New tech help

2008-08-04 18:43:10

#1

CommieChipmunk: Member; +488|6838|Portland, OR, USA

Alright, so this is going to be a two part thread.

I've been in the market for a laptop for like 2 months now, and I can't find something that I want to buy. So I'm going to college next year, and I'm bringing my desktop, so don't need a super fast laptop because I'll do very minimal gaming on it. I have no idea how CPU/GPU names and speeds correlate with desktop parts so I'm not sure how fast of a processor I need? I've been making stuff on Dell.com but I don't know how much of I need, I think that 4 GBs of ram and a 2.26 ghz processor might be overkill? I was looking at this one but I'm sure that's overkill If someone could find a <$1000 laptop that would be suitable for me that would be great.

I'm also thinking about getting a new monitor.. my brother has a shitty old dell CRT that's on it's last legs and I'm thinking of upgrading to a 24 inch 1920x1200 monitor so I could probably get ~100-150 bucks for my LCD. But in the price range I'm looking at, I'm not sure if it'd be an upgrade. Right now I have a Samsung Syncmaster 204b, which is a really nice monitor and while the resolution's slightly larger I'm not sure if any of these monitors would be any better:

1 Dell $370

2 Samsung $350

3 Dell $380

The only reservation I have about the last monitor is the 1920x1080 resolution.. how would that be for gaming, I've never seen that option in a resolution menu?

2008-08-04 18:56:55

#2

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6465|Winland

That laptop is awesome, especially for the price. Get it, get it, get it.

As for the monitors, get the Samsung. 1920x1080 isn't really tall enough to be nice to work with. 1200 is so much better.

Note that you'll need quite the graphics card to pump around a res that high. My 3870 even struggles with BF2 on that res, sometimes.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2008-08-04 19:14:46

#3

CommieChipmunk: Member; +488|6838|Portland, OR, USA

8800 GTS G92?

And in reviews I see people bitching about the 'TN' screen? Would I notice a difference in image quality between my 204b?

2008-08-04 19:21:50

#4

jaymz9350: Member; +54|6845

In my opinion if the laptop is just for basic apps like web and office there is no need to spend alot on it. Take my lappy for instance. It has a 1.8ghz single core Turion processor and 512 of ram running XP. It does everything I need without a hiccup and even a couple games like sim city 4. Basically the slowest and cheapest laptop with the size screen you want will do just fine if you have a desktop for the games and other strenuous apps.

2008-08-04 19:24:11

#5

Freezer7Pro: I don't come here a lot anymore.; +1,447|6465|Winland

CommieChipmunk wrote:
8800 GTS G92?

And in reviews I see people bitching about the 'TN' screen? Would I notice a difference in image quality between my 204b?

A G92 GTS will do it good enough.

Your 204b is also a TN panel, the TN panel is the kind of panel that is in 98% of the monitors.

The idea of any hi-fi system is to reproduce the source material as faithfully as possible, and to deliberately add distortion to everything you hear (due to amplifier deficiencies) because it sounds 'nice' is simply not high fidelity. If that is what you want to hear then there is no problem with that, but by adding so much additional material (by way of harmonics and intermodulation) you have a tailored sound system, not a hi-fi. - Rod Elliot, ESP

2008-08-04 19:24:11

#6

i g: Banned; +876|6132|GA

you can get a really nice dell for under 1k if you wont be gaming on it

2008-08-04 19:47:14

#7

CommieChipmunk: Member; +488|6838|Portland, OR, USA

i g wrote:
you can get a really nice dell for under 1k if you wont be gaming on it

Honestly, that Asus laptop is really nice, but so is my desktop...

SYSTEM COLOR    Jet Black
PROCESSOR    Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5850 (2.16GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM    Genuine Windows Vista® SP1 Home Basic Edition edit
HD DISPLAY    High Resolution, glossy widescreen 15.4 inch display (1680x1050)
VIDEO CARD Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
MEMORY    2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
HARD DRIVE Size: 120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
OPTICAL DRIVE    CD Writer / DVD player (Combo Drive)
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini-Card
BATTERY OPTIONS    9 cell battery
SOUND OPTIONS    High Definition Audio 2.0

For $814.40

I could get that plus the samsung monitor for less than the Asus.. Does that laptop look good for the price though?

Last edited by CommieChipmunk (2008-08-04 19:51:41)

2008-08-04 19:52:33

#8

Stimey: +786|6388|Ontario | Canada

I have a 88GTS G92 on a Samsung 245BW (1920x1200)
TF2, All maxed, 16xAA, constant 80fps.
very playable.

(Think I upped it to something like 705/2000, roughly.
Fan speed somewhere around 80%)

Last edited by Stimey (2008-08-04 20:01:40)

2008-08-04 21:22:05

#9

CommieChipmunk: Member; +488|6838|Portland, OR, USA

Holy hell, I just found this

That brings the price down to $319.99 for the Samsung, I think I'm definitely getting a new monitor as well

2008-08-10 16:11:07

#10

CommieChipmunk: Member; +488|6838|Portland, OR, USA

Rather than start a new thread...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6834220370

If I bought and a 2 GB stick of ram, is there any reason why I should get a different laptop for basic internet/MS Word stuff?

2008-08-10 16:15:35

#11

Smithereener: Member; +138|6584|California

I'm not sure on this, but I don't know if RAM on the EEE PC can be replaced; I was under the impression it was soldered on the motherboard itself. I could be wrong, I'll look into it.

If all you're doing is word processing or browsing the internet, I'm certain that'll be enough for you. Except it'll take time to get used to the tiny chiclet sized keys. If you haven't done so already, try going to a Best Buy (the one near me has one on display) or some other store and see if the keyboard and screen are enough for you. I can stand the keyboard, but the screen is way too small for my liking.

mmmk, never mind, I guess it can be upgraded. I believe Asus will still honor the warranty even with the upgrade, so that's not a problem.

Last edited by Smithereener (2008-08-10 16:22:35)

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