pretty beastly. I was able to run WoW on an external 22" monitor at native 1920x1080 with the default graphics settings. This WAS on a 13" Unibody Macbook, but still. I was thoroughly impressed.

Rigor Mortis

RuddurBall wrote: »

I don't have any experience, but some quick google-fu revealed this less than stellar comment.

I was able to run World of Warcraft at 4 frames per second in Dalaran, 7 frames per second in old Azeroth. I could fish and chat and I probably could have quested but I wouldn't recommend raiding.

There is a free utility designed to up the clock speed on netbook graphic hardware
http://www.gmabooster.com/download.htm

Apparently the graphics chip netbooks is underclocked normally by about 66% or more to help with that long battery life netbooks are famous for, so this isn't technically overclocking and shouldn't be problematic. The author claims 3DMark scores can increase 2.4x with this utility.

RuddurBall

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

RuddurBall wrote: »

I don't have any experience, but some quick google-fu revealed this less than stellar comment.

I was able to run World of Warcraft at 4 frames per second in Dalaran, 7 frames per second in old Azeroth. I could fish and chat and I probably could have quested but I wouldn't recommend raiding.

There is a free utility designed to up the clock speed on netbook graphic hardware
http://www.gmabooster.com/download.htm

Apparently the graphics chip netbooks is underclocked normally by about 66% or more to help with that long battery life netbooks are famous for, so this isn't technically overclocking and shouldn't be problematic. The author claims 3DMark scores can increase 2.4x with this utility.

That still leave you at approx. 10 FPS and 16 FPS respectively. Would it work? Yeah. But would you want to play it every day? Nope. I just don't think a netbook is going to have enough power to be Dekabal's every day computer.

Scrublet

I would steer clear of netbooks if you want to WoW. Those are intended for exactly what their name suggests: to get on the net. That's it. I'd recommend the cheapest AMD-based laptop with a 9000 series graphics set.