Need Some Help

Best Computer

  • Dell

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Gateway

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Acer

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other brand. Please name.

    Votes: 1 100.0%

  • Total voters
    1

racemaxx24

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Oct 26, 2008
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18,510
Well for some time now, I have been hopeing to get something diffrent to replace my Dell Vostro 200 with a Celeron 420 in it[I know, very, very slow]. Due to school functions now, I have decided a laptop would work best. So basically, I am hopeing that you guys can help me a bit :D




1_What is your budget? 300-500 $

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? Doesn't really matter

3_What screen resolution do you want? Something good for my needs

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Kinda of both as it needs to be portable for school but be able to run like a desktop

5_How much battery life do you need? Doesn't matter as long as it can be pluged into the wall to charge.

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? The only game I play{I play it alot} it Nascar Racing 2003 Season. Its an older game but my newer desktop with a Celeron 420{Intergrated graphics, not sure which version] has a hard time running it due to the modding you do to the game. We race on servers so it needs to be able to connect wel to internet also.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing, surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.) I use the internet quite a bit and I do like to listen to music ;)

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need? Not sure. Something that would fit my needs.

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them. Nope. I'm open to anying in the US

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop? As long as possible as they ain't cheap.

11_If you would like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop, post them.

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. I would prefer Dell, Gateway, etc. The more popular brands just because I know that there are more places locacly that have help/supports, and carry them.

13_What country do you live in? USA baby
 
The biggest problem is that you want something that can handle some games, but your price range is very limiting. I have no idea what the Nascar Racing game is like so I can't say whether an integrated solution will be able to handle it. You would most likely want something with a low end GeForce or Radeon card, but at $500 bucks, that may be tough to do.

Would you be adverse to buying a refurbished laptop? I was checking through the Dell outlet and they have several Inspirons ranging from 14.1'' to 15.4'' that have a GeForce 8400M GS which would probably be able to handle your game.
 

dwellman

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Dec 14, 2002
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I was going to say that, in this day and age, the sub $500 notebook is pretty much non-existant, unless you're getting at "netbook" or something similarly powered.

Basically, to run that game well, you need to search for a graphics solution that has DirectX 9 or better support. I believe the Intel 900 series or better all have DX9 support. I'm pretty sure all the available nVidia ones do (integrated or not-- that would be Geforce 6xxx / NV40 or better). AMD / ATI R300 or better ( xPress 200 and up for onboard and 9500 and up for discrete).
 

racemaxx24

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Oct 26, 2008
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Thx guys. And yes I would have no problem looking at refurbished or used ones. I know my price range is very limiting but right now, thats all I can afford
 

Peaks

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Sep 12, 2008
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I cant see you being able to get a notebook with much better graphics for that kind of price range. I found with most laptop companies like dell, asus, hp, your not gonna get a laptop with much better than an integrated card for less than £500.
 

quanger

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Jun 6, 2005
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I think if your price range is 400-500usd, your best bet is to pickup a decent notebook on craigslist or kijiji. you can get some really decent note books for that price. Just the other day, there was a fellow selling a toshiba M300 notebook that was equipped with an ati 3450 and T5750. He was selling it for $750 cdn which is abought 650 usd.

Im sure you can find something like that in the US. As for graphics, just make sure you get something from ati or nvidia. I am sure nascar 2003 will require some sort of graphics power. You may have to resort to buying something as old as a Centrino (original) with a discrete videocard.
 

racemaxx24

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Oct 26, 2008
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It does require some graphics power but just go give u guys a comparison, I run the game on my desktop with a Celeron 420 and intergrated graphics and it does ok... About 50 framerates in one mod but in the other, it gets about 20
 

dwellman

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Dec 14, 2002
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An ThinkPad T42 with the Radeon 9600 or a T43 with any graphics or either in the p series (T42p / T43p). There's a lot of T4x series coming off lease in the last 6 months. There's also the R series, but they were much less popular and no real good deals to be found.

Or there's this