Any techies out there?

[The_Fnorrll_Reborn]

Planning on buying a laptop today hopefully. Dont want anything really flash but at same time nothing rubbish. Want mid range capability...although wouldnt mind playing The Old Republic when it comes out :D

 

Anyone able to advise me on what sort if specs I should look for? In particular I dont know much about procesors and graphics and wifi speeds...what sort of range of specs is good these days?

[murf2011]

The Old Republic would likely require at least a 512 mb video card (running on low graphics), at least 2gb of RAM and a 2.3Ghz dual core processor (my estimates, as they haven't released minimum requirements yet). If you want to spend a bit more money, go for a laptop with an i5 or i7 processor, but the dual core should be enough for most games.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Arlow :)

[The_Fnorrll_Reborn]

Thats very good, thanks Arlow :) still happy to accept mre advise if anyone else is out there!

[Nargbert]

If you are looking to save a little money and maybe space... you can look at an AMD A8. Supposed to have the graphics card and CPU on the same chip. It would be considered equal to some of the low end graphics cards out right now. However, unless you are trying to play the Old Republic on its max graphics settings it will probably be more than enough. Google the reviews. (remember, The Old Republic is supposed to be an MMO, so they usually set it up so that people with less than stellar setups can play) If you want to spend the cash... I7 baby... Dual core will more than be enough... but... dual is old tech!

[The_Fnorrll_Reborn]

Cheers Nargy! I didnt make it as far as the stores today but hope to go tomorro afternoon

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

since you're all here, may i ask - laptop for a 9-10 yo boy who likes shooting games and needs some good parental controls he will have trouble hacking. and one for an 11-12 year old girl who likes girly computer things and research, and maybe mystery type games.

 

any guidelines? looking to go fairly cheap but sturdy. plan on buying new ones within a couple years though.

[Nargbert]

cheep as you want for the girl. Anything these days will run multiple web browsers and mystery games. Cheap now a days doesn't mean no power. Just figure out how big a display she wants... then by a cheap one with that display!

 

As for the boy, shooting games usually means not cheap. It depends on how old the shooting games are. If he wants to play the latest, greatest games at decent speeds... That does not equal cheap. While your daughter could get away with a $300-$400 laptop easily... your son is probably thinking of something more in the range of $800. As for parental control, can't help you there. It is going to have to be software based and/or router based and my son just isn't old enough for me to worry about that yet! Dell, Bestbuy, walmart. Look around at these places. For shooting games, the computer will probably need some kind of video card capability....An AMD APU MIGHT work... but it isn't exactly high powered for games such as those....

[Wolfst3r]

since you're all here, may i ask - laptop for a 9-10 yo boy who likes shooting games and needs some good parental controls he will have trouble hacking. and one for an 11-12 year old girl who likes girly computer things and research, and maybe mystery type games.

 

any guidelines? looking to go fairly cheap but sturdy. plan on buying new ones within a couple years though.

 

For your girl i would definately recommend a netbook, you can usually get them in all kinds of colours

They are small portable, work great on the internet and with smaller games.

 

Now if your son plays newer type shooting games like Battlefield 2 or soemthing like that he would need a larger laptop, than a netbook.

And for parental controls, you would have to set up an administrative account and then just have a user for him that is limited.

 

my 2 cents :)

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

thank you! i am thinking older shooting games will do for the boy... i can't spend twice as much on him, his sister will kill him.

 

(btw, not my kids, my friends', but i've been buying their good will since they were born, and this christmas it's gonna be new laptops, but those guys at best buy are not at all helpful.)

[Wolfst3r]

How much were you thinking of spending? per computer

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

i prefer to keep it under $1K for both, but i'm flexible. it just can't be too obviously a better present for one than the other, or there is... rivalry.

[Wolfst3r]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+-+Satellite+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i3+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/1974715.p?id=1218303652901&skuId=1974715

 

 

This looks ok atleast for the boy...

 

Then it's maybe more a question of looks than effectiveness for the girl.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

that looks great, thanks! i hope it will work well for both. she doesn't game, but she does comparison shop. and she writes a lot, and takes videos (or whatever you call them nowadays), though she hasn't fiddled with them on her computer yet, it's probably because her computer's older than her cameras.

[Wolfst3r]

Yeah, that computer should be good for everything she thinks of doing.

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

excellent, thank you. it should be a merry christmas. they think we can't afford to get them computers this year, so it will be a nice surprise.

[Nargbert]

I would aim for something with an AMD A6 for the boy... Graphics are better than Intel onboard stuff yet price is still fairly modest. And it SHOULD be able to do newer games... just not make them look all that pretty.

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ASUS+-+Laptop+/+AMD+A-Series+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Brown+Suit/2881042.p?id=1218360613837&skuId=2881042

[Millon]

I want a new one so I cna watch videos. Like this one lol As soon as I saw it it reminded me of the post I did for your birthday thread Fin hahahaha. Someone stole it from me haha.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVCOoQIDrt0

[The_Fnorrll_Reborn]

Hahaha

 

Your post on my birthday was possibly the single funniest thing iv read on DM Mills...