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

**Diamicles** · 2011-07-22 12:55

eh well I got it anyway. the specs on it are hard to improve on a lot without paying like $600 more. my last laptop I bought there (HP dv9000) over 5 years ago has done really well, so I don't have any issues with BB computers. I'm pretty happy with it - I actually have something that will run games on high settings with good framerates now.

**_chuchu** · 2011-07-23 00:47

Acer 7551-7422; AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 2.2GHz, ATI HD 4250, 500GB hdd, 17.3" HD+ LED LCD. Good buy for 498? only thing i see beating it is from newegg for the same price but with an ATI HD 6000 series

**Toxictaru** · 2011-07-23 02:03

Originally Posted by Diamicles

eh well I got it anyway. the specs on it are hard to improve on a lot without paying like $600 more. my last laptop I bought there (HP dv9000) over 5 years ago has done really well, so I don't have any issues with BB computers. I'm pretty happy with it - I actually have something that will run games on high settings with good framerates now.

Is it 1080p or 900p? We're having some discussion on another board keeping track of some inconsistencies with BB versions. Some BB G74s are going with 1080p displays, while others are shipping with 900p...

**Toxictaru** · 2011-07-23 02:04

Originally Posted by Chuyu

Acer 7551-7422; AMD Phenom II X4 Quad Core 2.2GHz, ATI HD 4250, 500GB hdd, 17.3" HD+ LED LCD. Good buy for 498? only thing i see beating it is from newegg for the same price but with an ATI HD 6000 series

4250 is kinda outdated, but for that price, its pretty good.

**Diamicles** · 2011-07-23 14:19

Originally Posted by Toxictaru

Is it 1080p or 900p? We're having some discussion on another board keeping track of some inconsistencies with BB versions. Some BB G74s are going with 1080p displays, while others are shipping with 900p...

this one is native 900p with full (just checked this and it will do 1080p) HDMI output, without bluray. I didn't feel like paying $600 more for those plus a marginal upgrade in performance. I have a ps3 and can output the computer's HDMI to a 1080p tv so it seemed like a good way to save a few bucks.

**Hushigoshi** · 2011-07-23 15:47

Saw this on HSN today as their special for the day. Is it any good? Looking for FFXI and maaaaaaaybe FFXIV if it can run it. Sale ends in 7 hours!

http://www.hsn.com/todays-special_xh.aspx

Specs

Spoiler: show

**Isiolia** · 2011-07-23 17:07

Originally Posted by Hushigoshi

Saw this on HSN today as their special for the day. Is it any good?

In a word, no.

Integrated graphics are sufficient for FFXI these days, but not for XIV or most modern games. If you're buying a laptop with the thought of gaming on it, you should really try to get something discrete.

Beyond that, if the hardware config does work for you, the price is not compelling. If you head to hp.com and config a g6t series to match the specs, it's $100 less - or you have the option to include a discrete GPU for a bit more (still not great, but better) and make other tweaks to suit. Not that I'd specifically recommend an HP per se, just a similar class machine in general.

**Hushigoshi** · 2011-07-23 18:18

meh. figured as much. I haven't been keeping up with the "latest and greatest" in computer stuff for the past couple years. /lazy

**Mikelee0351** · 2011-07-31 22:26

So, I'm going to be buying a gaming laptop in about a week, and originally I had my heart set on an Asus G74:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230103

But, today I saw the MSI GT780R:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152272

And, now I'm torn... Price is the same for each, and even though Newegg is out of stock on the Asus, Amazon still has them. Thoughts and opinions between the 2?

**Yousir** · 2011-07-31 22:43

I have the Asus G73-JWA1 and I love it. It's a beast. Just a friendly warning though, it comes with so much crapware on it and unnecessary tools. I just reformatted since I was upgrading it from Windows 7 Home 64bit to Ultimate 64bit. Wasn't worth spending all the time trying to find where all the bullshit crapware was. That aside mines a beast.

**Mikelee0351** · 2011-07-31 23:49

Asus Pros:
3GB Vram
12GB RAM
Blue ray read only
Dual 750GB hard drives NON-raid
1 USB 3.0
Better cooling
Gaming mouse and backpack included.
2MP webcam

MSI Pros:
1.5GB VRAM
16GB RAM
Blue ray burner
Dual 750 GB hard drives in raid
2 USB 3.0
Higher quality speakers with built-in subwoofer
720p webcam

Looks like I might be answering my own question, huh?

**Yousir** · 2011-08-01 00:43

Seems so. I also don't know if it's changed from my model, but mine has really good speakers. They're THX certified shits. They sound good, but I use a headset most of the time anyway.

(I can't check the URLs because shit is blocked at my office, but I can get on BG for some reason)

Edit:
Also, which I didn't know about mine, if it's the same Blu Ray reader it does burn DVDs and CDs, just not Blu Rays.

**Mikelee0351** · 2011-08-01 00:57

Originally Posted by Yousir

Edit:
Also, which I didn't know about mine, if it's the same Blu Ray reader it does burn DVDs and CDs, just not Blu Rays.

Yeah, I guess I listed it weird, its still a dvd/cd burner, but for the same price, I'll take a Blue ray burner.

**Caiyuo** · 2011-08-08 12:53

I notice this thread doesn't get a lot of traction anymore because of how ambiguous it can be, so I thought I'd post a few things for people with questions about performance and how what they're looking to buy will stack up to other options. Between these sites, I think a majority of generic "how good is this?", "how is this X compared to Y" questions and so on can be answered, or at least given some insight.

http://www.notebookreview.com/ - seems obvious
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Noteboo...News.48.0.html - somewhat of a middle-man between the sites above and below with a lot of excellent resources.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/ - the great thing about this site is that not only do you get comprehensive benchmark lists, once you hit the "searchable list", you get everything in one page which is fucking invaluable when you want to, for example, check the system requirements of a game, see that they only give desktop video card or processor recommendations, and then see where those specs land on the benchmark and then compare the numbers to what you're looking at for laptop processors and video cards, along with entirely separate lists for all of these categories.

**Clash Perez** · 2011-08-10 01:09

Any thoughts on how much of a mistake it is to get a laptop with an nVidia GT 555M instead of a GTX 560M? I've ordered one with a 555M and I hadn't realized just how much of a difference there is between the 555M and the 560M. I got caught up in the numbering scheme without really doing thorough research.

I have a little time to cancel before the order is fully processed.

I mostly play FFXI on my laptops, but I like to be able to play more recent games as well without playing on lowest settings. Right now that's Fallout:LV, ME2, Crysis; I'd like to have the option to play FFXIV or Mass Effect 3 if I decide in the future.

Any feedback would be awesome.

**Caiyuo** · 2011-08-10 01:37

given the sites I posted above, here are the reports:

555M:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-...M.41933.0.html
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/vi...eForce+GT+555M

560M:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-...M.48313.0.html
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/vi...Force+GTX+560M

if you check out the notebookcheck links, you'll see they even give FPS reports for particular games, crysis 2 included, to give you an idea how each stacks up. There certainly is a difference between the two, and you can read the individual blurbs to see how much. You'll notice even with the 560, crysis gets somewhat low FPS once it tops out at ultra, so depending on how particular you are, that might be an indication to go with the better card.

**Ayn** · 2011-08-21 16:35

Hi everyone:

I hope this is the right thread, but I'm shopping around for a laptop. At a minimum, I'd be happy with something that either meets or exceeds the capabilities of my three year old desktop (which I built on my own). I don't think it should be too hard, but the pertinent specs:

Processor: Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0 ghz
Video Card: ATI Radeon 6850 (had to rep my 4850, which I was fond of)
RAM: 4 gigs.

Main purposes:

Gaming: Potentially some FFXI, games like DA: O, Elder Scrolls, the Witcher. Likely not any heavy/intense FPS games.
Browsing the web (duh)
School related stuff (from the teacher end)

I'm not particularly picky on it being bulky. Smaller is nice since I do travel from time to time and would take it with me, but if it's a good machine, I'll deal.

I'm really not sure what the price range is on this. I'd like to stay under $900, as I've seen what appears to be some good deals on new egg in the 500-800 price range (if I'm being naive, please correct me!). I'm leaning towards Asus, since I've heard nothing but good things about their machines, but my friend told me that a Dell XPS 15 or 17 would be better bang for the buck.

I know this is hardly an original question (and apologies if you're one that's seen and answered this dozens of times), but I tend to hold off on purchases for awhile, yet when I do buy them, they tend to be things that last a good chunk of time.

If there's anything else I need to know, please inform me (such as the 'something better's coming out in a few months, hold off').

Thank you in advance for any advice the tech gurus here can provide.

**jmc** · 2011-08-21 17:25

So i'm looking for a PC equivalent of a MacBook Air.

I can get a new Macbook air for $700 through work, but figured I would ask to see what is available for laptops that are like it.

Don't want this turning into a mac/PC debate.... just looking for a laptop like it, that actually isn't a netbook. I've owned a hp netbook for about 3 years now, and just overall did not like the feel of it. Just felt too small for me.... where as the macbook just felt like a very light laptop (as i'm looking at the 13" one)

**Isiolia** · 2011-08-22 21:58

Samsung Series 9 that's being produced at the moment. Sony Vaio Series X and Dell Adamo (and cheap little brother Vostro V13) that aren't (though I know those weren't quite on the level of the Air).

Honestly, the Air is probably at the point where the Apple Tax really isn't much applicable. Yet. Intel is pushing the "Ultrabook" form factor with reference designs and marketing. They just recently tossed $300 million at it, aiming to get products on the shelves for the holiday this year with a materials cost low enough that you should see prices lower than the Air. At regular retail anyway. If you can get the current 13" Air for $700 though, I really doubt you'll beat that anytime soon.

**jmc** · 2011-08-23 16:40

Originally Posted by Isiolia

If you can get the current 13" Air for $700 though, I really doubt you'll beat that anytime soon.

Yea, thats what I figured..... if it was full retail of $1200, I know there would be a ton of options (like the new Asus that just came out for $1k)

Thanks for the heads up on the samsung.... but I think i'm gonna put in a order for the air, before its too late.

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