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Trying to purchase a laptop that will run WoW (for rea$onable)
Farout Foolio
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I'm unfamiliar with laptop graphics cards and laptops in general, so even though I know the
system req's for WoW it's hard to translate that into recognizing which hardware will run it passably.
I'd *love* to do this for under three hundred bucks, but I realize that even going second hand that might be a stretch.
Any and all advice on the subject is appreciated.
system req's for WoW it's hard to translate that into recognizing which hardware will run it passably.
I'd *love* to do this for under three hundred bucks, but I realize that even going second hand that might be a stretch.
Any and all advice on the subject is appreciated.
Farout Foolio on
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That said, it does run on alot of netbooks, which are typically in the $350 - $500 range, so your goal isn't THAT outrageous, just needs a bit of adjusting. WoW doesn't require a fancy videocard, which is the only element thats really all that different on a laptop than a desktop.
This Acer is $299 and would probably run it. I can't quite tell if it would or not so don't buy it on my word. There is an Asus and a Samsung netbook for $30 - $50 more each that would probably be better equipped to run it. They are likely to run it better because of their faster processors (1.6ghz instead of 1.3ghz, which is WoW's minimum.) The Asus also has the newest of the netbook processors, so its probably the best value there.
Installing wow is not a quick procedure.
Especially on a budget machine.
I would think that is HIGHLY frowned upon by every single person in the store, customers and works alike
WoW needs to patch a few gigs to be playable and is a gigantic install at this point to boot. You'd be hard pressed to find a retail jockey that will allow you to do this.
Good news however, is that most if not all non netbooks out there will run wow just fine on lower settings. It's not exactly new, and its a blizzard game, and they tend to run on anything. It doens't need that fancy of a graphics card and tends to play nice even with on board graphic solutions.
Install WoW on a portable hard-drive. Plug that hard-drive into the computer that you are thinking of buying.
Now you can run the game from that computer without taking any of the time to install or patch.
Yes this works perfectly.
This is a good idea provided they will let you do it. Ask first. I would think if they want to make a sale they will! (for the uninformed yes WoW is this portable, no registry, no outside dependencies) Although depending on the store, WoW's ports might be blocked...
I advise against netbooks. It is true that they will run WoW, but the game gets more graphically overhauled every expansion. They're redoing the old world next expansion. My friend has an older Mac and he gets like 30 FPS in the old world (low res textures, fog etc.), 10-20 FPS in Northrend (higher res textures and no tricks to ease the stress on your video card) and less than 10 in the main city Dalaran and raids/Wintergrasp. I've heard similar reports for netbooks. Yes, you can go solo questing, but raids are likely to be unplayable.
If you go used, I strongly suggest Dell from my personal experience. They provide limited support to secondary owners, and that Dell ID on the bottom of the laptop will get you to a page at Dell which lists all of your components and drivers.
It runs WoW surprisingly well - I get 30ish fps in Dalagran, as well as 30ish in 10-man ulduar. It's also got an HDMI port so you can hook it up to your HDTV and play WoW in glorious HD.
It does get a little warm though, so if you're actually playing with it on your lap, it can be uncomfortable. Also, the NIC sometimes has problems connecting to my router at home (wirelessly and wired), but this is most likely the fault of my craptastic router.
edit: I didn't see your <$300 requirement. The laptop I linked to is $700... you might be able to find a used one on ebay or something?
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