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my mom is in the market for a new laptop and is unsure on what to look for..
she does some gaming..
regular internet browsing
email
work documents
all the usual stuff
What processors are available? What speed should we look at>?
hDD size? accessories?
Whats good....whats not good...$2000 tax-in or less is the budget..
any help please
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I'd say check with dell and see what they have on sale now... some people here will stay far away from dell. I deal with them everyday and yes some are crap out of the box but the customer service is top notch and they give you lots of free upgrades.
I say grab a Dell when they have a nice deal happening.
***want to buy***
MBRP................ check
SCT Xcal2 ........ check
VF mounts
Adj. Dampers ... check
Meford's Mom.... sale pending
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512MB RAM is a minimum, especially with the lower Dell models that still use integrated video and a portion of the system RAM.
Celeron-Ms are great for basic users who don't need a lot of horsepower, and the battery life is great! Speed... anything over 1.1GHz for a Pentium-M / Celeron-M is fine. These things don't need a lot of clockspeed to do good work.
Nothing smaller than a 40GB drive is technically available these days, but you don't need anything bigger than a 60GB for her either.
What kind of gaming does she do? Anything 3D-accelerated on a laptop requires, in my books, 1GB RAM and a dedicated Nvidia / ATi video card - PERIOD. I can game quite well on my latest work laptop:
Pentium-M 1.73GHz
1GB DDR2-533 RAM (dual-channel)
ATi Mobility Radeon X600 128MB
80GB 7200RPM laptop HDD
Also, a decent way to save a few bucks is to NOT get a widescreen laptop. Widescreen can be cool, but for most computing tasks it's completely unnecessary.
Also, Compaq and Emachines have Athlon64-based laptops. I'm an AMD guy, so I always consider those for home users. Dells have superior warranties by far, however, and are always worth one last look.
Daily driver 1: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport "S"
33" BFG Mud-Terrain KM2s, lots of Rough Country gear - bumper, 2.5" lift, swaybar disconnects, Superwinch 10,000lb winch, Detroit Locker in rear D44 axle, custom exhaust, K+N filtercharger, Superchips-tuned.
Daily driver 2: 2006 Subaru Legacy GT
COBB Stage 1+ package - AccessPort tuner, COBB intake and airbox. Stage 2 coming shortly - COBB 3" AT stainless DP and race cat, custom 3" Magnaflow-based exhaust and Stage 2 COBB tune.
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AMD"s Turino processor is like a Centrino but on the AMD side of things, my sister got one with Turino and shes happy with it, its actually faster than the Centrino she had before, and theyre roughlyu the same spec..
My other ride is your Mom
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Turions are great, but they're more performance-oriented... more of a Pentium-M fighter. A Sempron S754 laptop with a dedicated video card would be a good choice as well... Athlon64 performance, budget-minded pricing.
Daily driver 1: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport "S"
33" BFG Mud-Terrain KM2s, lots of Rough Country gear - bumper, 2.5" lift, swaybar disconnects, Superwinch 10,000lb winch, Detroit Locker in rear D44 axle, custom exhaust, K+N filtercharger, Superchips-tuned.
Daily driver 2: 2006 Subaru Legacy GT
COBB Stage 1+ package - AccessPort tuner, COBB intake and airbox. Stage 2 coming shortly - COBB 3" AT stainless DP and race cat, custom 3" Magnaflow-based exhaust and Stage 2 COBB tune.
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01-28-2006, 12:44 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-28-2006, 12:48 AM by Oscar The Grouch.)
NOS2Go4Me,Jan 27 2006, 10:06 AM Wrote:512MB RAM is a minimum, especially with the lower Dell models that still use integrated video and a portion of the system RAM.
Celeron-Ms are great for basic users who don't need a lot of horsepower, and the battery life is great! Speed... anything over 1.1GHz for a Pentium-M / Celeron-M is fine. These things don't need a lot of clockspeed to do good work.
Nothing smaller than a 40GB drive is technically available these days, but you don't need anything bigger than a 60GB for her either.
What kind of gaming does she do? Anything 3D-accelerated on a laptop requires, in my books, 1GB RAM and a dedicated Nvidia / ATi video card - PERIOD. I can game quite well on my latest work laptop:
Pentium-M 1.73GHz
1GB DDR2-533 RAM (dual-channel)
ATi Mobility Radeon X600 128MB
80GB 7200RPM laptop HDD
Also, a decent way to save a few bucks is to NOT get a widescreen laptop. Widescreen can be cool, but for most computing tasks it's completely unnecessary.
Also, Compaq and Emachines have Athlon64-based laptops. I'm an AMD guy, so I always consider those for home users. Dells have superior warranties by far, however, and are always worth one last look.
[right][snapback]167211[/snapback][/right]
How come you get an x600 on your laptop and I get stuck with an x300.
Sold: 2001 SE 2.0L SPI w/60mm TB, Steeda Shorty Intake.
Active: 2007 SES Hatch, Motegi MR7 Rims with 215/45ZR17 Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires, debadged, black painted calipers and drums, RS Knob, CFM Short Throw, Billet E-Brake, CFM Focus pedals, MBRP Exhaust, XCal2, FS Front and Rear Strut Tower Bars, Diamond Plate Floor Mats and Sills, Alpine MP3 Deck, Alpine V-Power 300w Amp, Pioneer IMPP Sub, AlpineType-S door speakers, VF Engineering Rear Motor Mount, F2 RS Spoiler, Tokico D-spec shocks, HTP Cross Brace, EBC Rotors, Hawk HPS Pads, Russell SS Brake Lines, RS Wheel, SVT Blue Seats, Vibrant 2.5" Race Highflow Cat, CFM UDP. Rear SVT bumper to come.
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Oscar The Grouch,Jan 27 2006, 09:44 AM Wrote:How come you get an x600 on your laptop and I get screwed.
[right][snapback]167225[/snapback][/right]
Oversight? This was Shawn's old laptop :rolleyes:
I just upgraded the HDD.
My last lappy had a Mobility Radeon 9000 64MB.
Daily driver 1: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport "S"
33" BFG Mud-Terrain KM2s, lots of Rough Country gear - bumper, 2.5" lift, swaybar disconnects, Superwinch 10,000lb winch, Detroit Locker in rear D44 axle, custom exhaust, K+N filtercharger, Superchips-tuned.
Daily driver 2: 2006 Subaru Legacy GT
COBB Stage 1+ package - AccessPort tuner, COBB intake and airbox. Stage 2 coming shortly - COBB 3" AT stainless DP and race cat, custom 3" Magnaflow-based exhaust and Stage 2 COBB tune.
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thanks adam!
excellent assistance!
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No problem Paul, happy to help.
Daily driver 1: 2007 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Sport "S"
33" BFG Mud-Terrain KM2s, lots of Rough Country gear - bumper, 2.5" lift, swaybar disconnects, Superwinch 10,000lb winch, Detroit Locker in rear D44 axle, custom exhaust, K+N filtercharger, Superchips-tuned.
Daily driver 2: 2006 Subaru Legacy GT
COBB Stage 1+ package - AccessPort tuner, COBB intake and airbox. Stage 2 coming shortly - COBB 3" AT stainless DP and race cat, custom 3" Magnaflow-based exhaust and Stage 2 COBB tune.
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