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by **leah** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:20 pm

hello friends!

i'm getting a hefty tax return this year (to the tune of 2500 buckaroos, woot!). after paying off my credit cards (totaling $1000), i plan to buy a laptop.

thing is, i don't know what to get (or what i can expect to get). i'm looking to spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $2000 or less (preferably less).

that said, here is what i know for sure that i want:

-windows xp (a genuine copy, either home or pro--i reeeeally don't want vista, at least not yet)
-at least 100GB hard drive
-a decent-sized screen (not some dinky 11-incher)
-enough power for gaming (in case i pick up wow lol)

the last item on the list is where i run into trouble--the power. i don't know what i need for processor, graphics, memory, etc.

does anyone have any suggestions for where to go or what to get or, if it comes down to it, what i need to include if i have one customized?

thankee

by **Harrison** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:25 pm

What do you plan on doing with the laptop?

Gaming, movies while traveling, work...?

If it's for work, what do you need to do on it?

If it's for gaming, what games do you want to play?

by **leah** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:29 pm

for the most part, it will be for entertainment purposes and general internets use--ie, i'll watch movies and tv shows; i'll email and chat and surf the internets; i'll download, listen to, and manage a music library; and i'll possibly play wow.

by **leah** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:29 pm

p.s. i have a company-issued lappy for work stuff, but i can't do fun stuff on it like movies, music, games, and the like.

by **Tossica** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:30 pm

There really isn't a machine on the market that can touch the Sony that I picked up a couple months ago. Power, battery life, portability and overall sexiness are second to none. The screen is only 13" but I have never found it to be an issue. The bigger the screen you get the worse battery life and portablility you will have.

If you are buying a brand new machine, you should definitely plan on getting Vista either now or at least get it with a free upgrade path in the near future.

This is the updated version of mine.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/_3Cwbrt ... pecs&var2=

Get 2GB of ram.

by **Tossica** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:31 pm

PS. Harrison knows as much about laptops as he does about just about every other issue that is discussed on this board. Jack and shit.

by **leah** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:32 pm

OK let's say i get vista on this new machine. i still have the original discs for my copy of xp, can i uninstall vista and install xp for the time being and then switch it up once there's more support for vista?

also i think your lappy is out of my range. it starts at $1800

but oh how i would love a vaio!

by **Tossica** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:34 pm

My laptop was right around $1800 fully loaded. Shop around a bit. IM me if you want to chat more about it.

by **Tossica** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:35 pm

leah wrote:OK let's say i get vista on this new machine. i still have the original discs for my copy of xp, can i uninstall vista and install xp for the time being and then switch it up once there's more support for vista?

also i think your lappy is out of my range. it starts at $1800 but oh how i would love a vaio!

The laptops are shipping with Vista and all hardware is fully supported so I'm not sure what you mean by more support?

by **leah** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:37 pm

i guess just until it becomes more common and well-understood, or there are service packs or whatever. i don't think i'm computer-savvy enough to just jump right in to the latest OS.

i could be wrong! hehe

by **Tossica** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:39 pm

Vista is great and as long as you are not trying to force it on to some shitty old hardware or some 3rd party device that has not bothered to write a compatible driver, there really is no reason to stick with XP IMO.

by **Zanchief** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:41 pm

I heard Vista throttles P2P.

by **Arlos** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:48 pm

I've been pretty happy with my Dell laptop, overall, actually.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/ ... WGA3&s=dhs

And pick what upgrades you want (I'd suggest the extra sharp screen, the ATI video card and the extra sound card for what you want to do with your laptop). 17" screen, good for watching video on, etc. It'll be a bit large & heavy to lug around, compared to a smaller model, to be sure, but it didn't sound like you'd really be travelling a lot with it. With those 3 changes, plus the bigger battery, you'd come in in the 1600-1700 range, I think.

-Arlos

by **leah** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:05 pm

Tossica wrote:Vista is great and as long as you are not trying to force it on to some shitty old hardware or some 3rd party device that has not bothered to write a compatible driver, there really is no reason to stick with XP IMO.

i guess it must be the "vista is the worst OS since winme" thread that's scaring me lol

by **Tossica** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:15 pm

Like I said, Harrison doesn't know what the fuck he is talking about. He was probably trying to install a pirated copy on a piece of shit machine he put together himself.

by **Arlos** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:22 pm

The main reason to stick with XP, to my understanding, is that older pieces of software, especially games, will run significantly slower on Vista than on XP. I dunno about anyone else, but I still have some fairly old games on my system, so, until there's a robust driver suite available, and those performance issues are ironed out, I see no reason to upgrade. If I was buying a new system, I'd probably get Vista. Given I'm quite happy with how my current system runs, and I'm unaware of any vital new component that would cause me to upgrade (short of DX10, and there are no games that need it yet, and I don't have a compliant card anyway).

I agree partially with Toss, though, Leah, I wouldn't worry about buying a new system with Vista on it. It'll do everything you want to do with it just fine, and while it might play WOW slower than XP on the same machine, I'd be willing to bet the machine itself is so much faster than your current machine, WOW'd still run faster on it under vista than it runs on your current machine.

-Arlos

by **leah** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:27 pm

thoughts:

Satellite P100-ST1072 - Toshiba Laptop
PSPADUTC842N

CPU: Intel® Core™2 Duo* Processor T7200 (2.00GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB)
Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium 32-Bit
Office Software: Microsoft® Office® Basic 2007*
Memory: 2048MB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM (1024MBx2)
LCD: 17" Widescreen SXGA+ TruBrite™ display (1680x1050)
Graphics Controller: NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7600 with 256MB discrete graphics memory
HDD: 100GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial-ATA)
Optical Media: CD-RW/DVD-ROM Multifunction drive
Mini-PCI/WiFi: Intel® PRO/Wireless LAN 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
Battery: Li-Ion Battery (6-Cell, 4000mAh)

$1700ish

by **Harrison** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:28 pm

Tossica wrote:Like I said, Harrison doesn't know what the fuck he is talking about. He was probably trying to install a pirated copy on a piece of shit machine he put together himself.

If you want shitty driver support and games running at one third to a half as good as it would on XP, go for it.

My computer is far from a "piece of shit I put together myself". My knowledge about computer hardware is pretty decent and I've built and maintained quite a lot of computers for someone doing it as a hobby.

Whatever floats your boat to seem all important when I was simply trying to help her out, though. Faggot

by **Arlos** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:30 pm

Only thing I'd check on that is sound. Some have decent integrated sound, but a dedicated sound card WILL sound better. Also, you may want to look at the 9 cell battery, definitely improves the time it'll stay active without being plugged in. Lastly, the DVD drive, is it a burner, so you can make your own CDs and DVDs? Do you care? The one in the Dell I listed is a burner, but not sure about the Toshiba. Of course, if you don't care about burning CDs/DVDs, then don't worry about it.

Beyond that, looks fine.

-Arlos

by **leah** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:32 pm

i'll burn cds, yes, but not dvds. i'll look into the sound card and battery and let you know what i come up with.

harrison, i do value your opinion, so don't get all worked up. :P

by **leah** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:33 pm

p.s. there were no other options for sound, but the 9-cell battery only added $75, which i think i can deal with.

by **Tossica** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:39 pm

Older pieces of software or pretty much anything that isn't a cutting edge game are still going to fly on a Core 2 Duo with 2GB even if Vista does add a small overhead. It's nowhere NEAR 1/3rd to 1/2 as Harrison says (somewhere closer to 5-10% until games come out designed for Vista) and the OS itself is solid and robust. I would not be afraid to make the leap.

Toshiba makes nice laptops, Dell does as well but the Sony is the best in it's class IMO and worth every penny. Wow runs great on mine. Vanguard? Not so hot but you'd have a tough time finding a laptop under $2500 that will run it well.

by **Harrison** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:39 pm

Most people can survive fine with integrated sound. Unless you planned on doing any kind of music production, I wouldn't worry about it.

by **Arlos** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:43 pm

Well, you can tell the difference if you have a decent ear and are going to decent speakers. I've heard the same song via my mom's PC (integrated sound) and my PC (audigy X-Fi) to the same speakers, and there was a definite difference.

Still, especially for a laptop, not having a sound card shouldn't be a deal-breaker.

Leah, did you find out if the DVD Drive in the toshiba was or wasn't a burner? From your original post, it doesn't look like it. Since you want to burn CDs, that'd be an important thing to check.

-Arlos

by **Tossica** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 2:45 pm

I haven't seen a laptop produced recently that doesn't at least include a CD burner. On board sound in any laptop is going to suck but it's passable. If you require better sound, look in to an external USB or Firewire option.

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