weskurtz81
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I agree that the HP has more memory, but if you want to game, it has a worse GPU. However, it will probably be more than enough to game on. I like HP, and they have EXCELLENT service when they have problems. My dad has an HP and the screen went out on it. Well, they picked it up at his house, and had it back to him in about 3 days. It went out again, and the second time they gave him a free battery. But, excellent and fast service. They make good products. I think my dads laptop had freak problems, but they took care of them.
But other than the HP having more memory, they are similarly configured. But the Acer has the edge in GPU power.
wes
But other than the HP having more memory, they are similarly configured. But the Acer has the edge in GPU power.
wes
weskurtz81
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Jack,
I don't think the 950 would work to well for gaming would it? He said he would like to game on it, as well as all the rest of the stuff. Would GMA950 actually work for a gaming machine?
wes
I don't think the 950 would work to well for gaming would it? He said he would like to game on it, as well as all the rest of the stuff. Would GMA950 actually work for a gaming machine?
wes
- Feb 5, 2006
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lol warcraft 3 is hardly a game for modern computers...it should have no problem...it has no problem on my current laptop other than my laptop overheats..but i have 1 gig ram and amd 3700+
weskurtz81
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Wonderwill
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I would say HP or Toshiba, or Sony if you have money to blow. But really, what is the point of a superpowered laptop? A high end desktop is half as much, and you can get a lower end core duo laptop with a gig of RAM for travel with the extra cash. Why spend that much to game on the road when the battery will be the real bottleneck? If you want to blow an extra $500 just to play games with the graphics cranked up in your hotel room, I won't argue. It's your choice! 
weskurtz81
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I agree with what you are saying, but for me it's been nice to have the capable notebook. I stay gone for long periods, and go places where I cannot take a desktop, so the notebook has been quite handy. If it were just short trips, I would not have bought this Acer notebook. But, I bought mine for $1069, with a 120gb hd, X1600, 15.4, DVD Super Multi(whatever the hell that means), 1 gig of memory(don't need 2 gigs at this resolution), and a measily Core Duo(not Core 2) but it is still plenty fast. Nice notebook for a grand.
wes
wes
Wonderwill
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That sounds like a good reason to me! There are mediums, like small form factors that u can carry around, but a powerful laptop would be ideal in your situation.
@OP:Your situation doesn't sound like a good video card is worth the money. Spending $1500 on a laptop with your purposes sounds like extreme overkill, but hey, it's your money!
@OP:Your situation doesn't sound like a good video card is worth the money. Spending $1500 on a laptop with your purposes sounds like extreme overkill, but hey, it's your money!
Mobius
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I am a reseller, and have been for over 10 years.
I have sold, in that time, over 200 laptops, from around 8 different companies.
I have built around 40 laptops from barebones chassis up.
Here are the facts:
1) Avoid Gigabyte - their optical drives fail revoltingly often.
2) Avoid ASUS (at least in New Zealand) as the repair service can take upwards of 2 months. Mainboards can have "issues".
3) Avoid laptops which do not have a magnesium, or aluminium frame. If you can twist it, it's a piece of crap.
4) Make sure that you get WIFI and Bluetooth built in.
5) The most reliable laptops in the world are made by Toshiba - no one else even comes close.
6) Avoid Sony, unless you have money where your brain should be.
7) Avoid plastic where possible: dropping will fuck it.
That's about all I can pass along to you.
I have sold, in that time, over 200 laptops, from around 8 different companies.
I have built around 40 laptops from barebones chassis up.
Here are the facts:
1) Avoid Gigabyte - their optical drives fail revoltingly often.
2) Avoid ASUS (at least in New Zealand) as the repair service can take upwards of 2 months. Mainboards can have "issues".
3) Avoid laptops which do not have a magnesium, or aluminium frame. If you can twist it, it's a piece of crap.
4) Make sure that you get WIFI and Bluetooth built in.
5) The most reliable laptops in the world are made by Toshiba - no one else even comes close.
6) Avoid Sony, unless you have money where your brain should be.
7) Avoid plastic where possible: dropping will fuck it.
That's about all I can pass along to you.
weskurtz81
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Yeah, small form factor would not have worked. Just think about military travel, if I can't carry it on, it would get destroyed. When you have a bunch of uniformed guys having to unload upwards of 500 heavy arse bags, they tend to get into a rush, especially when it's 135 degree F outside. Anything valuable was carried on with me, and anything breakable was as well. I tried to look into the SFF arena, instead of a notebook, but the monitor was the big problem. I did not have the space to carry a monitor on with me. So, my Acer was the next best choice for $1069. Couldn't beat this time last year, but some of the other makers this year are making more competitive similarly configured notebooks, so not it's not the only choice in the targeted price range.
wes
wes
- Apr 19, 2006
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When I first decided to buy a laptop around 4 years ago, I bought an IBM Thinkpad. It's a tough little thing and still works fine today, but I no longer have much need for a laptop nowadays. Good 'ol Pentium M 1.5GHz.
If I were to buy another laptop today, the Lenovo Thinkpads (IBM sold their notebook division) would be amongst the first laptops I would look at.
If I were to buy another laptop today, the Lenovo Thinkpads (IBM sold their notebook division) would be amongst the first laptops I would look at.
noblekitty
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I was in the market for a laptop about a year ago. I spent a long time comparing laptops from different companies, and finally bought a Toshiba Qosmio laptop ( supposed to be a well built models from Toshiba, on top of the Satelite line ). But guess what? I only kept it for about 3 weeks; returned it to get a Fujitsu Lifebook and never looked back.
If you think Toshiba was top rated, I will give you a personal rating: Toshiba Qosmio = 6 out of 10, Fujitsu Lifebook = 9 out of 10 ( I save the 10 for the super laptop).
Yes, I have seen all the others...Acers, Dells, HP, Compaq, etc... they are all cheap looking and poorly built. Toshiba and Lenovo are about the same in quality but Lenovo is geared more for business.
If you haven't seen a Lifebook yet, do yourself a favor and look for one. There is no freaking air vents on the bottom of the laptop to prevent you from using your laptop on your bed or carpet, and it doesn't fry your lap while using it. The thing is built as tough as a tank yet stil looking very elegant. And the screen, hm... how can I say this...after a year, it still looks better than my new Samsung 22" widescreen lcd.
My coworker just bought a new Lifebook last month and gave his junky HP to his wife, after seeing my laptop. I took a look at his new laptop and the built quality is still there, infact it looks even better than mine. I was impressed.
If you think Toshiba was top rated, I will give you a personal rating: Toshiba Qosmio = 6 out of 10, Fujitsu Lifebook = 9 out of 10 ( I save the 10 for the super laptop).
Yes, I have seen all the others...Acers, Dells, HP, Compaq, etc... they are all cheap looking and poorly built. Toshiba and Lenovo are about the same in quality but Lenovo is geared more for business.
If you haven't seen a Lifebook yet, do yourself a favor and look for one. There is no freaking air vents on the bottom of the laptop to prevent you from using your laptop on your bed or carpet, and it doesn't fry your lap while using it. The thing is built as tough as a tank yet stil looking very elegant. And the screen, hm... how can I say this...after a year, it still looks better than my new Samsung 22" widescreen lcd.
My coworker just bought a new Lifebook last month and gave his junky HP to his wife, after seeing my laptop. I took a look at his new laptop and the built quality is still there, infact it looks even better than mine. I was impressed.
Between those two i would take the Toshiba. Personally i am an HP fan and the HP I have is pretty much the same specs as yours except it came with 1 GB instead of two (not a problem, I bought 2 GB for 80$ and sold my other 2x512 chips for 40$) and it had XP. paid 750 for it! The reason I am saying to stay away from HP right now is because of how they built their new laptops. This new glossy finish is a pain in the a**, a buddy of mine bought one and it is always dirty. The other thing is that the new HPs have no latchs on the top to lock it closed. So it is really only the hinges holding the lid closed and while my friends laptop is about 7 months newer than mine his screen is already looser than mine.
P.S. Toshiba have very crappy hinges on their screens. I have 3 friends whos had to send in their laptops to Toshiba to have the hinges fixed.
P.S. Toshiba have very crappy hinges on their screens. I have 3 friends whos had to send in their laptops to Toshiba to have the hinges fixed.
samael
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I had 2 laptops until now, a Toshiba P100 and currently a Dell XPS M1710.
What I can tell you, but only about these 2 products is that the Dell laptop is WAY better than the Toshiba.
The configurations were almost similar but the XPS is much faster, runs cooler and the battery life is almost twice compared with the Toshiba.
The only think at witch the Toshiba was better was at the quality of the display witch I must admit is superior to that of Dell's.
Note that they were both high end laptops ~2500 $ so I think that the comparison is a valid one.
What I can tell you, but only about these 2 products is that the Dell laptop is WAY better than the Toshiba.
The configurations were almost similar but the XPS is much faster, runs cooler and the battery life is almost twice compared with the Toshiba.
The only think at witch the Toshiba was better was at the quality of the display witch I must admit is superior to that of Dell's.
Note that they were both high end laptops ~2500 $ so I think that the comparison is a valid one.
glockman
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If you are planning on playing games and need a high performance notebook I can't comment - if however, you are looking for a run of the mill unit for browsing, e-mail, etc. I say go with the least expensive unit with the features you want. I recently looked at an Acer that was $399 at Best Buy and seriously considered it but went for a Toshiba that had 1Gb of RAM, a dual core proc and Vista Home Premium for $599 with free Best Buy financing. I am completely happy with it - it is not the lightest and probably does not have the best battery life but does everything I need with ease.
If you are looking for something built a little nicer but still not a gaming rig then maybe look at a ThinkPad.
If you are looking for something built a little nicer but still not a gaming rig then maybe look at a ThinkPad.
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