Recent content by rpg123

If you do an internet search on "laptop reliability" you will find surveys showing ASUS and Toshiba usually ranking best and HP usually ranking last.

The K40IE and the 5738ZG should perform about equally. Same cpus and similar gpus. Both have about triple the gpu performance of your old MSI CR500 with a Geforce 8200m. The ASUS costs more and has one gig less memory, but if you think the build quality is better it may be worth it. Try to...

If it's a Nvidia integrated gpu from a year or two back, they had a serious problem with high failure rates. Many system makers extended warranties on those indefinitely since Nvidia is paying the bill. Check if your gpu is Nvidia, Intel, or ATI. If it's Nvidia you may get a refund.

This sounds like what you're looking for, i3+5650+17" @ $699 from the egg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115796

Maziar's MSI GX640 is an excellent high end system.

ATI or Nvidia doesn't really matter if the performance is similar. ATI 5470 is similar to Nvidia 310m and ATI 5650 to a 335m, these all will run games smoothly, but at different resolutions and detail settings. Integrated graphics is going to improve in the next generation, but for now...

EQ2 needs CPU power, lots of it, and it only uses 1-2 cores last I checked so it should be an i5 or i7 with a gpu to match the graphics settings you want. Lowish graphics settings, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101229 Mediumish graphics, 17" though...

The i3s win in performance and battery life, usually cost more though. AMD and Core2 are the middle of the road options, but Core2 usually comes with weak Intel 4500 graphics, Atoms are the bottom feeders in performance but have great battery life. If you have the extra money get an i3 system...

I don't recall a Radeon 4500, there is a 4530 and 4570. You may have an Intel 4500. A program called GPU-Z will give you the details of your graphics card. http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/SysInfo/GPU-Z/ Once you identify your gpu update the graphics drivers. Generally, turning down...

Dell forum members say the Studio xps 16 can not be video upgraded, the discrete cards are soldered to the motherboard. http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/p/19287806/19529693.aspx

There is little reason to buy an older AMD cpu that uses DDR2. The new ones have been tweaked up nicely, lower wattage and heat plus better performance. The easy way to tell the old AMD cpus from the new is the old ones use DDR2 and the new ones use DDR3. The i3 and i5s are still better...

Sometimes updating the video drivers will correct poblems like that, worth a shot. Maybe lowering the resolution, if that chipset gpu can't handle both at high rez. Just guessing.

I did an internet search on "7 beeps" and found there are other Dell customers having similar problems with i7 systems. This link has some possible solutions. Hope it helps...

From my reading, programmers usually think a big screen and a good keyboard is most important. For CPUs, Intel's i series is the fastest, AMD's ddr3 chips and Intel's c2d are similar in performance.

Budget means different things to different people, but this $399 dual-core Toshiba will play WoW on low/med settings. http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/543273/Toshiba-Satellite-C655D-S5048-156-Widescreen/