TA:TW - about to cost me a lot of money!

[MonkeyChief]

Well of course I love this mod (who doesn't?) but i'm tired of playing it on the lowest graphic settings on my budget laptop. So i'm looking to buy a new laptop to enjoy this mod with.

I am a full-time uni student, constantly travelling and with very little financial income

So any advice on cheap'ish laptops that can handle Medieval II well? Feel free to post some links and i'll happily give rep to good suggestions. Cheers fellas!

[Berserker1]

You helped me (sort of), by the way, I got the music, I just renamed it to one of the names already being used. You can not put new battle music, just rename, and replace.

So, the best help here is to HELP YOURSELF by calling dell or hp. I called dell when I wanted a new desktop, got way more than I needed for a good price of 669 dollars. Took me ten days to get the computer.

Inspiron 580, Intel Core i3-530 processor(4MB Cache, 2.93GHz)
6GB DDR3 SDRAM AT 1066MHz-3X2GB
512MB NVIDIA GeForce G310

Laptops are a bit more expensive for the same thing
But, you do not need those specs to run it decently, a lot of laptops have 2.2 ghz processors, that is .2 less than the recommended specs, which you should be fine overall. I hope they can get bigger than 2.2

Tell them the game you are getting, they will get you something that can run it comfortably.

[MonkeyChief]

Cheers - glad to hear about the music. The thing is, I'm interested in a unbiased opinion (which i won't get if i phone up Dell). Thats also why i'm asking here - i couldn't really find any decent reviews etc. that were unbiased. Offical websites etc. just tell you everything is great and don't distinguish between good/cheap. I was hoping that a laptop owner might show up and tell me what they are using.

[midterm360]

If you have one, go to the local future shop , I bought a gateway computer there that is excellent(excluding the video card)
-8GB of DDR3 RAM
-1 TB of hard drive space
-Quad Core processor
-a 1012mb video card ATI Radeon HD 4650(the bad part of it all)

All for 800$ canadian(ran me 1200 but that was with AMAZAZING insurance on it) as a desktop, while it is expensive it was also a very good deal and it can easily handle MTW 2 and even Empire. You could probably find something to suit your needs for cheaper however. I suggest frequenting your local computer stores and retailers and scout the best price you can. Often times its actually cheaper to BUILD a computer than buy one. If you are looking for a laptop however...errr well it wont be cheap.

[MonkeyChief]

Yeah i realise - im not looking for top of the line graphics, just to play with settings on 'medium' without awful lag. And because i travel a lot, desktop pcs are out of the question. Thanks for the advice though

[Berserker1]

I hate to say it, but you probably are best off not even trying... Laptops are not cheap to make game computers. Though if you go to dell, you can get a decent 2.2 ghz processor one for about 500.

Pc magazine my friend, that is where I started when I searched for computers, looks like it ended well.

Do not get a laptop at a store, get one through a company, Dell is pretty good, also HP is probably the best for laptops. This is what I have read through several sites. I am not biased about dell, I just started with them, and am feeling good about it!

[midterm360]

HAHAHA your rep bumped me to the next level! Now instead of a bum who coulda been somebody I'm someone who ate a census takers liver with some Fa..va.....beans . Well thanks all the same( I assume it was you repped me) , all I can suggest is you check out the stores because you can get an excellent deal on brand new laptops that say are a 2008/2009 model that are still quite good and will more than meet your needs.

[Tropical Bob]

As others mentioned, I would go for a desktop sooner than a laptop. My HP laptop can run the game at a general 'meh' level (Though, that could be from the faulty fan that I still haven't gotten fixed), and was around $1,100 or so. For that price, you can get a destruction desktop.

[Comandertony]

as mentioned before i would really check pc magazines or other computer magazines....these are by far the most help because well there all about computer/laptops. dont be afraid to stop in several stores that sell computers. ask question and ask more questions and oh yeh ask more questions. the less you ask the more you know. most people by bad computers because they dont ask around enough. so my best advice is to ask around stores and ask tons of questions. and make sure that you understand what there talking about. just because they say that has more ram than this doesnt mean its better for gaming. there are laptops and there are gaming computers.....HUGE DIFFERENCE. but you can also up your laptop with video/sound/graphics cards but like you stated its all about how much you want to spend. hope this helps.

[Berserker1]

When people say "as others have said," they could just say "as berserker, the man with wisdom has said."

[Erunion Telcontar]

To be honest, Getting a gaming laptop is not cheap. I do not advise it unless you have money to burn. Get a gaming PC, much better bang-for-buck, especially if you build it through a company like NCIX. (That is, pick and choose your own parts. They do the dirty work with the screwdrivers and what-not...) I got my gaming rig a year ago for $1600 (Canadian Dollars, with tax). I already had a monitor, but that is only another $200. My rig, however, is Beastly. It can currently play pretty much everything on Ultra, and will probably last for a good two more years without upgrades.
For $1200-$1400 you can buy yourself a really good gaming rig that will allow you to play Med 2 on highest with 10k troops on the screen. (Bump it down to medium and you'll probably be able to get 20k... )

Good Hunting!

[Point Blank]

My hi-power Dell gaming laptop broke down every 3 months. I would never buy a Dell again.

[MonkeyChief]

Thanks for all the responses guys - i might just wait till i've finished my course and settled down a bit - then splash out on the ultimate gaming pc! Cheers once again.

[rtcreator]

You should take a look at http://www.ginger6.com/ as I asked them and a couple of other places to have a system for me for £550 and out of the three business', this place came up with the best price for a very good system, which btw you still can't buy on the market for what I paid for it a year ago. They are a semi small business, but have great offers, so give them a try.

[Shocked]

Haha yeah, I wouldn't waste money on a good laptop, its cheaper to buy a PC for gaming

[Lordinquisitor]

My Pc is like 4 years old, and can still run Third Age perfectly smooth..

[el Cid]

You should read this.

[IHV]

If you play games like Medieval 2 etc mostly then make sure you go for good CPU rather than best gfx card.

[Black_ice_Spain]

if ya want to play MTWII use a high clocked dual core, better performance than a quad core.


good GPU its not needed, anything like a nvidia 9600 will do. 4gb ram too

[Space Voyager]

I have an HP and it is great. Also the price is still comparable to laptops with same performance, almost a year after purchase.

AND they have full XP support, which was a HUGE factor in my decision.