Laptop for college.

[Bunny]

Well it's certainly been a long time since I've visited this site, so I may have put this in the wrong forum.

Anyways, I'll soon be ordering a notebook for college. I customized a Toshiba and was wondering what all of you thought. I'd like to be able to run newer games with it as well, without my budget exceeding $1300, if at all possible.

Here are the specs:

• Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2450 (2.00GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 533MHz FSB)
  Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium 32-Bit
  2048MB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM (1024MBx2)
  17.0" Diagonal Widescreen XGA+ TruBrite® display
  nVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7600 with 256MB dedicated graphics memory
  160GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial-ATA)
  DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive
  Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g)
  Li-Ion Battery (6-cell, 4000mAH)

• 
  Total (With Rebates): $1,269.90

I customized this from the Toshiba Satellite P200/P205.

Thanks!

 

[Alex4]

Looks like a respectable build as far as a laptop goes. It should be able to run things like WoW, or something like that no problem. It could run things like BF2, just expect to be turning the settings way down.

 

[Bunny]

Thanks for the quick reply, what about games such as Fear, Condemned, and Titan Quest?

 

[kiwiguy]

At the weight, be aware that it's really a "desktop replacement" though.

I always recommend putting lightness first, but usually that means the price goes up steeply. I would not want to lug 8.1 lb of laptop round all day though (but probably it will spend most of it's life on a desk?)

 

[Alex4]

Fear is VERY hardware dependant. My old desktop which was quite faster than your laptop had troubles running it. It will run it...just not at the highest settings.

 

[Bunny]

Alright, I think I can deal with that. And weight shouldn't be a huge issue, I don't really plan on taking it everywhere, the college I'm attending is just requiring laptops.

So Toshiba is a respectable brand?

 

[Alex4]

Yes, I would go for Toshiba myself if I was getting a laptop. They have a good track record, and have been at the laptop business since the early 90's or earlier I forget.

 

[kiwiguy]

I prefer Toshiba.

And while I am in no way interested in games, in my view you don't use the word "games" and "laptop" in the same sentence.

Even if you get the theoretical performance in the laptop, the limitation in dissipation of the heat generated by game software means that laptops tend to speed step down the CPU before they self destruct, so the performance is not always continuous.

Likewise the GPU is never usually as good as a desktop, you simply have no place to get rid of that heat either.

 

[Alex4]

Kiwiguy is right. Although a low end desktop will still woop the laptop, it will do all you want it too in the gaming department, but only go so far as heat, and processor speeds are always a problem.

 

[Bunny]

Yeah, that's understandable. I'm not specifically looking for a desktop replacement, just a notebook that can play most of what is out right now. Thanks Alex and kiwiguy for the replies.

 

[Bunny]

One other thing...is there a big difference in the Geforce Go 7600 with 256 mb dedicated memory as opposed to the 128 mb?

 

[Bunny]

Bump. =)

 

[JohnWill]

One other thing...is there a big difference in the Geforce Go 7600 with 256 mb dedicated memory as opposed to the 128 mb?

Yes, one has double the memory. Seriously, the more memory the graphics card has, the better, especially for games.

For playing games, I'd also look into laptop coolers, basically a platform with a couple of fans to create additional airflow through the cooling vents. It will help the laptop run at full speed for compute intensive applications, like games.

 

[Bunny]

Alright, sounds good to me. Thanks a lot!