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Don't know where to start [Laptop buying]
That_Spoony_Bard
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So my wife wants to get a new laptop (her old one finally gave out). Now, I'm not real up to date on the current technology (she is even less so), so I was hoping for some help finding a laptop that plays some games. She's into Sims 3 and WoW, but isn't a hardcore gamer (she doesn't see her playing the latest and greatest games anytime soon).
The lighter the better (but it's not the end all be all factor, she's not gonna carry it super long distances). Not too concerned about battery life (she has access to a power outlet more often than not). Price point is 600-800 dollars.
In anticipation of "why not just get a desktop?", she helps out a lot at her sister's house with her kid and has a lot of downtime to do stuff. She also likes being able to play games away from the desk.
The lighter the better (but it's not the end all be all factor, she's not gonna carry it super long distances). Not too concerned about battery life (she has access to a power outlet more often than not). Price point is 600-800 dollars.
In anticipation of "why not just get a desktop?", she helps out a lot at her sister's house with her kid and has a lot of downtime to do stuff. She also likes being able to play games away from the desk.
That_Spoony_Bard on
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Picked up an Acer 5739G for my wife about five months back from Newegg for about $650 ... comes with an Intel core 2 duo processor, 4 gigs of ram, a DVD-RW+/CDRW+ optical drive, GeForce 240M and a 320 Gig hard drive. Fairly large screen. Not terribly heavy.
It has worked fantastically ... comes with Win 7 Home Premium as well. Great deal, should do everything she needs for quite some time going forward.
I'm an Asus fan, 3 out of 4 computers/laptops in my house are Asus and none of them have given me any trouble. That model has a 250M for graphics, but the duo core is only 1.3 ghz per core. It'll run WoW just fine, but the Sims 3 might be choppy.
This one on Newegg has an i5 and a 350M.
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Seriously, the NBR forums were a god send when I was planning a laptop purchase. I bought an ASUS laptop that has been rock solid as a desktop replacement for me and for playing MMO's. The only downside is that its' battery life is pretty bad. However, I knew that ahead of time and was planning to use it plugged in most of the time anyways. Bad battery life was a brand wide issue for ASUS at the time I purchased my laptop about 2.5 years ago. Situation may have changed. That site I linked also has subforums for every laptop brand.
I second this. Asus makes fantastic stuff
I had the i3 version of that model, and I loved it
I'm rather fond of this Samsung. The graphics card isn't anything special, but should be enough for the kind of gaming you're talking about. The i5 processor, LED screen, bluray drive and decent battery life all make up a fairly well rounded machine.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html
Just move as high up that list that you can until you're actually paying more for the laptop. A lot of laptops in the budget range will have cards in the high 100's (or beyond), you should be able to find something in the 40's or 50's for the same price if you're careful.
The HP mentioned earlier is at 184 on that list (ie, the graphics card is rubbish).
The newegg deal (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220735) linked above says you can get to number 44 on this list for $670. Don't accept any lower graphics card for more than that price.
Asus and MSI are pretty much the laptops to look at in your price level - most other brands put much, much lower spec graphics cards in their machines - there's the occasional HP or Dell or other brand that'll put a decent card in, but there's normally way too many models to wade through to find the good stuff.
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True, and I think especially if you live near an Apple store since tech support and warranty fixes are super easy.