Looking into a laptop.

IlriyasIlriyas The Syrupy CanadianToronto, Ontario Icrontian
edited November 2011 in Hardware
My old PC has served me well but by this time it is slowly failing in its ability to run the more modern video games. That and with my going off to University next year I'm going to be needing a new computer anyways and a laptop is obviously the best choice for University life.

That said I have no idea what to look for in a laptop and I would appreciate any suggestions any of you might have to offer.

I know that not much is required for simple word processing files and slide programs but I'd like to get a laptop capable of playing some of the more recent games

Comments

  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Well, a laptop for gaming and school will cost a lot compared to a PC for gaming and a tablet for what you need for school (unless you are going into graphics design and/or engineering) for the first year or two.

    I got a Dell XPS M1730 LAPTOP a while back, thought its internal sli'd dual GPUs would be good for graphics and that 4 GB RAM would be enough, but it turned out the laptop needed to be run in rooms under 80 degrees farenheit with the graphics not very loaded to remain stable.

    I've: had Dell send me a new HD with an appropriate image on it and a tech to put the thing in (under extended next day onsite warranty); on my own nickel I updated the RAM with Micron Technology modules to take the laptop to 8 GB; I discovered that Vista is all this thing will run with total stability (It has a Core2 CPU that can slow down if it is sensed to be overheated to 1.2 GHz-- but was advertised to be a Core 2 2.8 GHz CPU(if well cooled it does run at this speed)).

    From experience with a top-of-the-line Dell laptop, which cost me over 3K USD of hard-saved-up money, I can say that I should have built a desktop and bought a tablet.

    I am not a University student, but I think if I were doing that again I would want something compact like an ITX form factor gaming PC and a modern tablet for writing (OpenOffice.org on it) and slide shows and spreadsheets (OpenOffice.org again). If you do not like OpenOffice.org(free), WordPerfect Office Home and Student(Full version) runs $99.00 USD for Corel's Black Friday sale(runs now through Nov 27 in US). Both OpenOffice.org and Word Perfect Office can import and export Microsoft Office files.

    For those that do not know, Oracle offered the Openoffice.org 3.3.0 codebase (all ports)to the Apache Foundation free in June(it was gladly accepted and is being developed actively), and the website URL is again active and nicely redone:

    http://www.openoffice.org/
  • IlriyasIlriyas The Syrupy Canadian Toronto, Ontario Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Wow, I assumed that a laptop capable of running games would've been cheaper than building my own desktop.

    I don't really need a tablet AFAIK, I'm going into History/English so all I really need is something capable of running word-processors that preferably isn't a net-book. (A capability to record my profs lectures would be a plus :P)

    Thus the reason I was considering a dual-purpose laptop, I'm not in particular need of a tablet and as long as it would be capable of running Skyrim, BF3, and RO2 I'd be fairly content.
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Ilriyas wrote:
    Wow, I assumed that a laptop capable of running games would've been cheaper than building my own desktop.

    No, you can buy a small-form-factor gaming PC or build one for a lot less than a truely built-for-gamers laptop.

    Not only that, high capacity(and high speed) video circuits and mini-cards get hot fast. Give them a volume of actively moving air flow around them, they stay cooler and behave better longer. Laptops don't have room in them for cooling with high volume airflow. My laptop has two fans on the mini-card, but little venting for lots of air flow.

    High speed multi-core CPUs heat up fast, too. The Core 2 CPU in my laptop is PASSIVELY cooled (limited airflow through a finned heatsink attached to a metal sheet)-- it slows down to about 2.0 GHz or slower half the time it is on. This means slower game data processing the more the game loads the CPU, and high quality games will bog. No room in the laptop, nor power, to water-cool or use massive fans and heatsinks. No nice metal(ruggedized laptops with metal cases start at 2K) outside laptop case to radiate heat, either.

    Even a small form-factor ITX PC can be water cooled and better vented than even a so-called high-end laptop. In the fine print of my laptop's warranty and specs (both places), the laptop is only rated to be RUN when surrounding (ambient) temperature is 80 degrees farenheit or less, down to 50 degrees farenheit.

    I live in Florida, USA, and current temp is 79 farenheit in my room right now. The laptop is running marginally. It has had its LCD panel replaced twice(of all things, it now has a Logitech GamePanel in it now), its dual-GPU video mini-card replaced twice due to total failure of the minicards, the RAM replaced once when the RAM overheated to the point that it was damaged, as well as what I mentioned about the hard drive, all under warranty at $297.00 per year for three years.

    Things they don't tell you.... :(

    So, best thing I could think of was to get one box for gaming and one portable thing for schooling.
  • IlriyasIlriyas The Syrupy Canadian Toronto, Ontario Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Cool, thanks I'll look into that, maybe I can scrounge up some savings outside of paying for books and the like and build a moderate box.

    On the note of cooling I actually removed the side of my PCs case a long time ago to get some extra air flow into it.
  • dkntdknt
    edited November 2011
    check out the llano's with discrete GPU in hybrid xfire.
    been gaming on one (flight sim only), at ~720p resolutions.

    easily overclockable too. running side-by-side w/ SB here.
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