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Advice on a laptop

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by tehsick, Oct 3, 2007.

  1. tehsick

    tehsick Regular member

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    Hi, i'm thinking of buying myself a laptop, for university, and some gaming.

    So far i have been most impressed by this one
    http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.200-5525.aspx


    Code:
    Battery Life	2.5 Hrs
    Firewire	Yes
    Graphics	NVIDIA® GeForce® 7000M
    Hard Drive Size	80Gb
    Memory Size	1Gb
    Operating System	Windows Vista™ Home Premium
    Optical Drive	DVD Rewriter
    Output	VGA, S-video
    Processor	AMD Athlon TM 64x2 Dual Core
    Processor Cache	2 x 256Kb
    Processor Model Number	TK53
    Processor Speed	1.7GHz
    Screen Size	17"
    Basically i'm looking for something in the £400 price range, £500 TOPS, if paying the extra is worth it.

    The game i want to play will be counter strike source, and as long as it runs at at least 70/90 Fps on low settings (maybe mid settings?) i will be happy.

    I'm pretty clueless about hardware, so could you please point me in the right direction?
    Please dont flame me if this is in the wrong topic ^^
     
  2. onya

    onya Guest

    Given the current exchange rate between you Brits and us Aussies, you most likely are buying a mid range unit. For that sort of price I'd expect a far better RAM capacity than that stated.

    As a guide....

    1) RAM capacity 1 GIG 'aint an awfull lot these days. Try for at least two GIGS, and no less. This after all, enables better process speeds and gaming results.

    2) HDD capacity at 80 GB is simply not enough(imo). You'd better ask as to the MAX capacity that is available.

    3) NVIDIA® GeForce® 7000M. Is it possible to upgrade the graphics card when needed to a higher spec unit? Gaming depends on this unit considerably.

    A mute point, the processor is ok for the price, but only with the maximum of all the above.

    Keep us posted on what purchase you make eh? Most importantly, give us an honest opinion on how the system performs etc.

    Good luck and cheers.
     
  3. tehsick

    tehsick Regular member

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    Thanks for your advice, i've been looking around, and for about £170 more i could get this -

    Code:
    Components
    Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 Processor (2.0GHz,800MHz,4MB L2 cache)
    Genuine Windows Vista® Business - English
    Base Warranty - 1 Year Business Hardware Support
    14.1" Wide Screen WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display with TrueLife™
    Matte Jet Black without Camera
    2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
    120GB (5400rpm) SATA Hard Drive
    128MB nVidia® GeForce® 8400M GS with 90 watt AC adapter
    Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive including Software
    Primary 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (85 WHr)
    Services & Software
    No Accidental Damage Support
    Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini-Card - Europe
    Microsoft® Works 8.0 - English
    Also Includes
    56.6k V.92 Capable Internal Modem & Adapter - UK
    Base Warranty - 1 Year Business Hardware Support
    
    And this comes to £489.00 (Excl VAT)
    I'm asking on a few different forums (well.. 2 different forums :p) and apparently this would be a far better purchase.
    What are your thoughts?
     
  4. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    That's a good laptop for the price, under £600 for a desktop-performance laptop. The 8400GS isn't a great graphics card, but it's far better than the integrated graphics you usually find in that price band.
     
  5. tehsick

    tehsick Regular member

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    Yeah its quite well priced.
    I spoke to a few people i know, and they told me what options would be the best for me.

    so instead of having an extra 200mhz of power, im thinking about the higher resolution screen. which brings the price down to 469 Exc VAT.

    Still a lot of money though =[
     
  6. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Sounds like a good deal, the Core 2 Duo is a powerful CPU, knocking 200mhz off still makes it relatively good.
     
  7. tehsick

    tehsick Regular member

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    So you think it's a good deal?

    Worth buying even
     
  8. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Yeah, I think so.
     
  9. tehsick

    tehsick Regular member

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    Yeah, i've asked a few people i know, and a few different forums.

    everyone seems to think that its very good for the price.

    It "should" do everything i need -
    (Decent spec gaming - CS:S, Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2 - Portal on release.
    University stuff (but thats easy, any calculator can run Word and Powerpoint).

    Still a lot of money though
     
  10. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Well it's no crysis-mincing rig, but it should get you by for most games.
     
  11. tehsick

    tehsick Regular member

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    alright, thanks for your help.

    I wasn't looking for a crysis machine :p

    Css:s and Hl2 will do for the time being.

    To Town tommorow, needs me a job!
     
  12. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    CSS and HL2 should run fine.
     
  13. tehsick

    tehsick Regular member

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    Ok, thanks for your help.

    I'll let you know if i make a decision, and how it performs etc ^^
     

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