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General discussion

Celeron, Pentium, Athleon, Geforce, Radeon - LAPTOP HELP!

Feb 12, 2005 12:28AM PST

Hello,
I want to be able to play some of the newer games, use word and stuff like that on it. Can someone give me an opinion?

I'm going to buy one of the following computers.

Laptop1:
Intel

Discussion is locked

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Only Laptop 4 seemed close.
Feb 12, 2005 12:51AM PST

It had a nice CPU and the 128MB non-shared video memory on the ATI video chip.

Bob

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Celeron?
Feb 12, 2005 1:04AM PST

Hello,
OK, what about laptop 1. Is a celeron CPU mutch slower than a pentium CPU? What's the difference? Can I play on a celeron CPU?

Best Regards
Oskar R

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Unlikely.
Feb 12, 2005 1:14AM PST

Today's games are demanding the ati 9700 128MB or better cards.

Unless you are willing to run at lowest possible graphics settings. The CPU, once it's past 2GHz (or 1/2 that for the Centrinos), isn't as big a factor. 512MB RAM is considered the minimum for gamers.

So, yes you can play, but at what settings and will you be happy with that?

Bob

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Compared with my deskop computer.
Feb 12, 2005 2:02AM PST

OK, Today I have a deskop computer with the following spec: AMD Athlon 2100+, 64mb geforce 4, 256mb ram. IF you compare the laptop to that computer, is the latop or the deskop best?

Best Regards
Oskar R

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You still run into video performance issues...
Feb 12, 2005 2:50AM PST

While you may think that a 64MB dedicated video RAM system in a laptop would compare well with a desktop of similar configuration, it doesn't. Here's why. The laptop graphic chips are "Mobile" versions with less power draw than they put in the desktops. In almost every case I find you need to uptick the video card to match the desktop performance.

And ... there were many GeForce 4 models.

Bob

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which notebook ???
Feb 12, 2005 2:26AM PST

I'm sold on the A75 S206 (see above) which uses the Moble Pent. 4, but I'm no gamer. Graphics are good,speed is nice BUT DON'T SKIMP ON RAM!! Pent.M
is a later incarnation than the Mobile Pent.4 , but is no more powerful. In fact, I've read it's slightly less
so, but has a smaller footprint and has been configured to use less power, always a plus in a
mobile unit. I still love my Toshiba.

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A beacon of hope...
Feb 12, 2005 3:11AM PST

Oskar
Wow, that's a lot to consider. Here's how to straighten this mess out.

AMD rocks, go for it. They offer a great value for the money and are compatible with everything out there today. I have been running AMD for over 5 years, not one complaint to this day.

As for the Video Card, It's really hard to say because not all laptop video cards are created equally. I personally run the Nvidia GeForce 4 440 Go, and it does a great job. Now, is it a GeForce GT? NO. But it's a laptop after all and many things are compramised due to space and heat considerations. Laptops will probably never compete equally with a desktop for performance, expecially for games, but they are making them better now than they used to.

You will want at least 512 Meg of RAM for sure though. DDR is fine, don't get too caught up in the specs as they will eventually just clutter your mind. DDR works, it's cheap, and the way to go.

CDR's are great too if you can get it, and don't count out wireless networking capabilities. The days of wanting that are here now and you won't be sorry you have it.

Good luck. Hope this helps. Just remember-DON'T SPEND A FORTUNE, THE CHEAPER ONES WILL DO WELL FOR WHAT YOU NEED. Don't fall for all the targeted marketing gimmiks, as all of the laptops out there will be out of date by March or April, or whatever.

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OK
Feb 12, 2005 5:36PM PST

OK,
I found another not so expensive computer (german):
- Pentium 4 2,8 Ghz
- 512 MB DDR-RAM (Samsung PC2700 CL 2.5 - 333 Mhz)
- 40 GB Festplatte, 2 MB Cache
- DVD-Brenner von Matsushita bzw. Panasonic UJ-815A (2 fach DVD-R und 1 fach DVD-RW, CD-R/RW 16 fach, au

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(NT) (NT) I still need some advice :)
Feb 12, 2005 8:23PM PST
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Just my advice.
Feb 13, 2005 3:47AM PST

The ATI 128MB dedicated RAM laptops seem to have the edge for gamers.

BUT no gamer I've encountered has been thrilled with laptops for gaming. Maybe it goes with the territory with even the latest desktop still not being good enough.

One last piece of advice. Stick with "the names". No Hype*, Al*, *.tec makes please.

Bob