Laptop Specs

[Jiggz]

Guys, could you give me an indication of what the specs are on a few things. Firstly, your average, entry-level laptop. Secondly, a top of the range laptop including a nice kick ass video card. And then thirdly, something middle of the range.

Costs would be a help too, though I'll need to do some calculations to get a more precise answer. My problem is this, I have for the last 8 years worked exclusively on Macs, so my PC knowledge is, well, limited. And I'm looking to get a laptop.

[Beefynick]

I have a Toshiba satellite A135-S4677 and it is an entry level laptop for the most part. It cost around $600. The specs are:

* Processor: 1.73 Pentium D
* Number of Processors: 1
* RAM: 1 GB
* RAM Type: DDR2 SDRAM
* Memory Slots: 2 SO-DIMM
Hard Drive
* Size: 80 GB
* Manufacturer: 80 GB 5400rpm SATA
* Type: Serial ATA
Graphics and Display
* Graphics Card: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
* Interface: Integrated
* LCD Native Resolution: 1280 x 800
Ports and Connectivity
* Modem: Built-in
Cases and Expandability
* Size (LWH): 10.5 inches, 14.2 inches, 1.5 inches
* Weight: 6 pounds
Wireless
* Wireless Type: 802.11G

[TangerineOrange]

I have a Toshiba satellite A135-S4677 and it is an entry level laptop for the most part. It cost around $600. The specs are:

* Processor: 1.73 Pentium D
* Number of Processors: 1
* RAM: 1 GB
* RAM Type: DDR2 SDRAM
* Memory Slots: 2 SO-DIMM
Hard Drive
* Size: 80 GB
* Manufacturer: 80 GB 5400rpm SATA
* Type: Serial ATA
Graphics and Display
* Graphics Card: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
* Interface: Integrated
* LCD Native Resolution: 1280 x 800
Ports and Connectivity
* Modem: Built-in
Cases and Expandability
* Size (LWH): 10.5 inches, 14.2 inches, 1.5 inches
* Weight: 6 pounds
Wireless
* Wireless Type: 802.11G

What OS does it run?

[Beefynick]

I have Windows Vista installed from the factory on it, but I am dual booting Ubuntu and Vista.

[P0K3M0N_MA5T3R]

I'll just list the main things, your main 4 things are RAM, the Processor speed, your graphics card and your hard-drive. They are the main things you should look for in a laptop.
Entry Level:
CPU: Around 1.6-1.7 GHZ.
RAM: Usually 512GB to 1GB, a lot of places have latops with 2GB of RAM to entice people towards that laptop but when you look at the rest of the specs they are bad.
Graphics: 128MB (Shared).
HD:Varies, usually around 80-120GB

Middle of the range: (This is probably your best bet unless you want something that can play like Crysis)
CPU:2.2-2.5GHZ.
RAM:1-2GB.
Graphics:128-256 (dedicated).
HD:Again varies, doesn't matter what size you have really, they are usually around, 120-200GB.

And finally, Top of the Range, super laptop:
CPU:3.00GHZ+
RAM:2GB-8GB (really 2 is all you need anything higher usually isn't supported by most PC's, and it's not necessary for any current games).
Graphics:512mb-1024mb (again, 1024 is overkill really, a 512mb is perfectly capable).
Hardrive:As before, varies depending on how much junk you're going to put on it, usually 150-300GB here.

[SODA]

You will be hard pressed to find a laptop that is built for gaming that has more than a 1 hour battery life, more often than not they are just meant to be like portable desktops and plugged in all the time like a normal PC they actually refer to them as "Desktop Replacements".

Falcon Northwest makes some of the best gaming laptops around, their site is http://www.falcon-nw.com/. You are looking at about $3000 - 4000 for a top of the line laptop.

[Jiggz]

And finally, Top of the Range, super laptop:
CPU:3.00GHZ+
RAM:2GB-8GB (really 2 is all you need anything higher usually isn't supported by most PC's, and it's not necessary for any current games).
Graphics:512mb-1024mb (again, 1024 is overkill really, a 512mb is perfectly capable).
Hardrive:As before, varies depending on how much junk you're going to put on it, usually 150-300GB here.

So they've managed a 3.0Ghz+ processor in a laptop? Holy shit.

These are the specs of the MacBook I want, thing is, it's ridiculously priced.

MacBook Pro 15"
2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB memory
250GB hard drive1
Double-layer SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB

The above goes for $2,499.00. What would you get for that money from the Windows range?


You will be hard pressed to find a laptop that is built for gaming that has more than a 1 hour battery life, more often than not they are just meant to be like portable desktops and plugged in all the time like a normal PC they actually refer to them as "Desktop Replacements".

Isn't this the case with most laptops? Also, I'm not really all that concerned with gaming, more with running some high end applications.

[opn4bzns]

So they've managed a 3.0Ghz+ processor in a laptop? Holy shit.

Careful, clockspeeds are deceptive. A 3.2ghz Pentium D is roughly as fast as a 1.8ghz Core2Duo, so you can't really compare between processors as easily as you'd think.

[Jiggz]

Careful, clockspeeds are deceptive. A 3.2ghz Pentium D is roughly as fast as a 1.8ghz Core2Duo, so you can't really compare between processors as easily as you'd think.

I didn't know this. Mind explaining why. In layman's terms.

[opn4bzns]

I didn't know this. Mind explaining why. In layman's terms.

Basically Core2Duos (and presumably the equivalent AMD) are a lot more efficient than older processors, so, to my understanding, they can do more with less power. Almost any new laptop (except ultra cheap ones) should have a C2D anyway, so you probably won't have to worry about that.

[Beefynick]

Speaking of processors you want to stay away from Intel Celeron processors because these are known to be horrible. They are slower and are not that great on battery life. They are put into many lower end laptops because they are cheap, but in this case cheaper is not the way to go.

[Indoctrine]

I'd say my computer would be middle range.

Acer Aspire 4710
2GHz Intel Celeron processor (Core 2 Duo [Dual Core])
1GB RAM standard (Put 2GB in it)
Comes with Vista installed standard
Has an Intel wireless card
Has an Intel graphics card.
Cost: $1200AUD

Would not recommend it, will not buy an Acer or Intel again. Anything with Vista on it is guaranteed to have problems. Eg. My graphics card and wireless card have disabled themselves before and I could not fix them because they said they didn't have enough resources no matter how many devices I disabled. The only way I found to fix this was to reinstall Vista.

[Maraxusofk]

best midline labtop by far is the gateway p-6831

http://www.anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3273&p=1

only 1300 usd but has a 8800gts as graphic card, 3gb of ram (wierd number but better than standard 2gb if not dual channel), 1.7 ghz dual core (jsut oc it), is gaming ready, lasts more than an hour, and looks really friggin nice.

[Knacker]

Is vista still shit?

USER WAS PUT IN TIMEOUT FOR THIS POST. (http://forums.explosm.net/eventlog.php)
Reason: Thread shitting.

[opn4bzns]

Is vista still shit?

Only if you have a terrible computer.

[Cristo]

Yeah I really don't get why people hate Vitsa. I love it on Desktop, and with the new service pack it's even better.

[Beefynick]

I am not going to say there are no issues with Vista (yes it is a memory hog and there are compatibility issues), but for the most part I have no problems with it. It is just like any other Microsoft product, there are going to be issues with it.

[Azati Prime]

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3728&review=Asus+G1S

I love my baby. It can't run Crysis very well though. I'm a little pissed about that.