onomastikon

Join Date 02/2006

+18

Need small advice on replacement laptop

Just in case I am unable to rescue my laptop from whatever is plagueing it, and it needs to be scrapped, I would require a simple bit of advice in getting a replacement. Currently, I have a 3-year old Sony Vaio 17" laptop running Win7 Home Premium, with 6GB of memory, an ATI Radeon Mobility 4650 (dont know how much memory it has, maybe 500MB?), and a Core Duo P8700 chip at 2.53 GhZ. Until it started dying last week, I have been very happy with it; I was able to play anything I wanted on it (I don't do serious shooters or anything, Shogun 2: Total War was about the most challenging graphically I had) and it was very reliable. It never overheated, the graphics were clear, it wasn't too heavy, it was quiet, and Win 7 Home Premium didn't start giving me trouble until recently. The battery wasn't great, but the laptop is light, so I suppose it was a fair tradeoff. I paid 1000 Euros for it in Berlin 3 years ago.

I'd like to get a laptop with similar "features": reliable, quiet, acceptable for gaming if not top-of-the-line (dont want overheating or much too heavy) with a decent screen. I don't need a TB of storage, but I want a decent graphic card with enough memory to run games for the next 3 years. I'd like to budget around 1000 dollars, plus or minus 15% if something really is good above that breakpoint. I just moved to America and need to pay dollars now.

Just randomly looking at the first thing that pops up, I see for example this offer here, at my local Best Buy (crappy electronic store around the corner). 17" display, i7 3610QM processor (whatever that is), but only 2.3 GHz, with a "turbo" option for 3.3 (what the hell is that?), 8GB DDR3 RAM, NVIDIA GT 650M graphic card with 2GB. I have no idea if this is acceptable, normal, or utter junk. I've never had a NVidia card before (only ATI), and I'm no huge fan of Dell. But whatever. Maybe I can't get a Sony. Any tips? Yes, I realize I know nothing about computers. Sorry and thanks in advance.

Specific questions:

- I saw on the Path of Exile website that they want a CPU which supports SSE2 -- what is that, and how do I know if I have that?

- I saw there also that a graphic card needs to have Pixel Shader 3 or higher -- what is that, and how do I know if I have that?

THank you tons.

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2of3

Join Date 10/2006

+816

That look like a pretty good price for what you get.

Although, I may be biased given the fact that I would prolly pay a lot more for the same machine here in Norway. Only thing better than that may be 16 gig ram, SSD, and maybe a full HD screen (1920x1080)

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2of3

Join Date 10/2006

+816

To me it looks like you could get the same machine cheaper buying directly from Dell, though: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=fncwr36b&model_id=inspiron-17r-5720&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19

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Thank you for that fast response. How can you see if a screen is full HD? I thought today, and at that size, all have that kind of resolution.

So you think Dell makes ok machines?

The link you sent includes no graphics card?

What is SSD?

thank you

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Snowman

Join Date 03/2001

+343

Quoting onomastikon,

reply 3

What is SSD?

SSD = Solid-State Disc

The new black when speaking about harddrives.
No moveable parts. Basically just a gigantic "memorycard". Lightning fast, but less capasity and more expensive.
Definitely worth the extra cost though.

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2of3

Join Date 10/2006

+816

Quoting onomastikon,

reply 3

The link you sent includes no graphics card?

There is a scroll window just under the price......all the specs are listed there. Looks identical to the one you linked to.

Quoting Snowman,

reply 4

Definitely worth the extra cost though.

I have a 128 gig SSD on my lappy as well as a 750 gig HDD. I have the OS installed on the SSD and use the second for storage. You wouldn't believe the difference on boot up time alone! A SSD is just plain faster at everything.

Quoting onomastikon,

reply 3

How can you see if a screen is full HD? I thought today, and at that size, all have that kind of resolution.

1600x900 is so-called HD+.......IMO it's a fancy way of saying not quite full HD. 1920x1080 would be full HD. I wouldn't get hung up on that, though.....it would just be nice to have full HD.

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Uvah

Join Date 05/2006

+874

You an check with Wal-Mart. They almost always run sales on laptops, desktops and what have you. Same quality, providing they carry what you want, but the price is more than reasonable. Should you go that way make sure you get the extended warranty. It costs a little more but its worth it. Bought my Toshiba there for $576.00 total. Regular price before taxes and stuff was $699.00.

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Alstein

Join Date 07/2004

+55

I'd recommend Sager in your case, maybe ASUS. A little more expensive, but more reliable.

ASUS's gaming models are super-reliable for gaming, they don't overheat.

Check notebook forums before you buy anything to see the complaints.

As for SSD's, they are good, but much depends on how you use a laptop- if you turn your laptop on and off a lot, SSD's are awesome, if you tend to leave it on, they're still good but not as good.

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Thank you, people!

I will check on Asus and Sager too, and look at Wal-Mart. Currently, I live in Brooklyn, NY, USA, so finding a place shouldn't be that hard. Does one walk into a physical store or do everything online here? Is there like a store you could recommend to see something and talk with a human? Or do I just look for "Asus laptop sale" online?`

Thank you!

PS. 2of3, the Inspiron 17R lists "Intel graphics card" in the spex, so it's not a dedicated card.

PPS. I can see on some places, such as newegg.com, that there are a variety of Asus G75 laptops, for example. I see people have "added" an SSD to the standard HDD; is that possible / feasable / sensible (especially for a non-computer-geek such as myself), or do I have to somehow find the one I want? I am looking, for instance, for one with a GeForce 660M card, instead of the 670M card (because I heard the latter make much more heat), and one with a small SSD, and one with lots of memory, but I don't need a BluRay writer etc. -- is there a place where one can configure these, or is it just luck in finding the right one?

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Hmn it seems I can't find a place to get what I want in NYC, especially because with tax here (no one includes Tax in the price like they did in Germany!) it pushes the price up even beyond 1500.

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