Most relevant components for Online Chat/Gaming

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I hope this is in the right place because it's a question concerning a bit of everything.

I've got a relatively old laptop here with 3 GB RAM, an Intel Core 2 Duo t5550 cpu and HD 3490 ATI graphics capability. My bandwidth is rarely more than 4mb/sec download speeds. That being said, what matters most about a pc/laptop if you want to chat online via Skype or Google Hangout with all the camera and mic intricacies? Would upgrading my laptop garner me any improvements or is bandwidth?

I was thinking of upgrading to a laptop with 8 GB RAM, Intel® Core i5-4200M CPU. In other words this one

www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/laptops-netbooks/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-17-e153sa-17-3-laptop-21865580-pdt.html

I really don't care about games or fps, none of that interests me. I'm just looking for the smoothest possible chatting experience online. Some of you might be familiar with roleplaying; Dungeons and Dragons, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, Warhammer etc? Well, myself and some friends meet up on Google Hangout to roleplay. Obviously then a camera and microphone are essential, but I don’t want to go out and buy a cam and mic as I’ll be using the laptop’s – which is why I need advice on what’s needed for chatting/speaking online

Any info would be appreciated

Thank you very much

 

[NiCoM]

Hi there

I don't really see any reason why you should upgrade the pc, especially if you're not doing anything but surfing/chatting on the internet, upgrading it to get a new cam & mic is really not going to help much, the standard stuff in laptops are pretty bad, a £500 is probably only going to help you slightly.

With a 4mb/s connection you should maybe look at getting a new internet provider, look at how much you currently pay and then look at some different internet prices, also this is the only option that will also improve your own experience, since it could potentially improve video quality for you and the reciever.
4mb/s just seems a bit low for me, but if you never get any video quality or voice problems in Google Hangout, then you might also want to pass on this upgrade.

I would actually recommend getting the mic & webcam or just a webcam with a mic. Just because they're actual products made for being a webcam and a mic, not just some integration that just ticks a box in specs and nothing more.
A standalone mic would give you a amazing sound quality. Im using the ~£77 Blue Snowball and i can tell you my friends was amazed at how clear the sound was.


Getting a webcam to clip on the top of your screen or to place besides your pc is going to be my recommendation. Will give you exellent picture quality and a decent/good sound, and isn't going to empty your pockets like a new pc is and is also cheaper and less bulky than the cam + mic option.

 

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Thanks for the advice NiCoM

Interesting thing about the camera, is I bought a £25 Microsfot LifeCam and it seems sluggish (but again, that might be internet bandwidth?). Not only that, when I recorded a face to face session at my house, the lip synch was out with about a 1.5 to 2.0 second delay. It was ok for the first 10 minutes but then as the recording went on the lip synch/laps thing to steadilyworse. I think I might be struggling with 3 GB RAM but I'm not sure either way.

Still, that's recording; it's video cam/mic I'm more interested in. I just mentioned the recording problems in case it sheds light on my situation

 

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So a good set of headphones/mic then - I'm hoping the LifeCam from Microsoft will suffice as far as cameras are concerned

 

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Anyone know why I was experiencing pretty bad lip synch when I recorded a session of face to face (i.e. not online) with a LifeCam and my laptop's specs (they're above)?

 

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Thanks for the advice Presler but my laptop is now that old, I have the best drivers and there's nothing else I can do in that direction. There's also no options in Google Hangout that I can tweak either. Other than limit the amount of video sapping bandwidth I use, but that defeats the object of me wanting a clearer camera session.

I'm sure i'd benefit from more bandwidth though