New Laptop Questions

[Brill Weave]

Ok my old laptop's LCD crapped out and I don't really feel like shelling out 140 dollars for a new one on a five year old laptop. So I've been looking at possible replacements. I found this up on Tiger Direct and I wanted to get your takes on this lappy. The only two things I will be using it for aside from regular internet usage is iTunes and WoW. I'm not the most computer literate person here. So can you guys critique this and let me know if it's decent or should I avoid it? Here's the link.

TigerDirect.com

These are the specs that are listed.

Acer Aspire AS5515
AMD Athlon 2650e 1.6GHz
3GB DDR2 Memory
160GB Hard Drive
15.4 inch WXGA Display
DVD Burner
ATI Radeon Xpress 1200
Vista Home Basic

Will this play WoW fairly decently or is it not going to be good enough. Whether or not it plays well is the main factor into whether or not I'm going to purchase it or not.

So yay or nay?

[Correction]

That will run both WoW and iTunes pretty well. The only problem I have playing WoW on a similar laptop is the response time on the LCD display, which isn't the best in the world. I have to rest my eyes a lot and I'd probably never raid on it.

[Brill Weave]

Remember I'm dumb. So I don't really understand what you mean Correction. Are we talking like the screen lagging?

[Jodwahh]

Vista is shitastic for WoW in my experience. Gained a fair bit of fps in heroic raids just by downloading the windows 7rc which I think is still free.

[Brill Weave]

So I should be avoiding Vista and finding an older alternative?

[ghanima]

It will run, but it will not run well. Processor is barely above the minimum, and the graphics is not at the minimum.

IMO you're better off saving your money. My old PC had the same specs with a better graphics card, less ram, and XP pro and it ran WOW like shit, 1-3 FPS in dalaran and almost zero playability in instances with 10 or more. You have to keep in mind that minimum specs is really just the bare minimum to keep the game running, not running well.

WoW -> Info -> F.A.Q. -> Technology

Save some money/time and looking for something that meets or exceeds the recommended specs. Even if it takes another month or two you'll be less likely to think you wasted money and suddenly "need" another upgrade.

[Jodwahh]

So I should be avoiding Vista and finding an older alternative?

Either XP or the newest version, windows 7rc will run WoW better than Vista. This is where you can get Windows 7 from and it's free to use until June '10.

[Brill Weave]

Sounds like it's just going to be a better idea to get a bit better laptop rather than this one. I won't lie, I'm not looking to break the bank. I would prefer to get a decent laptop for between $400 and $600.

[Brill Weave]

Ok found a different one that's a little more but seems a few steps above the prior. Here's the link.
HP Compaq 6735s Notebook Computer – AMD Sempron SI-40 2GHz, 1GB, 160GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.4” WXGA, Vista Home Basic (Open Box) H24-15072 ON at TigerDirect.com

HP Compaq 6735s Notebook
AMD Sempron SI-40 2GHz processor
1 GB DDR2 Memory
160GB Hard drive
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200

Better or still along the same lines as the prior one?

[Norellicus]

Semprons are the AMD equivalent of a Celeron, don't do it

If you're really looking for something that is pretty respectable from a gaming point of view you're going to have a very hard time doing it on a budget. Buuuut, these guys are pretty good all around, and their lowest model starts at $599. Even without tweaking the customization it's pretty decent, it wouldn't play amazingly and you'd definitely have to turn down a lot of effects and stuff, but it would probably hold its own.

http://www.sagernotebook.com/

[Brill Weave]

Gracias. I have a buddy of mine who does a lot of work on our computers. So in the end I'm sure he's going alter it quite a bit.

[Rafbacca]

Why not configure a dell inspiron 15. Upgrade the processor and video card. I just priced one at $579

[ghanima]

Why not configure a dell inspiron 15. Upgrade the processor and video card. I just priced one at $579

This is a good idea.

Vista only does well if you can give it a lot of RAM, and generally that means running the 64 bit Vista. With your price range you should definitely try to get XP instead of Vista.

[Norellicus]

Ironically, getting XP will frequently increase the price these days as most system builders are fronting Vista first. I'd just as soon spend $50 on more memory than $65 on getting XP back on it.

[Rafbacca]

another option if yout can afford a little more is to follow this. U;pgarde Video card as well.
Gets you blue ray player

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HP Laptop
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I can't speak as to the HP brand, But I have owned a couple of Dell Laptops without any problems, last one lasted me 5 years and still works. I only upgraded for a 15" unit recently to save my back.

Oh and about Vista.

When I purchased the 15" Dell Studio I wasn't too enamored of Vista. It takes some getting used to. As with all new environments, but since I've been using it and with the latest vista patches, I don't see any problems running my games. FFXI, WOW, L4D, TF2, Half Life all run without issues.

I was a major Vista hater when it came out. Vista is stable enough now for me to recommend using.

[Cheerios]

Wait until next week for 4th of July deals.

[Jodwahh]

My problems with vista aren't stability, it's the fact it eat's up so many system resources. If you have a decent computer then you can run vista fine but for people like me who's computers aren't exactly cutting edge we need to make every piece of ram and processing power count lol.