Solved! Shopping Toshiba, should I change?

[sanmoreau]

Hi,

I currently have a Toshiba A500/042, bought in New Zealand and I have the opportunity to buy the next model up, and wondering if I should go through with it, need your help!!!
Here are the specs of the 2 of them

A500/042
CPU Intel® Core™2 Duo processor P7350 (2.0GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache) Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium 32bit (includes recovery partition for Windows Vista® Home Premium 64bit)
Storage 400GB (5400rpm) SATA Memory 4GB DDR2 (2GB + 2GB) (800MHz) expandable to 8GB
Screen Size 16.0" Widescreen HD TruBrite® Display (1366 x 768), supports 720p
Graphics ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 (2286MB Total: 1GB discrete memory + 1262MB shared memory with ATI HyperMemory™ technology)
Optical Disc Drive DVD SuperMulti Double/Dual Layer
Speakers Premium harman/kardon® speakers
Sound Harman/Kardon Speakers
FM Tuner / TV Tuner Integrated Hybrid Digital / Analogue TV Tuner


A500/02U
CPU Intel® Core™2 Duo processor P8800 (2.66GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 Cache)
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (32bit) (includes recovery partition for Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit)
Storage 500GB (5400rpm) SATA
Memory 4GB DDR2 (2GB + 2GB) (800MHz) expandable to 8GB
Screen Size 16.0" Widescreen HD TruBrite® Display (1366 x 768), supports 720p
Graphics NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 230M (2032MB Total: 1GB DDR3 discrete memory + 1287MB shared memory)
Optical Disc Drive Blueray (reader) +DVD SuperMulti Double/Dual Layer
Speakers Premium harman/kardon® speakers
Sound Harman/Kardon Speakers

the main differences are the procesor, videocard and blueray drive. I'm concerned on wich one of them is better for gaming.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
HD 4650 is a better card than GT 230M,so the first one will give you better gaming performance

 

[jonpaul37]

In my personal opinion, laptops are junk compared to desktops for gaming (assuming you'll be using this for gaming) anywho, of the commercial laptop makers out there, i would say Toshiba is one of the better companies (though i NEVER buy commercial, i would rather build myself)

There really needs to be some sort of simpler way so people can buy/build their own laptops, kinda like newegg with desktop items, they are reasonably priced and better to build yourself, you'll treat the computer better if you built it.

 

[sanmoreau]

I'm only wondering if the higher speed in the procesor really makes such a difference over the different video cards on this two.

Is it worth to change computers in this case?? Or should I keep the one I've got?

 

[Maziar]

In gaming,VGA plays the most important role,there are some games which benefit from a faster CPU but most are GPU-Limited.
About your second question,can you clarify a bit more,you mean changing components in those laptops ?

 

[sanmoreau]

thanks for the tip, to clarify, I have the a500/042, I can play with no issues modern warfare, NFS undercover almos in all setting in high. But now I have the chance to sell this one and buy the new model A500/02U.

When you check the settings, the 02U has a faster procesor but the geforce video card, and the one Ive got has a slower processor but an Ati video card.

The question is, if you compare the 2 notebooks, which one would you go forward if you are considering playing games with it.

To answer jonpaul37, it has to be a notebook because I travel and work with it, but I want to play games on my free time.

many thanks!

Santi

 

[Maziar]

Oh,first i thought you are stuck on which to buy sorry :d
As i said a HD 4650 is better than a GT 230M in gaming,the advantage of the second one is a faster CPU but as i said most games are GPU limited.
You may want to fill the FAQ and we can help you more:
http/www.tomshardware.com/forum/50797-35-read-buying-laptop