Help wanted: Buying first laptop

[smg943]

I know close to nothing about laptops. I just want to be able to play the newer computer games at decent settings. Ive found these 2 machines but im not familiar with the definition of these specs. please advise me on some options.

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

HP Pavilion dv6 and dv6t series | HP Official Store



1) What is your budget?
$800 max, but preferably less.

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
14-15 inch screen , but this is not too important to me.

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?

No

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
gaming, school work.

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?

Both

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
I would like to be able to play the newest computer games. mass effect 2, fable 3......

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?

4+, or whatever I can get for my price range.

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?

Either works.

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.

Windows 7



15) When are you buying this laptop?
within the next 2 weeks

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?

3-4 Years

[smg943]

I think my links may have gotten messed up, here are the specs of the laptops I was viewing.

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-350M Dual Core processor (2.26GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) edit
Memory 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Hard drive FREE Upgrade to 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit

Graphics card 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5470 switchable graphics
Display 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
Primary optical drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
Personalization HP TrueVision Webcam + Digital Microphone edit
Networking Intel Wireless-N Card
Keyboard Full-size island-style keyboard
Primary battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)

and....

SYSTEM COLOR NEW 2010 Intel®Core™ i5 - 430M
PROCESSOR Inspiron 15 Notebook
MEMORY 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
DISPLAY AND CAMERA 15.6" HD WLED
VIDEO CARD 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330
HARD DRIVE 500GB, 5400 RPM
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0
WIRELESS CARDS Dell Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam
BATTERY OPTIONS Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card
Adobe Reader Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year

Im probably way off with chosing these systems as I have no experience, I just want a cheap rig that'l get me through some of the latest games.

[Voodooi]

You mentioned 'gaming' and those will not do the job :P You'll want 1G Video ...I'd help you track a decent one down but I'm on a very bad computer atm. What you can do also is play 'mix and match' with the benchmark graphics website (graphics card directory):
Notebookcheck: Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List
and sites like tigerdirect, newegg, btotech, gentechpc, and more

Too bad you didn't have an extra 339$ handy, you could get yourself an ultra setting top of the line laptop. If saving is an option, put off your purchase for now.

[Sweep]

I agree with Voodooi, those graphics cards just aren't going to be able to cut it in newer games. If you're in the US and there's a Best Buy near, I recommend checking out the Toshiba M645-S4055. It's 14.1" and has a NVIDIA GeForce 330M, which is generally regarded as an ok lower-midrange GPU. It also has Optimus technology which switches on and off the dedicated GPU when you do and don't need it, so I think it gets close to your preferred 4+ hours battery life. Also, it's around $800 As far as I know.
Here's a thread about it and here's a useful list of graphics cards in rough order of power. I'd say you are looking for anything from about 70th place upwards. Some common, decent mid-range cards you should keep an eye out for in notebooks you are looking at are the Radeon HD5650, the NVIDIA 330M and the NVIDIA 335M.

N.B. there are also a few models of the Toshiba M645 with a NVIDIA 310M instead of a 330M, which you don't really want as it is a much weaker card (check benchmark list above)

[smg943]

How about this one..... its an Hp dv6z

Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor AMD Turion(TM) II Dual-Core Mobile Processor P520 (2.3GHz, 2MB L2 Cache) edit
Memory FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Hard drive 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit
Graphics card 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 switchable graphics edit
Display 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Display (1366x768) edit
Primary optical drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support edit
Personalization HP TrueVision Webcam + Digital Microphone edit
Networking Wireless 802.11b/g/n Card edit
Keyboard Full-size island-style keyboard edit
Primary battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)

[[>>ahl395<<]]

Overall i would go for the last option, the Hp dv6z. it has the most powerful graphics card out of them all. Which is most important for gaming.

Although the Inspiron 15 has the best CPU. I suggest looking at the HP dv6t instead, with an Intel Processor.

[smg943]

thanks everyone for the advise

[[>>ahl395<<]]

You're Welcome Good Luck

[smg943]

So now I'm deciding between these 3, which is a better choice overall? performance, long lasting, etc..
I want to be playing mass effect 2, fable 3, newer games.

(NEW) hpdv6z
Operating system - Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Processor - AMD Turion(TM) II Dual-Core Mobile Processor P520 (2.3GHz, 2MB L2 Cache)
Memory - 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Hard drive - 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Graphics card - 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 switchable graphics [HDMI, VGA]
Display - 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Display (1366x768)

(Refurbished) Sony VAIO
# Graphics Card : ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 graphics with 1GB dedicated video RAM
# Display : 16.4" VAIO extra-wide HD display (1920x1080)
# Wireless Local Area Network : Intel® WiFi 5100 (802.11abgn) with built-in Bluetooth® technology
# Channel : CTO / FA09 IRX-5050
# Processor : Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T6600 (2.20GHz)
# Memory : 4GB (2GBx2) DDR2-SDRAM-800
# Hard Drive : 320GB SATA Hard Disk Drive (7200rpm)
# Optical Disc Drive : CD/DVD playback/burning
# Battery : Standard Capacity Battery (VGP-BPS13)
# Operating System : Genuine Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium

And this one.....
Asus G51VX-RX05 Refurbished Notebook PC - Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 2GHz, 4GB DDR2, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6, Vista Home Premium 32-bit at TigerDirect.com

Whats the word on buying a refurbished laptop like these, good, bad?

[[>>ahl395<<]]

The Asus is your best option there.

The graphics card is a big improvement over the others. And the CPU is about equal.

The downside of refurbished is that the warranty is often shorter. In this case, the G51's warranty is only 3 months.