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General discussion

New to notebooks

Sep 6, 2004 1:50AM PDT

hi,
I currently have a duron 1.3ghz, GeForce 5900 Se, 80 gig hd and I was wondering What would be a good notebook that would be faster then my desktop and reliable. The only games I play are command and conquer generals, diablo 2 and knights of the old republic, command and conquer renegade not high graphics games like Doom III or Far Cry. I've looked at the gateyway notebooks at best buy and they seem pretty good. My price range is about 1200-1600.
-andrew

Discussion is locked

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Re: New to notebooks
Sep 6, 2004 6:17AM PDT

The critical thing is that you buy a notebook with dedicated video (ATI or Nvidia). The games you mention might be ok at 32mb dedicated graphics but you can get 64mb for only a bit more ($50 more for HPZT3000/Compaq X1000 -see X1000forums.com) so get at least 64mb if you can.

Doom 3 will only run at reduced settings even with 64mb dedicated. So, if you are going to be playing more games in the future look for an notebook with the ATI 9600 or 9700 video card with 128mb dedicated graphics (Acer 2025, Acer Ferrari, Dell 8600, etc).

Note that HPshopping has a $100 instant rebate and $100 custom order rebate right now if you order it custom (you can order less RAM and add more later yourself and save $ and get more RAM)

Also, the Toshiba M35S456 with Trubrite is outstanding but it has a DVD burner so it is onsale this week at Compusa For $1799 after rebates.

All the notebooks I mentioned are Pentium M centrino based and will get you 3.5-4 hours using wi-fi or more battery life not using wi-fi (similar life for DVD's)--intense game playing will be somewhat lower but still much better than a Pentium 4M hot running notebook.

Whatever you do, do not order a notebook with integrated (shared) video memory unless you will only be playing Solataire.

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Re: New to notebooks
Sep 6, 2004 6:19AM PDT

there is a game section of X1000forums.com that allows you to see what people are running and what settings they have to use (for 32mb or 64mb dedicated video).

Also, there are other dedicated forums like zd7000.com if you look for them.

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Re: New to notebooks
Sep 6, 2004 7:24AM PDT

thanks for all your help. Which company makes the best notebook harddrives?
-andrew

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Re: New to notebooks
Sep 6, 2004 9:52AM PDT

On the Compaq X1000/HPZT3000 (see x1000forums.com) I have people order the cheapest 4200 rpm hard drive they can get (30mb) and then upgrade to the 7200rpm Hitachi Hard drive (which has a huge improvement in program access).

You can order a 5400rpm hard drive that is 50% faster than the 4200 but not the 7200 (The Dell 8600 has this an an option).

It depends on the drive for which brand to recommmend.

I don't like Seagate myself based on experience at a former employer but I have a Samsung hard drive in my HP desktop and the notebook uses Fujitsu, Toshiba, etc.

Decide on the hard drive speed you want and then compare the best options at that rpm speed.