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2009-01-13 22:46:34
_raab
Member
+28|6498|Western Aust.
Hey tech dudes. I'm having trouble deciding on a laptop which i'll be using this year. I leave home in a month and can't be bothered hauling my desktop with me. I've basically found two laptops which I think are decent and a few questions will help me narrow it down.

1] Is NEC any good? Any overlying problems/issues?
2] Does 64 bit pose any software issues compared to 32 bit? My dad doesn't trust 64 bit for some reason.
3] 9600gt 512mb vs ATI 3650 512mb (laptop cards - which one is better?)
4] Battery life - They say 3 hours battery life for a core 2 duo, 2 gb ram, 9600GT , 250gb HDD setup, but would it only last that long when conserving the battery (no games, music, videos etc) ?
5] Have any of you seen any good australian deals for around AU$1500-$2000 that is good for fairly demanding programs and occasionally the odd game with a similar graphics card listed above?


Thanks a lot. Really appreciated.
2009-01-13 23:29:06
TopHat01
Limitless
+117|6169|CA
Depends on what you plan on using the laptop for.  If you're just going to be answering emails, writing documents, browsing the Internet, etc. then most of that isn't needed, and you can go with components with less power consumption to juice the battery life.  If you're on the go a lot, you'll want the extra battery life, because you might not have a plug when you need to print *that* document.  Also note the screen size, usually anything higher than a 17" is pretty bulky, so keep that in mind.

But if you want to play BF2, CoD4, and most games on the market nicely, then that laptop would do it perfectly.  A 9600GT is a good card, as far as the laptop version I'm not completely sure about, but the desktop version performs nicely.

64 BIT VS. 32 BIT:  If you have under 4GB of RAM, there really isn't a need, as some programs simply cannot run on the x64 architecture, so I would stick with the 32 bit for your laptop. 

Good luck...
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2009-01-13 23:55:44
unnamednewbie13
Moderator
+2,054|7036|PNW

NEC: Dunno, never considered their laptops.

I bought an HP and Sony 18.4" to about your specs (with 9600GT's) last year for a bit over that price range in USD, so it stands to reason that you could get away with a 17" or one of HP's 16 inchers. Just don't forget to use a notebook cooler.

If you're going for 4GB RAM, you should use the 64-bit Vista. If your dad's trust is in question, you can explain that 64-bit Vista is more stable than 64-bit XP, if he had a bad experience of it. Otherwise, I haven't really recognized a difference for ill. If argument fails and really old programs are consistently used, 32-bit won't hurt either. If you have the option, XP Pro SP3 is still a winner.

I've been fairly satisfied with Sony and HP so far, but we'll see how they are at the end of the year. Just remember to not let them heat up.

Last edited by unnamednewbie13 (2009-01-13 23:56:55)

2009-01-14 23:26:19
_raab
Member
+28|6498|Western Aust.
Cheers for the info. I just bought an asus.

Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 (2.53GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 6MB L2 Cache), 1 x 2048MB (2048MB Total) DDR2 Memory, 320GB SATA HDD 5400RPM, 15.4" WXGA+ ColourShine Widescreen, ATI Radeon HD3650 512MB, DVD-Super Multi DL Drive, 802.11a/g/n, Gigabit Wired LAN, Bluetooth 2.0 and Windows Vista Ultimate.
I upgraded to 4 gb ram for only $35 extra. Theres probably better deals out there, but every time I go to this computer shop I impulse buy something.

 

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