Solved! Help me select one of these 3 Toshiba's

[vizering]

A500-02F

A500-02J

A500-02E

The first one is the cheapest, and last the most expensive. This PC is mainly for work and homework assignments, general entertainment (some movies, music, web stuff).

No games will be played on this PC. Although, games of interest are Dragon Age, Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3.

Gaming aside, I know the first PC will handle everything rather well. I would prefer a 7200 RPM but the makers got something against fitting laptops with HD's like that.

HD size is irrelevant to me since I do not do graphics or video editing. The main factor here, to me anyway, is the cpu clock speed and video card. I would like to be able to play the games I mentioned above, but if I ca't there is no loss. It is not a priority to me.

So which is it? The price difference is almost 50% the cost of the first laptop. Is it worth it to get a expensive one now and risk being unable to play SC2 and D3 two years from now when they are released (lol @ release dates for Blizzard games).

Or should I simply get the cheap one now, pocket the 400-500 price difference and re-evaluate my situation a year or two from now once the games I have an eye on are released?

 

[Maziar]

I would choose the last one if you want to play SC2 because RTS games benefit from a faster CPU,if you weren't going to play that game then i would have recommended the first one which is the cheapest because you won't do any CPU intensive apps so a T6600 would server you well

 

[vizering]

What about if I were to run Dragon Age on one of these laptops? Here are the specs:

Windows XP Minimum Specifications
OS: Windows XP with SP3
CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.4Ghz or greater
AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 1.8Ghz or greater
RAM: 1GB or more
Video: ATI Radeon X850 128MB or greater
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space

Windows Vista Minimum Specifications
OS: Windows Vista with SP1
CPU: Intel Core 2 (or equivalent) running at 1.6Ghz or greater
AMD X2 (or equivalent) running at 2.2GHZ or greater
RAM: 1.5 GB or more
Video: ATI Radeon X1550 256MB or greater
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space

Recommended Specifications
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz Processor or equivalent
RAM: 4 GB (Vista) or 2 GB (XP)
Video: ATI 3850 512 MB or greater
NVIDIA 8800GTS 512 MB or greater
DVD ROM (Physical copy)
20 GB HD space



How can we compare the last laptop gpu to the recommended nvidia 8800gts 512mb+?

 

[Maziar]

Nvidia 8800GTS 512 performs way better than G 210M

 

[vizering]

So I'm really better off just getting the first one then since neither 2nd or 3rd configurations will offer any good gaming right?

 

[dirtdiver]

It's a bit hard to tell what you're really looking for--you say you do not care about gaming but you seem to base your decision off how well each machine will perform with games lol.

Does it *have* to be a Toshiba listed above? The prices are bit high for what they are, IMO.

http/www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5210433&Sku=G180-17006

For about the same price range you can get the same laptop I have, which is designed for gaming. I don't even truly use it for gaming--but in the event I want to play something (usually Counter Strike Source, Call of Duty series, Killing floor, L4D, etc) it handles all games quite well on high settings.

Just suggesting you look around at other manufacturers--I have had 2 Toshibas that *combined* lasted 5 days.

Everyone has different luck, but I think you may benefit from a bit more research and shopping around.

 

[vizering]

I don't really care about gaming, but if I am to get one to do partial gaming I want it to be able to game. As my previous reply states, I think I am better off with the first one if both second and third option will stink at gaming regardless.

Toshiba was my company of choice since I need this laptop to last at least 4 years and I know they make durable laptops.

 

[dirtdiver]

To each his own, I suppose. Not saying Toshiba doesn't make quality electronics, but I don't prefer their laptops.

If I remember correctly, your "cheapest" option was $899, and the link I supplied you was $999 with free shipping. The GPU in the laptop I suggested is the 9800M GTS, it has a 17 inch display of higher resolution, has a Core 2 Centrino, Vista 64 (with free Win7 upgrade) and a 9 cell battery.

For the amount of money you plan to spend--I think you could get a better machine, but I'm just a systems administrator who has been building computers for 8+ years--what do I know? lol

 

[vizering]

I'll have to check if that deal exists in the canadian site. How does tiger direct handle defects and stuff like that for laptops?

 

[dirtdiver]

I am not sure if the Canadian site has that deal or not (since I never look there).

As far as I know you can purchase an extended warranty through Tiger, on top of the 1 year warranty from the manufacturer. I believe if you were to purchase the extended warranty, you would send the product directly to Tigerdirect if it were to need service; else, you would send it to the manufacturer for service. Tiger has (in my experience) great customer service. For my company, we do *all* of our buying through them {we buy new components or parts to build PC's nearly every week} so we deal with them quite often, and I have yet to be disappointed.

Hope this helps!

 

[vizering]

Thanks for your input. I think my best bet is to simply wait until tomorrow, since that is when Dragon Age is being released. Being the most demanding of the three games (just guessing here since it's 3d) I think I should wait to see what common system specs are for the game, see how that translates to laptops and go from there.

 

[dirtdiver]

You're entirely welcome