Laptop buying Guide

[Ishan]

Yeah laptop gaming imo isn't meant for 1080p in the first place unless someone has a lot of cash to throw!
And good find with the 765M. I think he can choose 4GB of RAM, what do you think? That would help in reducing the cost further. Games don't eat more than 2GB of RAM anyways so if he gets rid of bloated softwares i doubt he would need more RAM. Or should he go for a safe 8GB thing? Damn dual channel.

He can also save 80£ by not purchasing windows since he already has it. And do remember to buy a cooling pad with it. Best to be bought separately from a store imo.

[karamazovmm]

well I find 8gb to be the perfect spot for gaming, since you do have the OS and some games do use 3.5gb+

I would just check the price of the ram on the configurator and on other stores and get the cheapest one, IF im not mistaken that particular model has 2 SoDimm slots, but IF Im mistaken it has 4 SoDimm slots, and things are very very easy to change on the clevo chassis, to get a new cpu or HDD or to put a ODD caddy in there for more storage, or to get a blu ray writer or to change the screen or to get some msata SSD goodness going on

Dual channel wont affect gaming performance much

the cooling pad is not needed for that model it has good cooling

but you can get a gaming notebook for U$ 1600, its still expensive, and off course you can get more power from a desktop at the same price, but they are getting cheaper or rather have stagnated at that price point, which i think its ok, I think notebooks should be more expensive or at least make me some more decent high end consumer notebooks or make enterprise class hardware that can use the ODD slot gpu from the Y500/Y510, so that I can have the quality for it to last me some good 5 years (3 years of usage and 2 years as a back up machine)

for people looking at smaller notebooks the 230st so far is a very solid choice

here is a first impression and videos from a trusty guy

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sage...ns-videos.html

basically amazing I love it, despite the weight and the probable not very good battery life and the usual too small to use touchpad and probably garbage as well

[PraetorianV1PER]

I plan on getting a new laptop at some point so if anyone can tell me of a half decent laptop to run Rome 2 for around £500 - £600 I would appreciate it. Don't need high end graphics as I know for that price it's impossible but just something that will run the game smoothly.
Have been researching the acer v3 series but there's so many different models.
Bit of guidance would be great
Thanks

[Ishan]

well I find 8gb to be the perfect spot for gaming, since you do have the OS and some games do use 3.5gb+

Dual channel wont affect gaming performance much

the cooling pad is not needed for that model it has good cooling

Yeah the 64-bit exe are rare in game like Bioshock and crysis. And true i was only mentioned because if it were tri then 6GB would've been more than sufficient.
And i didn't know that. I'm kinda paranoid when it comes to gaming laptops\coolers as i have seen people lose their laptops due to insufficient air cooling. Always good i think as dirt doesn't settles well on CPU if one is using one.

[karamazovmm]

I plan on getting a new laptop at some point so if anyone can tell me of a half decent laptop to run Rome 2 for around £500 - £600 I would appreciate it. Don't need high end graphics as I know for that price it's impossible but just something that will run the game smoothly.
Have been researching the acer v3 series but there's so many different models.
Bit of guidance would be great
Thanks

try to aim for at least 640m/730m and quad cpus, if not possible settle for a dual core cpus. I would take a look at the dv6t from hp, it should fit your budget

Yeah the 64-bit exe are rare in game like Bioshock and crysis. And true i was only mentioned because if it were tri then 6GB would've been more than sufficient.
And i didn't know that. I'm kinda paranoid when it comes to gaming laptops\coolers as i have seen people lose their laptops due to insufficient air cooling. Always good i think as dirt doesn't settles well on CPU if one is using one.

ah well, I clean my fans periodically at 3 months for the notebooks facing usage (I have 2 cats and live in a very very dusty city), and in the end its worth to be paranoid about temps on notebooks, that forces you to get a good model in the end, or not and then you are can curse notebooks all along the way that you own the pos that you bought

yeah 6gb is quite fine, however there are no tri channels anymore, just quad and dual channels, and asymmetric is never worth it even when you are faced with soldered ram

[Jom]

I'm thinking of buying a new laptop and my budget is £700. I would quite like a desktop, but none of the desktops I have seen can compare to this laptop in terms of value for money: http://www.johnlewis.com/samsung-np7...820501#default, as they generally have a similar or better processor but much weaker graphics card. Am I missing something and should I aim for a desktop nonetheless? I know they have the advantage of being able to upgrade individual components, but I don't have a monitor, so any desktop I find would need to have ~£100 added onto its price for a monitor, and potentially another £70-80 for an OS.

[karamazovmm]

it throttles. there isnt any value for any money there. when you see a samsung notebook, you just pretend that there was a gorgeous woman that just passed by and you accidentally closed the page that you were looking

[Colossus]

it throttles. there isnt any value for any money there. when you see a samsung notebook, you just pretend that there was a gorgeous woman that just passed by and you accidentally closed the page that you were looking

Out of curiosity, what part of its spec is the limitation? I realise out of cheap, good and laptop you will only get two, but those specs and a 1080p matte screen is still better than the competition at that price, even if you don't rate it. If there is something intrinsically bad about Samsung then fair enough, but it isn't like other offerings in this price range are better.

I'm thinking of buying a new laptop and my budget is £700. I would quite like a desktop, but none of the desktops I have seen can compare to this laptop in terms of value for money: http://www.johnlewis.com/samsung-np7...820501#default, as they generally have a similar or better processor but much weaker graphics card. Am I missing something and should I aim for a desktop nonetheless? I know they have the advantage of being able to upgrade individual components, but I don't have a monitor, so any desktop I find would need to have ~£100 added onto its price for a monitor, and potentially another £70-80 for an OS.

If you want a desktop, get a desktop. A very quick look gets something like this for £600: http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fusion-Asgard.html, from a decent company that overclocks, of which there are a few. That leaves £100 for a monitor, and if you can squeeze another £20-30 on that, you can get a decent 23-24inch one, including a few ips screens.

[karamazovmm]

the problem with that model is the combination of moderate loads on both the cpu and gpu is going to throttle it. If you only max one of them, its fine, but the 2, you are going to be faced by a heavy throttle on the cpu (it goes below the base clock, turbo boost? forgetaboutit), and the gpu will face the same.

The problem with samsung laptops is that they always have a glaring flaw on them, screen was a problem, but they started using more quality panels. A very common one is the botched wifi, it doesnt have enough range and constantly drops, throttle is verified in a lot of models as well. So its not worth to look for those

but yes, he should get a desktop, mobility is not a necessity or so it appears, so just get a desktop. if mobility is a sudden concern the new envy series (its just a pavillion with the envy name, even the new models) are a comfortable buy so far, along with the n550 from asus, but Im not versed on decent models at 15 that are thin and light, the only good enough is the rmbp 15, but its far from that budget and you need to be OS agnostic on top of that. Although I would just look for the older or new models from clevo if budget is tight, oh btw not that 15 that arent in the thin and light are any better, I would just go for workstations and the clevo P line for that

Yes, I make a point that since Im going to use this for several years I will pay more for that, so I only get high end consumer models or enterprise class hardware in the notebook area, if it were a desktop I would just build it myself.

[geyserik]

I plan on getting a new laptop at some point so if anyone can tell me of a half decent laptop to run Rome 2 for around £500 - £600 I would appreciate it. Don't need high end graphics as I know for that price it's impossible but just something that will run the game smoothly.
Have been researching the acer v3 series but there's so many different models.
Bit of guidance would be great
Thanks

I just got the acer v3 771g-6485 It has a 3rd gen i5 2.6ghz with 3.2ghz turbo boost also has 6 gig of ram and the GeForce 730m 4gig dedicated graphics card with a 17.3 hd led lcd screen.It is a mid range laptop that you can get off of amazon or new egg for under $700.00.It plays shogun 2 on high and ultra settings very smooth Napoleon tw on max settings looks awesome.I think this laptop will run rome 2 on medium fine.So I think if you look at the acer line there are quite a few that are affordable and will be able to run rome 2 reasonably well hope this helped.

[Heinz Guderian]

Karam, i bring before you another candidate:

http://www.box.co.uk/MSI_GX70_1436489.html

• AMD A10-5750M Quad-Core Processor
• 17.3" Full HD Screen
• Microsoft Windows 8 64-bit
• 8GB DDR3 RAM
• 128GB SSD + 750GB HDD
• DVD Rewriter
• Dedicated AMD 8970M 2GB Graphics
• USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth
• SteelSeries Backlit Keyboard
• 2 Year MSI Warranty

i reckon i could knock off off £100 with some haggling as they have an outlet not too far from me. Whatyathink? i read the AMD CPU has some throttling issues with the 8970 card, but according to some, nothing major.

[karamazovmm]

simply and utterly no.

the amd cpu doesnt have throttling problems, its simply too underpowered to support that gpu. and when it comes to gaming that is even more noticed, specially on cpu demanding titles.

its simply just a combination that never was meant to exist, I think that up to the 7800m or the 8800m it should work, but the 7970m/8970m (they are the same gpu) it doesnt.

[Heinz Guderian]

GOD DAMN IT KARAM

[karamazovmm]

now now you just love me, I will punish you after this

you were looking for something in the 13-14 range as well didnt you? at least according to the form that ishan posted to me

if you are still looking in that range go for the w230st, it should appear pretty soon on UK resellers, I know france already has them and polland has shipped some, I do believe that is going to be offered in germany quite soon as well.

its a good machine, I would choose the 37w quad the 4702mq, it packs the 765m in a 13" screen, and its not a bad design at all.

[GoodKingAlf]

Hello guys,

I've just bought this and looking for your opinions on it.

Dell Inspirion 17R SE 7720

• 3.40ghz CPU i7 3rd Gen - i7-3630QM
• 16 GIG DDR3 1600Mhz
• 128GB SSD
• 1000 GB Hard Drive
• Windows 8
• Built in Wireless "N"
• DVDRW
• 2 GB Nvidia GeForce GT 650M
• Full HD Screen

I think it might be a throttler and a bottlenecker... what do you reckon? I might send it back and try something else.

[karamazovmm]

from what I remember its not a throttler., nor it will bottleneck on anything, given that its a quad with a mid range gpu

[Copperknickers II]

Hello, so I'm getting a new computer just in time for Rome 2, I'd like to be able to play it on GD recommended settings. Otherwise, it just needs to be a functional computer for use at Uni.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Chassis & Display
Voyager: 17.3" Matte HD+ LED Widescreen (1600x900)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-3340M (2.70GHz) 3MB

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 645M - 1GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Battery
Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)

Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

£639.00

Was wondering if you thought it was a little pricey, and I'd be better going with a standard brand rather than a built one?

[karamazovmm]

it stinks of compal all over. its a good enough chassis. regarding if its pricey or not I dont really know given that Im more aware of US prices.

however I do think its a little bit pricey

could you fill out the usual form and post? I promise not to bite much

http://laptopusers.net/nbr/

[Nesimî]

What do you fellas think of this Lenovo y500?
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops.../y500/?redir=y

[Copperknickers II]

it stinks of compal all over. its a good enough chassis. regarding if its pricey or not I dont really know given that Im more aware of US prices.

however I do think its a little bit pricey

could you fill out the usual form and post? I promise not to bite much

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

LaptopUsers.net

What is your budget?
£630

What country will you be buying this in?
UK

What size notebook do you prefer?
Mainstream (15 - 16-inch screen)

Would you consider a refurbished laptop?
No

What are the primary tasks you need this notebook for?
Web Surfing, Office and Productivity Software, Listening to Music, Video Chat and Conference, Movie Streaming and Viewing, Output Video to TV or Large Monitor, Graphic Intense 3D Gaming

What games will you be playing?
RTS

Where will you be using this laptop?
Will stay on desk

How many hours of battery life do you need?
3

Will you be buying online or in store?
online

Which OS do you prefer?
Windows 7

List the screen resolutions that interest you:
Standard Resolution (1366 x 768)

Do you prefer a glossy or matte screen?
Glossy or Matte is fine

Is the laptops design important to you?
No

Approximately what date will you be buying this laptop?
ASAP

How long do you want this laptop to last?
5 years

How much storage capacity do you need?
500 GB

Do you want a built-in optical drive, what type?
DVD Burner