The laptop market

[Stalking Shadow]

Yes, you heard me. I'm in the market for a laptop. If you've been wondering, I haven't been able to play CoH, not because I don't care to. Not because I don't have the money to, but because I literally cannot. My nVidia Geforce 4400ti, which worked way back in the day, before CoH became this beautiful graphically intensive behomoth, is now struggling even rendering powers. Funny story, actually. Before I had the 4400, I had a Geforce 256 and a very dusty Dell case. I tried to run Tribes 2, one day, and I smelled burning plastic. I shut of the computer, let it cool down, and it would not turn on again. So I got a new graphics card. The circumstances now are not nearly as dire, but I'd like a new graphics card.

But!

I'm also commuting much more, thanks to school and an internship, (http://www.826valencia.org) so I'd like something more portable. I'll likely keep my old monitor, keyboard, speakers and mouse at home, and work out some system to make a desktop dock for the laptop.

That said, I'm hamstringed by budget limitations. I'm not picky. I just want a laptop that runs CoH. Maybe Microsoft Word. And maybe Firefox. Wireless 'net would be nice. Ooh, and Bluetooth. Oh, and Thunderbird. And I want a pony, and a missile launcher. AND THE MISSING HALF OF THIS GOLDEN AMULET. All under 1.5 grand.

Think it's doable?

Oh, by the way, I miss you guys.

[Druid]

I can get a couple more price checks for you, but this is the system that G Computers (Company I work for) is currently pushing for gaming laptops.

Price- $1,021
Features:
Finger Print Scanner
7600 GT Graphics Card
1 Gig RAM (We use a very high quality RAM, so it can usually run equal to twice that amount of RAM from companies like Dell)
Windows Vista
1.3 Megapixle Camera
and a few other nifty features.

If that's not good enough I can check out the other systems we have. For the type of laptop you are looking for you can go anywhere between $800-1,300.

Just hit me up on aim or something and we'll talk more.

[Xielos]

I'm quite happy with my Compaq. It was something like $1,100, including a 2 year accidental warranty and exlcuding a $100 rebate that I actualy got. 512 RAM, 60 gig HDD, ATI Radeon Xpress 200M (128mb), 2.19 ghz AMD Turion64, 15.4" screen and XP home. Not the ideal gaming laptop, but it runs most things fine if you lower the settings. Only thing I've had a problem with at lowest settings is Rise of Legends, sometimes I get a broken record effect. Try going to their website and designing your own.

[Jade Djinn]

If you're looking for a laptop I'd conside ra returned or refab system.

Try this link for some :

http://www.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh&~ck=bt

[Dr Jack Wolfe]

Go refab if you can, a friend of mine found a refab'd XPS 1710 from dell for under 1500. (must have been a hella refab cause thats not a cheap box)


Remember a lot of the slowness in CoH because of graphical upgrades are chained to the client and OpenGL. Even my GTX8800 still slows down in this damn game.

[Remianen]

I'd also recommend a refurb but make sure to get as much RAM as possible. Seriously. Many of the problems people have running games of all kinds is due to a lack of RAM and there's really no excuse for it anymore. Factor 2 gigs into the final purchase price and go from there, RAM is THAT important to the longterm viability of a computer (assuming you can't/won't make interim adjustments and upgrades). I wouldn't recommend a computer (laptop or desktop) to anyone with less than a gig of RAM ("512 megs? No thanks.").