I'm looking at a laptop

DirtyDirtyVagrant

It's this one. I don't need to do much with my computer, and I really need something less bulky and noisy than my current machine (which is in my sig), and I've been offered this one. In terms of a dollar value, I'm looking at a relatively even trade (the laptop in question is still under warranty).

The question is performance. I need to run photoshop/painter and use a graphics tablet. I want to watch netflix. And I'd like to do some very light gaming, such as minecraft or some indy games. I might try pushing it with Street Fighter. What if I wanted to edit/compress a video file? What do you guys think? Should I do it? Is this computer deceptively powerful, or deceptively limp-wristed?

The two things that are reeeaally kind of turning me off about it are the 5400RPM HD and the very iffy-looking onboard video hardware. But the ram is upgradeable, and the reviews seem mostly awesome.

Hmmm.

lowlylowlycook

I'd pay more attention to the screen. It isn't very high rez for a 17" laptop. Also 17" laptops are not exactly "not bulky".

It might be a decent trade but is it what you really want?

a5ehren

Well the performance won't really match it all for what you're doing (Photoshop and video stuff love having more cores). I wouldn't do the trade unless you absolutely have to reclaim the space or have to be able to do real work away from home.

floobie

I'm pretty sure you'd be taking a pretty noticeable performance hit on basically all fronts. And, as far as laptops go, that isn't exactly portable either. The screen's resolution is indeed rather low for its size. At 17", 1920x1200 or 1920x1080 is roughly what you should be shooting for on a laptop. And, well [bias alert]basically everything I've ever owned or used from HP (laptops, desktops, calculators, printers, scanners) has been garbage[/bias alert].

When you say you want something more portable and practical... what do you mean by that? Do you just want a smaller computer to leave at home, or do you actually intend to take this places?

Stormwatcher

You'd be giving up on power and NOT getting the portability you need back. 15"ers are the biggest laptops that are still lugabble around.

DirtyDirtyVagrant

I want to reclaim space at home and I'd like to take this places. Ideally, I'd like to do work and study at places that aren't my house. Thanks for the input, guys.

syndalis

a 17" can be lugged around if it is thin and light enough.

The only problem is that any 17" meeting that set of requirements (Macbook pro, Razer Blade) are goddamned ridiculously expensive.

Esh

syndalis wrote: »

a 17" can be lugged around if it is thin and light enough.

The only problem is that any 17" meeting that set of requirements (Macbook pro, Razer Blade) are goddamned ridiculously expensive.

I used to have a 17" MacBook Pro. It was still no fun at all to lug around. A little better than a normal one, but not by much.

floobie

I'd definitely shoot for a 15". 17" are generally in the realm of desktop replacement laptops... the kind that you can take places here and there, but would never really want to. Hell, even a lot of 15" laptops are pretty beefy and suck for taking places. Go for 1680x1050 or higher in terms of resolution. Anything less looks like ass on a 15" display.

Try to find something along these lines:

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX33254

Asus makes a really solid laptop. Maybe not quite up there with Apple or Lenovo, but still quite good. This one should be decently powerful for what you're looking to do... likely still a bit of a step down in terms of raw performance compared to your desktop, but you'll still be able to play the odd game at decent settings.

ben0207

Yeah, my personal machine is a 17" MacBook Pro and that shit is not portable.