Getty a lappy

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Okay, Ive been after a laptop for a while now and have finally got a decent bit of money together to actually get one.

Ive found one that seems pretty decent though Ill admit that i dont really know too much about them so I thought Id ask here

Specs:

Core2Duo 2.2GHZ (T7500)
2GB RAM
200BG HDD
GeForce 8600M GS
15.4" screen
Vista Ultimate

AUD $1849


Found another one with similar specs but with XP but it had a 17" screen which Im not really interested in.

Thoughts on the price and performance?

 

Spec/Price ratio looks good for the Aussie market.
Keep in mind that 14" is just *that* much more portable than 15.4" though (I bought the latter).

What will be the primary use? Just to use out and about, or for gaming at home as well?

 

Gaming, uni work. That sorta stuff.

 

If you want gaming, I strongly suggest checking whether 8600GT is available. Since that line of cards is cheap now, an upgrade shouldn't be too expensive even on a laptop.

 

Ill try to find one with that Chev. Found a similar one again with a 14" screen and an ATI Radeon HD2400 for $100 more (couple of minor features added as well)

How does that card compare to the NVIDIA one?

Cheers

 

I'm no expert on laptop cards, but on desktop, I'd take an 8600 GS (except it doesn't exist on desktop) over a Radeon HD 2400 any time. It's a no-brainer. HD2400pro is weaker than early DX9 cards like Radeon 9600XT or GeForce 5700, meaning it's out of question for modern games unless you have a very powerful CPU/RAM config. Even then, I wouldn't count on much beyond just launching the game. At the same time, GeForce 7600 GS was considered a gaming card and many people liked it. There's no reason to think that 8600 GS would be worse than 7600 GS. In fact, 8600 GS might have roughly the power of a 7600 GT, although remember than laptop cards are weaker than desktop ones.

In short, the 8600 GS version will run games, although a cheap upgrade to 8600 GT would do you good. HD 2400 is a big a joke, it won't run games (any well) and it won't be any upgrade over 8600 GS. Honestly, the price difference should be in favour of the 8600 GS rather. Here's a comparison tool:

http://gph.benchmark.pl/

As you see, there's no 8600 GS, but there is 1) 7600 GS and GT, 2) 8600 GT. You can project the difference between 7600 GS and GT on the 8600 GT and imagine more or less what you're getting as 8600 GS. This a fallible method partly based on wishful thinking, but I can't offer anything better unless maybe googling some benchmarks.

By the way, various laptop manufacturers apply various prices and I think retail vendors also differ quite a lot from one another in this regard. I've even seen better laptops for better prices than worse laptops in the same shop. The difference is either a different manufacturer or perhaps even something trivial like when the laptop arrived at the shop, how much it cost in stock or what have you. All in all, you have to be very diligent and careful when comparing laptops. And don't take anything for granted when it comes to prices or price vs quality. I know something about this since I've been looking for one for my mother for a while.

Ah, one more thing. I've heard bad things about laptop Radeons, as regards driver problems. I can tell you I already have more than enough trouble with my desktop AGP HD2600XT. Never had such trouble with nVidia. In short, wouldn't buy a laptop with an ATI card.

 

Yeah, if you're going to use it as your main gaming rig, the difference between a 8400GS and a n 8600GTS is huge; Chart

Performance wise I wouldn't say there's a huge difference between the nVIDIA 8400GS and the ATI 2400, and I think $100 extra for a 14" is definitely wroth it.

 

Absolutely no HD2400. A HD2600 maybe, but get the 8600 GT. Not the GS.

Vista ultimate?

 

@ chev & Merlanni
Ill take your advice guys and try to get the GT.

As for the price, its th cheapest price for that model of laptop around which is good. At other places it can cost up to $200 more.

And yes Merlanni, I tried to avoid Vista Ultimate but by the looks of things its not going to happen
If I do get this one, Ill buy a cheap copy of XP and do a dual OS install.

 

You won't regret not getting a Radeon 2400 or a GeForce 8400. I don't know if you'll be satisfied with the price to quality of 8600 GT over 8600 GS, but in many games it may be somewhat crucial. One more thing, perhaps, I don't know about the cooling on laptop versions, but you want an actively cooled one (it has a fan) rather than an exclusively passively cooled one (i.e. just heatsink). Some 7600 GT cards had passive cooling, so it's possible 8600 GT may also.

 

Hey, let me pass onto you a little something I learned while working at the computer shop - with a Vista license, you are legally allowed to install XP.

That means if you're getting a HP or some such, you can order those crappy recovery disks at no cost (usually) and install XP, so you don't have to fatten M$ even more by buying a second license. I've done it many times while working in the shop, and the freshly installed XP does not need a CD key neither does it need to be activated.

It's perfectly legal, though not the kind of info M$ wants to be seen spreaded around. Use it to your advantage.

 

Well, Ive decided to go with the one I listed before because anything with a 8600GT card was a bit out of my price range. Found out one of my friends has an 8600M GS and he thinks its pretty good for gaming.

@DotW
Ill definitely see about trying to get my hands on a copy of XP through them then. Sounds like that could be the one good thing about Vista

 

TBA: The computer you ended up getting is almost identical to the laptop I almost (and am still thinking about getting). If you do end up getting XP, you should run a benchmark on Vista, and then do it again once you are running XP. Since your new computer is so similar to the one I want, I'd like to see some real numbers from both OSes...

 

Yup... and something M$ was very careful to not let you know.

 

Well, 7600 GS was a gaming card too. If you have a powerful processor, you'll handle games anyway. As for Vista, the problem is that's the only system which supports DirectX 10.

 

I have to say, playing BG on my bed is a situation made of win...

 

If I had the dosh, I would certainly go for this baby. Even if it's just for the looks.

http://www.apple.com/macbookair/

 

After about a week of use, this has turned out to be a really good buy IMO. Its been pretty flawless, and I havent even converted to XP

Honestly, I dont think Vista is all that bad. Yes, it requires a lot in the line of specs, but if you do get a laptop with decent specs, itll work well. And I think within a year or 2, you wont find any laptops without at least 2gb of ram which is more than enough for it. And when that service pack does come, itll hopefully get a bit better.

PS: yes, there are a couple of issues with regards to compatability with some programs, but nothing to bad.

 

What a ripoff! From the title of this thread, I thought it was about one of you getting a private lapdance at a stag party or something. The reality was disappointingly less steamy.

 

LMAO!

You're in the wrong forum for anything like that. If you're looking for something that's "sexy" in this forum, you'd better *redally* like technology products.