Best laptop for my use

[randy3]

Hello,I new to this forum so im not sure if im in the correct part but im getting a new laptop and i have narrowed it down to 3.HP pavilion g4-110dx.The Gateway NV55S03u.And the HP ProBook 4530s XU015UT.I going to use it for casual use such as email internet and youtube ing.Now my main issue is gaming.I was leaning more towards the gateway because some guy said that its processor runs btter than the intel i3 and i5.But im looking to run a game like grand theift auto 4. so which one is better for me.

 

[kashifme21]

Hello,I new to this forum so im not sure if im in the correct part but im getting a new laptop and i have narrowed it down to 3.HP pavilion g4-110dx.The Gateway NV55S03u.And the HP ProBook 4530s XU015UT.I going to use it for casual use such as email internet and youtube ing.Now my main issue is gaming.I was leaning more towards the gateway because some guy said that its processor runs btter than the intel i3 and i5.But im looking to run a game like grand theift auto 4. so which one is better for me.

TBH all 3 of them are terrible for gaming. Both the HP models come with Intel graphics (please stay away from those).

the Gateway isnt much better either.

Generally gaming capable laptops are costly, dont about think about getting one for gaming unless you are thinking about dishing out 1200-1500usd. Having said that, i would instead recommend you build a gaming PC if you really are interested in games. A 600usd laptop will be useless for games as it just wont have a decent 3d accelerator. However for 600usd you can make a very good PC gaming rig which will play most games out today in 1080p.

If you are still interested in a Laptop for gaming then i would recommend something like this:

http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_info&model_name=NP8130

I personally have a Sager with a HD5870M GPU, plays every game out there in 1080p

 

[keithblue2]

Randy3, I would agree with what kashifme21 said. I've had a bunch of people ask me about which laptop they should get -- I'm a technology/software guy -- and I just put up a blog post with some general guidelines for people like you who are looking to get a mostly general-use laptop. It has some guidelines on CPU (i3 2nd Gen is fine), memory (4 GB will do it), hard drive, etc: http://computingkeith.com/2011/08/08/how-to-buy-a-good-laptop/

In your case, you might look at a general use machine, but upgrade to a dedicated graphics card, to keep up with the high frame rates of games. While getting the integrated Intel graphics is, these days, enough for DVDs and HD YouTube videos, it's probably not going to be ideal for gaming. I have Intel integrated graphics in my Dell Studio 15, and it has worked fine on everything (tho I am not a gamer).

My personal favorite recommendation is to get an SSD, despite the extra cost (~$200-$250): the seek times are ~100x as fast as a spinning hard drive, and they make a modern computer feel much more smooth and responsive all around. Once you go SSD, you'll never go back to a legacy hard drive. (I wrote about that, too: "SSDs: are you experienced?").

Hope this is helpful, Keith

 

[FlintIronStagg]

If you are wanting a laptop to play games, you will need to increase that budget by a large margin.

 

[simon12]

If you don't mind playing the most demanding games on medium settings at low resolution then something with the Llano a8 3500M should do the job and be good value but to play games as well as a $500 desktop you need to spend $1500-2000 and get a huge laptop with a battery that lasts around an hour.

 

[stephen-mc]

i know this is the last thing you want to hear but dont buy a laptop for gaming.You will end up having to upgrade it eventually and laptops are limited to upgrades.