Need Laptop advice

[Kay Alett]

Okay so I'm thinking of breaking down and buying a laptop. Those who stalk me around this forum and my LJ know I use Linux Ubuntu on my Playstation 3 in lieu of a computer and my closer friends know that while I enjoy using it and like what it allows me to do.....I don't really care too much for it at times. I've had my share of trouble with it and it's made me mad at it a number of times. Anyone who has followed the recent updates of the Playstation 3's Playstation Network also knows that Linux support is removed from your PS3 if you take the newest firmware update, which I have no intention of taking.

However, it has gotten me thinking that I need something more than my PS3 provides, a real computer, not just a gaming platform with some cool features that make it like  a computer. And since I have little spending money and even less experience with buying and running a computer/laptop, I thought I'd ask the tech savvy furs on this forum.

What would be a good laptop at a good price. I really don't want to spend more than $300, but I'll go up to $400 if need be. I really wouldn't be using it for anything more than chatting online and music (And possibly playing Morrowind if it'll run...), so I'm not too sure how much memory I really need. Though I've got a 500gig usb HDD on hand that I currently run Linux off of. Yes thats right, when Linux asked me to set aside HDD space for the OS I put it on a 500gig usb hard drive, it works well too, though I often question the wisdom of this move. heh heh .

So if anyone out there can please offer advice, prices, sites to order from, etc, etc, I'm open to suggestions.

[489109]

Go to Walmart.com tab over to the Electronics/Laptops section and search using the price range of $250 to 500 then start looking at what they have. Thats about the cheapest pricing you'll find for PCs from a reliable source. I bought my $600 lappy from Walmart a couple years ago and it still works great.

[Avan]

I have seen very few, if any, new laptops in this price range. Used ones I know are avaliable in that range.

In that price range, there are really only netbooks; virtually all of these will be using intel integrated GPU's. I'm not sure how morrowind will run on them.

If you can push up to maybe $450, you may be able to purchase a system with the nVidia Ion setup - it's an Intel Atom with a 9400 mobile GPU, and it apparently can run a number of 3D games at an acceptable level; nothing groundbreaking compared to a $1k desktop, but it'll play them. Morrowind should run fine on that for sure. I'm not sure about the intel integrated solutions however.

Some things to look for:
~2GB ram
~a keyboard you can comfortably type on [for me, this makes the minimum screen size 11.6in, as those tend to be the smallest netbooks with acceptable key size]
~battery life

---------------------------------------
Off topic - why are they removing linux support?

[Weisseman]

In that price range, there are really only netbooks; virtually all of these will be using intel integrated GPU's. I'm not sure how morrowind will run on them.

Acer Aspire One 532G or Eee pc 1201 PN will have the ION 2 though prices in Europe for the 532G are speculated to be about 400-500 euros. Could be at the top end of his scale. I don't know if ION 2 works with Linux and I really don't know if Nvidia's Optimus technology will.

Off topic - why are they removing linux support?

Because one person found a way to hack into the PS3's firmware through the Other OS support.

[Avan]

Euros are ridiculous vs. USD - that'd be... very roughly 500-700 USD, which is well above his range.

Then again, they usually just strip off the dollar sign for the euro sign...

[Weisseman]

Then again, they usually just strip off the dollar sign for the euro sign...

Exactly. I find this really annoying as a marketing practice.

[Avan]

Electronics prices... one of the few reasons I'm still in the US.  (Europe also has killer gas prices, but then again, their cars get mileage that's essentially unbeatable here.)


At any rate, I just got a nice little netbook, 11.6in screen. It's nothing terribly fancy, but it plays battle for wesnoth, does word/spreadsheet processing, and surfs the web; that's all about I need it to do. $410 - mostly for larger battery, larger HDD, and slightly buffed hardware that will run win7 home (win7 starter restricts you to 3 programs at a time)

[Bizbon3]

Ok silly question do you move alot and do you really need a laptop?  Here are my points I own I Alienware I love it great computer but the downside to laptop that Laptop are not really upgradable just the ram is really all u can do at times. If you dont plan on taking your laptop around just going to sit there alot get Desktop you can always gut it and upgrade it. Plus there alot easyer to install, and lets say you want to take your Information games ect with you well just install all the games outside drive and make it a Strip HD (I think that right word) because it mirriors your internal HD. laptop hmm Dell makes good ones now they bought out Alienware. hmm HP Sharp Toshiba are good brands. Gateway ~shivers~ no comment needed I worked for them.

[Kay Alett]

Ok silly question do you move alot and do you really need a laptop?  Here are my points I own I Alienware I love it great computer but the downside to laptop that Laptop are not really upgradable just the ram is really all u can do at times. If you dont plan on taking your laptop around just going to sit there alot get Desktop you can always gut it and upgrade it. Plus there alot easyer to install, and lets say you want to take your Information games ect with you well just install all the games outside drive and make it a Strip HD (I think that right word) because it mirriors your internal HD. laptop hmm Dell makes good ones now they bought out Alienware. hmm HP Sharp Toshiba are good brands. Gateway ~shivers~ no comment needed I worked for them.

I know next to less than nothing about computers so upgrading and stuff like that isn't really an interest for me. I don't have room in my house for a bulky desktop and really I'd have to start moving stuff around and throwing junk out just to make room for a laptop. (My house is VERY cluttered).

So really I just want something small that I can sit around anywhere in the house and play a game on or chat online with. Something portable would be very nice and to be frank a laptop just seems more simple in comparison to a regular desktop PC.

Also for the record, operating systems aren't really a concern for me. It doesn't matter to me if something has Linux on it or windows or whatever as long as I can use it and understand it. One of the main problems with Linux ubuntu is that I have to play around with so many features, options, settings, programs, data packages (whatever that is), etc to get things to do what I want. I can barely run a only a few videos on youtube with ubuntu. I just want something simple that I could turn on after buying it and use it. I don't want to have to "Build" my computer's OS so that its taylored by me for me, honestly I'm not at all interested.

[Alsek]

Whatever you do,  just don't get a dell...  and avoid netbooks like the plague.   >.<;;

I highly recommend lenovo's laptops.  They're very good quality,  cheap for what they're capable of,  and really durable.  You can get them even cheaper in their outlet store but then you can't customize them or anything.


Honestly though,  if you're wanting something that can support newer games,  you're going to have to spend more than 300 no matter where you go.  Laptops just aren't known for their gaming capabilities...

laptops for gaming...  you might look into the alienware / lenovo W series laptops...  but then you're looking in a much higher price range...

They're a bit larger a caliber than a,  "just want to be able to sit anywhere and IM," kind of laptop.  =\

Dell makes good ones now they bought out Alienware.

slightly true,

Dell owns alienware,   but the alienware laptops are still made by the same people.  Different business unit.  Regular dells however,  continue to suck.

[Weisseman]

Regular dells however,  continue to suck.

I'm going to assume this is only in the US. I own one as does a friend of mine and we haven't had any issues so far. I have mine switched on 24/7 too.

[Narei Mooncatt]

I've never owned a dell, but I've heard a lot of second hand reports that they are better than they used to be. *Shrugs* I bought one of the $500 Toshiba's from Walmart last year and the duo-core CPUs are a marked improvement over singles, so you'll have that going for you in any system you by now. I've been happy with it for the most part. Even still, unless you spend a fair amount, nothing is going to really game all that well, especially if you also have other programs working in the background. If you're looking do any 3D gaming and don't want to see a slide show for frame rates, you should try to save for at least a cheap true gaming laptop. I.E. one with a dedicated graphics card. Since you're looking for simplicity, off the shelf laptops should be fine for you. Those work for most people and are made in bulk, so are cheaper than going to a "boutique" place like Alienware where you can customize everything.

You may also want to post over at http://forum.notebookreview.com/ They have a section devoted to people needing advice on what to buy, and the wealth of knowledge about laptops there is priceless.

[Alsek]

Regular dells however,  continue to suck.

I'm going to assume this is only in the US. I own one as does a friend of mine and we haven't had any issues so far. I have mine switched on 24/7 too.

I'm in the USA,  yeah.  I have a lot of issues with small things like the hinges on the inspirons are known for going out very quickly,  I had to get my screen replaced the first day i owned it because the backlight went out,   the fan is too small and they overheat frequently (has to be cleaned out constantly).

[Avan]

Given what you've now said, for any level of gaming beyond the simplest of 2D games (resource usage-wise at least), don't both with the netbooks. They are meant solely for ultra-portability, and not really anything beyond that.

I havn't seen any full-size laptops with respectable hardware in that price range though still...

[Weisseman]

For the price you might have to go for an AMD/ATI laptop and I can't comment on how good they are =X I've always been please with AMD and ATI stuff in desktop pc's though.