Help with choosing a new laptop?

Monsterlord_2nd · 05-22-2012, 01:47 PM

I'm hoping I could get help with some comparisons. I'm planning on getting a new laptop over the summer, and I just want to make sure I get one worthwhile. I've already got a few picked out, and I just want some opinions on them before I actually make a choice.

Bear in mind that my main reason for upgrading, other than this one basically wearing away to the point of uselessness, is to be able to run Dota2. I play Minecraft too, so I'd like to know if it'll handle that well enough too, although I know that it's a whore to run, so don't worry about that too much. I'll be focusing more on the Dota2 side of things.

And don't worry too much about graphics, I've got no problem whatsoever with playing things on low settings. Just as long as it can actually handle those, I'll be happy.

Anywhos, this is the list I'm looking at right now. I'm not very savvy with processors, so I'm not sure which is better out of these;

Quote:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pav...41408-pdt.html

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/hp-pav...84755-pdt.html

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/acer-a...11784-pdt.html

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/toshib...84708-pdt.html

If none of them are good enough, could anyone point me to where I could get a better sub-£400 machine in the UK?

Basically any feedback would be appreciated.

rocketstorm · 05-22-2012, 02:46 PM

hmm... in my perspective these laptops are not that good because they are only dual cores. If I were you I would get a laptop with 4 cores like an intel i5 processor then you will be fine. but if you still want to buy one of those laptops its ok, if your not a hardcore gamer.

Captain Planet · 05-23-2012, 01:54 AM

I would say the Aspire 573 is an absolute no-no if you want to run Dota 2. 128Mb of dedicated video memory won't be enough I would think.

Personally I would say either of the HP Pavilions in that department would be better. However I know basically nothing about AMD CPUs so I can't give a full opinion on which computer would, indeed, be the best option but I don't hear great things about AMD processors, certainly not when compared to Intel ones.

As for the Toshiba, I hope I don't have to point out the GMA chipset =/

Overall, my personal opinion (it's just that; an opinion) would be the HP Pavilion g6-1224sa. But don't hold me to it

FaenT · 05-24-2012, 05:22 PM

If you are willing to spend 20 pounds more, I would get this one hp pavilion g6

It has a Quad-core AMD A8-3520M processor, 6Gb RAM, amd 6630g GPU, 750gb hdd space. Should serve your needs (thought personaly I do not like AMD's CPUs currently)

To get a laptop with any i-gen processors and independant GPU it seems you would have to pay quite a bit more

Xeqn · 05-25-2012, 06:55 PM

i personally do not recomand hp or acer both are known to use the cheapest parts possible

get an asus or msi

Xmarksthegank · 05-26-2012, 03:27 PM

In case you did not order the laptop quite just yet, let me break down the issue.

The budget and demands. To have an adequate laptop, you want an Intel processor. That's the story these days. Cheapish laptops with intel CPU can be found within your budget. However, to get one with reasonable discrete graphics, is a pain in the ass.

The sub ~800 category hasn't improved that much at all. My laptop is having it's 2nd birthday soon, and it was a Vaio which cost ~900€ with i3 and 5650M. It was a rather slim laptop too, so having those specs was great.

I looked around in a couple of stores which sold notebooks, and even the 700€ ones were worse for this kind of use. They can have i3, or even i5. But they didn't really have good discrete GPUs.

AMD laptops, on the other hand, are more balanced in the CPU + GPU regard. However, this isn't really... a good thing. Because they CPUs that AMD has for laptops, aren't that great at all. You'd be giving up rather lot of overall performance on the laptop just to get an adequate GPU. And most likely they still wouldn't score it all the way up to 5650M.

One thing I hate about my laptop through and through is the resolution. It's "HD screen" which basically means 1366 x 768 rez. That's not much. Resolution on the screens is one, rather big thing. 1600 x 900 is already much, much more manageable. Though for that, you'd need to have a better GPU for gaming.

So your bets? I would pump up the budget a bit. For around 700 eur, you could already customize yourself a rather fine laptop from places such as notebookguru.de. Too bad kobaltcomputers (from GB) went under.

OMG_its_a_NAME · 05-26-2012, 05:19 PM

^Not sure which stores you looked into, or what your requirements are, but looking purely on specs the dell inspiron N5010 has a 5650, and should be within his budget (370 pounds). Here are 2 pages I found at a local PC store (not UK), and maybe he could find something in his shops. Quite a few of the laptops listed have dedicated graphics, and just searching the card names on google brings you to notebookcheck.net and it's full of benchmarks. Heck, even the HP 630 A1D72EA has an HD 6370M, which seems good enough to run light games, and is WELL under budget.

http://neptun.com.mk/mk/proizvodi/la...atId=24&page=1
http://neptun.com.mk/mk/proizvodi/la...atId=24&page=2

Divide by 60 to get euros. Anyway, I don't know much about laptops, so I may be wrong at some things.

Xmarksthegank · 05-26-2012, 05:37 PM

10% VAT and russia, which has a third the GDP that of GB...

I really doubt it comes anywhere close. Can be found I guess, but my best bet is that the models you are reporting are simply discontinued by now.

Monsterlord_2nd · 05-28-2012, 10:47 PM

I actually went with the refurbished one, and it runs Dota2 very comfortably. Been playing it over the weekend >,>

Thanks for the advice though, it was helpful.

05-22-2012, 02:46 PM	#2
rocketstorm Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Bikini Bottom Posts: 65	Re: Help with choosing a new laptop? hmm... in my perspective these laptops are not that good because they are only dual cores. If I were you I would get a laptop with 4 cores like an intel i5 processor then you will be fine. but if you still want to buy one of those laptops its ok, if your not a hardcore gamer. __________________ Add me on steam http://steamcommunity.com/id/Alucardz480

05-25-2012, 06:55 PM	#5
Xeqn Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 802	Re: Help with choosing a new laptop? i personally do not recomand hp or acer both are known to use the cheapest parts possible get an asus or msi

05-26-2012, 03:27 PM	#6
Xmarksthegank Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 2,691	Re: Help with choosing a new laptop? In case you did not order the laptop quite just yet, let me break down the issue. The budget and demands. To have an adequate laptop, you want an Intel processor. That's the story these days. Cheapish laptops with intel CPU can be found within your budget. However, to get one with reasonable discrete graphics, is a pain in the ass. The sub ~800 category hasn't improved that much at all. My laptop is having it's 2nd birthday soon, and it was a Vaio which cost ~900€ with i3 and 5650M. It was a rather slim laptop too, so having those specs was great. I looked around in a couple of stores which sold notebooks, and even the 700€ ones were worse for this kind of use. They can have i3, or even i5. But they didn't really have good discrete GPUs. AMD laptops, on the other hand, are more balanced in the CPU + GPU regard. However, this isn't really... a good thing. Because they CPUs that AMD has for laptops, aren't that great at all. You'd be giving up rather lot of overall performance on the laptop just to get an adequate GPU. And most likely they still wouldn't score it all the way up to 5650M. One thing I hate about my laptop through and through is the resolution. It's "HD screen" which basically means 1366 x 768 rez. That's not much. Resolution on the screens is one, rather big thing. 1600 x 900 is already much, much more manageable. Though for that, you'd need to have a better GPU for gaming. So your bets? I would pump up the budget a bit. For around 700 eur, you could already customize yourself a rather fine laptop from places such as notebookguru.de. Too bad kobaltcomputers (from GB) went under.

05-26-2012, 05:19 PM	#7
OMG_its_a_NAME Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 805	Re: Help with choosing a new laptop? ^Not sure which stores you looked into, or what your requirements are, but looking purely on specs the dell inspiron N5010 has a 5650, and should be within his budget (370 pounds). Here are 2 pages I found at a local PC store (not UK), and maybe he could find something in his shops. Quite a few of the laptops listed have dedicated graphics, and just searching the card names on google brings you to notebookcheck.net and it's full of benchmarks. Heck, even the HP 630 A1D72EA has an HD 6370M, which seems good enough to run light games, and is WELL under budget. http://neptun.com.mk/mk/proizvodi/la...atId=24&page=1 http://neptun.com.mk/mk/proizvodi/la...atId=24&page=2 Divide by 60 to get euros. Anyway, I don't know much about laptops, so I may be wrong at some things.

05-26-2012, 05:37 PM	#8
Xmarksthegank Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 2,691	Re: Help with choosing a new laptop? 10% VAT and russia, which has a third the GDP that of GB... I really doubt it comes anywhere close. Can be found I guess, but my best bet is that the models you are reporting are simply discontinued by now.

05-28-2012, 10:47 PM	#9
Monsterlord_2nd Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 1,422	Re: Help with choosing a new laptop? I actually went with the refurbished one, and it runs Dota2 very comfortably. Been playing it over the weekend >,> Thanks for the advice though, it was helpful.