Let's buy me a laptop

[RpgGamer]

Yeah, I hate to admit it, but I know very little when it comes to hardware. I've always been a software guy. Excuses aside, my parents offered to buy my college laptop. Now, I don't want to be an ass and make them buy me some rediculously over priced paper weight. So - I've got one set up in mind, but I need TIF's opinion to confirm I'm getting what I want.

 

What I want?

-High multi-tasking capabilities

-Not a Mac

-Good size screen

-internal wifi set up

-numpad

-capable of doing all things windows [like Word and Excell]

-capable of PC gaming [everything from Oblivion IV to Doom II]

-Lots of internal memory

-high speed RAM is a great plus

-under $500

-and yes I will probably be doing lots of torrenting

 

and the potential candidate being:

http://www.bestbuy.c...3&skuId=9700678

 

thoughts? opinions? input?

[am I living in a dream pipe, or is this all possible?]

[Hobgoblinpie]

Yeah, I hate to admit it, but I know very little when it comes to hardware. I've always been a software guy. Excuses aside, my parents offered to buy my college laptop. Now, I don't want to be an ass and make them buy me some rediculously over priced paper weight. So - I've got one set up in mind, but I need TIF's opinion to confirm I'm getting what I want.

 

What I want?

-High multi-tasking capabilities

-Not a Mac

-Good size screen

-internal wifi set up

-numpad

-capable of doing all things windows [like Word and Excell]

-capable of PC gaming [everything from Oblivion IV to Doom II]

-Lots of internal memory

-high speed RAM is a great plus

-under $500

-and yes I will probably be doing lots of torrenting

 

and the potential candidate being:

http://www.bestbuy.c...3&skuId=9700678

 

For under $500, you're going to find it hard to get the required specs (except the not a mac one). Also, for under $500, you'd be hard pushed to find a dedicated graphics card, which semi-eliminates gaming (Integreated chips are powerful enough to run most games on low settings, some on medium).

 

By multi-tasking, do you mean multiple internet browser instances with notepad, calculator and others, or do you mean intensive stuff like Photoshop etc. I guess you want the former, so you'll want a dual core.

 

High speed RAM means that you will want DDR3, which in turn will require a faster processor (for instance, Intel i5 mobile processors can 'only' use 1066mhz RAM, whilst the quad core Intel mobile i7s can use 1333mhz RAM), and thus increases cost.

 

For the price, the laptop you suggested looks decent, but it's not very powerful.

[RpgGamer]

Yeah, I hate to admit it, but I know very little when it comes to hardware. I've always been a software guy. Excuses aside, my parents offered to buy my college laptop. Now, I don't want to be an ass and make them buy me some rediculously over priced paper weight. So - I've got one set up in mind, but I need TIF's opinion to confirm I'm getting what I want.

 

What I want?

-High multi-tasking capabilities

-Not a Mac

-Good size screen

-internal wifi set up

-numpad

-capable of doing all things windows [like Word and Excell]

-capable of PC gaming [everything from Oblivion IV to Doom II]

-Lots of internal memory

-high speed RAM is a great plus

-under $500

-and yes I will probably be doing lots of torrenting

 

and the potential candidate being:

http://www.bestbuy.c...3&skuId=9700678

 

For under $500, you're going to find it hard to get the required specs (except the not a mac one). Also, for under $500, you'd be hard pushed to find a dedicated graphics card, which semi-eliminates gaming (Integreated chips are powerful enough to run most games on low settings, some on medium).

 

By multi-tasking, do you mean multiple internet browser instances with notepad, calculator and others, or do you mean intensive stuff like Photoshop etc. I guess you want the former, so you'll want a dual core.

 

High speed RAM means that you will want DDR3, which in turn will require a faster processor (for instance, Intel i5 mobile processors can 'only' use 1066mhz RAM, whilst the quad core Intel mobile i7s can use 1333mhz RAM), and thus increases cost.

 

For the price, the laptop you suggested looks decent, but it's not very powerful.

 

 

Alright that's mildly helpful. I'm willing to give up the graphics on the more hardcore games if it means a smaller price tag. How much would a graphics card upgrade cost [estimated] and is it even worth it? as for multitasking? yes, I would like to be able to mess around in photoshop while downloading something and ordering pizza online :lol:

[Hobgoblinpie]

Alright that's mildly helpful. I'm willing to give up the graphics on the more hardcore games if it means a smaller price tag. How much would a graphics card upgrade cost [estimated] and is it even worth it? as for multitasking? yes, I would like to be able to mess around in photoshop while downloading something and ordering pizza online :lol:

 

If you mean upgrade to a graphics card in that laptop (and most laptops) you're out of luck. Most graphics chips are soldered onto the motherboard, and as such cannot be upgraded.

 

For multitasking you're going to want a dual core processor. In which case, I propose this as a better option than the one you were considering: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114930

 

The GPU & CPU are much better than the laptop you linked to.

[RpgGamer]

Thank you my deaer friend. The link yoyu supplied is sold out, but atleast I know what I'm looking for now. Thanks for the help Hobgob :D

[OldJoe]

Do you have some American price-comparison site which is good? All i find is crap, tried: Become, Twenga, Bing-Shopping, Pricewatch, Dealtime etc, But they're all crap. I can't choose advanced search for laptops, and i'm not prepared to go thru 1k results lol.

So, do you know any price-comparison sites where you can choose: price from-to, cpu speed from-to, ram size from-to, etc etc. Because all of the sites i've seen so far has limited me to say "from 2ghz til 2.5ghz" and excludes every other speed, which is rubbish.

If so, i could help out!

 

E: Searched a bit, and until someone throws me a good price-engine this will have to do: http://www.buy.com/prod/acer-aspire-as5551-2036-15-6-notebook-amd-athlon-ii-x2-dual-core/q/loc/101/215763752.html

Hopefully you can afford +19$.