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How much space, how much RAM, and how fast?
JaysonFour
Classy Monster KittehRegistered User regular
Classy Monster KittehRegistered User regular
I'm getting a laptop through Dell. Finally. But I wanted to get some questions past you guys before I order.
1) The computer's main purposes are: school (word processing and stuff), gaming (finally going for WoW and CoH/CoV) and internet surfing. About how much RAM, hard drive space, and how fast a processor would I need?
2) Since I'm going to be gaming, I'll need a video card. Which one would you guys recommend? I don't think I need cutting edge stuff, but I want to be able to run WoW or CoH pretty comfortably.
3) Does Dell install the drivers or would I have to?
4) They have a deal with McAfee where I could get two years for $45. Is there a better anti-viral suite out there, or is this a good deal?
1) The computer's main purposes are: school (word processing and stuff), gaming (finally going for WoW and CoH/CoV) and internet surfing. About how much RAM, hard drive space, and how fast a processor would I need?
2) Since I'm going to be gaming, I'll need a video card. Which one would you guys recommend? I don't think I need cutting edge stuff, but I want to be able to run WoW or CoH pretty comfortably.
3) Does Dell install the drivers or would I have to?
4) They have a deal with McAfee where I could get two years for $45. Is there a better anti-viral suite out there, or is this a good deal?
I can has cheezburger, yes?
JaysonFour on
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But by school do you mean collage? A lot of schools have purchased site-licenses for some antivirus, so I'd check into that before you go buy your own; mine used to provide Norton, now they provide Sophos for all students.
I'm also budgeting about $1400 or so. Don't really want to spend more (no CD burner, etc) than I have to, but at the same time I just want to be able to do my gaming and my typing- though not at the same time.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
Avoid Intel graphics at all costs. Don't get a model with an Intel card if you want to do any gaming. If you get an Nvidia or ATI option, WoW and CoH should at least be playable, although you might have to lower graphics details a bit.
Don't bother paying for Anti-virus software, either. AVG is free and good enough for most people, although if you're reasonably computer literate you may not need virus protection at all. (E.g. using Firefox with NoScript, not installing malware, etc).
The drivers will already be installed. As Gdiguy said, you can upgrade the video card drivers to Nvidia or ATI's latest if you want.
As for hard drive space, that's up to you. Totally depends on how much space you find yourself using--do you like to download lots of music, videos, and such? Get a bigger hard drive. If you're just playing MMOs and doing schoolwork, it doesn't matter.
2gb of memory should be enough for your purposes; you could add more if you feel like it, but it won't kill you not to have it.
Edit: With $1,400 you could get a full-blown gaming laptop, but I wouldn't recommend it. They tend to be heavy, hot, and have short battery life, and they're also cost-inefficient. If it were me I'd spend $700 on an Inspiron 13 with Nvidia graphics. Alternatively, you could get a desktop for gaming/home use and a netbook for when you need something portable (taking notes at class or whatever).
No CD burner? You must not have bought a PC in a long time. I dont think they even make normal CD burners anymore. And why not? A DVD burner is only like $35 or so, be silly not to get one.
Either way, you'll probably want to buy an extended warrenty, laptops have pretty unreliable of late, as the battle for style trumps substance at the moment.