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Three Laptops, But Which Is The Right One to Get?

A Unknown WarriorA Unknown Warrior MemberRegistered Users Posts: 58
edited January 2011 in Technology
I need a laptop for college, but don't know much about laptops. I just need something to play from Rome to Empire and be able to do school work.

1.Hp 15.6 screen $499
AMD Athhlon 2 Dual-Core Processor 2.1GHZ
3GB memory, 320 GB hard drive

2. Sony 15.5 screen $599
Same as above, but 2.2GHZ
4 GB memory, 500 GB hard drive

3. HP 17.3 screen $599
Intel Pentium Dual-Core Processor 2.0GHZ
4 GB memory, 320 GB hard drive
Post edited by A Unknown Warrior on
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  • A Unknown WarriorA Unknown Warrior Member Registered Users Posts: 58
    edited December 2010
    Bumpity bumpity bump.
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  • lordmaximus77lordmaximus77 Technical Moderator Leeuwarden, NLRegistered Users, Moderators, Tech Moderators, Knights Posts: 3,348
    edited December 2010
    If you want us to give advice on selecting a notebook for gaming purposses we really need to know what kind of graphics cards are in the mentioned notebooks.
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  • AlJabberwockAlJabberwock Moderator USAModerators, Tech Moderators, Knights Posts: 7,729
    edited December 2010
    lordmaximus is quite right.

    And unfortunately those all most likely are using embedded Intel nonsense (or at best, super cheap NVidia embedded nonsense) which would render them all pretty useless for anything mildly 3d-demanding like Rome...

    That doesn't mean they aren't fine for school work, YouTube, and most Paradox dev'd games (until recently at least) and a number of indie games... The problem with most laptops anywhere near the bottom half of pricing is that they will have what are called "embedded" or "onboard" video chips that are built right into the motherboard. This allows for basic and minimal graphics use without what is often the single most expensive component a computer has - a 'discrete' (seperate) video card.

    I am afraid you will be rather disappointed with what will run on what is probably on those machines unless there is a special deal you are getting because it is a stock clearance on older models (that actually would be a GOOD thing if they are older models with discrete cards, since many older cards can easily run Rome). Let us know when you have an idea or can at least give us a model number so we can take a peek.

    Al
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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    For most general problems, for which you have no idea of the culprit, your first port of call should be:
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  • A Unknown WarriorA Unknown Warrior Member Registered Users Posts: 58
    edited December 2010
    Unfortunately, I don't know the model number and the graphics card weren't mentioned.
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  • A Unknown WarriorA Unknown Warrior Member Registered Users Posts: 58
    edited January 2011
    If needed, I could upgrade the specs, but that's the basic.

    HP Pavilion dv7t series $649

    * Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
    * Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-380M Dual Core Processor (2.53 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)
    * Intel(R) HD Graphics [HDMI, VGA] - For Dual Core Processors
    * FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
    * 500GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
    * SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
    * Dolby(TM) audio + Altec Lansing speakers
    * 2-year hardware limited warranty
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  • AlJabberwockAlJabberwock Moderator USAModerators, Tech Moderators, Knights Posts: 7,729
    edited January 2011
    Embedded intel graphic chip. Unlikely to run Rome. Pretty much if its cheap and a laptop, it doesn't have a discrete video card (which you will need for most 3d gaming worthy of the name). Some very recent NVidia Geforce chips can do OK in non demanding FPS games, although not THAT well and they have the disadvantage of being more expensive, but still not enough firepower to play TW games...
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “Every so often things happen that can’t be rationalized in a conventional way. People wanna know their government has a response. I am that response.”
    ― Kent Mansley (in "Iron Giant")

    For most general problems, for which you have no idea of the culprit, your first port of call should be:
    https://support.sega.co.uk/hc/en-us/categories/200307381-Total-War-Support

    If you are aware of a bug or a specific issue for which you know the cause, post in the support section for the specific title on our forums. ~Al

    https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/172193/forum-terms-and-conditions#latest
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  • A Unknown WarriorA Unknown Warrior Member Registered Users Posts: 58
    edited January 2011
    Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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  • AlJabberwockAlJabberwock Moderator USAModerators, Tech Moderators, Knights Posts: 7,729
    edited January 2011
    Its a truth that 'cheap' and 'laptop' and 'TW' is a three way match unlikely to occur!
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “Every so often things happen that can’t be rationalized in a conventional way. People wanna know their government has a response. I am that response.”
    ― Kent Mansley (in "Iron Giant")

    For most general problems, for which you have no idea of the culprit, your first port of call should be:
    https://support.sega.co.uk/hc/en-us/categories/200307381-Total-War-Support

    If you are aware of a bug or a specific issue for which you know the cause, post in the support section for the specific title on our forums. ~Al

    https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/172193/forum-terms-and-conditions#latest
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  • naishonaisho Senior Member USARegistered Users Posts: 3,425
    edited January 2011
    If your willing to drop a extra hundred or 2 for a laptop this website should help.

    http://www.xoticpc.com/


    the cheapest is about 700 or so but thats not a bad deal for what you get.
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  • A Unknown WarriorA Unknown Warrior Member Registered Users Posts: 58
    edited January 2011
    How can I tell if the graphics card is embedded? Seems like the more expensive ones have less battery life.
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  • naishonaisho Senior Member USARegistered Users Posts: 3,425
    edited January 2011
    the reason for the less battery life is due to the more powerful systems, a embedded graphics card doesn't have dedicated memory. It feeds off the ram and virtual memory of the computer.
    1---/\__/\
    1=(O-"-O)=/\
    1--- / | | \--/ -|
    1---| \-/ \-_ /
    1--( Neko )

    Naisho the Neko

    "You have raised assorted issues under what might be termed a “I-don’t-like-it because-I-say-it’s-not-historical” banner. This isn't quite the same as "justified", I'm sorry to say." -MikeB
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  • A Unknown WarriorA Unknown Warrior Member Registered Users Posts: 58
    edited January 2011
    Does it usually say if it has dedicated memory? Should I go for a short or long battery time? I am guessing short since it's more powerful.
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  • AlJabberwockAlJabberwock Moderator USAModerators, Tech Moderators, Knights Posts: 7,729
    edited January 2011
    naisho wrote: »
    If your willing to drop a extra hundred or 2 for a laptop this website should help.

    http://www.xoticpc.com/


    the cheapest is about 700 or so but thats not a bad deal for what you get.

    Thats a great site Naisho, Thanks for that its going in my link list. You get a cookie!
    Although the better ones are in the 1k plus range, there are some that will deliver playable fps below that, quite right.

    @Unknown,
    IF it says Intel ANYTHING for graphics, its an embedded chip. Usually NVidia and AMD type embeds will be low numbers in the series (say 7020 as opposed to 7900), but can also be spotted by the use of the word "chip", "onboard", "integrated", or "embedded". If you would like some links to where you can look at exhaustive lists, I would be happy to give them to you. Another good rule of thumb, if its near the bottom of the price range, its a chip, and not a card. Use Naisho's link, its a keeper.

    On memory, yeah you want dedicated mem which discrete cards usually have (if not always these days). Battery life only matters if you thnk you are going to be away from AC power often and for prolonged periods of time. If you are, that may be an issue, or you will have to just game less while not near a power source! :)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    “Every so often things happen that can’t be rationalized in a conventional way. People wanna know their government has a response. I am that response.”
    ― Kent Mansley (in "Iron Giant")

    For most general problems, for which you have no idea of the culprit, your first port of call should be:
    https://support.sega.co.uk/hc/en-us/categories/200307381-Total-War-Support

    If you are aware of a bug or a specific issue for which you know the cause, post in the support section for the specific title on our forums. ~Al

    https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/172193/forum-terms-and-conditions#latest
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