The Laptop Guide - Post here for questions, deals, etc.

[The Stig]

Seems like an all around good laptop, but nothing "special". However I am not aware of US prices/deals so I cannot say if you've got a good deal or not. Not the best screen though for a 15.6incher.

Jakson: if your laptop draws air from the bottom, and the cooler you're looking at also does the same, then it will (in my opinion) go with the air flow of the laptop and will provide it "fresh(er)" air for your laptop fan to draw from when it comes on.

Draylo: If I were you I'd open it up and try to clear the interal dust out of it, however it sounds bad if it just still shuts down, in this case I don't think the cooler help your problem that much. I don't think they suck up that much power, I don't really notice, but I have not benchmarked before.

[Syfinosis]

Seems like an all around good laptop, but nothing "special". However I am not aware of US prices/deals so I cannot say if you've got a good deal or not. Not the best screen though for a 15.6incher.

800 USD would translate to about 600 Euros

"800 U.S. dollars = 599.565315 Euros" According to Google

and yea I agree a bigger better screen would be cooler, but I didn't have the currency available to build my dream PC, also the laptop's purpose is to keep me entertained when my job has me traveling. If it can play emulators PS2 and lower, CnC 4 and starcraft 2 I am content.

I am still waiting for holo-image interactive PCs

[Krandor]

@ Gredival

I really would not worry about the M11x's processor being "weak," especially if your primary concern is FFXI. If I can play games like Just Cause 2, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age (i.e. NEW games) with settings mostly on High and have the games be 100% playable, I wouldn't really be worried about a game as old as FFXI.

Another showoff -

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31...0-10-58-55.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31...0-48-47-40.jpg

If this little fella can handle that at 30+ fps, I wouldn't be worried about FFXI. Ignore the downgraded textures, that was taken while I was fucking around with settings, the 1GB of VRAM let's it easily handle Textures on High, I just enjoyed that screenshot for the water effects even with the textures on low.

Edit : I'm actually kind of bored right now so I'll grab a benchmark for FFXI and see how it runs.

Ran the older CoP benchmark, some frame rate drops when there was 50 million tarus on the screen, but it all looked playable to me.

[Gredival]

@ Gredival

I really would not worry about the M11x's processor being "weak," especially if your primary concern is FFXI. If I can play games like Just Cause 2, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age (i.e. NEW games) with settings mostly on High and have the games be 100% playable, I wouldn't really be worried about a game as old as FFXI.

Well XI and SC2 lol. You happen to have the SC2 beta by any chance?

Anyway most of my worries stem from my old desktop. This desktop was built during the dual core vs. dual processor tech wars, and I had gone mid-line with a simple high power single-core Athlon. But did have a Radeon x1050, when the card was brand new. The card should have been more than powerful enough for FF, but at some point (maybe a year after) FFXI performance degraded heavily. It was terribly laggy with crappy FPS. Given a good card and more than enough ram the only thing I could really think to fault was the processor which my G15 always read as a load of 90% with FFXI open.

I know it's a much newer dual core but seeing that low of a clock speed just worries me with my experience. That's why I'm just hesitant to invest in an M11 when 100 more nets me an i5 security blanket (post upgrade on ram from 2GB to 4GB, HD from 160 GB 5400rpm to the 250GB 7200rpm)

[Krandor]

SC2 runs with most settings on a mix of high/med at 40-50 fps

[ringthree]

My tax return is going to be around $1300 and I am an absolute idiot with computers. I don't know if I should get a new desktop or laptop. I have an aging Alienware 5300 (pre-duo core) and a netbook already, but the monitor for my Alienware is very nice and my new desktop could use that instead.

Ideas? Thoughts? What should I get? Know of any current deals?

Remember, I am an indecisive retard when it comes to computing (all things? LOL). I need something that is reliable (because I can't fix it myself), a good deal, and powerful.

Although, they do have a saying in motorsports where I used to spend all of my money; Speed, Quality, Price. Choose two. So I understand I am asking the impossible, but any help is appreciated.

[Cephius]

My tax return is going to be around $1300 and I am an absolute idiot with computers. I don't know if I should get a new desktop or laptop. I have an aging Alienware 5300 (pre-duo core) and a netbook already, but the monitor for my Alienware is very nice and my new desktop could use that instead.

Ideas? Thoughts? What should I get? Know of any current deals?

Remember, I am an indecisive retard when it comes to computing (all things? LOL). I need something that is reliable (because I can't fix it myself), a good deal, and powerful.

Although, they do have a saying in motorsports where I used to spend all of my money; Speed, Quality, Price. Choose two. So I understand I am asking the impossible, but any help is appreciated.

If you're a gamer and you want bang for your buck, get a desktop. It will be far more powerful than a laptop that costs the same. With a laptop you're paying partly for the convenience of it being mobile. Laptops, being restricted on space, don't have much room for video cards, so their graphics power is largely compromised compared to desktops. The cards you see in laptops are usually compressed versions of graphics cards that are 2-3 generations old.

Unless you have a specific need to be mobile, I'd go for a desktop for gaming. Dell usually has good deals, and personally I like them as a brand. HP is decent too, though their support system sucks. Try going to their websites, put a build together, and we can make some recommendations. Sometimes there's online coupon codes available, too.

[ringthree]

If you're a gamer and you want bang for your buck, get a desktop. It will be far more powerful than a laptop that costs the same. With a laptop you're paying partly for the convenience of it being mobile. Laptops, being restricted on space, don't have much room for video cards, so their graphics power is largely compromised compared to desktops. The cards you see in laptops are usually compressed versions of graphics cards that are 2-3 generations old.

Unless you have a specific need to be mobile, I'd go for a desktop for gaming. Dell usually has good deals, and personally I like them as a brand. HP is decent too, though their support system sucks. Try going to their websites, put a build together, and we can make some recommendations. Sometimes there's online coupon codes available, too.

I peaked around, and I still don't really know where to start for a basis. Alienware is still amazingly expensive, and Dell is a lot cheaper but I don't need a new monitor.

I don't even know what the current best graphics cards are or how much memory I should have. I definitely think I am going to lean toward a desk top, but I don't even know what my needs are besides I want it to play FFXIV at orgasmic graphical levels.

[Kainos]

on the topic of the mx11, i'm seriously thinking of picking one up but am concerned about the small screen size. does it feel too small for portable gaming? graphics look sharp enough on those screenshots.

As for FFXI, I'm assuming it can be run at highest res/settings and dual box with no slowdown since the game is old ya?

[Cephius]

Alright, try with this model as your basis. I upgraded the RAM to 8gb and the video card to the ATI HD 5570 and it comes to around $1269. That's a pretty solid machine. I've owned XPS systems before, they're good. Also you get a dedicated tech support line, that will be nice if you're not a techy person

Of course, if you're intent on just playin FF14, you're better off waiting until it comes out. Computer prices only go down, you'll get better value for your dollar then.

[Krandor]

on the topic of the mx11, i'm seriously thinking of picking one up but am concerned about the small screen size. does it feel too small for portable gaming? graphics look sharp enough on those screenshots.

As for FFXI, I'm assuming it can be run at highest res/settings and dual box with no slowdown since the game is old ya?

The screen size really doesn't bother me. I have a 17 inch laptop that mostly just sits around now outside of when I have to go do a 25 man raid in WoW, since that's really the only instance where the M11x just can't really keep up to the stronger computer.

As for dual boxing FFXI I would imagine so, I haven't played the game in years but it should be able to manage it without issue. If you can fuck around with the processor affinity and assign each instance of FFXI to a different core it should be a cake walk.

[ringthree]

Alright, try with this model as your basis. I upgraded the RAM to 8gb and the video card to the ATI HD 5570 and it comes to around $1269. That's a pretty solid machine. I've owned XPS systems before, they're good. Also you get a dedicated tech support line, that will be nice if you're not a techy person

Of course, if you're intent on just playin FF14, you're better off waiting until it comes out. Computer prices only go down, you'll get better value for your dollar then.

I found this on both newegg and TigerDirect. It looks really sweet but the reviews look like there are a bunch of DOA machines being sent out. Does that look like a good system?

[AzazaelFenrir]

I don't suppose someone with an MX11 can check this thread and let me know what kind of scores they get?
http://www.bluegartr.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91208

[Krandor]

I'll give the benchmark a spin, sure as shit not running it at 1680x1050 though since I'm not in the mood to run on an external monitor right now. Looking at that, why the fuck is FFXIV running on DX9?

[Krandor]

Alright, fucked around with it a bit. At the high settings covered in that thread (though at native laptop res) -> (Not listed but the CPU is OCed to 1.73Ghz)

Unigine Heaven Benchmark v2.0

FPS: 20.2
Scores: 509
Min FPS: 9.8
Max FPS: 39.7
Hardware Binary:
Windows 32bit Visual C++ 1500 Release Mar 7 2010
Operating system: Windows 7 (build 7600) 64bit
CPU model: Genuine Intel(R) CPU U7300 @ 1.30GHz
CPU flags: 1733MHz MMX SSE SSE2 SSE3 SSSE3 SSE41 HTT
GPU model: NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M 8.17.11.9716 1024Mb
Settings

Render: direct3d9
Mode: 1366x768 fullscreen
Shaders: high
Textures: high
Filter: trilinear
Anisotropy: 16x
Occlusion: enabled
Refraction: enabled
Volumetric: enabled
Replication: disabled
Tessellation: disabled

All things considered not bad, lowering the settings around a bit (fuck Ambient Occlusion, probably turn off Anisotropy, etc), since realistically I would not be playing at these kinds of settings, would be able to get the game to 30 fps or higher average easily. Quick snapshot from running it at the default settings (minus Occlusion)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31...g?t=1270183104

[Krandor]

K fucked around with the benchmark a little more, I think these are prolly the settings I could see myself playing at for this little fella, maybe knocking the resolution up to native. Running the benchmark these averaged me out to about 35 fps, with only one major dip down to 17 fps (if anyone has run the benchmark you would know what portion I'm talking about). I might tweak around some more but I'd say for the most part this is the graphic quality you could expect in FFXIV for the M11x, at least if it remains DX9 only, which I would really hope it doesn't.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31...3-11-31-52.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31...3-09-52-98.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y31...3-07-14-98.jpg

[AzazaelFenrir]

I am ok with that, guess it is time to get me an MX11. Well in a few weeks when I get tax money ><

[Brimah]

I have a quick question. I have never really been a big PC gamer, as before I have never had any luck getting new games to run well, but decided to try out my year old laptop to play a newer game. I got Battlefield Bad Company 2 during the EA sale and I met the min requirements, but not recommended (from the can I run it site). Anyway, I tried playing at the normal settings, was laggy (Solo campaign). Found how to lower all the graphic settings on the games setup file, still laggy in busier scenes.

My question, what am I doing wrong? I dont have anything running except the norm like virus scan. Below is a link to my laptops specs, only thing different now is it has Windows 7. Any programs or utilities or general advice to make my PC gaming experience a tad better?

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...roduct=3866477

Edit: Oh, and when I updated from Vista to 7, I had it format the computer first, to get rid of all the annoy crap they put on computers. The virus scan is just AVG, other than that, not much installed

[Krandor]

To put it in the simplest terms possible, your graphics card (more like a chip in this instance) sucks complete ass. The HD 3200 is pretty much an integrated chip, barely a step up from Intel Integrated graphics.

I've linked this page before, but it always rings true http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-...ist.844.0.html Basically a list of all laptop graphic cards in order from strongest to weakest. Your graphics are at #166 on the list, Intel starts coming in at #170, so yeah. You're probably not doing a damn thing wrong with your computer or have any excess problems, you're just leashed down by a weak graphic chip. That site says that with your graphics Doom 3 is barely playable, let alone any new games.

[Brimah]

Bleh... I had a feeling it was that... Can't complain to much since the laptop was a gift... Now I just wish I could upgrade it but from my little knowledge of laptop hardware, not happening :-/

Edit: Wow... BFBC 2 would run at 8 FPS... didn't seem like it was that slow... but prolly was D: That will teach me to trust that can you run it site. At least I only wasted $20 instead of $50 full retail price.